McDonald’s releases new Sukiyaki Tsukimi Burger in Japan for moon viewing season 2022

Plus a new McFlurry, dipping sauce, and more burgers to round out this year’s collection.

It’s that time of year again in Japan, when we transition into a new season where the warm nights become more bearable and we begin gazing at the brightness of the Harvest Moon, in a tradition known as “tsukimi“, or “moon viewing“.

It’s a tradition that fast food chains have been taking part in as well, with a lot of the big names releasing tsukimi burgers to help celebrate the occasion. Every year, though, it’s the collection from McDonald’s that tends to get the most attention, because unlike their competitors they go all out with their range, offering over half a dozen moon-themed menu items, including some exciting sweet and savoury options.

▼ This year is no different, with a total of eight menu items making up the so-called “Tsukimi Family“.

Family is a theme that’s always at the heart of the annual Tsukimi release at McDonald’s, as it comes just after the end of the summer holidays. A lot of people in Japan will have returned from visiting their family at this time of year, so the chain is able to tug at the heartstrings with their advertising, releasing videos that often centre around a father-daughter relationship.

This year’s Tsukimi commercial was released today, and again it shows a father and daughter parting ways, only to be reunited by their love of McDonald’s under the full moon.

▼ Take a look at the tear-jerking commercial below.

In the ad above, the father drops his daughter off at the station and she tells him he can use her room if he wants. That night, he finds a picture his daughter drew of him, showing him sternly saying “Make sure you eat!” so he sends her a text message to let her know he’s seen her picture, but instead of being angry about it, he writes, “That doesn’t look like me” before writing a supportive “Ganbare” (“Do your best”). In the voiceover, they both say they’ve come to some new realisations — she’s thankful for those times he waited up for her, and he’s realised there was no anger in the sad and good times they’ve experienced, as it was all about growing up.

As for the bunny, well, bunnies are synonymous with moon-viewing, as people in Japan grow up seeing a rabbit pounding rice on the moon, just as people in the West grow up seeing a face on the moon.

Now that we’ve made it through the tear-jerking advertising associated with the collection, let’s get into the comfort food that McDonald’s has in store for us, starting with some familiar Tsukimi items that are so popular they’re returning for another year.

▼ Tsukimi Burger (360 yen [US$2.58])

The signature Tsukimi Burger makes its return again this year, with a plump fried egg that resembles the moon, a juicy 100-percent beef patty, smoked bacon, and a creamy and rich tomato sauce designed to perfectly match the ingredients.

▼ Cheese Tsukimi (390 yen)

This burger adds rich cheddar cheese to the mix, creating an “exquisite combination” of melty cheddar cheese and creamy rich tomato sauce that’s said to be irresistible for cheese lovers.

▼ Tsukimi Muffin (340 yen [US$2.44])

This morning menu item allows you to get a taste of the Tsukimi Burger in a muffin, featuring a moon-esque fried egg, smoked bacon, a flavourful sausage patty, and a rich creamy tomato sauce sandwiched between English muffins.

▼ For dessert, the Tsukimi Pie (150 yen) is making a triumphant return following its immense popularity last year.

This pie contains a lightly sweet red bean paste and soft mochi (pounded rice cake) wrapped in a crispy pie crust. Every bite of mochi will remind you of the rabbit pounding rice on the moon.

▼ Anno Imo Sweet Potato Flavoured Tsukimi McShake (140 yen for a small, 220 yen for a medium)

 

Autumn is the season for sweet potatoes, and the golden-coloured anno imo variety is known for having a high sugar content, making it a popular ingredient in sweets. Unlike all the other items in the collection, which go on sale on 7 September, this one will be on the menu from 14 September.

Now let’s take a look at the brand new items being offered for the first time.

▼ Yuzu Shichimi Dipping Sauce

Customers who purchase a pack of Chicken McNuggets will be able to request this special dipping sauce for a limited time. The new soy sauce-based Japanese sauce is flavoured with bonito stock, shichimi spice and yuzu citrus, to provide a tangy and refreshing taste to your nuggets this autumn moon-viewing season.

▼ Chestnut Mont Blanc Tsukimi McFlurry (330 yen)

This year, a new Tsukimi McFlurry that “feels like autumn” will be released. The sauce contains chestnut paste with “an elegant sweetness and rich chestnut flavour”, which is said to pair well with the milky soft serve ice cream. In addition, chestnut-flavoured sponge cake pieces will be scattered on top, for textural contrast.

▼ Sukiyaki Tsukimi Burger (440 yen)

This is arguably the most exciting item in the entire collection, as it features the flavour of sukiyaki, a meat hotpot dish that’s usually dipped in raw egg before eating. For the burger version, the sukiyaki appears as a thick beef-and-vegetable sauce beneath the meat patty, and it’s sandwiched between two buns with fried egg, cheese, bacon, and that rich and creamy tomato sauce.

The entire collection looks irresistible, and now we can hardly wait for moon-viewing season to start at McDonald’s, just three days before the full moon rises in Japan on 10 September. Like last year, the season runs at McDonald’s until mid-October, but if you can’t wait for it to start, KFC has gotten in early, with their moon viewing burgers already on the menu!

Source, images: McDonald’s Japan
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Zoo director begs people to stop screwing with air conditioner, setting it to lowest temperature

The reptile house is no place for monkey business.

Last year a giant python escaped from its owner and had a neighborhood in Yokohama on edge for about half a month. It wasn’t until Tsuyoshi Shirawa, the director of Shizuoka’s iZoo, used his keen sense of the reptile mind to quickly locate the animal in the ceiling above its owner’s apartment.

▼ Shirawa’s self-assured thumbs-up to media after finding the snake easily made him the coolest zookeeper in Japan.

なにこのかっこいい絵面 pic.twitter.com/mDituEHf3S

— 長いおり投稿数ゼロTuber (@IoryHamon) May 22, 2021

When he’s not out solving animal mysteries, Shirawa runs a unique kind of zoo in iZoo (pronounced “ee-zoo“). With a focus on reptiles and amphibians, iZoo is often described as an “experimental zoo” that lets guests get very up-close and personal with the animals.

This requires a very strong knowledge of the animals in order to gauge the risk posed both by and to reptiles such as alligators, venomous snakes, and chameleons. Shirawa’s guidance has helped iZoo pull this off for years without incident. But despite all his experience with cold-blooded creatures, there’s one animal that Shirawa has struggled with: humans.

On 24 August, an exasperated Shirawa posted the following tweet:

▼ “There have been repeated incidents of visitors taking the liberty of lowering the air conditioner of the iZoo exhibition hall to its minimum temperature of 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit). We’ve tried countermeasures like patrols and warnings, but it hasn’t stopped. The air conditioner is for all living things, not just people. The normal temperature is 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit). I know it’s hot, but please don’t touch the equipment.”

iZooの展示館のエアコンをお客さんが勝手に操作して最低温度の18℃にされる事態が頻発しています。
見回り巡回、注意喚起などの対策をしましたが止まりません。
生き物のための空調で人のためだけではありません。
普段の設定温度は28℃です。
暑いのはわかりますがお願いですから機器に触らないで。

— 白輪剛史 (@shirawatsuyoshi) August 24, 2022

The tweet went viral and generated a large number of replies. Many expressed their surprise that people would be so bold as to adjust the air conditioner of a private business. Others, however, felt that Shirawa and iZoo’s lax atmosphere shared some of the blame.

“The number of unbelievably irrational people seems to be increasing each year. If you can’t take the heat, don’t go to places where animals from hot climates live.”
“You can’t trust your guests so much, or one day you’ll be forced to stop making the zoo so open.”
“I’m sure some people actually think they are helping the cold-blooded animals by turning down the temperature.”
“28 degrees isn’t even that hot.”
“People always do unexpected things, but I think it’s the management’s responsibility to eliminate the chances of that as much as possible.”
“I also work at a breeding facility and the air conditioner is covered so even staff can’t mess with it. If there is a switch, there will always be someone to touch it.”
“Please provide images of how this air conditioner is set up and how guests can touch it.”

In response to the feedback, Shirawa posted a picture of the control panel, which is behind a closed door that is taped shut…or “was taped shut” rather, as someone had clearly peeled away the tape so they could change the temperature.

▼ “I’m sorry about all the trouble with the air conditioner. We put tape to stop people from opening it, but they peeled it off to cool down. I understand that many people think iZoo is too lenient. I suppose you could say that, couldn’t you… This is seen as something you can touch.”

エアコンの件でお騒がせしてすみません。
テープで止めた位では、剥がして涼む方がかなりいる実情を知って頂きたかっただけです。
iZooの対応が甘いと言われる方が多いのも理解しました。
そういうものなんですね。。
触られるものとして対応します。 pic.twitter.com/pJQcbs17rj

— 白輪剛史 (@shirawatsuyoshi) August 24, 2022

Shirawa seemed to have taken a lot of the criticism to heart. Even more than a problem of people screwing around with a thermostat, iZoo functions on a certain level of faith in its visitors by allowing them to get very close to the animals. If guests can’t be trusted with a control panel, can they really be trusted with a Galapagos giant tortoise?

The following day, Shirawa once again tweeted a picture of the air conditioner control panel. However, this time it was secured by a padlock and a sign was posted informing everyone that the temperature is set to ensure the health of the animals and that lowering could make them sick.

▼ “I put a lock and sign on the air conditioner that has been causing all this fuss. Breaking this is damage to equipment, so I hope no one tries to open it. Originally it was installed in view of a surveillance camera so everything is recorded. I didn’t want to go this far but I did it because the honor system doesn’t apply to equipment.”

お騒がせしているエアコンには、張り紙と鍵をつけました。
これを壊したら器物損壊ですので開けられることはないと願います。
元々、エアコン設置場所は監視カメラの撮影範囲内なので全て録画はされています。

ここまでしたくなかったのですが、性善説は施設には通用しないとのことで対応しました。 pic.twitter.com/WWsI0DJkMy

— 白輪剛史 (@shirawatsuyoshi) August 25, 2022

In a subsequent interview with J-Cast News, Shirawa explained the situation in more detail, explaining that it was an issue that’s been going on for years. This hotter than usual summer, however, had exacerbated the problem to the point that it’s been happening several times a day. Luckily, this has not had any adverse effects on the animals because staff have been quickly catching and fixing temperature changes in the facility.

It’s likely that same care and diligence by staff has allowed iZoo to continue operating in its own special way. Hopefully they can continue to do so too, because there’s nothing I’d like more than to feed a big old piece of lettuce to one of those huge tortoises someday.

Sources: Twitter/@shirawatsuyoshi, J-Cast News
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All-you-can-ride Shinkansen deal coming to Japan for a limited time

Unlimited travel pass comes with a slew of extra perks.

It’s been 150 years since the railways opened in Japan, and to celebrate, East Japan Rail (JR East) is coming out with a special deal called the “Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Opening of the Railways JR East Pass”.

The new pass offers unlimited rides on a number of trains, including the Shinkansen bullet train, over a three-day period, to be used between 14 and 27 October.

The lines covered are:

• All JR East lines
• Aoimori Railway Line
• IGR Iwate Galaxy Railway Line
• Sanriku Railway Line
• Hokuetsu Express Line
• Izukyu Line
• Fujikyu Line
• Echigo Tokimeki Railway Line

▼ The JR East lines are marked with a solid green line below, while the other railway lines listed above are marked with a black dashed line.

The Shinkansen routes covered by the pass are marked by the green-and-white lines in the map above, which show you can take a train from Tokyo out to Nagano and Niigata in the northwest, and right up to Akita and even Aomori at the top end, which allows you to stop off at other stations along the way, including Fukushima, Morioka and Sendai.

The unlimited-rides deal is valid for non-reserved seats in ordinary cars of limited express, express, and rapid trains, including Shinkansen on the participating lines. However, you can use it for travel on reserved seats up to four times; any reserved seating trips beyond that and you’ll have to pay for a separate non-discount limited express ticket.

Tickets can be purchased online only, from one month before the usage start date and up to three days before the usage start date, and they cost 22,150 yen (US$160.37) for adults and 10,150 yen for children. Tickets must be purchased at least three days prior to use.

Ticket holders will also be able to enjoy a number of discounts on car rental and at select restaurants and shops such as the JR East-operated NewDays convenience store chain.

The pass is a fantastic deal, as the scope for travel is incredibly impressive — it allows you to explore a wide swathe of northern Japan, while including Tokyo and its surrounding regions, and trips as far south as the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka and Lake Kawaguchiko, the second largest of the Fuji Five Lakes, in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

At Kawaguchiko, even the train station itself is worth the journey.

Source: East Japan Rail via Hachima Kikou  
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: East Japan Rail
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Spreadable coffee to put on your toast going on sale in Japan

Coffee and toast for breakfast, but without the coffee cup.

Whether it’s because you’re a business dynamo with a busy schedule of A.M. meetings or just because you’re someone who enjoys sleeping in until the last possible second, it can be hard to find time for a full breakfast. Still, no one wants to go through their whole morning on an entirely empty stomach, so maybe you find yourself settling for a cup of coffee and a slice of toast.

If so, Japan’s Megmilk Snow Brand (also known as Yukijirushi Megmilk), has a way to streamline the process, with Yukijirushi Coffee Soft. “Soft” might seem like a strange way to describe coffee, but this isn’t a beverage. Instead it’s a spreadable coffee-flavored topping for toast.

The flavor is based on Megmilk Snow Brand’s Yukijirushi Coffee (pictured at the top of this article). Since going on sale in 1963, Yukijirushi Coffee has become one of Japan’s favorite brands of “milk coffee,” a creamy mix of java and dairy. While Megmilk Snow Brand’s Yukijirushi Coffee Soft announcement doesn’t say whether or not it will give you the same caffeine kick as a cup of joe, it does say that the spread delivers the flavor of its beloved coffee brand, and recommends it not just for toast, but also for pancakes.

This will be Yukijirushi Coffee Soft’s second time to appear on store shelves, as it made its debut a few years back. Like many unique edible innovations in Japan, though, it was only offered for a limited time, but Megmilk Snow Brand is bringing it back to celebrate the 60th year of Yukijirushi Coffee being on the market.

Yukijirushi Coffee Soft is priced at 275 yen (US$2.05) for a 140-gram (4.9-ounce) container, and is on sale as of September 1. Between this and Japan’s new melon bread spread, it looks like our toaster is going to be getting a lot of use over the next few months.

Source: @Press, Yukijirushi Coffee via Hachima Kiko
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Heading off the beaten path in Hokkaido for a beautiful view and local sweets

We’re not at this Furano vineyard for the grapes.

Hokkaido is famous for its wide-open vistas, a rarity in mostly mountainous Japan, and its delicious food. So on a recent trip to the country’s northernmost prefecture, our Japanese-language reporter Masanuki Sunakoma went looking for a place where he could enjoy both at the same time.

That search led him to the town of Furano, where Hokkaido confectioner Rokkatei has a cafe called Campana Rokkatei. Campana is Italian for “bell,” and sure enough, during Masanuki’s eight-minute drive from Furano Station to the cafe, he spotted a bell tower along the side of the road, standing in a vineyard.

Also in the middle of the vineyard is the cafe, with a rustic-looking storefront and a sign bearing the characters for Rokkatei (六花亭) in a calligraphy-style font next to the entrance.

Where things get really, beautiful, though, is once you’re inside the building and get a look at the view out the back.

Scenery like this is hard to come by on Japan’s main island of Honshu, where wide flat areas tend to get quickly filled in by urban development. Being able to see so far with an unbroken line of sight without first hiking to the top of a mountain or riding an elevator to a skyscraper observation deck was something Masanuki hadn’t been able to do for a long time, and he spent a few moments in appreciative awe.

He wasn’t just here to drink in the scenery, though, but also to eat the sweets.

The cafe offers treats both to-go and for eat-in, and Masanuki started with the Furano Mochi, which is only available at Campana Rokkatei. It’s a baked mochi morsel with both locally grown sweet red beans kneaded into the rice cake and a bean paste center.

The outside is crisp, but the inside is soft and smooth, giving you a great mix of textures, and there’s variety to the flavor too, as the mildly sweet start transitions to a refreshing salty finish.

It was so good that, flavor-wise, Masanuki could have happily eaten two or three in one sitting, and at just 110 yen (US$0.80), even a triple helping wouldn’t have busted his budget. He only had so much space in his stomach, though, and he needed to save room for the Pudding Cake too.

At 500 yen this is a little more expensive, but still a perfectly reasonable price for a cafe dessert in Japan. The Pudding Cake is a firm purin-style pudding with a cake core that sits on a dollop of cream.

The mixture of custard and caramel flavors give this one a nostalgic appeal, and after Masanuki finished his last bite while sitting on the terrace, he set down his spoon and looked up at the big, blue, beautiful Hokkaido sky.

By the way, there’s one more thing Hokkaido is famous for: snow. As the coldest prefecture in Japan, the prefecture spends a lot of the winter blanketed under a layer of snow, and Furano is no exception. Because of that, Campana Rokkatei is usually closed during the winter, but if you can visit on a day like the one on which Masayuki did, it’s hard to imagine a better place for a mid-afternoon sweets session.

Cafe information
Campana Rokkatei / カンパーナ六花亭
Address: Hokkaido, Furano-shi, Kiyomizuyama
北海道富良野市清水山
Cafe open 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Website

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Footage of very loud Hokkaido Shinkansen tunnel blast delights the public【Video】

It turns out that the Internet really likes watching stuff get blown up.

While the West Kyushu Shinkansen to Nagasaki prepares for its grand opening in less than a month, construction continues steadily on the JR Hokkaido Shinkansen far to the north. The bullet train currently ends at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station in Hakodate, but plans to extend the track by approximately 212 kilometers (131.7 miles) to Sapporo are expected to be completed by the end of 2030.

▼ A typical vista of Hokkaido’s natural scenery

Since Hokkaido still boasts plenty of unspoiled wilderness, it’s perhaps no surprise that laying down new track in certain areas is requiring a bit more manpower than in other places of the country. In fact, it’s estimated that approximately 80 percent of the new track will be in tunnels. To that end, the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency (JRTT), the entity constructing the new line, shared a special one-minute glimpse into exactly how they’re able to create those tunnels through the mountains.

▼ SOUND WARNING: Lower your volume prior to watching. There’s a countdown from 10 [in Japanese] before the blast.

＼発破！／

山岳地帯のトンネルを掘り進めるには、爆薬を用いて岩盤を発破する手法と機械により岩盤を掘削する手法があります。

今回は #北海道新幹線 のトンネル工事において、爆薬を用いて岩盤を発破する迫力ある瞬間を動画に収めましたのでご覧ください！

大きな音が出ます！音量注意！ pic.twitter.com/BvHUzHkP8r

— 鉄道・運輸機構 (@JRTT_PR) August 24, 2022

“KABOOM!

In order to create tunnels in mountainous areas, there are techniques to blow up the bedrock by using explosives and also by means of machines.

This time, while constructing a tunnel for the Hokkaido Shinkansen, we captured a video of the forceful moment when the bedrock exploded. Please enjoy!

CAUTION: There will be a loud sound. Please lower your volume.”

Deafening as the blast itself is, the subsequent shaking of the camera as the dust settles also points to the immensity of its sheer destructive power.

Japanese net users couldn’t get enough of the video, leaving fascinated comments such as the following:

“It’s like a scene from a movie…”
“I guess the siren’s to warn people of the danger of falling rock?”
“It was so much louder than expected that I burst out laughing.”
“I wonder how much progress they make with one blast…?”
“That impact should be enough to make a truck’s windshield glass shatter.”

While it’s cool to watch the explosion from the safety of being behind a computer screen, we’re glad we weren’t there to witness it in person. We’d prefer tp keep filling our ears with other loud sounds during the remaining days of summer instead.

Source: Twitter/@JRTT_PR via ITmedia Inc.
Top image: Pakutaso
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Japanese burger chain adds mochi sticky rice to its moon-viewing sandwiches

Fast food chain throws caution to the wind by adding a deadly ingredient to its menu.

Japanese burger chain First Kitchen has a long history in Japan, serving up fast food that’s arguably a little more attuned to local tastes than some of the overseas chains.

Now, to celebrate the 45th year since its founding in 1977, First Kitchen is celebrating with a couple of limited-edition burgers that present a new twist on the chain’s signature Bacon and Egg Burger.

▼ The first new item is the Umami Tartar Bacon Egg Burger, priced at 680 yen (US$4.91).

First Kitchen is adding a new “Umami Sauce” to the original tartar sauce on its regular Bacon and Egg Burger, which is said to be packed with fruit juice, including the juice from apples, pears, lemons, as well as the addition of sesame and onions.

This combination of sauces is designed to pair perfectly with the meat and vegetables, and the fried egg, which sits in the centre as the star of the show.

▼ The second new item is the Bacon Mocchi Burger, also priced at 680 yen

This second offering is the most surprising of the two, as it contains something that looks like a fried egg, but it’s actually a round of fried mochi. Mochi is the sticky rice cake that’s known to asphyxiate people around the New Year holidays, when they’re customarily eaten, but there’s no mention made of that here.

You’ll want to be sure to chew the mochi well before swallowing, not only to save yourself from the risk of choking, but to enjoy the flavour of bonito and kelp soup stock, which it’s been soaked in before frying.

According to First Kitchen, this is a limited-time hamburger that offers “the taste of a new sensation you’ve never eaten before”, and the respective burgers, with their round egg and round mochi, are being presented as the chain’s version of the Tsukimi (“Moon Viewing”) burgers popular during moon-viewing season around this time of year.

Both burgers will be on the menu for a limited time at First Kitchens nationwide from 8 September.

Source, images: PR Times 
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What happens after Pikachu misses with Quick Attack? This adorable video has the answer【Video】

Amazing fan artist shows that even when Pikachu is off the mark, he’s still super effective at making us smile.

In describing Pikachu, the first words that come to mind are obviously “cute” and “electric.” But if you were going for a three-adjective profile, “fast” would be a good choice.

That’s because in addition to Thunderbolt and Electro Ball, Pikachu can learn Quick Attack, an offensive technique in which Pokémon dash forward and crash into their opponent. Quick Attack has been part of Pikachu’s move set going all the way back to Pokémon Red and Blue, and so it recently served as inspiration for fan artist and Japanese Twitter user @pokeyugami.

@pokeyugami has been creating modern reimaginings of what the franchise’s original video games would look like if they were being made with modern graphical techniques, and so he wondered, what would happen when Pikachu used Quick Attack…but missed?

Things start off like you’d expect, with Pikachu zooming forward so quickly he’s invisible to the human eye. Since he’s off the mark, instead of slamming into his Caterpie target, though, he winds up next to the rival trainer.

But then it’s time for…

ピカチュウ の でんこうせっか！
しかし うまくきまらなかった！
PIKACHU used QUICK ATTACK!
PIKACHU's attack missed!#pokemon#ポケモン pic.twitter.com/kqUaA4zc8B

— 時空の歪み研究員 (@pokeyugami) August 26, 2022

…the slow, awkward walk back to his own trainer.

It makes sense, when you think about it. It’s called “Quick Attack,” not “Regular-speed Attack,” so naturally Pikachu spends the rest of his time moving around at a significantly slower pace, and you have to figure the exertion of his super-speed sprint has tired him out before he starts his return trip. And remember, this is Red and Blue, which established the mainline Pokémon video game series turn-based combat system, which means that the fight can’t go on until Pikachu is back in position.

As an added bonus, @pokeyugami’s video is structured so that the last frame flows right back into the first, so that you can enjoy an endless loop of Pikachu’s off-target Quick Attack, but each and every time that adorable waddle back is a bull’s-eye in terms of hitting fans’ hearts.

Source, images: Twitter/@pokeyugami
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Japan removes tour guide requirement for foreign tourists

New entry rules go into effect next month, but the borders won’t be completely open just yet.

Japan has been reopened to foreign tourists for nearly three months now, but you wouldn’t know it by looking around. That’s because currently inbound leisure travelers are only allowed into the country as part of guided tours, which only fit within the budget and preferences of a small subset of travelers. It’s a style especially incongruent with the comparatively young demographic of international travelers interested in visiting Japan, and so while international travelers technically can enter Japan, very few are.

Things are going to get easier next week, though. In a press conference on Wednesday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced two changes to Japan’s entry regulations, which go into effect on September 7. First, the daily cap on entries into Japan will be raised from its current 20,000 people a day to 50,000. Second, the guided-tours-only requirement for foreign tourists is being abolished.

That doesn’t mean the borders are being completely opened, though. Foreign tourists will still be required to be visiting Japan as part of a “package tour.” An exact set of criteria hasn’t been announced, but ostensibly a package tour would consist of predetermined hotel accommodations, transportation, and sightseeing itinerary. The assumed benefit, from a public health perspective, is that if a tourist on a package tour were to be diagnosed as infected with the coronavirus, health officials would be able to backtrack along the itinerary to determine possible infection vectors and take appropriate action to prevent the further spread of the virus.

It’s not currently clear how comprehensive the non-guided package itineraries will be required to be. In general travel industry terms, a package tour can be as basic as airline tickets, to/from airport transportation, and hotel reservations, or as detailed as all-day sightseeing schedules and pre-set locations for each and every meal. One could also question the effectiveness of requiring tourists to stick to their itinerary without an accompanying guide to confirm that they really are doing so, but Japanese society’s rule-respecting tendencies mean that there are a lot of things in the country that run on the honor system.

While it’s not the “Hey, borders are open, come and do whatever you want!” revision that many travelers are waiting for, removing the tour guide requirement allows for less expensive tours to be offered to travelers, and also removes the bottleneck of only being able to offer as many tours as they have guides. And while package tours may sometimes still be more expensive than independent travel bookings, the ridiculously low value of the yen right now means that foreign tourists in Japan will be seeing their money going a lot further than it did before the pandemic.

Sources: Yomiuri Shimbun, TBS, Bloomberg
Top image: Pakutaso
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Japanese honey toast is breathtakingly large, contains two litres of ice cream

Bread and ice cream reaches new heights at this restaurant.

If you were to ask mountain climbers why they climb mountains, many will answer, “Because it’s there,” in the words of British climber George Mallory. For our Japanese-language reporter Takamichi Furusawa the answer is the same, although for him it’s in relation to conquering mountainous sweets.

Takamichi has scaled many such sweets in his lifetime — his name translates to “high road” after all — but this week, he discovered a new peak that looked sure to test his chops: Honey toast with two litres of ice cream.

The creators of this mammoth dessert are the folks over at the Italian restaurant “Kitchen Macaroni” in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture. The name “Kitchen Macaroni” rang a bell for Takamichi, who seemed to remember it being the same name as the Western-style restaurant in the 2002 TV drama “Queen of Lunch“.

Inside, the restaurant has a beautiful wood interior and a calm, laid-back vibe. Takamichi flipped through the menu but he already knew what he wanted. He was here to try the infamous “Fruit Honey Toast”, priced at 1,045 yen (US$7.54).

About five minutes later, a Mount Everest of desserts was presented to him.

▼ Behold the Fruit Honey Toast!

Takamichi’s jaw dropped at the sight of it, and it stayed that way for a photo or two as he soaked in all its glory.

It was breathtakingly large, much larger than even Takamichi had expected, and it was so beautiful he found it hard to tear his eyes away from it. Eventually, though, after admiring all its troughs and peaks, Takamichi managed to close his mouth and pick up his spoon, dipping into the summit for a first taste.

Mmmmm….delicious! The combination of rich vanilla ice cream and refreshing fruit sauce went down a treat, and Takamichi felt a little more confident that he might actually be able to finish it all.

Beneath the two litres of ice cream and its cascade of strawberry and blueberry sauce was a loaf of sweet bread holding everything up at base camp. Honey Toast is best enjoyed when bread and ice cream are eaten together, so Takamichi carefully sliced into a corner of the loaf with a knife, and as he cut through the bread he feared an avalanche might occur.

Thankfully, the bread held strong, and Takamichi was able to enjoy a mouthful of it, mixed with ice cream, sauce, and a couple of banana slices, which were scattered around the dessert.

Now that was the mouthful of sweet ecstasy he’d been looking for. The crunchy toast had been soaked in honey so it was delightfully sweet and chewy, the smooth banana slices added a wonderful creamy texture, the ice cream melted on the tongue, and the sauce provided a refreshing aftertaste, helping Takamichi dip in for spoonful after spoonful…again and again.

The taste and texture of the dessert was totally irresistible, but there was a lot to get through so Takamichi decided to go the slow and steady route with it.

▼ After 40 minutes of eating, he was more than halfway through.

More and more diners began to fill up the tables around him, but Takamichi continued on his solo journey, despite wishing he had a companion to help him along the way. Realising he only had himself to lift his spirits on this last leg, he gathered all his energy and found himself on a final spurt towards the finish line.

Maintaining this momentum, Takamichi finally lifted the last spoonful of the dessert to his mouth, and as he did he glanced at his watch to check the time. It had taken him a total of 50 minutes to finish the mountainous dessert, and as he sat back to relax after his achievement, he was surprised to find he didn’t feel as full as he thought he would.

It takes skill to craft a dessert that looks like an impossible mountain but still manages to remain light and refreshing. That’s what Kitchen Macaroni does, though, and now that he’s conquered one mountainous dessert, he’s ready to do it again. Why? Because it’s there.

Restaurant Information

Kitchen Macaroni / キッチン・マカロニ
Address: Gunma-ken, Kiryu-shi, Nishiki-cho 2-14-31 
群馬県桐生市錦町2-14-31
Open: 11:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. (last orders 3:00 p.m.); 6:00 p.m.-midnight (last orders 11:00 p.m.)
Closed: Sundays and the third Monday of every month, plus additional irregular holidays
Website

Images SoraNews24
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Video game to detect early stages of glaucoma developed by Tohoku University

Vaporize meteoroids with a giant laser…for your health!

Many of us as children have probably been scolded for playing too many video games with threats that it will “wreck your eyesight.” There’s still some debate over how true or untrue that is, but a new game has been developed that may definitely save people’s eyesight.

Meteor Blaster is a a simple smartphone browser-based shooting game developed by Sendai Television and the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine. It was patented last July and is hoped to help people detect early symptoms of glaucoma just from playing for five minutes.

▼ The best way to access the game is to use this QR code. You’ll need to turn your smartphone sideways for it to load properly

Image: Sendai Television

To play, you simply have to hold the smartphone about 30 centimeters (one foot) from your face and operate the stationery laser cannon to shoot meteoroids as they float into your crosshairs. At the same time white dots will appear on the screen, at which time you must press the “CAPTURE” button for interstellar reasons that are beyond our puny terrestrial comprehension.

▼ Since the game is evaluating your eyesight, be sure to use the recommended screen distance

Image: @Press

After playing through four stages of this, Meteor Blaster then gives you a rundown of your vision in each eye. The screen is divided into 16 sections and a score from one to five is assigned to each area with one being great and five very bad with regards to how well each of your eyes can detect things there.

▼ Left eye results: “The number of captured lights is fantastic. Do your best to keep this condition!”

Image: © SoraNews24

▼ Right eye results: Although both were good it was interesting to see that my left eye was noticeably stronger

Image: © SoraNews24

If scores of five come out, it could be a sign of the early stages of glaucoma and you should consult an expert. Glaucoma is damage to the optic nerves which starts small but gets progressively worse if left undetected. It’s surprisingly common with about one in 20 people over 40 suffering from some form of it.

Even more frightening is that it’s the leading cause of blindness in Japan, largely because people don’t notice it early enough to seek treatment. Professor Toru Nakazawa, who helped develop Meteor Blaster, said: “Glaucoma is a disease that is difficult to notice. There’s an estimated 4.65 million sufferers in Japan, but roughly 90 percent do not go to the hospital.”

▼ I’m going to interrupt this important health information for a moment to show you all my sweet score. I would have done better but a fly flew in my face on stage three.

Image: © SoraNews24

Professor Nakazawa adds: “If glaucoma is detected at an early stage, treatment is more effective and in many cases blindness does not occur. By the time it becomes noticeable in your daily life, it is often too late.” 

The game is a really great idea that costs nothing and takes up very little of your time, but can save you a great deal of grief down the road. Online comments were also very enthusiastic about the game, with some knowing all too well the silent dangers of glaucoma.

“This is amazing!”
“People tend to mistake glaucoma for loss of eyesight due to old age.”
“Eye clinics and glasses shops should have the game in their waiting areas.”
“Glaucoma can make you blind even if you have perfect vision.”
“What a great use of technology.”
“Finally a game I can convince my parents to play.”
“Amazing that they can detect glaucoma with a game.”
“I have glaucoma in one eye and can’t see well. I wish I’d known sooner…”
“The music in level four is surprisingly good.”

I was also a little surprised at the production value of this game, possibly due to the involvement of Sendai Television in its creation. A rep from the broadcaster said that they were happy to help reverse the stigma that games are bad for eyesight, and hope to expand it into promotion of eye health in other ways as well.

It certainly is a great development to use video games as a diagnostic tool and to improve our health. I really hope someone can come up with a kidney stone detection game next so I can blast those suckers before they become a problem too.

Source: Meteor Blaster, Sendai Television, The Sankei News, Hachima Kiko, @Press
Top image: @Press
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