Littering in Shibuya will get you a fine that must be paid on the spot.

Last Monday wasn’t just the start of June, it was the start of a new littering fine in Tokyo. As of June 1, if officials spot someone throwing trash on the ground in some of the city’s most heavily touristed areas, they can issue a citation with a penalty of 2,000 yen (US$13).

This new rule is enforceable in Shibuya, and not only around Shibuya Station, the famous Shibuya Scramble intersection, Hachiko dog statue plaza, and Center-gai shopping/restaurant street. The littering ban is for all of Shibuya Ward, which also includes the neighborhoods of Harajuku, Ebisu, and Yoyogi, among others. As a result, that littering is now a finable offense on the trendy and high-end fashion meccas of Takeshita Street and Omotesando and the pedestrian approach to Meiji Shrine too. Moreover, the law states that the fine is enforceable on both public and private property within Shibuya Ward, and while leaving an empty candy wrapper at your friend’s apartment isn’t going to get you in trouble with the law, that aspect does mean that fines can be collected from those caught littering within shopping centers, train stations, and other such spaces.

▼ Takeshita Street

To enforce the littering ban, Shibuya Ward has a team of approximately 50 roving inspectors. It’s unclear whether they’ll be a permanent dedicated anti-littering squad or if watching out for litterbugs is one of multiple public safety/order duties they perform while in the field, but the Shibuya administration does say it will have anti-litter inspectors in action 24 hours a day.

Unlike Japan’s recently introduced bicycle safety infractions, fines for littering in Shibuya Ward will be collected on the spot by the inspector. This aspect of the system may have been put in place to address perceptions that a disproportionate amount of litter in the area comes from foreign tourists, and to prevent them from being able to leave the country while still having unpaid fines. Payment can be made in cash or through cashless methods such as credit cards.

In addition, Shibuya Ward has also begun requiring convenience stores, takeout food/beverage sellers, and vending machine operators to provide trash receptacles, with fines of 50,000 yen for non-compliance. In a Shibuya Ward study conducted in 2025, 97 percent of inspected fast food restaurants and 80 percent of cafes were found to already have trash cans available, but those numbers dropped to 50 percent for food trucks and 47 percent for take-out beverage sellers.

However, the aim of the trash receptacle requirement is for food/beverage sellers to contribute to the proper handling of trash generated by their business operations, which could complicate finding a place to throw away your specific type of trash. For example, vending machine trash receptacles in Japan tend to be exclusively for recyclables of the materials used in the containers of the drinks that the machine sells, so if you’ve got, say, a paper bag from Krispy Kreme, the vending machine trash can isn’t going to help you. Likewise, with most Japanese people not being big on eating/drinking while walking, trash can capacity is likely to be relative to the amount of customers that particular place itself expects to have, so if you roll up to a drink stand with a family meal’s worth of fast-food containers from someplace else, they might not be able to accommodate you. Because of that, it’s probably still a good idea to be prepared to hang onto any trash you generate while in Shibuya until you get back home or to your hotel, since the ward is clearly looking to keep its streets cleaner.

Source: Shibuya Ward, Mainichi Shimbun via Yahoo! Japan News via Hachima Kiko, Tokyo MX
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso
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Bringing Japanese culture to the table in a delicious and heartwarming way. 

Japan has a wide variety of cultural values that underpin society in ways that are often unseen, and that includes the concept of mottainai. Literally translating as “wasteful“, this mindset holds a deep sense of regret when the potential value of something isn’t fully realised, and it encourages people to reuse, recycle and avoid unnecessary waste whenever possible, especially when food with gods is believed to be involved.

Now Starbucks is bringing the concept of mottainai to the table by creating a new set of Frappuccinos made with mottainai bananas. So-called as the bananas were destined for landfill, due to superficial skin blemishes and size issues that prevent them from being sold through mainstream channels, Starbucks is now putting this fruit to good use, and saving tonnes of bananas in the process. After incorporating imperfect fruit in the recently released Banana Affogato Frappuccino, the chain is now giving us another way to enjoy the taste of bananas while helping the planet, with a brand new release called the Honey Banana Frappuccino.

▼ The new drink, which contains real honey, is priced at 687 yen (US$4.30) for takeout or 700 yen for dine-in.

Starbucks describes the Frappuccino as perfectly balanced, with juicy banana notes and a rich honey sweetness coming together to create a delectable “golden flavour“. At the bottom of the cup, you’ll find pulp made from mottainai bananas for added sweetness and texture, while white chocolate-flavoured syrup, honey, and banana powder, also made from mottainai bananas, is blended into the milky body of the drink. Finished with a topping of whipped cream and honey, the Frappuccino has a rich, mellow flavour and luxurious taste that makes it ideal for early summer.

While the new drink is said to be delicious as is, Starbucks recommends altering the taste with a couple of customisations. By adding chocolate chips and chocolate sauce, the slightly bitter taste of cocoa creates a dessert-like flavour, and by adding vanilla bean-flavoured syrup and caramel sauce you can enjoy added richness and depth.

Whichever way you have it, the new Frappuccino promises to be a dream drink for banana lovers, but it will only be on the menu for a limited time, while stocks last, from 5 June.

Source, images: Press release
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Farewell celebration includes giveaways to help fans look a little more like Gundam themselves.

We’re sadly down to the last few months before it’ll be time to say goodbye to Tokyo’s life-size Gundam statue. The 19.7-meter (64.6-foot) tall RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, which has been standing stalwartly outside the Diver City shopping center in the city’s Odaiba district, will be removed at the end of August, vacating the plaza it’s been located in since September of 2017.

But a special sendoff is planned, and part of the farewell celebration is a visual makeover courtesy of Hajime Katoki, the Unicorn Gundam’s original anime mecha designer. Katoki has created an array of decals which will be added to the statue for what’s being dubbed its RX-0 Unicorn Gunda, Ver. TWC Final form.

▼ RX-0 Unicorn Gunda, Ver. TWC Final preview images

Applying the decals is no doubt a more involved process than slapping some stickers on an ordinary plastic Gundam model, but they’ll be in place and ready for visitors to see starting June 20. The schedule has also been released for the final batch of regular nightly light-up sound and video shows, during which the statue’s coloring and head unit configurations often change.

● 7 p.m.: Mobile Suit Gunda, Hathaway’s Flash Special Movie-Hathaway Version
● 7:30 p.m.: MidNight Cha Cha
● 8 p.m.: Mobile Suit Gundam UC Special Movie Ver. 2.0 “Cage” SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Tielle
● 8:30 p.m.: Reproduction video Fly! Gundam 2017
● 9 p.m.: Mobile Suit Gundam UC Perfectibility
● 9:30 p.m.: Gundam Beyond

In addition, the Gundam Cafe Kitchen Car food truck, which sets up either next to the Unicorn Gundam or at the Diver City Tokyo Teleport-side entrance depending on the day, will be giving out Gundam headbands with each purchase in June, July, and August, so that you can have some Gundam crest flare of your own as you snap one last photo in front of the statue.

▼ Latte art coffees are just some of the themed food and drink items the Gundam Cafe Kitchen Car serves.

Other events to mark the end of the Unicorn Gundam’s time in Tokyo are also reportedly in the works, with further details to be announced at a later date. If you’ve got even a passing interest in Gundam, anime, robots, or awesome stuff in general, though, you’ll want to head on over to Odaiba while there’s still time to see it.

Source: Gundam official website
Top image: Gundam official website
Insert images: Gundam official website, Gundam Base official website
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Can you please pass the soy sauce, No Face?

Explicit exposition has never really been Studio Ghibli’s thing, but even by their standards, No Face’s character arc is an impressive case. Without saying a single word of dialogue, we watch the Spirited Away scene-stealer go from covetous to considerate over the course of the film, learning that there’s more to life than a cycle of gorging and coercing people with regurgitated pricy baubles.

By the time the movie ends, No Face has become a sympathetic, even heartwarming character, and his new life as a generous, helpful sort can continue in your kitchen in the form of a cute and classy No Face soy sauce dispenser.

The porcelain bottle stands 10.8 centimeters (4.3 inches) tall, with its glaze catching the light in a hazy way evocative of the indistinct nature of No Face’s physical form within the anime.

Instead of pouring from the very top of the bottle, the soy sauce comes out of No Face’s extended arm, which is crafted to bring to mind his on-screen posing.

A silicone seal helps keep the connection between the two parts of the bottle snug and secure, and separating them also makes for easy cleaning of the inside.

While this is technically classified as a soy sauce dispenser by Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku, you could use it to hold whatever liquid you want (although the modest diameter of the opening means that thick condiments or lotions probably won’t flow too easily through it). And if your diet isn’t all that saucy, there’s always the option of using the bottle for decorative purposes like a very unique anime figure.

While the No Face soy sauce dish shown in the above photo is sold out, the soy sauce dispenser is back at Donguri Kyowakoku following a recent restock, and can be ordered through the chain’s online store here, priced at 2,640 yen (US$17). Just be careful not to spill any sauce on your new Totoro necktie.

Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku, Studio Ghibli
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Mr. Sato is filled with appreciation for the other Mr. Sato.

Tokyo has a number of neighborhoods, such as Shibuya and Harajuku, that celebrate trendy, youthful fashions and culture. There’s also a part of the city, though, with a focus on a more mature clientele.

Located part-way between Ikebukuro and Ueno on the Yamanote loop line that encircles the city center, Sugamo is a gathering place for Tokyo’s senior citizens, and while it’s an interesting spot to check out on any day, our ace reporter Mr. Sato timed his most recent visit for June 4.

That’s because Sugamo Jizo-dori, the main shopping street in the neighborhood, has a special street market on the 4th, 14th, and 24th of every month. This being Sugamo, it’s not a wild, invasively loud block party, but various merchants set up stalls on the street selling items at especially attractive prices.

Many of the stalls sell snacks, and Mr. Sato found himself tempted by bags of dried fruit for 200 yen (US$1.25) each if you bought five at a time and bundles of three bags of senbei for 500 yen.

He also got his fortune told by a streetside diviner, a kindly older gentleman who read Mr. Sato’s palm and face for 2,000 yen. According to the fortune teller, there are no proverbial dark clouds looming on Mr. Sato’s horizon, though he expressed some concern over the “sun line” on his right hand not being very distinct. Apparently this is an indication that he’ll need to continue working hard to be successful, but our reporter has never backed away from a challenge, and with the fortune teller adding that though he isn’t destined to be rich, he won’t end up being poor either, Mr. Sato was happy with the overall-good forecast of his future.

▼ Mr. Sato having his fortune told

But the highlight of Mr. Sato’s visit to Sugamo’s street market was a pair of vintage fashion magazines he picked up for 100 yen each.

To illustrate just how classic of publications we’re talking about here, one of them is simply titled Fukuso, which means “clothing” in Japanese, and the other is Yoso (“western clothing”).

Fukuso was started by Chiho Tanaka, who was born in 1906 and became one of Japan’s first famous designers of Western-style clothing. The issue Mr. Sato purchased is from December of 1962, quite a bit before Mr. Sato was born, and leafing through it he was stuck by the distinctly charming analog feel to its layout and illustrations.

Yoso has an impressive pedigree too, with its editor being Tetsunosuke Hirukawa, the head of the Japan Western Clothing Academy.

▼ Mr. Sato’s issue is from 1961

Yoso in particular was aimed at people working within the apparel industry, highlighting not just new fashions but also effective ways to tailor and produce clothing for clients.

As a matter of fact, looking through the two magazines, Mr. Sato realized that this was his first time to be reading fashion magazines that predate not only the fast fashion era of store like Uniqlo and Gap, but even easy access to department stores for most Japanese people. This was a time when many people still made their own clothing at home, or else splurged for custom-made pieces from a dressmaker or tailer. As such, issues of Fukuso contained a section with patterns for self-sewn garments…

…and information to help readers choose the best sewing machine for their needs.

Yoso, being a more professionals industry-focused magazine, instead has advertisements for tailoring services and supplies, some with what very stylish designs.

▼ One of the ads here is for Okadaya (オカダヤ), a sewing supply shop in Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood that’s still in business today.

It all left Mr. Sato with a new, direct-feeling sense of how treasured articles of clothing were before you could just, say, dash over to the nearest convenience store and pick up a shirt. And that, in turn, got him thinking again about this velvet sports jacket he owns.

Notice we say “he owns,” not “he bought,” because this jacket originally belonged to Mr. Sato’s dad. With the jacket having been originally purchased around the time that these issues of Yoso and Fukuso were on newsstands, Mr. Sato’s dad wouldn’t have just bought it off the rack, and as further proof of its tailor-made status, “Sato” is embroidered on the inside of the lapel.

Granted, Mr. Sato’s dad gave him the jacket because it no longer fit him, but still, this would not have been a cheap piece of clothing, or one bought without a lot of thought going into the design, material, and its other aspects. And yet, Mr. Sato’s dad wanted him to have it, and several decades after the handover, it’s still in excellent condition.

There’s a bittersweet footnote to this, which is that this month marks one year since Mr. Sato’s dad passed away. When autumn comes, though, he’ll once again take the jacket out of the closet and slip it on, and it’ll feel extra special after his look back on the era in which it was made.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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Super Happy! Challenge gives us two unforgettable products that deserve a place in convenience store history.

If you’re hungry and in the mood to try convenience store food, Lawson is the place to go right now as the chain is currently upsizing some of its most popular products for free.

▼ Popular items in the “Super Happy! Challenge” lineup include oversized versions of onigiri, sandwiches, and the Premium Roll Cake.

In amongst the offerings are two surprises we weren’t expecting, and rather than being happy to see them, we had a hunch they might be too extreme for anyone’s liking.

▼ The “Too Sour” Salted Lemonade (228 yen [US$1.43]) and the “Too Sweet” Drinkable Chilled Zenzai (298 yen).

According to Lawson’s official website, the Too Sour version of the chain’s Salted Lemonade contains twice as much lemon juice as the previous version, while the Too Sweet version of the Drinkable Chilled Zenzai is made with twice as much red bean paste as the original product.

▼ Zenzai is is a traditional Japanese sweet made from sweetened red beans and usually served with mochi (rice cakes).

Reading the descriptions alone, it’s hard to tell just how extreme these drinks really are, so our reporter P.K. Sanjun bought both the regular and upsized versions of each for a taste test back in the office.

▼ Starting with the regular Salted Lemonade, it wasn’t especially sour – in fact, it tasted more like a lightly salted lemonade than anything intensely citrusy.

Then he took a sip of the Too Sour Salted Lemonade…

▼ Waaaaa!

P.K. could hardly get his words out, but when he finally unpuckered his lips he managed to say, “Wow. This stuff is unbelievable.“

It wasn’t just that it was more sour – the entire flavor profile felt completely different. To try and describe it, P.K. says it’s like tasting the difference between water and tea and then tasting the difference between water and cola, which is where the Too Sour Lemonade sits. The taste, texture and intensity is on a whole other scale compared to the regular version.

▼ It was so intense he couldn’t even finish the drink, so he moved on to the regular Drinkable Chilled Zenzai.

It had a pleasantly balanced sweetness that was fairly refined and P.K. had absolutely no complaints about the flavour. Then he took a sip of the Too Sweet Drinkable Chilled Zenzai…

▼ Tooooooo sweeeeeet!!!!!!!!

The sweetness was absolutely relentless. It was the kind of sweetness that burns its way down your throat in an aggressive manner and it was so strong that P.K. dare not take another sip.

After trying the drinks, P.K. was surprised to find that in both cases, he actually preferred the original versions. They felt more balanced and, frankly, more enjoyable to drink.

▼ P.K. gives both of these two thumbs down.

Although the drinks themselves were too extreme for P.K.’s palate, he was impressed by Lawson’s marketing. In choosing to go overboard with the sourness and sweetness levels, this campaign serves to highlight just how good the original versions are. It also proves that you really can have too much of a good thing, and so sometimes, just sometimes, upsizing your favourite products or flavours may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

Everyone’s palate is different, though, so if you’d like to test yours against the extreme ends of the spectrum, the drinks will be on shelves for a limited four-week period from 2 June.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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A taste of the U.S. via Okinawa.

Our intrepid reporter Mr. Sato was recently in Fussa, a part of Tokyo west of the downtown area, where he discovered Tampopo, a retro pachinko parlor that lets you try your hand at the game without worrying about the gambling part of it. Fussa has more invitingly old-school vibes to offer, though, as Mr. Sato found while walking along National Route 16.

National Route 16 is actually a bit of an international thoroughfare, since it runs right along the edge of the United States Air Force’s Yokota Air Base. The base’s exact boundaries have shifted a bit over the years, and some former base housing sites and structures are now part of the civilian cityscape, with many of them having been converted into shops and restaurants with nods to their former occupants.

There’s even a section of Route 16 that’s been dubbed the Fussa Friendship Promenade.

As Mr. Sato ambled down the road, heading towards Ushihama Station, the next stop over from Fussa Station on the Ome Line, he spotted another sign representing a meeting point between Japan and America.

Blue Seal is a Japanese ice cream brand from Okinawa, but before that it was an American ice cream brand…but still one from Okinawa. Originally, Blue Seal was produced on, and only available at, U.S. military bases in Okinawa, created to supply American personnel and their accompanying family members a taste of home at a time before ice cream became readily available in Japan. In the 1960s, Blue Seal became available on the civilian market in Japan, and while ice cream is no longer hard to find in the country, among Japanese sweets fans Blue Seal has a reputation for being some of the very best.

However, Blue Seal isn’t so easy to find in the Tokyo area, and it wasn’t until 2006 that the chain finally came to east Japan, when it opened this Fussa branch.

As its first location in east Japan, the Fussa Blue Seal has a special “Big Dip” designation on its sign, just like the main branch in Okinawa’s Urasoe. The Fussa branch’s flagship status means that in addition to 25 different flavors ice cream, it also serves apple pie.

With the sun shining down brightly on him, Mr. Sato couldn’t say no to some Blue Seal ice cream, so he decided to take a break from his walk and refuel. He opted for the Blue Seal Sundae, which lets you choose one flavor each of scooped ice cream and soft serve for 750 yen (US$4.80), and made his selections salty milk and almond pistachio.

▼ And yes, his smile was just as big after he was done eating it.

Blue Seal has only three other Tokyo branches, one in the Ebisu neighborhood, one in Kokubunji, and one inside Haneda Airport’s Terminal 2. Given the brand’s roots, though, Mr. Sato feels like there’s a special sense of fun that comes from making an ice cream run at the Fussa branch.

Shop information
Blue Seal (Fussa branch) / ブルーシール（福生店）
Addres: Tokyo-to, Fussa-shi, Fussa 2475 Yokotakichi-mae
東京都福生市福生2475 横田基地前
Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Website

Photos © SoraNews24
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These Japan-exclusive beverages are harder to get than most.

Starbucks might have originated overseas but Japan has refined its offerings and taken them to a whole other level. Case in point is the chain’s Tea & Cafe stores, which only exist in Japan, at 30 select locations.

These stores specialise in tea-based beverages made with Starbucks’ Teavana brand teas, and serve exclusive drinks you won’t find at regular Starbucks locations.

This summer, an exclusive duo of drinks will be released, based around the theme of “Urban Oasis“. The star ingredient at the centre of this oasis is Pineapple Kona Pop, a new Teavana tea blend that combines sweetly tart pineapple notes with the subtle sweetness of apple and plenty of rose and marigold buds and petals, making it a refreshing treat for summer.

Said to have a vibrant and fragrant flavour, the new blend is being featured in the Pineapple & Coconut Frozen Tea Float (933 yen [US$5.82]) for takeout and 950 yen for dine-in), and the Craft Iced Tea Pineapple Kona Pop (628 yen takeout; 640 yen dine-in).

The Pineapple & Coconut Frozen Tea Float is constructed in layers, with a juicy pineapple pulp jelly and orange marmalade at the bottom of the cup, a frozen Pineapple Kona Pop, layered with creamy coconut cream, in the middle, and a topping of vanilla ice cream and coconut chips. According to Starbucks, this is a drink that can be enjoyed like a parfait, so you can enjoy the layers separately, or mix them together for full-on tropical flavour.

The Craft Iced Tea Pineapple Kona Pop is an exquisitely made drink, with baristas brewing the Kona Pop tea fresh for every order. The tea leaves are strained with a tea strainer and then rapidly chilled over ice to maximise the pineapple flavour and enhance the brightness of the rose and marigold botanicals, ensuring every cup contains a delightful, vibrant aroma.

After getting a taste of the Pineapple Kona Pop blend, you might find yourself falling in love with it, in which case you’ll be able to pick up a box to enjoy at home.

▼ Each 80-gram (2.8-ounce) box retails for 2,350 yen.

While the tea leaves will be available year-round as a standard product at Starbucks Tea & Cafe stores, the new drinks will only be on the menu for a limited time from 17 June. If you’re unable to visit a Tea & Cafe branch, then the chain can still satisfy your summertime fruit cravings at other retail outlets, with fruit gummies, muscat tea lattes, and a Banana Affogato Frappuccino.

Related: Starbucks Tea & Cafe
Source, images: Press release
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The wait just got a little shorter for Nintendo’s return to live-action movies.

With the smash-hit success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023, and its recently released sequel The Super Mario Galaxy Movie getting a similarly enthusiastic response from audiences, there’s been a lot of talk about how long it took for Nintendo to come around to the idea of theatrical adaptations of its games. However, as CG animated features, both movies have the benefit of being close in nature to video game graphics, making it easier for Nintendo to step in and advise the production team on how to preserve the visual storytelling characteristics that give the Mario games much of their unique charm.

The hurdle is going to get higher, though, with the upcoming Legend of Zelda movie, which is going to be the first live-action movie based on a Nintendo game since the disastrous 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie. There are a lot of reasons why the 1993 Super Mario Bros failed to please audiences, but the quick summary is that it had an unfocused tone and visual design, making it feel not enough like a Super Mario story for fans, and also not enough like its own thing to captivate viewers who didn’t care about the source material.

So with Zaleda being the first live-action Nintendo movie in more than 30 years, the company obviously wants to make sure it feels just right. Given that, the news that Zelda’s release date has been changed from the previously announced May 7, 2027 might have you bracing for a delay as Nintendo calls for more fine-tuning. It turns out, though, that the release date is moving in the other direction, and Zelda will be hitting theaters even earlier.

This is Miyamoto. I would like to let you know that the worldwide theatrical release date for the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda has been moved up to April 30, 2027, from May 7. The team is working hard to deliver the film to everyone as soon as possible. There’s less…

— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) May 13, 2026

“This is Miyamoto,” says the creator of the Zelda and Mario franchises in his customary manner when authoring tweets from Nintendo’s official account, before going on to reveal that Zelda will now be opening on April 30 of next year, one week earlier than originally planned.

▼ So far, these stills of Bo Bragason as Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link remain the only preview images that have been released for the movie.

This is Miyamoto. Filming is underway for the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda in a lush, natural setting, with Bo Bragason-san who will play Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth-san who will play Link (1/2). pic.twitter.com/fbadNgaDqY

— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) November 17, 2025

The date isn’t being moved up because the movie is finished and just sitting around waiting for distribution, though, as Miyamoto reports that the production team is still “working hard to deliver the film to everyone as soon as possible.” That “as soon as possible” sounds like there could be a possibility of skooching the date up even further, but April 30, 2027 would be the first Friday of Japan’s Golden Week spring vacation period, which might be what Nintendo is aiming for if the Zelda movie is getting a simultaneous worldwide release.

Source: Twitter/@Nintendo
Top image: Twitter/@Nintendo
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Let’s a-go (to Mcdonald’s)!

Last month, the cast of the Chiikawa anime/manga showed up at McDonald’s Japan, but now it’s time for a new group to take their place. With Chiikawa being one of Japan’s most popular franchises these days the next batch of Happy Meal toys has some very big shoes to fill, but next up are some of Japan’s very brightest pop culture stars, Super Mario and friends (and some enemies too).

Specifically, McDonald’s Japan’s new Happy Meal toys feature Nintendo’s characters in their The Super Mario Galaxy Movie forms.

今日6/12(金)から！
マリオたちと大冒険にでかけよう！

詳しくは画像をタップ！

— マクドナルド (@McDonaldsJapan) June 12, 2026

Starting June 12, Happy Meals come with one of 12 Super Mario Galaxy figures. As has become the standard policy for high-profile Japanese Happy Meal toys, the lineup is being released in stages. Round one runs from June 12 to 18, during which Mario, Frog Luigi, Yoshi, Rosalina, Birdo, and Bowser Jr. figures will be available.

▼ Rosaline, Birdo, and Bowser Jr. are named Rosetta, Catharine, and Koopa Jr. in Japan, by the way.

Round two kicks off the day after round one ends, and from June 19 to 25 your Happy Meal will contain either a Fire Mario, Princess Peach, Toad, Bowser, Luma, or Wonder Bowser Jr. figure.

▼ Meanwhile, in Japan Toad is called Kinopio and Lumas are known as Chikos (the Mario renaming rabbit hole is surprisingly deep).

An extra-cool touch is that the figures come in boxes that look like Mario question mark blocks…

…and the star-shaped bases of each figure also let you use them as key chains or bag strap clips too, as shown in the video here.

Finally, from June 26 all 12 toys will be a possibility when purchasing a Happy Meal, ostensibly drawing from any leftover stock from the first two rounds. In total, McDonald’s Japan expects the Super Mario Galaxy Happy Meal toys to be available four about four weeks, though with demand likely to be astronomical, it’s probably a good idea to try to get one as soon as possible. Meanwhile, if you’re a hungry gamer who’s more of a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest fan, there’re options to satisfy your appetite too.

Source: McDonald’s Japan (1, 2)
Top image: YouTube/マクドナルド公式（McDonald’s）
Insert images: McDonald’s Japan, YouTube/マクドナルド公式（McDonald’s）
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We’re not sure if we can say greed is good, but it does look delicious.

Japanese convenience stores are not exactly the sort of places that inspire one to a philosophy of stoic minimalism. Each and every shelf and cooler case is packed with tempting treats, and while they may not necessarily be things we need to eat, they’re definitely things we want to, and the ease of access from Japan’s dense network of such shops makes them little open-24-hours palaces to quick gratification.

7-Eleven Japan has been knowingly leaning into this with its Greedy Sandwich (or Yokubari Sandwich, it’s called in Japanese) series of decadently delicious sandwiches. The line started off with savory heavy-hitters like mincemeat cutlet and macaroni and salami sandwiches, but it’s recently expanded into desserts, which brings us to 7-Eleven’s newest offering: a sandwich of chocolate chips and whipped cream.

Actually, the official name of the Chocolate Chip and Whipped Cream Greedy Sandwich still doesn’t cover all of its indulgent wonders. Because even after putting a thick layer of whipped cream and chocolate chips between the sandwich’s slices of bread, 7-Eleven apparently took a look at it and thought “Yeah, but is there a way to give it even more chocolate?”, and then realized that they could by putting chocolate shavings all over the outward-facing surface of the cream.

Dessert members of the Yokubari Sandwich series also use special pink bread, like we saw in our recent taste test of 7-Eleven’s Chocolate Sprinkles and Whipped Cream sandwich. We’re going to have to wait a little longer before we can see how the Chocolate Chip and Whipped Cream sandwich compares, but we’re eager to find out after it goes on sale May 20 for 198 yen (US$1.30).

Source, images: PR Times
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20-year-old on family trip to Japan had been missing since May 29.

On May 25, 20-year-old James “Weston” Higginbotham arrived in Japan with his parents and younger brother on a family vacation to celebrate the younger sibling’s high school graduation. During the trip, the environmentally minded James argued with his mother over her use of AI, and the ecological impact of such systems, and on May 29, when the family was in Kyoto, James decided to break off from the group and spend time alone. Before James turned off his phone’s location sharing function, it showed that he visited a home supplies store and took the train to Yamashina Station, in the foothills to the east of downtown Kyoto. After exiting Yamashina Station, he could be seen on security camera footage approaching the entrance to a hiking trail after sundown.

James neither contacted his family nor returned to the hotel, and so his parents reported him as missing to the police. Search efforts were hampered by a powerful storm that swept through the area following his disappearance, and despite the use of helicopters and tracking dogs, the police were unable to locate him. In the afternoon of June 6, though, local volunteers who had offered their assistance found a body matching his description near Bishamondo Monzeki, a temple in Yamashina Ward, and the following day investigators were able to confirm that the body was James’.

“Our family is heartbroken to share that Weston was found deceased by a volunteer search-and-rescue group in a mountainous area outside of Kyoto,” said James’ family, who had remained in Japan while the search was ongoing, in a social media post, along with “We are deeply grateful to the countless people across the United States, Japan, and around the world who shared Weston’s story, prayed for our family, offered encouragement, and helped in the search efforts. The outpouring of kindness and support has carried us through the darkest days of our lives.”

The Kyoto Prefectural Police have said that they will not be publicly releasing the cause of death, but that there were no signs of foul play.

Source: Yomiuri TV, Teleasa News, Facebook/Nancy Higginbotham, CNN
Top image: Wikipedia/SONIC BLOOMING
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