Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has made waves around the world since performing at Coachella, one of the world’s largest music festivals, in April. 

Currently embarking on the second half of her 10th anniversary 31-show nationwide tour, the singer is gaining momentum as she aims for her solo concert at Nippon Budokan in October. As part of her tour, the singer has continued to energize Japan through the appeal of regional towns and cities with the LOCAL POWER JAPAN Project. At each tour location, the artist collaborates with a local company, creating special collaboration logos and products that have become the talk of social media. Details of Kyary’s collab project in Nagasaki have been revealed after the artist performed in the prefecture on July 18.

In Nagasaki, the artist will collaborate with Hamburger Shop Hikari, a beloved local restaurant that originally opened in 1951. Sasebo burgers are well known in Japan, and all ingredients are sourced from Sasebo City in Nagasaki. These burgers are much larger than the burgers you may be used to and have become a local delicacy throughout the country.

After the war, a U.S. military base was established in Sasebo. The recipe for the Sasebo burger is said to have originated from a recipe found on this base in the 1950s. The collaboration with Hamburger Shop Hikari, known as the origin of these famous burgers, pays tribute to Kyary’s new single Maybe Baby. The adorable visual shows a waitress at the shop delivering tasty burgers in a hurry.

A collaborative T-shirt is also on sale featuring the new logo and the singer’s 10th-anniversary logo. The shirt is available on the LOCAL POWER JAPAN Project website for two weeks only starting July 17, so grab one while you can.

UWS AQUARIUM GA☆KYO, an aquarium inspired by Japanese traditions and legends, opened at Aqua City Odaiba on July 13, 2022. The curious aquarium and art facility is split into five spaces, each based on a particular Japanese legend or tradition. 

Area 1 – WABISABI

Area 2 – OIRAN

Area 3 – MANGEKYO

Area 4 – YURAKU

Area 5 – RYUGU

Virtual Goldfish Scooping

This mixture of aquarium and entertainment venue was produced by GA☆KYO. Each of the five spaces invites guests to understand and appreciate a particular part of Japanese traditional culture, as well as to experience the beauty of living things. Come enjoy this unique installation the next time you’re in Tokyo!

On July 13, UWS AQUARIUM GA☆KYO, an aquarium inspired by Japanese traditions and legends, will open at Aqua City Odaiba. Separated into five unique sections, this curious aquarium is located in a shopping complex popular with locals and tourists alike. 

UWS AQUARIUM GA☆KYO will depict five aspects of traditional Japanese life and history: Wabi-sabi, Oiran, Mangekyo (Kaleidoscope), Yuraku, and Ryuugu. These will be explained below if you aren’t familiar.

Area

WABISABI
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic in Japanese art centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. In the aquarium, this is shown by using delicate driftwood, bonsai, and crystal. Characteristics of wabi-sabi include asymmetry, simplicity, and roughness.

OIRAN
An Oiran was a high-ranking courtesan in Japanese history. In this work, goldfish are surrounded by beautiful and enchanting features inspired by these gorgeous women.

MANGEKYO

Mangekyo is the Japanese word for kaleidoscope. This collaborative work invites viewers into a unique space filled with paintings by Tsuyoshi Nigamushi along with disco balls. You’ll want to snap some trippy pictures!

YURAKU
This special exhibition invites guests to experience virtual goldfish scooping and fortune-telling. Made using modern technology in a space inspired by Japan’s four seasons, yuraku means pleasure in Japanese.

RYUGU

Ryuugu refers to the Palace of the Dragon King found in the ancient tale of Urashima Taro. 

This spatial work will utilize the sea around Odaiba and transport visitors to another place and time.

Come enjoy these five unique spaces with your five senses and become more acquainted with traditional Japanese beauty.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu concluded her tour stop in Kochi on May 29, and as expected, the singer has announced another collaboration with a local business as part of the LOCAL POWER JAPAN Project! Launched to energize Japan through the appeal of regional towns and cities, the project has received both domestic and global attention. 

In Kochi Prefecture, Kyary is collaborating with the Katsurahama Aquarium! Located on the water at Kochi’s famous Katsurahama Beach park, the location is filled with Kochi flare and remains a valuable and beloved place to local residents. The building has long been popular as a museum and has been both a tourist attraction and a local hangout for decades. Known affectionately by locals as ‘Hamasui,’ the 99-year-old structure has often been a hot topic for its unique advertising strategy, with Hamasui Twitter posts going viral and making their way to late-night TV programs.

For the collaboration, the aquarium’s cute creepy-crawly mascot Otodo-chan has been transformed as an homage to Kyary’s music video for PONPONPON released in 2011. 

A collaborative T-shirt is also on sale featuring the new logo and the singer’s 10th-anniversary logo. The shirt is available on the LOCAL POWER JAPAN Project website for two weeks only starting May 27!

Tokyo’s Sumida Aquarium welcomed three new baby Magellanic penguins on April 14! This marks the 10th year in a row that the location has seen new baby penguins born. 

Magellanic penguins start their breeding season in March each year, finishing in May. The first baby born this year, Daifuku, hatched on April 14, becoming Sumida Aquarium’s first second-generation penguin. Komari hatched on April 20 and Shiratama hatched on April 30.

The penguins were given names signifying good luck and joy. Komari and Shiratama both evoke images of ‘circles’ in Japanese, with the aquarium hoping that the penguins will sever as a link to guests.

All three babies will make their public debut towards the end of June in the designated penguin pool. The Sumida Aquarium Twitter feed will provide updates about how the babies are progressing, so be sure to keep an eye out!

Tokyo’s Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa has opened its seasonal event NAKED FLOWER AQUARIUM -Bring You Happiness- until June 19, 2022.

The aquarium has been continuously developing entertaining exhibits and events based on the beauty of each season. The creative company NAKED uses projection mapping to transform the space with cherry blossoms in spring and fireworks in summer, allowing guests to enjoy a special atmosphere indoors.

Welcome Flower Gate 

Marine Forest 

Blooming Street 

Jellyfish Ramble 

Floral Café Bar 

For spring, the Aqua Park has been decorated with gorgeous flowers and lush greenery. The new event uses state-of-the-art technology to surround visitors with a spectacular view of early summer. Each area of the aquarium was inspired by the subtheme of ‘bringing happiness,’ with seven different Happiness Experiences for guests to enjoy. These experiences offer things like healing sound effects and scents made to calm the mind and offer additional immersion.

The popular dolphin performance has both a day and night show. The day version offers guest participation, in which the dolphins will show off their choreographed moves. The night version was inspired by the early summer sea and uses projection mapping to bring the underwater world to life in a spectacular way.

Huis Ten Bosch, a theme park in Nagasaki, will be screening ‘ENLIGHTENMENT,’ a film series for world peace from April 1 until April 28, 2022.

The event is taking place as a way to show support for the people of Ukraine and to pray for world peace by blending together short videos expressing love and compassion from video creators around the world. These videos are being projected on buildings and signage in countries around the world amidst the concerning current situation in Ukraine. 

The film has already been shown in more than 16 countries around the world and is now coming to Huis Ten Bosch, which boasts the world’s largest illumination event with 13 million light bulbs.

UNDER WATER SPACE, a limited-time aquarium space event located at Yokohama World Porters, is lighting up a portion of the event space in gorgeous cherry blossom colors until April 10, 2022 to coincide with the 2022 cherry blossom season!

The pink-lit space and swimming fish give an entirely new feel to the UNDER WATER SPACE event. You won’t want to miss experiencing this magical spring illumination! 

The Nordisk Village Goto Islands glamping facility has started offering tent saunas to further heighten the guest experience. 

This is the first time a tent sauna has been offered in a lodging facility in the Goto Islands. The main body of the sauna tent is made by MORZH, and sauna enthusiasts will appreciate the well-researched specifications and execution.

A wood-burning stove is used in the sauna, and guests can adjust the temperature while enjoying the view of the dancing flames. The facility also offers an original aroma oil scented with Camellia and herbs, perfect for relaxation.

Zero gravity chairs are also available for outdoor air bathing, and visitors can enjoy lounging under the starry sky and swaying trees. Why not travel to these islands in Nagasaki Prefecture for your next getaway?

Between October 1 and 31 2021, Sumida Aquarium will be hosting the ‘HALLOWEEN in Sumida Aquarium’ event, where you can enjoy an exciting Halloween alongside the Jellyfish. 

A workshop will be held at the event, teaching guests all about the floaty, mysterious and ghost-like jellyfish.

The aquarium’s famous 50m ‘Kaleidoscope Tunnel,’ which is formed of 5,000 mirrors, will be transformed into a Halloween wonderland for the ‘Jellyfish and Halloween’ event. Eight aquariums are embedded into the walls, with colorful background panels which feature Halloween motifs such as witches and pumpkins. The jellyfish look just like festive ghosts!

Moon Jellyfish Aquarium in the Kaleidoscope Tunnel 

Each aquarium introduces seven mysterious facts about jellyfish – For example, did you know that jellyfish have no heart, and have tons of eyes?

The mysterious tunnel wall is covered in images of cute jellyfish that transform into ghosts and jack-o-lanterns, while Halloween themed music plays in the background.

A jellyfish comparison workshop

A jellyfish comparison workshop will also be held at the aquarium’s Aqua Academy. Young children can participate in the workshop which explains the visual differences between different types of jellyfish, while crafting a cute jellyfish mobile under staff supervision.

Spend this Halloween at the incredible Sumida Aquarium!

The Nihonbashi ART AQUARIUM will be closed on September 26 2021 to make way for new exhibits and works. The museum is scheduled to be relocated in the first half of 2022.

The ART AQUARIUM Museum opened in Nihonbashi, Tokyo on August 28 202 with the concept of “a museum where life dwells.” This will be the largest renewal in the history of the museum Museum, opened by writer and general producer Hidetomo Kimura, with the addition of more exhibits and new and improved interactive areas.

The Nihonbashi Art AQUARIUM Museum opened alongside the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic, with the expectations that visitors would come from both within Japan and overseas, thanks to the exhibitions which easily explain and represent Japan’s proud traditional culture and performing arts, but due to Covid restrictions, foreign tourists are still unable to enter the country. Despite this, the Museum saw many customers and with the closing of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the museum will be closed in preparation to relocate to the new ART AQUARIUM. If you want to see the Nihonbashi location for yourself then this is your last chance!

In addition, the “ART AQUARIUM” digital tour is being held from September 12, allowing you to appreciate the Museum in a digital format until the reopening.

Make sure to check out the Nihonbashi ART AQUARIUM while you have the chance!

Blending living creatures with art, átoa, a new urban aquarium, will open in Kobe’s Shinkocho on October 29, 2021. New images have just been revealed, and we now have an idea of what the interior will look like!

‘átoa’ comes from a combination of the words ‘aquarium’ and ‘art,’ and as the name suggests, the space will blend over 100 pieces of digital and performance art with 3,000 ocean creatures to provide a never-before-seen experience.  

The exterior of the Kobe Port Museum looks like a contemporary art gallery

The stairway leads guests to a cave entrance, making the visit feel more like an adventure

‘MARIN NOTE – The Movement of Life’ embodies underwater life 

‘ELEMENTS – The Forest of Spirits’ welcomes you to a foggy sea of trees

Light cutout show by famed cutout artist Atsumi Sakai

A mysterious walk through a traditional Japanese garden

‘PLANETS,’ a journey through the darkness of outer space and the deep sea

Food & drink offerings worthy of posting on social media

A spectacular view of the Kobe Bay area
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átoa original products on sale

Rokko, the land on which Kobe City sits, is said to have been formed over one million years ago by the upheaval of the Earth and consistent water erosion. The Kobe Port Museum (KPM), where átoa is located, has long attracted visitors with its unique exterior, embodying the ancient origins of the surrounding lands.

átoa will be divided into eight different zones, each with its own theme and distinctive presentation. Visitors will first enter the ‘Cave of Beginnings,’ where fish-shaped lights reflected on the walls and floor lead you deeper into the space, as if through a kaleidoscope. 

After emerging, ‘MARIN NOTE – The Movement of Life,’ a visual embodiment of underwater life, will greet you. The sound and scents of the sea will surround guests, with a cylindrical water tank at the center of the room filled with zebra sharks, spotted garden eels, and many more underwater creatures. 

On the second floor, enter ‘ELEMENTS – The Forest of Spirits,’ a foggy sea of trees straight out of a fairy tale. This is where you can find freshwater fish, amphibians, and adorable tree-dwelling animals not typically found in aquariums, like woodchucks! This is another highlight of átoa: you might find more animals you wouldn’t expect!

The third floor houses both ‘MIYABI’ and ‘PLANETS,’ where guests can enjoy a ‘theatrical aquarium experience.’ Discover Atsumi Sakai’s famed cutout art in the ‘MIYABI’ area, meant to simulate a Japanese garden. Enjoy the magical experience of fish swimming just beneath your feet as you stroll along a glass-covered floor. 

The ‘PLANETS’ area houses AQUA TERRA, one of Japan’s largest spherical water tanks, with a diameter of 3 meters. Guests are welcome to ponder the vastness of both outer space and the deepest stretches of the sea. The area is bathed in the light of countless stars thanks to optical fibers embedded in the floor, while mist will continuously pour from above. 

Housed on the fourth floor, an outdoor exhibit, the ‘SKYSHORE Sky Garden,’ will soothe your soul as you play with only the most adorable marine life, from penguins to otters. This is also where visitors can enjoy the átoa cafe, offering a lineup of Instagram-worthy food and drink. 

The observation deck ‘ROOF TOP’ also provides a breathtaking view of Kobe. Whether you visit during day or night, take in the views of Kobe Harborland and Meriken Park to your heart’s content. A full museum shop will be stocked with adorable plushies and other original products.