Twentythree

Terrycloth Totoro works of art.

For many anime fans, there comes a bittersweet stage in their life when they can no longer cover each and every wall of their living space in posters of their favorite animated works. Maybe you’ve gained a romantic partner or other housemates who aren’t down with such a heavily otaku-accented interior design, or maybe you just feel like you’re at a point where you want a more traditionally mature, sophisticated aesthetic and all those posters are starting to feel a little too dorm room-y to you.

But just because you’re not hanging anime posters doesn’t mean you can’t hang anime towels, like this beautiful My Neighbor Totoro design that’s a functional piece of art.

Officially listed by Studio Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku as the My Neighbor Totoro Moonlit Night Face Towel, the dimensions of this understated but captivating cloth (80 x 34 centimeters [31.5 x 13.4 inches]) mean it will also work just fine as a towel to dry your hands on in the kitchen or bathroom. A full trio of Totoros can be seen, with Large and Medium ones playing their ocarinas while perched on a tree branch and a Small Totoro hanging out with some Soot Sprites nearby.

Of course, classy or not, you can’t expect a Totoro scene to not have a little special playfulness, can you? The towel’s moon, stars, and “Totoro” text are all sewn with luminescent cloth that gently glows in the dark, further setting the moonlit night mood.

If, rather than having these Totoros decorate your home, you’d like them to accompany you on your adventurous expeditions into the outside world, that’s an option too, as a condensed-scale version of the design is available as a “mini towel” (25 centimeters square)…

…and going in the opposite direction size-wise, it can also be had as a bath towel (120 x 60 centimeters).

The mini towel has the smallest price tag, at 880 yen (US$5.90), while the face towel is 1,650 yen and the bath towel 3,850. The whole line is once again available following a recent restock and can be found here on the Donguri Kyowakoku online store.

Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3)
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Many are assuming this is a backlash against trendy kirakira names, but is that really the case?

For new parents, welcoming a baby into their home comes with a lot of responsibilities such as changing diapers and nighttime feedings. For new parents in Japan, though, there’s one more thing they have to do: update their family register, and come next spring, they might also have to justify to the local government why they’ve given their baby the name they did.

In Japan, every citizen has to be registered in a family register, called a koseki in Japanese. The koseki is an official legal record of the members of the family, listing the names and dates of birth of the head of the household and their spouse and children (if applicable).

Most Japanese people’s names are written in kanji characters, and most kanji can be read multiple ways. For example, the kanji 空 can be read as “sora” (and it’s where SoraNews24 gets its name), but it can also be read as “ku,” “kara,” or “a,” as well as even rarer readings such as “uro.”

▼ And no, we don’t have an evil twin named “UroNews” who steals Japanese Frappuccinos instead of recommending them.

However, despite needing to list your family members’ names in the family register, the pronunciation of those names is not required information. The city halls and ward offices that administer the records only care about how your name is written. At least, that’s been the situation up until now, but starting in the spring, you’ll be required to include pronunciations for your family members, and if city hall thinks the pronunciation you list for your new baby is too weird, they’ll be able to ask you to explain the logic behind it, and if they’re not satisfied, the name can be denied registration.

That said, it sounds like they’re going to be pretty lenient. In an advance draft of the new rules sent to municipal offices this week, the Ministry of Justice gave three scenarios for acceptable pronunciations.

1. The pronunciation aligns, at least in part, with one of the established kunyomi (indigenous Japanese) or onyomi (derived from Chinese) pronunciations for the kanji. For example, “Kokoa” is an acceptable pronunciation for the name 心愛, since it’s made with the kanji 心 (which can be pronounced “kokoro” and means “heart”) and 愛 (“ai”/”love”).

2. The pronunciation aligns with an established pronunciation for a sequence of two or more kanji outside their kunyomi/onyomi readings. For example, “Asuka” is an acceptable pronunciation for the name 飛鳥, since it’s already a widely used and understood irregular pronunciation for that specific kanji combination used for both people and place names.

3. The pronunciation aligns with an established pronunciation for okiji. We’re getting into the literally tiny details of Japanese linguistics here, but okiji pronunciations are, in simple terms, pronouncing a kanji in the same way as a more complex character that the first kanji is a component of. For example, the 心 kanji we saw above is also part of the more complex kanji, 愛.

▼ It’s a little squashed, but there’s a 心 in the middle of 愛.

愛 is most commonly pronounced “ai,” and even though that’s not an intrinsic pronunciation for 心, it’s still a permissible one under the new family register rules. So, for example, Aito would be an acceptable pronunciation for the name 心人.

On the other side of the issue, the Ministry of Justice also gave examples of pronunciations that would be deemed not permissible under the new rules. The broadest potential problem is “pronunciations that cannot be mentally associated with the characters.” For example, if you tell city hall that your son’s name is written with the kanji 太郎, the same kanji used in the common name “Taro,” but that you want those kanji to be officially pronounced “Michael,” they’ll tell you nope.

Also pointed out as unacceptable by the ministry are pronunciations which are the opposite of the kanji’s meaning (such as registering “Hikushi,” meaning “low,” as the pronunciation of 高, the kanji which means “high”) and pronunciations that would lead one to think the individual is a different person (such as insisting that 太郎 be pronounced not as Taro, but as the different name “Jiro,” which is already written with different kanji as 次郎). Both of those situations, though, seem like they’d also be disqualified for being “pronunciations that cannot be mentally associated with the characters.”

Additionally, the ministry stated that pronunciations that are societally inappropriate or detrimental to the child will not be allowed, such as “Akuma” as the pronunciation for 悪魔. However, this really isn’t an example of a pronunciation matter, as “akuma” is the standard pronunciation for those kanji, which mean “devil.” Ostensibly, though, this part of the rules would allow city hall to veto “Akuma” as a name made up of other kanji chosen with the intent to create an alternate to 悪魔 that’s pronounced the same way.

▼ It’s unclear if Akuma would be an acceptable pronunciation if you’ve given birth to a literal devil, but supposedly this would be decided on a case-by-case basis, and may require additional hellspawn-related paperwork. Consult your local dark enchanter for more information.

A lot of reactions to the addition of pronunciation requirements for family registers, and the associated government approval process, assume it’s part of a pushback against so-called “kirakira (sparkling) names,” trendy, flashy names that push the pronunciation envelope, sometimes to the point of incoherence. However, the new rules don’t do anything to prohibit gaudy (or clever, depending on your point of view) wordplay, as long as there’s some sort of linguistic basis for it. The above-mentioned Kokoa (心愛), for example, is arguably a kirakira name because it’s a new, trendy name that’s pronounced exactly the same as “cocoa” in Japanese, giving it an air of girlish sweetness. Since that pronunciation falls within the kunyomi pronunciations for those kanji, though, it won’t get flagged.

On the other hand, kirakira names that completely ignore established pronunciation, like writing a name with 月, the kanji meaning “moon,” and saying it should be pronounced “Light” or “Raito” (as a reference to moonlight), would run into problems. However, actual real-world examples of this second type of kirakira name are few and far between. It’s also important to keep in mind that a pronunciation getting flagged isn’t the final decision on the matter, as parents will be allowed to present their case, if they have one, as to why they feel the pronunciation should be allowed.

In other words, though the Japanese government is going to require name pronunciations for family registers, these new rules aren’t going to do much to legally limit creativity or ostentatiousness…which makes sense, because that’s not why pronunciations are being required. The real reason the government wants people to provide pronunciations for their names is to facilitate digitization of records, something Japan has been lagging on for some time. When typing Japanese names (or any Japanese words) on a keyboard, you first type it in phonetically, then select the corresponding kanji, and with kanji so often having multiple possible pronunciations, knowing which pronunciation corresponds to a particular person makes for more efficient data entry and record accessing.

Of course, with the pronunciation requirement not going into effect until next spring, there are already millions of people in Japan whose names are entered in family registers with no provided pronunciation. For everyone currently alive (or being born before the spring), local governments will take their best guess at how the names should be pronounced based on available information, then notify individuals of what the preliminary pronunciation has been registered as. If it’s correct, there’s nothing more that needs to be done, and if it’s wrong, individuals can contact their city hall and have it corrected.

It’s also worth remembering that the pronunciation requirement isn’t an attempt to flatten out the diversity of Japan’s non-ethnically Japanese population. Foreign names from non-kanji languages, such as English, are already written in Japanese using the phonetic script called katakana, so there’s no change for them. Names from non-Japanese languages that also use kanji, such as Chinese, have long retained their home-country pronunciation (or at least the closest pronunciation possible to be rendered in Japanese) within Japan. City hall may or may not be able to tell on its own that a Chinese resident with the name 王 pronounces it as “Wang,” but the government isn’t going to force him to change the pronunciation to “Oh” just because that’s how 王 is pronounced in Japanese.

Incidentally, this means that theoretically naming one of our kids “Godzilla” (or “Gojira,” to use the Japanese pronunciation) remains in a gray area. Since the King of the Monsters’ name is written in katakana (ゴジラ), we’re clear on the linguistic basis, but even though he’s a globally recognized icon of Japanese culture, city hall might deem it an “inappropriate or detrimental” name. You know, because of the whole “repeatedly destroying Tokyo” thing.

The pronunciation requirement rules go into effect from May 26.

Source: Hachima Kiko, Tokyo Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, Okinawa Times
Top image: Pakutaso (edited by SoraNews24)
Insert images: Pakutaso, SoraNews24, Pakutaso (2)
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Beloved by one of history’s greatest manga creators, this Shinjuku landmark has its own sense of history too.

Out the west exit of Shinjuku Station in downtown Tokyo, on the first floor of the Odakyu HALC department store building, you’ll find a cafe steeped in an old-school atmosphere. Peace opened all the way back in 1955, and even the font of the sign tells you that this place has been in business for a long time, so they must know what they’re doing.

▼ ピース = Peace

But that unmistakable authenticity might actually make it feel a little intimidating for some people to walk through the door. Our Japanese-language reporter Masanuki Sunakoma has walked by Peace several times, but had never gone in until the other day when he was in the neighborhood and had some time to kill. So even though he wondered if he’d stick out amongst the dapper gents and elegant ladies he imagined frequented this establishment, he finally worked up the nerve to try it for himself.

Masanuki had known about Peace since he was a little boy, since it’s right in the middle of one of Japan’s busiest shopping and restaurant districts. He’d always thought of it as a very grown-up place, where the quiet is only occasionally punctuated by the soft sipping of coffee or the gentle rustling as someone turns the pages of their financial newspaper. But even though Masanuki is now a full-grown adult himself, his job isn’t exactly the sort of serious, business-suited salaryman role that had been his childhood image of adulthood, so he still felt a little unsure of himself as he took a seat on a sofa near the center of the surprisingly spacious interior.

The menu, like everything else about Peace, is traditional and classily understated. It didn’t take Masanuki long to decide on his order: the Hokkaido hotcake and blend coffee set for 980 yen (US$6.55).

▼ The Hokkaido hotcakes get their name because they use flour and milk from Hokkaido’s Tokachi region.

While waiting for his order, Masanuki took a look around and observed how the staff and customers were interacting. The waiters had a polished, old-fashioned politeness to their posture and cadence, and the customers likewise were speaking in clear, dignified voices. Gradually, Masanuki’s feelings of awkward nervousness began to fade away, and in their case came a sense of fun, as though he was at an amusement park where one of the attractions was a cafe that recreated what cosmopolitan Tokyo life was like 50 years ago.

Tasting his coffee after the server returned with it, Masanuki found a noticeable acidity paired with a crisp finish. Once again, unabashedly old-fashioned.

Likewise, Peace’s pancakes aren’t the type that are buried under a pile of sliced fruits and topped with a skyscraper’s worth of whipped cream. They’re a beautiful light gold in color, with a modest amount of maple syrup drizzled across the top and the cream on the side, thank you very much, so that customers can use as much or as little of it as they want, in accordance with their individual preferences. The pancakes have an enticing aroma, just the right mixture of starchy and sweet, and are fluffy and delicious. In short, they’re excellent in everything pancakes fundamentally are trying to be.

▼ Coincidentally, one of Peace’s regular customers used to be Fujiko F. Fujio, one of the pair of manga artists who wrote and created Doraemon.

With someplace as old-fashioned as Peace, it’s tempting to think of it as a throwback, but that’s not really an accurate description. Peace has simply stayed true to its vision of the sort of atmosphere and experience it wants to provide for close to 70 years. It never changed because it never needed to, and we hope it stays just like it is for a long time to come.

Cafe information
Peace / ピース
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Nishi Shinjuku 1-5-1, Shinjuku Nishiguch HACL 1st floor
東京都新宿区西新宿1-5-1 新宿西口ハルク1F
Open 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

Photos © SoraNews24
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While you’re seeing how your footprints measure up to Pikachu’s and Snorlax’s, these mats are measuring something else.

If you’re a serious fan, you can not only say that you eat and sleep Pokémon, but also back those claims up with concrete examples of how, thanks to the existence of things like the Pokémon Cafe and Pokémon pajamas. But can you say that you bathe Pokémon?

Yes you can, thanks to manufacturer Issin’s new series of Pokémon Smart Bath Mats.

First and foremost, all four designs are adorable, whether you opt for subtle nods to the series such as this one with a pair of footsteps from Pikachu and Snorlax…

…a busier layout like this collage of all sorts of different Pocket Monster species…

…or something in-between, like a Pikachu pair…

…or a close-up of Ditto.

▼ Don’t worry, Ditto is decorative, so it won’t transform into a naked copy of you while you’re drying yourself off after getting out of the shower.

However, as cute as these bath mats are to look at, taking a gander at the price tag might give you a shock, as they cost 23,400 yen (US$156). There’s a reason for that, though, which is that even though Issin calls them “Smart Bath Mats,” they’re really highly aesthetic high-tech body weight scales.

The “Smart” part of the name seems to be because the scales lack any sort of screen and instead send their measurements to your phone via an app. In addition to body weight, the Smart Bath Mats can measure and monitor health data such as body fat percentage, muscle mass, BMI, and more.

Since they’re actually wellness devices, not just pretty pieces of cloth, the Pokémon Smart Bath Mats are priced at 23,400 yen (US$156). Of course, how they look is undeniably also a big part of their appeal, so they’re designed in a way that lets you remove the mats themselves for washing.

▼ It’s bath time, Pikachu and Snorlax! In you go!

The whole lineup is available for order here through the Issin online shop. Oh, and if you want even more video game-theming to your scale, don’t forget that there’s also one that lets you play one of the most celebrated fighting games of all time while you check your weight.

Source: PR Times, Issin
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, Issin
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Beware, though — you really can have too much of a good thing.

Japan has loads of fantastic all-you-can-eat deals catering to all sorts of palates, but for doughnut lovers, heaven resides at the Mister Donut buffet.

It’s not an easy find, though, as the buffet is only available at select branches. In fact, when our reporter Seiji Nakazawa stopped by the Takadanobaba branch, where we usually gorge on doughnuts, he found that they’d stopped the service on 26 September, with no plans to reinstate it.

▼ “End of Doughnut Buffet Notice”

It’d been eight years since we first reported on the all-you-can-eat deal at Mister Donut, and a year since our last report, so Seiji figured this would be the perfect opportunity to seek out another branch to find out if anything had changed.　Thankfully, he found six participating stores in Tokyo, which we’ve listed for you at the end of the article, so he headed out to his nearest branch, in Nakano.

After arriving at the store, we could see the buffet being advertised on a poster in the window, showing the prices as 1,900 yen (US$12.24) for adults and 800 yen for elementary-aged children and under, with all-you-can-drink beverages included in the deal for both. Eight years ago, the buffet cost 1,000 yen, or 1,200 yen with the all-you-can-drink option, so this was quite a price rise, but in line with the overall state of the economy.

Previously, reservations were required, but now it appears they’re no longer necessary. So if you’d like to take part in the buffet, simply take a seat first so you know where your table is, then head over to the display area, where you can pick up a paper plate specially reserved for buffet plan users. Select the doughnuts you like, place them on your plate, and take them to the register, where staff will hand you a little “all-you-can-eat” sign to place on your table. Payment is made at the end of your one-hour gorge fest.

You can head back and forth from your table to the display as many times as you like, but one thing to be aware of is customers must pay for whatever they don’t eat, so you’ll want to make sure you only pick up what you can consume to avoid any fees for leftovers.

▼ Another rule to make note of is last orders need to be made ten minutes before the end of the buffet.

Our reporter Seiji Nakazawa was the lucky one checking out the deal for us, and he felt like a kid in a candy store, or should we say a doughnut store, with all the tantalising sweets in front of him.

The first doughnuts he grabbed were a Golden Chocolate, an Angel French, and the limited-edition Pon de Diglett. For his drink, he opted for an apple juice.

Though he’d tried the Pon de Diglett before, it’s one of Mister Donut’s priciest doughnuts so he figured this would be a good way to get his money’s worth.

However, there was one thing he forgot about until he bit into it — the Pon de Diglett is heavier than it looks.

Diglett is filled with cream like a cream puff, and custard cream is used to keep the character in place in the centre, so every mouthful is flooded with cream. Though it’s delicious, it’s also rich and heavy, which doesn’t make it the best choice for an all-you-can-eat deal, especially when there are so many other doughnuts you’ll want to make room for in your belly.

With so much sweetness, Seiji wondered if he might be able to nab a savoury item like a hot dog to break up the monotony, but staff told him the deal was strictly for drinks and doughnuts. So, with his belly aching from cream and sugar, he had no choice but to continue, hoping an Old Fashion doughnut and a coffee might be easier on the stomach.

At this point, he could sense a cry from deep within his chest that pleaded, “No more“. Being a doughnut lover, Seiji was surprised to find his body reacting this way, but it really is true that you can have too much of a good thing.

▼ His beloved doughnuts were quickly becoming inedible to him.

With his love for the chain now being tested, he decided to order two drinks to finish, in an attempt to get his money’s worth. So in the end, did he make back his money?

After doing some calculations, this was Seiji’s result:

Golden Chocolate (176 yen)
Angel French (176 yen)
Pon de Diglett (319 yen)
Old Fashion (165 yen)
Coffee (330 yen)
Apple juice (319 yen)

Total: 1,485 yen

As you can see, Seiji failed miserably at the all-you-can-eat doughnut buffet, essentially giving 415 yen to Mister Donut with nothing in return. It quickly became clear to him that a half-hearted attitude doesn’t pay off at these types of buffets, and when you’re dealing with cream and sweets, you really have to be on your game to come out ahead.

Seiji did see a group of young women who seemed to be getting their money’s worth at the buffet when he was there, though, so it can be a good deal for those with the stomach, and excitement, for it. As for Seiji, he felt like he’d eaten at a “Test of Love Doughnut Buffet“, where his love for the chain was tested, but ultimately it came through unscathed in the end.

▼ These doughnuts are just too good to fall out of love with.

If you’d like to put your own love for doughnuts to the test, Seiji has diligently provided a full list of the 71 stores around Japan that currently offer the all-you-can-eat deal.

The list is as follows:

Aomori Prefecture
– Hirosaki Station

Miyagi Prefecture
– Sendai Castle
– Aeon Sendai Nakayama
– Aeon Mall Ishinomaki
– Aeon Town Shiogama
– Aeon Tagajo

Akita Prefecture
– Odate

Yamagata Prefecture
– Yamagata station
– Aeon Yonezawa
– Aeon Mall Tendo

Fukushima Prefecture
– Aeon Fukushima
– Fukushima Station
– Fukushima Minami Bypass
– MEGA Don Quijote UNY Aizuwakamatsu
– Aeon Minamisoma

Saitama Prefecture
– Hokukoshigaya

Chiba Prefecture
– Keisei Okubo Station

Tokyo
– Nakano
– Oyama
– Ario Nishiarai
– Hachioji Narahara Copio
– Aeon Mall Musashi Murayama
– Tama Center

Kanagawa Prefecture
– Aeon Tennocho
– Tsurugamine station
– Futamatagawa
– Itoyokado Stand
– Centre Minami
– Ito-Yokado Kawasaki
– Kawasaki Station
– Miyazakidai
– Shin-Yurigaoka South Exit
– Hashimoto Station
– Aeon Yokosuka Kurihama
– Course Kabayside
– Yokosuka Mores City
– Shibusawa Station
– LaLaport Ebina

Yamanashi Prefecture
– Raza Walk Kai Futaba
– Ogino River City
– Aeon Mall Kofu Showa
– Ito-Yokado Kofu Showa

Aichi Prefecture
– Imaike
– Seto Route 363
– Kozoji Station
– Aeon Mall Toyokawa
– Nishio
– Obu Station
– Apita Nagakute

Mie Prefecture
– Hinaga Kayo
– Matsusaka

Shiga Prefecture
– Higashiomi Yokaichi

Kyoto Prefecture
– Demachi
– Fushimi Otesuji
– Al Plaza Kyotanabe
– Matsui Yamate

Osaka Prefecture
– Aeon Style Ebie
– Ibaraki Minami
– Seven Park Tenmi

Hyogo Prefecture
– Tsukashin

Fukuoka Prefecture
– Aeon Tobata
– Sunnyside Mall Kokura
– Sunliv City Kokura
– Sunliv Moritsune
– Aeon Mall Fukuoka Ito
– Kurie and Munakata

Nagasaki Prefecture
– Arie

Miyazaki Prefecture
– Aeon Nobeoka

Okinawa Prefecture
– Aeon Naha
– San-A Shiozaki City
– Aeon Gushikawa

Participating stores may change from time to time so click here for the latest list of buffet branches.

Related: Mister Donut
Photos©SoraNews24
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