Japanese creative company NAKED has begun a new projection mapping event at Maruoka Castle in Fukui, as well as the nearby Otenshuzen Park. The company has also introduced a new way to safely promote the area’s beautiful nighttime scenery, with the NAKED Distanced Lanterns. 

Since 2014, NAKED has used new creative and futuristic technology to better highlight the appeal of local sites around Japan. 

In March 2021, NAKED’s influence at Maruoka Castle became permanent with the start of the Maruoka Castle x NAKED Hikari Musubi installation. The castle itself is one of the oldest in Fukui prefecture, and visitors and locals alike can now enjoy a symphony of beautiful lights shining on the historic landmark year-round. This new version of the projection-mapping project is ‘Hikari Musubi ~Creating the Future~’, and it hopes to convey the charm of Sakai city to the rest of the world. 

The company brought its projection-mapping technology to Shinzen Izumi Elementary School in Tokyo in 2014 and to Kesennumakoyo High School in Miyagi in 2015. In 2016, NAKED launched the 0 x 0 Mugen Project in collaboration with the Osaka University of Arts, which supports the projects of students at the university as well as those of prospective students. 

Event Overview

Maruoka Castle Tower

The theme of this projection-mapping show is ‘From Maruoka Castle to the World and the Future.’ The Maruoka Junior High School Chorus Club is responsible for some of the event’s music. 

NAKED Distanced Lanterns®︎

A participatory artwork allowing people to create light while maintaining social distance, the NAKED Distanced Lanterns project has invited local citizens to design lanterns to display outside Maruoka Castle. 

Japanese creative company NAKED began a new projection mapping event at Fukui Prefecture’s Maruoka Castle on March 31 as part of its Future Creation Project.

Maruoka Castle Castle Tower

Castle Tower Parkお天守前公園

NAKED launched its Future Creation Project back in 2014 as a way to express local sites around Japan in a creative manner going into the future. The project is held together with local children, grown-ups, and businesses, and takes place both inside and outside Japan.

The company took its projection mapping technology to Shinsen Izumi Elementary School in Tokyo in 2014 and again to Kesennumakoyo High School in Miyagi in 2015. It then rolled out its 0 x 0 Mugen Project in collaboration with Osaka University of Arts in 2016 which supports the projects and productions of students at the university as well as students looking to study there.

This year, NAKED joined hands with the locals of Fukui to set up a one-year projection mapping event at Maruoka Castle as part of the Future Creation Project.

Hotel New Otani Tokyo is launching its “Night Pool & Stay” hotel plan on July 1, 2020 which gives guests exclusive access to the night pool during their stay.

Hotel New Otani Tokyo’s night pool was first opened in 1998 with the concept of building a luxury pool that you won’t get sunburned in. Over 20 years on, the pool continues to beckon people during summertime for its unique pool experience under the moonlight and hotel lights and music produced by Japanese DJs who are popular in the country’s club scene. This year’s “Night Pool & Stay” plan will open with all of the necessary measures in place against COVID-19, with thorough cleaning and bacteria elimination at the top of the hotel’s list to ensure safety for its guests.

Check-in to the hotel’s “Night Pool & Stay” plan opens at 17:00. Guests don’t have to worry about using the locker room – they can get ready in their rooms before heading to the Garden Pool. After a luxurious dip in the pool, guests can retire to their sophisticated rooms, whether standard or suite, for some relaxation time. Check-out is 10:00, so they can enjoy their rooms throughout the early morning.

Located next to the Garden Pool is OUTRIGGER, a poolside restaurant open during the summer only that you can enter in your swimsuit. The restaurant serves popular dishes served at Hotel New Otani as well as Garden Pool exclusives. Tuck into a soybean hamburger, fresh green salad, nutritional smoothies, and more.

Spending a cool night overlooking the beautiful calm water at Odaiba and relaxing in the gorgeous pool sounds like an excellent way to spend summer nights in Tokyo. Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba is launching their summer-limited plan called Tokyo Twilight Pool Plan 2019 to allow you to do just that. 

The Tokyo Twilight Pool Plan 2019 comes with a delicious food menu that serves a variety of luxurious, mouthwatering dishes that look just as luxurious as they taste. Some examples include; mini hotdogs with chicken and vegetable sauce aurore, barbeque sauce spare ribs, and much more. They even serve all-you-can-drink top quality Jacquart champagne, which is a global top class wine chosen by many airlines and hotels. 

This hotel offers a unique view of the night sky and night waters of Tokyo from an open terrace. Guests can gaze at the relaxing view whilst enjoying delicious food and luxurious champagne. The Tokyo Twilight Pool Plan offers the perfect getaway for friends and couples. 

Hotel Nampuro is located in Shimabara Onsen in Nagasaki Prefecture and has been around for 110 years. The hotel recently held the grand opening two infinity pools. One gives an unbroken view of the Ariake Sea and the other a lush garden.

The concept behind the pools is to get people closer to Shimabara’s natural environment. Guests can enjoy feeling the sea breeze from ideal locations close amongst Shimabara’s abundance of lush greenery and the Ariake Sea while offering an exquisite resort experience you can’t get in the city.

The unique design of the open-air infinity pool makes it seem as if it flows into the sea itself. There’s also an observation deck next to the pool too where people can gaze across the gorgeous waters.

The location also makes for a great power and energy spot as one can see the morning sun rise from Kumamoto across the shore. Guests can enjoy the sight in the morning, daytime and nighttime.

The other infinity pool is built by the garden restaurant deck terrace and blends in with the surrounding nature. Beyond the horizon lies Shimabara’s waters, sky and nature which becomes one with the edge of the pool. The sky and trees also reflect on the surface of the water, making it feel like you’re floating on top of a cloud in the sky.

The pool is around 50cm deep so children can enjoy themselves too. There are also jets fitted on the sides of the pool.

The poolside wooden deck is fitted with tables and sofas to enhance that resort feel. They also serve breakfast and there’s a BBQ too.

Guests can look forward to the 300+ trees in the garden being lit up in a magical and mystical performance, giving the air a touch of romance. It offers an experience like no other as you’re wrapped in a forest of lights under a starry sky.

Consider Hotel Nampuro if your trip to Japan is taking you to Nagasaki Prefecture.

“Night pools” have recently been introduced by some television programs and in some magazines! Some popular models also introduce these pools in their Instagrams.

So, let us introduce to you some recommended “night pools!”

Enjoying the atmosphere of swimming in the sea in the middle of downtown 「Toshimaen night pool」

In Toshimaen, only the “wave pool” is opened at night. You can enjoy playing in the waves just as if you were playing in the ocean.

Some shell-shaped floats and some goods to turn you into a mermaid are available. (for a limited time）

Some cocktails, loco moco bowls, and pancakes with a lot of fruit and other wonderful food items are also offered. They all make great material to upload on your SNS!

Play on the “water slide”and enjoy the illuminations at 「Odaiba night pool」

The “water park” changes into the dreamy space with shiny illumination and projection mapping.

You can enjoy a 100m-long slide and a 10m long big slide and other exciting attractions. Also check out their photo spots such as wall art by some artists.

<<next page  Check out the cute floats♡

“Hawaiian Garden Pool” and “Hawaiian Poolside BBQ” will start at the garden pool (rooftop) of Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel from the 22^nd of July, 2017.

The gross area of the venue is 1,600m2 and the length of the pool is 50m which means the venue is the largest hotel garden pool in Tokyo. The venue has the atmosphere of a resort spot with a comfortable sea breeze and greenery. When you are in the venue, you won’t imagine that you are just 30 minutes away from the center of Tokyo.

Deck chairs, parasols and towels are offered at the garden pool. Also, cold drinks created under the theme of “Hawaiian” and light foods are sold by the garden poolside. Reentering the garden pool after eating outside is possible. The facility is suitable to use with friends or family members since it has a shallow pool where children can play.

Let’s enjoy BBQ at the poolside after swimming in the pool! The BBQ set menu has three courses which include beef, pork and chicken. The salad bar and dessert buffet can be enjoyed from 3,990 yen and they also have a la cart menu such as Tenderloin steak and lobster.

You can enjoy BBQ with your friends or family members while viewing the sky at dusk after having fun in the pool! Let’s go to Hilton Tokyo Bay to spend a wonderful time during this summer season!

Related article：Summer: The season of barbeques & beer gardens! Today we’re recommending you rooftop terraces in Tokyo! (Part 8)

Related article：Let’s enjoy the tropical atmosphere in Ebisu Atre’s rooftop beer garden – “Yadwigha!” A “Botanical Beer Garden” fair will be held.

There are so many places that are famous for soba noodle in Japan. However, there are not so many soba noodles that are named after the name of a place. Fukui prefecture which used to be called “Echizen” has reprehensive food called “Echizen Oroshi Soba.” If you want to enjoy their food, I would love for you to visit one of the popular restaurants.

The familiar restaurant since they are little.

When you are asked “what do you want to eat in Fukui prefecture,” most people would answer “Echizen Oroshi Soba.” If you love soba noodle, you don’t want to miss this soba noodle which has great combination of grated daikon and dashi (Japanese soup stock.) There are so many different tastes depending on each restaurant, so most people found their favorite soba noodle. Kumiko Otani, the young hostess of one of the most popular restaurants called “Miyoshi-ya” which was established more than eighty years ago said, “People most likely to go out to eat at soba restaurants. There are soba restaurants more than famous hamburger restaurants in Fukui. So I bet people has familiar soba restaurant since they are little.”

This Echizen Soba pictures show you the soba noodle which already has grated daikon on the top, but you technically dump the dashi soup containing grated daikon on the top of soba noodle before you eat by yourself. You won’t be able to stop eating this great combination of soba noodle and soup.

The secret of this taste is chef’s technique and particular dashi soup.

The soba noodles which Miyoshi-ya serve are made of 100% buckwheat flour, but if you ordered to your house, they will mix a little regular wheat flour. It is because they want to avoid the soba noodles getting torn to pieces when they boil it at their house. This particular buckwheat flour is 100% made in Fukui prefecture. The chefs who have proficient skills are grinding with millstones which are also made in Fukui prefecture. The sensitive buckwheat flour which is easily affected by heat can have great flavor by being grinded slowly. And the chefs who trained many years make sure the water temperature which changes depending on the season by their hands, and slice the soba into pieces.

The dashi soup which has been passed down since the establishment of this restaurant mixes two different kinds of soy sauce. By cooling this dashi soup for grated daikon rapidly will make it to have more flavors.  And they also mix grated hot daikon and sweet Aokubi daikon, and put green onions and dried bonito shavings. You can enjoy the rich flavor, excellent throat comfort, and great texture at same time by eating this Echizen Oroshi soba.

■Echizen-Soba Miyoshiya

Address: 1-11-3 Junka, Fukui-shi, Fukui

Koji Yamada(Photo/Fusosha)　

Yuko Tanaka(Interview & Article/Fusosha)

Provided media:FUSOSYA 「NIHONZENKOKU OTORIYOSETECHO WEB」

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■Related article：Fukui prefecture’s local soul foods 　Good-old Japanese sweets store that represents Fukui prefecture will make you comfortable.

 “Habutae-mochi” is the lightly sweet and soft Japanese well-known sweets that is recognized as the souvenirs from Fukui prefecture for a long time. I visited old-established Japanese sweets store since I heard there’s Japanese sweet that I can enjoy their taste and texture even more.

Sand the melty rice cake with fluffy bread

“Matsuoka-ken” which is good-old atmosphere Japanese sweets store is located in ten minutes’ walk from Fukui train station on the main road. This place is an origin of “Habutae-mochi” which is known as the famous Fukui sweets.  This store used to sell white pongee fabrics like a silk (Habutae), but they started running a sweets business one hundred years ago. The thin and silky rice cake which was named after this story is an excellent Japanese sweet.

　They came up with the idea to put this typical rice cake inside of Dora-yaki (a red-bean pancake) about thirty years ago. Actually, they knew the rice cake would go with dora-yaki because “Hagoromo-monaka” that put rice cake inside the Monaka (red-beans sandwiched between two thin crisp wafers made from rice) was popular about fifty years ago. This dora-yaki is like by food critic, Yukio Hattori, food writer, Asako Kishi and some of the other food specialists. The melty rice cake, plenty of red-bean made in Hokkaido and the pan cake buns make this sweet soft and fluffy. It is also its characteristic that it is lightly sweetened.

The secret specialty food which has addictive texture is limited on sale for summer

There is bamboo whisk for making Japanese tea decorated inside the old showcase in the store. Their appearance matches with atmosphere of this store. The owner, Ritsuko Kawashima, said “there are a lot of people in summer. They’re sometimes having long lines of people. ” She said that there is café space inner part of this store only in summer time. What are people coming here to get is summer time exclusive food “hand-made shaved ice.”

They shave the ice with a plane for each bowl after they get an order. It has an addictive texture which has both smooth ice and crushed ice, and some people said that they don’t feel like it is summer if they don’t eat this food. People from all over Japan are coming to get this. The sauces that go on the top of shaved ice such as maccha syrup, sweet red-beans and black sugar syrup are all made from scratch. They can’t send shaved ice to your house, so I would like you to visit this store.

■Matsuokaken Main shop

Address: 3-5-19 Chuo, Fukui-shi, Fukui

Koji Yamada(Photo/Fusosha)

Yuko Tanaka(Interview & Article/Fusosha)

Provided media:FUSOSYA 「NIHONZENKOKU OTORIYOSETECHO WEB」

■Related article：This food will make you addictive. Fukui prefecture’s soul food called “Sauce cutlet rice bowl”

 “Sauce cutlet rice bowl” from Fukui prefecture is the one of the most famous local soul food in Japan. “Europe Ken the total head office” is the original sauce cutlet rice bowl restaurant that you will never forget about it after once you ate it even though there so many restaurants in Fukui which serve this type of food.

The special sauce has never changed its taste since the first establishment of this restaurant.

To begin with, this sauce cutlet rice bowl has developed since the founder of this restaurants encountered Worcestershire sauce in Germany in the end of Meiji period. The characteristics of this food are the pork sirloin and thigh meat that is paper thin sliced, panko that minced into small pieces, and sauce which blends about twenty different kinds of vegetables and seasonings.

The fourth generation owner of this restaurant, Teruaki Takabayashi said “We have never changed how we make sauce since the establishment of this restaurant.  However, sweetness has changed since the taste of ingredients changes depending on the time, and we also add or take out the sweetness depending on people’s food preference.” The sauce which has sweetness and sourness is good to go with rice. They also have used pork sirloin and thigh meat since the establishment. Since they could not get the certain parts of the meat at that time, they had to buy whole pigs to get their meat. It successfully ended up having great food that you could enjoy oily sirloin meat and light thigh meat at the same time.

The secret of the taste is specially ordered panko.

Once you eat it, you will be surprised with this light and crisp taste of this cutlet. Regular pork cutlets tend to suck the oil in their panko too much. However, their special panko is minced three to five times smaller than regular panko, so it won’t make the cutlet too greasy. The fineness of this panko is sometimes being said smooth like sand. The food texture is different from eating deep-fried. Furthermore, their rice is blending two different kinds: Koshihikari which is soft and sweet and Hanaechizen which is a little harder than regular rice. Both of these rice is made in Fukui, and they blend these two to make the rice bowl not too greasy when they put sauce on it. They go great length to make this high-leveled tasty meal.

 Inside the restaurant, there are so many autographs of famous actors, athletes, musicians and so on hanging on the wall. No wonder they have sometimes about six hundred bowls’ ordered per day. You will be addictive to it once you ate this sauce cutlet rice bowl.

■Information

Yoroppaken Main

Address: 1-7-4 Junka, Fukui-shi, Fukui

Koji Yamada(Photo /Fusosha)

Yuko Tanaka(Interview & Article / Fusosha)

Provided media:FUSOSYA 「NIHONZENKOKU OTORIYOSETECHO WEB」