Twentythree

If you’re looking to get a head-start sorting your sakura looks, Gap Japan is ready too.

We’re getting down to the last few weeks before cherry blossoms season starts. In many people’s minds, spring hasn’t really started until Japan’s most famous flowers bloom, and so the event is often seen as an opportunity to put away your heavy winter coats and sweaters and bust out your lighter, more festively colored spring clothes.

Gap Japan is ready to help you start getting your cherry blossom wardrobe ready right now, though, with its Sakura Collection.

The Vintage French Terrycloth Sakura Gap Logo Zip-up Parka’s long name belies its much more succinct concept: a cozy parka with a beautiful cherry blossom graphic on the back, warm enough to help with the occasional chill of windy spring conditions, but not so heavy that it’ll make you sweat when the sun is out. It’s available in a pastel pink or subtly pink off-white, both of which are shades you’ll encounter actual Japanese cherry blossoms in.

They’re offered in both adult women’s and girls’ sizes (priced at 9,990 yen [US$64] and 6,990 yen), and if you’re looking for something to pair them with, there are matching-fabric sweat shorts (3,990/3,490 yen).

With spring also meaning the return of T-shirt temperatures, the Oversize Sakura Gap long-sleeved tee (5,990 yen) is an adult-size option, once again available in pink or white.

The pink palette is toned down for the men’s Sakura Gap hoodie (9.990 yen), though you could make the argument that the cherry blossom colors pop all the more in contrast to the colors surrounding them.

The same pattern also shows up on the pullover sweatshirts (men’s size 7,990 yen, boy’s size 5,990 yen)…

…and the guys’ sizes also have a short-sleeved T-shirt option (5,990/3,490 yen).

And last, the Sakura Gap socks, while officially listed as men’s and boy’s items (2,990/1,690 yen for a set of three pairs), look like they’d fit just as well on women and girls.

The Sakura Collection is available now at Gap Japan physical stores and through the company’s online store here.

Source, images: PR Times
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You don’t have to wait for spring to see this special kind of sakura.

Cherry blossoms, as just about everyone knows, are a symbol of spring in Japan. The exact timing of their arrival depends on which part of the country you’re talking about and that year’s specific weather patterns, but the sakura start to bloom between late March and early May, right, as shown once again in the latest cherry blossom forecasts.

But while all of that is true, it’s true specifically for the Somei Yoshino, the most common variety of cherry blossom tree. Japan has other kinds of cherry blossoms too, though, and for one of them, the Kawazu sakura/Kawazuzakura, cherry blossom season is starting this week.

The most famous place for Kawazuzakura, fittingly, is the town of Kawazu, part of Kamo District in Shizuoka Prefecture. This coastal town, as seen in the video above, has a riverside road called Nanohana Road with a canopy of cherry blossom boughs arching over it, and they’re predicted to come into bloom by the end of this week, according to the latest report from Japanese meteorological organization Weathernews, which has released a Kawazuzakura forecast map.

The map can be a little hard to visually process at first, since the ocean off the southern coast of Japan is shown in pink, but it contains the following dates and places.

● Kawazuzakura Namiki Nanohana Road (河津桜並木　菜の花ロード)
Kawazu, Shizuoka Prefecture
Start of blooming: February 6
Full bloom: February 22
● Todaiyama (東大山)
Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture
Start of blooming: February 21
Full bloom: March 1
● Nishihirahatake Park (西平畑公園)
Matsuda, Kanagawa Prefecture
Start of blooming: January 30
Full bloom: February 17
● Oi Yume no Sato (おおいゆめの里)
Oi, Kanagawa Prefecture
Start of blooming: February 6
Full bloom: February 22

▼ Kawazuzakura Namiki Nanohana Road

Also in Shizuoka, the Todaiyama area of the city of Hamamatsu includes a section of the Hanakawa River lined with more than 400 Kawazuzakura trees. As in many places, the bloom at about the same time as the bushes of yellow flowers called nanohana, and the contrast between the pink and yellow petals, especially on a sunny day with a clear blue sky as a backdrop, makes for a striking combination.

▼ Todaiyama Kawazuzakura

It’s about two and a half hours by train from downtown Tokyo to Kawazu or Hamamatsu, so they’re doable as day trips, despite being two prefecture over from Japan’s capital. You can also see the early-arrival cherry blossoms in Tokyo’s southern neighbor, Kanagawa Prefecture, as two parts of the Ashigarakami District, the towns of Matsuda and Oi, also have good Kawazuzakura spots, Matsuda’s Nishihirahatake Park…

…and Oi’s Oi Yume no Sato park.

Both of the Kanagawa locations also boast lines of sight to Mt. Fuji, and with winter often offering the clearest views of the mountain that’s so often hidden in clouds in other seasons, if luck is on your side you might get to see the cherry blossoms, nanohana, and Fuji all at once, and they’re both accessible from Tokyo in about two hours.

Related: Nishihirahatake Park official website, Oi Yume no Sato official website
Source: Weathernews
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Weathernews
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Perfect with your other ornaments or as a stand-alone complex.

I’m always a sucker for fusions of classical and modern Japanese arts, whether it’s woodblock prints of Nintendo characters or watches made from samurai armor. This latest one certainly fits the bill of combining an iconic work of anime with one of Japan’s most elegant traditional crafts.

On one hand, we have the manga and anime classic Ghost in the Shell and its scene-stealing walking tanks, the Tachikoma. These are robotic vehicles that use AI so that they can be both driven and operate autonomously, while also often grappling with the nature of their own existence.

On the other hand, we have Nabeshima ware, a form of porcelain that was so high in quality, it was originally only used as gifts for the shogunate and other feudal lords by the Nabeshima samurai clan from the 17th to 19th century. Even after the feudal system was abolished, the makers of Nabeshima ware and their descendants have carried on the painstakingly meticulous craft to this very day.

Put those two together, and you end up with this.

The Ghost in the Shell Tachikoma Nabeshima Ware will be sold by the porcelain brand Yoyoyo and crafted by the 351-year-old kiln Hataman. However, despite their many, many years of experience in ceramics, making a robot spider tank was an unprecedented challenge, so the modern digital modeling techniques of 224porcelain (creative partners for the Fist of the North Star shochu set) were also called upon.

A typical porcelain teapot would require four or five pieces to be attached together by hand, but a Tachikoma required 49 such joints. In addition, these machines have several very thin and precise parts, which are extremely difficult to maintain without distortion in the high temperatures of the kiln.

The creation of the shape is nothing short of a technical marvel, and the impressiveness is only heightened by the exquisite painting. Hataman’s artisans leave nothing to chance when adding the delicate lines that give these Tachikoma their ghosts.

Everything, from the stiffness of the brush bristles to the moisture content of the paint, is strictly controlled to give the precisely desired results.

There is very little room for error, and the slightest slip-up could ruin the immense work that already went into achieving the figure’s form. And yet, at the same time, the handmade strokes are imbued with humanity that can be seen in their finest details. It is a technique three and a half centuries in the making.

I say all this not only to celebrate the work of these incredible craftspeople, but to prepare you for the price. One Ghost in the Shell Tachikoma Nabeshima Ware figure will sell for 770,000 yen (US$5,000). Part of that price is also due to their scarcity since only 50 of them will be available for sale worldwide. Yoyoyo is currently accepting preorders and, as of this writing, some are still available. According to their website, they ship to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the USA, France, and Germany.

It’s certainly not cheap, but it’s hard to argue these works aren’t worth it. They both serve as examples of some of the best craftsmanship Japan has to offer and manage to breathe life into the lifeless, in the true spirit of Ghost in the Shell.

Source: Yoyoyo, PR Times
Images: PR Times
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Mr. Sato dreams up an innovative way to ensure good luck and give yourself an excuse to eat fried chicken.

This year, the Japanese holiday of Setsubun falls on February 3. Originally meant to mark the start of spring, it’s also a day on which to wish for peace and happiness for your family and household, and it’s said that one way to do that is by eating sushi rolls.

Specifically, you’re supposed to eat ehomaki, rolls of vinegared sushi rice and luxurious fillings. While supermarkets and food specialty stores across Japan offer all sorts of ehomaki for sale during the Setsubun season, but this year our ace reporter Mr. Sato didn’t want to eat just any ehomaki, he wanted to eat a KFC ehomaki, substituting fried chicken skin for the orthodox outer layer of nori (dried seaeed).

Unfortunately, while KFC has done a lot to embrace the local food culture in Japan, the chain doesn’t offer ehomaki. That’s OK, though, because Mr. Sato, intrepid innovator that he is, figured out how you can make your own KFC ehomaki.

Obviously, you can’t make a sushi roll without sushi rice, so that was the first thing that Mr. Sato needed to sort out. It’s easy to find recipes online for how to make your own sushi rice using white rice and vinegar, but Mr. Sato opted for the convenience of just buying some already-made sushi rice, and for that he swung by conveyor belt sushi chain Kura Sushi, which offers sushi rice, called “shari” (シャリ) on their menu, for 100 yen (US$0.65).

▼ He decided to pick up two orders, just to make extra-sure he’d have enough rice.

Then it was off to KFC to get some chicken skin…except that they won’t sell you just the skin. So instead, Mr. Sato procured a four-piece Tokutoku Pack for 1,540 yen.

The Tokutoku Pack lets you pick between Original Recipe or boneless chicken, and Mr. Sato opted for two pieces of each. This turned out to be a mistake, though, since the boneless chicken is breaded but has no skin. This left Mr. Sato with only two pieces from which to source his fried chicken skin, which, as we’ll see later on, ended up being an issue.

However, for the pieces he had that did have skin, removing it turned out to be really easy.

All you need to do is poke the tip of a chopstick or fork through the skin, and it’s a quick and simple process to peel the rest of it off from underneath.

Though it’s not an absolutely essential piece of equipment, a makisu, the bamboo mat used by sushi chefs to form sushi rolls, will make the construction easier. After placing a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the mat, Mr. Sato began laying his strips of fried chicken skin across it.

Ideally, you want the strips of skin to overlap with each other as you place them side-by-side, but unfortunately, with only two pieces of fried chicken to source skin from, Mr. Sato couldn’t always do this. In any case, though, once you’ve got the skin set, the next step is to add rice on top of it.

Technically, you could roll everything up here and you’d still have a sushi roll, but remember, ehomaki are supposed to have some kind of special filling inside of them too. As you might have noticed in the above photo, Mr. Sato’s KFC combo pack included sides of French fries and coleslaw…

…so he made some fries his first filling choice.

Next came the meat from the pieces of fried chicken he’d gotten the skin from.

And last, a bit of coleslaw, used more like a condiment than a full-on filling.

Now this was looking like an ehomaki! Ready for the final step, Mr. Sato rolled up the makisu mat and made sure everything was pressed, but not smooshed, together.

Finally, it was time to see how our KFC sushi roll had turned out, and…

OK, we admit that it’s not much to look at, at least in the above photo. Like we mentioned earlier, ideally you want to leave a nice bit of overlap across the pieces of fried chicken skin as you’re laying them out, in order to provide sufficient coverage if there’s any shifting or sliding during the final roll-up. Unfortunately having only two pieces of chicken to source skin from didn’t leave us with quite enough to do all that, which is, again, why we should have asked for Original Recipe chicken, served with the skin still on, for all four of our combo meals fried chicken pieces.

That said, after some slicing and plating, our KFC ehomaki was looking a lot more photogenic…

…and, most importantly of all, it tasted great! In his tasting notes, Mr. Sato says that it’s immediately flavorful, thanks to the combination of the KFC chicken’s herbs and spices and the enticing oil of the fried chicken skin, which then gives way to a clean finish thanks to the refreshingly sour notes in the vinegared rice and coleslaw.

Even though his original inspiration for making this is that he thought it’d be a weird and quirky fusion cooking experiment, the results are so good that he gives it his personal Mr. Sato Guarantee, and until KFC Japan wises up and starts selling their own ehomaki, he absolutely recommends making one for yourself.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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16-year policy swept away with less than a week for transition.

On January 26, the Japanese government’s Immigration Services Agency, the branch of the Ministry of Justice in charge of immigration regulations, officially announced that it would be abolishing its practice of informing lawyers representing foreign residents facing deportation of their deportation date in advance. Considering the significance of this shift in policy, one might expect there to be a substantial amount of time until the changeover. However, taking into account that the government is doing away with an advance notice, perhaps it’s very much in keeping with the spirit of the decision that the new policy with the change that the new policy went into effect on February 1, less than a week after the announcement was made.

The system of advance notification to lawyers was put into place in September of 2010. Under that framework, lawyers representing foreigners facing deportation from Japan could request that, if the Immigration Services Agency had set a deportation date for their client, they would be informed of the date approximately two months ahead of time (specifically, they would be told in which week of which month the deportation was scheduled for). This concession was made to provide ample time for foreigners and their lawyers to discuss and explore ways to contest the deportation, if that was the client’s wish.

The Immigration Services Agency has now said that this policy has had “harmful” side effects. Since 2019, the agency says that seven foreigners whose lawyers had been sent notices then disappeared within the two months leading up to their deportation dates. The agency also claims that some lawyers who had been notified about their clients’ deportation dates then posted the information on social media, leading to spikes in phone calls and complaints to Immigration Services Agency offices as the dates drew near.

While it’s understandable that the agency would want to prevent making it easier for scheduled deportees to escape removal from the country, there’s nothing illegal about people voicing their displeasure with government policies, provided it’s done in a peaceful manner. Though the Immigration Services Agency is still required to inform foreigners directly of their scheduled deportation date, such notices only have to be sent out one month in advance.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations has decried the abolition of advance notice to lawyers, saying that the narrowed one-month window and indirect path in which the information must now come to them do not provide sufficient time to prepare a legal challenge to the deportation order, and thus constitute a violation of the individual’s right to a fair trial as guaranteed by Article 32 of the Constitution of Japan, which states “No person shall be denied the right of access to the courts.”

The shift in notification policy didn’t come as a complete surprise, as the Immigration Services Agency voiced its intent to do away with the two-month lawyer notifications in July of 2025. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations had been in talks with the agency to try to steer it away from that course since then, though, and the agency’s official decision wasn’t made public knowledge until January 26. In a statement made the following day by Reiko Fuchigami, chairwoman of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, she asserted that “advance notices to lawyers are an important mechanism for guaranteeing the right to a fair trial” and that “It will be extremely difficult to file [an appeal] or take other legal action within a single month,” but for now the agency’s decision appears to be final.

Source: Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, Prime Minister’s Office of Japan
Top image: Pakutaso
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The return of the sakura and the arrival of sakura beer are both annual events, but their timing doesn’t have to match.

Spring in Japan isn’t just the time for cherry blossoms, it’s also the time for cherry blossom sweets, as we see a flurry of sakura-flavored cakes, cookies, and other sweets that show up right about the time Japan’s most famous flowers are starting to open. Here’s the open secret, though: the cherry blossom treats we enjoy every year are usually made with last year’s sakura.

That’s because before cherry blossom petals are used as ingredients, they’re preserved in salt, and with the flowers famously blooming for only a week or two, there’s not enough time to harvest, salt, and use them in any significantly large scale. The upside to this is that while no amount of wishing will make the cherry blossoms bloom any sooner, we don’t actually have to wait until the sakura start to bloom before we can start enjoying sakura-flavored treats, and that goes not just for desserts but for beer too.

Staring in February, Kanagawa Prefecture’s Sankt Gallen brewery will be offering this year’s batch of its Sankt Gallen Sakura beer. While some beer makers simply slap some sakura iconography on their cans or bottles to celebrate sakura season, Sankt Gallen uses actual salt-preserved sakura petals and cherry blossom tree leaves in the brewing process. Though they’re rinsed to remove excess salt one day before brewing, they still impart a subtly sweet, salty, and floral sensation.

▼ The cherry blossoms, of the yaezakura variety, are harvested by hand in the town of Ina in Nagano Prefecture.

Cherry blossoms aren’t the only Japanese culinary element that goes into Sankt Gallen Sakura, either. Along with a mixture of barley and wheat malt (the latter used for a smoother flavor), the beer’s ingredients also include Rakufumai, a type of rice cultivated in the Kanagawa town of Ebina that’s not grown for eating, but for use in making sake.

▼ Rakufumai

The presence of Rakufumai gives Sankt Gallen’s sakura beer an extra dash of delicate sweetness, and with the brew not being quite as hoppy as the company’s regular strong-hops offerings, it makes for a refreshing choice as the weather starts to get warmer and open-air beers start to become a more viable option.

However, like we said earlier, there’s no need to wait for a warm spring afternoon to crack open a bottle, as Sankt Gallen Sakura (which has an alcohol content of 5 percent and an IBU of 17) goes on sale February 19, priced at 539 yen (US$3.50), and can be ordered through the Sankt Gallen online store here.

Source: PR Times via Japaaan, Sankt Gallen
Top image: Sankt Gallen
Insert images: PR Times
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Good friends stick together.

A short while back, we showed you how the sticker craze has been sweeping Japan with a look at how difficult it is to buy some of the finest stickers around. The last time Japan caught sticker fever of this caliber was around 20 years ago, during the Heisei era, and now many of those young girls who kept sticker books have grown up into mothers of their own young girls. As a result, they too can’t help but get back into the sticker-collecting game.

Our writer Haruka Takagi is one such second-timer and has gone all in on finding the cutest stickers around for her increasingly fat books of adhesive decorations. Actually, during the first sticker fad, she was growing up in the countryside and didn’t have many friends or much money to really enjoy sticker collecting.

Now, as an adult, she has the luxury of disposable income — enough for stickers at least. However, she still has a shortage in the friends department. It just isn’t as easy making new friends as adults, what with our busy schedules and crippling anxiety.

But as luck would have it, one day, when Haruka was perusing the sticker section of a store, she met another woman about the same age. They talked for a bit and learned their children’s birthdays were only a day apart. Thinking this was a sign, Haruka decided to take things to the next level and asked, “Do you have a sticker book?”

▼ Dramatization of what it’s like at the sticker racks

The other woman didn’t have one on her, but said she did keep some at home. So, they exchanged texting info and agreed to meet up sometime later on to exchange stickers. After some back-and-forth texting, the two eventually decided on a date to meet.

The night before, Haruka’s heart was racing as she wondered to herself, “I wonder what kind of stickers she has? I should bring my best stickers so she won’t be disappointed. But what if I come on too strong with my stickers, and she thinks I’m arrogant?”

She suddenly felt like she was about to go on a first date. No, it felt even more nerve-racking, like she was about to enter an arranged marriage. She carefully curated her sticker book, making sure to include ones that were rare but that she was also willing to part with. In the end, she filled out two books for her date with destiny.

The next day, Haruka met her new friend at a restaurant for lunch. Things were awkward at first, but both of their kids started running around and screaming, which led to them talking about parenting stuff to break the ice. It was then that Haruka realized this wasn’t just her first sticker friend, it was her first mom friend too.

After about an hour of chatting, the kids finally started to calm down. That was when Haruka decided to bring out her sticker books. She had never done this before, so she wasn’t sure how to initiate things. Luckily, the other woman took the first step and asked, “Can I take a look inside?”

Haruka solemnly handed her the book and said, “I look forward to trading with you.” She then took one of the woman’s books. All of her first-date anxiety returned. This was the moment that could make or break their relationship.

When the woman opened up the book, she gasped: “That’s so cute! You have a Tamagotchi?! I love Esther Bunny!”

The level of her reaction made Haruka feel a little embarrassed, but also relieved. She realized that looking through someone’s sticker book is a way of seeing what that person likes. It’s like peering into their mind.

Then, Haruka took a peek into her new friend’s mind and was surprised by what she saw as well. This woman also had some rare stickers, such as Sanrio, Disney, Bon Bon Drop animals, and Uruchuru Pop Seal brand stickers. She immediately wanted to start asking for them, but held back and just let out a reserved, “Wow!”

This was a sticker exchange, but they just needed to build up to the actual trading. The woman opened with a “Can I have this?” to which Haruka replied, “Go ahead, and take the bigger one.” The woman came back again with, “Oh, then I should also give you a Sanrio one.”

Haruka would tense up when she felt she was making a big ask, but was immediately relieved when the trade was approved. It made her feel better about the quality of her own stickers. Soon after, their exchanges were accompanied by stories about why they chose a certain character or how they were able to buy rare stickers.

It wasn’t merely bartering with sticky pieces of plastic. They were sharing parts of their own lives with each other and truly having fun in the process. None of it felt forced or contrived either. The conversation just flowed naturally the whole time.

After a while, the other woman admitted that she was also really nervous about the trade and was worried her stickers weren’t good enough. It made Haruka happy that she wasn’t the only one who felt that way and that she found someone with the same passion for stickers that she had.

Before they knew it, two hours had passed, and it was time to wrap up the exchange. Haruka ended up with 12 new stickers in total, including Sanrio animal ones. She kept them all on their own separate page so she could look back on this day fondly.

Our writer couldn’t be happier with how this sticker exchange turned out, but realized some of it had to do with luck. These kinds of meet-ups could easily go south if the two people involved don’t have roughly the same level of enthusiasm for stickers. Adults would probably be able to at least maneuver around that kind of awkwardness, but for kids, it can be a lot harder. Another important thing is to never bring stickers to an exchange that you or your kids are not willing to part with.

Follow those two golden rules, and you should have a very nice time trading stickers with old friends and new ones too.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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