Twentythree

Hello, tired fingers.

Sometimes I wonder if there’s a corner of existence that Hello Kitty and her friends from Sanrio haven’t established a presence in. Electric guitars? Check. Gundam? Check. Haunted zombie land? Check.

But one place Hello Kitty has yet to appear is a smartphone-exclusive rhythm game (Taiko no Tatsujin doesn’t count because that cameo was on a console version). However, that small patch of reality will soon go without kawaii cats and puppies no longer as Sanrio Kawaii Me Live! is set to be released in January 2027.

In this game, a range of characters from Sanrio’s vast roster, including Hello Kitty, My Melody, Pompompurin, Cinnamoroll, Kuromi, and many more, perform on stage with your help. There are two styles of rhythm play: one involves tapping at the right time when two circles converge in a style somewhat similar to the dance-offs in Final Fantasy VII Remake or Yakuza 0. The other style requires keeping your finger along a horizontal bar and tapping or sliding it on the objects as they fall in a style like Guitar Hero or Beatmania.

The game is free to play, and you’ll get to start off with Sanrio’s own playlist of seven songs based on their characters. There will also be collaboration songs with Polkadot Stingray, Soala, Mi’Line Hearts, Yabai T-Shirts Yasan, Lienel, She’s, and Zutomayo. More songs will also be added over time.

But the real charm in Sanrio Kawaii Me Live! is to do as the title suggests and kawaii up your chosen character. Unlock new outfits and musical equipment for your character to wear and hold, while also designing the stage layout to your personal preference. It seems like any Sanrio fan would want to spend most of their time in this part of the game, but you’ll have to perform to unlock more costumes.

Also, for people in Yokohama, there will be a chance to experience the fun live at a release event on 14 January, 2027 at Yokohama Kannai Hall. There will be live performances by many of the artists mentioned above, and appearances by many of the Sanrio characters mentioned above.

In the meantime, pre-registration for the game is already underway on the App Store and Google Play Store. And to make sure no one dawdles, Sanrio Games is holding a special campaign to unlock in-game items based on how many people pre-register, starting with an energy-boosting Cosmo Soda item at 50,000 people, up to a Hello Kitty dressed in Mira Wear if one million people promise to check out the game.

▼ Mira Wear Hello Kitty

There’s still a way to go before the release of Sanrio Kawaii Me Live! and more details are sure to emerge before then. It seems to me that this title is ripe for Yoshikitty to make an appearance, either as an unlockable character or final boss where you’ll have to wear your fingers out trying to tap through “Kurenai.”

Images: © 2026 SANRIO CO., LTD
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What better place to carry your train pass than inside No Face’s Spirited Away train ride?

In Japan, the vast majority of transactions involve either coins or a card. Yen coins go all the way up to 500 yen (US$3.15) in denomination, so it’s inevitable that you’re going to accumulate a handful of change if you’re using cash to buy things or pay for meals, and rechargeable train pass cards like Suica can also be used for purchases at shops and restaurants.

So if you’re traveling in Japan, a card or coin case is a handy thing to have, and a Ghibli anime case is a handy thing to have that’s also awesome.

Studio Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku has designed a series of combination coin/card cases featuring artifacts and characters from some of their most beloved animated films. Starting things off is this embroidered trio of No Face, Boh, and Yu-Bird taking a ride on the train seen in Spirited Away.

The reverse side of the case features the film’s name and an understated illustration, and when you open up the zipper, and you’ll find two compartments inside, allowing a layer of organization for different types of coins or cards.

Other charming details include Boh and Yu-Bird taking a nap on the extendable strap’s connecting-piece reel and a caterpillar-shaped zipper pull.

An especially clever design point is that the windows on the train are actually see-through, adding to the illusion that the characters are actually passing by scenery outside their train carriage.

▼ Though Boh and Yu-Bird are kind of in the emperor of Japan’s seat.

Next up we have another Ghibli character depicted in his most memorable setting: Calcifer peeking out from a cast-iron frying pan.

The Howl’s Moving Castle fire spirit is in the middle of cooking up the hearty breakfast seen in the movie, one of the most mouthwatering of all Ghibli meals. Fittingly, the zipper pull for this pouch is shaped like a spoon, while the strap-connecting piece is a recreation of the multicolored dial next to the castle’s front door that allows the dwelling’s entrance to magically connect to different locations.

The Calcifer pouch is the only one we’re looking at today with only a single shared interior section, so we’re back to two compartments for the My Neighbor Totoro case.

Instead of being shaped like the cuddly studio mascot himself, this pouch is modeled after the container of caramels that sisters Mei and Satsuki share some snacks from early in the movie while they ride in the back of the moving truck on their way to their new home in the most idyllic of Ghibli countrysides.

You do get some Totoro embroidery on the front of the pouch, though, and hanging out around back, as well as on the strap connector, are a bunch of Soot Sprites…

…and the zipper pull this time is caramel-shaped.

And finally, while it may not be candy-related, the fourth pouch is also very sweet…

…since it’s modeled on the party invitation that Tombo gives to enterprising witch Kiki in Kiki’s Delivery Service.

As is often the case with Kiki’s merchandise, black cat Jiji is more prominently featured that the titular protagonist herself, though Kiki’s likeness, of a sort, does still appear on the reel and zipper pull.

Though there’s a lot of variety in the designs, they’re all identically priced at 3,190 yen (US$20). Though the Whisper of the Heart book-design pouch seen at the very start of this article is still out of stock, all of the others have recently been restocked and are available through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store here.

Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4)
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An all-star of the Edo period art world graces a new canvas.

The defining detail of Converse’s All Stars series of sneakers is that the shoes are made with canvas. Of course, linguistically, “canvas” can refer not only to sturdy woven fabric, but also a space in which an artist can create, and both of those meanings apply to Converse Japan’s newest model.

These hi-top kicks are called the All Star IJ HI, and while scholars of classical Japanese painting may be saying “Ah, of course!” as they look at the IJ part of the name, we’ll take a moment to delve into the letters’ significance. Actually, the IJ here is a set of initials, referring to Ito Jakuchu, one of the most celebrated artists of the mid-Edo period.

▼ Ito Jakuchu

Born in 1712, Ito started out life as a grocer who took over his father’s business in Kyoto’s Nishiki Market (the same market that’s now become a major tourist attraction). But what Ito really wanted to do was paint, and what he really wanted to paint was birds…and the birds he really, really wanted to paint were chickens and roosters.

Though they weren’t his only subject matter, Ito found fowl such fine muses that he painted multiple pieces with gunkeizu, or “painting of chickens/roosters” in their title. For the All Star IJ HI, Converse Japan has chosen to adorn the shoes’ canvas with imagery from Ito’s Saboten Gunkeizu, which Ito painted on the sliding doors of Osaka’s Saifukuji Temple in 1789.

▼ Incidentally, while Converse was founded in the U.S. and has been a subsidiary of Nike since 2003, Converse Japan is a separate company, and part of Japan’s Itochu trading company conglomerate.

Having lived his entire life in the Edo period, when Japan was closed off to the rest of the world by decree of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Ito himself would have had little, if any, opportunity to see footwear beyond traditional geta and zori sandals. Nevertheless, his painting makes for a very stylish sneaker motif, mixing bold and colorful imagery without crossing the line into being garish.

The All Star JB HI is priced at 14,300 yen (US$90) and availably exclusively through Japanese shore store ABC Mart, with orders placeable through the chain’s online store here.

Source: ABC Mart via Japaaan
Top image: ABC Mart
Insert images: ABC Mart, Wikipedia/Gryffindor, Wikipedia/Fraxinus2
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Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water…

Long-time readers of news in Japan will undoubtedly know that we have something of a bear problem. Dwindling human populations in rural areas abandoning farms and homes have allowed a growing ursine population an opportunity to roam further in search of food. As a result, people and bears are increasingly coming face to face, often with tragic results.

And yet, with the vast majority of Japan’s population residing in urban areas, most of us feel like it’s not our problem. Even as bold as they’ve been becoming, bears still tend to stick to the mountains, so as long as we stay away from those, we stay away from bears.

It’s a luxury that fishermen also once enjoyed. After all, it’s not like a bear’s going to suddenly appear out on the open sea… right?

Such a scene was only narrowly avoided when a bear was found hiding out on a fishing boat docked on the coast of Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. On 19 September, the one-meter-tall bear was initially spotted on the wharf but took shelter in a longline tuna fishing boat nearby when police arrived.

▼ News report on the potential stowaway bear

The boat had three crew members on board who hid inside private cabins while the animal was roaming the decks. Meanwhile, police cordoned off the area and city officials also arrived to help monitor the bear’s movements.

They planned to wait until dawn to order local hunters in to kill the bear, but at around 1 a.m. the bear evaded local law enforcement by jumping from the boat and into the sea. Authorities monitored the nearby shoreline to see where it would surface but were unable to find the animal.

Bears have shown a very strong talent for evading police cordons in the past as well. That, combined with the fact that it only appeared to be innocently roaming around without injuring anyone, made it hard to not feel a little good that the situation was resolved without any human or animal getting hurt. As such, many online comments were quick with jokes about it.

“Looks like it ‘bearly’ got away!”
“Bear has learned the unique skill: Bear Swim.”
“A bear that doesn’t swim is just an ordinary bear.”
“Imagine going to the beach and seeing a bear swim in from the sea.”
“It’s surprising how many people know bears can swim really well.”
“Maybe it just wanted to apply for a job.”
“Shark bear.”
“If that bear managed to sneak aboard while they set sail, it would have been a perfect b-movie plot.”
“Bears are everywhere!”

That last comment is probably the key takeaway from all this. With each passing year, there are fewer and fewer places in Japan where we can safely say, “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about getting attacked by a bear here.”

But it still seems as if very little is being done to address the issue. Japan’s hunters are getting older with each passing year, and few younger people are interested enough to overcome the country’s strict gun laws to take up such work. Hopefully, those in the national government nestled in a relatively bear-free part of Metropolitan Tokyo won’t choose to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites them in the ass.

Source: TBS News Dig, Hachima Kiko
Images: Pakutaso
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Anime-inspired looks with for-fans nods to the classic series.

Creative costumes are a hallmark of the magical girl anime genre, and while Japanese fashion brand Axes Femme may not be able to provide you with a sparkly transformation sequence, they are ready to give fans a new line of Cardcaptor Sakura apparel items.

These aren’t full-blown cosplay items that recreate Sakura’s in-anime outfits with 1:1 fidelity, though. Instead, they’re playfully stylish creations that incorporate the visual motifs and iconography of the series in ways that can still be used in non-magical settings too, with separate tops and bottoms that allow you to put together an entire outfit or mix an item in with your preexisting non-Cardcaptor wardrobe.

Starting things off is the Cardcaptor Sakura Cardigan, which comes in not just four colors, but four character themes. Pictured above is the pink Sakura Kinomoto version, and while all four designs feature frog-clasp closures and lacy accents on the sleeves, only Sakura’s has an embroidered crest of cherry blossom petals, feathers, and stars surrounded by rhinestones.

Alternatively, the lavender Tomoyo cardigan’s crest has musical notes and sakura petals. A compass is the crest for the minty green Syaoran design, and the snowflakes found on the back of the Clow and Sakura books represent Yue on the white cardigan.

The same character-inspired color schemes are utilized for Axes Femme’s Cardcaptor Sakura berets, although the Syaroan version is a less minty shade of green.

Aside from the different colors, the designs for the berets are identical, with each featuring embroidered wings, a tassel, and a Kero-chan charm.

Options are a little more limited for the skirts, which have a flowing sequence of embroidered Clow, Sakura, and Clear Cards amidst suns, moons, and cherry blossoms.

The two-tone design, though, means that each of the three designs gives you a double-dose of colors to coordinate with.

If it’s not chilly enough to use a cardigan, there are alternate top options with a pair of blouses.

The high collar features an asymmetrical pattern with the sun on one side and the moon on the other. Also, look closely and you’ll see that the lace trim on the cuffs has little Kero-chans in it!

Speaking of collars, you might have noticed that the photo of the pink cardigan up above features one that’s especially elaborate. This is actually a separate item.

Though the floral/feathery flares are always white, the attachable collar comes in two color schemes for the ribbon and embroidered wings and Sakura Card emblem.

Finally, rounding out the collection is a trio of stoles, combining the card motif of the skirts with the lace trim of the blouses/skirt hems.

Prices range from 4,400 yen (US$28) for the beret to 5,500 yen for the collar and stole, 7,700 yen for the blouse and cardigan, and 9,900 yen for the skirt. The entire lineup is available through the Axes Femme online shop here.

Source, images: PR Times
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