Twentythree

Release of limited-edition Yamazaki 55-year has us wishing we’d started saving up for it about half a century ago.

It seems like every couple of months, we hear about another outstanding Japanese whisky disappearing. First it was Suntory’s Hakushu 12-year and Hibiki 17-years, then Kirin’s Fuji-sanroku Tarajuku Genshu 50, and just last month Nikka told us to brace for the departure of its Taketsuru Pure Malt 17, 21, and 25-years.

The reason why is always the same: none of Japan’s whisky makers expected their products to become this popular, and with age-specific batches of the spirit taking exactly that many years to make, it’s not like they can just run a second shift at the distillery and pump out more  to ship to stores. But Japanese whisky lovers now have something to celebrate, as Suntory has just announced that it’s releasing a new-to-market age-specific Yamazaki whisky, the Yamazaki 55-year.

Just like the name says, this single-malt is 55 years in the making. Produced at Suntory’s Yamazaki distillery, the oldest whisky distillery in Japan, the Yamazaki 55 is masterfully blended from whiskies aged in Japanese mizunara and white oak barrels. With the quality painstakingly checked over the past five and a half decades, Suntory promises an “exquisitely balanced flavor and aroma.”

OK, so with Japanese aged whisky getting harder and harder to find, you’ll want to grab a couple bottles of this stuff, right? Well, there are two problems with that plan. First, Suntory is only selling 100 bottles of Yamazaki 55, with winners being chosen randomly from applications taken between February 5 and 14. The other issue: because of their scarcity, each bottle is priced at three million yen (US$27,300).

▼ Pricing your whisky as much as a car is an innovative way to prevent drinking and driving.

If you’re feeling lucky and also flush with cash (like, say, Nintendo after its 50-million dollar lawsuit victory), purchase applications can be made online here. Shipping is scheduled for June 30, and should you win, we’d like to be the first of many, many people who will ask you for a glass.

Source: Suntory via IT Media
Top image: Suntory
Insert images: Suntory (1, 2)
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Simple screw-up can let in 40 percent more viruses and pollen, manufacturer says.

There are a lot of reasons why people in Japan wear surgical masks, but two of the most common are as safeguards against sickness and hay fever. With the country right in the middle of flu season, and the pollen-heavy days of spring not far off, on any given day in the SoraNews24 office at least a couple of us are in masks…but it turns out we’ve been wearing them wrong, says Japanese mask maker Medicom.

Now look, we’ll be the first to admit that maybe we’re not the smartest collection of minds in the country, but how could we screw up wearing a surgical mask? You just put it over your mouth, loop the straps around your ears, and you’re done right? Yeah, but Medicom says how you slip those straps around your ears is important.

We, and also a lot of other people in Japan, usually wear our masks with the point wear the strap attaches to the mask facing inwards, towards our face. Having the contact point closer to our face should make for a snugger fit and tighter seal against unwanted matter, right?

According to Medicom, though, wearing your mask like that is backwards. On its website, the company says that the proper way to wear masks of this type is for the contact point for the straps to be on the outside, away from your face. Sure enough, that’s how Medicom’s model wears hers on the product page.

Minds blown, we called up Medicom to double-check, and their customer service representative politely explained why we’d been doing it wrong for so many years.

SoraNews24: Are we really supposed to wear the mask with the strap contact points on the outside?

Medicom: “Yes. There are two main reasons for that. First, if you wear it with the contact points on the inside, there’s a possibility that the glue can irritate the skin. The second reason is that the bump from the contact point creates an opening between the mask and your skin, which makes it easier for viruses and pollen to slip through.”

SN24: Are all companies’ masks supposed to be worn like that?

Medicom: “Specific cases depend on the manufacturer, but in general, yes, masks of this type should be worn with the contact points on the outside.”

SN24: So if we don’t wear our mask like that, will it affect how well it works?

Medicom: “Yes. Wearing your mask improperly can result in a 40-percent increase in the quantity of viruses and pollen that can slip by.”

40 percent?!? We’re honestly shocked, and a little heartbroken as we look back on our lives and realize we may have been suffering through a lot of days of sniffles we actually didn’t need to.

Before our conversation ended, the Medicom rep also gave us a bonus tip: when it comes time to take your mask off and throw it away, only touch it by the straps, not the mask itself. That’s because a lot of those germs and pollen your mask has been keeping away from you are still on the surface of the mask itself, and getting them on your hands and fingers is going to negate the benefits of wearing the mask in the first place.

Really, the only reason we can think of not to follow Medicom’s advice is if you just think wearing your mask that way looks too weird, but if you’re really concerned with appearances, you can always opt for a black or pink mask to earn back a few style points.

Source: Medicom
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: SoraNews24, Medicom
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Who wouldn’t want to work with this band, especially when it’s all just one guy?

In the midst of Japan’s creative and musical commercials, it can be hard to stand out. Job advertisement don’t get much more unique than this help-wanted video, though.

In his cover of T.M. Revolution’s “White Breath,” Mr. Nagata, a branch manager for Japan’s Hard Off chain of second-hand stores, filmed himself playing a bunch of “junk” instruments and compiled them into one music video where it appears as if he is every member of the band.

▼ Either this was done after hours or this store has a lot of free time…

The video was intended to advertise the store in general and the fact that they’re hiring new employees, but since it’s posting on January 12, it’s already garnered over 1 million views on YouTube.

▼ Even if you don’t understand Japanese, you’ll definitely remember the phrase, “Nagata desu.” (“I’m Nagata.”)

This is actually the 15th in a series of covers that Mr. Nagata has performed, with some covers (like X Japan’s “Kurenai”) also just over a million views. One of his covers of J-rock band Glay even earned him a shoutout from the group’s lead guitarist Hisashi!

▼ Nagata covering Glay’s “Survival”

▼ Just look at that soul.

Since he’s playing a bunch of “junk” instruments (as in, instruments that are broken or need serious repairs), it’s unclear as to how much of the music he’s actually performing; but he’s really good at air guitar and air bass.

▼ At least, it looks like he’s hitting the right chords.

According to Net Labo, Mr. Nagata came to Tokyo in his teens with only his bass and 20,000 yen (US$183) in his pocket. He didn’t even have a place to live; he stayed at churches and looked for jobs where housing was provided. He spent seven years in Kanagawa Prefecture (the prefecture just to the south of Tokyo) in this way, playing music all the while.

▼ Guitar, bass, keyboard – you name it.

He started making the videos to make his Hard Off branch more popular, and it’s clear that he really enjoys doing it. His dream is to one day play with Glay on stage, he claims. With his YouTube fame steadily growing, we’d say that might be possible someday!

▼ Some of his fans hang out in the store daily.

If you’re interested in paying him a visit, he’s working at the Hard Off in Chikugo, Fukuoka Prefecture. Maybe he’ll even play a song for you if you give him some strawberries.

Sources: YouTube/Hard Off Chikugo via Net Labo
Images: YouTube/Hard Off Chikugo
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Extra-long trailer for Square Enix’s hotly anticipated title also shows off Red XIII and other key characters for the first time.

Perhaps the biggest question about Final Fantasy VII Remake (aside from “Is it going to be ready in time for the new release date, or is it going to get delayed again?”) is what will and won’t be in it. Whereas the original Final Fantasy VII was written as a complete, start-to-finish narrative all on its own, developer Square Enix is producing the remake as a multiple-game project, and so certain fan-favorite scenes and characters won’t show up until the second remake installment.

However, one thing director Tetsuya Nomura made clear way back in 2015 is that protagonist Cloud, of spiky hair and Buster Sword fame, will wear a dress at some point in the first remake game, just like he did in the original. And now, some five years later, Square Enix has delivered on that promise, with a new trailer that shows the hero getting a fabulous makeover as part of his plan to dupe the sleazy owner of the Honey Bee pleasure club.

There’s more than crossdressing Cloud in the new preview, though. We also get plenty of action, some nice close-ups of archvillain Sephiroth’s mako-infused eyes, and our first looks at Red XIII, Final Fantasy VII’s talking lion-like creature with a tail that’s permanently on fire, and also Shinra’s weapon designer Scarlet and sinister scientist Professor Hojo.

The trailer also gives us some luxuriously long looks at the gorgeous combat visuals, with highlights being a side-view perspective for martial artist Tifa’s Blitz attacks that makes it look like Remake has transformed into a fighting game and a pair of summons: majestic Leviathan and the devastatingly cute/cutely devastating Moogle/Chocobo combo.

▼ Hey, Square Enix, I know you’ve got a lot on your plate already, but can we also have a whole game about these two? Please?

Square Enix showed impressive restraint by not simply calling the video “Final Fantasy VII Remake Cloud in Dress Trailer.” Instead, they went with “Final Fantasy VII Remake Theme Song Trailer,” since the visuals are accompanied by “Hollow,” the game’s ending theme.

▼ The Japanese-dialogue version of the trailer

Serving as composer for “Hollow” is none other than Nobuo Uematsu, the legendary video game musician who singlehandedly created the soundtracks for the first nine Final Fantasy titles (including the unmistakable “Prelude” piece that plays at the moment you start the original NES Final Fantasy), and who has contributed in various capacities to later entries in the franchise.

▼ A behind-the-scenes look at the making of “Hollow”

Final Fantasy VII Remake is scheduled for worldwide release on April 10, and we have a hunch we’ll be hearing “Hollow” on our visit to Tokyo’s Final Fantasy VII Remake cafe.

Source: YouTube/スクウェア・エニックス via IT Media
Images: YouTube/スクウェア・エニックス
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Mouthwatering dessert uses part of the cocoa pod that most people forget about, but not the Kit Kat Chocolatory chefs.

In Japan, it’s pretty easy to forget that Kit Kats are made of chocolate, what with Japan-exclusive flavors like sake, sweet mochi, and momiji manju commanding your taste buds’ attention. But the Kit Kat Chocolatory specialty shop in Tokyo’s Ginza neighborhood wants to remind us that Kit Kats are, first and foremost, chocolate,

While the first floor is where customers can purchase to-go items, the second floor of the Ginza Chocolatory houses a sit-down cafe, and it’s currently serving head chef Yasumasa Takagi’s latest creation, called the Cacao Fruit Dessert. The “t” in “Dessert” is silent, in keeping with the French pronunciation of the word, and such fanciness feels totally justified when you see how incredible it looks.

The Cacao Fruit Dessert looks like a 20-centimeter (7.9-inch) cocoa pod. For those of you who (like us) have spent far more time in your life thinking about eating chocolate than making it, cocoa pods contain a white pulp in addition to the beans (actually the plant’s seeds) from which chocolate is made.

While actual cocoa pod rinds aren’t edible, the Cacao Fruit Dessert’s shell is made out of delicious chocolate, and removing the lid reveals a Kit Kat waiting atop a bed of whipped cream enhanced with cocoa pulp juice, which imparts a fruity sweetness.

▼ Beneath the cream you’ll find a selection of fruit and an almond biscuit base.

The cafe says the variety of ingredients produces a complex mix of sensations, with the fruitiness of the cocoa pulp and the rich notes of the cocoa bean chocolate, of course, the two biggest stars. The chefs promise that everything remains elegantly balanced, however, and you can add yet another layer to the dessert by pouring in the warm cocoa pulp juice that’s served along with the dish when you’re half-way through.

As you can probably guess from looking at it, the Cacao Fruit Dessert isn’t quick or easy to make, and the Ginza Kit Kat Chocolatory will be serving just 10 a day, priced at 3,000 yen (US$27) between now and February 14.

Cafe information
Kit Kat Chocolatory (Ginza branch) / キットカットショコラトリー（銀座店）
Address: Tokyo-to, Chuo-ku, Ginza 3-7-2
東京都中央区銀座 3-7-2
Open 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Website

Source, images: PR Times
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