Voices of Frieza, Spike Spiegel, and Edward Elric have something to say.
This week,Koichi Yamadera (the voice of Cowboy Bebop’s Spike Spiegel), Romi Park (Fullmetal Alchemist’s Edward Elric), Ryusei Nakao (Dragon Ball’s Frieza), and 23 other prominent anime voice actors and actresses announced a new project they’re collaborating on. If that sounds like way too large a cast for an initial cast reveal for a new anime project, you’re right, because they weren’t announcing a new animated TV series of theatrical feature, but instead a collective stance against unauthorized use of performers’ voices by generative AI.
The awareness project, which is called “No More Unauthorized Generative AI” (or “No More Mudan Seisei AI,” in Japanese), has posted a video to its YouTube channel, with Nakao making the opening statement.
“Someone was selling my voice without permission. I was shocked. Our voices are our livelihoods. They are our lives. Please listen to how it makes us, as voice actors, feel when our voices are used without permission for generative AI,” says Nakao, followed by the 26 members of the project shouting in unison “No more unauthorized Generative AI!”
Those feelings are expanded upon in a press release from the group, which says:
Readings and songs that we have no memory of recording, and our voices themselves, have been uploaded to the Internet, sometimes being offered for sale. Our voices are our livelihoods. They are our lives, an important part of who we are that we have grown up with. Even if these uploads are coming from fans who want to hear more of our voices, it brings us no joy for our voices to be used without permission.
New technologies are likely to bestow great benefits upon humanity in the future, but at the same time, we want all of us, together, to broaden our perspective to consider each other’s feelings, what kind of culture that future will have, and discuss how those technologies will be used. We have created this video as a way to start that process.
Rather than hurtful words and retaliation, we hope to create cultural rules through peaceful discussions with the involvement of experts in order to see eye-to-eye, to protect the fertile soil in which good works can be created for the next 10, the next 20 years.
No More Unauthorized Generative AI’s statement comes less than a month after Aoni Production, one of Japan’s highest-profile talent agencies for anime voice actors and actresses, said it will be entering into a partnership with AI company CoeFont to create AI versions of the voices of a number of its performers, including the voice of Dragon Ball’s Goku, Masako Nozawa, for applications in “non-acting” projects. It’s worth noting, though, that No More Unauthorized Generative AI’s message is centered on unauthorized (and by extension non-compensated) use, and isn’t being framed as a blanket indictment of replicating performers’ voices using AI.
The complete list of voice performers currently part of the project consists of Michihiro Ikemizu, Yoji Ueda, Yuko Kaida, Yuki Kaji, Tomie Kataoka, Mika Kanai, Kujira, Shuhei Sakaguchi, Chika Sakamoto, Shunsuke Sakuys, Yuko Sasaki, Bin Shimada, Yu Shimamura, Tarusuke Shinkagi, Toshihiko Seki, Ryota Takeuchi, Hiroki Touchi, Ryusei Nakao, Joji Nakata, Daisuke Namikawa, Romi Park, Rika Fukami, Juna Fukuyama, Katsuhisa Hoki, Mitsuru Miyamoto, and Koichi Yamadera. The members plan to release individual videos expressing their personal feelings on the unauthorized use of voices for generative AI as well.
Sip the flavors of nostalgia in this Showa-era cafe that’s also a way to beat the lines at one of Tokyo’s most popular bakeries.
While young Japanese people might rave about the latest Starbucks drink, a hidden gem lies in the past: the charming junkissa. In Japanese, the traditional word for “cafe” is kissaten (literally “a shop in which to drink tea”). With jun meaning “pure,” a junkissa is a place to focus solely on the enjoyment of tea/coffee, and we recently discovered a great junkissa that’s still in business in downtown Tokyo.
Why then was the jun designation necessary? There used to be another type of coffee shop called tokushu (“special”) kissa, which also served alcohol offered female companionship and eventually transformed into the current-era hostess bars. With tokushu kissa no longer a thing kissaten is generally taken to just mean “coffee shop,” so when cafe fans call a place a junkissa it’s a sign of approval of a coffee shop that exudes an especially inviting retro atmosphere that encourages customers to relax and enjoy their beverages. While they serve food, they usually don’t have the extensive variety that many of the more modern cafes have on offer.
Our junkissa discovery occurred in Tokyo’s Taito Ward, just outside Asakusabashi Station’s west exit. It’s important to note that this station is different to Asakusa Station, which has the famous Sensoji temple nearby. Asakusabashi is a few stops away on the Asakusa subway line, or one stop from the holy land of anime, Akihabara, on the Chuo-Sobu train line.
The cafe is called Smell, a name that hints at the delightful aroma of their coffee. It was first established in the 1950s in Chuo Ward before ending up in its current location opposite the train tracks, it’s a shop with a genuine atmosphere of Japan’s Showa period, in stark contrast to the chain stores surrounding it.
Modern cafe chains in Tokyo have been shrinking or eliminating their smoking sections in recent years, but Smell still allows smoking throughout the cafe. The staff will bring an ashtray over to your table along with a glass of water. So be prepared to share the space with fellow customers enjoying a smoke alongside their drinks.
Surrounding the tables are wooden walls and leather seating. The interior of the cafe overflows with features typical of the Showa era, creating a cozy atmosphere to relax in. It’s a perfect spot to experience the aesthetic of a bygone era.
Since its original opening, Smell has had a friendly relationship with famous local bakery Pelican. Pelican’s bread is so popular that lines for it often form in the morning before the bakery has even opened, and it regularly sells out by noon. If the Battle for Bread is not for you, Smell makes for a great alternative if you want a taste, with offerings like Smell’s cheese omelet toast set (800 yen [US$5.37]), coming with a choice of coffee or tea.
When the toasted sandwich arrives, it comes on a retro-designed plate, with cheese oozing from the sides and looking absolutely mouth-watering.
The sandwich is filled with cheese omelet, cucumber and mayonnaise. The omelet is thin, serving to enhance the flavor of the bread. It is truly an exquisite way to sample Pelican’s product.
The cucumbers also add a nice touch, all combining together to form a taste reminiscent of the Showa era.
The coffee is equally delightful. There’s a mild bitterness and slight acidity, a flavor typical of coffee at a junkissa. The flavor and aroma would surely brighten up a busy morning.
Another charming aspect of the store is its cash-only policy, something that is becoming increasingly rare in the push towards a cashless society. This only adds to its retro appeal. After a cheerful send off by the staff when you leave, you are quickly confronted by the bustling of modern life and find yourself longing to return to the Showa sanctuary from which you just emerged.
As Japan’s biggest and most cosmopolitan city, there’s no shortage of major chain cafes in Tokyo, but we’re always glad when we find unique, smaller stores like junkissa and have a chance to support them too.
Location information
Smell
Address: Tokyo-to, Taito-ku, Asakusabashi 1-24-2
東京都台東区浅草橋1-24-2
Open 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Closed Sundays and holidays
Pelican / パンのペリカン
Address: Tokyo-to, Taito-ku, Kotobuki 4-7-4
東京都台東区寿4-7-4
Open 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (closes early when sold out)
Closed Sundays and certain holidays (Obon and New Years) Website
We take a ride and take advantage of a deal that won’t last forever.
The Chuo Line is one of the Tokyo area’s most useful train lines, connecting downtown rail hubs like Shinjuku and Tokyo Stations with neighborhoods on the western outskirts such as Tachikawa, Hachioji, and Takao. As of this month, the Chuo Line is getting an extra splash of luxury with the introduction of Green Cars, operator Japan Railway Company’s term for first-class carriages, and even better, right now there’s no additional charge to use them!
The Green Cars make up the number 4 and 5 Cars on 12-car trains on the Chuo Rapid Line running between Tokyo Station to the east and as far west as Otsuki and Ome Stations to the west (10-car Chou Line Rapid trains have no Green Cars). The train that we sent our Japanese-language reporter Ahiruneko to check out the Green Car on, though, was starting at Takao Station, a little east of the decidedly more rural Otsuki, so that’s where his journey began.
It’s expected that the highest demand for Green Car seats is going to be on weekends and during commuting hours on weekdays, but Ahiruneko decided to ride at an off-peak time, picking a train scheduled to leave Takao at 10:47 on a weekday. Even still, when he got to the station there were already a few other people waiting at the spot on the platform marked for where the Green Car’s entrance would be once the train arrived.
Right on time, the train pulled up, bearing the orange stripe designating it as a Chuo Line Rapid train and the clover-like Green Car insignia on the high-class carriages.
The Chuo Line Green Cars have a double-decker design, with both a bottom and a top floor. Since you don’t get too many opportunities to walk up a staircase on a train, Ahiruneko opted to ascend the semi-spiral and take a seat on the second floor.
Instead of a regular Chuo Line carriages’ benches parallel to the windows and a wide central space to stand in with overhead hand straps, the Green Car resembles a Shinkansen carriage, with plush, forward-facing seats. Actually, you can have backwards-facing seats if you prefer, as there’s a lever under the seat (at the point circled in the photo below) that allows you to rotate a pair of seats to face the other way, if you’re riding with a group of friends and want to create a pseudo box seat for yourselves.
There’s also a luxurious amount of legroom (plus a literal red carpet)…
…fold-down trays with drink-holding divots…
…and, in the seat Ahiruneko sat in, windows with panoramic views and shade curtains in case the sunshine gets too bright.
The comfortable seats have a reclining function and power plugs built into the armrests, accommodating those who want to relax and those who need to get some work done alike.
Unfortunately, there was a hiccup with JR’s free onboard Wi-Fi on this day, so Ahiruneko was unable to check his work emails, despite having his laptop with him.
Oh well! He’d just have to enjoy the first-class ride without doing any work along the way.
▼ Poor Ahiruneko…
Since he had some extra free time on his hands, he decided to go take a peek at the first-floor seats, which are actually a little below where you get on the train, and so are accessed by stairway too.
The seats on the first floor are the same as the ones on the second, but the windows are straight panes, without the extra bit of wrap-around that the ones on top have, and there was no red carpet, so if you’ve got a choice, we recommend the second-floor seats.
Regardless of which floor you’re on, at the front of the carriage is a monitor letting you know which stations are coming up.
As the train got closer to downtown, more and more passengers started getting on, with some even standing in the aisle and waiting for Green Car seats to open up.
After about 45 minutes, the train pulled into Shinjuku, the closest train station to SoraNews24 headquarters, where Ahiruneko got off.
As he exited the train, he felt an extra spring in his step. While the Green Car doesn’t provide meal services or other airline-like amenities, there’s no question that the nicer seats and extra personal space make it a much more comfortable, less stressful way to get to or from downtown Tokyo, and Ahiruneko felt hardly a fraction of the fatigue his commute to the office ordinarily leaves him with.
Currently, the Chuo Line Rapid’s Green Cars are in a sort of early-access phase, which is why there’s no additional fee (above the standard train fare) to use them right now. JR says that the Chuo Line Green Cars will enter into standard service in the spring of 2025, most likely meaning in late March/early April near the start of the business year, whereupon passengers will be required to purchase a supplementary Green Car ticket to use the special carriages, so now’s the time if you want this taste of luxury without any extra cost.
As the number of foreign tourists to Japan soars to record highs, so to do the number of overseas travellers caught behaving badly during their visits. With higher-than-usual cases being reported, the Japanese media has even coined a term for it, “MeiwakuGaikokujin“, which translates as “Nuisance Foreigner“, and the latest case involves a tourist who was seen doing pull-ups on a torii gate at a Japanese shrine.
The incident was captured on film less than a week ago by the woman doing the pull-ups, who shared the video on social media. According to local news reports, the woman is of Chilean nationality and was visiting Japan for sightseeing with her sister when the two of them stopped by a shrine in Sapporo, the capital city of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost prefecture. This is where one of the sisters pulled herself up on a torii gate and performed dance movements to a popular TikTok song with her chin raised above the lower bar. The other sister also shared a video of herself at the shrine, and she too caused an uproar with viewers as she performed a handstand at the main torii gate at the entrance to the shrine.
The two sisters have a shared Instagram account with over 130,000 followers, and this is where they posted the videos of their shrine visit. It didn’t take long for their antics to go viral, with media outlets in the sisters’ hometown quickly picking up on the story, with one headline reading: “Anger at a Chilean woman who did pull-ups on a Japanese torii“.
▼ This news report shows the videos.
The anger came from both inside and outside of Japan, with foreign tourists in Japan even expressing their disapproval, calling it rude and pointing out that shrines aren’t places for this sort of behaviour. Locals were even more incensed, because although shrines have become popular tourist sites, they are holy grounds where everything is considered sacred, and the gods, who are ever-present, can see everything you do.
Handstands and pull-ups are a sign of disrespect to the gods that no Japanese local would ever think to perform on shrine grounds, so this type of behaviour from an overseas visitor has been widely criticised as being impolite to the gods, the shrine itself, and the locals and their culture.
▼ Shrines are sacred places where worshippers should bow before entering the torii gate and then walk along one side of the path, as the middle section is the thoroughfare for the gods.
While there is a code of etiquette for proper behaviour at a shrine, there’s also a legal code of conduct that is enforceable by law. According to article 188 of the Penal Code, Desecrating Places of Worship; Interference with Religious Service, the following penalties apply:
“A person who openly desecrates a shrine, temple, cemetery or any other place of worship shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than six months or a fine of not more than 100,000 yen.
A person who interferes with a sermon, worship or a funeral service shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or a fine of not more than 100,000 yen.”
While police aren’t currently investigating the matter, the Internet police have been out in full force, with the sister who performed the pull-ups being so harassed by angry messages online that she posted an apology on Instagram yesterday. In her apology video, which was transcribed in Japanese below the video, she says she didn’t mean to be rude and that she did the pull-ups without thinking. She also asked that people stop sending her messages and comments.
The offending video has since been deleted from the sisters’ Instagram account, but the damage remains as yet another instance of a “Nuisance Foreigner” has made news around Japan. Behaviour like this paints all foreign visitors in a bad light, and with real legal ramifications for acts that cross the line, it’s important to resist the urge to get that “only in Japan” shot, especially when it goes against the rules of society.
Rumiko Takahashi’s legendary martial arts comedy is back, and we take a look at what’s changed and what hasn’t.
The fall anime season recently started in Japan, and as always there are a couple of series that look intriguing, but which I know I’m not going to be able to get around to until after they’ve aired their last episode. But Ranma 1/2? That’s a series I’ll gladly stay up until 12:55 a.m. to watch ASAP, which is what I’ve done for the past two weeks.
▼ Preview video for the new Ranma 1/2 series, which airs on Nippon Television in Japan and streams internationally on Netflix
Let’s start with a little bit of background. Ranma 1/2 started as a manga by legendary creator Rumiko Takahashi. The series is centered on teenage martial artist Ranma Saotome, who, as a result of a curse, turns into a girl when doused with cold water, with a counter-splashing of hot water the only way to reverse the effects. While attempting in vain to live the life of an ordinary high school student, Ranma rapidly acquires a growing roster of fiancés and martial arts rivals, many with water-based curses of their own, creating constant circumstances where violence, romance, or laughter (and often all three) could break out at any moment.
Ranma was the third big hit for Takahashi, following wacky sci-fi comedy Urusei Yatsura and coming-of-age-in-the-Bubble Economy romance Maison Ikkoku. It was Takahashi’s first series to become an international success, though, earning passionate fanbases elsewhere in Asia and in the U.S. thanks in large part to its anime adaptation, which originally aired on Japanese TV from 1989 to 1992 and also had a number of films and OVA/direct-to-video episodes through 1996, followed by a one-off episode in 2008.
But in June, just as the anime TV remake of Urusei Yatsura wrapped up, the announcement came that Ranma 1/2 was getting a new anime TV series too, which premiered on October 6. So after two episodes, how does the new Ranma 1/2 compare to the original TV series? Let’s take a look at it from a variety of angles.
● Visuals
The new Ranma anime doesn’t share any of the visual staff of the original TV series, and while the characters are all instantly recognizable, they also look a fair bit different from how they used to. In simple terms, the new designs are plumper. There’s some additional soft roundness to hips, legs, shoulders, and cheeks, and facial expressions too.
The difference might be a little jarring for returning Ranma fans, especially ones whose most distinct memories are of the later manga chapters/original anime installments. Over the course of the manga’s nine-year run, Takahashi’s own artwork evolved to become a little more angular than it was in the beginning, and over the seven years of the anime adaptation character designer Atsuko Nakajima’s take on the characters became considerably sharper still, and also featured large, dark pupils for the characters.
▼ The original Ranma‘s later art style can be seen in this preview video for their OVAs and movies.
Compared to Nakajima’s late-installment work, new Ranma 1/2 character designer Hiromi Taniguchi’s style is much, much closer to the Takahashi’s artwork from the corresponding early chapters that the new TV series has covered so far, but with a dash of additional modern-trend softness that makes the characters look less like the manga originals than they did in the early episodes of the old Ranma TV series.
The bigger change, though, is in the color design. Whereas the original Ranma TV series had a pretty high-contrast aesthetic, MAPPA, the studio handling the new series, has opted for a softer palate, sometimes with borderline-pastels. The most noticeable change is in female Ranma’s hair, which was a vivid red before, but is now pink, Similarly, Akane (Ranma’s arranged-marriage fiancé) was previously depicted having black or dark blue hair, but it’s several shades of blue lighter now. At times, the new color scheme can look a little washed out, particularly if you’re accustomed to the brighter bright colors and darker dark ones from before.
Another major change is the new Ranma’spropensity for putting manga-style written sound effects on screen. It’s an interesting choice, but depending on whether or not you can read the Japanese text, might be more distracting that entertaining.
Whether those changes are for the better or worse is going to be a matter of personal taste, as is the overall “cleaner” look of the modern digital animation over the original’s hand-drawn-and-painted cels. You definitely can’t call the new Ranma a bad-looking show, and it’s clear right away that it’s working with a larger budget than the original had. Popular as it would go on to be, the original Ranma anime has more than a few times where time/cost constraints clearly kept the animators from being able to convey a sense of speed and weight to the fight scenes. With prestige-series funding, the new Ranma 1/2’s punches, kicks, and sign-bashings feel crunchier, and not only does that make the action sequences more exciting, it also adds extra impact to the slapstick comedy that’s as much a part of the series’ charm, if not even more, than the serious fistfights.
● Sound
The original Ranma series featured one of the most star-studded voice casts ever assembled, one so iconic that the producers of the new series brought as many of them back as they could. Pretty much the entire core cast is returning, with 59-year-old Kappei Yamaguchi and 62-year old Noriko Hidaka reprising their roles as male Ranma and Akane, a pair of first-year high school students. Shockingly, more than 30 years after their original performances, neither one of them sounds like they’ve aged a day, and Kikuko Inoue and Minami Takayama, once again playing Akane’s older sisters Kasumi and Nabuki, also pick up vocally right where they’d left off. It’s actually Megumi Hayashibara’s performance as female Ranma that seems the most changed, sounding slightly deeper in pitch than in the original anime, but still with all of the brash confidence that largely defines the character’s personality.
In contrast to the returning voice cast, the new Ranma gets new opening and ending themes. The fun opener, “Iinazukkyun” (a mashup of inazuke/“fiancé” and kyun, an excited feeling in your heart) from J-pop mega-star Ado keeps with the Chinese audio motifs of the original anime’s “Jaja Uma ni Sasenaide,” though it’s kind of sad to not have the incredibly catchy lyrics of “yappappaa, yappappaa” anymore.
On the other hand, the new ending theme, “Anta Nante” (a derogatory way of saying, loosely, “someone like you”), sung by Riria, is a relaxed number with a cozy warmth, making it a pretty big departure from the swirl of emotions that made up the original anime’s closer “Platonic Tsuranuite.”
● Story, setting, and pacing
In its very first frame, the new Ranma anime declares its setting to be “somewhere in Tokyo in the 1980s,” taking the same course as the Urusei Yatsura remake anime by leaving its setting exactly the same as the original work’s. With Ranma’s initial run straddling the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, it’s not exactly a period piece, but you’re not going to see social media, email, cell phones, or even pagers (which middle-class kids like Ranma and Akane wouldn’t have had at that time in Japan). Like in the original, communication in the new Ranma anime is going to have to be either face-to-face, with immediate, direct (and perhaps violent) repercussions, or relayed through handwritten notes, third-parties, or other comedic misunderstanding-conducive means.
The overall atmosphere, likewise, is spot-on with the original so far, with comedy being the main focus while also laying some groundwork for deeper character interactions later on. The new Ranma doesn’t appear to have any desire to recontextualize itself or make bold thematic statements from a position of being part of a hugely successful pop culture franchise, and instead seems focused on telling a story and providing laughs.
One point of divergence, though, is in on-screen nudity. Considering how often someone in Ranma needs to change out of wet clothes or hop into a warm bath to deal with the effects of their curse, the series has a lot of scenes where someone is naked. The new anime is more reserved in how it depicts this, keeping the camera angled or bath towels placed to show less bare skin, though the first episode of the new anime does include one unobstructed topless shot of female Ranma, with no nipples represented, and an unusual nude-from-behind shot where the character has no butt crack. Generally speaking, though, when there’s nudity in Ranma it’s meant to be more for comedic effect than titillation, and the more modest depictions haven’t majorly impeded that so far.
As for pacing, the first episode is essentially a direct remake of the old anime’s first episode, right down to several lines of dialogue being word-for-word the same. That’s not to its detriment, though, as there’s quite a bit of world building and character introduction work that needs to be done. The second episode picks up the pace considerably, though, covering material that was spread out over two or three episodes in the original anime, and also has what appears to be the new anime’s first joke not present in the original, showing how Ranma’s upperclassman Kuno manages to change from his school uniform to his kendo outfit without making a trip to the locker room.
● So, is it worth watching?
If you never watched the original Ranma and the decades-old visuals are a hurdle for you, the new anime’s cleaner, higher-budget look can go toe-to-toe with just about any other action/comedy series out there this season. The accelerated pace of the second episode should also be a positive for those intimidated by the original anime’s 161-episode length, since it suggests a zippier narrative (and to be fair, the original Ranma anime’s leisurely start got it initially cancelled before coming back with a skip to later in the story to help reel in viewers). The fact that the new Ranma is a straight remake, as opposed to an alternate retelling or pseudo-sequel, also means that there’s no prior knowledge of the series required or Easter eggs to make you feel like you’re missing out on something. It’s telling its story from the start, so it’s a fine place to jump on.
And if you’re someone who enjoyed the original? You’ll probably get a lot of enjoyment out of the new series too, even if the story looks to be the same. The new Ranma is clearly made with lots of love and a high respect for the previous adaptation and manga. , Especially with the original voice cast involved, it’s similar to the 1993 Ranma 1/2 Christmas party OVA, in that you probably know what’s going to happen, but it’s still a whole lot of fun to be hanging out with these characters for a while.
Itohkyuemon continues to innovate as it approaches its 200th birthday.
It’s said that the pizza Margherita was created in honor of Italy’s Queen Margherita of Savoy, and that its three toppings, red tomatoes, white mozzarella, and green basil, were chosen to represent the colors of the Italian flag.
Of course, here in Japan when foodies think of the color green, the first thing that comes to mind isn’t basil, but matcha. So Kyoto green tea merchant Itohkyuemon, which has been in business since 1832 (some 50 years before the first pizza Margherita was baked) has now created a matcha Margherita pizza.
For this unique spin on the classic recipe, the matcha is supplementing the basil, not replacing it. In addition to mini tomatoes, basil leaf, and mozzarella, Itohkyuemon’s matcha Margherita pizza has a matcha mascarpone cheese sauce, and once the pie comes out of the oven it’s finished off with a dusting of powdered green tea leaves. Itohkyuemon describes the flavor as a mix of sweetness from the tomatoes and basil, milky creaminess from the cheese, and an elegant touch of alluring bitterness from the matcha.
The matcha Margherita pizza is priced at 1,990 yen (US$14.20) and is being offered exclusively at Itohkyuemon’s new cafe on Kyoto’s Sannenzaka street, near Kiyomizudera Temple, which just opened this past June.
▼ The cafe also has a lineup of green tea sweets and dessert drinks.
Unlike some other novel culinary creations in Japan, the matcha Margherita pizza doesn’t appear to be a limited-time item, but instead seems to have a permanent place on the cafe’s menu. However, the management says that daily quantities are limited by the amount of ingredients on hand, so showing up early in the day is probably a good idea, and making your visit soon will also let you try Itohkyuemon’s special autumn-only matcha parfait ice cream bar.
Cafe information
Itohkyuemon Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Branch / 伊藤久右衛門 清水産寧坂店
Address: Kyoto-fu, Kyoto-shi, Higashiyama-ku, Kiyomizu 3-328
Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Website
Source: @Press Top image: @Press Insert images: @Press, Itohkyuemon ● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Nitori wants to keep us scrolling in bed all winter.
In Japan, Nitori is a household name, with the home furnishings chain having hundreds of stores across the country and a reputation for selling jaw-droppingly good products that are perfect for local lifestyles.
▼ Now, there’s a new product called the Smartphone Blanket that’s got everyone talking.
This blanket is so comfortable it’s been dubbed the “blanket that ruins people” because once you’re in it, you won’t want to go anywhere or do anything other than stare at your phone. While it first made its debut in Japan last year as a wearable blanket without sleeves, it became so popular that it quickly sold out and was impossible to get during the depths of winter. This year, the chain has updated the blanket with new design features that make it even warmer and more comfortable than before.
▼ There are two versions available — one with openings where you can fit your arms through…
▼…and one with sleeves to keep you cosy all over.
One of the great things about these wearable blankets is you can simply plonk yourself into bed while wearing them. All you have to do is unbutton the back closure and you’ll be snug and warm all night long.
When you wake the next morning, you won’t even have to leave your bed to get dressed — simply button up the back and you’re ready for a day of lazy pursuits.
The improvements made to this year’s blanket include adding a version with sleeves and increasing the length of both models so they measures 220 centimetres (7.2 feet) in length. which will cover you right down to the foot of the bed and then some.
▼ The neckline has been heightened as well, to provide even more warmth than before.
The smooth “N Warm” material is said to convert moisture emitted from the body into heat so it easily warms any part of the skin it touches. This gives the blanket remarkable heat-retaining qualities, and judging by rave reviews from purchasers, who say it warms them up so much they lose all desire to do anything, this product certainly delivers on its promise.
There are two sleeveless Smartphone Blankets in the range, with the mocha made with the standard “N Warm” material for 3,990 yen (US$26.67)…
▼…and the Grey made with the chain’s warmest “N Warm Double Super” material, priced at 5,990 yen.
The Smartphone Blanket with sleeves uses the “N Warm Double Super” material and is available in grey for 6,990 yen.
While both models are set to be popular, Nitori anticipates demand will be higher for the sleeved version, as it was created in response to requests from customers. So if you’re looking to ruin yourself this winter, be sure to stop by Nitori or check out the range online (non-sleeve versions here and here and sleeve version here), where you can even pick up some bedsheets that’ll make you feel like you’re sleeping in a mound of mochi.
Source, images: Press release ● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
