Azur Lane has become a popular mobile game worldwide, and to celebrate its continued success, Pony Canyon will release a 1/7 scale figure of the character Noshiro in 2023. Preorders will open simultaneously worldwide on September 8, 2022 at 11:00.

Noshiro has been a popular character since the game was released, ranking highly in the 2021 Character Popularity Pill. This will be her first figure, and fans will adore her expression and coloring. Her glossy black hair, powerful eyes, and slender legs are gorgeous, and this large figure will become the focal point of any room. 

Pre-orders are now open in Japan at Pony Canyon’s official online anime shop Canime and Amiami. In addition, Canime will be offering an acrylic stand and Amiami will be offering an A2-sized clear poster as store perks, both of which will be based on original illustrations from the game!

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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.

MEDICOM TOY’s iconic BE@RBRICK block figure is getting a BAPE®︎ CAMO makeover! The collaborative figures will come in two colors–gold and silver–and two sizes. They will be released on June 4, 2022. 

BE@RBRICK BAPE®︎ CAMO SHARK 100% & 400% GOLD / SILVER

Don’t miss out on these special collector’s items!

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.

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! 

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. 

BANPRESTO are set two release two new realistic figures of Takemichi Hanagaki and Mikey from the anime series Tokyo Revengers in July and August respectively at game centres in Japan.

The figures are detailed recreations of the two characters which look like they’ve jumped straight out of the anime. Everything from the facial expressions to the poses, winkles in their uniforms, and hair have been crafted with careful consideration. BANPRESTO describes the figures as being the same size “as the characters’ heads” from the anime series, so they sound pretty tall, and will make fine additions to any figure collection.

BANPRESTO is also releasing a collection of nine large-sized Tokyo Revengers towels over the next three weeks. The towels are 82cm x 50cm, so can be used for decoration as well as after you get done out the bath or shower.

Finally, the new line-up includes a series of plush toys too featuring chibi versions of the characters – perfect for hanging on your bag. All of these items are rolling out at game centres across Japan.

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