The Japanese loungewear brand gelato pique has launched a new series inspired by the twin pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei living at Ueno Zoo! The adorable new items went on sale on May 12, 2022. 

The Ueno Zoo is the oldest zoo in Japan. Located in Taito-ku, it was first opened in March 1882.

To commemorate Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei’s first birthday, gelato pique has created an incredible collection of loungewear and sundries. A portion of the proceeds will be given to the Giant Panda Conservation Support Fund to support education regarding pandas and conservation activities at the zoo.

Xiao Xiao & Lei Lei Collaboration

Roomwear Set

Panda Blanket

Panda Multi-use Cover

gelato pique Original Panda Series

Panda Hoodie & Shorts Set

Panda Print T-Shirt / Shorts / Dress

Panda Glass

Small Panda Reuseable Bag

Online Exclusives

3-piece Panda Set

gelato pique Sleep

3-piece Panda Print Bed Set (Single) / Pillow Case with Panda Ears / Panda Nightcap / Panda Rug

The Panda Series celebrates both the cute twin pandas at Ueno Zoo and all other pandas around the world. Still an endangered species, gelato pique wants to help these big animals however they can. The new collection’s theme is “happy time at home.”

Panda lovers shouldn’t miss grabbing something cozy from this new collection!

Gelato Pique Cafe is now selling panda-inspired sweets for a limited time! The Hello! PANDA promotion will be going on until June 23, 2022.

Menu

Panda Crepe

Panda Gelato

Panda Float

Merchandise

Panda Glass

*Limited quantities available. Available while supplies last.

The limited-time menu includes a Panda Crepe made with Royal Bourbon gelato, Panda Gelato with cookies crumbles for the eyes and around the neck, and a Panda Float made with the cafe’s original blend of Guatemalan coffee and Royal Bourbon gelato.

In addition, the popular panda glasses, which sold out immediately last year, have been redesigned and are now available in limited quantities. You can grab one at Gelato Pique Cafe locations nationwide and online.

The Tokyo Handicrafts Craft Fair Exhibition at Matsuzakaya Ueno will be running from March 23 until March 28, and guests will be able to pick up some incredible glassware at the event. Glasslab will be selling Edo cut glass with panda designs in three different colors. These will also be available online. 

Panda Cut Glass Special Edition – Bamboo Version (Light Pink x Green)

Before Adding Alcohol

After Adding Alcohol

Panda Cut Glass – Lapis Lazuli Version (Light Blue x Lapis Lazuli)
　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Before Adding Alcohol

After Adding Alcohol

Panda Cut Glass – Yellow Version (Yellow x Bronze-red)
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Before Adding Alcohol

After Adding Alcohol

Edo-Kiriko gets its name due to it originating in Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Every detail is cut into the glass by hand to create stunning designs. The way the glass sparkles changes depending on the light, which is a sight to behold. In the latter part of the Edo period, the cut-glass method of engraving designs onto the surface of the glass was brought over to Nagasaki from the Netherlands, and kiriko was born as a result of trying to mimic those techniques. Shiina Yasutane is a third-generation craftsman specializing in ‘sandblasting, who can reliably draw lines as fine as 0.09 mm wide.

Starting January 8, Tokyu Hands stores in Tokyo are holding a special Valentine’s Day event called Chocolino Chocoliya featuring a variety of sweets! These aren’t just for giving to your sweetheart, but are perfect for friends and family too.

Products at a Glance

Tokyo Zoological Gardens Association / Ueno Zoo
Panda Set with Petit Gaufre & Chocolate Crunch: ¥1,188 (Tax Included) / Panda Baked Cookies: ¥997 (Tax Included)

Urusei Yatsura
Tote Bag: ¥1,760 (Tax Included) / Mug: ¥1,760 (Tax Included) / Star Chocolate: ¥486 (Tax Included)
Chocolate Assortment (5 pieces): ¥756 (Tax Included) / Chocolate Assortment (15 pieces): ¥1,620 (Tax Included)

Merry Chocolate Company
Merry Candy Chocolate Box: ¥378 each (Tax Included) / Assortment: ¥1,944 (Tax Included) 

 Mint Style

30-piece Handmade Kit Series: ¥1,620 each (Tax Included)

Mint Style

Make-at-Home Kit Series: ¥697 (Tax Included) 

Sumikko Gurashi

Silicon Mold Series: ¥935 (Tax Included)

This year’s project includes confections that can only be purchased at the Ueno Zoo, where twin baby pandas were recently born. Chocolates with retro-style packaging and those with motifs from popular anime series will also be available, so be sure to swing by and have a look!

Adventure World, a zoo and theme park in Shirahama, Wakayama prefecture, is teaming up with the Nanki-Shirahama Marriott Hotel to celebrate the first birthday of baby panda Fuhin. This room plan will only be available from November 1, 2021, until March 31, 2022, and will include a fully themed room, an original mini-photo book of the panda’s growth to date, and plenty of other Fuhin amenities and goods!

Fuhin 1st Anniversary Room

Collaboration Burger ‘Marriott Panda Burger’ 

The Fuhin 1st Anniversary Room is a mixed Japanese-Western style room with an ocean view. The walls, blankets, and tatami are all covered in panda imagery, while portions of the room’s lighting are made from bamboo as a part of Adventure World’s quest to create more sustainable products. The special ‘COCOAR’ app will also allow guests to enjoy a moving photo frame featuring Guhin by holding their smartphone over the word ‘Fuhin’ on the wall. 

The limited-time Marriott Panda Burger uses the same recipe as the normal burger, but with a panda-shaped bun created along with Adventure World staff. How would you like to come and celebrate Fuhin’s birthday beside the sea? 

Your Favorite Panda Instagram Campaign

By taking a picture of one of the seven giant pandas at Adventure World (Eimei, Rauhin, Ouhin, Touhin, Yuhin, Saihin, Fuuhin) and posting it to Instagram with the two campaign hashtags (#推しパンダマリオット and #InsertFavoritePandasNameHere), 20 winners will be selected to receive special Adventure World goods!

Ginza-based Katanukiya, a store that specializes in shaped Baum, will be opening a limited-time shop in Daimaru Fukuoka Tenjin between October 1 and October 31. The store will stock both the ‘Panda Series’ and panda sable. 

Kumamoto Panda Baum: ¥594 (Tax Incl.)

Kumamon Shaped Katanuki Baum: ¥540 (Tax Incl.)

Ghost Panda Baum: ¥540 (Tax Incl.)

Panda Baum: ¥540 (Tax Incl.)

Amabie Baum: ¥540 (Tax Incl.)

The new ‘Kumamoto Panda Baum’ will be debuting at the Daimaru Fukuoka Tenjin store, along with the ‘Kumamon Shape Katanuki Baum.’ A new baum featuring the Amabie, a creature which is said to have appeared in Kumamoto during the Edo period and represents a bright, hopeful future, will also be available. Why not enjoy some cute character Baum this Autumn?

American music-themed restaurant Hard Rock Cafe has locations across Japan, and the Ueno location is now selling some very cute black-and-white goods. At the nearby Ueno Zoo, the oldest in Japan, two giant pandas were recently born, and that’s cause for celebration! Limited quantities of these goods will be on sale at the physical location and online starting September 18, 2021!

Twin Pandas Pin #1

Twin Pandas Pin #2 (Only available at Online Shop.) 

These two original pins depicting the two newly-born pandas with the Hard Rock’s signature guitar are available in gold (online only) and silver. 

Panda T-shirt

Grab one of these before they sell out–they’re going quick! This cute original design will look perfect as you walk through the zoo gates, ready to show your love for pandas and rock music. 

Guests presenting an Ueno Zoo ticket stub or annual pass at the Ueno Hard Rock Cafe location will receive 10% off. (Full details available on the Hard Rock Cafe website.)

Congrats to the happy family!

A selection of healing monotone panda sweets will be available at the Gelato Pique Café between September 6 and September 25. The collection is titled “everyday PANDA! ~Sweets Time with Pandas~.”

Menu

Panda Crepe

Panda Gelato

Panda Float

Goods

Gelato Pique Café Original Panda Glass/Mug
Available from September 6

Gelato Pique Panda Motif Eco Bag / Panda Motif Hand Towel
Online reservations open September 2, available instore from September 8

In 2021, the Gelato Pique Café announced two rounds of animal themed sweets, proving hugely popular on social media. For Easter they released “Bunny Sweets” with rabbit ears motifs, while a series of “Polar Bear Sweets” was released during the Summer. Now, a selection of “Panda Sweets” is the latest to join the animal collection. 

The chocolate and banana Panda Crepe is filled with a healing ganache and banana,  while the Panda Gelato has cocoa biscuits studded around the pandas neck, along with rounded eyes and ears. The “healing monotone” Panda Float combines the Gelato Pique Café’s original Guatemalan coffee blend with Royal Blue Bourbon.

Along with this “everyday PANDA!” Fair, we have a large lineup of panda goods that will make you happy just by having them.  Goods that are perfect for presents, souvenirs, and rewards for yourself can be purchased at each gelato pique cafe store and EC site, so please look forward to that too!

There is a huge lineup of panda goods that will brighten your day releasing alongside the “everyday PANDA” fair, which make perfect gifts for friends – or yourself! You can view the goods lineup in store and on the Gelato Pique website.

ASOBISYSTEM, in cooperation with the Agency for Cultural Affairs, will hold the Kinokuni Wakayama Culture Festival 2021 in Shibuya on October 3, 2021. The event will be free to attend, and will take place at Shibuya CAST, a modern commercial facility located between Shibuya and Harajuku.

The Kinokuni Wakayama Culture Festival 2021, taking place in Wakayama Prefecture from October 30 to November 21, is the one of the largest cultural festival in Japan. This event will bring many popular presentations and goods from Wakayama to Shibuya, allowing Tokyo residents to experience some of the beauty and traditions of this area of the Kansai region. A number of celebrity guests will be in attendance, and local Wakayama goods will be on sale. Measures will be taken during the event to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Promoting the Wakayama Culture Festival Throughout Shibuya!

In a special collaboration with SHIBUYA TELEVISION, the largest media outlet in the Shibuya area, a promotional video produced in Wakayama Prefecture will be aired on eight large screens in the Shibuya area from September 27 to October 3. Select restaurants in Shibuya will also serve dishes featuring ingredients from Wakayama for a limited time.

Get the Wakayama Panda Mask Cover for Attending!

An original Wakayama Panda Mask Cover, produced by ASOBISYSTEM, will be given to visitors on the day of the event. *Quantity limited.

If you’re in the Tokyo area, be sure to come out to this special event where you can experience the charm of Wakayama!

On September 1, Baumkuchen specialty shop Katanukia opened its second location on the second floor of Tokyo Solamachi, beneath Tokyo Skytree. These traditionally German cakes are extremely popular in Japan, and using a cookie cutter can transform them into works of art! To commemorate the new shop, the Tokyo Solamachi location will sell a limited-edition Panda Baumkuchen that is almost too cute to eat.

Panda Baumkuchen

Starry Sky Panda Baumkuchen: ¥594 (Tax Included)

Starry Sky Panda Baumkuchen & Drawstring Bag Set: ¥1,815 (Tax Included)

The special Starry Sky Panda Baumkuchen is made from soft, moist cake, and depicts an adorable panda character ready to gaze at the night sky from Tokyo Skytree, the tallest tower in the world. Children and adults alike will enjoy its gentle milk flavoring.

The Starry Sky Panda Baumkuchen & Drawstring Bag Set includes the signature Baumkuchen, the Starry Sky Panda Baumkuchen, Panda shortbread, and an adorable bag. There will only be 100 of these sets available, so grab one before they’re gone!

Is Baumkuchen popular in your country? How would you like to try these cute sweets in Tokyo?

Three Kanto region locations of the American music-themed restaurant chain Hard Rock Cafe will hold the ‘Hawaii Fair HAWAIIAN VIBES’ for a limited time starting September 1.

Menu

Hawaiian BBQ Combo: ¥2,380 (Tax Included)

Pineapple Pulled Chicken Sandwich: ¥1,580 (Tax Included)

Hula Pie: ¥1,280 (Tax Included)

Hurricane/Pineapple Lemonade/Lava Flow: ¥990 each, ¥1,580 with souvenir glass (Tax Included)

Pin: ¥2,200 each (Tax Included)

With global travel still largely restricted due to the pandemic, the event aims to give people the experience of a Hawaiian resort without leaving the country. Each of the three main dishes and drink options are representative of the culture and atmosphere of Hawaii, with pineapple, pulled chicken, and classic Hawaiian BBQ sauce making appearances. From the Hurricane, Hard Rock Cafe’s signature cocktail, to the Lava Flow, all limited-edition drinks are available in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions.

A collection of pins will also be on sale at the three locations, spelling ‘Aloha’ when all five are collected. Those interested will also want to participate in the upcoming Twitter campaign, as various prizes from both Hard Rock Cafe Honolulu and Hawaiian Airlines will be given away!

Which dish do you think looks the most delicious?

As part of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) project, Shiraraso Grand Hotel is offering a new experience for guests to create shades for warosoku traditional Japanese candles from July 7 to August 31.

Warosoku aren’t made with ordinary wax, they’re produced from plant-derived Japanese wax. Wakayama was once the biggest producer of this wax. Guests at the hotel will ghet to make their own shade decorations for these candles using decorations like the sea, food, hot springs, and panda.

The hotel is also offering free panda bookmarks to those who post a photo of their shade on Instagram, Twitter, or Instagram with the Japanese hashtag #白良荘グランドホテル.