TOKYO, June 11 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today reaffirmed the Unity Government’s commitment to its coalition partners, saying it would not take any action that could be perceived as a betrayal of the existing political consensus.Anwar, who is Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, said the government remained stable, with all parties continuing to respect the understanding reached to ensure the country’s political stability.“So far, I have not heard any s
TOKYO, June 11 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today reaffirmed the Unity Government’s commitment to its coalition partners, saying it would not take any action that could be perceived as a betrayal of the existing political consensus.
Anwar, who is Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, said the government remained stable, with all parties continuing to respect the understanding reached to ensure the country’s political stability.
“So far, I have not heard any such views. In fact, members of the Cabinet and the leadership represented in it have consistently maintained that the Unity Government at the national level must remain strong,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
The Unity Government, formed after the 15th general election in 2022, comprises PH, Barisan Nasional (BN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and several other parties.
Anwar, who is also PKR president, was commenting on claims that several former Bersatu state assemblymen could join PKR following recent developments in the political relationship between Bersatu and PAS.
PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang on Monday announced that the party had formally decided to end its political cooperation with Bersatu after taking into account reports, studies and current assessments of the relationship between the two parties.
Anwar stressed that the coalition’s political approach remained rooted in consultation, discussion and cooperation, rather than abruptly severing ties.
“In politics, this business of divorcing, pronouncing ‘talak’ and remarrying is not our way. We negotiate properly, discuss matters properly and cooperate properly. For now, the Unity Government remains intact, although there are some differences of opinion at the state level,” he said.
He said decisions made at the state level were the responsibility of the respective leadership and those involved should be accountable for them.
The prime minister said the government’s main focus remained on implementing the national development agenda, including fulfilling international commitments and strengthening economic cooperation.
Anwar is scheduled to attend the Asean-Russia meeting in Kazan next week before travelling to Turkmenistan to explore cooperation opportunities in the energy sector, particularly in relation to gas resources. — Bernama
Japanese customer service turns a disappointing experience into a heartwarming memory.
When people hear the words “Starbucks breakfast” in Japan, they usually think of the chain’s “Good Start Morning” offer, which gives you a 40-yen (US$0.25) discount on the in-store price when you buy a qualifying drink and food item together. You can take advantage of the deal until 11 in the morning at most stores, but diehard fans of the chain know there’s a better deal hiding out at the Starbucks Reserve
Japanese customer service turns a disappointing experience into a heartwarming memory.
When people hear the words “Starbucks breakfast” in Japan, they usually think of the chain’s “Good Start Morning” offer, which gives you a 40-yen (US$0.25) discount on the in-store price when you buy a qualifying drink and food item together. You can take advantage of the deal until 11 in the morning at most stores, but diehard fans of the chain know there’s a better deal hiding out at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward.
Here, you’ll find a luxurious breakfast that’s been described by diners as “hotel-quality”, but the only problem is it’s so popular it often sells out. That’s what happened when we stopped by to try it, but rather than leave disappointed, we ended up leaving with a full stomach and a warm heart, thanks to the help of staff who went above and beyond with their customer service to make our experience a great one.
▼ Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo
The official name of the popular breakfast is “Roastery Breakfast Mattina“, and it’s sold by Princi, the Italian bakery on the first floor. While it’s said to be incredibly delicious, it’s also slightly pricey, at 2,250 yen per set, and can only be ordered dine-in until 11:00 a.m. each day.
▼ Drinks are sold separately, so if you want to add coffee to your breakfast, you should be prepared to spend at least 3,000 yen.
Despite the price, the breakfast is incredibly popular – so much so that when we visited at 10:30am, staff told us that they’d just sold out, and when we returned the next day just after 9 a.m. staff told us they sold out at 8 a.m.
Fearing we may never get to eat breakfast, we asked staff if there was any type of workaround they might recommend. We told them we’d be happy to purchase the bread and ham from the breakfast set on their own if it were possible, and to our surprise, the staff member we spoke to said, “You can buy the bread individually. We also offer ham in sandwiches and such, but…please wait a moment.” They then started communicating with someone on their intercom system.
Eagerly waiting to find out what was about to happen, the employee then said, “Well, how about this? We have a menu item that we’d like to recommend, but please wait a moment while we check if it’s still available.”
Crossing our fingers for the best result, we waited with bated breath until the staff member turned and said, “It seems it’s still available, so I’ll guide you to the place where it’s being served.”
▼ They then led us to the Princi bakery, where they introduced us to a store-exclusive menu item called “Customize Bread”.
As the name suggests, this customisable bread menu allows for a wide range of customisation. You can choose your favourite bread, cheese, ham, and, if desired, olive oil, salt, and black pepper, to create your own unique set.
The price varies depending on what you add – cheese add-ons cost an extra 280 yen, while the butter, dip and cream options are less expensive.
You get to choose your bread yourself, but if you’re unsure about anything, you can simply tell staff your preferences for hard or soft textures and they’ll choose something that suits your taste. Staff were incredibly helpful, and when we asked if it might be okay to order pretty much all the toppings, they told us not to worry as customers often add all of them.
▼ So we ended up ordering the lot, except for the Hazelnut Cream, which we worried might be too sweet for our liking.
It was a veritable feast, and so good looking it resembled a breakfast you’d get at a fancy hotel.
▼ Olive oil, Maldon sea salt, and black pepper are free with every order.
We had no idea a breakfast like this was possible at Starbucks, and we were particularly impressed with the range of hams.
▼ We chose prosciutto crudo, prosciutto cotto, pistachio mortadella, and speck.
Sure, it may not be as colourful as the original breakfast set, but in every other respect it seemed overwhelmingly superior. Not only did it look like a high-class hotel breakfast, we also enjoyed being able to mix and match the bread with toppings to our liking.
As previously mentioned, the price of the set varies depending on what you add, and because we went all out with the add-ons, our total came to 2,934 yen, which was more than the sold-out breakfast.
Still, it was an experience we were happy to pay for, because not only did we get to discover a new way to eat breakfast at Starbucks, we got to experience the warmth of Japanese customer service as well. In fact, it was the customer service that left a lasting impression on us, as staff went out of their way to ensure we left happy, and never applied any pressure during our order, so we were able to make our choices calmly and with ease.
It added the pep in our step we needed to start the day, and now we know Starbucks is just as good a place to go for breakfast as it is for afternoon tea.
Cafe information
Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo / スターバックス リザーブ ロースタリー東京
Address: Tokyo-to, Meguro-ku, Aobadai 2-19-23
東京都目黒区青葉台2丁目19-23
Open 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Website
KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim departed for Tokyo today to lead the Malaysian delegation on the Madani Diplomacy mission to strengthen strategic cooperation and national energy security, as the world faces a global energy supply crisis.In a Facebook post, Anwar said that during the visit, he will hold a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to discuss the development of bilateral relations and to pioneer new Malaysia-
KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim departed for Tokyo today to lead the Malaysian delegation on the Madani Diplomacy mission to strengthen strategic cooperation and national energy security, as the world faces a global energy supply crisis.
In a Facebook post, Anwar said that during the visit, he will hold a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to discuss the development of bilateral relations and to pioneer new Malaysia-Japan cooperation, particularly in the fields of economy, investment and energy security.
The Prime Minister said that he will also deliver a keynote speech at the 31st Nikkei Forum: Future of Asia, as well as a special lecture at the University of Tokyo on the challenges and future of this region in an increasingly challenging global landscape.
“Pray that our mission runs smoothly and brings beneficial results for the people and the country,” he posted.
Yesterday, the Foreign Ministry in a statement announced that Anwar’s official visit to Japan will begin today until June 10 at the invitation of the Japanese government.
Japan continues to be one of Malaysia’s most important economic partners, ranking as the country’s fifth-largest trading partner in the world since 2024. — Bernama
Some might say you haven’t truly seen Japan if you haven’t colour hunted.
Recently, an activity called “colour hunting” has been gaining popularity in Japan. Simply put, it involves choosing a colour theme and then, while walking around town, taking photos of things that match that colour, before compiling them into a single image.
The results are remarkably mesmerising, but what’s even more interesting is the way it encourages you to notice details you wouldn’t have noticed otherwise, givin
Some might say you haven’t truly seen Japan if you haven’t colour hunted.
Recently, an activity called “colour hunting” has been gaining popularity in Japan. Simply put, it involves choosing a colour theme and then, while walking around town, taking photos of things that match that colour, before compiling them into a single image.
The results are remarkably mesmerising, but what’s even more interesting is the way it encourages you to notice details you wouldn’t have noticed otherwise, giving you a whole new perspective on your surroundings.
Always keen to try out a trend, we decided to conduct our very own colour hunt, both in a rural residential area and in the heart of Tokyo, to see what we could find. The theme we chose was yellow, and as we set out on our walk, which was a familiar one, it didn’t take long for us to spot things we’d never noticed before.
▼ Like the fittings on a metal barrier…
▼ … flowers growing by the side of the pavement…
▼…netting over garbage collection areas…
▼…and, of course, the road signs.
Moving further down the street and into the main hub of town, our eyes began to spy yellow in slightly more unusual places, like the cube of partially melted butter on the “butter chicken curry” banner outside an Indian restaurant.
▼ The yellow “prescription services” sign outside a local drugstore…
▼ …and the yellow on a pack of Calbee chips.
With our eyes now instinctively zoning in on shades of yellow, the sunny colour began to lift our mood. It also became something of a scavenger hunt, and after around an hour of walking, our prize was this composite image of all the yellow we’d seen.
The images actually painted a picture of quaint countryside life, and now we were ready to take things up a notch by colour hunting in the heart of Tokyo.
Walking around Shimbashi, it didn’t take long for our eyes to zone in on yellow, with this “Money Exchange” sign being our first find of the afternoon.
▼ We also spotted a large bee on a coin locker nearby.
This was already turning out better than expected, and our search for the sunny hue continued in earnest when we stopped to photograph a yellow lantern advertising Suntory whisky highballs.
▼ Crates of Hoppy, a beer-flavoured low-alcohol drink were also outside.
▼ And nearby, a branch of the Go Go Curry chain.
At this point, we were so honed in on yellow that people wearing the colour, or carrying yellow items, began to stand out as they attracted our gaze.
▼ When our eyes landed upon Sora-jiro doing a live weather forecast, we couldn’t help but smile.
▼ Sora-jiro is the mascot character for Nippon Television and its weather forecast.
Continuing on our stroll, we came across even more yellow sightings.
We began to realise just how well yellow works in attracting the eye, leading it to be used on a number of signs like the “advertising recruitment” ones on these coin lockers…
▼ …and this one, which reads “Last two buildings”.
Just as we thought we were done for the day, we came across these figures, which are actually designed to be used as seating benches.
Compiling our photos from Shimbashi, the look and feel was entirely different to our rural collection, capturing the finer details that give Tokyo its unique charm.
Hunting for the same colour in two different locations revealed an interesting contrast in subjects and mood – whereas the rural scenes mostly contained images of flowers and signs, in Tokyo there was more grit and extra variety, as objects and characters played a greater role. It was such a fun, eye-opening adventure that we’re now keen to hunt for more colours around town, and connect with all the hidden finds areas we would otherwise miss.
TOKYO, June 12 — For centuries, exhausted parents have relied on a familiar checklist when a baby starts wailing: hungry, sleepy, wet nappy, wind or simply in need of comfort.Now, a growing number of parents in Japan are adding something else to the routine — artificial intelligence.Meet the latest entrant into the booming world of parenting tech: apps that claim they can translate infant cries into actionable advice, turning late-night guesswork into something t
TOKYO, June 12 — For centuries, exhausted parents have relied on a familiar checklist when a baby starts wailing: hungry, sleepy, wet nappy, wind or simply in need of comfort.
Now, a growing number of parents in Japan are adding something else to the routine — artificial intelligence.
Meet the latest entrant into the booming world of parenting tech: apps that claim they can translate infant cries into actionable advice, turning late-night guesswork into something that looks a little more like a diagnostic dashboard.
One of the buzziest newcomers is Babylingual, a free app launched in March by 25-year-old Japanese father Moto Numazawa. The idea came not from a Silicon Valley lab, but from the living room of a first-time parent trying to prepare for the chaos of raising a newborn.
According to Kyodo News, Numazawa developed the app after his wife became pregnant, believing modern parents — especially those in increasingly common nuclear families — often have fewer relatives around to lean on for childcare advice.
In late April, he tested the app on his three-month-old son, Saku. Holding a smartphone close as the baby cried, Babylingual returned its verdict within seconds: “I’m hungry.”
The app didn’t stop there. It displayed a probability gauge comparing different possible causes of distress before suggesting: “It might be feeding time.”
The diagnosis wasn’t entirely off-base. About three hours had passed since Saku’s last feed. After being fed, he promptly drifted off to sleep in his mother Yu’s arms.
Babylingual draws on previous research indicating that babies may produce distinct vocal patterns linked to different needs. It sorts cries into five categories, while also allowing parents to save recordings to share with other caregivers and access voice-guidance features intended to help soothe infants.
Yu told Kyodo News the app had proven useful in situations where Saku’s needs were harder to decipher.
“I didn’t understand why he was crying when he had a build-up of gas in his stomach, so the app helped me,” she said.
Numazawa is quick to position the technology as an assistant rather than a replacement for parental instinct.
“Parents and children develop alongside each other,” he said. “I hope the app can help communication between them.”
Babylingual isn’t alone in this increasingly crowded corner of the AI economy.
Cross Medicine, a venture company affiliated with Tokushima University, has developed Awababy, an app trained using more than 160,000 recordings of baby cries alongside data on soothing techniques.
Awababy analyses infant vocalisations across 11 emotional categories and suggests possible responses. According to company president Koga Nakai, usage spikes during the middle of the night — precisely when sleep-deprived parents are least likely to have someone they can call for reassurance.
The company also believes the technology could help ease parental stress and potentially reduce the risk of post-partum depression. Local governments are already taking notice.
Mishima city in Shizuoka prefecture recently trialled Awababy with residents and is considering offering the service free of charge. Meanwhile, the town of Oyama has begun distributing user IDs to eligible parents of newborns.
For all the hand-wringing about AI replacing human connection, Japan’s crying-baby apps offer a different vision of the future — one where algorithms don’t take over parenting, but simply help decode one of humanity’s oldest mysteries.
After all, every parent wants the same thing at 3am: to know what the baby is trying to say.
The spots people queue for despite bad weather might surprise you.
When you live and work in a city, you tend to move through it in different ways to a tourist who might be seeing it with fresh eyes. So when Typhoon Jangmi approached Tokyo on 3 June, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the capital, locals who could work from home did just that, while others took earlier trains on their morning commute to avoid being late for work. For many tourists, though, sightseeing was still on the age
The spots people queue for despite bad weather might surprise you.
When you live and work in a city, you tend to move through it in different ways to a tourist who might be seeing it with fresh eyes. So when Typhoon Jangmi approached Tokyo on 3 June, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the capital, locals who could work from home did just that, while others took earlier trains on their morning commute to avoid being late for work. For many tourists, though, sightseeing was still on the agenda.
Our reporter Seiji Nakazawa, who lives in Shibuya, could’ve worked from home on the day of the typhoon but decided to stick to his usual routine of catching the subway to the office in Shinjuku. That meant he was able to get a feel for what Shibuya was like, and to his surprise, it was much, much emptier than usual.
▼ The typhoon was eventually downgraded to a tropical storm, but the rain remained heavy throughout the day.
▼ In some areas there was more water than people.
Shops, streets, and even the area around the station felt strangely deserted, but there were two places where people gathered, with the first being the Dotonbori Theater.
Though most people will associate the word “Dotonbori” with the lively theatre and entertainment district of the same name in Osaka, this theatre is located in Shibuya’s Dogenzaka district, a short walk away from the station.
The retro, lantern-style sign out front is evocative of Dotonbori’s exciting atmosphere, and that excitement continues inside because this is a Japanese strip club. Popular with older locals and curious tourists, this live adult entertainment venue is restricted to adults aged 18 and over.
Bemused at the realisation that people will brave extreme weather conditions to watch an erotic performance, Seiji wondered what else might have the power to draw crowds in a typhoon-turned-tropical-storm. That’s when he saw another gathering of umbrellas right outside the station.
▼ What were they queuing for?
▼ The Hachiko statue.
Seiji was surprised to see so many people taking commemorative photos with Hachiko in the pouring rain, and what’s more, they were all foreign tourists with big smiles on their faces. As a local, Seiji usually walks by the statue of Shibuya’s famously loyal dog without giving it a second thought, but seeing the joy it brought these tourists made him appreciate its significance. It also made him realise how these people in the queue might be visiting Japan only once in their lives, and this might be their only day to see Hachiko, so his appreciation for the statue, and the tourists who braved the weather to see it, grew exponentially.
As he walked by, Seiji was struck by another surprise – the vibe of the queue. Usually, lines like these have a sense of tension to them that can make you feel a little on edge, but this one gave off a sense of warmth, due to the joy and passion of everyone in line. It was as if everyone here was living life with no regrets, and as he thought about it, that’s kind of what he felt outside the strip club too.
The pure warmth, free from negativity at the weather, transferred itself onto Seiji as he walked past the strip club and the line of Hachiko admirers. It was as if everyone’s emotions had intensified in the rain, and the energy he felt buoyed his own spirits as he dodged puddles on his way to work. He soon found himself smiling like the tourists, and as he did he realised that’s the power of Shibuya, a place that never loses its magical charm, even in the pouring rain.
Most photographers I know are in constant motion. New cities, new continents, new visual problems to solve. There's truth in it. Unfamiliarity forces you to look. Familiarity gives you permission to stop. But there's another, less-discussed school of practice that works in the opposite direction: stay. Return. Go back to the same streets until the strangeness burns away and something else appears in its place.
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Most photographers I know are in constant motion. New cities, new continents, new visual problems to solve. There's truth in it. Unfamiliarity forces you to look. Familiarity gives you permission to stop. But there's another, less-discussed school of practice that works in the opposite direction: stay. Return. Go back to the same streets until the strangeness burns away and something else appears in its place.
TOKYO, June 2 — A bear attack left four people injured in two factories and a residential area in northern Japan’s Fukushima today, police and media reports said.A record 13 people were killed by bears in Japan last year, and there has been a jump in sightings as the animals emerge hungry from hibernation.“A bear-related human injury incident... occurred in Fukushima City, injuring four people,” the prefectural police said in a statement.The bear was first spott
TOKYO, June 2 — A bear attack left four people injured in two factories and a residential area in northern Japan’s Fukushima today, police and media reports said.
A record 13 people were killed by bears in Japan last year, and there has been a jump in sightings as the animals emerge hungry from hibernation.
“A bear-related human injury incident... occurred in Fukushima City, injuring four people,” the prefectural police said in a statement.
The bear was first spotted in a car parts factory, prompting an emergency call explaining that “employees had been bitten”, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily reported citing police and fire department officials.
As the bear continued its rampage, two other people were injured, one in a residential area and the other on the premises of an electronic equipment manufacturer nearby, the Yomiuri said, adding that the animal was thought to have remained inside the factory.
The report said one of those attacked was heavily injured, while the rest suffered only mild injuries.
In the last fiscal year to March, bear sightings nationwide topped 50,000, more than double the previous record set two years earlier, according to official data.
The animals were seen entering homes, roaming near schools and rampaging through supermarkets and hot spring resorts on an almost daily basis.
Record sightings have been reported again this year as the bears emerge from their winter slumber, according to local media.
In April, bear attacks killed one person and injured five others, according to the environment ministry.
There have also been more than a dozen bear sightings reported on the outskirts of Tokyo this year, with a Russian man in his 30s reportedly mauled as he hiked in the city last month. — AFP
TOKYO, June 10 — The world is currently facing a shortage of leadership clarity rather than power, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.Speaking at the Nikkei Forum on “Navigating Strategic Uncertainty”, Anwar urged renewed global cooperation to address mounting geopolitical challenges, stressing that effective leadership requires a clear sense of direction amid global uncertainty.“The sailors of old could not predict every storm. They could not con
TOKYO, June 10 — The world is currently facing a shortage of leadership clarity rather than power, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.
Speaking at the Nikkei Forum on “Navigating Strategic Uncertainty”, Anwar urged renewed global cooperation to address mounting geopolitical challenges, stressing that effective leadership requires a clear sense of direction amid global uncertainty.
“The sailors of old could not predict every storm. They could not control the currents, nor could they see beyond every horizon. What they possessed was a clear sense of direction,” he said.
He said the world does not lack power but clarity, with institutions needing reform and renewal rather than abandonment, cooperation preferred over division, and leadership requiring initiative rather than resignation.
“If we remain guided by these principles, I earnestly believe we can transform today's challenges into tomorrow's opportunities,” he said.
Anwar’s address was the first item on the agenda of the 31st Nikkei Forum, under the theme “Working Together for a More Resilient and Prosperous Asia”. — Bernama
Animals & Monsters: Cute, Scary, and a Little Weird is the perfect exhibition for anyone who delights in art that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
This summer, once you’re done shopping in the trendy streets of Tokyo’s Harajuku district, you won’t have to go far to enjoy a little taste of high culture. In fact, there’s some conveniently located right in front of Tokyo Metro Meiji-Jingumae Station and just around the corner from JR Harajuku Station at the Ota Memorial Museum of Art, a pre
Animals & Monsters: Cute, Scary, and a Little Weird is the perfect exhibition for anyone who delights in art that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
This summer, once you’re done shopping in the trendy streets of Tokyo’s Harajuku district, you won’t have to go far to enjoy a little taste of high culture. In fact, there’s some conveniently located right in front of Tokyo Metro Meiji-Jingumae Station and just around the corner from JR Harajuku Station at the Ota Memorial Museum of Art, a preeminent museum of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints and drawings. However, this repository is offering a fun twist in its upcoming exhibition that might leave you laughing in the gallery.
From June 23-August 23, the Animals & Monsters: Cute, Scary, and a Little Weird exhibition will have 140 works on display, approximately one-fifth of which are new to the museum’s collection. The event will also be split into two parts that will display entirely different works of art during each.
So what makes it “cute, scary, and a little weird,” you ask? It’s the fact that even master artisans from 200 years ago weren’t afraid to be a little bit silly with their craft. Take this print that’s part of Yoshikazu Utagawa’s Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido series, for instance. At first glance, it appears to show some people being startled at a potato with a tail and legs (for the record, it’s actually a stone tiger–which still leaves us with lots of questions).
▼ “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road: Oiso” by Yoshikazu Utagawa
If anthropomorphized animals are more your thing, you’ll enjoy the series of cat-humans (human-cats?) going about daily life in a variety of settings such as at a public bathhouse. This print would make for an excellent addition to your bathroom with the ability to potentially disturb your guests.
▼ “Cats’ Bathhouse” by unknown artist
Meanwhile, these cats seem to have rented a property with a bunch of their Japanese yokai friends and are throwing an all-night rager.
▼ “Cats’ Blowdart Stand” by Yoshifuji Utagawa
On the cuter side of things, there are plenty of prints of animals engaging in all kinds of antics. Take this fox that seems to be wearing the latest in cabbage couture and practicing the choreography to “Thriller.”
▼ “Dancing Fox” by Koson Ohara
Moving into the realm of the bizarre, don’t be weirded out by this chimera of all 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac that’s supposed to bring good luck to the household. Good luck in getting people to give a name to this guy, that is…
(Hey, at least it doesn’t look like it’s about to say, “Ed…ward…”)
▼ “Twelve Animal Signs of Oriental Zodiac Gathering to Form One Animal” by Yoshitora Utagawa
Finally, the jury’s still out on whether the below image is bizarre versus downright scary, but we’ll let you decide for yourselves. In all honesty, though, hopefully the museum will be selling merch with this print so that we can commemorate our visit to the real-life pond in Japan where human-faced fish are supposed to live with one.
▼ “Goldfish Resembling Kabuki Actors” by Yoshiiku Ochiai
Admission to the Ota Museum of Art is by cash only, at 1,200 yen (US$7.53) for adults and 800 yen for university and high school students.Junior high school students and younger enter for free, though you’ll have to be the judge of whether any kids you take with you will find the artwork to be hysterical or terrifying.
Exhibition information
Animals & Monsters: Cute, Scary, and a Little Weird / アニマル＆モンスター かわいい・怖い・ちょっと変
Ota Memorial Museum of Art / 太田記念美術館
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jingumae 1-10-10
東京都渋谷区神宮前 1-10-10
Duration: June 23-August 23 (Part I: June 23-July 20, Part II: July 25-August 23)
Open: 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (last entry at 5 p.m.)
Closed: June 29, July 6, July 13, July 21-24, July 27, August 3, August 10, August 17 Website
A flaw in the system makes this Starbucks breakfast less than stellar.
They say the third time’s the charm, and that’s what happened to us when we attempted to try the super-popular sell-out breakfast at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo in Meguro Ward recently.
▼ The Reserve Roastery Tokyo
The premium breakfast set is so popular that despite visiting twice to try it we were unable to order it as it had already sold out, and on one occasion, it had sold out by 8 in the morning, just an ho
A flaw in the system makes this Starbucks breakfast less than stellar.
They say the third time’s the charm, and that’s what happened to us when we attempted to try the super-popular sell-out breakfast at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo in Meguro Ward recently.
▼ The Reserve Roastery Tokyo
The premium breakfast set is so popular that despite visiting twice to try it we were unable to order it as it had already sold out, and on one occasion, it had sold out by 8 in the morning, just an hour after opening.
▼ The incredibly popular menu item is called Roastery Breakfast Mattina.
On our third visit, we almost punched the air like a Starbucks-loving Super Mario when staff told us the breakfast set was available. Placing an order for it immediately, it didn’t take long for our breakfast to be served, and we were able to take a good look at everything it contained.
It looked absolutely delicious, and despite there being no Starbucks branding anywhere, it really had a Starbucks feel to it.
What we received for our breakfast was:
One croissant (or as Starbucks calls it, a Cornetto)
Two types of bread
One frittata slice
One white sausage
Salad
Ham
Minestrone soup
Nocciola spread (hazelnut chocolate spread)
To readers living outside Japan, this breakfast might not seem all that special, but here in Japan, where breakfast options are notoriously slim, it’s a rare sight to find something like this outside of a hotel buffet.
▼ We began by tasting the soup, which was hearty and delicious, and a nice nod to the Italian influence behind this particular breakfast.
Next up, we took bites of the salad, ham and fritatta, which all met our approval, before trying the cornetto, which tasted good both dipped in the soup and with some of the chocolate hazelnut spread.
▼ Our favourite item on the breakfast plate, however, was the sausage.
▼ Juicy and flavoursome, it was a high-quality sausage that left us wanting more.
The entire breakfast was flawless in terms of quality and flavour, but as we finished it all, we realised there was one thing missing.
▼ A drink.
This is the major design flaw in the Starbucks breakfast, especially when you’re dining solo. As beverages need to be purchased separately, you end up having to queue twice – once at the Princi bakery counter at the back on the ground floor where the breakfast set is sold, and once again at the drink counter.
Though the two counters are close to each other, it can become a hassle when there are long lines of people waiting to order.
Adding to the hassle is the fact that the place is so popular it can be incredibly difficult to find a seat, so you’ll be faced with a list of priorities when dining alone.
If you’re in a group, one person can find a table while another person orders breakfast and someone else gets drinks, streamlining the process and eliminating stress. When you’re dining solo, though, you have to complete all these tasks alone, which isn’t all that fun, especially when you’re paying 2,250 yen (US$14.13) for the breakfast.
Having to order breakfast at the bakery comes with another set of challenges, as you’ll need a whole lot of willpower not to succumb to the baked delights on display.
So is the breakfast set worth the hype and hassle? Well, for Starbucks fans, yes. There’s definitely an air of exclusivity about it, due to its scarcity, so every bite will make you feel like an elite Starbucks customer.
It’s especially ideal for an early-morning meetup with friends, as long as you get there at 7 a.m. sharp so you can be confident the breakfast won’t have sold out. Solo diners who don’t mind expending some energy and juggling a few things will also enjoy the breakfast, but if you prefer to walk to the beat of your own drum, or want an alternative when it sells out, then this hack will be more up your alley.
Cafe information
Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo / スターバックス リザーブ ロースタリー東京
Address: Tokyo-to, Meguro-ku, Aobadai 2-19-23
東京都目黒区青葉台2丁目19-23
Open 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Website
You can haul back thousands of yen worth of ramen, rice, and snacks for a fraction of the price.
Expanding its reach with additional sub-brands, one of Japan’s big-three convenience stores, Lawson, opened the doors to L Minimart, its first “mini supermarket”, on May 28 in Kodaira, Tokyo. Excited to learn more about what this new brand will entail, our Japanese-language reporter Mr. Sato joined the crowd of the roughly 200 people who wanted to be among the first to step through the store’s door
You can haul back thousands of yen worth of ramen, rice, and snacks for a fraction of the price.
Expanding its reach with additional sub-brands, one of Japan’s big-three convenience stores, Lawson, opened the doors to L Minimart, its first “mini supermarket”, on May 28 in Kodaira, Tokyo. Excited to learn more about what this new brand will entail, our Japanese-language reporter Mr. Sato joined the crowd of the roughly 200 people who wanted to be among the first to step through the store’s doors on the day of its opening.
Mr. Sato arrived early enough that he was able to line up, peruse the store, and complete his shopping without any significant wait time or issues, but by the time he was wrapping up his visit, other prospective customers were being told that they would likely have a one-hour wait to enter.
As Mr. Sato walked back from the store to the nearest train station (Kodaira Station), he couldn’t help but look down at some of his recent purchases. In commemoration of the opening, he discovered the store was selling two types of lucky bags, also known as fukubukuro: one full of food and the other stuffed with snacks, and both priced at 1,080 yen (US$6.76) per bag.
Longtime readers may be familiar with our annual report on the New Year’s fukubukuro that go on sale at all manner of stores in Japan, but they’re not an uncommon sight to see throughout the year too, particularly if the store is involved in some sort of celebration or campaign.
A lot of times when good deals like these crop up, the amount of bags that each customer can purchase is limited, so Mr. Sato was pleasantly surprised to find out that there were no official limits in place. However, he soon realized one of the unwritten limits: your arm strength.
▼ Mr. Sato only picked up one of each.
While the snack bag wasn’t so bad, the food one slowly began to feel like an iron block hanging at the end of his arm, leaving him to adjust his grip regularly, and making him pretty tired after the whole ordeal was over. He couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like for customers who are more advanced in age, and how they might struggle to haul their lucky bag back to their houses.
Arriving home, he quickly stepped on the scales for a base reading, before picking up the food lucky bag, filled with curiosity. How heavy was it exactly?
It turned out that the bag weighed an impressive 3.3 kilograms (7.3 pounds), so it was no wonder he was feeling a little drained.
Spreading out the contents of the bag, he discovered that there were a total of 15 items:
1. Ciscorn Frost Cereal – 421 yen 2. Hakubaku Fragrant Barley Tea (52 bags) – 270 yen
3. Acecook Super Cup Sauce Yakisoba – 259 yen 4. Acecook Seaweed Ramen – 254 yen 5. Kyusyu Sanpodo Kurumeshi Ramen – 254 yen 6. Myojo Hyobanya Salt Yakisoba – 159 yen 7. Kyusyu Sanpodo Nagasaki Champon – 254 yen
8. Hachi Shokuhin Tappuri Carbonara – 226 yen 9. Hachi Shokuhin Tappuri Meat Sauce – 226 yen 10. Ajinomoto Marudorigara Soup – 400 yen 11. Mama Hayayude FineFast Four Minutes – 320 yen 12. House Shokuhin Curry-ya Curry (Medium Spice) – 130 yen
13. Sato no Gohan New Standard Microwaveable Rice – 307 yen 14. Sato no Gohan Microwaveable Rice – 200 yen 15. Ajinomoto Pure Select Rich and Tasty 65 Percent Calorie Cut Mayonnaise – 280 yen
Just a single fukubukuro contained food worth an impressive 3,960 yen, making for a saving of 2,880 yen.
The snack bag also contained 15 items:
1. Kameda Seika Kotsubukko Bitter Caramel Rice Snack – 216 yen 2. Lotte Pie no Mi Share Pack – 300 yen 3. Ginbis Shimi Choco Corn Matcha – 328 yen
4. Yamazaki Biscuit Chip Star Lightly Salted – 100 yen 5. Morinaga Seika Pote-long Salt Flavor – 110 yen 6. Pringles Consomme and Onion – 160 yen
7. Iwatsuka Seika Black Soybean Rice Crackers – 260 yen 8. Hizatsuki Shrimp Rice Crackers – 200 yen 9. Yamayoshi Seika Wasabeef Potato Chips – 160 yen 10. Nissin Coconut Sable Cookies – 162 yen 11. Kasugai Xylicrystal Milk-Mint Candies – 200 yen 12. Fujiya Ginza Kamadashi Cheesecake – 300 yen
13. Tohato Poteko Tasty Salt Flavor Potato Ring Snack– 173 yen 14. Koikeya Sour Mucho Chips Refreshing Plum Flavor – 140 yen 15. Oyatsu Company Baby Star Giant Ramen Scorched Soy Sauce Scented Festival Stall’s Grilled Corn Flavor – 152 yen
Totaling 2,961 yen, the whopping grand total of the food’s worth is 6,921 yen, which meant a saving of 4,761 yen.
Having paid just 2,160 yen for the two bags, the results were well worth the money spent.
While many people have likely missed out on the opportunity to go and purchase one of these lucky bags, it appears that L Minimart has plans to open more stores in the future, with one coming to Itabashi, Tokyo, on June 12, and another to Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, on June 26, so when one happens to open up near you, be sure to grab these lucky bags.
Store Information
L Minimart Kodaira Nakamichi-ten / Lミニマート 小平仲町店
Address: Tokyo-to, Kodaira-shi, Nakamachi 251, Excellence
東京都小平市仲町251エクセレンス
Open: 7:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m.
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