Twentythree

Following suspiciously swift sell-out of Yoshinoya’s Dragon Quest Slime bowls, new policy means that everyone who wants one can buy one at the regular price.

At the start of the month, beef bowl chain Yoshinoya kicked off a collaboration with the Dragon Quest video game franchise. Part of the promotion were Dragon Quest Slime figures being given out as part of a Dragon Quest Walk Set meal being served at Yoshinoya branches, and we went on a very happy (and tasty) quest to get ours.

In addition to the figures, though, there’s also a special Dragon Quest Yoshinoya bowl with cool illustrations of the mascot monster.

The bowl is only available as part of the Dragon Quest Walk Collaboration Set, sold through Yoshinoya’s online shop and also including two packs of instant gyudon (beef bowl) toppings. Unfortunately, the bowl sets sold out almost immediately after they went on sale July 2, with scalpers snatching them up and swiftly listing them at hugely inflated prices on resale sites.

But similarly to how Dragon Quest is a story about heroes finding a way to defeat evil, Yoshinoya has enacted a plan that will, hopefully, completely eliminate the scalping for the Dragon Quest bowl, announcing that it will now be produced as a made-to-order item.

Yoshinoya made the announcement on July 6, saying “We deeply apologize to our customers who had been looking forward to purchasing [the Dragon Quest bowl] but were unable to. In accordance with that, so that the bowls can be obtained by as many of our customers as possible, we will be producing extra [Dragon Quest bowls] on a presale (made-to-order) basis.”

A major reason scalping of fan items is so hard to prevent is that actual fans often have work, school, or personal matters they have to attend to on collaboration launch days, whereas profit-motivated scalpers can make grabbing the goods their number-one priority, buying up the entire available stock before fans have a chance to get theirs. Once the stock is sold out, scalpers can command higher prices on the resale market, because fans are left with no other option by which to purchase the items.

But by switching to a produced-to-order system for the Dragon Quest bowls, Yoshinoya removes the scarcity that would normally allow scalpers to charge higher prices. After all, if Yoshinoya itself is selling the Dragon Quest Walk Collaboration Set for 3,999 yen (US$25), there’s not much reason to pay a scalper more than that price, especially when secondhand sales don’t have the same quality guarantees that Yoshinoya itself provides for its products.

So why don’t all companies do this for their collaboration and other fan merch items? There are a couple of reasons. First, some sort of availability-limiting factor can help create a sense of timely excitement and buzz around a promotion, or, if you want to take a more negative view of it, leverage the dreaded fear of missing out to motivate customers to place their order quickly. The whole point of the Dragon Quest/Yoshinoya team-up is, after all, to help stimulate interest in the games and sales for the restaurant chain. However, items being available for a limited-time doesn’t mean they have to be available in limited-quantities. Yoshinoya has set the order window for the Dragon Quest bowls from July 7 to 8 p.m. on July 15, so they can still reap the benefits of creating a “Don’t delay!” sort of atmosphere.

Online reactions to Yoshinoya’s decision have been very positive, with comments in Japan including:

“I’m really happy Yoshinoya is doing this. If you have a job, it’s pretty much impossible to order things before the scalpers get to them.”
“Awesome that they’re not just turning a blind eye to this and are actually doing something about it…I hope other companies are taking notes!”
“Got my order in. Thank you! Looking forward to delivery.”
“Please hit those scalpers with a Thwack spell.”

The tradeoff, though, is that a made-to-order system takes longer to put the items in fans’ hands, since Yoshinoya needs to see how many orders are coming in before it starts making the bowls. Because of that, while the cutoff date to order the Dragon Quest bowls is July 15, they aren’t estimated to start shipping until October, and later orders might take even more time to fill.

This, unfortunately, still leaves a little bit of wiggle room for scalpers to charge above-retail prices for the bowls that they have for sale right now. Still, the margin scalpers can command for a three-month head start is going to be much smaller than it would be if Yoshinoya simply weren’t selling the bowls at all anymore, and hopefully fans will be patient and shun the scalpers.

The Dragon Quest Walk Collaboration Set can be ordered through the Yoshinoya online store here.

Source: Yoshinoya, Twitter/@yoshinoyagyudon
Images: Yoshinoya
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Vietnam’s star sandwich reaches a new milestone on the road to mainstream popularity in Japan.

I’ve had a lot of people in Japan ask me what foods I miss from my hometown. Usually they assume I miss hamburgers, and as someone who grew up in southern California I do have a lot of fond memories of In-N-Out (and, as a cultured native son of San Dimas, I have especially fond memories of Bravo Burgers). But high-quality burgers aren’t all that hard to find in the Tokyo area, and the sandwiches I most often find myself missing from back home are banh mi.

Not that banh mi originated in the Los Angeles area, but the size of the local Vietnamese population means that you’re never too far from a shop or restaurant where you can pick up one of Vietnam’s representative sandwiches, consisting of a sliced baguette filled with meat, vegetables, and cilantro. But while banh mi have gotten more popular in Japan in recent years, they’re still generally something you have to go out of your way to find here, so it’s a potential sandwich game changer that 7-Eleven Japan has now started selling them.

7-Eleven’s banh mi debuted towards the end of June. Priced at 430 yen (US$2.75), it’s not exactly a bargain, but also not as startlingly expensive as a lot of convenience store fare has become over the past year. One thing that might be a little jarring for banh mi veterans, though, is that 7-Eleven’s banh mi come cold, since they’re kept on the stores’ refrigerated shelves, but that’s probably unavoidable since they’re pre-made.

Out of the wrapper, this isn’t a bad-looking banh mi at all. There’s a nice contrast of colors between the nicely browned bread, ham, diced carrots and radish, and cilantro.

Things are pretty good size-wise too. Some Japanese convenience store specialty sandwiches are woefully undersized, but by Japanese portion standards, this is a decent deal.

Taking a bite quickly reveals that the baguette is soft, not crusty, but still with more substance to it than a generic subway sandwich roll. Once you’re through the bread, though, you’re going to be met with quite a lot of crunch from the vegetables.

The carrots and radish were firmer than I’d expected, and their texture was all the more noticeable because of the tenderness of the sliced ham, since with something heftier, like barbecued pork, the veggies’ crunchiness probably wouldn’t stand out quite so much. Similarly, while there is some cilantro in here, it’s a pretty small amount compared to non-7-Eleven banh mi. That’s probably something that I should have expected, though, since with cilantro being a pretty divisive food in Japan, it makes sense that 7-Eleven would want to err on the side of caution to avoid putting in too much for most of their customers’ tastes. Still, the small amount of cilantro means that 7-Eleven’s banh mi doesn’t have much leafy texture either, once again making the vegetables’ feel even crunchier.

In addition to being crunchy, the vegetables are also surprisingly wet. They’re treated with quite a lot of vinegar, and that gives them a noticeable pickle-sourness, though thankfully it’s not too sharp or overpowering. There’s also extra moisture from the sweet chili sauce that 7-Eleven uses for this sandwich, which adds a little bit of heat, but not so much that you’d call this an out-and-out spicy sandwich.

All that makes for a comparatively wet and crunchy banh mi without a particularly strong aromatic herbal aspect. However, everything that is here is rather tasty, and it delivers that satisfyingly filling but not heavy or bloated sensation that makes banh mi a great meal choice.

Overall, 7-Eleven Japan’s banh mi might not be something you’d feel obsessively compelled to go super out of your way to get, but with how many branches 7-Eleven has in Japan, odds are there’s not going to be any major detour involved in procuring this sandwich. As something you can quickly pop into a convenience store and grab on your way to/from work, school, or sightseeing, this is a viable option in terms of taste and quality, and more intriguing that a plain old ham-and-cheese or tuna mayo sandwich.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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If you’re looking to start your Mt. Fuji hike as early as possible without having to spend the night, here’s how.

Popular tourism destination though it may be, there’s still a certain amount of planning and determination required to hike to the top of Mt. Fuji. As a matter of fact, just making it to the mountain itself from the Tokyo area can require some research, especially if you’ve got a time you want/need to arrive at the summit by and then have to work backwards through your various lodging and transportation options to figure out when and where to start your in-total trek.

But all that’s gotten quite a bit simpler this month with the introduction of a new overnight bus that takes you from the heart of Tokyo all the way to the start of the Yoshida Trail, the most popular route to the top of Fuji. With the Yoshida trail having opened for this year’s climbing season at the start of this month, as of July 3 bus operator Fujikyu Bus now runs a nightly bus that leaves from Busta Shinjuku, the bus terminal adjacent to Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station, and arrives at Mt. Fuji’s Fifth Station the following morning.

The bus departs at 11:25 p.m. and goes directly to Mt. Fuji, arriving at 2 a.m. That gives you around one hour to acclimate and take care of any final pre-hike preparations before the Yoshida Trail opens at 3 a.m.

By starting your hike at a time that’s still hours earlier than trains and most other public transportation is running, you not only get to enjoy more tranquil, less congested conditions on the trail, but you’ll also have ample time to complete your hike at a personally manageable pace, since you’ll have an entire day’s worth of daylight ahead of you (sunrise is as at about 4:30 a.m. in the Fuji area in midsummer).

Another reason to try to beat the crowds is that the Yoshida Trail is capped at a capacity of 4,000 entrants per day, after which no new hikers are let in. While that one-day limit wasn’t reached during the 2025 season, with the number of hikers coming to Mt. Fuji increasing every year, there’s no telling if it might get hit this summer, leaving would-be hikers who arrive later in the day out of luck and with no option but to turn back before even starting their ascent.

The bus fare is 5,800 yen (US$36) if purchased at a convenience store or the bus terminal, or 5,500 yen for those making an online reservation through the Highway Bus.com website. This makes the Fujikyu overnight bus from Shinjuku to Fuji about 1,000 yen more expensive than the company’s daytime buses that run the same route, but taking into account that the overnight bus saves you the cost of a local hotel or rental/hired car that you’d otherwise need in order to be on the trail so early, it’s still a pretty attractive deal.

The overnight bus is scheduled to be offered through to the September 9 departure/September 10 arrival, ending on the final day of the 2026 Yoshida Trail hiking season.

Related: Highway Bus.com
Source: Fujikyu, Fujisan Keizai Shimbun
Top image: Fujikyu
Insert image: Pakutaso
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Dressed to impress.

An age-old problem for many parents is how to get kids to eat their vegetables. In an age of hyper-palatable ultra-processed food, it can be hard to turn kids on to the wonders of spinach or even good old ants on a log. According to a survey of mothers in Japan, 90 percent want their children to eat vegetables, but struggle with the kids’ picky eating habits.

This is a problem that food research firm and seasoning maker Riken Vitamin has decided to try tackling. Some might recognize the name “Riken” as the name of Japan’s national scientific institute. That’s because this is a privatized spin-off of the research institute that came to be after finding and commercializing natural vitamin A extracted from fish liver.

Now, its goal is finding a way to get kids to eat their veggies, and after talking with some busy parents, found that sprinkling crushed potato chips on salads helped kids to stomach them. That seemed reasonable since potatoes are vegetables and have an inherent link with others, but potato chips weren’t designed for sprucing up greens. So, what if the deliciousness of potato chips was engineered to be even more compatible with vegetables?

After some research and development, and with the support of Japan’s leading potato chip maker, Calbee, a new kind of dressing was born: Calbee Potato Chips Seaweed & Salt Flavor Dressing.

This dressing takes the core flavors of Calbee’s best-selling flavor of chips and tunes them to pair especially well with vegetables. Even big fans of potato chips might quickly dismiss the flavor of chips in question as a mere plain flavor since seaweed more or less tastes like salt. But there’s a great deal of subtlety in the seasoning here.

These chips use two types of seaweed, aromatic aonori (sea laver) and flavor-packed aosa (sea lettuce), along with hints of chili pepper, sesame oil, and clam extract for added complexity. Riken Vitamin worked to retain as much of that flavorfulness as possible and used their own suji-aonori that they grew through land-based aquaculture.

Some serving suggestions by Riken Vitamin include the Chips Sandwich. Putting potato chips on a sandwich is certainly a decadent treat, but the same effect can be had by drizzling some of this dressing on some crispy lettuce in the same sandwich.

▼ Though the sandwich in their picture appears to also be using actual potato chips, which seems to defeat the purpose…

Another option is the Parfait Salad, which is a goblet full of vegetables and a hard-boiled egg for a little pizzaz, all topped with a splurt of Calbee Potato Chips Seaweed & Salt Flavor Dressing. If this dressing can get picky kids to eat that much vegetation in one place, then it truly is a winner.

Of course, the million-dollar question is how healthy this dressing is, especially compared to crumpling potato chips on salads. Unfortunately, a full ingredient list and nutritional information will likely have to wait until the product’s release on 1 August all over Japan. Hopefully, they won’t have problems with color packaging like Calbee currently does by that time.

Source: PR Times, Calbee, Riken Vitamin
Images: PR Times
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Nintendo’s big-appetite video game star is ready to get summer started.

When does summer start? For a layperson, the first day of June might seem the most natural, since it can feel weird to call, say, June 15 a “spring” day. Astronomers, though, would say we’re not into summer until we get past the solstice, which takes place around June 21. Meanwhile, staunch defenders of traditional Japanese culture and linguistic norms might argue that summer doesn’t begin until the end of the “rainy season” that descends on Japan in mid-June and dissipates a few weeks later.

In times like this, when there are so many schools of thought, the best thing to do is to look to a figure of great intellect and wisdom to settle the matter for us.

So, what do you say, Kirby? When does summer start?

Ah, cool, thanks for clearing that up!

Yes, July 8 will be the start of the Kirby Cafe Summer 2026 menu at Japan’s Kirby Cafes in Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka.

Even among Japan’s many character-themed restaurants, the Kirby Cafe is known for being especially cute in its culinary creations, and that streak of success is set to continue with the introduction of the Getting Sucked In! Kirby’s Extra Energetic Taco Rice.

Taco rice is a popular fusion dish that uses the sort of seasoned meat and vegetable assortment you’d find in tacos, but ditches the tortilla/shell and serves them with rice instead. The rice here is colored and shaped like Kirby, with a suggestion from the chefs to mix everything up and eat it quickly before Kirby himself inhales it.

Meanwhile, the Summer Kirby Burger and Meat Pasta gives the Nintendo star some star-shaped sunglasses atop a pink Kirby bun. Accompanied by a side of meat sauce spaghetti with vegetables, a cup of corn soup, and what appears to be a big hashed brown star, the cafe bills this as “a well-balanced meal,” and it looks hearty enough to satisfy Kirby-sized appetites.

A more subtle nod to the Kirby video game series aesthetics comes with the Chef Kawasaki Tropical Hamburger Steak, which has a star-shaped fried egg and pineapple slices to add some invigorating tang to one of Japan’s favorite meaty main dishes.

The hamburger steak is priced at 1,958 yen (US$12.25), the Kirby burger 2,530 yen, and the taco rice 2,618 yen. However, if you’re ordering the burger and willing to shell out 3,630 yen, you also get a copy of the cute illustrated plate it’s served on to take home with you.

▼ In promotions like this, Japanese themed cafes usually give you a new, separate version of the tableware, not the exact one you just ate off of.

There’s a similar offer with the King Dedede Tokonatsu (“Eternal Summer”) Resort Fruit Punch.

This luxurious dessert drink, with fruit, wiggly gelatin, and shiratama mochi dumplings, is 1,628 yen on its own, or 2,728 if you want the glass bowl too.

Same sort of deal with the Break-time Melon Cream Soda: 1,243 yen for the ice cream float-style drink alone, or 1,958 yen with an acrylic Kirby or Waddle Dee drink stirrer stick to keep.

▼ Unfortunately, you don’t get to choose which one you get. Fortunately, they’re both adorable.

Things are simpler, though, with the Special Energy Drink, a real-world fruit-soda interpretation of the in-game restorative item, which is always 1,320 yen and includes the bottle.

The sweets selection also includes a version of the Kirby Cafe’s most famously photogenic item, the Kirby car cake (2,508 yen), which will be cruising through the summer months in “Fun Tropical” mode with sliced pineapple and a palm tree cookie.

All of the above items will be on the Kirby Cafe menu from July 8. However, as we ourselves experienced, it can be very tough to get a table at the cafe, because of how quickly reservations fill up. Luckily, there’s one more way to enjoy some summer snack fun with Kirby, and it just might be the cutest of them all.

At the Kirby Cafe the Store gift shops located near the Tokyo and Fukuoka branches, as well as the Kirby Cafe Petit takeout shop in Osaka, as of June 19 they’re offering takeout Kirby Ice Cream pops for 580 yen. Not only do they look amazing, they’re made of peach sherbet, a rather classy choice of flavor.

All of the above will be available until September 23, as apparently that’s when Kirby decrees will be the start of autumn.

Related: Kirby Cafe official website
Source: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, SoraNews24
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Government reveals long-awaited fee schedule ahead of proposed October implementation.

On 3 July, the Immigration Services Agency of Japan published detailed draft guidelines setting out a new fee structure for visa renewals and permanent residency applications, following revisions to the Immigration Control Act passed in May.

According to the draft proposal, fees for visa renewals and changes to status-of-residence will no longer be charged at the current flat rate of 6,000 yen (US$37.40) for in-person applications. Instead, the amount would depend on the length of residence granted, with shorter periods attracting lower fees and longer periods significantly higher ones.

Under the new guidelines, the proposed fees are as follows:

• Up to three months: 10,000 yen
• Three to six months: 18,000 yen
• Six months to one year: 25,000 yen
• One year: 33,000 yen
• One to three years: 48,000 yen
• Three to five years: 64,000 yen
• Five years or more: 75,000 yen

Online applications for visas over three months will reportedly be eligible for a discount of 3,000 to 10,000 yen on these prices, although the government is yet to reveal the full online pricing schedule.

While these are all significant price hikes, the biggest increase affects permanent residency applications, with fees rising from the current 10,000 yen ($61.84) to 200,000 yen ($1,236.74). This is double the 100,000 yen amount proposed in earlier reports, and a twenty-fold increase over the current fee. Permanent residency permits will only be accepted through in-person applications, so no discounts will be available.

▼ Time to start saving if you want to become a permanent resident of Japan.

Though the sudden 1,900-percent increase in permanent residency fees may seem steep, Japan’s current PR fee of 10,000 yen has long been exceptionally low by international standards. Comparable application fees sit at around US$1,440 in the U.S., GBP3,226 (US$4308) in the U.K., and AU$5,000 (US$3,469) in Australia. However, the newly proposed permanent residency fee would place Japan among the higher end of Asian countries, making it around 7–8 times higher than South Korea’s and approximately 13–15 times higher than that of Singapore.

According to the Immigration Services Agency, the revised charges aim to cover both the administrative costs of processing applications and broader spending on immigration policy. Officials estimate the changes would increase annual government revenue by around 690 billion to 920 billion yen ($4.3–5.7 billion), with the additional funds earmarked for immigration administration and policies relating to foreign residents.

Some of that extra cash will likely go towards the new mandatory Japanese Language and Lifestyle Learning Programme earmarked for permanent residency applicants.

Under the revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, the fee structure is subject to statutory upper limits. The law sets a ceiling of up to 100,000 yen for status changes and renewals, and up to 300,000 yen for permanent residency applications.

Fee reductions may apply in cases of significant financial hardship or on the basis of humanitarian grounds, as outlined in the government’s guidelines, with permanent residency applications reduced to as low as 20,000 yen and other procedures to 10,000 yen in these cases.

Upon announcing the new changes, Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said the government anticipates that costs associated with managing immigration and residence procedures will continue to rise, so foreign residents are essentially being asked to bear an appropriate share of those costs.

The proposals are now open for public comment until 2 August, with the government aiming to introduce the new fees from 1 October.

Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sankei, TV Asahi, Jiji, NHK
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso (1, 2)
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Programmes on community etiquette may also become part of the screening process.

Japan is moving forward with plans to establish more formal guidelines for foreign nationals seeking permanent residency in Japan, as part of a broader push by the government to strengthen integration and screening standards for foreign residents.

The new policy guidelines, published on 3 July, were drafted by a specially appointed Immigration Services Agency project team led by Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Justice Manabu Fukuyama. The report recommends introducing a “Japanese Language and Lifestyle Learning Programme” for foreign residents, with participation recommended as a mandatory requirement for permanent residency and potentially used for citizenship applications as well.

According to the proposed framework, foreigners seeking permanent residency would be expected to complete the programme while also satisfying existing requirements, such as a qualifying period of residence, stable income, and tax compliance. The report also proposes using online methods to provide learning opportunities before arrival in Japan and to support continued learning after entry, so participation records can be reflected in screenings for future applicants.

Some of the possible lifestyle programmes being discussed include practical guidance on everyday life such as garbage sorting rules, community etiquette, disaster preparedness, and administrative procedures. While many Western countries already operate national integration programmes for immigrants, Japan has so far lacked a comprehensive government-led system, leaving much of the responsibility to local governments and employers.

Though some local governments already provide practical programmes, including sessions on childbirth and parenting, these are currently offered on a voluntary basis to foreign residents. The latest proposal suggests such initiatives could become part of a standardised national framework for permanent residency applicants, creating a more uniform system nationwide.

While details such as the required language proficiency level and implementation methods are yet to be finalised, previous policy discussions regarding visa applications have pointed toward N2-level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) as a potential standard. With permanent residency granting a more secure category of stay – permanent residency status itself doesn’t expire, with holders only required to renew their residence card periodically, compared to other visa holders who are given temporary residence status – it’s likely that language proficiency requirements will at least be on par with those set for other visa applications.

▼ Time to start studying.

The language proposal forms part of the government’s broader effort to formalise standards for foreign residents as Japan’s foreign population continues to grow. With foreign residents in Japan reaching a record 4,125,395 at the end of 2025, topping four million for the first time ever, the government appears to be making a more concerted push towards ensuring these residents attain higher working proficiency in Japanese beyond basic conversational ability, to better integrate foreign residents into their local communities.

Guidelines for the programme and a system to track participation are expected to be developed in fiscal 2027, with aims for a trial rollout from fiscal 2028.

Sources: Jiji, The Asahi Shimbun, Nikkei, The Immigration Services Agency of Japan (1, 2)
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso (1, 2)
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