FUN’S PROJECT, a creator co-creation service operated by Dai Nippon Printing, has opened a limited-time pop-up store inspired by Hatsune Miku’s Mikaeri Bijin, or head-turning beauty, at the Tsutaya Bookstore in Shimokitazawa until October 30!

Guests can buy exclusive goods at the shop, with several incredible works on display. While Hatsune Miku has a famous song titled Mikaeri Bijin, the shop is also paying homage to the 150th anniversary of the Tokyo National Museum’s initiative to restore the original 17th-century Mikaeri Bijin ukiyo-e print by Hishikawa Moronobu and the Dancing haniwa, a pair of terracotta figures believed to have been made in the 6th century. A massive tapestry featuring Hatsune Miku looking elegantly over her shoulder was shown off at the National Museum for a limited time, receiving positive reviews. The illustrator, Rella, will have drawings and a personal interview on display, and a portion of the proceeds from merchandise sales will be used to repair important cultural assets.

Why not come grab a few unique items while you can for a good cause?

Sunday Brunch Shimokitazawa has announced a new limited-time collaboration menu inspired by Momoko Sakura’s Coji-Coji! The collab will run from October 7 until December 11, 2022. Previously, the restaurant held a Maruko & Coji-Coji Cafe that did extremely well in 2020, so there’s no doubt this will also be a huge success.

Guests can enjoy savory and sweet dishes along with drinks inspired by the adorable character. Some of these items were featured in the previous collaboration, and will only be available at the Shimokitazawa location. Plenty of characters will appear, and exclusive merchandise will be available at the store. There will be no reservations available, so be sure to show up early! More information will be available on the official Twitter page, so check back soon.

Menu

Coji-Coji’s Avocado and Nuts Taco Rice *Vegetarian Menu

Coji-Coji’s Pumpkin Cream Udon *Vegan Menu

Jiro’s Trifle

Coji-Coji’s Secret Cake (6 varieties) *Cake and Drink Set

Land of Fairy Tales Sweets Set *Includes Drink

Coji-Coji’s Cream Soda

Suzy and Buhi-Buhi’s Cream Soda

Sunday Brunch Shimokitazawa has announced a new limited-time collaboration menu inspired by Momoko Sakura’s Coji-Coji! The collab will run from October 7 until December 11, 2022.

Coji-Coji has been a popular character in manga and anime for years, and this collaboration menu can’t be found anywhere else. Plenty of characters will appear, and exclusive merchandise will be available at the store. Previously, Sunday Brunch Shimokitazawa held a Maruko & Coji-Coji Cafe that did extremely well in 2020 and 2021, so there’s no doubt this will also be a huge success!

©️さくらももこ ©️ M.S

Sauna Town Shimokitazawa, a sauna event currently being held at a special vacant lot event space in the popular Tokyo neighborhood of Shimokitazawa, will hold a collaboration event with the Odd Taxi anime series from February 26 until March 19, 2022!

The visual was inspired by the concept of ‘Odokawa visiting Sauna Town,’ and features an illustration of the man himself wearing a Sauna Town T-shirt and holding bath goods in his hand.

Odokawa Transport Promo Towel: ¥700 (Tax Included)

Clear Folder (Odd Taxi x Sauna Town): ¥1,000 (Tax Included)

3-piece Sticker Set (Odd Taxi x Sauna Town): ¥600 (Tax Included)

A total of five collab items will be sold at the event space, including a promo towel, clear folder, and sticker set.

To commemorate the release of the upcoming Odd Taxi in the Woods film on April 1, guests can also purchase special cards to give them a ¥100 discount off one purchase. An Odd Taxi panel will also be set up as the perfect photo spot for fans, so be sure to check it out!

© P.I.C.S. / 映画小戸川交通パートナーズ

From October 13 to October 27, artists are flocking to BONUS TRACK Gallery in Shimokitazawa to display some incredible works based on daruma, a type of lucky Japanese traditional doll. These works will also be up for sale in an online auction happening during the event period!

October 2020 Exhibition

October 2020 Exhibition

The motif of BONUS TRACK is the daruma, which are seen as symbols of perseverance and good luck in Japanese culture. This marks the third time that artists have been invited to create and sell their daruma-inspired works.

20% of the final bid price for each piece will be donated to various organizations. 30% will be given to the venue, while 50% will be given to the artists themselves. 

During the first event, donations went towards the Nippon Foundation’s Emergency Relief Fund for Coronavirus. Other organizations supported include the Kitazawa Osekkai Club, a group involved in PTA and youth committee activities in the area, and Peace Wanko Japan, a dog protection organization in Hiroshima. 

UDS HOTELS is set to open YUEN BETTEI DAITA, a new onsen ryokan (hot spring Japanese inn), in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, on September 28, 2020. The hotel is just a 1-minute walk from Setagaya-Daita Station and an 8-minute walk from Shimokitazawa Station.

YUEN BETTEI DAITA sits in a quiet location surrounded by old, historical Japanese houses and is basked in nature. It houses 300 guest rooms and has open-air baths, a spa, and offers traditional Japanese food the tea ceremony.

The inn is equipped with considerate facilities and has a relaxed atmosphere. It caters to modern day needs while still promising a traditional Japanese inn experience. And it doesn’t have to be just used as a hotel either – guests can just spend the day there in the hot springs if they like, allowing locals to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city and their busy Tokyo lives.

The Design

YUEN BETTEI DAITA bases itself on the appearance of residences seen back in Tokyo back in the day. The hotel has taken in furniture and materials that were inherited in a thatched-roof residence in Setagaya which has over a 100 year history, which gives a nod to the history and culture of traditional Japanese architecture, while still incorporating more modern techniques in the wooden roofing and other areas. All of this combines to create a sophisticated Japanese culture-imbued space.

Guest Rooms

There are 35 guest rooms in total, each coming in one of seven types ranging from 19㎡-32㎡. The rooms open up into a tatami and seating area. Guests are provided with yukata and leather-soled geta shoes, and are treated to Japanese tea and confections from local shops.。

Open-air onsen baths (1st Floor)

The large open-air baths receive water from Odakyu Hotel de Yama’s own water source in Hakone. Guests can enjoy looking at a traditional Japanese garden while they bathe and listen to the sound of the water from Mount Fuji. The female baths also have scented mist saunas while the male baths have dry saunas.

Cooking & Tea Ceremony (1st Floor)

Kappou Tsukikage

Enjoy seasonal vegetables harvested from the local farms in Setagaya as well as Japanese sake and wine chosen to pair perfectly with the dishes.

Saryou Tsukikage

Guests can also experience the Japanese ceremony with local tea. Daita was once rich with tea farms, and so guests can look forward to enjoying delicious and authentic tea.

SOJYU spa

If guests want to relax the hotel’s SOJYU spa offers full body massage, original essential oil treatments, and much more. The spa will also be open to non-guests from spring next year.

From July 25 to August 28, four Afternoon Tea shops will be collaborating with the French picture book Gaspard and Lisa to celebrate the book’s 20th anniversary. The collaboration will only be running at the following branches: AEON Lake Town kaze, Koshigaya, LaLaport Yokohama, Terrace Mall Shonan and Nagoya LACHIC.

Tomboy Lisa Katsu Curry Plate (Drink included): ￥1,491 (after tax)  

Lisa’s Tomato Chicken Curry (Kids Drink included) : ￥1,005 (after tax) 

The Tomboy Lisa Katsu Curry Plate consists of a European-style curry with a crispy chicken cutlet and carrot marinade. There is also a sweet apple and honey tomato chicken curry which is limited to kids only.

Peach Peach Clown Parfait Straight Out of the Picture Book: ￥1,404 (after tax)

Lisa and Gaspard Strawberry/ Melon Sundae Sodas: ￥864 (after tax)

The menu also includes desserts and drinks from the picture book. For example, the peach peach clown parfait and two flavours of Lisa and Gaspard Sundae Soda. Make sure you order one of these drinks to go with one of the five delicious collaboration meals. 

During the collaboration period, the tea shop will be decorated with a special Lisa and Gaspard theme. There will be photo spots and even a book corner with 20 Lisa and Gaspard books (limited to Nagoya LACHIC only).

This is the perfect place to enjoy a special summer meal with your family so please check it out!

©2019 Anne Gutman & Georg Hallensleben / Hachette Livre

Hey everyone! This is Midori from MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON’s Editorial Department!

Summer is almost here and it’s not summer without ice cream! Rather than normal ice cream, ice creams with beautiful toppings are no.1 trending right now!

That’s why I took a trip down to N.Y. Cupcakes; a specialist cupcake shop in Shimokitazawa.

N.Y.Cupcakes is just a four-minute walk from Shimokitazawa station. Look out for the pretty pink store sign. Look at all the rows of cute cupcakes!

These would make perfect gifts, and are perfect for weddings, too!

Purchase a N.Y Cupcake and then it’s just an extra ¥210 to get it turned into an ice cream cupcake!

Today I’m getting the cookie & cream cupcake with the silly face turned into an ice cream cupcake! Once I finish my order, the baker gets to work in the kitchen, crafting my cupcake ice cream by hand!

After a short wait…

So cute!!!

The cookie & cream cupcake I chose  has been transformed into an ice cream!
Of course, the silly face remains!

There’s also some frozen fruit topping too.

The top half of the cupcake rests on top of vanilla ice cream.

I took a bite. The combination of the spongey cupcake and cold ice cream was very interesting and the overall sweetness level was just right!

I ate my way down the cone to discover the rest of the spongey cupcake!

The bottom part of the ice cream contained blueberries. From the start to the very end, this was very delicious!

A cupcake transformed into an ice cream ー this new invention is no doubt getting a lot of attention! The appearance is just too cute so you have to check it out!

Rinko Murata loves all types of curry. In this edition of Tokyo Dinner, she invites the person she wants to meet up with the most to eat the curry she’s been wanting to eat the most.

This month’s notable restaurant she stopped by was HEIJITSU HIRU DAKE in Kōenji, Tokyo. Their curry portions are generous and are good for the stomach and satiety center. They serve a curry flavoured with Japanese dashi, or ‘stock.’

How do you spend your early afternoons when you have time off? Lounging around at home with quality time to yourself sounds like a good plan. Definitely appealing.

But this is a rare opportunity. How about going on a little adventure to try something you can get a kick out of because it’s midday and a weekday?

I know the perfect curry house for your hungry selves. HEIJITSU HIRU DAKE.

As the Japanese name suggests, it’s a curry that can only be eaten at lunchtime, a mysterious dish that doesn’t appear on regular days off.

I land in Kōenji, a place I love the most. Even though iKōenji is Kōenji, the closest station to the restaurant is Higashi-Kōenji Station.

My vision is filled with all kinds of sights.

It’s like being lost in a treasure chest.

This place is actually normally a café and goes by the name Schwarze Katze. It’s open mainly on Friday night, weekends and holidays. “HEIJITSU HIRU DAKE” runs in a rented room in the café and and is open when the café is. It’s kind of luxurious to have the chance to eat my favourite food (curry!) in a place like this.

My heart desires the Wadashi Soboro Curry (¥980) that I mentioned earlier. It also comes with self-service coffee for after your meal. For toppings you can choose whatever you like. Since I was there and didn’t want to get lost on what to pick, I went for all the toppings (¥300).

The water I ordered comes in a plastic bottle. The tables have antique displays. Everything on them was wonderful.

The air was clad in that rich, familiar scent of curry, a special one that I would never get to eat had I not come here.

The instant I hold the curry in my mouth the delicious flavour of the dashi sparks in my mouth like fireworks. The broth has a slight thickness to it and a strong, deep flavour that fades into a soft aftertaste on the tip of your tongue. It’s not at all spicy, and the goodness of the dashi is luxurious like being escorted by a gentleman. And I can’t forget the smell.

My taste buds throb at this new sensation.

Like its name suggests, this is a dish where the Japanese dashi stands out above the ingredient crowd. The restaurant owner has gathered much experience in the kitchen from traditional Japanese cuisine to sushi, ramen, yakiniku, izakaya style and so on. He encountered this place by chance, and with one look he said to himself, “I want to try doing curry.” The Wadashi Soboro Curry came about through his gained culinary experience combined with the aesthetics of the café.

To bring out the full flavour of the dashi so it isn’t drowned out by the curry spices, the owner uses two types of skipjack tuna, kombu, dark sleeper, and dried sea slug, as well as a type of soy sauce called Kaeshi. 15 more ingredients are blended together to create the spices, creating deep and delicate flavours.

Now it’s time for a session with the mountain of ingredients I greedily asked for. It’s enshrined with classics like meat soboro, beefsteak, agedama, bonito flakes, and dried plum in addition to pickled daikon radish, crushed natto, Japanese ginger, and okra. The spinach and onsen tamago egg sit at the foot of the mountain and create a new culinary sight.

The base of the dashi is mobilized with a force of Japanese ingredients with a smell and flavour and that comes together harmoniously in your mouth. I’m spellbound by the flavours that stand out coupled with the pleasant textures of the agedama, daikon and ginger.

Hey, I must have hit every ingredient in there. All correct.

I added a sprinkle of pepper that was on the table and create yet another refreshing aromatic veil.

The compatibility of the pepper with the dish works so well precisely because it uses a Japanese dashi. Wadashi, or Japanese broth, is a staple of Japanese cuisine. The curry and Japanese soul carved into this dish resonates with me. It’s my first time eating it, yet I’m still filled with a sort of nostalgia―a warm embrace.

I also understand why when the shop opens, the customers in the café stand up and change with the next line of customers. The owner has a wonderful sensitivity, and has worked out a way to put his own matchless warmth into each and every bowl. I caught sight of his gentle smile as he was cooking in the kitchen. It left an impression on me.

What a delicious curry to enjoy in such a wonderful place. All five of my senses have reached peak happiness. I grab my post-meal coffee and head onto the streets of Kōenji.

What a wonderful weekday afternoon.

Text:Rinko Murata
Photo:Kayo Sekiguchi
Edit:Miiki Sugita

Translator: Joshua Kitosi-Isanga

The Mount Fuji Lava Cafe, located in the Fujisan World Heritage Center in Yamanashi Prefecture, released a new Red Mount Fuji Curry on January 12 inspired by the woodblock print Fine Wind, Clear Morning from Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series of landscape prints.

Red Mount Fuji Curry: ¥1,500 (Tax Included)

This red hot lava curry gets its vibrant colour from its picante spices and red chili oil. But it’s not simply a bowl of spiciness – it also has typical Japanese flavours like a dashi made from skipjack tuna and kombu. It’s also mixed with grape juice made from grapes grown in Fuefuki, Yananashi for deeper flavour.

Upon ordering this curry you can pick from three different levels of spiciness. Those who order the highest level, dubbed “Mount Fuji’s Peak,” are offer to take part in an eating challenge. If you’re able to devour the hottest version of this curry within 22 minutes and 30 seconds the price of your bill will be wiped and you will receive a free ice cream.

The Red Mount Fuji Curry serves as a follow up to the cafe’s original Blue Mount Fuji Curry which erupted in popularity on Japanese social media.

”CORONA WINTER SAUNA SHIMOKITAZAWA” is an enjoyable outdoor winter sauna in the city opening at Shimokitazawa Cage, and “CORONA ESCAPE” is a bar in the snow at an altitude of 1,450m in Hakuba, Nagano prefecture.

Cool down after winter sports with a refreshing Corona Extra in your hand while enjoying the incredible snow covered vista of the Northern Japan Alps mountains. You can experience a relaxing time admiring the sunset over this winter wonderland.

Enjoy special winter experience together with CORONA.

Popular smoked curry restaurant Kunkare is set to re-open along Hitotsukidori in Akasaka on November 27.

Kunkare was first established in 2011 in the quaint district of Ningyocho, Akasaka. It was the first curry roux restaurant in Japan to serve smoked curry and acquired a patent for its unique cooking method.

In line with the restaurant’s move to Akasaka, they have changed he taste of the curry. It still retains that smokiness but the flavour of the spices has been made more prominent.

All of the other items on the menu have been upgraded too, giving rise to an all-new Kunkare.

Tokusei Curry: ¥1,180 (Tax Included)

The Tokusei Curry (literally “specially made curry”) was always the No. 1 most popular dish when the restaurant was based in Ningyocho. This is an upgraded version served on a specially made and original Hasami ware curry plate.

Irodori Yasai x Curry: ¥850 (Tax Included)

This curry dish comes with colourful and seasonal vegetables and an upgraded smoked curry served with turmeric rice.

Another service to look forward to falls on Saturday every week where Kunkare will serve popular curry dishes from famous restaurants in the local area. The first item on the menu is a keema curry from Kai, a cafe and bar in Fukuoka that has continued to be loved for 19 years and which brings in lines of customers. Limited quantities will be served, so you’d better get in there quick if you want to enjoy some authentic Indian cuisine laced with a Japanese touch – salted rice malt, condiment paste made from yuzu zest and chilli peppers, Japanese pepper and more.

Kunkare is a place where you can expect to try curry you won’t find anywhere else.