Twentythree

People have been traveling to Amanohashidate for centuries, and this week apparently bears are too.

Amanohashidate, located on the northern coast of Kyoto Prefecture, is considered one of the three most beautiful places in Japan (the other being Miyajima and Matsushima). Amanohashidate translates to “bridge to the heavens,” and it got that name because the strip of land that stretches across the bay here is said to look like a pathway rising into the sky.

Celebrated in poems and painting for centuries, Amanohashidate’s beauty continues to draw travelers today, with people coming from across Japan and around the world to take in the view. This week’s visitors, however, have included two bears.

In another instance in the growing trend of bears showing up in unexpected places in Japan, shortly after 4:30 in the afternoon on June 10 a call was placed to the 110 emergency services phone number reporting a bear that was spotted at the north end of Amanohashidate. The strip of land was evacuated and sealed off, and police and animal control personnel were dispatched to the scene. Firecrackers were used to scare the bear off of the bridge, after which it fled into the ocean and swam back towards the bay’s northern shore to the west of Amanohashidate. After coming back onto dry land, the bear climbed a tree and was then shot with a tranquilizer dart, falling asleep around 10:40 p.m. No injuries to humans were reported.

▼ And yes, some of the response team was equipped with handheld shields, like they were knights heading out to face off with a dragon or ogre.

Now, a visit to one of Japan’s top sightseeing spots, a quick swim, and getting to bed at a relatively early hour would be a pretty good day for most people, but the city of Miyazu, where Amanohashidate is located, doesn’t ordinarily get bears in this district, and so its appearance is cause for concern…and that concern has grown deeper with the spotting of a second bear, which was seen at Amanohashidate on the morning of June 12 at roughly 7:30. This bear was spotted by a foreign tourist, and after the report came in Amanohashidate was once again evacuated and closed off. As of this writing, the bear remains at large.

Source: TBS News Dig (1, 2), Nitele News
Top image: Wikipedia/Sylvestre
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Ordinarily cheap Matsuya opens a high-priced Matsuya inside another upscale Matsuya.

Japanese department stores have food departments on their basement levels, and naturally the fancier department stores offer fancier foods. So it might surprise some shoppers at the Matsuya department store in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza neighborhood to find that one of Japan’s cheapest restaurant chains now has a presence in the store’s food section.

June 10 was the grand opening of Matsuya Premium Ginza, the new department store spinoff of the Matsuya gyudon/beef bowl restaurant chain (which is a separate company from the Matsuya department store). As the name implies, Matsuya Premium is positioning itself as a more luxurious, upgraded version of the Matsuya restaurant chain, offering takeout meals exclusive to Matsuya Premium, such as beef bowls made with Kobe beef.

▼ Premium Matsuya’s Kobe beef gyudon

▼ Premium Matsuya’s Kuroge Wagyu Hamburger Steak Bento with tomato sauce

Obviously, Matsuya Premium’s prices are higher too. At a normal Matsuya, for example, the standard beef bowl is just 460 yen (US$3), but Matsuya Premium’s Kobe beef version will cost you 1,390 yen. There’s a gap in price between the price for regular Matsuya’s tomato sauce hamburger steak set (1,180 yen) and Matsuya Premum’s Kuroge Wagyu Hamburger Steak Bento (1,681 yen).

Here’s the thing though. Regular Matsuya’s food isn’t just cheap, it’s also really tasty. Sure, the restaurant chain is friendly to your wallet, but it’s just as kind to your taste buds, which raises a question.

If regular, cheap Matsuya is already so good, is there any point in paying extra for Matsuya Premium?

To investigate, our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa sprang into action, first stopping by Matsuya Premium to pick up a Kobe beef gyudon and Kuroge Wagyu Hamburger Steak, then swinging by a regular Matsuya to procure their more plebian counterparts as well.

▼ Matsuya Premium on the left, basic Matsuya on the right

The Matsuya Premium items do come in more elegant-looking containers, but visually there isn’t much difference to be seen with the food itself.

But beef is always beautiful, and we’re paying extra for what’s supposed to be the special flavor of the Premium items, not enhanced aesthetics. So now it was time for Seiji to taste-test the different versions back-to-back.

He started with the beef bowl, and right away he could taste that the Kobe beef version has something the regular Matsuya beef bowl doesn’t. The marbled quality of the Kobe beef gives it a much heavier dose of umami flavor, which melts in your mouth and merges with the flavors of the stock that the beef is simmered in. That combination danced across his taste buds and fired up his taste buds with a greater intensity than the regular Matsuya gyudon, in which the meaty flavor of the beef is less pronounced and the stock plays a more prominent role.

Moving on to the hamburger steaks, the most striking difference here was the texture of the meat. The Matsuya Premium version is tenderer, and it’s juicier too. Switching to the regular Matsuya hamburger steak after trying a bite of the Premium, Seiji couldn’t help but feel a that the cheaper version is drier and tougher, and, with such a closely-timed comparison, had a twinge of frozen-food feeling to it, he says.

So Seiji is happy to report that Matsuya Premium isn’t just charging more because of its location, and that it genuinely does deliver a more refined eating experience than what you can find at a regular Matsuya. The new venture might not quite match the value-for-money that standard Matsuya is known for, but Matsuya Premium delivers on giving you the quality you’re paying for.

Shop information
Matsuya Premium Ginza / 店名　松屋PREMIUM銀座店
Address: Tokyo-to, Chuo-ku, Ginza 3-6-1, Matsuya Ginza basement level 1
住所　東京都中央区銀座3-6-1松屋銀座 地下1階
Open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. (11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Sundays and final day of consecutive holidays)

Photos ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

It’s a critical hit!

The hit role-playing video game franchise Dragon Quest is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and one way they’re marking the occasion is by teaming up with Rohto Pharmaceutical. These two brands have teamed up in the past to release versions of Rohto Z! eyedrops in containers that resemble the game’s most popular monster, the Slime.

The first version came out in 2017 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Rohto Z! and the second came about in 2023 for the 25th anniversary of Dragon Quest Monsters. But for a milestone as big as this, they decided to take things up a notch and create a limited edition King Slime Rohto Z!,  which went on sale on 10 June and has a bottle shaped like a King Slime.

For those unfamiliar with the game, a King Slime is a larger and stronger version of the Slime monsters, sometimes formed when multiple regular Slimes appear and merge together. In addition to being a more formidable foe, the King Slime knows ice magic spells, which also makes it a perfect muse for limited edition eye drops with a cooling sensation.

Three types of eyedrops were created, each with a different level of ice spell from the game. Rohto Z! regular strength drops are based on Crack, the lowest-ranked ice magic attack, Rohto Z! Pro is represented by the mid-level spell Crackle, and Rohto Z! Contact is the top-tier Kacrackle. Also in honor of the King Slime, these eye drops come in a larger container, bumped up from 12 milliliters to 16 milliliters.

There are also lots of game references and easter eggs hidden in the packaging, or rather, I should say there “were” lots of references, because by the end of 10 June, they all appeared to have already sold out. In fact, some places even sold out the day before their release because they were put on shelves ahead of schedule. Either Rohto underestimated the sheer popularity of King Slimes or there was a sudden outbreak of mass digital eye strain.

Normally in Japan, when something becomes hugely popular like this, resellers emerge to grab as many as they can and then post them for sale online at an inflated price. There were some reports of King Slime eyedrops appearing on the Mercari flea market app, but they were quickly taken down for violating the usage terms that prohibit the sale of pharmaceutical products. Mercari was very quick about it too, because not only does it violate their rules, but it’s against the law to sell pharmaceuticals without a license. Even attempts to sell empty boxes and bottles were shot down.

▼ “This BS is an obvious violation of the rules. I mean, it’s even a violation of the pharmaceutical law, so they can get arrested.”

ぶっちぎりで規約違反でクサ
なんなら薬機法で禁じられてるから逮捕案件 pic.twitter.com/M2anjA4Ckw

— たこやきまん (@xxx_takoyakiman) June 10, 2026

But even without the effect of resellers, King Slime Rohto Z! has become a very rare breed of monster, which some have compared to the encounter rate of the Metal King Slime in the games. So, if you’re exploring the world and a King Slime Rohto Z! draws near, be sure to hit it fast and hard with money attacks and don’t let it heal. Only then will you have one of the most coveted treasures in Japan.

Source: Shukan Josei Prime, PR Times, Hachima Kiko
Images: PR Times
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Casual mention elicits enthusiastic response from commonly overlooked tourist destination.

Japan has become one of the world’s top tourist destinations, welcoming a record-breaking 42.7 million international visitors in 2025, a 15.8-percent increase from 2024, and on track to break the record this year. While this is great news for big cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, where tourists tend to spend most of their time and money, there are 44 other prefectures in Japan that are crying out for international visitors, and one of the most in need is Tottori Prefecture.

▼ No hoardes of tourists here.

Home to roughly 530,000-540,000 people, Tottori is the least populous prefecture in Japan. Compared to Tokyo’s roughly 14 million residents, Tottori has about 4 percent of Tokyo’s population, and given its distance from major urban centres, it ranks in the bottom tier for international tourist numbers.

▼ The trip to Tottori takes over five hours by train from Tokyo, using the fastest Shinkansen on the initial leg of the journey.

▼ Alternatively, it’s about three hours by train from Kyoto Station.

Despite the lack of tourists, Tottori has a wealth of tourist attractions, and one person who knows about its charms is Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway. On a recent trip to Japan to promote her new film, The Devil Wears Prada 2, released here on 1 May, Hathaway appeared on the popular weekend morning television program King’s Brunch, where she was asked where in Japan she would like to visit. She replied by saying she would like to visit Tottori, mentioning that she likes the sea, the beaches and the sand dunes.

▼ These are three things Tottori is famous for.

After the show aired on 6 May, it didn’t take long for news of Hathaway’s comments to reach Tottori. Within days, official Tottori-based government sites jumped on the PR opportunity, posting photos, videos and messages on social media.

On 9 May, the governor of Tottori, Shinji Hirai, extended an official invitation for Hathaway to visit, promising that a sand dune sculpture would be made in her likeness if she were to take them up on the offer.

View this post on Instagram

Tottori prefecture’s official Instagram account reissued the governor’s invitation, and even included a cute illustration of him in the last slide.

View this post on Instagram

Local tourism boards took to Twitter to share news of Tottori’s mention by the world-famous actress.

▼ This tweet says: “Even Hollywood stars are captivated by Tottori Prefecture”.

ハリウッドスターも魅了する #鳥取県
ぜひ #とっとり旅 でステキな思い出を#鳥取観光 #鳥取旅行 #砂丘 #鳥取砂丘 #tottori https://t.co/Bnm80ZKiIj pic.twitter.com/zZh2DqlSDw

— 鳥取県観光連盟（とっとり旅【公式】） (@tottori_guide) June 9, 2026

Cities within the prefecture soon got in on the act, with the Sakaminato Tourism Association joining the chorus on 11 June.

▼ “We would be delighted if you could also visit Sakaiminato City.”

境港市にもお越しいただけると嬉しいです#境港市#アン・ハサウェイ様#鳥取 https://t.co/e4SwUEcEtu

— 境港観光協会 (@sakaiminato_net) June 11, 2026

If there was an Academy Award for Best Social Media Post, it would go to Yonago City, who went all out with its invitation, creating a clever skit inspired by The Devil Wears Prada franchise, complete with lookalike characters.

View this post on Instagram

As that skit shows, many wonders await in Tottori, and there’s even an exclusive set of manhole covers featuring Sandshrew, who, as a nod to the famous sand dunes, is the prefecture’s tourism ambassador Pokémon.

While Hathaway is yet to respond to the invitations, we have our fingers crossed that she’ll make the journey to Tottori sometime in the near future. If she needs advice on how to get there, she could always call on former U.S. late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien, who put Tottori on the map back in 2018, when he visited Conan Town to collect 3 trillion yen from the mayor.

Sources: Instagram/@tottoriawesome, Instagram/@totorealpavilion, Twitter/@tottori_guide, San-in Chuo Shimbun
Featured image©SoraNews24
Insert images: Pakutaso, ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Humanoid Typhoon to hit Shibuya and Namba this July.

Trigun Stargaze, the sequel series to Trigun Stampede, was released earlier this year, and while there’s fun to be had in the CG-reimagining of the adventures of Vash the Stampede, for many fans there’s just no substitute for the original hand-drawn Trigun manga and 1998 anime TV series.

So now there’s a Trigun Legacy Cafe coming to Tokyo and Osaka.

Hosted by Chugai Grace Cafe, a themed restaurant subdivision of department store Marui, the cafe will be saluting Trigun and Trigun Maximum, the renamed-for-publishing-purposes extension of the manga by creator Yasuhiro Nightow. Though it’s simultaneously opening in both Tokyo’s Shibuya and Osaka’s Namba neighborhoods, the two Trigun Cafes will have slightly different menus. The image above shows the lineup for the Tokyo branch, and below is the selection for Osaka.

There’s some overlap between the two. For example, you can get Vash and Wolfwood “visual mocktails” at either branch…

…and the same goes for the $$30 Million Donuts, Smokey Black Forrest Parfait, and Plant-inspired Twins Birthday drink, which comes with an art card and gives you the bulb-like container to take home.

However, the Opening Animation Salmon Sandwich and Bride beverage are exclusive to the Tokyo branch.

The Tokyo branch has regular restaurant seating, while the Osaka branch is takeout-only. However, you won’t want to breeze through too quickly, since both cafes will also have attached merch shops with items like pin badges, acrylic art bocks, and polaroid snapshot-style art cards.

If you’re looking for something practical, the shops will also have calendars, key chains, and tote bags.

Once again, the lineup is a little more extensive in Tokyo, though, as only the Tokyo branch will have plastic mini posters, IC card stickers sized to go over Suica and other rail pass cards, and “art cookies.”

And of course, this being a Japanese anime cafe, customers will also get illustrated coasters for ordering food and drink items from the menu, with separate sets available for the first and second half of the cafe’s run.

The Trigun Legacy Cafe will be open from July 3 to 26 at the Chugai Grace Cafes in Tokyo’s Shibuya Modi and Osaka’s Namba Marui buildings.

Related: Trigun Legacy Cafe Tokyo official website, Trigun Legacy Cafe Osaka official website
Source, images: PR Times
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

A new limited-edition drink you can’t even get at Starbucks.

Competition is fierce amongst Japan’s top three convenience store chains,  7-Eleven, Family Mart and Lawson, but right now 7-Eleven is edging ahead of the competition with a new tie-up Starbucks drink that you can’t get anywhere else, not even at Starbucks.

Called Fruity Cheers Torori, this new beverage comes in two flavours, Strawberry Berry Bergamot and Mango Passionfruit, with each one blending the rich aroma of fruit with the creamy smoothness of milk and the refreshing finish of tea for a perfect summer pick-me-up. One of its other key features lies in its name, as “torori” is Japanese onomatopoeia for something with a thick, smooth, rich, and velvety texture, and that’s what this drink promises to deliver.

The Strawberry Berry Bergamot blends milk with the refreshing citrus aroma of bergamot, the delicate fragrance of jasmine tea, and the sweet tartness of strawberry and blackberry. The result is a vibrant, fruity beverage with a rich strawberry aroma and a satisfyingly smooth texture.

The Mango Passionfruit features rich tropical aromas of mango and passionfruit, and blends it all with milk and black tea to create a luscious taste experience. The sweet, full-bodied fruit flavors and creamy richness are said to “unfold with every sip”, delivering a refreshing sensation that captures the spirit of summer.

According to Starbucks, this new series was created with the goal of bringing the Starbucks experience into people’s busy everyday lives through a convenient PET bottle format. Carefully developed by fine-tuning the balance between fruit, milk, and tea to achieve a rich, fruity flavour with a refreshing finish, these drinks are said to be the perfect companion for a summer afternoon.

With bright, colourful packaging and layered graphic elements, the cheerful design is sure to grab your attention when the drinks are released on 16 June. They’ll be available at 7-Eleven stores nationwide for a limited time, priced at 214 yen (US$1.33) each.

Source, images: Press release
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Japan’s Kansai region inspires some very bold baking in Shakey’s Japan’s ovens.

A while back, Shakey’s celebrated its 50th anniversary of arriving in Japan with a special selection of pizzas that it called the “American Pizza Tour.” But having passed the half-century mark in Japan now, the chain has seen some very tasty stuff in this country too, and brings us to Shakey’s newest creations, pizzas inspired by the culinary traditions of central Japan’s Kansai region.

We start with the Kansai Chili Con Carne Style Pizza. The topping for this complex concept is sujikon, a dish popular in Kansai made by simmering gyusuji (beef tendon) and konnyaku (konjac gelatin) simmered in a soy sauce-based stock. The sauce here has a Kansai twist too, as it’s a mixture of tomato sauce and Doro Sauce, a thick savory Worcestershire-like sauce made in Kobe with a little spicy kick to it.

Next we have the Saikyo Grilled Spanish Mackerel Alfredo Style Pizza. Kyoto is also part of the Kansai region, and while history buffs love the city for its temples and shrines, foodies are especially fond of saikyoyaki, a Kyoto specialty of white miso-marintaed grilled fish. Sawara (Spanish mackerel) is the most commonly used type of fish for saikyoyaki, and so that’s what comes with this pizza, with its elegantly sweet notes accompanied by a buttery Alfredo sauce and crisp mizuna (Japanese mustard greens).

Dessert also comes courtesy of inspiration from Kyoto cuisine. Though not mentioned in the name of the Matcha and Strawberry Dessert Pizza, here Shakey’s is drawing from nama yatsuhashi, Kyoto’s representative confectionary of folded mochi with anko (sweet red beans) inside and often a dusting of cinnamon. This dessert pizza has a butter anko sauce and is topped with little balls of gyuhi (extra soft mochi) and strawberry pieces, with matcha powder and cinnamon which should deliver an intriguing mix of sweet, bitter, and tart sensations.

And finally, Shakey’s will be serving up Doro Sauce BBQ Spaghetti too, which should let you get an even more pronounced taste of the condiment than with the Kansai Chili Con Carne Style Pizza.

There’s no denying that the new pizzas are all very bold, pioneering innovations…but it’s also hard to deny that they’re pretty weird. Since Shakey’s Japan operates on a flat-fee, all-you-can-eat system, though, there’s no need to commit to ordering a whole pie, so you can try a single slice first, then go back for more if/when they win you over.

Shakey’s Japan Tour 2026 Kansai, as the new items’ stint is called, runs from now until August 31.

Source: PR Times
Top image ©SoraNews24
Insert images: PR Times
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!