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Hacchan is a mecha version of an Akita Inu hunting dog.

Along with a bit of chilly autumn crispiness, there’s also some apprehension in the air in Japan. That’s because we’re getting to the part of the year when bears start bulking up in preparation of hibernating, which means they’ll be growing bolder and roaming wider in their search for stuff to eat,

With bear attacks having become a topic of heightened concern in recent years, and northern Japan having the country’s largest bear populations, earlier this year Akita Prefectural University began accepting proposals from faculty and students for its Bear-Tech Solution Contest. A total of 41 entries were submitted, and on October 13 a selection of the most promising ideas were presented in Akita City, including an idea for a surprisingly cute anti-bear robot dog.

Called Hacchan, the robot named after Japan’s most famous Akita Inu, Hachiko. Rather than hang out around Shibuya Station waiting for its master to come home and munching on grilled chicken handouts, though, Hacchan’s behavior is inspired by the Akita Inu hunting dogs that would accompany Akita Prefecture’s traditional huntsmen into the woods in days of yore.

▼ Hacchan can be seen at the point in the video queued here.

However, unlike actual hunting dogs, Hacchan has been created with a nonviolent outcome in mind. The quadrupedal robot is meant for deployment on the edge of farms or towns, and when its camera detects a bear, it uses an internal speaker to play the sound of a dog barking loudly in order to scare the animal off and make it retreat back into the woods. By sharing its location data, Hacchan can even call other units to the scene, creating a pack of robo dogs for a more intimidating presence, while also building a database of bear sighting and behavior to help the robots efficiently and autonomously patrol the outer edges of the community.

Researcher Masayuki Yoshida of the university’s Regional Collaboration and Research Promotion Center, who’s leading the development of Hacchan, says they hope to begin field testing the robot dogs before the end of the year.

Source: FNN Prime Online/Akita TV via Yahoo! Japan News, Akita Prefectural University, Yomiuri Shimbun
Top image: Pakutaso
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Four stores in Tokyo recently started selling the soft serve in three flavors with little to no fanfare.

Ministop is usually the Japanese convenience store chain that people equate with fresh soft serve ice cream, but that may be about to change now that one of The Big Three chains, Family Mart, seems to be experimenting with soft serve at four locations in Tokyo. Strangely, however, we couldn’t find any official press release related to it on Family Mart’s website, and October seems like an odd time to unveil a frozen dessert. Perhaps the mystery is meant to be part of the allure…

Our very own zany reporter and sweets enthusiast Mr. Sato had gotten a hot tip that the Kanda Awaji-cho location is one of the stores offering soft serve. He headed over to check it out for himself and found an unassuming poster out front, but that was about it. He would have thought they would be making a bigger fuss of it.

The three flavors being offered are milk, matcha, and mix (milk & matcha). Each one is offered in a “short size” (250 yen/US$1.60) or “giga size” (298 yen) and can be ordered in a cup or cone.

▼ The giga size is pictured most prominently below, while the short size is pictured in milk flavor-form in the bottom left.

Orders for the soft serve should be placed at the counter, and there are handy ordering cards with each of the three flavors for you to hand over to the staff. Be sure to specify if you’d like a short size, as giga seems to be the default.

Mr. Sato of course sprung for the giga size, and it was ready quite quickly. Here was his first-ever Family Mart soft serve cone!

It started melting right away so he quickly snapped a couple of photos and dug in. It was a rich, creamy milk flavor with moderate sweetness and the perfect full-bodied texture inside his mouth.

He had the feeling that Ministop’s milky flavor is a bit more prominent, though he can’t confirm that without trying them side by side.

▼ Regardless, he’ll scream for ice cream no matter what!

Rumors are that Family Mart hopes to sell the soft serve at four more stores in the Tokyo area by the end of the year as well, bringing the total to eight stores. Mr. Sato is happy as long as there’s an increasing number of opportunities to find convenience store soft serve moving forward–and he’ll keep supporting Ministop, too!

Store information
Family Mart Kanda Awaji-cho / ファミリーマート神田淡路町店
Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Kanda Ogawa-machi 1-1-16
東京都千代田区神田小川町 1丁目1-16
Open 24 hours a day (though soft serve may not be available for purchase 24/7)

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The Straw Hat Pirates sail into the City of Angels with cool California-exclusive merch.

The hearts of otaku were dealt a painful blow this week when visa problems lead to the sudden cancellation of two Umamusume concerts in Los Angeles, which were supposed to be the franchise’s first musical performances on American soil. It’s not all bad news for anime fans in the City of Angels, though, as the opening date has been announced for the first-ever permanent One Piece specialty store in the U.S.!

It’s not going to be stuck in the back corner of some random strip mall, either. The One Piece Mugiwara Store will be waiting for visitors inside downtown Los Angeles’ Westfield Century City shopping mall on Santa Monica Boulevard, right down the street from Beverly Hills.

▼ Mugiwara is the Japanese word for “straw,” as in “Straw Hat Pirates”

The shop will be opening on November 6, stocked with a wide variety of One Piece merch, featuring both items imported from Japan and exclusive items that aren’t available anywhere else, even at the One Piece Mugiwara Store branches in Japan, such as apparel items with a California license plate motif, surfer-version Chopper, or the message “I love LA” with an Op-Op Fruit in place of a heart.

The Surfer Chopper design was created specially for the L.A. store, and will also feature in some sort of interactive in-store experience that includes audio messages for visitors to hear.

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▼ Figure,s furoshiki wrapping cloths, and a whole lot of blind-buy trinkets will be among the items imported from Japan.

With the One Piece anime debuting 27 years ago, and the manga two years before that, there should be plenty of pent-up demand among American fans for an entire shop dedicated to the series, and as a crowd control measure, reservations will be necessary to enter the One Piece Mugiwara Store between November 6 and 12, and can be made through the shop’s official website here.

Source: PR Times, One Piece Mugiwara Store
Top image: One Piece Mugiwara Store
Insert images: PR Times
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After decades of delighting fans in Asia, Pokémon store heads to a new continent.

It’s impossible to overstate how much of a pop cultural institution Pokémon is in Japan. Between the anime, video games, cards, and mountains of plushies, Pokémon has been sparking the imaginations and warming the hearts of multiple generations of fans, and if any of them are looking for some cool new merch, they can pop into any of the roughly two dozen Pokémon specialty stores Japan has, stretching from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south.

But the franchise has grown into a massive success overseas as well, and the Pokémon Company has announced that it will finally be opening the first-ever permanent Pokémon store outside of Asia, and London is the lucky city that’s receiving the honor.

In Japan, Pokémon specialty stores come in three types: Pokémon Center megastores, moderately sized Pokémon Stores, and compact Pokémon Center Satellites. It’s not clear which, if any, of those classes the London store will fall into, but the official announcement says it will be a “Pokémon retail destination” and “the ultimate destination for Pokémon fans and include a variety of exclusive merchandise and one-of-a-kind experiences for Trainers of all ages,” so the plan is clearly for something much grander in scale and ambition than a glorified souvenir stand.

This will make the U.K. the fourth country with a permanent Pokémon. store, with the other non-Japan shops being in Taiwan (Taipei) and Singapore. In addition to the London location, the Pokémon Company says it’s also planning to launch “several” other branches outside Asia.

Unfortunately, the London Pokémon store isn’t scheduled to open until 2029, but that again speaks to the likelihood that it’s probably going to be a large-scale project, and if there’s anyone worth waiting for, it’s Pikachu, right?

Source: Pokémon official website
Top image ©SoraNews24
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If you’re planning a trip to Japan soon, you’ll have a better chance of seeing A Night in the Valley of Witches.

Studio Ghibli is world-famous for its feature-length anime movies, but what a lot of fans don’t know is that the studio has a roster of animated shorts that are just as captivating. These rare beauties are like hidden gems for Ghibli hunters, as they’re screened at just two places in the world — the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo and Ghibli Park in Aichi Prefecture. Making them even more of a rarity is the fact that the museum and park screen the shorts one at a time, with the line-up usually changing monthly.

▼ My Neighbour Totoro sequel Mei and the Kittenbus is one such short film.

Now, though, Ghibli Park is making an exception to the rule, by extending the screening period for the studio’s newest short, A Night in the Valley of Witches, which debuted at Cinema Orion inside Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse in July. The movie has been so well-received that the park now says it’s decided to extend the run right through to June 2027, giving fans more time to view this newest Ghibli gem.

Although this particular film is exclusive to Ghibli Park, there really is no better place in the world to see it, as the storyline is set in the park’s own Valley of Witches area.

▼ The area honours Ghibli’s witchy characters with buildings like the bakery from Kiki’s Delivery Service.

According to the synopsis, A Night in the Valley of Witches follows the story of a new recruit at the park, who receives a surprising number of requests to repair numerous buildings on the grounds. While carrying out the repairs, a number of odd things occur – a fireplace comes alight on its own and water gushes spontaneously from the taps.

Though he’s shaken by what’s going on, one of his senior colleagues, Kikue, dismisses his concerns, until one night at midnight, after the park closes, he heads to the Valley of Witches, where he finds Kikue clad in a cape. Kikue reveals herself to be a witch and then chants a spell, setting the stage for some mysterious magic…

With Valley of the Witches being a real-life area of the park, watching the film in this setting is a real treat for fans, especially at Halloween, when there will be a special after-dark outdoor screening of the film within the area. Outside of the special Halloween event, which is a children-only affair, the screening will take place at Cinema Orion, which isn’t too far from the Valley of Witches, so you’ll still be immersed in the world of Ghibli while you watch it.

The extended run is welcome news for Ghibli fans, because the additional time gives visitors more chance of catching the film while planning their trips. Ghibli Park tickets must be booked in advance, with reservations generally opening at 2 p.m. on the 10th of each month for visits two months later. Tickets are still expected to be in high demand, though, so you’ll want to book early to make sure you don’t miss the run, although our fingers are firmly crossed that they might consider extending it even further, to give even more fans the chance to see it.

Related: Ghibli Park official website
Source: Ghibli Park
Featured image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times (1, 2, 3, 4)
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Regulations would be similar to those for phone taps.

The Japanese cabinet has approved a bill that would grant expanded remote analysis powers to investigators. “Remote analysis” might sound like the police will be getting better long-distance camera lenses, or maybe using some sort of new IT system to get lab work done without having to transport physical evidence to/from an outside facility, but this regulatory amendment is specifically for allowing the police to analyze electronic devices used for messaging apps without being in possession of the device itself.

In other words, the bill is to allow the Japanese police to hack people’s phones.

Proponents of the amendment say such expanded powers are necessary in order to combat the rapidly increasing activities of criminal groups known as tokuryu. Formed from the words tokumei (anonymous) and ryudo (fluid), tokuryu groups operate with ringleaders recruiting participants for criminal acts via encrypted messaging apps. Instead of a regular crew of accomplices, ringleaders often employ members on a one-time basis, treating criminal activities like gig-based part-time jobs. The lack of in-person meetings makes traditional preventive surveillance by the police, such as stakeouts or tapped phone lines, virtually useless in acquiring usable information, and even when the individuals who directly carried out a crime are caught, it’s difficult for questioning to lead investigators back to the ringleaders, as those recruited to do the job may not themselves known who their illicit employer is.

So on October 16, the Cabinet approved a bill to allow the police to remotely hack phones and examine encrypted messaging app data they suspect is being used to plan a crime. This isn’t carte blanche to go looking through anyone’s phones they want, though. Much like with wiretaps, the bill requires investigators to obtain a warrant from a judge prior to conducting the hack. Acquisition of a warrant would be dependent on factors such as urgency and difficulty of obtaining the information through alternate methods, and warrants would only be issued for crimes of suitable seriousness, such as robbery or fraud, and only specially skilled investigators designated by the National Police Agency’s commissioner general would be authorized to perform the hacks.

By utilizing these expanded powers, investigators hope to be able to obtain information such as the names and addresses of tokuryu members planning crimes, as well as information regarding specific methodology, such as weapons to be used, and identify victims, all of which they believe can be used to stop the crimes before they occur. Data deemed to be irrelevant to criminal activity will not be retained by the police, according to the structure of the bill.

Following the bill’s approval by the Cabinet on October 16, it has been introduced to the current parliamentary session of the Japanese diet, where it is expected to be approved and go into effect sometime within the next six months.

Sources: Teleasa News via Jin, Yomiuri Shimbun
Top image: Pakutaso
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Slowpoke will naturally, though, be arriving a little later than Pikachu and Diglett.

It’s become a yearly tradition for Mister Donut, Japan’s favorite donut chain, to bake up batches of Pokémon donuts as we get into the back half of autumn.

Every year sees the return of the Pikachu donut, because you can’t have a Poké-party and not invite the face of the franchise. So with Mister Donut having just announced its Pokémon lineup for 2026, one of the treats is, naturally, the Fluffy Pikachu donut, filled with whipped cream and covered in custard-flavored chocolate flakes. This year, for the first time ever, the donut’s rosy cheeks are rendered with a pair of chewy strawberry gummies.

But Pikachu never shows up to Mister Donut alone, as the chain always has at least one other Pocket Monster species represented in its collaboration lineup. So on the same day as fans can start munching on the Fluffy Pikachu, they can also chow down on the Pon de Alolan Diglett.

The Pon de Alolan Diglett is a crossover within a crossover, placing a Diglett inside one of Mister Donut’s flagship Pon de Ring donuts (made up of a ring of eight balls of dough) so that the semi-subterranean-situated Pokémon looks like it’s bursting forth from the earth, with a sprinkling of crunchy chocolate bits playing the part of rocks and rubble. Unlike the Diglett donut from 2024, this one is an Alolan version, differentiated by the tuft on top of its head, and the coatings of caramel and chocolate, plus the Diglett’s custard cream filling, give you a variety of rich flavors to enjoy.

Both the Pikachu and Diglett donuts go on sale via pre-orders (via the Mister Donut website or app) on October 27, with in-store pickup dates from November 2 followed by walk-in availability on November 4. There’s also one more Pokémon donut in the works, but it won’t be going on sale until a few later. That lackadaisical attitude is totally appropriate, though, because it’s a Slowpoke donut!

▼ “Let’s take it nice and slow,” says the Slowpoke donut announcement.

Yes, Slowpoke, whose bragging rights include holding the highest political office of any Pokémon species, is adding to its resume by making its Mister Donut debut. The Slowpoke Donut is a creampuff-like confectionary with a white chocolate coating, dusting of strawberry milk sugar, whipped cream ears, and chocolate eyes and nose. Preorders for it can be made from November 18 for pickup dates starting November 23, and walk-in sales start November 25.

And for fans who want to look at Pokémon, but not necessarily eat them, there’s the Pokémon Assemble donut, a soft, angel food cake-like donut with a chocolate coating, whipped and custard creams inside, and four different adorable Pokémon illustration designs for its wrapper, which goes on sale at the same time as the Pikachu and Diglett donuts.

The Pikachu and Slowpoke donuts are priced at 345 yen (US$2.20) for takeout or 352 yen for eat-in, while the Alolan Diglelt is 367/374 yen and the Pokémon Assemble 237/242 yen. If you’re willing to shell out a little extra, though, there are also two different Pokémon donut/merch bundles. The 2,200-yen “Goods Set” includes your choice of any two of the Pikachu, Diglett, and Pokémon Assemble donuts, plus one Pon de Wreath (another Pon de Ring variation, this one with sprinkles and either caramel or white chocolate coating), and your choice of one of two Pokémon blanket patterns.

▼ The blankets measure 100 x 82 centimeters (39.4 x 32.3 inches)

There’s also a 1,180-yen “Kids’ Goods Set,” with one Pokémon donut, one Pon de Wreath, and a child-size drinking glass. Both sets can be preordered starting October 27, with pickup dates from November 2.

Finally, Mister Donut will have Pokémon-illustration takeout boxes overlapping with the availability of the Pokémon donuts, while supplies last.

Similarly, the donuts themselves will be available for a limited, but unspecified, time while supplies last, so, as always, the wise thing to do is to eat dessert as soon as possible.

Related: Mister Donut
Source, images: PR Times
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