Bandai is bringing some cuteness to Japanese tea time with these adorable characters from the popular manga and anime series Doraemon.
As the world’s fourth largest producer of toys, Japanese toy making and video game company Bandai is best known for its huge variety of anime and manga model kits and figurines. From the end of this month, however, Bandai will be adding two new characters to its cute range of character sweets, and this time they’re modelled on traditional Japanese confections commonly eaten during tea ceremonies. The adorable new treats are part of the company’s Tabe Masu (“Taberareru Masukotto” or “Edible Mascot”) line, which brings popular characters out of the world of anime and manga and into our bellies in lifelike, three-dimensional form.
▼ Doraemon, the star of the popular series, comes filled with a custard-flavoured sweet bean paste and features lots of beautiful little details like cute whiskers and a round red nose, along with his special 4-D pocket and collar with yellow bell.
▼ On his backside, you can bite off his sweet little red tail.
Joining the famous blue-and-white cat is the red-and-white Mini Doraemon, who appears in the series as one of a number of differently coloured “Mini-Doras”; gadgets who act as Doraemon’s helpers in a variety of scenarios.
▼ This sweet cat contains a milk-flavoured sweet bean filling.
▼ Despite being a pint-sized version of Doraemon in the series, in the world of cute sweets the Mini-Dora is identical in shape and size to the blue-and white cat.
Retailing for 280 yen (US$2.50) each, the cute duo can be found at Aeon Super Centers and Max Valu, Daei, and Aeon stores around the country, excluding Okinawa, from April 30 (green tea not included).
Hona Cafe, the popular pancake eatery from Fukuoka Prefecture in southern Japan, has arrived in Tokyo and is offering Tokyoites a taste of sweet, fluffy heaven!
Like popcorn, cafe-served pancakes have become a hit food item in Japan, and it looks like they’re here to stay, judging from the popularity of the numerous pancake establishments in Tokyo, particularly those in the Harajuku and Omotesando areas.
Many of these are overseas eateries that have established a branch in Tokyo, but the Hona Cafe, which one of our reporters recently visited, is actually a Japanese cafe from Fukuoka that has enjoyed such success in its native prefecture that they opened their first shop in Tokyo earlier this month. And apparently, they serve “Hawaiian Ricotta” pancakes using ricotta cheese they make right at the store. You can bet we were anxious to find out how they taste!
Interestingly, the new Hona Cafe branch in Tokyo is located in the Kabuki-cho area of Shinjuku, which is one of Tokyo’s most notable night-life districts.
▼ The new cafe is situated on the first floor of the APA Hotel in Kabukicho, Shinjuku.
When we arrived, we saw that there was not much seating space inside the store, with most of the seats located outside. It should be nice while the weather is good, but it may not be ideal during the winter or when it’s raining.
There were several varieties of Hawaiian Ricotta Pancakes on the menu, ranging from sweet desserts with plenty of cream to hearty, savory creations with ingredients like sausage or avocado. The items were priced between 1,200 yen to 1,700 yen (US$11.22–15.89), which isn’t exactly cheap, but then we guess that’s to be expected of a hugely popular cafe.
It wasn’t easy choosing one pancake from the menu, but in the end, we decided to order the “Fruit and Mega-whip” Hawaiian Ricotta Pancake.
▼ And here’s the pancake, a veritable feast of cream and fruits!
As the name “Mega-whip” suggests, the pancake was served with a sizeable serving of whipped cream.
Plus, you can add your choice of sauce from flavors such as chocolate, caramel and mango, just as you like it!
By the time we finished pouring the different sauces onto our pancakes, we were certainly more than ready to taste the treat … and the incredibly soft, fluffy texture didn’t disappoint! The pancakes were so soft, in fact, that we hardly needed to bite into them; they just seemed to simply melt in our mouth. We actually weren’t quite sure we could distinguish the ricotta cheese element in the pancakes, but we were certain that the cakes were unbelievably fluffy and delectable.
In addition, the generously served whipped cream was not too sweet, and the smooth texture was almost like drinking liquid cream! The fruits and in particular, the pieces of macadamia nuts sprinkled onto the pancakes, added a nice variety of flavor and texture for a genuinely satisfying eating experience.
The cafe may not be in the most fashionable of districts and the pancakes may be slightly on the pricey side, but we thought the Hawaiian Ricotta pancakes should definitely be well worth a try for sweets lovers. Who knows, maybe the Hona Cafe might even become one of the attractions in Shinjuku’s Kabuki-cho area!
Cafe Information Hona Cafe/ ホナ・カフェ
Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Kabuki-cho 1-20-2, APA Hotel Shinjuku Kabuki-cho Tower 1F
東京都新宿区歌舞伎町1-20-2 アパホテル新宿 歌舞伎町タワー1F
Open 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
For some reason, when it’s raining cats and dogs, McDonald’s customers in Japan seem to start craving fish.
Whenever McDonald’s Japan rolls out a new menu item, whether it’s a classy Clubhouse Burger or a giant Giga Big Mac, sales are initially inflated as intrigued customers come in to try something new. Then, as the novelty wears off, sales will also see a dip, after which they’ll stabilize at whatever level the product itself dictates.
For items that have been around for decades, like the classic Big Mac, you’d expect demand to be pretty consistent. There’s one McDonald’s Japan menu mainstay, though, which often sees sudden spikes in demand: the Filet-O-Fish. Something similar happens in the U.S., where devout Catholics who forego meat on Fridays during Lent need a non-hamburger dining option. But in Japan, McDonald’s customers get a hankering for Filet-O-Fish when it rains.
▼ Water…water…water…fish?!?
Numerous prior McDonald’s employees have reported the phenomenon. At some branches, sales of the sandwich can as much as double if it’s wet outside, and apparently some versions of the company’s restaurant employee manual even remind workers to keep an eye on their fish inventories if rain is forecast. The link between Fillet-O-Fish and rainy days is well-known enough that Japanese Internet users and media outlets have been trying to figure out the reason for it, and have so far come up with three theories.
The first possible explanation is that on cold, rainy days, people naturally crave something filling and fortifying, which makes the deep-fried Fillet-O-Fish hard to pass up. The second is that the warm, steamed buns used for the Fillet-O-Fish make diners feel nice and toasty, but the logic behind both of these ideas seems slightly flawed.
First, it’s not like the Filet-O-Fish is the heartiest thing on McDonald’s menu, which boasts any number of hamburgers that are larger and more calorie-intense than the Filet-O-Fish even without being fried. Second, just because it’s raining in Japan doesn’t necessarily mean the weather is cold. As a matter of fact, Japanese winters are usually characterized by sunny but chilly days, while the highest humidity and the greatest number of rain showers comes in hot, sweltering June.
So perhaps the most plausible reasoning is that of actress and singer Tomoe Shinohara, who gave her thoughts on the Filet-O-Fish/rain relationship during an appearance on the Suiyobi no Downtown variety TV program. Shinohara’s theory is that when it rains, a large number of people who don’t ordinarily eat at McDonald’s are going to end up at the Golden Arches anyway. After all, if it’s raining it may be hot or it may be cold, but it’s definitely going to be a pain to go to the grocery store and then cook for yourself, since the vast majority of people in urban and suburban Japan do their shopping on foot.
Likewise, if you’re going out to pick up food but it’s really coming down, odds are you’re going to pick a restaurant that’s close, and given how many branches McDonald’s has, it’s probably one of the closest options, no matter where you are. Oftentimes McDonald’s branches are located within shopping or entertainment complexes attached to train stations, meaning that even during a raging storm you won’t need to use an umbrella.
But you’ll notice those reasons are all based on convenience, not preference. Shinohara’s thinks that a lot of the people who find themselves at McDonald’s on a rainy day aren’t such big meat-eaters or hamburger fans, but just want to get a meal without getting drenched. As such, they’re more likely to choose something that’s not McDonald’s signature menu item (i.e. a hamburger), and instead go with a Filet-O-Fish.
McDonald’s headquarters itself isn’t sure why it sells more fish sandwiches on rainy days, but we have to say that Shinohara’s logic seems sound. And now that we know about this phenomenon, we’re curious to see if it’ll show up in a future episode of McDonald’s recruitment anime.
We had known each other casually for about a decade. I knew of some of his life hardships as he knew of mine. And we had a chemistry that was palpable from the start. But timing just wasn’t our thing.
Newly separated and still reeling from a devastating breakup, I ran into him one day and it was like there was a glow around him. He looked different to me. He looked right.
“I’m breaking up with my girlfriend tonight,” he told me. “Why?” I asked. “Because I don’t love her and we both deserve a chance at real, romantic love,” he said.
We started texting that night and saw each other again within a few days. I was hooked.
He was perfect and charming and wonderful. A lawyer at a prestigious New York law firm and driven in his career, like I was. He was supportive, remembering when big projects were due or I had an important meeting. He danced with me in my living room to Blake Shelton’s “Sangria,” my song for him.
Not to mention, the sex was amazing. He got my ice-cold heart to melt and I immediately opened up to him, which I never do. We started seeing each other two to three times a week and texting all day long. I started to see a happy life together and a future – and so did he, from what he said. But that is when the warning signs began.
When you ask for more, he pulls away.
I started asking for more time, more dates. I wanted him to meet my friends so they could meet the man who was making me so incredibly happy. But while he continued texting all day, every day, calling and sending pics, he eased up on seeing me.
His excuses were logical — he was having a rough time dealing with the estrangement from his kids; it was crunch time for a prestigious case he was working on. Or, the one that hurt the most: He was trying to get over our very significant age difference and needed time to make a decision about moving forward.
And my travel schedule didn’t make it any easier. But something in my gut was telling me this wasn’t right — that there was something more than what he was telling me.
You stop feeling like yourself.
I felt crazy, jealous and possessive but talked myself out of it every time. He eased my mind and my heart. I was afraid of losing him, and I knew if I kept acting that way I was going to push him away for good. So I pushed away my feelings instead.
The breakup was like a proposal, except I ended up with a broken heart and without a ring. He told me he loved me but that the age difference was just too much. We made love, telling each other how much we loved each other. It was the most romantic, sweet, sensual sex I had ever had. He stayed and cuddled for an hour and texted when he got home. He begged me to stay friends, but I was hurt and confused and said no.
Your gut tells you something is off.
I almost deleted his number, texts and photos from my phone that night, but something was nagging at me not to do it yet. That this wasn’t over with us.
We ran into each other about 10 days later when he told me about this charity thing he was doing. I logged onto his team fundraising page and made a donation. And that’s when I found out everything.
I was his sidepiece.
His “logical” excuses aren’t so logical.
The woman he told me he was breaking up with almost a year prior was still his girlfriend and had been for almost three years. All of a sudden, everything made sense. All of those “logical” excuses weren’t real, he was with her. Every time my anxiety was acting up or I felt uneasy, he was with her. My intuition knew it, but my heart didn’t listen.
I confronted him. I sent screenshots of her Facebook profile, photos of them together, friends telling her they make a wonderful couple and asked questions about if he was still seeing her and when he stopped. He denied everything.
He told me she was “an ex who didn’t want to be an ex” and they had “kept in touch,” but that he dealt with me “honorably and truthfully.” From any logical person’s perspective, that wasn’t the case.
While he was in my bed, she was writing on her Facebook profile that she was “happy with [him]” and “he is a good man.”
He’s quick to turn the blame on you.
I couldn’t believe that even with the physical proof I needed to make sense of it all, he denied it and continued to deny it. And then he tried to make it about me. He couldn’t love me the way I wanted, he said, and that’s why we broke up.
No, asshole, we broke up because I was asking for more and you were scared of getting caught.
I wrestled with what to do next. I confided in a friend and told her everything. I never thought I would have to make the decision to make another human being miserable — especially since there was, frankly, nothing for me in it — but at my friend’s urging, I decided to call this woman.
“I’d honestly be super nice to her,” my friend said. “She’s just as f*cked over as you are. This poor woman honestly thinks she has a good guy. And she has young kids who probably think he’s a good guy. I honestly feel sorry for her.”
I found her phone number in a church bulletin (could the sign have been any more clear?) and dialed. I left a voicemail asking for her.
About half an hour later, a woman called me back. I had found the wrong number, but she was a friend of hers and would pass on my information.
“But, can I ask what this is about? Because she is going to ask me,” the woman on the other end said.
I was quiet for a minute. I wasn’t sure how to react. Then I realized that if this woman was her friend, it was better coming from her than from me. I spilled the entire thing.
“But they’ve been together for almost three years,” she said. It started to feel like she was trying to turn me into the villain since I was, in this case, the other woman.
“I don’t know what to tell you except that I have texts, photos and voicemails to prove it. I know she has young sons and if it was me planning a life with this man while he was sleeping with and dating someone else for almost a year, I know that I would want to know,” I said.
I told the friend I would be happy to talk to the woman, meet her, anything she needed. We said goodbye and hung up the phone.
His girlfriend never called me. She never responded to the screenshot I sent of him denying their relationship. He reached out that same night and told me that he told her everything.
Are moms everywhere lying, or am I just the black sheep among them? It’s time to come clean, acknowledge the pain of motherhood and talk about when it’s all “worth it.”
Thanks for the support fellow moms, but as a pregnant first-time mom, I was a waddling invitation for advice and catchphrases from others: mostly women. Whether they came from acquaintances or strangers, I realize the often-unsolicited comments were well-meaning.
At the time, I appreciated the generic and proper “You’re glowing,” “You look wonderful,” “You must be so excited” and “I am so excited for you.” They all helped build me up at a time when I felt like crap. I’d respond with a “thank you” and a half-smile. Then, I’d joke about how I really felt.
Seriously, “wonderful” is not a word I’d use to describe pregnancy zits, hangry food cravings every hour, nausea, migraines that incapacitated me to weeping on the bathroom floor, aching ginormous boobs, having to pee every 15 minutes, constipation, exhaustion, ribs separating, aching feet, aching everything and living in the foreign body of a whale.
Pregnancy sucked, but the comment that deceived me the most was, “Oh, but honey, it’ll all be worth it.”
I heard the positive message many times. Yet, I sensed an underlying vibe of sadness. I wondered what they weren’t telling me.
Nonetheless, I believed the positive words, “It’ll all be worth it.” OK, so I could maybe get by until the dreaded day I went into labor. I would get that over with, and then, it’d all be fine.
We’d have our bundle of joy, and it would all have been worth it. I reassured myself this way for the rest of the miserable chapter of my life that was pregnancy. Boy, was I wrong. Everyone was wrong.
I was almost two weeks overdue, and my nerves and patience had been worn thin. I wanted to be done with being pregnant, but I dreaded labor. Drawing out the inevitable was mental torture.
When labor finally began, it was as uncomfortable as I’d expected. It was so slow. I suffered in agony for 36 hours, and in desperation, I caved into receiving an epidural to help take the edge off.
Hours later, thanks to talk of an emergency C-section, the possibility of my baby dying and a failed epidural, I had reached the end of my energy, willpower and strength. I would have much rather died on the birthing bed than continue on. It was sensory overload –physically, mentally and emotionally – and it scarred me deeply.
Even now, the details are vague. I must have blacked out or blocked them out.
I’d never felt so helpless and out of control. I didn’t care to live anymore, but I was on a ride that couldn’t be stopped. Eventually, I managed to traumatically birth a little boy.
I kept wondering, “Is it worth it yet?”
It was over, thank god. But was it all worth it? I thought about this as a tiny human got placed upon my chest while they stitched me up. But I didn’t feel anything other than relieved that it was over.
But it wasn’t over: It was only the beginning. I had already been sleep-deprived for over 48 hours. But then, the hospital staff ushered us into a room where I was given meager snacks – certainly not a meal – and left me to attend to a screaming newborn all night.
My husband assisted as much as he could, but his lack of mammary glands limited his capacity. I needed sleep. I needed to mentally process the horrors I’d just gone through.
Being a highly sensitive person and an introvert only magnified the ordeal of a long, difficult birth. I was in a congested hospital full of people, but I wanted to be alone. I broke down in tears as I helplessly held my poop-soaked infant at arms’ length and thought, “What have I done? Is it worth it yet?”
I don’t think that question even requires an answer at this point.
The following weeks were not much easier, but at least there were small moments of hope when I felt love and pride to see how much joy my son brought to others. I was still very much broken: both physically and emotionally.
I replayed the labor and birth over and over again in my head. Each time seemed even more horrific and awful than the last. Postpartum body functions were complicated, and they felt like complete surprises.
I still felt awful. I still felt alone. I was so very alone because I didn’t know who to talk to. I was a horrible failure as a mother.
Because people had told me it would all be worth it and I didn’t agree, I felt isolated in my struggle.
“When will it all be worth it?” I kept asking myself. Am I the black sheep, or are the other moms lying?
Perhaps other moms had an easy, breezy, wonderful time, and it was all worth it for them right away. There was no question that I loved my baby. But if I had the choice to go back in time, maybe I’d re-evaluate my decision to go through all of it.
I know there must be other moms who have had experiences close to mine, or maybe even worse. If they fully embraced motherhood regardless of their troubles, what did that make me? Horrible. Broken.
More disturbingly, perhaps, is the fact that there are moms out there who have had difficult experiences just like I have. But they just don’t talk about them.
I don’t blame them: I’m bawling my eyes out as I write this, but I’ve had two years of bottling up dark postpartum depression. It’s painful to think about, let alone talk about. But we need to talk about it.
Why the silence? I can’t help but feel misled by society’s fluffed-up facade of motherhood. Maybe people are afraid no one will want to have babies if the truth comes out. Perhaps moms are holding back for fear they’ll be criticized for not living up to the acceptable mommy mindset.
I’m finding peace with my openness and truth, as messy and real as it is. By silencing reality – or even worse, by lying – about our journeys into motherhood, we are doing a disservice to the women we care about.
This is exactly why I won’t be able to look another mom-to-be in the eye and tell her with a half smile that it’ll all be worth it, when there’s no guarantee she’ll feel that way. I might get there. I might be able to say it one day.
Every day, I feel I get a little closer to “It was all worth it.” I want to say it. Maybe one day, I will.
Let’s be real: Over time, the wounds heal up and fade. The traumatic memories slowly distance themselves. But the thing that will heal us is opening up about the truth and encouraging other moms to do the same.
It’s time to come clean, acknowledge the pain and talk about how we really became moms.
It’s said that men and women see the world differently, so sometimes they draw it differently too.
As we’ve talked about before, male and female anime and manga illustrators are likely to portray certan things, such as women who are bathing or going to the bathroom, in separate ways. Now it looks like Japanese Twitter users have identified another common scene where artistic choices split along the gender line.
In a recent tweet, @sibainu_oyogu, a woman herself, included a four-sectioned diagram with examples, in her mind, how both male and female artists tend to draw male and female characters in their swimsuits.
▼ How male artists draw male characters (left) vs. how female artists draw them (right)
Starting with the guys, it’s not surprising that @sibainu_oyogu feels that female artists, many of whom are creating comics for a predominantly female audience, have a greater tendency to draw shirtless male characters with a lean, muscular physique. But along with their different body types, @sibainu_oyogu’s examples also show a greater predilection for low-hanging shorts that expose the bottom of a guy’s rock-hard six-pack abs, along with the top of his crotch.
Of course, that’s not to say the two design trends are any more similar when the character is a woman.
▼ How male artists draw female characters (left) vs. how female artists draw them (right)
Again, artists of the opposite gender to the character often draft a more dynamic build, like the top-heavy hourglass figure @sibainu_oyogu rendered for her chart. And not only is she more buxom than @sibainu_oyogu’s depiction of a female-drawn woman in a bikini, the “male-drawn” woman’s taste in swimwear is much more daring and revealing.
@sibainu_oyogu was quick to remind her followers that the graph represents nothing more than her own personal observations, but several commenters were quick to say they shared her opinion.
“I think you hit the nail on the head!”
“I totally get what you’re talking about.”
“Let us know what other difference you spot between male and female artists.”
We second that last request, and can’t wait to see what @sibainu_oyogu spots next.
You can follow Casey on Twitter, but don’t expect any shirtless photos.
It’s amazing how finding yourself in a new relationship can make you wonder if you can or can’t do something. After how many dates are you allowed to tell the person you miss him or her? At what point do you hint you want to be committed?
Things that were once taken for granted in a previous relationship must be relearned in this new and fresh one. It’s almost like an unspoken rule or understanding. Yet, there are times when one partner will want the other to know something, but the person will never express how he or she feels.
Recently, I found myself relearning the art of relationship-ing. By relearning “the art of the relationship,” I realized there is always one person in the relationship who will never admit, fess up or share when he or she wants or needs something. What are these often trivial, but significant needs or wants we have, but are too afraid to admit to?
Here are some of mine:
1. Compliments
It’s amazing how far a compliment can go. It doesn’t matter whether this person noticed your new haircut, or just told you that you brighten his or her day. A compliment works wonders.
The things is, though, while one partner may give compliments more than the other, both should make an effort. Your partner will never explicitly point out he or she just got a fresh trim, or that he or she is wearing a new shirt for you. It would be too much for your partner’s ego to seek this out. So, a compliment here and there wouldn’t hurt.
2. Support
In my previous relationships, I’ve encouraged my girlfriends to be themselves, no matter how quirky or odd they may have thought they were. I loved them for who they were. However, I found that sometimes, they didn’t return the favor.
Encourage your SOs to be themselves, flaws and all. Maybe your bae has a shirt he likes to wear on game days, but he refuses to wash it. Let him wear that shirt anyway. Maybe your SO likes to drink straight from the milk carton. Don’t get upset or scold her. Accept that she may still be adjusting to having to share her milk with someone.
If your partner is willing to love you and look past your flaws, do the same.
3. Spooning
I have a lot of guy friends tell me they’ll never admit to their plus-ones that they love to be the little spoon. While I enjoy being the big spoon, I wouldn’t mind if for one night, my partner took the first step to spoon me before I spooned her. But, I’ll never admit this.
4. No Flings
Commitment is about making the move to invest one’s time and energy into only one person. You’d better believe we’e not seeing a person as just a booty call or fling when we want a relationship. It is understandable that it is intimidating to bring up commitment, which is why most people don’t. They wait and hope the other person will bring it up first.
5. Emotions
Trying to find a movie to “Netflix and chill” to? One partner will sometimes just leave it up to his or her SO to pick a movie. Why?
Chances are, we don’t mind you picking the latest chick flick or the latest Nicholas Sparks book-turned-movie. Sometimes, we will want that mushy, lovey-dovey movie. Sometimes, we will just want to show our sensitive sides without judgment. But, we should be honest.
6. Dressing To The Nines
No matter what, a girl will always look amazing to her SO. Whether she’s rocking Lululemon leggings or wearing your oversized sweater, your girl will always want to look beautiful.
But sometimes, guys like to dress up and hit the town with their SOs. A guy will want to get dressed in that new shirt, show off his new cologne or just show the world how lucky he is to have scored someone as beautiful as his partner.
7. Being With You
A key aspect regarding relationships is maintaining your individuality and having your own lives. But, that doesn’t mean your SO isn’t going to want to spend time with you.
Sometimes, we just want to be in the same room as you because we are completely and utterly in love. Sometimes, just being with one another is enough.
8. Texting
I’ll admit that when I get a text from someone I like, I get all giddy and happy. This is true for many.
Sometimes, we just want to know we aren’t the only ones in the relationship thinking about the other person. Sometimes, we want to know you are also thinking of us.
Sometimes, it may feel like one partner is constantly the first to initiate conversation. Partners, sending the first text will give your SO the same feeling you get when he or she messages you first thing in the morning or late at night.
9. “I miss you.”
These three words are just as nerve-racking as saying that other three-word phrase. Many of us will struggle to say these words, whether it’s via text or in person. We never want to come across as needy. But sometimes, we just genuinely miss you.
Relationships can be hard enough. Sometimes, it’s easier to just ask for what you want. A good partner will give it to you.
