Twentythree

Get in the Hard Rock crossover, Shinji!

The Hard Rock Cafe currently has two branches in Tokyo, one in the Roppongi Neighborhood and one attached to Ueno Station, but what if the restaurant had a Tokyo-3 branch? And no, we don’t mean a third branch in Tokyo, but a branch inside Tokyo-3, the city that serves as the main setting of Evangelion.

That’s the concept behind a new collaboration between the giant robot anime series and music-themed restaurant chain, which has led to a new collection of crossover merch. Evangelion Unit-01 is the star here, featured on T-shirts with its iconic green-and-purple color scheme and AT field hexagonal pattern applied to the Hard Rock Logo.

Three different colors are on offer, with white available at the Roppongi, Ueno Kyoto, and Universal Citywalk Osaka Hard Rock Cafes. Gray shirts will be on the rack at Roppongi, Yokohama, Citywalk Osaka, and the Namba store, while those looking for black shirts will find them at Ueno, Yokohama, Kyoto, and Namba.

Also part of the lineup is a sukajan/Yokosuka jacket, which seems like a very appropriate canvas for this sort of East-meets-West endeavor.

Rounding out the fashion selection is the Eva/Hard Rock cap, and Unit-01 and the series’ core pilot roster will also be appearing on shot glasses, magnets, and pins.

The magnet and shot glass, pictures above, will include the name of the city in which they were purchased, but the pins will be specific to each Hard Rock location.

The pins are limited-quantity items, with only 500 of each design being made and carrying a price of 3,080 yen (US$19), which is also the price of the magnet. The shot glass, meanwhile, is 1,980 yen, the shirts 5,940 yen, and the Yokosuka jacket, as is often the case for the embroidered garments, is a premium piece, at 66,000 yen. While supplies last, fans purchasing the collaboration items will get them placed inside an Evangelion/Hard Rock shopping bag.

The lineup goes on sale November 3, with the exception of the pin which is scheduled to be available sometime in “early November.”

Related: Hard Rock Cafe Japan location list
Source: PR Times via Nijimen
Images: PR Times
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No tricks or treats is the plan at Shibuya Center-gai, but cool sweets will be waiting at every other branch.

In a way, I suppose you could accuse Burger King Japan of having lost its Halloween spirit. The chain’s Shibuya Center-gai branch in downtown Tokyo, just a short walk from the world-famous Shibuya Scramble intersection, announced on Thursday that it’ll be closed for the entirety of October 31. The storefront’s shutter will be down with a large 臨時休業 (“temporarily closed”) written across it, and the Burger King logo will even have an X over it to quickly communicate the message “No burgers here on Halloween!”

This has become something of an annual tradition at the Shibuya Center-gai Burger King, stemming from the neighborhood’s attempts to clean up its image at Halloween. Shibuya was one of the first places in Japan where people began gathering in large numbers to celebrate Halloween, and what started as good-natured fun eventually turned into alcohol-soaked street parties with instances of vandalism, theft, and violence marring the unsanctioned gatherings.

In recent years the authorities have been cracking down with measures such as restricting alcohol sales and setting up gates and barricades to more tightly control the flow of people in and out of Shibuya on and around Halloween night, as well as public awareness campaigns reminding people that public drinking, littering, and other forms of inconsiderate or unruly behavior are not allowed. And while there’s no government mandate prohibiting Burger King from staying open on October 31, the restaurant’s management evidently feels the wisest choice is to close the place and take the day off so as not to contribute to overcrowding in Shibuya on Halloween.

That doesn’t mean that Burger King Japan is opposed to Halloween fun in general, though. As a matter of fact, at the same time that the Shibuya Center-gai location is closed, every other Burger King in Japan will be actively celebrating by inviting people to come on in and trick-or-treat!

On October 31, all non-Shibuya Center-gai Burger Kings will be giving out free soft serve ice cream to the first 30 visitors age 18 or younger who come up to the counter and say “trick or treat.” There doesn’t appear to be any requirement that they order anything else, either, so this really is following the classic Halloween custom of giving out sweets simply for the asking. They’re even sweetening the free-sweets deal by tossing in a sheet of Halloween stickers.

▼ The ice cream here appears to be haunted, but that’s still better than not having ice cream right?

Note, though, that the trick-or-treat ice cream is only available between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., which means no having it for breakfast, but since trick-or-treating isn’t a morning activity, even this is in keeping with the spirit of Halloween.

Source, images: PR Times
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Goodbye Kitty.

Vivant has emerged as a major hit on Japanese TV to a degree that only seems to come along every decade or so. It stars Masato Sakai, who also starred in Japan’s last gigantic TV hit Hanzawa Naoki, by the same director, with Sakai this time playing a businessman who gets embroiled in international intrigue.

The program has become so popular that it is frequently involved in tie-ups with other brands eager to ride the Vivant wave. And there is perhaps no company that loves collaborating more than Sanrio, which has teamed up with just about everything from Sesame Street and Clinique to Pringles and Godzilla.

Earlier this year, various goods such as plush toys and T-shirts featured six of Sanrio’s most popular characters dressed as the characters from Vivant. Nogitty was a mash-up of Hello Kitty and Sakai’s character Yusuke Nogi, while Hangyodon took on the role of Mamoru Nozaki, played by Hiroshi Abe in the show. There were also My Melody, Pompompurin, Cinnamoroll, and Kuromi as Kaoru Yuzuki, Drum, Nokoru, and Kurosu respectively.

＼明日まで／

G階段下ワゴンで開催中の
VIVANT POP-UP SHOPは7/16の18時まで！

グッズをゲットして、
7/26(日)から始まるTBS系日曜劇場『#VIVANT』第2シーズンを観よう！#サンリオキャラクターズ#東京キャラクターストリート#キャラスト pic.twitter.com/lOJhVVmhI7

— 【公式】東京キャラクターストリート (@characterstreet) July 15, 2026

I’m using past tense there because as of 29 October, all of the Sanrio Vivant items have been taken off the market. On October 28, Sanrio’s Chinese arm, Sanrio Shanghai International Trading, announced, through its social media account, the cancellation of Sanrio’s collaboration with Vivant and that all future activities related to it would be cancelled as well. Sanrio Japan also posted a statement on October 29 announcing the cancelation of the collaboration, apologizing for any discomfort it may have caused and that the themes of the show were inconsistent with Sanrio’s corporate philosophy of “One world, connecting smiles.”

A few days earlier, Chinese state-run media had published a piece on Vivant, accusing it of slandering China and “exaggerating the China threat theory,” referring to the idea that China’s rapid growth poses a fundamental threat to global peace and stability. This all stems from scenes in Vivant that show a fictional organization affiliated with China brutally torturing members of the fictional Japanese covert group Beppan, hacking all of the fingers off one member’s hand.

Problematic Japanese-Chinese relations aside, reading that last sentence would make one wonder what Hello Kitty was doing with this show in the first place. Granted, Sanrio has been known to dabble in dark franchises in the past, but close association with torture and mutilation might not be good optics for the maker of Dokidoki Yummychums. It’s an opinion shared by many in online comments as well.

“It was an odd combination to begin with.”
“I always thought Sanrio avoided collaborating with themes involving things like the military or war. How did Vivant get the green light?”
“I guess this was a miscalculation on Sanrio’s part. Maybe they didn’t anticipate this kind of explicit and controversial content from Vivant.”
“It was cancelled before I could buy anything! I was planning to get something next month, too.”
“This is hardly surprising. I’m guessing Masato Sakai won’t be finding much work in China either.”
“Sanrio needs to put more thought into who they team up with.“

As for Vivant’s response to the criticism from China, the network that airs it, TBS, released a statement saying they will seriously consider questions that the show “harbors hostility towards certain countries” and features excessive violence. While they maintain that the torture scenes were necessary to the show’s story, they also say they will continue to carefully consider whether certain depictions will cause discomfort or excessive fear among viewers.

We’ll see how that goes, but hopefully Hello Kitty learned her lesson and will stick with more family-friendly fare like It… I’m guessing they didn’t read the book.

Source: Sponichi Annex, Hachima Kiko, Sanrio
Photo ©SoraNews24
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Whether you’re restoring your energy at home or out adventuring in the world, these Hyrulian artifacts will be ready to help.

Nintendo fans already have November 5 circled on their calendars, since that’s when the long-awaited remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time goes on sale for the Switch 2. That’s not the only cool Zelda-related release coming up in November though, with Japanese fashion and interior company Takarajimasha, whose name means “treasure island company,” releasing two creations based on treasure from Nintendo’s fantasy franchise.

The first item is a replica of the coveted Heart Container, which has been extending the hero Link’s maximum life bar since the very start of the series. Takarajimasha’s version is modeled on the version seen in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom with its arabesque gold framing.

While this real-world won’t instantly increase your longevity or resilience, it can provide illumination, as it’s actually a 9-centimeter (3.5-inch) tall lamp that produces a warm red glow when switched on.

The designers know that you will want to hold this in your hands, so the lamp can be detached from the base.

▼ Though you’ll have to hum Zelda’s traditional four-note “treasure found” fanfare yourself.

Because of their value and rarity, Heart Containers are something that players search high and low for in exploring the games’ realms, but Takarajimasha also wants to salute the most common of Zelda treasures, the humble Rupee.

The green Ruppe, the smallest-denomination of Hyrulian currency, is something you’ll collect hundreds of, if not thousands, during a playthrough of one of the Zelda games, and yet, it’s still sure to bring a smile to you, or any fellow fans, when one shows up in our world as a zippered silicone pouch.

The designers bill is as a komono ire, a Japanese term whose closest English equivalent would be “accessory pouch,” but really refers to a pouch for storing any small items, such as earbuds, cosmetics, or even bite-sized snacks.

There’s a strap in case you want to use it as a bag charm, and you’ll also find The Legend of Zelda, written in Japanese, on the Rupee’s underside.

A quirk of the Japanese publishing industry is that fashion and lifestyle magazines sometimes come with some sort of fashion/lifestyle item bundled with them. Sometimes these are so popular that they overshadow the edition of the periodical, so, noticing this, companies like Takarajimasha that specialize in such bundled items sometimes flip the script and make the items the primary product and toss in a mini magazine as a supplementary freebie. Both the Heart Container Interior Light and the Rupee Silicone Pouch are being offered in this format, branded as “Books” and sold together with an eight-page booklet of undisclosed but presumably Zelda-related nature.

The Heart Container light is priced at 3,839 yen (US$24) and the Rupee pouch at 2,992 yen. They both go on sale November 2 and can be ordered, here and here, through the Takarajimasha online shop as well as through select branches of convenience store chain Lawson.

Source: PR Times, Takarajimasha
Top image: Takarajimasha
Insert images: Takarajimasha (1, 2), PR Times
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Combining palanquins and muscle suits to make historic sites accessible for all.

Along the eastern shores of Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest freshwater lake, in Shiga is the city of Hikone, home to one of only twelve castles in Japan with its original main keep still standing.

However, reaching the top is not a casual stroll, being guarded by 140 steep, irregular stone steps explicitly designed to exhaust invading samurai, and now those same steps present a modern dilemma.

Being a National Special Historic Site, and a possible candidate for UNESCO World Cultural Heritage status in 2028, how can the site be made more accessible for visitors who use wheelchairs or have mobility impairments, especially when pouring concrete ramps over 17th-century masonry isn’t exactly an option that would be enthusiastically received?

On October 19, Hikone City staff and volunteers conducted a trial, where they took turns acting as carriers, carrying wheelchair users up to the main enclosure (honmaru) using a traditional wooden mountain palanquin (yamakago). The trek covered a 285-meter (935-foot) round-trip with a 50-meter (165-foot) vertical rise and an average 18-percent incline, which is not an easy feat for two people to do.

So, to lighten the load for the team of six carriers, trial participants strapped on state-of-the-art, non-motorized wearable assist suits, with two wearing the Muscle Suit Soft-Power Easy-Lift and four equipping the Mediaid Firm Guard Waist EX Hard.

▼Muscle Suit Soft-Power Easy-Lift

▼Mediaid Firm Guard Waist EX Hard

The reaction from the carriers was enthusiastic, receiving comments like:
“Because I injured my lower back in the past, wearing it gave me a real sense of security.”
“It is attached at the base of the knees, but when standing upright it is loose, so it does not get in the way of going up and down the stairs.”
“The moment I took it off, I realized just how much it had been helping me.”

Standing up while balancing a palanquin on your shoulders normally feels like tipping backward, causing some difficulty in maintaining balance, but the back-and-leg support makes rising smooth and stable.

Beyond opening up easier physical access to a historic tourist site, the trial offered a glimpse into an exciting future for Japanese tourism, with accompanying curators explaining the history and scenery of the location, creating an opportunity for visitors to get a taste of what it would be like to travel around the mountain like nobility in the time of the samurai.

Similarly, it could also open up another bucket-list item for many travelers along with sitting on the back of a human-powered rickshaw, being chauffeured around Japan’s historical districts. If wearable assist suits can help bridge the gap between 17th-century architecture and 21st-century accessibility, it opens up countless possibilities for historic castles, mountain temples, and heritage sites all across Japan.

Source and images: PR Times
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Kiki’s Delivery Service scene-stealer is adorably transfixed by Donguri Kyowakoku’s latest homeware offering.

Any branch of Ghibli specialty shop chain Donguri Kyowakoku will be filled with amazing merch from the anime studio’s films, but a few locations are extra-special thanks to their inclusion of items from the Donguri Closet sub-brand. As the name alludes to, Donguri Closet’s focus is on fashion and home décor. The designs have an elegant coziness to them, making them the sort of things that, without being flashy, will catch the eyes of fans as soon as they step into the room…and, in this case, catch the eyes of Kiki’s Delivery Service’s Jiji too.

So what’s got Kiki’s black cat companion so captivated? A recreation of an oil lamp seen in the home of Osono, the kindly baker who Kiki and Jiji rent a room from after arriving in the city where the anime’s story takes place. Though made of resin and ABS for extra sturdiness, the intricate details and delicate coloring give it a look evocative of antique porcelain.

The clear top section of the lamp is made of glass, but since the logistics hassles and safety risks of burning an actual oil lamp can be a hassle to deal with, this is an electric light. The designers have cleverly hid the main power switch on the underside of the base, though, to better sell the illusion of old-timey-ness, and the light can be turned on or off with a tap of your finger thanks to a touch sensor embedded in the lamp.

Officially called the Kiki’s Delivery Service Mini Lamp-Mitsumeru Jiji (“Transfixed Jiji”), the piece is 12.8 centimeters (5 inches) tall and 11.2 centimeters wide, putting it right in that sweet spot where it’s neither too small to be noticed nor too big to be in the way. Priced at 13,200 yen (US$83), it’ll be available at select Donguri Kyowakoku stores in Tokyo (Ikebukuro, Skytree Town Solamachi), Nagoya (Takashimaya Gate Tower Mall), Osaka (Lucua Osaka), Fukuoka (Canal City Hakata), and Sapporo (Sapporo Parco), as well as through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store here starting October 31.

Related: Donguri Kyowakoku location list
Source: PR Times via Nijimen
Images: PR Times
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Once again, there’s a lot of nuance that’s lost in the attempt to be succinct.

As you can probably guess from its name, the Japanese government’s Gender Equality Bureau isn’t a fan of imbalance in interpersonal relationships. What is surprising to many people, though, is the bureau’s assertion that “not paying for any dating expenses” is committing an act of domestic violence.

On its website, the bureau lists four categories of “dating domestic violence.” Examples of “physical violence” are pretty obvious – striking, pulling hair, throwing objects, that sort of thing. “Sexual violence,” the bureau says, includes coerced sex, refusal to use contraception, and nonconsensual naked photography or video recording. “Psychological violence” is described as making insulting or disrespectful remarks, forbidding a romantic partner from seeing their friends, or monitoring their email communications.

It’s bureau discussion of “economic violence,” though, that’s been raising some eyebrows online in Japan this week. While one could argue that this is using the word “violence” in its broadest possible sense, most of the examples are things that would be considered wrong under basic common sense/decency, such as not paying back money borrowed from a romantic partner, taking money from their bank account without permission, and forbidding them to work outside the home or forcing them to quit their job. But then there’s this example of economic violence:

“Not paying for any dating expenses.”

Japan may not have a reputation for being the most chivalrous society, and going Dutch, or warikan, as it’s called in Japanese, is more common in casual dating here than it is in some other countries. That said, it’s not at all unusual for guys to pay for everything on a date with a girl, and the government of Japan saying that this is a form of domestic violence has been provoking a lot of responses online to a recent Twitter post pointing out the bureau’s stance.

“Yeah, it’s practically theft, so it’s obviously a form of domestic abuse.”
“Wait, I’ve never made a girl pay on a date, so does that mean that I’ve been subjected to economic violence in the eyes of the government?”
“There are a lot of guys who are the victim of this kind of domestic abuse.”
“Does this make guys who habitually treat the girl on dates masochists for actively encouraging dating domestic violence?”
“Let’s all make sure to properly split the bill, because the government has said that anything other than that is considered economic violence, OK?”
“That’ll show all those gold-digger girls who hang out in Tokyo’s Minato Ward.”
“This is wonderful for men. I think all us guys are thinking ‘Hey, can’t you pitch in a little?’ but we can’t say it to the girl because we’re trying to look cool.”
“Coerced treating is a crime.”
“I think they mean it’s wrong for both guys and girls to refuse to pay for dating expenses.”

There’s probably at least a little wry humor behind some of those comments, but the last two are the ones that really get to the heart of the matter. As clarified by a spokesperson for the Gender Equality Bureau when this example of economic violence also became a topic of online discussion a few years ago, the bureau recognizes that “Both men and women can be victims of this kind of violence” and that “If both sides are OK with [one person not paying], it’s not domestic violence.” It’s when one person attempts to force their partner to shoulder all of the dating costs against their will that it crosses the line into unacceptable behavior, or when someone demands to be reimbursed for past dating expenses that, at the time, they offered to pay for.

▼ Just like going to a butcher shop on a date is fine if that’s what both you and your sweetheart are into, so too is it OK if you’re in agreement that you’ll be treating her to a half-kilo of ground beef.

In other words, the bureau’s guidelines are more about discouraging someone from unilaterally declaring “We’re going out, and you’re going to pay for me” or becoming verbally abusive if asked to chip in, not shaming someone for consistently accepting offers to be treated. But while we’re on the subject of “other words,” as mentioned above, this is not the first time the vague language used on the bureau’s website regarding who pays on a date has caused confusion, and the list of examples being followed by the declaration that “All of these are violence” leaves the door open to misinterpretation that context and a couple’s specific circumstances are irrelevant. The statement has remained on the site in its current form since 2018, so maybe it’s time for an update that puts a finer point on things.

Source: Gender Equality Bureau, Hachima Kiko, Twitter/@anzuchanw
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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