Twentythree

If anyone deserves an Order of Culture, it’s-a-him.

Every year, the Japanese holiday of Culture Day is observed on 3 November. This is also the day that the Emperor of Japan bestows the Order of Culture on selected citizens who made significant contributions to Japanese culture. These include researchers, leaders of industry, artists, doctors, and more.

And when it comes to people who made an impact on Japanese culture, I doubt there’s anyone who’d disagree that Shigeru Miyamoto belongs in that group. After creating one of the most influential games of its time, Donkey Kong, in 1983, he played a critical role in revitalizing the slumping global video game industry with Japan at its center through Super Mario Bros. in 1985, creating both a revolutionary style of game and iconic characters that would thrive for the next 40 years. And everything he’s done since then, such as contributions to classic franchises like Zelda, Mario Kart, Star Fox and Pikmin, is just a ton of thick, sweet icing on the cake.

In honor of this, Miyamoto will be presented the award by Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace alongside seven other recipients, including Kenso Soai, who also won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year, and Shunichi Tokura, the composer of Pink Lady’s smash hit “UFO” and the current chair of JASRAC.

In a press conference following the announcement, Miyamoto said, “I am truly happy to have found video games. As a creator, I have just as much fun developing games as the players do playing them. It is a joy to be able to keep doing this.”

He also had the following advice for younger game designers: “I often tell them it is better not to start with a game they’re already a big fan of and find entertaining and just try to tweak it to make it ‘more fun.’ Instead of refining something that already exists, it is much more rewarding to start at the core and ask yourself, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting if I tried this?’ Then focus your energy on building something from that idea.”

Miyamoto will also be the first person from the gaming industry to have received this honor. After the news broke, there was an outpouring of support and congratulations from people all over Japan in online comments.

“It’s long overdue, but wonderful news. Mario and Zelda are beloved not just in Japan but all over the world.”
“I make recipes but was happy to hear he feels the same joy in his work and always thinks ‘Wouldn’t this be interesting?’ like I do.”
“Even as the game market has grown to a huge scale, Mario and Zelda continue to rank among the top-sellers. He is a person who shaped countless lives all over the world.”
“His work influenced our youths, the way we spent time with our family, and some of our unforgettable memories.”
“Miyamoto never pandered to trends and always asked himself if his creations made people feel something.”
“When he started out, video games were seen negatively. Now, his characters have appeared at the Olympics!”
“I remember being completely hooked on Donkey Kong. I tried the famous shortcut trick over and over but could never do it!”
“Paul McCartney even asked for Miyamoto’s autograph when they met and greeted him by singing the Super Mario song.”

Speaking of Paul McCartney, it’d probably be fair to say that the next person from the game industry who should get an Order of Culture is none other than Koji Kondo, whose scores for Super Mario Bros. and Zelda were just as impactful and enduring as the games themselves.

Source: TBS News Dig, Yahoo! Japan News
Photo ©SoraNews24
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Multiyear relationship will include new works specially created for L.A. audiences.

At the age of 75 and with a career that’s already spanned more than 50 years, it wouldn’t be unnatural for Joe Hisaishi to be easing into retirement. Or maybe it would be, since the acclaimed composer best known for creating the soundtracks to Studio Ghibli’s most beloved anime films, including My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away, since Hisaishi continues to display a boundless passion and enthusiasm for making music and sharing it with as wide an audience as possible.

For example, en route to setting a couple of Guinness World Records, he held a series of concerts at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles over three days this past July. If you missed your chance to see him then, don’t worry, because Hisaishi has now been named Composer-in-Residence of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra.

This isn’t some simple honorary title/goodwill ambassador deal either. The L.A. Phil is describing the relationship as “a five-year creative partnership” that will start with the upcoming 2027/2028 concert season. In addition to recurring performances at all three of the organization’s customary venues (the iconic hillside Hollywood Bowl, the adjacent John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, and the downtown Walt Disney Concert Hall), Hisaishi “will create new works specifically for the LA Phil and its audiences” while also engaging in new commissions, recording projects, and educational and community outreach endeavors.

“Los Angeles holds a special place in my musical life-from the premiere of my Harp Concerto with the LA Phil’s Emmanuel Ceysson at Walt Disney Concert Hall to our recent performances at the Hollywood Bowl and The Ford,” said Hisaishi following the announcement, and also that he’s “deeply honored” to be chosen for the role. “In the seasons ahead, I look forward to exploring new musical horizons with this extraordinary orchestra and sharing the spirit of discovery with audiences in Los Angeles and beyond.”

▼ An audio clip of one of Hisaishi’s previous Hollywood Bowl concerts

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▼ With Hisaishi scheduled to be spending a lot more time in L.A., he’ll also be able to check out America’s first One Piece store, should the mood strike him.

Hisaishi’s resume isn’t composed entirely of Ghibli soundtracks, as he’s also made contributed selected compositions or arrangements to other anime including Mobile Suit Gundam, Children of the Sea, Kimagure Orange Road, and Creamy Mami, as well as creating the soundtrack for video game Ni no Kuni and a handful of live-action Beat Takeshi movies. There’s no denying, though, that Hisaishi is most strongly associated with the work he’s done for Ghibli, As a matter of fact, there’s never been a Hayao Miyazaki-directed Ghibli feature film that Hisaishi didn’t write the score for, and with the studio’s track record of leaving a deep impression on fans around the world with its soundscapes, no doubt the new creative journey Hisaishi is about to embark on will be another movingly memorable one.

Source: Los Angeles Philharmonic via Anime News Network/Rafael Antonio Pineda
Top image: Los Angeles Philharmonic
Insert images: Studio Ghibli, PR Times
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Mr. Sato’s determination pays off in treat for the eyes and taste buds.

Recently, our ace reporter Mr. Sato told us that he needed to go to Toranomon Hills, a shopping and entertainment complex in downtown Tokyo’s Toranomon neighborhood. Why? To eat ice cream.

As Mr. Sato explained, recently he’s been seeing photo after photo of the soft serve ice cream from Dolce Tacubo, a dessert cafe located in Toranomon Hills, that’s been going viral. “Once the algorithm decides ‘You like this kind of stuff, don’t you?’ and starts filling your social feeds with it, you end up wanting to try it more and more, right?” he told us while heading out the door.

Honestly, we’ve never known Mr. Sato to need any prodding by outside forces to convince him to eat ice cream, but we trust his savvy sense when it comes to photogenic sweets, and we anxiously awaited his report…which almost didn’t come in.

Like a lot of Japanese shopping centers, Toranomon Hills has a food section, called T-Market, in its basement area. Mr. Sato assumed that’s where he’d find Dolce Tacubo, but after making multiple laps of the place, he still couldn’t find the cafe.

So next he took the elevator up to the higher levels of the building, but he still couldn’t find it. Even consulting Google Maps didn’t clear things up, since the app told him to exit the building entirely, then come back in through another entrance, which didn’t make any logical sense to him. Eventually, it was human intelligence that put him on the right path, as Mr. Sato asked the Toranomon Hills employee posted at the taxi stand where he could find Dolce Tacubo, and they informed him that the cafe really is the T-Market zone, on basement level 2, so back down the escalator our reporter went.

At the risk of offending the sensibilities of interior designers with a penchant for minimalism, T-Market’s aesthetics might be a little too elegant for their own good. A number of the understated storefronts don’t have the shop’s name prominently displayed above their entrances, which is how Mr. Sato managed to walk right past this place multiple times…

…before he finally realized this actually is Dolce Tacubo!

He’d been almost ready to give up and go home before he spotted the surprisingly unassuming sign for Dolce Tacubo’s soft serve, but now that he knew he was in the right place, it was time to try the viral-hit dessert for himself. The ice cream is available in three varieties, vanilla, kabocha/Japanese pumpkin, and “mixed,” which gives you both flavors together. The vanilla is 1,000 yen (US$6.30) and the kabocha 1,200, which are premium prices for ice cream in Japan, and it’s a little weird that the mixed cone is 1,300 yen, more expensive than an all-kabocha cone despite half of it being the less-expensive vanilla ice cream.

But hey, desserts aren’t always logical, so Mr. Sato decided to splurge on a mixed cone, and waited in the café’s eat-in space while the staff prepared his treat.

It was every bit as beautiful as he’d hoped it would be. Amazingly, the swirly ridges of vanilla and kabocha wound through and wrapped around each other without any smearing save for a small section at the very top.

The roasted pumpkin seeds are a classy touch too, and there’s so much care put into the presentation that it almost feels like personal pampering, putting a big smile on Mr. Sato’s face.

Dolce Tacubo’s soft serve is more than just a proverbial pretty face, too. Both of the types of ice cream are rich and flavorful. If you’ve never had kabocha sweets before, they tend to be both lighter and sweeter than what you’d get with Western-style pumpkin pie, and this is an outstanding example of how well it can work as an ice cream flavor. In terms of texture Dolce Tacubo’s soft serve is actually on the firmer end of the spectrum within the category, dense enough that you can easily stand a spoon in it when it’s just-served. It melts easily on the palate, though, and has a silky mouthfeel without any significant grittiness.

Mr. Sato can’t finish his taste-testing notes without mentioning the waffle cone too. It’s got a nice, substantial weight to it and a stimulating crunchiness that makes for some great synergy with the smooth ice cream.

Beautiful, delicious, and interesting, Dolce Tacubo’s soft serve is a high-quality dessert by any metric, and Mr. Sato feels it definitely justifies not only its cost, but also the determination it might take to find it.

Shop information
Dolce Tacubo Caffe / ドルチェタクボカフェ
Address: Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Toranomon 2-6-3, Toranomon Hills Station Tower basement level 2
東京都港区虎ノ門二丁目6番3号虎ノ門ヒルズ ステーションタワー 地下2階
Open 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Website

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Annual idea contest takes Tenya to a bold new tempura frontier.

Tempura is one of the most versatile styles of Japanese cuisine, especially when it comes to vegetables. Onion, carrots, eggplant, and kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), to name just a few, all lend themselves to Japan’s traditional method of deep-frying, and they’re all things the staff at tempura restaurant chain Tenya are happy to cook up on a daily basis.

Tenya’s chefs, though, are also always on the lookout for new things to try the tempura treatment on, and this month they’ve come up with one of their most surprising innovations yet: potato salad tempura.

This bold concept (arguably the boldest since Tenya created clam chowder tempura) is the winner of Tenya’s annual employee idea competition, but the chain realizes it might be too bold to make an entire meal out of. Instead, you’ll find the potato salad tempura as part of the new Azayaka Vegipote (“Vegetable Potato”) Tempura Bowl, which went on sale October 22. In addition to the tempura potato salad, you also get tempura eggplant, corn, bell pepper, zucchini, and radish.

If you’re wondering how Tenya manages to deep-fry something that doesn’t have a defined shape, the unique consistency of Japanese mayonnaise is probably a big help. Japanese mayo is a lot less watery than its western counterpart. That gives it enough density for the tempura batter to stick to without actually combining with the mayo, and as you can see in our mid-taste test photo below, Tenya really has succeeded in making tempura pouches with potato salad inside!

This results in an extremely interesting texture. The outer layer has the distinctive airy crunch that tempura fans love. Inside you’ve got the creamy mayo, softened by the heat but still not watery, and mixed in are slices of potato that crumble enticingly when you bite into them.

It’s extremely rare for a single piece of tempura to have that much going on in terms of texture, and it’s a very satisfying combination, as it turns out the flavors of potato salad and tempura complement each other extremely well too, our taste-testing reporter P.K. Sanjun reports. While he’s not sure it would work as a solo topping in the way that, say, a rice bowl topped with nothing but multiple pieces of tempura shrimp does, now that he knows how good it tastes, a piece of tempura potato salad would always be a welcome addition to his meal team, and especially in a vegetable tempura ensemble like this, it’s a great addition.

However, the tempura potato salad, and the 790-yen (US$5) Azayaka Vegipote bowl that it comes in, are currently only available on a limited-quantity basis, with a total of 8,000 to be served in its initial run, so if the idea sounds intriguing to you, you’ll want to head to Tenya ASAP, since there’s nowhere else to get tempura like this.

Photos ©SoraNews24
Azayaka Vegipote promotional image: Tenya
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Are you ready for a taste of terror?

As Universal Studios Japan marks its 25th anniversary, the park is bursting with thrills with its milestone 15th edition of Halloween Horror Nights. Running from September 11 to November 8, this year’s event pairs the classic street scares with an array of spook-filled food and drink offerings that make it well worth a visit.

The headliner for 2026’s new additions is the park’s first-ever Zombie Bar. Occupying Wharf Cafe in the San Francisco area of the park and operating nightly from 6:00 p.m., it features zombified crew members serving eerie signature drinks themed around past park monsters. Highlights include a strawberry-milk Cutie Zombie drink, a non-alcoholic lychee sour for circus zombie fans, and a blood orange and lemon sour inspired by chainsaw zombies.

▼ Cutie Zombie’s Sweet Temptation — Strawberry Milk

▼ Circus Zombie’s Madness: Lychee Non-Alcoholic Sour

▼ Chainsaw Zombie’s Rampage — Blood Orange & Lemon Sour

Over at Universal Market, high school zombies take the center stage with a creepy school festival theme. Visitors can enjoy blackcurrant waffles from the Zombie Cheerleading Club, garlic-oil experimental takoyaki from the Science Club, or a cheese and onion kalbi (Korean marinated beef ribs) rice dog designed by the ravenous American Football Club, with a night-exclusive banana ice cream to indulge in for dessert.

▼ #Deco Champion Zombie Cheer Squad Cassis Waffle

▼ Burst! Zombie Science Club Experimental Takoyaki — with Umami Garlic Oil

▼ Muscle Rampage! Zombie American Football Club’s Cheese Beef Kalbi Rice Sandwich

▼ Zombie Banana Ice — Does a Banana Count as a Snack?

Anime and gaming enthusiasts have a ton to look forward to as well, thanks to collaborations with Resident Evil and Chainsaw Man. Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Resident Evil, known as “Biohazard” in Japan, a croissant sandwich filled with chicken, vegetables, and a green-herb basil sauce is offered to honor the new Resident Evil Requiem: The Dive maze, along with a bitter chocolate churro to pay homage to agent Leon S. Kennedy, both being sold at the food cart in front of Space Fantasy – The Ride and accompanied by some original merchandise.

▼ Green Herb Recovery Croissant Bun — Basil Sauce & Chicken and Leon S. Kennedy’s Dark Chocolate Churritos

Chainsaw Man fans should swing by the food cart near Cinema 4-D to pick up a keema curry Chainsaw Man Bun, expressing the transformed Denji, alongside an orange-vanilla Pochita frozen parfait, with Pochita’s posterior on full display as he digs into the dessert. Additionally, a full lineup of original goods will be unveiled in the Cinema 4-D store, such as T-shirts featuring Chainsaw Man fighting the Halloween Horror Nights Devil, and cute keychains of Pochita in a mummy costume.

▼ Chainsaw Bun with Keema Curry Filling and Pochita’s Frozen Parfait ― Orange & Vanilla

Original design coasters feature cover photos of songs used in past Zombie de Dance performances, as well as popular zombies that have made countless guests scream until now, but only one will be handed out at random for every single set menu order. Sink your teeth into a burger full of horror vibes with scarlet sauce dripping from pitch-black buns at Mel’s Drive-In, or a pizza drizzled with sinister black mayonnaise sauce from Louie’s N.Y. Pizza Parlor to start your zombie coaster collection.

▼ Warning! Macaroni and Cheese Burger: Horror Nights 15th Anniversary Meal with Coaster and Caution! Cajun Chicken Pizza: Horror Nights 15th Anniversary Meal with Coaster

Whether you are sipping on an unholy cocktail served by an undead crew member, grabbing a collectible coaster, or digging into a parfait featuring a dog’s buttocks after surviving a haunted maze, this year’s limited-run lineup of food embraces the terrifying nature of the Halloween season for an immersion-packed reason to stay in the park long after the sunset.

Related: Event page
Source and images: PR Times
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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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