Twentythree

No new park is coming, but there are still some exciting developments in store for Tokyo Disney!

Last year word got out that Oriental Land, the company that owns the rights to Tokyo Disney Resort, was planning a 300 billion-yen (US$2.6-million) expansion of the Tokyo Disney park area. Many Disney fans held on to the hope that they were using that money to build a whole new third park, in addition to the already thriving Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea.

Sadly, that turned out to be only a rumor, because it’s recently been announced that instead that money will be used on additions to the resort area as well as to both of the existing parks.

▼ Tokyo Disney recently celebrated its 35th Anniversary.

On November 28, the company unveiled plans to build a new hotel in Tokyo Disney Resort, which will be themed off of the Disney/Pixar film Toy Story, possibly one of the most beloved Disney franchises of all time. The entire hotel will be designed from the inside out to look like it’s made up of toys, as if each guest has stepped into the world of Woody and Buzz Lightyear. Even the garden and the exterior of the building will apparently be decked out Toy Story style!

Each of the rooms will be decorated like Andy’s room, and will be filled with colorful furniture and decorations. In spite of the fact that they are part of a resort hotel, Oriental Land has said that the rooms will be very affordable because they will be of a standardized size.

The building is expected to be 11 stories tall, with an extra basement level, and will have as many as 600 rooms, which is plenty of space to accommodate the growing number of visitors to Tokyo Disney. There will, of course, also be specialized restaurants, which makes it all the more exciting for Disney fans. It’s expected to be finished in 2021, so keep your eyes peeled for future announcements!

▼ With a new Toy Story moving coming out next summer, the announcement comes with pretty good timing!

That’s not the only news Oriental Land announced, either; part of the 300 billion yen update also includes new areas for both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea parks! That means new rides, new restaurants, new shows, and new photo opportunities for all to enjoy. They haven’t announced what the themes for the new areas will be yet, but they did say that the one in Tokyo Disneyland will be opening in 2020, perhaps in time for the Olympics, while Disney Sea’s will open in 2022.

With such exciting developments on the way, it makes me want to book my Christmas and New Year’s plans at Tokyo Disney this year. I wonder what kind of holiday festivities the new sections will hold?

Source: NariNari.com
Top/Featured Image: YouTube/Disney Pixar

Self-controlled robo guard scans for dangerous individuals and suspicious packages, would probably look adorable with a police officer’s uniform.

The morning started off like any other. We got up, hopped on the train to go to SoraNews24 headquarters, and when we got off at Seibu Shinjuku Station, at first nothing looked out of the ordinary.

But the station sounded different. No, it wasn’t filled with the squeals of adoring fangirls swooning over posters of our ace reporter Mr. Sato (those were only up at Seibu Ikebukuro Station). Instead, mixed in with the murmurs and footsteps of our fellow commuters we could hear a clear yet mechanical voice repeatedly saying “Security patrol in progress. Security patrol in progress.”

And then we saw this.

Japan is the cosplay capital of the world, and at first we thought this might be an overzealous costumer who just couldn’t wait until next month’s winter Comiket to show off his outfit. It turns out, though, that that’s an honest-to-goodness security robot patrolling one of Tokyo’s most important rail hubs.

This isn’t a remote-controlled land drone, either. The Perseusbot, as it’s officially called, moves autonomously, thanks to technology jointly developed by Seibu Railway, the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Institute, and Japanese artificial intelligence firms Earth Eyes and Nihon Unisys. As it patrols its territory, the Perseusbot scans the area with its onboard camera and also analyzes images sent to it by the facility’s preexisting installed security cameras, searching for humans moving aggressively or dangerously as well as suspicious unattended packages.

▼ The Perseusbot has a bit of a paunch, which makes us wonder if it also scans for snacks.

However, while the security robot is capable of detecting problems on its own, it leaves threat response up to flesh-and-blood colleagues. When it spots someone or something dangerous, it sends a notification to the facility’s human security staff, so there’s no need to worry about it shooting death rays or shocking you with a stun baton if you look at it cockeyed.

▼ Seeing it standing guard in front of a Starbucks sign has us wondering if, unlike carbon-based law-enforcement officers in Japan, the Perseusbot is allowed to consume beverages while on duty.

The robot is still undergoing field testing, so that the developers can gauge its capabilities and also the effect it has on pedestrian traffic flow. Since its systems aren’t completely finalized yet, when we came across the Perseusbot it was being followed by a group of researchers.

▼ Making it look like it’s got its own celebrity entourage

The Seibu Shinjuku Station test run ended on November 30, but given the rail operator’s involvement in the project, it’s probably only a matter of time until we run into one again. Hopefully it’ll be more understanding of our writers’ periodically bizarre appearance than the human Tokyo cops.

Reference: Seibu Railway, Asahi Shimbun
Photos ©SoraNews24

If you’ve ever wanted to eat Jack Skellington’s face, now is the time to do it.

Tokyo’s Disney Parks are famous for being decked out for the holidays. They have special parades, decorations, and events. But any Disney Park lover knows that it’s all about the food. Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea restaurants feature special holiday menus that help you get into the spirit of whatever holiday it is and celebrate with your favorite Disney characters.

The SoraNews24 team made trips to both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea to see what was special about this year’s Christmas menus. What we found did not disappoint us.

At Tokyo Disneyland, we found this Jack Skellington Sandwich Set (1,050 yen [US$9.23]) at the Sweetheart Cafe in the World Bazaar. It includes a Jack sandwich, grape jelly, and a soft drink of your choosing.

▼ The sandwich had teriyaki chicken, egg, cheese, and veggies inside. It filled up our stomachs perfectly!

It’s been around since Halloween, but since The Nightmare Before Christmas covers both Halloween and Christmas, it makes sense.

At Disney Sea, you can enjoy a nice and cheesy sausage (with a bone) for 400 yen. You can also pair it with a Hot Rosé Wine Cocktail for 680 yen. You can find both of these items at Barnacle Bill’s in the American Water Front area.

▼ The dried orange balances out the sweet flavor and makes it look totally Instagrammable.

We also went for the special dinner set at Café Portofino. For 1,880 yen, you can choose between shrimp and tomato cream linguini or pancetta and mushroom cream sauce linguini. The set also includes a soft drink, italian meatball chowder, and a piece of strawberry and pistachio cake.

▼ While there’s nothing particularly Christmas-like about the pasta dishes, the chowder has a festive red swirl.

▼ But it’s the dessert that takes the (holiday spirit) cake.

Besides restaurants, you can also find some edible Christmas goodies in souvenir shops. There’s a chocolate and raspberry crumble cake that comes with an adorable plate for 780 yen.

▼ Mickey and Minnie look adorable covered in snow!

And there’s a holiday souvenir cup with apple jelly and mixed berry mousse inside (also 780 yen).

▼ The classic red is paired perfectly with colorful ornaments and Disney characters.

Tokyo Disney Parks are decked out for the holidays until December 25. Enjoy all the Christmas spirit they have to offer on their menus before time runs out!

Images ©SoraNews24

Tokyo court rules that reposting dialogue alone would have been enough for it to rule in manga publisher’s favor.

In October, Shogakukan, one of Japan’s largest manga publishers, filed a complaint in a Tokyo district court regarding six videos uploaded to YouTube. The videos contained images and text reprints from Ushijima the Loan Shark, a series currently running in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits weekly comic anthology.

The complaint argues that the videos, edited in such a way as to function as a recap of the manga’s recent chapters, are a violation of the publisher’s copyright and acting as a substitute for the actual product, thus causing the company financial harm. On November 27, the court ruled in favor of Shogakukan, issuing an order of provisional disposition commanding YouTube to provide account information to aid the authorities in identifying the uploader. Once their identity is confirmed, Shogakukan says it plans to pursue both civil and criminal charges against him or her.

What’s more, the court implied that it would still have ruled in favor of Shogakukan, even if the videos hadn’t gone as far as they actually did. The court confirmed its position that even without the presence of art lifted from the comics, the direct and exact reprinting of its dialogue alone, even in pure text form, would have constituted a misuse of Shogakukan’s intellectual property.

Again, though, it’s worth bearing in mind that while media reports from Japan refer to the offending videos and others of their type as “spoiler videos,” this particular lawsuit isn’t a case of Shogakukan going after a fan or reviewer for just talking about the work and revealing plot points. Instead, it’s an example of a publisher going after someone for reprinting its product while offering no sort of commentary or discussion, serving no purpose other than to act as a substitute to buying the product. As such, it doesn’t seem like the company is looking to send out cease and desist orders to anyone who’s blabbing about what happens in the latest issues of their manga, so long as they do so in their own words.

Source: Anime! Anime! via Anime News Network/Jennifer Sherman, NHK News Web, The Sankei News
Top image: Pakutaso

Limited-edition bottle celebrates the upcoming Year of the Boar.

Over the years, Coca-Cola has been producing some of its most unusual and sought-after bottles in Japan, with locals and visitors scrambling to get their hands on all the limited-edition varieties, especially the stunning regional-exclusive releases.

The famous brand also does big business with its seasonal packaging, bringing out fall leaf designs in autumn and cherry blossom bottles in spring. Last year, they released a New Year’s design for the start of 2018 and now Coca-Cola have just announced they’ll be continuing the tradition with a 2019 bottle too.

Featuring the festive white, red, and gold colours of a Japanese New Year, the design will be adorned with a variety of plum blossoms, which are often used as decorations during the New Year period. A symbol of beauty and an early harbinger of spring that people look forward to seeing in January and February, these plum blossoms add a celebratory element to the new coke bottle, making it perfect for festive get-togethers.

According to Coca-Cola, the glossy, brightly coloured finish on the bottle also serves to resemble the exquisite cloth of a kimono, which many people choose to wear when attending traditional events and festivities at the start of the year.

Seeing as 2019 is the Year of the Boar, Coca-Cola have decided to add a wild pig into the design as well. The animal is carefully hidden amongst the blossoms, though, so people can have fun searching for it!

▼ Can you spot the boar in the design?

If you’re still searching for the wild boar and don’t want any spoilers, then look away now because we’ve got the answer for you coming up in 3…

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▼ The golden boar’s hiding spot has been circled in the image below. Were you able to find it?

The new bottles will retail for 125 yen (US$1.10) and be available for a limited time at stores around the country from 3 December.

Source, images: Coca-Cola Japan