Twentythree

Veteran contractor becomes senior thief.

A lot has been said about the reasons for Japan’s low crime rate. Some people point to Confucian philosophy, while others look for more modern factors such as high-density population centers leading to a strong sense of responsibility to be considerate to one another in all aspects of life, since there’s less physical buffer space between people.

A key factor that often gets overlooked, though, is that part of the reason Japan has relatively few thieves is because it has hardly any thieves who steal stuff just to be jerks. As a result, you’ll often see people leave things like handkerchiefs, pens, notebooks, or jackets unattended as they go to the bathroom while dining alone in a cafe or fast food restaurant. There’s not really much money to be made reselling those things, so why bother taking them?

So it must have seemed odd when the owners of a warehouse in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, noticed back in November that a single toilet bowl and water tank had been stolen. Sure, if someone had come in and taken a whole bunch of them, maybe they could sell off the entire set to a construction company for a nice wad of cash, but finding a buyer for a single toilet from a dubious, undocumented source wouldn’t be easy to do, and wouldn’t net the thief much profit from the caper. Also, this isn’t like cases of manholes or copper wire being stolen for their metal content. Porcelain can’t be melted down and repurposed, so there’s no monetary gain to be achieved by stealing a toilet for its material.

But the mystery was solved when the warehouse owners reported the theft to police and security footage showed that a 76-year-old man had let himself into the warehouse through its unlocked shutter and stolen the toilet. Investigators were able to identify the man as Kumi Yotsumoto, a resident of Chiryu, another Aichi town. When questioned about the incident, Yotsumoto admitted to stealing the toilet bowl, and when asked why, he said:

“I have been using the toilet that I stole.”

Yotsumoto’s job history includes working as a daiku, a term that’s often translated into English as “carpenter” but is often closer to “contractor,” in that it’s used for a broad range of roles involved in building construction, especially for houses, apartments, and other residential structures. After stealing the toilet, Yotsumoto took it back to his home, installed it, and had been using it up until when investigators came knocking on his door.

▼ It’s about a 30-minute drive from Toyota City to Chiryu, so it’s surprising that he apparently couldn’t find a toilet to steal that was closer to home.

As stolen property, justice would say that Yotsumoto should not be allowed to keep the toilet, but at the same time, it’s highly unlikely that the rightful owners want it back after he’s been using it for three months.

▼ Also, if the toilet is confiscated, do the police clean it, or do they have to leave it as-is, just in case they end up needing DNA evidence?

However, while Yotsumoto has admitted to stealing the toilet, he claims that that was all he took, and that he’s not responsible for the missing water tank. Assuming that investigators’ theory is that he would have stolen the tank to install within the toilet, their next task will likely be to remove the tank and check its serial number, so Yotsumoto may need to look for a replacement toilet while his case is ongoing, and hopefully will source it by more lawful means.

Source: Nitele News via Yahoo! Japan News via Itai News, Tokai TV
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Home economics class pizza had more tsumami than it was supposed to.

Pizza, famously, is hard to screw up, so much so that “_____ is like pizza. Even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good,” became shorthand for things in which acceptable quality is very easy to find.

Here’s the thing about something that’s hard to screw up, though: When someone does somehow manage to screw it up, it’s probably going to be really, really bad. Case in point, a half-dozen teens in Japan recently sat down for some pizza, then ended up in the hospital from it.

The incident occurred on January 23 in the town of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. On that day, the assignment for the students in a home economics class at Honjo Middle School was to make pizza, and when it was done they got to eat it. After the meal, though, several students said they weren’t feeling well, and six were in bad enough condition that they were sent not just to the nurse’s office, but to the hospital for examination.

The students had used a from-scratch recipe, with the task for some of the students being to make the dough for the pizza crusts. If you’ve never made pizza dough, you might be surprised to learn that salt is a crucial ingredient. Even if you don’t necessarily want your pizza to have a salty flavor, you’ll still need to add salt to the dough to keep the yeast from fermenting too quickly. Don’t add any salt, and the dough will lose its structural integrity during baking, giving you a flimsy crust that tears apart under the weight of the sauce, cheese, and other toppings.

The recipe the students were following called for three tsumami of salt. Tsumami is the noun form of the word tsumamu, which means to close the fingertips around something. In other words, “three tsumami” would mean “three pinches” of salt.

However, according to a statement from the Kitakyushu Board of Education following an investigation, the students in charge of making the dough weren’t familiar with the term tsumami, at least in this cooking context, and used a lot more. It’s unclear exactly how much salt they put into the dough, but they might have gotten confused by tsumami’s connection to tsumamigui, a combination of tsumami and an alternate pronunciation of kui/“eating.” Tsumamigui means to “nibble” on something, but by extension it’s also often used when talking about snacking on finger foods, where the image of using just the fingertips can sometimes get a little less ironclad.

▼ For example, this stock photo of a man eating a steamed meat bun is classified with a tag of “tsumamigui.”

With that in mind, it’s likely that the students in charge of making the dough took the recipe’s “three tsumami of salt” to mean not three pinches, but three handfuls, and so the dough contained an amount of salt several magnitudes larger than it was supposed to. Regardless of the exact nature of the misinterpretation, the six students who were hospitalized after eating the pizza were found by doctors to be suffering from symptoms caused by excessive sodium intake.

While tsumami, much like pinch, is an inexact measurement, it’s one that’s easy for most cooks to visualize, and only tends to be used for recipes in which the amount of that particular ingredient doesn’t need to be so precise. However, taking into account that middle school-aged kids probably have a lot more personal experience with snacking than they do with cooking, a little more guidance from the teacher would probably be a good idea the next time pizza day rolls around, especially since many students might not have been previously aware that pizza dough has any salt at all, and so aren’t likely to have a sense of how much salt is too much to use.

Thankfully, all of the hospitalized students have fully recovered, leaving them with no lasting damage except the possible psychological trauma of having, against all odds, eaten bad pizza that actually was bad.

Source: Yomiuri Shimbun
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We go in search of the elusive cheap meal to find out what you can eat for US$3.20 in Tokyo. 

It wasn’t that long ago when spending less than 500 yen (US$3.20) on lunch in Japan was an easy option. These days, though, with rising costs and cash-flush overseas tourists pushing up prices, it’s become much more of a challenge to fill your belly on a so-called “one-coin” lunch, especially in Tokyo, Japan’s capital.

Curious to investigate the extent to which 500 yen lunches have disappeared, our reporter Yuuichiro Wasai set out to find them, and in the process, he committed himself to spending 500 yen or less on lunch every day for a week.

This was a risky challenge that threatened to leave him hungry for seven days, but Yuuichiro was determined to keep cheap meals alive by spending money on them. He also didn’t want to go for any obvious choices like McDonald’s, where you can get a couple of burgers, but no sets for less than 500 yen, and Yoshinoya, where a regular beef bowl costs 498 yen .

The other rule he set for himself was there would be no repeats, because that path leads to boredom, which tempts you into spending more money on food. Thankfully, Yuuichiro works in the heart of Shinjuku, so he’s spoilt for choice when it comes to restaurants nearby, but would they deliver a satisfying lunch in return for a 500-yen coin?

▼ He set out to find out.

Yuuichiro spent some time doing research online before his week of cheap eats, but what he found turned out to be pretty good. So let’s fast forward by taking a look at what he actually ate for the week, before he gives us his final thoughts on the state of the cheap food scene.

▼ Day 1: Small Roast Beef Rice (494 yen [US$3.15]) at Jonathan family restaurant

▼ Day 2: Rich and Delicious Meat Sauce Half (490 yen) at Gusto family restaurant

▼ Day 3: Tsukimi Udon (420 yen) at Shinjuku Kanoya, Main Branch

▼ Day 4: Two pieces of lean bluefin tuna & two pieces of squid (500 yen) at the Himawari Sushi conveyor belt restaurant

▼ Day 5: Lunch Bolognese Meat Sauce Set (500 yen) at Saizeriya

▼ Day 6: Zaru Soba (460 yen) at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Cafeteria

▼ Day 7: Mori Soba (450 yen) at Sagaya

So what do you think about the size and look of the meals? If you’ve been living in Japan for over a decade, these meals might want to make you cry as they’re nowhere near as substantial as a 500-yen lunch used to be. That’s a sentiment shared by Yuuichiro, who conceded that his belly was growling before dinner most days during this challenge, but he did want to give praise where praise was due, and that praise went to family restaurant chain Saizeriya.

▼ When it comes to meals under 500 yen, the options at most restaurants are mainly limited to small, side-style servings.

▼ At Saizeriya, though, you can get a cheesy, meaty doria for 300 yen.

▼ Even grilled chicken doesn’t break the bank, with a couple of options priced at 500 yen.

▼ What’s even more impressive is that a set meal of salad and a spaghetti is only 500 yen.

▼ If you do want to splurge with an extra 100 yen, Saizeriya’s limited-time lunch menu offers a couple of 600-yen sets.

Even at McDonald’s, many of the value sets will break the 500 yen barrier so it’s as if Saizeriya is existing in a different era. The chain’s commitment to keeping costs low is one that Yuuichiro wholeheartedly appreciates, and another chain that deserves a shoutout is Kanoya.

Here, you can get a bowl of Tsukimi (Moon Viewing) soba or udon, so-called as it contains an egg, which has a round shape that resembles the moon, for just 420 yen.

▼ There are plenty of other udon and soba options that come with tasty additions like tempura and even a croquette, for less than 500 yen.

Outside of these two chains though, things are quite bleak, with 500 yen getting you a serving of noodles with no toppings at Sagaya.

▼ Yuuichiro had to limit his lunch to cold “zaru soba” noodles, which was a very bare-bones meal for him.

Family restaurants may have items under 500 yen, they’re generally small in size. Gusto’s “Rich & savory meat sauce (half portion)“, for example, is only a little larger than a fist.

▼ During his week of cheap eats, Saizeriya came out as the clear winner for taste, portion size, and value.

With the help of Saizeriya, there remains a glimmer of hope for the 500-yen lunch in Tokyo. While Japan’s largest denomination of coin will no longer get you the substantial lunch once enjoyed in years past, there are options still out there, so things haven’t gone the way of the overpriced inbound don lunch just yet.

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Matcha mirin nama chocolate sounds, looks, and tastes fancy, but is super-easy to make.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, all of Japan is thinking about chocolate…but here at SoraNews24, we’re thinking about Japanese chocolate flourishes in particular. The most time-tested way to give your desserts a dash of “JAPAN!”-appeal is to add some matcha, so we were going to do that for sure, but we wanted to make this batch of chocolates extra special, and while our sweet ambitions sometimes might outstrip our culinary skills, we found an incredibly easy, and unique, way to do just that.

Today we’re going to be making nama choco, or “raw chocolate,” a kind of chocolate ganache that’s loved in Japan for its invitingly soft texture and rich sweetness. Rather than making it completely from scratch, we’re going to start with a store-bought chocolate bar (any reputable brand will do) and enhancing it into fancy matcha nama chocolate.

In addition to a chocolate bar, cocoa powder, and matcha powder, we’ll need milk. How much of each? Well, that depends on how much nama chocolate you want to make, but ratio-wise for every 150 grams (5.3 ounces) of starting chocolate, this recipe calls for 30 milliliters (1 ounce) of milk. If you’re an experienced home sweets chef and thinking that’s not going to be enough liquid, don’t worry, because we’ve got one more that’s going into the mixture: 40 milliliters (1.35 ounces) of mirin, or sweet cooking sake!

▼ Mirin can be found pretty easily in Japanese and Asian markets overseas.

It’s a surprising choice for a dessert ingredient…or maybe not so surprising, considering that this recipe was shared by Hinode, one of Japan’s biggest mirin makers. Still, if anyone knows how to enhance flavor through mirin, it’s Hinode, so while we were still sort of skeptical, we were also intrigued, and eager to find an excuse to eat sweets (that last one, to be fair, is our default psychological state).

Start by breaking the chocolate up into pieces and placing them in a microwave-safe bowl with the milk and mirin. Pop the bowl in the microwave for 45 seconds at 600 watts, then stir the mixture with a spatula until it’s smooth and shiny. Once that’s done, line a glass dish or other container with a bit of depth to it with plastic wrap, and pour the mixture in.

Put the container in the refrigerator for two hours to cool and harden. After that, using a lightly warmed knife (for a cleaner cut), slice the nama chocolate into bite-sized pieces.

At this point, you’ve actually already got a perfectly serviceable batch of nama chocolate made, but now it’s time for the finishing touch of sprinkling on the matcha and cocoa powder.

The exact amount to use is up to you, and really, you can never have too much matcha or cocoa, can you? Also, while we made our batch using both of them for extra visual and flavor variety, feel free to go all-in with just matcha or just cocoa, if that’s what you’re in the mood for.

▼ Though we have to say, matcha ones, with their two-tone color scheme, do look really nice.

So how do these mirin nama chocolates taste? Incredible! The mirin imparts a unique and sophisticated sweetness, and using milk instead of cream gives each of the contributing flavors space to dance on your taste buds, and brings the flavor profile to a cleaner finish than the oiliness that comes with cream, which in turn sets you up to enjoy another piece.

▼ Hinode’s Instagram post sharing the recipe

View this post on Instagram

Aside from the two hours for the mixture to chill in the fridge, we spent maybe 15 minutes making these treats, which is an amazingly small amount of prep time for something that looks and tastes this special.

Dress them up with a stylish box and wrappers (maybe from Daiso or your other favorite discount shop), and you’ve got something that’ll have friends and romantic partners asking which gourmet chocolatier you found them at.

Related: Hinode
Mirin bottle image: Hinode
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Just 1,000 yen per stop lets you drink, eat, and mingle with friendly strangers through this historic neighborhood.

Here at SoraNews24, we’re always on the lookout for fun and exciting events to participate in, and sometimes that news comes from our enthusiastic readers who are keen to share their knowledge of local events. Just recently, one of our readers sent in a notification about a bar-hopping event in Asakusa that’s perfect for even people who have no one else to go with, so we sent out our Japanese-language reporter Asami Oshima, who is always down to try out different places to drink, to see what the event was all about.

The event in question is Yoi no Yoi, which translates to “Drunken Evening”, and it’s one of the largest bar-hopping events in Japan, running from February 2 to February 18, 2026, and being held in the Kannon-ura area of Asakusa, a historic district in eastern Tokyo.

Asakusa is best known for Sensoji Temple, Tokyo’s oldest and most famous temple. With “Kannon” being another name for the Buddhist deity enshrined within the temple, the “Kannon-ura” area, refers to the neighborhood behind Sensoji Temple, as it is literally behind (“ura”) the Kannon. While the front of the temple sees a plethora of crowded tourist shops, Kannon-ura is more of a local, residential area.

During the event, participating restaurants and bars throughout Kannon-ura offer a special 1,000 yen (US$6.51) set called a Sen-Tora set, which includes one drink and one small food dish.

▼ Having these Sen-Tora sets on offer makes them an easy, affordable way to try multiple places in one evening.

The event, now in its sixth year, is held every February, and this year a whopping total of 113 establishments are participating, so you’re bound to find a few places you like, and even if you happen to run into a couple of stores that are full or closed, you won’t have far to go before you find another to try out.

Asami arrived at Asakusa Station feeling confident, only to realize that she had no idea where Kannon-ura actually was. Even asking a station attendant didn’t seem to help, as they looked just as puzzled as she did.

It turns out that Yoi no Yoi isn’t a huge, citywide festival with banners everywhere, but more of a local neighborhood event. After briefly heading in the wrong direction (“Kannondoori” turned out to be a completely different place entirely), Asami finally made her way toward the temple and into the correct area, officially starting her drunken adventure.

▼ Similar sounding names, but Kannondoori (“観音通り”) is not Kannon-ura.

▼ Don’t make the mistake of going to the area marked by the cross, head to the area within the red circle instead, just north of Sensoji Temple in the middle of the map

Asami’s first stop of the evening was Taco44, read as “Takoyoshi”, a lively izakaya pub specializing in takoyaki, golf-ball-sized batter balls filled with octopus.

It seems the owner moved to Tokyo from Osaka to share a secret family recipe inherited from his late father.

For the Sen-Tora set, Asami chose:

• A craft beer from Osaka called Kofun
• Three pieces of salt-flavored takoyaki.

The beer arrived in a bottle, and Asami poured it out herself, feeling quite satisfied with how well she did it.

▼ Though naming a beer after a burial mound, even a World Cultural Heritage spot, may not appeal to some…

▼ Asami had no such worries.

The beer was fruity and slightly sweet, which is perfect if you like mellow craft beers. The takoyaki was crispy on the outside, creamy inside, and topped with green onions and mayonnaise.

Each one had quite a substantial chunk of octopus in the center.

The staff were incredibly friendly, and regular customers flowed in and out. Before Asami had even realized it, she was sharing a table and clinking glasses with an older local man.

He shared with Asami that he had been bar-hopping every single day since the event began, with Tako44 being his 30th stop.

▼ Asami was in the presence of a seasoned veteran.

Asami asked for a recommendation for her next stop, and the staff pointed her towards another local favorite, Kannon Sakedokoro Yu, saying that the owner is cheerful and fun.

However, a rather unexpected feature of the event is that the traditional rickshaw service called Tokyo Rickshaw is also participating.

When they are not participating in impressive feats of athleticism and skill, the Asakusa rickshaw drivers offer a popular sightseeing experience. While usually only a luxury indulged in by tourists, for this event you can get a short ride between bars for just 1,000 yen, so naturally Asami gave them a call.

Within mere minutes, Asami’s driver arrived, and she was a little surprised to see that her driver was a woman, given that she often associates the role with young men.

Interestingly, she learned that about 30 percent of rickshaw pullers today are women.

Despite the woman’s slender frame, she ran with incredible strength and smooth speed, allowing Asami to take in the cityscape with leisure, including the towering Tokyo Skytree, the tallest structure in Japan.

Being pulled through old Asakusa streets, with the temple lights glowing, and the modern skyline beyond, it felt to Asami almost as if she were traveling between eras.

After about 10 minutes, plus a few photo stops, Asami arrived at her next destination: a hidden-gem of a local pub called Kannon-ura Sakedokoro Yu.

It has a calm, traditional Japanese interior and a house specialty called Kannon-ura Chashu, braised pork that is usually served in ramen, but here it’s presented as a standalone dish.

The Sen-Tora set included:

• Kannon-ura Chashu
• Any drink under 700 yen

▼ A selection of some of the drinks the pub sells

Asami chose a Vice Sour, a Japanese cocktail made with a slightly sweet, herbal syrup and soda.

The pork was tender and juicy, served with wasabi and mayonnaise, and eaten with a knife and fork, which is pretty unusual for Japanese pub food.

The owner lived up to his reputation completely, being cheerful, talkative, and welcoming. Even being a solo customer, Asami never felt out of place due to his presence. One of the joys of Japanese izakaya culture is that sitting at the counter alone often leads to easy conversation with staff and nearby guests.

During the event, this izakaya only serves the Sen-Tora set, but it was easy to see why locals love the place. Asami is eager to stop by again the next time she is in Asakusa.

Leaving the store in high spirits, Asami made her way to the next recommended place, La Guinguette la Rainette, but it was unfortunately full, so she couldn’t get in.

Wondering what to do next, Asami wandered around the area and spotted a sign that simply read “Home”. Drawn like a moth to a flame, she decided to go inside.

This small bar focuses on food and sake from Aizu, a region in Fukushima Prefecture known for its strong samurai history and high-quality rice, which means that the alcohol made from it is exceptionally delicious.

For Asami’s final Sen-Tora set for the evening, she chose:

• Basashi (raw horse meat slices)
• An Aizu sake called Izumikawa

Horse meat is eaten raw in quite a few parts of Japan, particularly in Kumamoto and Fukushima, and is lean, slightly sweet, and very tender.

At Home, it was served with garlic miso and soy sauce, with the miso adding a strong punch that complemented the natural sweetness of the meat.

The alcohol was soft and smooth at first sip, but gradually made its presence known with a spreading warmth.

Asami would have loved to have ended the night with ramen, which is a pretty common way to end a night of drinking in Japan, but additional orders are not allowed during the event.

On her way back home, Asami stopped by Sensoji Temple and drew an omikuji paper fortune.

▼ Her result: Sue-kichi (“small fortune to come”)

It wasn’t an amazing fortune, but not terrible either. Traditionally, if you get a fortune you don’t like, it’s customary to tie it onto a designated rack at the temple, symbolically leaving bad luck behind.

Asami carefully tied hers to the rack, and officially ended her solo bar-hopping adventure.

The Yoi no Yoi event is a fantastic way to experience local Japanese nightlife beyond the typical tourist spots, and what stood out the most was how welcoming every place felt, even when drinking alone. With three bars and a rickshaw ride, and just 4,000 yen spent, Asami had an amazing night out, so she wants to pass on her thanks to the reader who suggested the event.

The event runs until February 18, and if you’re in Tokyo during that time, the Kannon-ura area is well worth exploring. However, even if you don’t quite catch it, and can’t wait until next year’s Yoi no Yoi, the participating establishments are always there with the doors open for anyone looking to enjoy their warm hospitality and delicious food and drinks.

Store information
Takoyaki Izakaya Taco44 / たこ焼き居酒屋 taco44
Address:
東京都台東区浅草2-26-5 SDSビル101
Open: 3:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. (Fridays), 12:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. (Saturdays and Sundays)
Closed: Monday–Thursday
Website

Tokyo Rickshaw / 東京力車
Address:
東京都台東区浅草1-5-1 菊季ビル
Open: 10:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. (Yoi no Yoi 1,000 special fee only between 7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.)
Phone: 03-5830-8845 (inform them you are participating in the Yoi no Yoi event and follow the instructions given)
Website

Kannon-ura Sakedokoro Yu / 観音裏 酒処 雄
Address:
東京都台東区浅草4-4-1
Open: 6:00 p.m.–12:00 a.m.
Closed: Sundays and Holidays
Website

Home / ホーム
Address:
東京都台東区浅草3-18-9 小島ビル101
Open: 7:00 p.m.–4:00 a.m.
Closed: Irregular days
Website

Related: Yoi no Yoi event page
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