Foreign residents of Japan prohibited from participating in Yu-Gi-Oh Japan Championship

Heart of the cards isn’t beating for legal foreign residents of Japan, apparently.

This coming September, Seattle will be the host city for the Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship. Before the world’s best players of the collectible card game make their way to the west coast of the United States, though, they’ll have to prove their mastery by defeating their rival Duelists in preliminary tournaments in their home regions and countries.

However, for those aiming to win the Yu-Gi-Oh Japan Championship 2024, the competition pool isn’t actually every Yu-Gi-Oh player in Japan, as the rules expressly prohibit foreign residents of Japan from taking part in the tournament.

Sifting through the registration requirements for the Japan Championship and its feeder tournaments, most of the clauses seem like pretty standard stuff. Proof of identity is required, so that you can’t have a ringer play for you or try to win multiple feeder competitions to reduce the total number of players who can reach the Japan Championship stage. All cards used must be official Yu-Gi-Oh cards, so you can’t stuff your deck with easily-obtained bootlegs of what’re supposed to be rare cards.

Further down the list, though, you come to the clause that all participants must have a Japanese address. That makes sense, since ostensibly the whole point of the Japan Championship is to find the best Yu-Gi-Oh players who live in Japan, not the bext Yu-Gi-Oh who just happen to be traveling through Japan at the time. Address/residency requirements are actually pretty common in these sorts of quasi-contractual promotions and events, wherein there needs to be some sort of localized legal framework for agreements like this, where if you win competition you get some sort of prize or eligibility privilege.

But where things get surprising is where the Yu-Gi-Oh Japan Championship 2024 entry requirements state:

“Entry is restricted to people of Japanese nationality.”

The Japanese nationality (i.e. Japanese citizenship) requirement means that foreign residents of Japan are barred from the Japan Championship and its feeder competitions. In other words, citizens of foreign countries who are legally living in Japan, either by nature of working in a Japanese workplace, attending a Japanese school, or marriage to a Japanese resident, cannot participate in the competition.

It’s possible that the Japanese citizenship requirement was put in place as a further means to make sure the Yu-Gi-Oh Japan Championship winners are people who really live in Japan, screening out those who happen to be on short-term student/work visas that coincide with the few months over which the preliminary competitions and finals will take place (March to July). However, the citizenship requirement also bars those who have been living in Japan for years or decades. Even foreign residents of Japan who have obtained permanent residency status from the Japanese government are ineligible for the Yu-Gi-Oh Japan Championship unless they have also obtained Japanese citizenship, which, for adults, means they must renounce their home country citizenship, since Japan does not allow dual nationality past the age of 20.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, the Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship entry regulations are less strict. The franchise’s official website’s World Qualifying Points FAQ For North, Central, and South America Territories simply states that “Duelists must be legal residents of the territory they wish to represent and provide valid proof of residency.”

Admittedly, foreigners living in Japan and playing with Japanese-language cards make up a pretty small subset of the Yu-Gi-Oh player base, so it’s not shocking that the demographic wasn’t a major priority in crafting the Japan Championship rules. On the other hand, the fact that someone on the tournament’s legal team thought it was necessary to explicitly require Japanese nationality in addition to Japanese residency shows that the Japan Championship organizers can at least imagine that there might be foreign residents who might want to compete, so it’s odd to see them taking steps to lock them out.

Source: Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship 2024 (1, 2), via Twitter/@rurohancwc via Anime News Network/Alex Mateo
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Century-old Hiroshima brewery in one of Japan’s three great sake-brewing spots offers tours in English

Stepping into sake history in Saijo.

It’s said that the three great sake-producing towns in Japan are Hyogo Prefeture’s Nada, Kyoto’s Fushimi, and Hiroshima Prefecture’s Saijo. Our Japanese-language reporter Mari Morimoto, who grew up in Osaka, near Kyoto, had heard of Fushimi, but being a relative sake neophyte she didn’t know anything about Saijo. Even though she’d visited Hiroshima in the past, she’d been unaware of its sake-making heritage.

So to fill in this gap she headed to Saijo sake brewery Saijo Tsuru to take part in their special “Tales of the Sake Brewery Experience Tour.” In doing so she learned just how deep the world of sake is, and how the final product is affected by the traditions, ingredients, weather conditions and production process, plus the passion of the people who make it. And though Mari took the tour in Japanese, they offer tours in English too.

Saijo, or Saijo-cho, to use its official name, is part of Higashi Hiroshima City, which is two towns to the east of Hiroshima City. The area’s sake-brewing roots go back to the Meiji era (1868-1912), and currently there are seven sake breweries operating in Saijo. Saijo Tsuru itself was founded in the Meiji era, and the brewery and main company building have been standing ever since. They’re now designated as tangible cultural properties by the Japanese government in recognition of their historical significance.

Mari’s visit coincided with the production of Saijo Tsuru’s top-grade junmai daiginjo Shinzui, made with no additives and rice that has been milled to at least 50 percent, using the most flavorful part of the grain at its core. If you tour the brewery during this time, they’ll even send you a bottle of Shinzui once the batch is ready!

Just walking along the hall from the main entrance to the brewing area, there’s a palpable atmosphere of history, with classical architectural styles on display and an earthenware floor. The tour starts with an explanation of the history of the town and brewery. Saijo Tsuru’s setup is a mix of modern machinery and traditional wooden equipment, showing their desire to continue doing some things the old-fashioned way even while making adopting modern methods to boost quality-control and efficiency.

The koji muro left an especially deep impression on Mari. This is where the koji is cultivated. Koji is a special kind of bacteria that forms on rice, and it’s an essential part of the fermentation process used in making sake.

In the koji muro, koji spores are sprinkled on steamed rice, and a constant temperature and humidity are maintained so that more koji will grow. Double-doors lead into the room in order to help maintain the interior conditions, but the brewers still perform regular checks to make sure the koji is developing as needed, even feeling it with their hands to derive a sense of its readiness from the texture.

By the way, Saijo Tsuru strictly forbids anyone from bringing natto (fermented soybeans) into the brewery! They even ask that visitors refrain from eating natto in the morning before their tour, despite natto being a common breakfast food in Japan. That’s because the bacteria present in natto and required for its fermentation are especially hearty, even after you’ve finished eating it and washed your hands If someone enters the brewery with trace amounts of natto bacteria, it could spread to the koji, making it unusable for sake brewing.

Once the koji is ready, it’s combined with water to form a mixture called the shubo, or “sake mother.” Then rice, additional water, and more koji are added to create the moromi, or mash, which will develop into the genshu, sake in a non-diluted form.

Like we mentioned earlier, during Mari’s visit Saijo Tsuru was brewing the new batch of Shinzui and so she got to see its mash. As she approached the tank, a strong sake aroma wafted towards her, and when she got closer, she could hear fizzing and lightly popping sounds.

Of course, if you’re interested enough in sake to tour a brewery, you’d probably also like to drink some sake while you’re there, so at the end of the tour, there’s a tasting session! Mari was presented with three different kinds of Saijo Tsuru sake to sample, and the staff is happy to provide even more varieties at their on-site bottle shop, which Mari was glad to take them up on.

With its coastal location, Hiroshima is famous for oysters and other kinds of seafood, and its regional cooking sometimes exhibits some strong flavors. Mari feels like Saijo Tsuru’s sake is brewed to pair well with the local cuisine, and she’d especially like to have a cup while dining on nice, thick cuts of sashimi or a moist grilled fish fillet.

Two of her personal favorites, out of the varieties she tried, were the Tojinyukonmuroka, which is a karakuchi (dry) sake, but still retains a mellow sweetness from the rice, and the lighter, more refreshing Daichi no Kaze, which she feels would pair well with just about any kind of food. Both of them are junmai sake, made with no artificially added alcohol or other additives.

▼ Tojinyukonmuroka on the left, Daichi no Kaze in the middle

Seeing the many steps in the process, Mari had a sense that sake-brewing really is a crystallization of the carefully cultivated skills and experience of the brewer, combined with the blessings of the earth, water, and even air. And now that she knows how good Saijo’s sake is, she’ll be sure to have some whenever she’s in Hiroshima or spots it on the men or store shelf elsewhere in Japan.

Brewery information
Saijo Tsuru / 西條鶴
Address: Hiroshima-ken, Higashi Hiroshima-shi, Saijo Honmachi 9-17
広島県東広島市西条本町9-17
Website
English tour information

Related: Tales of the Sake Brewery Experience Tour (includes schedules and pricing)
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We take part in a T-Rex race at Nara, Japan, turns out to be a wet and wild event

Extinct theropods take over Unesco World Heritage Site for a race like no other.

A lot of trends from America have caught on in Japan, and one of the most recent is the T-Rex race. Since it first appeared here in April 2022 about 40 events have taken place, and as more and more people discover the sense of fun and stress-relief that comes from donning a bright T-Rex costume, the event has been steadily growing in popularity and regularity.

Our reporter K. Masami has long been wanting to take part in a race herself, and she got the opportunity to do that recently in her home prefecture of Nara, when an event took place at Heijo Palace, an ancient imperial palace that is now a Unesco World Heritage Site.

▼ The only thing she needed to prepare before the event was the 1,800-yen (US$11.89) participation fee and the all-important costume.

Event participants are able to rent a T-Rex costume when they take part, but Masami wanted to own hers, so she bought one on Amazon Japan for 4,399 yen. It came complete with an air pump for inflation, so when it arrived on her doorstep, she took it out to the venue a few days before the event and stepped inside it for a practice run.

▼ A literal practice run.

The outfit was easier to get into than she thought it would be — all she had to do was step into it, zip it up, and attach the pump to the hole under the left armpit, essentially blowing herself up to dinosauric proportions.

She’d never worn a costume like this in her life, and she was happy to find that it was light and easy to move around in. She could see clearly through the plastic window in front of her face, and although her stride length was slightly shortened by the outfit, she was able to walk in pretty much the same way as usual.

After her practice run, she felt more confident about participating, but when the day of the race arrived, it was pouring with rain. Though the organisers had announced that the event would be cancelled in the event of heavy rain, the downpour was deemed to be dino-safe, so she gathered her spirits, grabbed her costume, and her photographer friend to take photos, and headed down to the venue.

The day may have been gloomy, but the atmosphere certainly wasn’t, because when she took her place in line with the other colourful dinosaurs, she could sense the excitement in the air. They were even enthusiastic about the rain too, as she overheard comments along the lines of, “This’ll make for an even better memory!” and “This’ll be a great experience.”

▼ This was one happy bunch of dinos.

There were dinosaurs of all shapes, sizes and abilities present, and it soon became clear to Masami that the goal of the get-together wasn’t necessarily to win but to simply participate and have fun. This realisation lifted a weight off Masami’s shoulders, and she really began to get into the spirit of things, even laughing loudly at herself in the costume as she snapped photos from inside it and walked with her dino friends to the race venue at Suzakumon Square.

It was really pelting down now, but Masami was nice and dry in the T-Rex costume, which acted like the best raincoat she’d ever worn.

▼ Life would be seriously brighter if everybody wore these in the rain.

Masami’s friend snapped the following photos and videos of Masami, whose bright orange costume blended into the crowd of dinos. One of the biggest laughs from both participants and onlookers came when the dinosaurs took part in a spot of Radio Taiso to limber up in preparation for the run.

▼ Scroll through to see more photos and videos of the T-Rex gathering!

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A post shared by Kinoshita_Masami (@masami_1010)

After the warm-up, the competition began, with races split up into categories like adult males, adult females, older adults over 60 years old, and children. Masami, who describes herself as someone with zero athletic ability, lost her race, but she was able to cross the finish line without falling in the rain, and had plenty of laughs doing it, so in the end she felt like a winner.

After two hours of races in the increasingly heavy rain, the top T-Rexes were eventually declared and awarded with prizes at a fun ceremony. Then it was time for everyone to strip off their dino suits and return to their human forms.

After it was all over, Masami felt strangely happy and basked in the afterglow of her dino experience for the rest of the day. It was a lot more fun than she’d anticipated, and, as it turns out, highly addictive, so she’s glad she bought the dino suit instead of renting it, because now she’s stepped into the word of T-Rex racing, she’ll be returning to race again another day!

Related: T-Rex Race
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Tokyo Secret Eats: Shibuya City staff cafeteria serves Hachiko soba to visitors

A hidden gem enjoyed by public servants…and visitors in the know!  

Visitor guides to Japan contain a lot of restaurant recommendations, but if you really want to know the best places to go, it pays to ask a local like our roving reporter Seiji Nakazawa.

After years of eating out in Tokyo, Seiji has built up a vast knowledge bank of secret gems, and some of his best finds have turned out to be staff cafeterias. These eateries can be found in a large number of office buildings, but not a lot of people know about them, as they’re designed to serve employees who work within the building. However, though they primarily function as staff cafeterias, they’re also open to the public, and because of the employee demographic, the meals are budget priced, making them some of the best deals around town.

One such cafeteria is located at the Shibuya Ward office, and the name it goes by — Hachiko Soba — is a heartwarming nod to the ward’s famous dog, Hachiko, who waited at Shibuya Station every day for his dead master to return.

▼ The Shibuya Ward office

Any reference to Hachiko fills the heart with fondness, and here at Hachiko Soba, the noodles will fill your belly with fondness too.

There’s plenty to choose from on the menu, and there are limited-edition specials as well, which makes it fun for diners who visit on a regular basis.

Despite visiting in March, the eatery still had two winter-only specials available, with one containing cold noodles and the other hot.

▼ The seasonal special is the “旨辛肉”, or “Delicious Spicy Meat”.

Seiji couldn’t resist trying the cold version, which cost 940 yen (US$6.21) before tax and 1,050 yen after tax.

Seiji loves a bit of heat, so as he slurped up his first mouthful of noodles and broth, he was looking forward to a tongue tingle.

▼ However, the tongue tingle didn’t come.

Thinking they might’ve dialled down the spiciness to please the palates of the office workers, Seiji took a big sip of the broth, and then found himself immediately reaching for his glass of water.

▼ This was a spicy broth!

The heat was delayed, but when it hit, it attacked his taste buds with a fierce intensity. This only served to highlight the importance of the noodles in helping to balance out the flavour and shield his precious taste buds, but despite the heat, it was delicious, and once his palate had adjusted to the spice level, he became addicted to the taste, slurping up every last mouthful.

▼ When he finished his meal, he ordered two pieces of fried chicken (250 yen) to help soothe his mouth from the heat.

While the winter special might be too spicy for some, for spice lovers like Seiji it was a fantastic find, and one he wholeheartedly recommends to other spice lords around town. However, if you don’t like hot food, there are plenty of other great dishes on the menu, including the juwari soba that contains noodles made from 100-percent buckwheat flour. At only 390 yen, you’d be hard pressed to find noodles this good at such a cheap price point in Tokyo, and he highly recommends it for first-timers.

Restaurant information
Shibuya Hachiko Soba / 渋谷ハチ公そば
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Udagawa-cho 1-1
東京都渋谷区宇田川町1-1
Open: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Closed: Saturday & Sunday

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Japanese chiffon sandwiches are a treat worth travelling for

Move aside fruit sandwiches, the chiffon sandwich is in town!

Many regions around Japan are known for different things, and up in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, the city is known for its large number of research facilities and related buildings.

One of those buildings is the Tsukuba Expo Centre, a science museum with impressive hands-on exhibits, a life-sized H-II rocket model and one of the world’s largest planetariums.

Despite all these claims to fame, for many, the real drawcard is the cafe, where you’ll find some very unusual sandwiches.

▼ The cafe has an interior designed to resemble the inside of a rocket ship.

As its adjacent to the Expo Centre, you don’t have to pay the admission fee to eat here, so the place is popular with both visitors and locals, many of whom come here for…

▼…the Chiffon Sandwiches.

Part cake, part sandwich, these are unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, and they look just as good in real life as they do on the menu.

Chiffon cakes might have a reputation for being soft and dainty, but the ones here are heavyweight hitters, with the most popular one containing a whole baked sweet potato.

Served with a generous serving of whipped cream, this treat makes for a hefty meal, but it also has a beautiful melt-in-the-mouth texture and a surprisingly delicate flavour that makes it easy to eat.

The sweet potato is locally sourced from Namegata City in Ibaraki Prefecture, and it’s incredibly moreish, adding a rich depth of flavour to the cake.

▼ The vial of maple syrup helps to enhance all the flavours, making every mouthful a delicious one.

The chiffon sandwich is so good you might be tempted to order the cheesecake and banana varieties as well, but those looking for slightly healthier meal can opt for savoury sandwiches like the BLT Caesar Sandwich (690 yen [US$4.56]).

Both the savoury and sweet sandwiches are high-quality meals worth travelling for, and the Chiffon Sandwiches are so good they ought to become a specialty of the prefecture…along with Ibaraki’s green takoyaki octopus balls!

Restaurant information
Rocket Base
Address: Ibaraki-ken, Tsukuba-shi, Azuma 2-9, Tsukuba Expo Centre
茨城県つくば市吾妻2-9 つくばエキスポセンター
Open 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Closed Monday to Friday (open on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays)
Website

Related: Tsukuba Expo Centre , Instagram/@rocketbase.sand
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New famous food of Akihabara! Reiwa garlic chive ramen is delicious two times per meal

Trying out a hot-topic nira soba.

Maybe it’s because he watches a lot of food-related videos when he’s browsing the web, but our Japanese-language reporter P.K. Sanjun’s social media feed is always full of tasty-looking grub. Out of that tasty grub, recently it’s garlic chive ramen, also called nira soba, that’s been grabbing his eyes

Looking at the vibrant green of the garlic chives contrasted with the bright yellow yolk of the egg dropped in the bowl, P.K. couldn’t imagine nira soba isn’t delicious, and so he dashed off to try what he says is being called a new famous item of Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood: the Reiwa Nira Soba at ramen restaurant Hyakunen Honpo.

As Japanese foodies already know, nira soba itself isn’t a particularly new kind of food. Ramen topped with minced garlic chives is something that’s been on the menu at popular Chinese restaurants in Japan for a long time.

But the name of the dish at Hyakunen Honpo is Reiwa Nira Soba, as in Reiwa, the name of the new Japanese imperial calendar era. How would it be different from the nira soba of the previous Heisei and Showa era? P.K. was very curious.

It seems that Reiwa Nira Soba was supposed to be a limited-time menu item. It proved so popular, though, that Hyakunen Honpo promoted it to permanent-menu status. Even still, because it uses so many garlic chives, the Reiwa Nira Soba is limited to just 15 orders a day. It comes in two styles, with broth or without, and both cost 1,380 yen (US$9.25).

▼ Hyakunen Honpo

P.K. arrived at Hyakunen Honpo a little after 11 a.m. Even at that time, he could see that over half the customers inside had ordered the Reiwa Nira Soba. It was, as he’d expected, a kind of ramen that’s getting a lot of attention.

P.K. ordered the no-broth version, but whether your order it with broth or without, it comes with a side of ginger rice that they bring to you.

Also, of you ask the staff in advance…

<SIZZLE!>

Yes, as you can see, a key point is that for the finishing touch, they pour hot beef tallow onto the Reiwa Nira Soba. If you ask them in advance, they’ll let you know when they’re going to do it so you can take pictures (unless it’s too crowded and busy for them to wait for you to get your camera ready).

Well, there it was in front of P.K., the Reiwa Nira Soba with its green garlic chives and yellow egg yolk stimulating his appetite! You don’t just get minced garlic chives, but even garlic chive paste around the bottom of the egg.

He started eating right away, and of course, the flavor of the garlic chives was incredible! So strong! A lot of the garlic chives get tangled up in the broad, medium-thickness noodles, so it’s a flavor overflowing with wildness.

There’s no broth, but there is a soy-based sauce at the very bottom of the bowl, but the aroma and crunchy texture of the garlic chives makes their flavor permeate everything. It seems they use an entire bunch of garlic chives for each bowl.

Another great thing about the Reiwa Nira Soba is that you can put some of the garlic chives on the ginger rice to make a niradon, or garlic chives rice bowl. This is obviously delicious! This nira soba is delicious twice in the same meal – that’s what makes it Reiwa Nira Soba.

Even though it’s a permanent menu item, with only 15 orders available each day, this is not an easy ramen to get. But P.K. says the deliciousness is deserving of being called a new famous food of Akihabara, so for those of you who are interested, how about going to Hyakunen Honpo to try it?

Restaurant information
Hyakunen Honpo / 百年本舗
Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Soto Kanda 3-8-9
東京都千代田区外神田3-8-9
Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Website

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We try super rare Shizuoka food souvenirs in the form of blue gelato and purple baumkuchen

There’s only one place you can get these…and it’s nowhere on land!

The Izu Peninsula is a popular travel destination for many domestic tourists in Japan, known for its fresh seafood, hot springs, gorgeous ocean and mountain scenery, and of course, its views of Mt. Fuji. But though it’s part of Shizuoka Prefecture, Izu is separated from many of the prefecture’s major cities by Suruga Bay, so getting there can be time-consuming. For example, traveling from Shizuoka City, which is in central Shizuoka, to the sleepy port of Toi on the Izu Peninsula’s west coast, takes an hour and 42 minutes by car and nearly three hours by train.

There is, however, a faster way to go. The Suruga Bay Ferry crosses Suruga Bay between Shimizu Port on the coastal edge of Shizuoka City to Toi Port in just 75 minutes, and cars can be driven right onto the ferry, so it’s an easy way for those living in central Japan and western Shizuoka to visit the Izu Peninsula.

Unfortunately, despite being based in Shizuoka, our Japanese-language reporter Maro never really gets chance to board the ferry because life too often gets in the way of travel. But the other day when she heard that there are super rare Shizuoka food souvenirs that only ferry riders can buy…Well, she just had to make the trip, didn’t she? For journalism, of course.

Since the Suruga Bay ferries aren’t cruise ships or tourists boats, they don’t have any amusement facilities to entertain yourself with during the crossing, but what they do have are rows of souvenir shops. When Maro stopped in, there weren’t very many people shopping, which was a shame because they were missing out on these two beauties:

Souvenirs you can’t buy anywhere on land! They’re both items made by famous Shizuoka companies in collaboration with Suruga Bay Ferries, so they’re only available for purchase on board.

The first is Suruga Bay Gelato (400 yen [US$2.64]) made by Nanaya, a Japanese tea specialty shop, which also has a store in the Aoyama neighborhood of Tokyo.

Nanaya is famous for making “the world’s richest matcha gelato” as well as matcha chocolates with the strongest green tea flavor possible. This gelato, however, is not matcha-flavored and is instead “Salted Milk” flavored, which is presumably a leveled-up version of the thick, creamy, sweet flavor “milk” ice cream is famous for.

The color is the main draw, however. It’s been dyed a beautiful powder blue color that represents the waters of Suruga Bay by using powdered butterfly pea flowers.

The Salted Milk flavor was really refreshing, although it was slightly incongruous with the color of the gelato. It would be lovely to eat on deck as you feel the ocean breeze on your skin and watch the water flow by. Unfortunately it was raining when Maro went, so she didn’t get to have that experience.

The other super rare souvenir is a baumkuchen cake called “223 Baum” (1,080 yen), which is made by Yataro Group, a sweets and bread company.

“223” is the number of the ferry’s route, and in this case it’s supposed to be read “fu-ji-san”, which is the Japanese name for Mt. Fuji. Since you can see Mt. Fuji from the deck of the boat on nice-weather days, Maro found this to be a very clever name with lots of nuance.

The top of the baumkuchen was coated in a purple-blue jelly-like coating colored with butterfly peas. The jelly itself had a sourness to it, so it was the perfect way to draw out the sweetness of the baumkuchen.

The cake itself also had the signature moistness of Yataro Group’s baumkuchen and was, as always, delicious. Since it came accented by the butterfly pea jelly, Maro thought she liked it more than most baumkuchen you can find on the market!

These kinds of super local souvenirs can be hit or miss, but these two are definitely hits. How could they not be, when made by such well-respected companies? It’s almost a shame that they’re only available aboard the ferry, but on the flip side, if you bring these home from your trip, you’re sure to impress your friends, family, and coworkers, since they’re super rare products from very famous companies. Even Shizuoka locals will fawn over your special souvenirs!

By the way, Toi has a pretty cool tourist attraction known as the Toi Gold Mine, where Maro got lucky and struck gold…So it’s worth visiting the town whether you take the ferry or not!

Related: Suruga Bay Ferries
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Love Sugar Butter Sandwich Trees? There’s a flavor limited to Haneda Airport that you must try!

Browned Fermented Butter has to be full of buttery goodness, right?!

If you’re looking for Tokyo food souvenirs to bring home to friends and family when traveling out of Japan or to another part of Japan, one great option is the Sugar Butter Sandwich Tree. With a milky sweet white chocolate filling between crispy cookies, this is a delicious treat that just about everyone loves.

Our Japanese-language reporter Yui Imai, who often works out of Taipei, is a big fan of Sugar Butter Sandwich Trees and often buys them for herself when she’s in Japan, but she recently learned some very exciting news: Haneda Airport souvenir shops sell a special, Haneda-only flavor!

They’re “Browned Fermented Butter” flavor, and they’re so popular that over 700,000 units sold in just three months. Apparently, the cookie dough is made with plentiful amounts of fermented butter from France, and the filling contains 1.3 times more chocolate than usual. Yui couldn’t help but be intrigued, so on her next pass through Haneda Airport, she decided to check the limited flavor out.

Apparently, you can find them in Tokusen Yougashikan, a souvenir shop in Terminal 1, and Tokyo Shokuhinkan in Terminal 2, which is where Yui found hers. They come in packs of four, eight, and 12, as well as in variety packs with other popular sweets. Yui bought a pack of eight for 1,296 yen (US$8.56). Apparently they stay fresh for up to three months after purchasing, so you can buy a lot and they’ll keep just fine (in case you want to stock up before your next flight).

The box is decorated with the kanji characters for Haneda Airport as well as an airplane, so there’s no mistaking that this is an airport souvenir.

Inside, eight sandwich cookies in fancy-looking golden packages were neatly lined up in the box’s bottom tray.

It looked really nice!

Yui couldn’t wait to open one up.

The cookies had a beautiful browning to them that made them look utterly delicious. The white chocolate filling inside also looked decadent.

With a snap, Yui cracked it cleanly in half. Mannn…Her mouth watered at the sight.

▼ “Itadakimasu!”

The moment it touched her tongue, a soft, buttery flavor overtook her senses. The fermented butter was so aromatic! And the milky sweetness of the chocolate only served to level it up. It was such a decadent flavor that Yui couldn’t get enough. This might be her favorite kind of Sugar Butter Sandwich Tree yet.

If someone wanted to gift these to her, she would be utterly delighted. Not only are they buttery and delicious, but they also have a sense of specialness to them, since you can only get them at Haneda Airport. If no one does buy them for her, Yui would be all too happy to buy them for herself each time she passes through Haneda Airport, and while she’s there, she’ll be sure to pick up some Sugar Butter Sandwich Tree KitKats as well!

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All-Noodle Artisan Marugame udon restaurant operating in Tokyo, only 30 percent pass test

Marugame has over 800 branches in Japan, but right now this is the best one.

Rain was falling in Tokyo’s Kanda neighborhood, and our Japanese-language reporter Tasuku Egawa was hungry. While thinking of what he wanted to eat, he spotted a branch of udon noodle restaurant chain Marugame.

Wait, something was strange. The sign didn’t say 丸亀製麺, meaning “Marugame Noodles,” like it does at the chain’s regular branches. Instead, it said 丸亀製麺所, or “Marugame Noodle-making Place.”

As for what makes this branch special right now, it’s that all members of the staff are certified by Marugame as Noodle Artisans, or “Menshokunin,” as they’re called within the company.

In order to become Noodle Artisans, the employees must pass a test, proving their skills as udon specialists. Only around 30 percent of the applicants pass, which is around the same percentage that pass the entrance exam to the University of Tokyo, Japan’s most prestigious institute of higher learning.

At Marugame branches, you can spot the Noodle Artisans by their navy blue uniform collar, and sure enough, every employee in this branch has one! They’re all aces of their profession.

On the day Tasuku stopped by the restaurant, there were Noodle Artisans who’d come from Hokkaido and Hiroshima working. Watching them forming the noodles by hand, Tasuku could see that their movements were sharper and more precise than what he’s used to seeing at other Marugame branches. The Noodle Artisans seem to be on a whole other level. In technical terms, he says you could think of them as the ultimate form of Marugame noodle makers.

As of the end of February, 2024, Marugame has 838 branches in Japan. Out of all of them, this branch, with its all-Noodle Artisans, should be the most delicious of them all, so Tasuku was glad he decided to come in. After looking over the menu, he decided to order the Sanshu no Kiki Udon, which gives you three bowls of different kinds of udon for 500 yen (US$3.35).

The set includes kameage udon, where the noodles are served in a bucket-like bowl. It also has kake udon, served in a bonito stock broth, and shoyu udon, cold udon served dry with a soy sauce dip to dunk them in before each bite.

Also, since a fresh batch of tempura had just been fried up, he added three pieces to his meal.

His first photo of his food didn’t turn out too great, because of all the steam rising of the noodles and fogging up his camera lens. After wiping it off, though, the shot came out much clearer and delicious-looking.

First he tried the kameage udon.

Oh, the noodles were certainly nice and chewy, and very delicious! The noodles here aren’t shocked in cold water after cooking to tighten them up. They tasted even better than they do at regular Marugame branches, so it felt like there really is something to this all-Noodle Artisan arrangement.

Next, the kake udon.

These had a distinctly different texture from the kameage udon. Ah, it must be because they’re shocked in cold water, Tasuku thought. It really does make a big difference, he felt. It was as a big a difference to him as between eating spaghetti and linguini.

And last, he tried the shoyu udon, which is only available at select Marugame branches.

Their texture is very slippery, with a firm outer layer but chewy center! It must be because they are shocked in cold water after cooking, and still chilled when they’re served. Tasuku was newly impressed by the versatility of udon.

Because udon is a simple dish, before his meal Tasuku expected all three types of them to feel very similar. Eating them one after another in succession like this, though, the differences were far beyond what he had imagined. It was very intriguing, almost like he’d gone to an udon theme park, or had conducted a fun science experiment!

Tasuku felt very satisfied and privileged to have been able to eat udon made by a team entirely of Noodle Artisans, and had a sensation that his appreciation of udon had risen to a higher level. It had been a good meal and a good experience, and he recommends it to anyone who’s looking for a place to eat in this part of Tokyo.

Editor’s note: Tasuku either didn’t notice or was too deep in his food coma to mention, but the all-Noodle Artisan staff at this branch of Marugame is a limited-time event that runs until March 31, after which the Artisans will return to their respective regional branches.

Restaurant information

Marugame Seimen (Kanda Ogawamachi branch) / 丸亀製麺神田小川町
Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Kanda Ogawamachi 3-3
東京都千代田区神田小川町３丁目３
Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (Monday-Thursday), 11 a.m.-8 p.m. (Friday-Saturday)

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