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Marugame Seimen branch in downtown Tokyo transforms into an anime eatery with awesome artwork inside and out.

One of Japan’s most popular udon noodle restaurant chains is named Marugame Seimen, with the Marugame part meaning “circle turtle.” For anime fans, though, the combination of “circle” and “turtle” might also have them thinking of Dragon Ball, since hero Goku and the other disciples of Master Roshi, a.k.a. the Turtle Sage, wear uniforms bearing the kanji character for “turtle,” 亀, inside a circle.

Marugame and Dragon Ball have taken this as a sign that they were destined to join forces, and this week the restaurant added edible Dragon Balls and tempura Senzu Beans to its menu (which you can read our taste-test impressions of right here). While these anime-inspired delicacies are available at all of Marugame’s 800-plus branches across Japan, there’s one location that’s particularly appropriate to head to, the Marugame Seimen Dragon Ball Z branch in downtown Tokyo!

This is a temporary rebranding of Marugame’s Shinjuku Gyoen-mae branch, located not far from Shinjuku Station and very close to Shinjuku Gyoen, one of the city’s most popular parks.

There’s really no missing the place, what with the giant banner of wish-granting dragon Shenron and multiple other pieces of anime artwork adorning the exterior of the building.

The theming continues on the inside, with pretty much every vertical surface plastered with Dragon Ball artwork.

▼ Shenron stretches across three walls of the place.

With so many members of the cast represented, it’s a safe bet that your personal favorite will be present, so you’ll want to pick a seat where you can get the feeling of dining together with them, or at least gazing at them in admiration as you enjoy your meal.

Even the staff has gotten into the spirit, as they’re outfitted with special Marugame/Dragon Ball crossover T-shirts during the collaboration.

▼ Sadly, there’s been no announcement of the shirts going on sale to the general public yet.

If you’re a fan, you probably recognized that the staff member in the above photo is striking the Spirit Bomb pose. That’s not just a bit of fan service, but also a reference to the Spirit Bomb Rice Balls that Marugame has created for the collaboration, a rice ball with a soft-boiled egg at the center that’s coated with tempura batter and fried to make it extra-decadent and satisfying.

▼ You can eat the Spirit Bomb Rice Ball as-is, but since it also qualifies as a piece of tempura, you can also dip it into the broth of any udon noodles you’re ordering at the same time.

We actually got to try the Spirit Bomb Rice Ball as part of a special sneak-peek for the press, as it doesn’t officially go on sale until March 17. The Dragon Ball Marugame branch is welcoming customers right now, though, and it’s theming is scheduled to continue until April 6.

Location information
Marugame Seimen (Shinjuku Gyoen-mae branch) / 丸亀製麺（新宿御苑前店）
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 1-4-13
東京都新宿区新宿1-4-13
Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Website

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Billions turned in to police, and billions returned to owners.

Botanists and economists agree that money doesn’t grow on trees, but it turns out that there’s actually a whole lot of cash to be found in the concrete jungle of Tokyo. With March being the start of the fiscal year, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police have released their annual statistics regarding lost and found property in the city, and a record-breaking amount of yen was turned in over the past year.

In total, the police received more than 4.5 billion yen (US$29 million) in cash that was turned in after being lost or left behind in Tokyo. This edges out the 4.49 billion yen that was turned in last year, and is the largest amount ever recorded, with statistical data going back all the way to 1940.

It’s worth noting that this doesn’t mean that 4.5 billion yen in loose bills and change was found unattended on Tokyo’s streets, public benches, and other flat surfaces, as it includes money contained in wallets, purses, and bags that were turned in as lost property as well. Even then 4.5 billion is a startling number, but with cash still being used for so many transactions in Japan (you can even pay your utility and tax bills in cash at convenience stores), and with Tokyo having very little street crime compared to the world’s other major cities, it’s not unusual for the average adult Tokyoite to have a sizable amount of cash on them when out and about, so if they do lose their wallet, it’ll probably have a lot in it. The police say that the increased number of overseas tourists visiting Japan these days is also a contributing factor, as the combination of excitement and lack of familiarity in one’s surroundings can sometimes lead to forgetfulness.

The police also reported that the total number of items of lost property that were turned in during the year came to roughly 4.5 million, also the highest number on record, with an increase in small electronic devices such as wireless earphones.

Thanks to the impressive honesty of those who discovered lost cash, the police managed to track down the original owners for roughly 70 percent of the money, with approximately 3.23 billion returned (though a portion of that, under Japanese law, might have been given to the finders as reward payments). So if, after a day out in Japan, you realize you lost your wallet, smartphone, or Totoro key holder, make sure to file a missing property report with the police, which you can do by following the process explained here, and if you happen to find someone else’s, the procedure for turning it in can be found here.

Source: FNN Prime Online via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
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But can you really put a price on this kind of science fiction-grade luxury?

When visitors to last year’s Expo 2025 world’s fair in Osaka saw that Japanese company Science was displaying a human washing machine pod, it must have felt like a vision of the future, and it was. However, this wasn’t a vision of the future of many centuries, decades, or even years ahead, but actually just a sneak-peak at what was coming in a few months, as you can now officially walk into one of Japan’s most popular electronics chains and buy a human washing machine of your own.

The Mirai Ningen Sentakki, which translates to Future Human Washing Machine and has also been called the Human Washing Machine of the Future by Science, is just what is says it is: a pod that you sit down in, close the canopy of, and then sit back while the tub fills with water and the device automatically lathers, rinses, and dries you using jets of water and air. There’s even a program of soothing images and music that plays while you’re being washed to make the whole thing extra relaxing.

The first hotel Human Washing Machine went into service in December, but as of February 26, electronics retailer Yamada Denki is taking orders for home-use human washing pods. They won’t be cheap, as they’re priced at 60 million yen (approximately US$387,000), but that price does include installation and maintenance for the first year.

Having a pod that washes you was, until very recently, a luxury so firmly of the science-fiction variety that it’s hard to say whether 60 million yen is actually asking a lot for this kind of tecno-decadence. Still, that’s quite a large financial commitment to make for something without having any personal frame of reference for how much you enjoy it, and so Yamada Denki will be holding free trial sessions of the Future Human Washing Machine at the Yamada Denki Labi Ikebukuro Main branch in downtown Tokyo’s Ikebukuro neighborhood this month. The test-bath sessions will be held on March 16, 18, 23, 27, and 30, but due to expected high demand participants will be chosen randomly through a lottery system, and entries can be made online here between now and March 9. While the demonstrations are only being held at the Ikebukuro location, the Future Human Washing Machine itself can be ordered at any Yamada Denki branch,

Source: Denfamico Gamer via Jin, Yamada Denki (1, 2)
Top image: Science
Insert images: Science, Yamada Denki
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Does this mean the candle isn’t any good? 

Starbucks is famous for its limited-edition wares, especially in Japan where you can get everything from sakura mugs and tumblers through to chocolatey Valentine’s Day goods.

While most of these goods are only available for a limited time and disappear quickly from shelves, one product appears to have lingered longer than expected, because despite being released for Christmas, we were lucky enough to find it at one store in February.

▼ The product is the Starbucks Candle.

Officially called “Starbucks Moment”, this candle comes in three scents inspired by the chain’s tea and coffee blends, to evoke “the comforting and heartwarming moment of enjoying a cup of coffee or tea”.

The three scents available are Coffee & Spices, Yuzu Citrus & Tea, and Joyful Medley, the last of which is a seasonal tea blend released every Christmas.

▼ The Joyful Medley is the one we went home with.

Just because the candles are still available doesn’t mean they haven’t been selling well, as we haven’t seen them at other stores. Plus, at the branch we visited, there weren’t many in stock, and the Yuzu Citrus & Tea variety had completely sold out.

▼ As fans of the chain’s Joyful Medley tea, we were happy to get our hands on this candle before it sold out.

The box it came in had a cup-shaped blank message section for gifting, which was a nice touch, and upon opening it, we were immediately greeted by the familiar fruity, sweet and tart scent of the Joyful Medley tea blend. The way the scent had been replicated so perfectly was a testament to its careful design, and that thoughtfulness extended to the candle holder as well, which had the green mermaid on one side and check-boxes on the other to make it look and feel like a Starbucks beverage.

Pushing aside our temptation to drink the candle, we carefully lit the wick, which steadily increased our sense of joy. The splendid elegance of Starbucks’ Joyful Medley spread its scent throughout the room, while the warm glow of the flickering flame added a sense of enchantment to our surroundings.

We were pleased to discover that the aroma wasn’t overpowering like a lot of other scented candles – instead it added a pleasant, refreshing scent to the air, in a way that made us want to take deep breaths to enjoy it, which had a relaxing effect on the body.

Of course, candles like this need to be used with caution, as the flame should be fully extinguished and the wax slightly hardened before being covered with the lid for storage. A little extra care with wick trimming when necessary allows you to use the candle for longer, ensuring you get the most out of your investment.

At 3,800 yen (US$24.50) each, these candles sit on the more affordable end of the scented candle spectrum. Whether you’re a loyal Starbucks fan or a lover of scented candles, these are a great way to boost your mood and they smell so good we have our fingers crossed for a reed diffuser to be included in this year’s Christmas range.

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The treasures of Dragon Ball come to one of Japan’s favorite noodle restaurant chains.

Marugame Seimen is a chain of udon noodle restaurants, and the “Marugame” part of their name translates literally to “circle turtle.” Someone apparently realized that the Japanerse kanji character for turtle, 亀, surrounded by a circle just so happens to be the emblem on Dragon Ball hero Son Goku’s outfit, and so as of this month Marugame Seimen and Dragon Ball are collaborating to bring the mythical foods and treasures of the anime franchise to Marugame’s real-world menu.

The team-up got started on March 3 with two new arrivals to the restaurant, one of which is tempura Senzu Beans!

Each 290-yen (US$1.90) order of Dragon Ball’s magical healing beans comes in a bag with an illustration of Yajirobe, the underling of Senzu Bean maker Korin, on one side, and Goku with son Gohan on the other.

Peeking inside, we saw a huge supply of Senzu Beans. If Goku and his pals had been carrying around such a big bag of them on their adventures, it’s safe to say that even their toughest battles would have been pretty easy victories.

However, we should note that the real-world Senzu Beans are, in fact, deep-fried edamame. This means that they won’t really heal injuries or boost ki levels. Also, unlike in the anime, eating a single Marugame Senzu Bean won’t be enough to instantly fill you up. This last divergence from the source material is a plus, though, since they taste so good that you’ll definitely want to eat more than one. While boiled edamame have been a popular snack in Japan for generations, combining their familiar flavor with the crunch of tempura is a new sensation, and one that’s very enjoyable.

Ah, but Senzu Beans aren’t the only Dragon Ball item Marugame is serving up these days, as you can also order the Dragon Balls themselves.

These are actually Udonuts, donut hole-style treats made from the same type of flour used to make udon noodles. The 590-yen Dragon Ball Udonuts are covered in orange-colored chocolate and come as a set of seven, with 28 little star-shaped candies served on the side so that you can attach them yourself for maximum photogenic quality right before snapping your pictures. They’re also just really, really tasty.

The tempura Senzu Beans will only be available until March 16, after which they’ll be replaced by a Spirit Bomb Rice Ball, but the Dragon Ball Udonuts will be on sale until April 6.

Related: Marugame Seimen location finder
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Aspiring pirate kings share hugs with each other and a bit of Japanese culture with the world.

Considering how anime and manga were still pretty much a niche hobby in most parts of the world when One Piece got started back in 1997, it’s amazing to see how huge of a global fanbase the franchise has today. Not only are there people around the world keeping up with the epically lengthy series’ new manga chapters and anime episodes, Netflix’s Western-made live-action adaptation has defied the odds and become a hit too, with its second season set to start streaming on March 10.

And as even further proof of just how big the One Piece fan community has grown, even Sesame Street’s Elmo is looking forward to Season 2, appearing in a promotional video with Luffy’s live-action actor, Iñaki Godoy, in which he teaches the Muppet a useful Japanese vocabulary word.

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“Elmo’s all ready to join the Straw Hats,” he enthusiastically tells Iñaki, then declares “Elmo’s going to be king of the pirates!”

Iñaki is clearly impressed not just by Elmo’s enthusiasm, but also by the Mupet’s Luffy cosplay outfit. Still, it takes more than just a cool look and sense of adventure to really be part of the Straw Hat crew. “That’s why I want to teach you a special new word of the day,” Iñaki explains. “It’s actually a word that my dear friend Luffy taught me. The word is nakama.”

Though it’s a Japanese word, nakama is a term near and dear to the hearts of overseas One Piece fans, as it’s often left untranslated in fan translations and discussions about the series. “Nakama is a Japanese word to describe very special friends,” Iñaki tells Elmo. “Friends who are like family. They care about each other, help each other, and stick together no matter what.”

That’s actually a pretty good description. If you want to get into the nitty-gritty linguistics, nakama is usually used to refer to someone with whom you share a common purpose or goal that you’re trying to achieve, often by working together. In that sense, nakama has similarities to terms such as “comrade,” “partner,” or “cohort,” but with a warmer, less formal feeling. It can also sometime be extended to refer to someone with whom you have a strong in-spirit partnership, even if you’re not directly collaborating with each other, as long as your values and ideals largely align and you’re both working towards your dreams that stem from them.

▼ Nakama is written with the kanji 仲間, with 仲 representing a personal relationship and 間 usually meaning some sort of space or interval, but combined like this the characters create a sense of being within the same close mental/emotional space as someone else.

Pronunciation-wise, Iñaki and Elmo both put a lot more emphasis on the “ka” part of nakama than a native Japanese speaker would (the three syllables are meant to be pronounced with roughly equal stress), but their attempts are still easily understandable. Netflix’s onscreen captions go back and forth on whether or not nakama is supposed to be capitalized, but linguistically it shouldn’t be, and while it’s very sweet when Iñaki says “I love you too Elmo! We’re nakamas!”, that should actually be “We’re nakama,” since, as with most Japanese words, “nakama” is used to refer to both a single special friend or many of them.

▼ Preview video for the second season of Netflix’s live-action One Piece

Those little linguistic quibbles aside, it’s pretty cool to see One Piece being not just a fun adventure story, but also a means by which people, including young kids, can learn a bit about another culture and its language, and now that Elmo has become part of the extended One Piece nakama network, he can join us in wondering what’s inside that treasure chest that series creator Eiichiro Oda just tossed into the ocean.

Source, top image: Instagram/netflix
Insert image: SoraNews24
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Tiny Frappuccino is designed for young girls, so we find out if it’s too sweet for adults. 

In Japan, 3 March is Hinamatsuri, commonly known as Girls’ Day in English. It’s a day when families pray for the wellbeing of their young daughters by displaying traditional “hina ningyo” dolls – Hinamatsuri literally translates as “Doll’s Festival” – and eating special foods like hina arare (sweet, multicoloured rice crackers) and hishimochi (diamond-shaped rice cakes in pink, white and green to represent peach blossoms, snow and new growth respectively).

▼ This year, families have been offered a new way to celebrate their daughters – with the never-before-seen Hinamatsuri Frappuccino.

Produced by Starbucks and available exclusively in Japan, this beverage fits perfectly on the menu at this time of year, with its pink hues and sakura flavour matching the limited-edition sakura drinks currently on the menu for cherry blossom season.

▼ The Girls’ Day Frappuccino costs 638 yen (US$4.09) for takeout or 650 yen for dine-in.

There are some very unique points that make the Hinamatsuri Frappucino stand out, however, with the first being its size.

As you can see in the photo above, this little drink makes the straw look gigantic, and that’s because it’s only available in a Short size. With other limited-time Frappuccinos on the menu being sold in Tall sizes only, this is our first time ever seeing a Frappuccino so small, and it’s designed to be that way so that young girls can enjoy them.

▼ Holding this in your hand will make you feel like a doll.

While the body of the drink looks, and tastes, similar to the Tall-sized cherry blossom Frappuccino, with white peach and sakura flavour being key ingredients, there are two major differences.

Firstly, there’s the topping, which consists of Oiri, a traditional confectionery from Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku that’s slightly less sweet than traditional hina arare. The colourful hues are reminiscent of Girls’ Day crackers, but when you bite into them, they’re noticeably more elegant, melting away on the tongue immediately after crunching into them.

The flavour here is impressive, with a distinct taste of rice surprising the palate. The rice blends beautifully with the luscious whipped cream topping, but then we get to the second point of difference.

▼ The milk pudding pieces.

Whereas the regular sakura Frappuccino combines sweet peach jelly pieces with bracken starch, which only has a subtle sweetness, the Girls’ Day Frappuccino ups the sweetness by pairing peach jelly with milk pudding. While the pudding pieces have a lovely smooth texture that contrasts nicely with the boba-like jelly, the resulting sweetness is cloying for adult tastes.

If you’re an elementary school student – Girls’ Day celebrations generally end around the time a child graduates from elementary school – then you will love this sweet, peachy, subtly sakura-tasting beverage. You’ll also love the way it fits easily in your hands, making you feel like an adult with a Tall-sized Frappuccino.

That’s some clever marketing by Starbucks, to get children to sip on their very own Frappuccino at such a young age. For well-seasoned adults, however, this is one beverage you and your teeth won’t have to feel bad about missing out on.

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