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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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Outer Senshi join their anime/manga magical girl sisters on the streets of Minato Ward.

Sailor Moon features some pretty fantastical settings, with much of its mythos involving ancient kingdoms on the moon and antagonists hailing from even farther reaches of the cosmos. However, most of the series takes place in Minato, one the actual wards of real-world Tokyo, where Usagi and her friends live, go to school, and fight many of the manga/anime’s monsters of the week,

So a while back, Minato Ward decided to celebrate the connection by installing Sailor Moon manhole covers featuring artwork of Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. As fans will be quick to point out, though, that’s actually only half the series’ roster of magical girls. As time went on, creator Naoko Takeuchi added new heroines to the cast, and now Minato Ward is adding new Sailor Moon manhole covers to its streets.

Out of the first five covers, four featured the Inner Sailor Senshi (Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus), while power couple Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask shared the fifth. The two new designs will both once again feature the Inner Senshi, but they’ll be joined by the Outer Senshi, Sailors Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn, as well as disruptive and divisive time-traveler Sailor Chibi Moon.

The first of the new manhole covers has the fully assembled Senshi standing amidst the branches of a cherry blossom tree with the sakura in full bloom. It was installed towards the end of March in Minato Ward’s Roppongi district, specifically on the Roppongi 7-4-2 block, not far from the Tokyo Midtown shopping and entertainment complex.

The second new Sailor Moon cover, the seventh overall, will also show all 10 Sailor Senshi, this time with a pastel rainbow color scheme to the background. But while we know what it’ll look like, Minato Ward is keeping its location a secret for now, and will only be publicizing where to find it after it’s been installed.

Minato Ward is keeping the exact timetable under wraps too, but the Sailor Moon official website says that the rainbow Sailor Moon cover should be in place by the end of this month. And if you’re looking for even more crossovers between anime artwork and public infrastructure, don’t forget about the new Pokémon manhole covers in a part of Japan that’s looking to bounce back from a natural disaster.

Source: Minato Ward, Sailor Moon official website
Images: Minato Ward
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SERIAN, June 2 —  Beneath the vibrant costumes, thunder of gongs and pulse of ethnic music at today’s Gawai Dayak Parade in Kampung Taee lies a remarkable story of 56 years of unwavering commitment by the local community to preserve a tradition, passed down uninterrupted since 1970.

As modern pressures wear away at age-old practices, the Bidayuh of Kampung Taee, just 60 kilometres from Kuching, refuse to let their ancestral heritage fade, keeping it alive through the annual birarak (parade), where young and old march together.

For Malvern Lister, 42, that continuity was clear to see as he watched his two children join a parade that has been part of his life since childhood.

Having first taken part at the age of ten, Malvern has never missed the opportunity to join the procession, which stands as the centrepiece of the Gawai Dayak celebration in his home village.

“Ever since I was born, my whole family has been involved in this birarak. Now my two children are taking part too… so that’s three generations. I hope they will continue to keep this tradition alive in the years ahead,” he said.

“We take pride in still being able to host this parade every year. We hope more people from across the globe will come to Kampung Taee to experience Bidayuh culture and heritage for themselves,” he told Bernama.

He added that the parade, deeply rooted in the Dayak community’s rice harvesting tradition, is far more than an annual event. It is a unifying force for the community and a vital link between multiple generations. 

That same passion is shared by McWilkins Benadik, 33, who views the five-kilometre procession winding through the village as a powerful platform to introduce Bidayuh culture to the outside world.

James Handfield-Jones from the United Kingdom said the allure of the Land of the Hornbills has kept him coming back to various Gawai celebrations throughout more than two decades of living in the state. — Bernama pic

The father of one said Kampung Taee welcomes visitors every year from various states and countries, all eager to witness firsthand how the Bidayuh Bukar community in Serian celebrates Gawai Dayak.

“These visitors don’t just help showcase our culture globally, they also give a real boost to local tourism and economy,” he said.

The presence of international visitors at this year’s parade shows that the event’s appeal has clearly stretched far beyond the borders of Sarawak.

Aaron Richards, 42, from the United States, who now works in Kuala Lumpur, attended the Gawai Dayak celebration for the first time after being invited by his girlfriend, a Bidayuh native of Sarawak.

“My girlfriend invited me to join in the Gawai celebration with her family. This is my first time joining such an event and I am looking forward to seeing the local culture and interacting with the local people,” he said.

Sharing a similar enthusiasm for Sarawak’s culture, James Handfield-Jones from the United Kingdom said the allure of the Land of the Hornbills has kept him coming back to various Gawai celebrations throughout more than two decades of living in the state.

True to the Malay proverb tak lapuk dek hujan, tak lekang dek panas (untouched by rain nor faded by heat), the joint effort by the Gawai Taee organising committee and Kampung Taee’s Village Development and Security Committee remains a lasting symbol of Bidayuh identity. Despite the forces of modernisation, the event drew some 3,000 participants and visitors this year.

Besides parading through the village, participants also stopped at several stations to interact with residents and join various cultural activities that form an integral part of the celebration.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg told reporters at the Gawai Dayak 2026 Open House that holding such parades helps introduce Sarawak’s culture to both Malaysians and the international community.

He noted that local television channels and digital platforms like YouTube make it possible to showcase the unique cultural traditions of the state’s diverse ethnic communities to a much wider audience.

“We are grateful to media practitioners who cover and promote these Gawai Dayak parades in Sarawak.

“In fact, through YouTube, these traditions are also being shared with the global community, sparking their interest to learn more about the multi-ethnic, multi-faith way of life in Sarawak,” he said. — Bernama

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.

Images©SoraNews24
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People have been traveling to Amanohashidate for centuries, and this week apparently bears are too.

Amanohashidate, located on the northern coast of Kyoto Prefecture, is considered one of the three most beautiful places in Japan (the other being Miyajima and Matsushima). Amanohashidate translates to “bridge to the heavens,” and it got that name because the strip of land that stretches across the bay here is said to look like a pathway rising into the sky.

Celebrated in poems and painting for centuries, Amanohashidate’s beauty continues to draw travelers today, with people coming from across Japan and around the world to take in the view. This week’s visitors, however, have included two bears.

In another instance in the growing trend of bears showing up in unexpected places in Japan, shortly after 4:30 in the afternoon on June 10 a call was placed to the 110 emergency services phone number reporting a bear that was spotted at the north end of Amanohashidate. The strip of land was evacuated and sealed off, and police and animal control personnel were dispatched to the scene. Firecrackers were used to scare the bear off of the bridge, after which it fled into the ocean and swam back towards the bay’s northern shore to the west of Amanohashidate. After coming back onto dry land, the bear climbed a tree and was then shot with a tranquilizer dart, falling asleep around 10:40 p.m. No injuries to humans were reported.

▼ And yes, some of the response team was equipped with handheld shields, like they were knights heading out to face off with a dragon or ogre.

Now, a visit to one of Japan’s top sightseeing spots, a quick swim, and getting to bed at a relatively early hour would be a pretty good day for most people, but the city of Miyazu, where Amanohashidate is located, doesn’t ordinarily get bears in this district, and so its appearance is cause for concern…and that concern has grown deeper with the spotting of a second bear, which was seen at Amanohashidate on the morning of June 12 at roughly 7:30. This bear was spotted by a foreign tourist, and after the report came in Amanohashidate was once again evacuated and closed off. As of this writing, the bear remains at large.

Source: TBS News Dig (1, 2), Nitele News
Top image: Wikipedia/Sylvestre
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Bogotá, Colombia – Mexican authorities have said they will tighten security around tourist sites following a shooting on Monday that killed a Canadian tourist and injured twelve others.

The attack at the Teotihuacan pyramids by a lone gunman has renewed concerns about fan safety ahead of the 2026 World Cup Games, which will be co-hosted by Mexico. 

But Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum sought to re-assure visitors, maintaining that mass shootings are rare in the country and describing the incident as a one-off.

“Our obligation as a government is to take the appropriate measures to ensure that a situation like this does not happen again,” said Sheinbaum on Tuesday morning.

Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch added that state security forces had been ordered to “immediately strengthen security” at tourist destinations across the country.  

The Teotihuacan pyramids are a UNESCO Heritage Site and one of Mexico’s most visited archaeological complexes.

But Sheinbaum was also careful to stress that attacks like the one on Monday are incredibly rare in Mexico: “Clearly, we all know — Mexicans know — that this is something that had not previously taken place.”

Unlike in the United States, guns are difficult to obtain legally in Mexico and mass shootings targeting members of the public are uncommon.

While Mexico has grappled for years with high homicide rates, shootings tend to happen in specific areas marked by cartel violence and rarely affect tourists.

Ideological motivations

Rather than a sign of broader security struggles, authorities maintain that Monday’s shooting was perpetrated by a ‘lone wolf’ actor driven by extremist views.

Sergio Ortiz Borbolla, head of campaigns and communications at the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, maintained that Julio César Jasso Ramírez, 27, was a Nazi sympathizer inspired by other mass shootings. 

“Although the investigation is still ongoing, several factors point to an ideological motive,” said Ortiz.

He noted that Monday’s shooting happened on Adolf Hitler’s birthday and the anniversary of the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in the U.S., which killed 14. 

The perpetrator’s social media included posts where he performed a Nazi salute and a framed AI-generated photo of him side-by-side with the Columbine shooters was found at the scene of the attack, according to authorities. 

“The incident… highlights the growing influence of extremist online communities on acts of violence, a trend that transcends national borders,” noted Ortiz. 

Mexican Attorney-General Cervantes also described “a psychopathic profile of the attacker, characterized by a tendency to imitate situations that occurred in other places, at other times, and involving other individuals – this tendency can be referred to as copycat behaviour”.

Countdown to the games

Monday’s shooting is the latest headache for the Mexican government ahead of this summer’s soccer competition. 

A wave of cartel violence in February, including in World Cup host city Guadalajara, sparked concerns about the threat posed by organized crime in the country. 

But the government has been engaged in a push to assure visitors that the country is safe, announcing plans to mobilize 100,000 security forces this summer. It also said it will deploy an additional 2,100 military vehicles, 24 aircraft, and 33 drones.

But, as Ortiz noted, the type of violence seen in Mexico this week is “not common.” 

“There is no indication that this type of attack poses a widespread risk to tourists,” he concluded.

Featured image description: The Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacan – one of the largest in Mesoamerica, México.

Featured image credit: Marcelosan via WIkimedia Commons

The post Mexico boosts security after pyramid attack but plays down shooting risks appeared first on Latin America Reports.

LABUAN, June 5 — Labuan will make history in its running scene with the staging of its first-ever international 42-kilometre full marathon under the Pearl of Borneo Marathon 2026 from June 6 to 7.

The event, jointly organised by Labuan Corporation (LC) and Faxtive Athletics Club, will offer total prizes amounting to RM105,166 and feature four categories, namely the 42km full marathon, 21km half marathon, 10km and 3km fun run.

Pearl of Borneo Marathon organising committee said a total of 3,372 participants from 16 countries have registered for the event, which will start and finish at Dataran Labuan.

The participating countries are Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, India, Ireland, Malawi, Russia, Canada, the Philippines, Great Britain, China, Australia, the United States of America and Ghana.

Based on the registration list, a number of local ultra-marathon and trail runners are also expected to take part in the full marathon, further adding significance to the event.

Director-General of the Department of Federal Territories Datuk Muhammad Azmi Mohd Zain is scheduled to flag off the 42km run at midnight tomorrow.

The Pearl of Borneo Marathon 2026 is expected to further strengthen Labuan’s position as a sports tourism destination, while promoting the duty-free island as an attractive venue for major recreational and lifestyle events.

The hosting of the first full marathon also marks a new milestone for Labuan’s growing running community and is expected to draw strong support from residents, visitors and sports enthusiasts throughout the two-day event. — Bernama

Renovations wrapping up in Tokyo, new menu items on their way to Osaka too.

If you’re a Pokémon fan, heading to Japan’s Pokémon Cafe as soon as possible probably seems like a no-brainer. However, if you can hold out for a few more weeks, you’ll be rewarded for your patience, as there’s a slew of brand-new, incredibly adorable new items being added to the menu.

The arrival of the new entree, dessert, and drink options coincides with this month’s grand reopening of the Pokémon Cafe Tokyo. At the time of its opening in 2018, Japan’s first permanent Pokémon restaurant was already an awesome place to visit, and the newly redone interior will feature even more species of Pokémon in its art and decorations.

Among the menu items making their debut is the Chocolate and Berry Pikachu Parfait, a mixture of sweet, fruity, and creamy flavors topped with strawberries and a Pikachu made of mousse with chocolate facial features.

Continuing with the sweet treats, there’s also the Eevee Colorful Fruit Pancake, which gives a nod to Eeevee’s many possible evolutions with a rainbow of dried fruit pieces and recreates the Pokémon’s tuft of fluffy fur with Mascarpone cream.

We’d be the last ones to criticize fans for ordering double dessert, (our independent research has found that it’s the most important meal of the day), but we’d highly recommend saving room for some savory stuff too, like the Pikachu and Pichu Friends Curry Plate, with a Pikachu-shaped serving of saffron rice and a Poké Ball-style hamburger steak.

The sleepiest Pokémon couldn’t be bothered to wake up for the Napping Snorlax Teriyaki Burger, but he does at least let you use his tummy for the top bun of this teriyaki chicken and scrambled egg sandwich, and he contributes some carrot Zs to the accompanying veggie mix.

Rounding out the new entree choices is the Mimikyu Disguise Omelet, recreating the mysterious Ghost/Fairy-type’s covering in egg form, with a salad and cup of corn chowder, with Pokémon-shaped pasta, on the side.

And last, to wash everything down there’s the new Go! Greninja! White Peach Smokescreen Drink. Floating in the glass is a gelatin Water Shuriken, and the Pokémon Cafe promises that the drink also shows off Greninja’s Smokescreen ability, which could mean that it has some sort of foamy or cotton candy-cloud creating effect.

The visual appeal of dining at the Pokémon Cafe isn’t limited to the food on your plate or the art of the walls, either. Seatings are done in set time blocks, and each of them includes a visit by some species of Pokémon. To celebrate the debut of the new Pikachu parfait, there’s also a new show, Let’s Make a Pika Pika Parfait, a 10-minute performance featuring a trio of culinary Pikachus.

▼ From left to right these are Waitress Pikachu, Chef Pikachu, and Patissier Pikachu, but they also look like they could be the panel of a Pokémon-themed Iron Chef reboot (which someone should make immediately).

▼ The same three also appear on special Pokémon 30th anniversary stickers given out randomly with drink orders.

Prices for the above items range from 1,375 yen (US$9) for the Greninja drink to 2,090 yen for the desserts and 2,530 yen for everything else. The new menu items will be available at both the Tokyo and Osaka Pokémon Cafes starting June 17, which is also the grand reopening date for the renovated Tokyo branch, which has been closed since late March.

Related: Pokémon Cafe
Source: Pokémon Cafe (1, 2, 3)
Top image: Pokémon Cafe
Insert images: Pokémon Cafe (1, 2)
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A picture taken while based in Brisbane,