Twentythree

The question of whether it’s illegal to hike Mt. Fuji in the off-season is complex, and so is the question of who should pay for it.

With this year’s Mt. Fuji climbing season now finished, forestry officials in Shizuoka, one of the two prefectures in which Japan’s tallest mountain has a footprint, are getting set for a meeting to analyze and evaluate things like the flow of hiking traffic on the trails and how well they were managed. They’ll also be discussing something related to climbing Mt. Fuji outside of the hiking season, and their decisions could lead to changes requiring lost or injured hikers to pay for the cost of their own rescues.

To recap, Mt. Fuji has an officially designated hiking season. The exact dates vary by year and trail, but in general the hiking season runs from early July to early September. The question of whether or not climbing outside of the official season is illegal or not is somewhat complex. As posted on the Mt. Fuji Official Climbing Website, under Article 46 of the Road Act, all official trails leading to the summit of Mt. Fuji are closed and prohibited from use during the off-season, and those who violate the restriction can face penalties of up to six months in prison and a fine of 300,000 yen (US$1,890). This restriction is based on the trails’ status as prefectural roads, which places them under the jurisdiction of their respective prefectures and allows for local authorities to prohibit their use.

▼ “Hey man, what’re you in for?”
“I hiked the Yoshida trail in December.”

On the other hand, ascending Mt. Fuji outside the climbing season, in and of itself, does not appear to constitute a criminal act. It is, however, strongly discouraged, and for several reasons. Attempting to climb the mountains without utilizing the trails means taking more dangerous routes, and even if off-season climbers were to illegally use the trails, they’re not maintained to a safe extent during that part of the year. Weather patterns on Mt. Fuji are more severe and unpredictable during the off-season, and mountain huts, relief centers, and other support facilities are not staffed, since no one is supposed to be on the mountain then. Together, these factors not only make climbing Mt. Fuji in the off-season a much riskier endeavor, but also means that off-season rescue operations are more difficult and expose rescue workers to greater dangers.

Currently, the expense of rescue operations are all paid for by the prefectural government, which is another way of saying that they’re paid for by residents who pay taxes to the prefectural government. With an increasing number of off-season incidents coming as the economy is doing poorly and many Japanese families are feeling the pinch in their household budgets, there’s been increasing anger at overconfident off-season hikers getting a free ride home after ignoring the warnings to stay off Mt. Fuji. Under the current laws, though, the government can’t stick hikers with the bill for their own rescue, since that’s classified as a guaranteed government service for people in distress.

What they might be able to do, though, is institute penalty fees for hikers who have failed to perform prior responsibilities, and so Shizuoka Prefecture is considering creating a new regulation that would require individuals to file an off-season climbing declaration with the local government if they’re going to hike Mt. Fuji outside of the official season. Off-season hikers who do not file the declaration would then be in violation of their responsibilities, which would, theoretically, open up the possibility of charging them for the cost of their rescue or imposing other penalties even if they were not found on the prohibited trails.

As the plan is still at the conceptual phase, it’s not clear whether all declarations would be automatically accepted, or if the process to file them would be purposely expensive or inconvenient in order to act as further discouragement. The committee is also said to be planning to discuss other measures such as making off-season climbing, whether on the trails or not, illegal. Yamanashi, the other prefecture Mt. Fuji is part of, is also reportedly looking for ways in which it could impose fines on off-season hikers who require rescue services.

Source: SBS News, Teleasa News, Mt. Fuji Official Climbing Website
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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A new way to get a taste of Starbucks.

Starbucks has been working hand-in-hand with beverage giant Suntory in Japan, creating a number of canned and bottled beverages so even more customers can enjoy their drinks without walking into a branch.

Now, it’s going to be even easier to get a taste of Starbucks in Japan, as the chain has just announced it will be rolling out vending machines dedicated to their drinks, with each one adorned in Starbucks’ distinctive branding. The designs are based around the brand’s familiar green and black colour scheme, with a large Siren logo on the side, and the message “Anytime, anywhere, with ease, Starbucks” on the front in Japanese.

▼ The message will be accompanied by photographs of the drinks, being enjoyed in different settings.

The vending machines will be stocked with four Starbucks coffee drinks, two in cans and two in bottles, including an exclusive product that can only be purchased at the machine.

▼ One of the standouts is Coffee Signatures Black, a canned coffee that isn’t even out yet, as it will be released on 15 September.

This beverage is a first for Starbucks’ ready-to-drink coffee range in Japan, as it’s the only one to use espresso-roasted beans, giving it a rich aroma and full-bodied flavour.

▼ Another drink being released on 15 September is a revamped version of Starbucks’ My Retreat Caramel Macchiato,

This is the chain’s vending-machine-exclusive drink, featuring a combination of Starbucks coffee, milk and sweet caramel flavour.

▼ The other two drinks are the My Coffee Time Black…

▼ … and the My Coffee Time Cafe Latte.

Both these canned coffees have been on the market since November last year, and have been well received by customers. The Black version uses specially selected Arabica beans and is designed to have a fragrant coffee flavour without any excessive bitterness or astringency. The Cafe Latte combines dark-roasted coffee with milk for a richer, creamier taste.

▼ Nothing beats the fun, and novelty, of buying these drinks from a Starbucks vending machine.

Japan is home to many vending machines, and this newest addition to the landscape gives Starbucks lovers a fast and easy way to get their coffees. While the company is yet to reveal where they’ll be located, keep an eye for them in and around stations nationwide from mid-September.

Source, images: Press release
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Studio Ghibli specialty shop wants to keep your papercraft Totoro safe.

Studio Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku is packed with cute, beautiful, and otherwise awesome memorabilia from the anime production house’s animated films, from finger puppets to fountain figurines. If you’re looking for a lovely piece of art not only to display, but also to assemble yourself, the Paper Theater series is a perfect choice.

Each kit is composed of an array of wooden or paper pieces to cut out which form the characters and environment. The way in which the elements are layered creates a three-dimensional field of dept, creating a sense that you could step right into this little Ghibli pocket world, or maybe that its citizens could come leaping out into ours.

However, there’s also a downside to the Paper Theater series. They’re too thick to fit into the sort of frame you’d use for a poster, but they’re also not as sturdy or stable as a diorama-style figurine made of more substantial materials would be.

It’s bad enough if your anime art gets damaged, but it’s even worse when it’s something you put together yourself. Thankfully, Donguri Kyowakoku has just added specialized frames for displaying and protecting assembled Paper Theater projects to its inventory.

The frames are manufactured by Ensky, the same company that produces the Paper Theater kits. Two sizes are on offer, one which accommodates kits measuring 16 x 10 x 4.2 centimeters (6.3 x 3.9 x 1.7 inches), and the other kits with dimensions of 10 x 8 x 4.2 centimeters.

Those two sizes cover the vast majority of Ghibli Paper Theater sets, and each of the frames allows for either vertical or horizontal display, to match the orientation of the kit you’ve put together.

▼ The plastic frames have a wood-grain look to them and are available in “natural,” “pearl white,” or “ash brown” colors.

The small frames are priced at 2,200 yen (US$14) and the large ones at 2,750, while the Paper Theater kits themselves range from roughly 2,000 to 3,000 yen, with all of them offered through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store here.

Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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A new mecha mecca is coming to Shibuya.

The most famous landmarks in Shibuya have long been the statue of faithful dog Hachiko and the gigantic Shibuya Scramble crosswalk. But the downtown Tokyo neighborhood is a place where there’s always space for new trends, and recently there’s another must-visit spot for many travelers. The Shibuya Parco shopping center has been establishing itself as a premier destination for Japanese pop culture fans, and that reputation is only going to grow when later this fall Shibuya Parco becomes the location of Japan’s newest Gundam specialty store.

The Gundam Base is a megastore chain dedicated to the Mobile Suit Gundam anime franchise. The main draw is a gigantic selection of Gunpla/Gundam plastic models, but they’re stocked with all sorts of other merch and collectibles too. With the Gundam franchise as a whole now spanning almost 50 years and over a dozen anime series set in multiple continuities, it can be hard for fans to find the specific items they’re looking for at smaller retailers, making a large-scale Gundam Base really feel like a supportive stronghold for fandom operations.

▼ Video of some of the existing Gundam Base stores

The announcement of The Gundam Base Shibuya comes less than two weeks after the start of the dismantling process for Tokyo’s life-size Gundam statue, which had its farewell ceremony on August 31. The 1:1-scale Unicorn Gundam stood in the Odaiba neighborhood, outside the Diver City shopping center. Diver City has a Gundam Base store of its own, called The Gundam Base Tokyo, and it appears that the Shibuya store will be operating in conjunction with it, not as a replacement. However, Odaiba is part of an island in Tokyo Bay, making it out of the way for many tourists’ itineraries, and with the loss of the Gundam statue leaving the neighborhood without one of its biggest attractions, Gundam rights-holder Bandai might be predicting a drop-off in customer traffic at the Odaiba store, making a location closer to the city center, like Shibuya, desirable.

The Gundam Base Shibuya will be located on Shibuya Parco’s 5th floor, which is designated as the “Chaos Culture Geek” section of the complex. Among its floormates will be Evangelion and Doraemon specialty shops, and one floor above it will be the Nintendo Tokyo and Pokémon Center Shibuya megastores, plus Capcom, Sega, Godzilla, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Weekly Shonen Jump shops, further cementing Shibuya Parco as a prime shopping spot for fans of otaku culture.

The Gundam Base Shibuya is scheduled to open in November of this year.

Source: The Gundam Base official website via Dendaminico Gamer via Hachima Kiko
Top image: The Gundam Base official website
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As TeamLab’s fame continues to grow, so too does the size of its art museums.

At the time of its founding in 2001, TeamLab didn’t attract all that much attention. Sure, the Japanese creative group’s professed purpose of mixing art, science, and technology sounded conceptually cool, but when it comes to actual execution, that’s a combination that no small number of art collectives have stumbled over.

Fast-forward to a quarter-century later, though, and TeamLab has become world-famous for the distinct way in which it creates ethereally enchanting spaces through the skillful use of digital effects to create interplays of light, shadow, and color. With TeamLab’s fanbase continuing to grow and its art installations often considered must-visit attractions for travelers in Japan, the group is ready to take its next step and has announced that a brand-new TeamLab museum will be opening in Tokyo.

TeamLab currently has two locations in Tokyo, with the above-pictured TeamLab Borderless having opened in the Azabudai neighborhood in 2024. While it’s drawn more than four million visitors since then, TeamLab Borderless is a reduced-size version of the facility of the same name that used to be located inside the now-closed Palette Town entertainment complex in Tokyo’s Odaiba neighborhood on an island in Tokyo Bay.

For its new museum, tentatively named TeamLab Tokyo, TeamLab will be headed back to Tokyo Bay, this time to the Ariake district adjacent to Odaiba. TeamLab Tokyo is slated to be a 33,000-square-meter (322,917-square-foot) facility, significantly larger than either TeamLab Borderless or Team Lab Planets in Tokyo’s Toyosu area. As a matter of fact, TeamLab Tokyo will be the largest TeamLab facility the group has ever built, and in addition to digital art installations will have a plaza, open spaces with greenery, and a cafe, as shown in the concept image at the top of this article.

▼ TeamLab Planets

Demand for TeamLab Tokyo tickets is sure to be high, but the rush to reserve them is yet to start, as the museum is projected to open in 2032. As of this time, TeamLab hasn’t announced any plans to close either of its current Tokyo facilities, though that could change between now and when the TeamLab Tokyo opens its doors.

Source: PR Times, Bijutsu Techo
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times (1, 2)
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Campaign is neighborhood’s latest attempt to keep litter and overtourism in check.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood was pretty firmly in the “only if you have spare time” section of most tourists’ Japan travel plans. Sure, Shibuya always had shops, restaurants, bars, and clubs, but the common attitude was that there were better ones to be found in Harajuku, Ginza, Shinjuku, or Roppongi, especially for those visiting from abroad.

Nowadays, though, Shibuya has become a must-see part of Tokyo for many visitors from overseas who want to experience crossing the now-world-famous Shibuya Scramble intersection, snap a photo with the statue of faithful dog Hachiko, check out the exclusive merch at the Shibuya Pokémon Center, and otherwise bask in the multitude of backdrops for eye-catching selfies for social media.

Along with increased tourist numbers, though, Shibuya has also been seeing increased levels of litter, which is leading to a new plea to help keep the neighborhood clean.

On September 1, Shibuya Ward and the Japan Soft Drink Association launched a joint public awareness campaign reminding everyone not only to use the recycling containers placed next to vending machines, but to use them properly. Posters, with both English and Japanese-text versions, make it clear that the recycling containers are for empty drink containers only, specifically PET (plastic) bottles, glass bottles, and cans.

Anything else needs to be disposed of elsewhere, and the posters emphasize four items in particular. While the recycling boxes are for empty drink containers, they’re not for empty plastic cups of the kind you’d get with a Starbucks Frappuccino or convenience store smoothie. Because of their size and shape, cups of this type can block the receptacle’s opening, preventing others from being able to use it as intended. Plastic bags also aren’t supposed to go in the recycling box, nor are mobile batteries or cigarette butts. The poster also makes a special point of explaining, to anyone thinking they’ve found a clever loophole, that putting cigarette butts or other trash inside a plastic bottle and then putting that bottle inside the box is also not allowed.

▼ The Japanese-text version of the poster. It’s strange that the illustration shows a crushed can, and it’s best not to distort their shape, so that they’ll slide more easily into the recycling box’s opening.

The physical printed poster is being displayed at a half-dozen public smoking areas in Shibuya, and notices are also being displayed on the signage system inside and outside Shibuya’s Miyashita Park entertainment complex.

In addition, bilingual English/Japanese reminder videos will play in the area around Shibuya Station, and the campaign’s organizers say they plan to add Chinese and Korean-language materials to spread the word as well.

▼ A still from the video message

The move follows a recent amendment to Shibuya’s local ordinances, which now require more public trash cans, plus new fines for littering that went into effect this summer.

Though it’s unfortunate that part of the price of less litter appears to be putting up a bunch of extra cautionary notices, hopefully the campaign will help instill a sense of how important it is to dispose of waste in its proper place, and maybe some day doing so really will become something visitors do as a common-sense matter of course.

Source, images: PR Times
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Nintendo’s iconic Legend of Zelda weapon could be yours to wield.

We recently found out that fans will be able to use an actual ocarina while playing Nintendo’s upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake. But while ocarinas are recurring items in the franchise, there’s another item that’s even more strongly associated with protagonist Link’s adventures: the Master Sword.

So it’s good to know there’s a real-world version of that on the way too.

As part of a new partnership with Nintendo, American toymaker Hasbro has unveiled the Legend of Zelda Electronic Master Sword. Described by Hasbro as a “roleplay item,” “collectible,” and “cosplay accessory,” this replica of the iconic weapon not only looks the part, it sounds it too, being loaded with more than 15 musical and sound-effect salutes to the Zelda games.

Flip the switch located in the hilt to power the Master Sword on, for example, and you’ll hear the triumphantly ascending four-note sequence that’s accompanied the discovery of important treasures and key items since the original Legend of Zelda 40 years ago. Motion sensors inside the sword can detect when you pick it up or set it down, and then produce the sound effect heard when Link equips unequips gear within the games.

The Master Sword also makes slashing sounds when swung and a clashing noise “on gentle impact,” according to Hasbro, so there’s no need to strike with all the strength you would if the fate of Hyrule were actually depending on the power of your blows. Give the sword five swings in a row, and you’ll unlock even more dramatic multi-attack sound effects.

Though the Master Sword’s design has some subtle differences between games, Hasbro says this item is based specifically on how it appeared in Tears of the Kingdom, the most recently released mainline entry in the series.

At 69 centimeters (27 inches) in length, Hasbro’s Master Sword isn’t trying to be a 1:1-scale replica, unlike the Master Sword produced by Japanese toymaker Tamashi Nations back in 2024, nor does it have the vibrating function that Tamashi Nations’ did. However, Hasbro’s Master Sword is a much more budget-friendly option. It’s priced at US$39.99, far less than the 22,000 yen (US$141 at 2024 conversion rates) that Tamashi Nations wanted for its version.

The legendary #MasterSword is coming to Hasbro.

Inspired by #TheLegendOfZelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the 27-inch Electronic Master Sword features 15+ sounds.

Pre-order 9/9 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET on #HasbroPulse. pic.twitter.com/NkXi30yUdk

— Hasbro Pulse (@HasbroPulse) September 8, 2026

US$39.99 is actually remarkably close to the US$40 that the original NES Legend of Zelda game sold for at the time of its release in the U.S., though that’s probably just a coincidence, seeing as how the Master Sword didn’t make its first appearance until the third game in the series, A Link to the Past.

Within the Zelda games. Link usually has to pass a test of fortitude before he can claim the Master Sword for himself, and there’s a parallel to that with Hasbro’s version, which is being offered as a preorder item and isn’t slated to ship until the beginning of May. That does mean, though, that fans should be able to have them in their hands soon after the scheduled April 30 opening of the live-action Legend of Zelda movie, and if you’re willing to wait, orders can be placed through the Hasbro Pulse online shop here.

Source: Hasbro Pulse via Anime News Network/Ken Iikura-Gross
Top image: Twitter/@HasbroPulse
Insert images: Hasbro Pulse
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