Mister Donut has revealed its annual Pokemon Christmas collaboration. This marks the 5th year that the popular sweets chain is teaming up with the legendary franchise, and starting on November 9, fans can find themed sweets and merchandise for a limited time. 

Pikachu Snowman Donut

Christmas Collection Donut Set

New to the lineup in 2022 is the Pikachu Snowman Donut. This will be sold alongside the always-popular standard Pikachu Donut which will be sold in a cute Christmas sleeve. Customers can also look forward to the sleepy Pikachu Donut and the fluffy Jigglypuff Donut this holiday season.

Mister Donut Blanket (White)

Mister Donut Glasses (Set of 2)

The Christmas Set will include the Mister Donut Pokemon Blanket, which is available in two patterns, as well as a pair of Pokemon glasses. Fans are sure to enjoy these new illustrations of Pikachu and Jigglypuff made exclusively for the collaboration. 

Pikachu Donut

The popular Pikachu Donut is back! The fluffy yeast pastry is filled with whipped cream with a pudding flavor and chocolate coating. 

Pikachu Snowman Donut

Also filled with whipped cream, the Pikachu Snowman Donut is coated with white chocolate.

Be sure to check out this exclusive collection of sweets and goods before they’re gone!

©2022 Pokémon. ©1995-2022 Nintendo/Creatures Inc. /GAME FREAK inc.

ポケットモンスター・ポケモン・Pokémonは任天堂・クリーチャーズ・ゲームフリークの登録商標です。
Nintendo Switchのロゴ・Nintendo Switchは任天堂の商標です。

Cafe Accueil Ebisu is currently offering a limited Sakura-themed menu featuring pancakes, afternoon tea, and drinks until April 10, 2022.

Sakura & Strawberry Pancakes

Sakura Afternoon Tea

Special Latte with Cherry Blossoms

The seasonal menu includes Sakura & Strawberry Pancakes with pale pink and strawberry red accents, and savory items such as a croissant with cherry cheese cream. Guests can also enjoy Sakura Afternoon Tea, a colorful 12-item menu featuring cherry and strawberry delights. Come enjoy the coming of spring at this gorgeous Tokyo cafe!

The luxury hotel Grand Hyatt Tokyo will offer Easter sweets and baked goods at the on-site Fiorentina Pastry Boutique from April 1 until Easter, April 17, to celebrate the arrival of spring.

Easter Egg Macaroon

Easter Cookies with Icing

Easter Lollipop

Easter Bunny Brioche

This year, in addition to the new Easter Bunny and Easter egg macaroons, cookies with icing, lollipop chocolates, brioche in the shape of the Easter Bunny, and other sweets and bakery items will be available. Don’t miss it!

Mister Donut is teaming up with Gion Tsujiri, a traditional green tea maker in Uji, Kyoto, for some tasty new treats starting March 25 for a limited time. Four new items will be available until the end of April. To celebrate the new collaboration, a new TV commercial starring actor Masaki Suda has started airing nationwide.

Fresh Pon de Uji Green Tea

Fresh Pon de Uji Green Tea with Brown Sugar Syrup

Uji Hojicha Warabimochi

Uji Hojicha Mochi with Whipped Cream

In the new ad, Suga is seen in a manly kimono with one of the new products in hand. Remaking on the soft and chewy texture of the new items–which are kneaded with Gion Tsujiri’s Uji Green Tea–Suda slowly falls in love with Mister Donut and commands viewers to do the same. How could you not?

Which of these new items look the best? 

Interview

――How do you feel about the Fresh Pon de Uji Green Tea and the Fresh Pon de Uji Green Tea with Brown Sugar Syrup?

“They’re so crazy delicious. Each of them are so moist and smell so yummy, and the topping…I mean, that’s everyone’s favorite, right?”

――Speaking of toppings, what are some of your favorites?

“I love garlic and green onion on just about everything. Cheese is also my go-to. Condiments are everything.”

――How about the Warabimochi and the Whipped Cream Mochi? 

“I can’t get enough of them. I’d definitely buy them myself. They aren’t too bitter, and I could really enjoy the rich aroma of the hojicha. It’s honestly amazing that Mister Donut can come out with these creative new items so often. This isn’t like memorizing lines in a play or following a formula. It must take so much work.”

――Do you prefer matcha or hojicha?

“That’s really tough. (laugh) I like both. I love the flavor of matcha but I think hojicha has flavors that aren’t as common. I find myself eating a lot of chocolate, drinking lattes, or grabbing hojicha more often.”

――How did it feel to shoot the Mister Donut commercial in a kimono?

“It was so lightweight, it felt great. The stylist told me that it was entirely made of silk. I typically only wear kimono during rehearsals or things like that, but I’d love to wear something like this during a festival. Someday.”

――The new commercial will begin airing during graduation season. Is there anything you’d like to ‘graduate’ this year since it’s the last year in your 20s? 

“That’s true, I am almost 30. I hadn’t thought about it! In my job, everyone is so polite to me, and I have the habit of leaving things up to other people. I need to be more personally responsible. For example, if I have to be somewhere for a meeting in the morning, I always get up at the last minute. Why don’t I get up 10 minutes earlier, you know? I need to be better.”

――What would you like to tell those who are coming of age this year? Do you have anything to say to students and working adults who will start new grades and jobs in the spring? 

“As you grow older, you have less and less to do outside of work. I’m really impressed by people who do something consistently during their free time. I thought I should have done something like that back when I was a teenager, so I tried saving ¥500 coins last year. It was hard to do, even though it was something so small. After a year, I had saved up about ¥40,000 and I felt satisfied, so I stopped. But doing something each day outside of work is important.”

People flock to Kanda Myojin to pray for good luck at the start of the new financial year, surrounded by beautiful pink blooms. The shrine offers beautiful sights during the day, and this year, it’s collaborating with digital art collective NAKED to host a beautiful light-up event every evening from March 26 until April 10, 2022.

Kanda Myojin is a hidden cherry blossom viewing spot in Tokyo. This spring-only event is held in the hope that people will pray at Kanda Myojin, one of the most popular power spots in Tokyo, for a great start to the new year.

Guests will be able to see cherry blossom trees lit up in iridescent lights with pink petals projected on the ground. Some of the digital sakura are interactive and change shape and color when you’re nearby. Digital art is even incorporated at the hand sanitizing station, where you’ll see vivid pink sakura projected onto your palms. Visitors will also be handed a special Naked Distance Lantern, which naturally creates distance between others as you hold it up.

Lake Biwa Canal, one of the best places to see cherry blossoms in Shiga, will be completely illuminated each night from March 25 until April 10! The nearby Onjo-ji Temple will also be lit up during the duration of the event.

Lake Biwa, Otsu Spring Illumination – Cherry Blossoms on the Lake Biwa Canal

The Lake Biwa Canal carries water from the biggest lake in Japan to Kyoto and was built during the Meiji era using the best civil engineering technology of the time. Both sides of the bank are lined with almost 200 cherry trees, making it one of the most beautiful cherry blossom viewing spots with a spectacular view leading to Onjo-ji Temple.

Onjo-ji Spring Illumination 2022

Over 600 lights will be set up around the temple grounds to illuminate the cherry blossoms. The national treasures and designated cultural properties will be completely open to the public for nighttime viewing.

Wishing you could be in Japan to see the cherry blossoms? The Cherry Blossom Drone Project on March 27 will be live-broadcasting some of the most beautiful blossoms in the country to viewers around the world. 

Incredible 4K aerial footage will be available to watch on YouTube LIVE for free from 12:00 until 19:00 on March 27, 2022. No matter where you are, you’ll be able to lose yourself in the feeling of spring. 

Three Best Cherry Blossom Viewing Spots Chosen by Sakura Enthusiasts

Breathtaking Mountain Cherry Blossoms at Mount Yoshino in Nara

The First New Sakura Species in Over 100 Years Found in Wakayama Prefecture

A Sea of Cherry Blossoms at Takato Joshi Park in Ina, Nagano Prefecture

Creative company NAKED has opened its popular annual spring event NAKED Sakura Aquarium at Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa until April 17, 2022. 

Since winter 2015, Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa and NAKED have held a number of collaborative events each season based on blending the concepts of sound, light, images, and living things. The centerpiece of this spring event is the immersive area titled ‘Patterns.’ The walls of the aquarium are decorated with fluttering cherry blossoms as petals dance across the ground, pulling guests into a virtual Japanese garden. 

The Garden of Dancing Sakura

Fluttering Sakura

Flower Lantern

Nighttime Dolphin Performance ‘Sakura Story’

NAKED Tsukubai – Sakura Version

Guests can also enjoy a cherry blossom version of NAKED Tsukubai, a virtual hand-washing experience. Why not come experience spring in a whole new way?

Flower Miffy Juice Garden, a drink stand featuring Dick Bruna’s popular character Miffy, is now offering a limited-time cherry blossom beverage at its Asakusa location!

Strawberry

Green Apple

Cherry Blossom Season with Miffy

The Slightly Sakura Drink is inspired by springtime and features a sweet whipped topping with cherry blossom-colored copeau de chocolat. The base of the drink is sakura-colored milk available in green apple and strawberry flavors. Each beverage comes with a Miffy cookie for added cuteness!

A Cherry Blossom flower arrangement is also available for purchase at the Flower Miffy online store. 

Illustrations Dick Bruna Ⓒ copyright Mercis bv,1953-2022　www.miffy.com

Hoshino Resort Aomoriya, an inn where visitors are invited to fully enjoy Aomori’s culture, will begin its Hanami Kotatsu event from April 1 until May 31, 2022. Guests can enjoy local sake while warming themselves beneath a cozy kotatsu. In the chilly Aomori spring, a kotatsu) will be set up beneath the blooming trees for visitors to comfortably view the cherry blossoms. Hot-water bottles will also be available for rent if guests can a little too cold!

April in Aomori is spring according to the calendar, but it’s still quite chilly. Nevertheless, the people of Aomori look forward to flower viewing to overcome the cold winter and enjoy the long-awaited arrival of spring.

Three Fun Additions to Make Cherry Blossom Viewing More Fun

1  A Traditional Umbrella with a Sakura Pattern

Next to each kotatsu is a row of Japanese umbrellas with cherry blossoms painted on them, spreading the pink cherry blossom imagery all around. When opened, the umbrellas are covered with cherry blossoms, making you feel as if you are under the cherry blossoms in full bloom.

2 Choose a Local Sake and Sake Cups for a Flower Viewing Sake Tower

Choose your favorite local sake and three sake cups to make a sake tower! Guests can choose from 10 Aomori sake brands, each with unique aromas and flavors. 

3 Cherry Blossom Patterned Cotton-Filled Hot Water Bottle for Extra Warmth

To keep extra warm beneath the kotatsu, a cotton blanket with a cherry blossom pattern and a hot-water bottle are available for rent. Doesn’t it sound heavenly?

From March 16 until April 20, Maison Marunouchi at Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo At Marunouchi will offer a special spring-only cherry blossom afternoon tea set!

The restaurant’s head chef, Daniel Calvert, is also the executive chef of the French restaurant Sezanne, which was listed in the Michelin Guide last year. Starting in mid-March, visitors can enjoy a variety of cherry blossom-themed sweets created by executive pastry chef Elwin Boyles.

Covered in bright marzipan, the Princess cake was created by Boyles by combining the image of a princess cake, a Swedish cake traditionally eaten on special occasions, and the image of cherry blossoms, which symbolize the coming of spring and new beginnings.

The Pink Gateau Opera combines the image of cherry blossoms with green tea buttercream and almond cream. The Sakura Choux Bombe combines the sweetness of cherry cream and sour lime juice, while the Preserved Sakura Macaron will serve as the perfect Instagram photo. 

Hotel Gajoen Tokyo is known for highlighting the best of Japanese culture, with some rooms used for art exhibitions. To celebrate the coming of spring and the cherry blossoms in full bloom, the location is offering some sakura-themed menu items and a room with a sweeping view of Meguro River and the many sakura trees that line it. 

Special Sakura Kaiseki: ¥6,050 (Tax Included) / Available Weekdays from March 15 – April 8

Sakura Afternoon Tea: ¥4,950 / With Champagne: ¥6,820 (Tax Included), Available from March 14 – April 10

Lunch Set: ¥4,950 (Tax Included) / Available from March 14 – April 10

The hotel’s four restaurants are each offering limited-time cherry blossom items. The Japanese restaurant Tofutei will offer the Special Sakura Kaiseki Set, while the New American Grill Kanade Terrace has added cherry blossom petals to its popular seasonal afternoon tea. The Chinese restaurant Shun Yuki has a themed lunch set, 

Spaghettini with Shrimp, Bamboo Shoots and Sea Urchin: ¥2,200 (Tax Included) / Available from March 1 – March 31

The Italian restaurant Ristorante Canoviano is offering guests a spring-inspired course using seasonal ingredients. 

Cherry Blossom Viewing Bento: ¥4,320 (Tax Included) *Limited Availability

The hotel’s patisserie is selling a limited number of Cherry Blossom Viewing Bento sets perfect for taking on a picnic. 

Meguro River Cherry Blossom Viewing Room: ¥89,000~ (Tax Included) / 1 room, 2 guests / Available from March 18 – April 7

For overnight stays, guests can enjoy cherry blossom viewing from the Meguro River Cherry Blossom Suite. The executive lounge, exclusively for guests, also overlooks the river and is open for afternoon and evening tea. The food and drink menu changes every hour.