Hanami flower viewing season begins 9 days earlier than average this year as the city’s official sample tree sprouts its first blossoms. In March every year, the Japan Meteorological Agency keeps a careful eye on Tokyo’s special hyoujun-ki (literally “sample tree“), which officially heralds the start of the region’s long-awaited sakura season when it blossoms. …

Maker of Pocky reminds us that life moves fast, but it’s the slow moments that make it beautiful. Many times, Japanese commercials are designed around a single star. You get a famous, good-looking idol or domestic actor, or maybe a charming foreign celebrity, point the camera at them, and let them be their photogenic selves. But an …

Police track down, arrest Taiwanese national. Mario presumed innocent. If you’re a fan of video games, driving, or quirkiness in general, a fun thing to do while you’re in Tokyo is to rent a go-kart, dress up like a Nintendo character, and go cruising around the streets of the capital with a group …

Mobcast and eitaro soft revealed this week that they are developing a new Yu Yu Hakusho app game tentatively titled Project U. The companies describe the game as a “character raising action RPG.” The game will be an online RPG that allows players to cooperate in clearing stages. Players are able to collect cards …

Here’s a great way to start wading into the deep waters of the sake world. Sake is sometimes referred to as “Japanese rice wine,” which is a bit of a contentious description, since sake is actually brewed, making it arguably closer to beer than wine. However, just like wine made from grapes, …

Some would say Nintendo’s video games killed the conventional kids’ toy market, but now they might be bringing it back. When Nintendo told gamers it would reveal “a new way to play with the Nintendo Switch” on January 18 (Japan time), I naturally assumed the company was finally going to unveil its platform for …

Made from ruby cocoa beans, this new “fourth type of chocolate” promises a whole new Kit Kat flavour experience. Nestlé Japan has been delighting its local customers for years, with all sorts of limited-edition Kit Kats raising the bar in the chocolate world time and time again. Now, they’re out to conquer …

There’s good reason why people from around Tokyo are making the trip to Electric Town to get a taste of these special beverages. If you’ve ever visited Japan, you’ll know how great, and abundant, the country’s vending machines can be. Given that there’s one on practically every corner, people in Japan who’ve grown …

It’s a good time to be a Cardcaptor Sakura fan. Not only does the anime magical girl, who made her manga debut all the way back in 1996, have a manga sequel series in serialization, a brand-new anime series, Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc, is scheduled to premiere this Sunday on satellite TV in Japan. …