The Okinawa Collection Executive Committee has announced the first girls’ fashion festival OKINAWA COLLECTION 2023. The event will be held at Umisora Park in Okinawa on September 24, 2023. The first round of performers has been announced and pre-sale tickets are now available.

The event will be held on the picturesque sandy beaches of Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture. The area is famous for its contributions to entertainment, and the show aims to share current pop culture with both audiences in Japan and the world.

 ■Several influential models are scheduled to appear!

The first batch of performers include Yuina Kogawa, a model and television personality; Nana Kato, an exclusive model for Ray and LARME magazines; Ariana Sakura, an exclusive model for ViVi and a model for many popular brands; Nagomi, who also produces the cosmetics brand “GENTY,” and PyunA., an exclusive model for the fashion magazine Koakuma ageha who is set to release her first photo book in August.

 ■Additional guests, including popular YouTubers, will take the stage!

Guests include the popular YouTuber duo Nakonako Couple, active both online and on TV; Mukuena, two childhood friends and artists with a popular YouTube channel; Toua, a current trendsetter; Osaki, a high-schooler appearing in the People category of the JC/JK Buzzword Awards 2022; Sakura, an exclusive model for Popteen; Mika Kato, an exclusive model for nuts; and Yuichami, the younger sister of Uchami and an exclusive model for egg.

■The trending boy band OCTOPATH will perform!

OCTPATH, a boy group consisting of former trainees appearing on the popular audition program PRODUCE 101 JAPAN SEASON 2, made their major debut in 2022. Guests can expect a mesmerizing performance!

More performers and content will be announced soon. Check out the event’s official website for the latest information!

The historic Nagoya Castle will hold a special nighttime viewing event for 14 days only, from November 25 until December 8, 2022. During this period, Honmaru Palace will be open to the public at night, and the Chrysanthemum Corridor inside will be open to visitors for the first time. 

The Ninomaru Garden will also be illuminated and will transport guests to a different place and time by showing a space only possible during dark hours.

Inspired by the relationship between light and shadow, this event focuses on changes that occur over time and the creation and emergence of new ideas and things.

Honmaru Palace, Typically Closed to the Public, to be Open at Night

Nagoya Castle’s Honmaru Palace was completed in 1615 and served as the primary residence of the Lord of the Owari Domain and as the Domain’s government office. The interior of the palace was lavishly decorated with paintings and other art pieces and was praised as a masterpiece. Sadly, it was destroyed by an air raid in 1945. Restoration work began in 2009 and was completed in 2018 with unparalleled accuracy. The Honmaru Palace gives off a completely different aura at night. 

First Public Viewing of the Jodan-no-ma in the Joraku-den

The Joraku-den was added to Nagoya Castle to accommodate the third Shogun, Iemitsu, on his way to Kyoto. It is the most luxurious of all the Honmaru Palace buildings, and this event marks the first time that the Chrysanthemum Corridor on the north side will be open to the public. Visitors are welcome to admire the golden-blue paintings as they stroll through the historic site.

See Spectacular Paintings when Entering the Tsugi-no-ma Room

During this period, visitors can enter the Tsugi-no-ma room to view classical period paintings, giving a more clear idea of how people acted and dressed during this time in history.

[Ninomaru Garden Special Viewing] 

~Witness a Never-Before-Seen Feudal Lord’s Garden through a Spacial Presentation~

Scenography for this unique show was provided by the creative label PERIMETRON. In order to show another side of the Ninomaru Garden at night, the company focused on light’s characteristics, from reflection and transmission to refraction and absorption. Light and shadow intertwine in various ways, and guests will be transfixed by this curious showing.

The online sake shop KURAND is now selling TIGER & BARNABY SPARKLING, a special sparkling sake made in collaboration with the TIGER & BUNNY 2 anime series. 

TIGER & BARNABY SPARKLING is a sparkling sake that will surprise customers with its delicate bubbles and light flavor. The label features an outline of the city of Sternbild, the setting of TIGER & BUNNY, and each bottle will be delivered in a decorated box. This is perfect for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations!

Those who purchase TIGER & BARNABY SPARKLING will receive a TIGER & BARNABY Champagne Stopper as a gift. The bubbliness of this sake is sure to impress, so kick back and relax with friends and family this holiday season with a few glasses of this limited-edition goodness.

Shiragiku Sake Brewery will release a special sake made exclusively to mix with soda water on October 1, 2022. The beverage will be available in Okayama Prefecture.

The company’s interest in creating a new sake culture led them to develop &Soda, a delicious sake made to be mixed with soda. This may be helpful for those who don’t know much about sake, or who may feel intimidated by the many different types. Being able to mix it with soda will make sake drinking feel more casual. 

Sake Made Exclusively for Mixing with Soda Water, ‘&Soda’

“Many people may like to mix sake with soda water or drink it on the rocks. By doing this, however, a nice sake may lose its flavor, and the drinker might be wasting a nice sake for the sake of a more easy-drinking beverage. &Soda was made exclusively to be mixed. Using Asahi Rice, a specialty in Okayama Prefecture, and water from the brewery, we’ve created a sake that has the proper aroma and sweetness. These characteristics will come through even after being mixed! The alcohol content has been increased to 18 percent, and the package will make the product easy to find and understand,” a statement from the brewery reads.

For more information on how to enjoy &Soda, please see the special website below!

Japan’s largest sake event, TOKYO SAKE FESTIVAL 2022, will run from October 4 until October 6 at the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building’s Triangle Square.

The event’s aim is to make sake more mainstream around the world, with the first festival taking place in 2020. Tokyo Sake Festival blends sake with entertainment, showing off the very best of Japanese culture to those who may be new to craft sake. For the third year, former NMB48 member Yui Takano will serve as ambassador. Takano is known for leaving her idol career to manage the sake specialty store Yui Sake Shop. 

Tokyo Sake Festival 2022 is bringing together forty carefully selected sake breweries from around Japan, including Inoue Seikichi, winner of the Champion Sake award at IWC 2022. Tonoike Sake Brewery, winner of Kura Master 2022’s President’s Award, will also be in attendance. The full lineup can be found on the official website.

Popular influencers and artists from Raphael to BOYS AND MEN and Ukon Takafuji will take the stage during the event, so be sure to swing by if you’re a fan of Japanese spirits!

On July 18, the upscale teppanyaki and yakiniku restaurant Honten Yamashina opened a new location in Ginza! The hybrid restaurant has taken over the entire top floor of GINZA PLACE, which is directly connected to Ginza Station. Overlooking the Ginza 4-chome intersection, it’s a gorgeous place to enjoy some authentic Japanese cuisine. 

Honten Yamashina mainly uses fully-matured Omi beef, the highest grade available among Shiga Prefecture’s top-tier beef, from Okazaki Farm. The cows are allowed to fatten for a considerable amount of time and live stress-free lives for over 40 months. Less than 1% of all Wagyu cattle are shipped after 24 months of age, and this delectable meat is characterized by its sharp taste and fattiness. 

Luxurious Wagyu and Sea Urchin Sushi

Early Summer Plate to Enjoy with Seasonal Flowers

Selected Extra-thick Beef Tongue Steak Made with Refined Attention to Detail

Grilled Spiny Lobster Made on a Charcoal Grill

The Playful Yamashina Wagyu Slider

Melt-in-your-mouth Sweet Amala Tomato (Vegetable of the Day)

Hand-selected Omi Beef Steak

Truffle Omurice

Japanese-style Teppanyaki

Guests can enjoy authentic Japanese teppanyaki cuisine with a modern twist. While sitting at the contour, visitors will enjoy a live performance by Taku Osada, a teppanyaki chef with over 20 years of experience.  

The wide variety of meat can be enjoyed in a number of different ways, whether it be raw, grilled, stewed, or properly cooked. From tongue and rump to filet and sirloin, you won’t leave hungry. Visitors can also enjoy seafood and seasonal Japanese vegetables along with their meat, and the flowers and leaves that adorn each plate will change depending on the time of year.

In addition to rare teppanyaki dishes like skirt steak and 3cm-thick beef tongue, Honten Yamashina also offers some playful dishes such as sliders. As the temperature differs on different parts of the steel cooking plate, each item can be cooked to a temperature that maximizes its specific flavor. Honten Yamashina also has a massive cellar housin over 1,000 bottles of wine and hard-to-find spirits. 

Japanese-style Yakiniku

For those looking for a more private experience, guests can enjoy yakiniku in a completely separate room. Each private room has a grill that will cook meat to the perfect temperature, and only at Honten Yamashina can you enjoy fully-matured Omi beef. The signature cutlet sandwich is made with chateaubriand cooked at a low temperature and deep-fried in a thin batter, then served on crispy bread with a soft, fluffy interior.

Teppanyaki and yakiniku are typically thought of as meat-based dishes, but the restaurant can accommodate vegetarian guests if contacted in advance. 

When Japan opens up to tourism, will you be visiting this incredible restaurant in the heart of Tokyo?

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu inspired music lovers around the world in April when she performed at Coachella, one of the largest music festivals on Earth. The second half of the singer’s 10th anniversary nationwide tour 31-show has begun, and in conjunction with this special event, the LOCAL POWER JAPAN Project was launched to energize Japan through the appeal of regional towns and cities. As with past concert locations, a new collaboration has been announced ahead of Kyary’s June 23 performance in Okinawa, where the artist held an additional show. 

In Okinawa, Kyary is teaming up with the popular souvenir shop Okashi Goten, known for its Beni-imo (purple sweet potato) tarts. The shop itself looks similar to Shuri Castle from the outside, and as guests enter, they’re surrounded by products made exclusively from Okinawan ingredients. This collaboration pays homage to where it all began, with the special logo inspired by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s 2011 debut mini-labum Moshi Moshi Harajuku. 

Fans will be able to buy a special box of these tasty tarts, with the outside stamped with ‘Moshi Moshi Beni-imo Tart’ and a drawing of Kyary inspired by the cover of her 2011 album. 

This item is now available at all shops offering Okashi Goten products and at the Okashi Goten online store.

Aiming to create a new kind of drinking culture, Aika in Gunma Prefecture has started preorders for SAKE COLA, a new cola liquor, on the crowdfunding site Makuake. 

People love cola for its strong carbonation, sweetness, and distinctive spicy flavor. SAKE COLA has a complex, multi-layered aroma and refreshing sweetness offering a unique taste that no one has tasted before.

In creating SAKE COLA, the company attempted to keep the authentic sweetness of sake. To this end, they decided to work with Rokkasen, a long-established sake brewery in Yamagata. 

Rokkasen’s authentic rice-based shochu Goujoppari is brewed in the cold like sake and distilled like a ginjo sake. It has a beautiful citrus aroma and tastes similar in sweetness despite having zero sugar.

Using Goujoppari as a base, malted rice is used to produce a mild, natural sweetness, and the spices added to the drink meld with the citrus scent to create a flavor defying imagination.

The flavor and aroma of SAKE COLA spread in the mouth, with the spices and herbs lingering on the tongue. The spices were mixed by Hayashi Oki, who studied in Alsace, France before working as a pastry chef at one of Tokyo’s top patisseries. 

Mace, the key spice, is characterized by its sweet and somewhat pungent aroma. It’s used to recreate the caramelized taste that is found in most cola.

Along with that, tonka beans, containing the natural sweeteners Vanillin and Coumarin, were blended into the mix to create a soft, lingering flavor. Customers are sure to enjoy it from the first sip to the last.

SAKE COLA can be enjoyed at any time. It’s perfect for enjoying as an aperitif, and it can also be enjoyed with a meal, like beer or wine. 

Like whiskey, it can also be enjoyed while relaxing after a meal. At Christmas time, it can be added to warm red wine or served as an affogato with ice cream and a splash of liqueur. How would you like to try this unique creation?

Last year, Hatsukame Sake Brewery, a staple in Shizuoka Prefecture, released a collaborative special edition sake featuring Papa Hiroshi from the anime series Chibi Maruko-chan. The collab makes sense, as the anime series takes place in Shizuoka Prefecture. Bottles sold out incredibly fast, so it’s no wonder that the brewery has now opened orders for the 2022 batch! The special products will be available on June 4, just in time for Father’s Day. Customers can choose from the Junmai Ginjo or Junmai Daiginjo varieties.

Junmai Ginjo Papa Hiroshi Vintage 2022

Junmai Daiginjo Papa Hiroshi Vintage 2022

The Junmai Ginjo Papa Hiroshi Vintage 2022 was made with water, rice, and yeast from Shizuoka, where the series takes place. With a refreshing aroma and a gentle sweetness derived from the Homarefuji rice, the flavor is sure to arouse your palate!

The original label featured on the bottle shows Papa Hiroshi enjoying local sake with tuna sashimi from Shizuoka with Mt. Fuji in the background. All bottles will come with a paper box featuring a similar design. The turtle on the label is the symbol of Hatsukame Brewing! It’s recommended that customers drink their sake with local tuna–it’s the perfect combination.

The Daiginjo variety is made from rare Aiyama rice, known as the ‘Diamond of Sake Rice.’ Polished and carefully prepared by hand, the aroma of the sake is reminiscent of tropical fruits. The final product has a rich sweetness.

Last year’s label showed Papa Hiroshi in a Kimono watching the first sunrise over Mt. Fuji. Be sure to grab a bottle to experience the taste of Shizuoka! Only 223 bottles will be available, so be quick!

©さくらプロダクション/日本アニメーション ©Hatsukame Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. ©Nexus Co., Ltd.

Two incredible new Junmai Daiginjo bottles, the highest-quality sake, have been released in limited quantities. Hitou ASCENDING and Touka ILLUMINATING were made by sustainable means and incorporate NFT art to share the process of sake creation with the world.

While sake companies keep traditional Japanese production methods alive, some are seeking to solve problems in the sake industry by turning to current technology, like the blockchain and NFTs. In this age of convenience and automation, this particular sake maker is aiming to show the true value and authenticity of Japanese craftsmanship to the rest of the world. 

Certain types of sake can only be made and enjoyed at certain times of the year, as they are not suitable for storage at room temperature and can only be consumed for a brief period to get the best taste. Many sake fans around the world might not be aware of this, so the new NFT collaboration aims to educate!

The bottles contain unique ukiyo-e NFT art prints of a dragon and phoenix on the bottle, respectively. Those who purchase a bottle will also find the year of production and bottle number etched onto the glass with lacquer. Be sure to keep the bottle even after the delicious sake is gone!

Story

Rice / Tobe Rice
In Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture, farmers have been cultivating this unique brand of Koshihikari rice without the help of pesticides or fertilizers for over two decades. The rice is called the best in all of Japan, and one-third of its yield is used to make sake.

Water / Pure Groundwater

The Japan Median Tectonic Line, also known as the ‘Dragon’s Vein,’ is a massive fault line that is home to numerous sacred sites, including  Suwa Grand Shrine, Toyokawa Inari Shrine, Tenkawa Benzaiten Shrine, Ise Grand Shrine, and the Koyasan Mountain. The groundwater found here is some of the purest found in Japan and flows from the Bungui Pass in Ina, Nagano Prefecture. The pass has been featured in many publications as one of the most famous power spots in Japan.

Brewing / Ono Brewery

While dealing with some of the harshest winter weather in Japan, the brewery has continued to create sake the old-fashioned way–with human hands. For the creation of these two bottles, the brewers took on the challenge of making a very small amount of sake, something they had never done before. Based on the concept of “making the most of the environment,” the rice was prepared in a special room with no air conditioning under the watchful eye of the master brewer.

Bottle Art/ Ukiyo-e Artist, Shun
The art displayed on the bottle is printed in a unique way, allowing it to be put on display separately. The Japanese-style art is perfect for the collaboration and was inspired by one specific hope: that a new path will open to those who work hard after the many difficulties and troubles caused by the pandemic.

Bottle Making / Maruyoshi Kosaka Wood & Urushi Works

The circular label symbolizes the moon (water) and the sun (fire), each representing a world where different values are not only accepted but welcomed. Hand-painted and made with pure platinum and gold leaf by the talented craftsman at Maruyoshi Kosaka Wood & Urushi Works in Shiojiri, Nagano, these advanced painting techniques are sure to impress.

Each Bottle Features the Brewing Year, Number Printed in Lacquer

Marked with a unique serial number, all proceeds from the sales of these special sakes will be used to maintain and promote sustainable agriculture, support sake brewers, and bring traditional Japanese craftsmanship to the world.

The Ritz-Carlton, Okinawa will feature the works of contemporary artist Kohei Arikawa from March 15 until March 31, 2022. ‘Matthew’s Favorite Pancakes’ will be held at The Lobby Lounge at the hotel. 

The original pancakes, created in collaboration with the artist, will be served in limited quantities each day as part of the hotel’s anniversary plan, which marks its 10th anniversary in May of this year. The collaboration is inspired by one of Arikawa’s best-known series ‘BEST FRIENDS – Matthew.’ Each pancake feature apples sauteed in caramel and custard cream sandwiched between layers of fluffy dough. The toppings also include Italian meringue, whipped cream, and chocolate. Why not add maple syrup too?

The Ritz-Carlton, Okinawa plans to continue to collaborate with the artist in the future. As part of the company’s Community Footprint initiative, more than a dozen of his works will be on display. Proceeds will fund an orphanage in Nago, Okinawa.

NAKED will open a new cherry blossom-inspired outdoor light-up event at Nijo Castle in Kyoto from March 18 until April 17, 2022!

This will be the first time that NAKED FLOWERS will come to Nijo Castle. Along with projection mapping on the Karamon Gate, the largest-ever projection mapping of cherry blossoms will cover the entire 140-meter-long stone wall on the east side of the inner moat.

The event will also invite guests to participate in the ‘Your Cherry Blossom’ test, which will tell you what variety of cherry blossom matches your personality. Holding the NAKED Distanced Lanterns, visitors can wander the grounds with illuminated cherry blossoms at their feet. In the garden area, when the lanterns are held over a certain spot, their colors will change!

The DANDELION PROJECT will also be a part of the event. Inspired by the idea of world peace and hopes to help transcend barriers and connect people in an increasingly divided world. This networked initiative wants to bring this change about by planting (or installing) dandelion-inspired art around the world, while it invites people visiting these dandelion exhibits to send their prayers for peace as a digital flower in real-time. 

A tree-planting fund will be raising money on-site, with some of the proceeds being donated to the Executive Community of the 50th Anniversary of the Kyoto-Kiev Sister City Association to help support the city of Kiev.