Twentythree

Local sweets-fan favorite serves as inspiration for one of two donuts not available anywhere else in the world.

You’d think it’d be hard for a city of nearly two and a half million people to get overlooked, but that’s the position Nagoya often finds itself in. Despite having some very cool stuff (like a castle and good access to the Studio Ghibli anime theme park), Nagoya is often skipped by travelers and pop stars alike, perhaps because it can’t match the big-city glamor of Tokyo and Osaka, but also doesn’t have the same traditional mystique as Kyoto or Nara.

But you know who never forgets about Nagoya? Krispy Kreme. The donut chain’s Premium Nagoya series is a selection of special, extra-decadent donuts that are only offered in Nagoya, and specifically only at the JR Nagoya Takashimaya branch in the Takashimaya department store that’s attached to Nagoya Station.

With the weather getting warmer, two new Nagoya-exclusive treats are on their way, one of which makes use of the city’s best-loved sweets themes: an (sweet bean past) and butter.

The Krispy Kreme Nagoya Premium Lemon and An Butter is a bun-style donut that wraps around a filling of sweet and tart lemon jam, an, and butter. While many Nagoya sweets shops combine butter and red an (such as in the an butter toast served by many cafes in the city), for this donut Krispy Kreme uses white an, which has a more refined sweetness and cleaner finish. Add in the richness of the butter, and you’ve got a complex flavor profile that also promises to be refreshingly citrusy as we head into the hottest time of the year.

Joining the lemon an butter donut on the menu will be the Krispy Kreme Nagoya Premium Peach and Vanilla. Aichi actually supplies quite a bit of Japan’s produce, including white peaches, and this donut is filled with peach jam with pieces of fruit in it, and also vanilla cream. You also get a swirl of cream around the top of the donut plus a pistachio accent, making the Nagoya Premium Peach and Vanilla very pretty to look at in those scant few seconds before your willpower crumbles and you dig in.

Both donuts are priced at 389 yen (US$2.50), go on sale May 27, and are projected to be around until late August, giving us all two more reasons to visit Nagoya this summer (though if you can’t make it, McDonald’s Japan has a way to bring some Nagoya flavor to the rest of the country too).

Shop information
Krispy Kreme Donuts (JR Nagoya Takashimaya branch) / クリスピー・クリーム・ドーナツ（ジェイアール名古屋タカシマヤ店）
Address: Aichi-ken, Nagoya-shi, Nakamura-ku, Meieki 1-1-4 JR Nagoya Takashimaya 1st floor North Block
愛知県名古屋市中村区名駅1-1-4ジェイアール名古屋タカシマヤ1F北ブロック
Open 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Website

Source: PR Times
Featured image: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
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Honouring a centuries-old tradition with a modern twist. 

Every summer, people around Japan eat eel to regain energy from the tiring heat. It’s a tradition that’s been around for centuries, with people commonly consuming eel on the Midsummer Day of the Ox, or “Doyo no Ushi no Hi” as it’s known in Japanese, which this year falls on 26 July.

With so many retailers offering eel on this day, many look for ways to stand out, and one bakery in Kochi Prefecture has everyone’s attention with a new product called “Super! Eel Bread“.

At first glance, the new product looks like sushi, but look closer and you’ll see it’s actually a whole eel, wrapped in a strip of nori seaweed around a super soft bread roll.

The eel is the star of the show, grilled over charcoal in the traditional kabayaki (sweet soy-glazed) style by Kitahama Shoten, an eel specialty shop with over 85 years of history. The new bread, which uses locally-sourced eel, is said to combine the appeal of Kochi’s regional ingredients with the playful spirit unique to Komi Bakery.

According to the bakery, the Super! Eel Bread has been three years in the making, born from an idea by the store’s head of bread and sandwich production, with the aim of contributing to the culture of Doyo no Ushi no Hi as a bakery.

▼ Kazuto Nishiyama, Head of Bread and Sandwich Production and creator of bold ideas.

Nishiyama and his team have certainly succeeded in creating an eye-catching product that honours the tradition of Doyo no Ushi no Hi while adding a unique twist that appeals to modern tastes. Komi Bakery says it plans to continue developing new releases tailored to seasonal events while also supporting local industries.

The longstanding bakery is getting ahead of peak eel season by releasing the new bread in store from 21-23 May, with reservations required three days ahead thereafter, and sales on 26 July are limited to reservations only. Given that it includes a whole eel, the bread is larger than it seems, and is priced at 2,500 yen (US$15.73), or 3,500 yen for online sales, including delivery.

Related: Komi Bakery
Source, images: Press release
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Salutes to local specialties of Hokkaido, Nagoya, and more now available across Japan.

A lot of the “Japan!” part of McDonald’s Japan’s recent offerings has come from tie-ups with popular Japanese pop culture franchises. And while we’re as happy as anyone about the Chiikawa Happy Meal toys, Gundam-themed sandwiches, and Hello Kitty-themed dessert drinks, the newest arrivals on the menu take inspiration from Japan for their actual flavors too.

The new Gotochi Mac, or “Regional McDonald’s” offerings, start off with a nod to the country’s northernmost prefecture in the form of the Hokkaido Jaga Cheese Teriyaki. With Hokkaido being home to Japan’s largest share of dairies and swaths of potato farmland, this is an enhanced version of McDonald’s Japan’s teriyaki pork patty burger, with a special filling of chunky Hokkaido potatoes and cheese, plus another slice of white cheddar for good measure.

Next comes the Tebasaki-style Black Pepper Juicy Chicken, a salute to one of Japan’s most criminally underrated local delicacies: Nagoya-style tebasaki (chicken wings). Treated with a sweet glaze with a touch of spice and plenty of pepper, this chicken cutlet sandwich lets you enjoy a taste of Nagoya without getting your fingers all sticky.

Then there’s the Hakata Mentaiko Butter Teriyaki, a teriyaki pork burger with cheese and mentaiko, spicy cod roe. A specialty of Fukuoka Prefecture, mentaiko ordinarily has a soft but gritty texture, but for this sandwich it’s mixed into buttery mayo for a creamier consistency.

And for early-risers, the Hokkaido Jaga Cheese Teriyaki also has a McMuffin variant.

Finally, rounding out the Gotochi Mac lineup is a new flavor for McDonald’s Japan’s Shaka Shaka French Fry series, in which you get a seasoning packet to pour onto your fries and shake up in the bag. The newest member of the Shaka Shaka family is Black Curry, the local-favorite type of curry in the city of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. Aside from its darker color (which is really more of a very dark brown), black curry tends to be spicier than other kinds of Japanese curry and also has some bitter notes to its flavor profile, so this should be a unique fry-eating experience.

The Hokkaido Jaga Cheese Teriyaki McMuffin is priced at 410 yen (US$2.65), the other sandwiches at 490 yen, and the Black Curry Shaka Shaka powder at 50 yen (added on to whatever size of fries you’re ordering). The whole lineup is on sale now.

Source: McDonald’s Japan via Entabe
Top image: McDonald’s Japan
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Newest Japanese Frappuccino aims to wake you up and reduce food waste.

Japan loves seasonal sweets flavors, but we’re in a bit of a lull right now. Cherry blossom/sakura sweets season is over, and we’re not quite into the midsummer heat when demand for juicy tropical fruit flavors spike.

So since there aren’t necessarily any “Right now!” flavors at the moment, Starbucks Japan is instead turning to a fruit that’s popular all year long with the release of a new banana Frappuccino.

Making its debut later this month is the Banana Affogato Frappuccino, which combines the rich sweetness of banana with aspects of the classy dessert of coffee poured over ice cream. Sitting at the bottom of the glass is a foundation of banana pieces, and above it a thick stratum of milky cream mixed with banana powder. For the finishing touch, espresso sauce, a combination of an espresso shot and Starbucks Classic Syrup, is poured over the top. The result, Starbucks Japan says, is an initial wave of fruity sweetness followed by the lingering aftertaste of coffee and a caramel-like aroma.

Mid/late spring is known as the “shin seikatsu”/”new lifestyle” season in Japan, when people start new jobs or schools, and often also move to new homes to accommodate their new commutes. It can be a hectic, stressful time, and Starbucks Japan says it hopes that the Banana Affogato Frappuccino will serve as a way to “escape from reality for a while” as you indulge. That’s a pretty lofty goal for a dessert drink, but the Banana Affogato Frappuccino actually is trying to do something more than just give people a sweet treat. It’s also trying to be an eco-friendly drink through its use of “mottainai bananas,” a Japanese food/beverage industry term for bananas that, due to insufficient size, irregular shape, or cosmetic damage to their peels, won’t be purchased by supermarkets for sale to shoppers. None of those perceived flaws affect the taste or quality of the fruit itself, though, and by using mottainai bananas, Starbucks is helping to reduce food waste.

The Banana Affogato Frappuccino is priced at 700 yen (US$4.50) for a tall size and goes on sale May 27.

Source, images: Starbucks Japan
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There are two phone numbers to remember in a situation like this, but one is much more important.

Our Japanese-language reporter P.K. Sanjun is an adventurous guy with a wide range of interests, and if you’re out and about in Japan, you might run into him at a Pokémon tournament, nuikatsu gathering, or just seeing how far away from downtown Tokyo a person can bicycle in eight hours. However, he’s currently on break from field assignments, because he’s in the hospital recovering from a heart attack.

Dedicated correspondent that he is, though, P.K. still feels the urge to write while he’s recuperating. For the record, this isn’t something we asked him to do, but he wants to share the story of what happened, so we’ll turn things over to him now.

Seriously, I’m as surprised about this as anybody, but I had a heart attack.

I’m writing this on the morning of Tuesday, May 19, and I had the heart attack on Sunday morning. So yeah, it’s only been two days since it happened. “Should you be working right now?” is probably something a lot of you are thinking, but physically, I’m honestly feeling fine right now. Really, I’m getting antsy just sitting here in the hospital with so much time on my hands, so I figured I’d fire up my laptop and write something.

Getting down to business, on Sunday I woke up at about 7 in the morning and felt a weird pain in my chest. I can’t really remember if it was the pain that woke me up, or if I noticed it after I was awake, but either way, when I made a move to get out of bed, my chest was hurting. At first, it felt like my whole upper body had tensed itself up.

It was strange to feel that sensation over such a large area, and I remember thinking “Geez, is this what getting older feels like?” But after I got up and went to the bathroom, the pain went away…or so I thought. It was only gone for a second, but then it came back so much worse, and I started gushing cold sweat.

In a rush, I grabbed my phone and did a search for “chest pain sickness,” and the results said “There is a possibility that you are experiencing myocardial infarction [a heart attack] or aortic dissection” and “Please call 119 [the nationwide number for emergency medical services in Japan] immediately.” That’s when I realized “Uh oh…this might be something serious.”

But even still, I didn’t call 119 right away. I didn’t want to jam up the line calling for an ambulance if my condition turned out to be nothing major, and I can’t deny that at this point I was still thinking “No, I couldn’t be having a heart attack. Not me.”

So instead I dialed 7119, which is the Tokyo Fire Department’s Emergency Consultation number, thinking that I should ask them whether or not I really needed an ambulance. To be honest, my memory starts getting a little fuzzy from here, but I remember the operator asking me “Do you think you can make it to the hospital by yourself?”, but by that time the pain had gotten exponentially worse. “No, I don’t think I can,” I told her, and she said she’d send an ambulance, telling me to stay in my apartment, so I sat in my entryway and waited.

Actually, a fire engine arrived even before the ambulance, and they administered first aid to me. The ambulance rolled up right after that, though, and it seems like they did some other on-site treatment too. While that was going on, they kept asking me “Can you tell us your name and date of birth?” “Damn, quit asking the same thing over and over!” I thought, but now I can understand that they were doing that to make sure I was still able to think straight and communicate. Once they were done with the first aid, they loaded me into the ambulance and rushed me to the hospital and into the emergency room, with my consciousness starting to fade. The doctors diagnosed me as having had a heart attack, and I had to have surgery, but it’s crazy how a few hours later I felt so much better.

P.K. says he has more to say about his experience, but we’re going to let the guy get some rest now. As mentioned in his report, the number for emergency medical services in Japan, and emergency fire department response too, is 119, and the number in Tokyo for “emergency consultation” is 7119. We should also add, however, that we don’t necessarily recommend copying P.K.’s hesitancy to call for an ambulance when experiencing searing chest pains, since it really could be a matter of life and death.

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Insert image: Pakutaso
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New “one piece” sandwich looks set to be another sell-out hit for the popular chain.

On “Sandwich Day” on 13 March, 7-Eleven completely revamped its sandwiches in Japan, and among them appeared a new, generously filled single-serve range known as the “Yokubari Sando” (“Greedy Sandwich“). This so-called “one piece” sandwich aims to deliver an overwhelming sense of filling and satisfaction at an affordable price point, and the newest addition to the range, announced today, does just that, with a surprising filling to boot.

▼ Say hello to the Croquette & Macaroni Cheese.

Known as “Croquette, Macaroni Cheese & Leaf Lettuce” in English, this sandwich has been carefully designed to ensure you get all the fillings in every mouthful, from the first to the very last bite.

7-Eleven says it totally redesigned the shape of the croquette to suit the sandwich, developing a unique type of croquette that spreads all the way to the edges of the bread. With rich, creamy macaroni and cheese sandwiched inside, this pairing is said to create an exquisite combination that allows the texture and flavour of each ingredient to stand out, giving you an incredibly moreish and satisfying sandwich experience.

By selling sandwiches individually, instead of in pairs, the Greedy Sando line is able to deliver a much more generous filling, which is a genius marketing move by 7-Eleven, who faced criticism in the past for what many called its “paper tiger” sandwiches.

Judging by the immense popularity of the previously released Greedy Sando, which gave us colourful chocolate sprinkles and whipped cream, this new sandwich looks set to be a sell-out hit so keep an eye out for it at Seven-Eleven stores around Japan when it’s released on 27  May, priced at 214 yen (US$1.35).

Source, images: Press release
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The adorable bottle is only part of what makes this a fun and convenient way to protect yourself from UV rays.

The calendar says we’re still in spring, but the thermometer shows that summer is almost here. With temperatures in Tokyo hitting 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) last weekend, we’re closing in on the time of year when some form of sun protection is a must for many when going outside, which in turn means the time of year when many find themselves thinking “I really should put on some sunblock…but it’s a hassle, so maybe I’ll just skip it…”

Thankfully, Japan’s Biore brand of sunblock is here to give us a little extra nudge towards taking the time to apply protection with its Kids Stamp UV.

Yes, the name does reveal that this was created first and foremost with kids in mind, but the appeal of cats knows no age limits, and unlike, say, children’s medicine, Kids Stamp UV is just as effective for adults as it is for children, with an SPF50 PA+++ rating.

Right away, the cute feline-eared design for the bottle catches the cat-loving eye, and things get even better when you flip open the cap.

Instead of a single opening, Kids Stamp UV has five, arranged in the pattern of a cat’s paw pads. The bottle is also designed so that instead of squeezing out a stream of liquid, you use it like a stamp, tapping it against your skin to apply the sunblock directly…

…and when you do, you get a series of paw prints, like a little kitty has been walking across your arm, leg, or cheek.

You do still need to rub the lotion in, but while there’s some initial stickiness, it quickly fades away and the Kids Stamp UV sunblock dries nicely, leaving no significant greasiness behind.

If you have kids, a big advantage of Kids Stamp UV is how it makes the process of applying sunblock fun. Our Japanese-language reporter Ninoude Punico tried it out with her 6-year-old, and it immediately turned the regular session of “Sit still! You need this!” into a much more relaxed and happy “OK, let’s get our cat prints on before we go out.”

As a matter of fact, with how easy the sunblock is to apply because of the stamp-style top, Punico’s kid has even started using it without Mom’s help.

▼ The instructions, complete with adorable illustrations, say to apply one “stamp” every 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) or so.

Of course, Biore’s cute and clever design is just as fun and convenient for adult cat fans as it is for kids, and with Japan being the land of kawaii culture, you’re not going to get side-eyed by other adults for using it yourself either.

Being jointly developed by Biore parent company Kao and Aeon Retail, Kids Stamp UV is available at Aeon, Welcia, and Tsuruha supermarkets/drugstores, and we’ll be keeping some handy for mountain- hiking, Gundam-viewing, and other outdoor summer excursions.

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