The Sailor Moon and My Melody collaborative café Sailor Moon×My Melody Candy Parlour opened for a limited period of time in Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo and Nagoya and proved very popular. The Tokyo and and Nagoya branches are still open until May 21.

Another branch was recently opened in Fukuoka PARCO on May 11 and will run until June 25.

Those who purchase something at the café will receive a limited-edition Sailor Moon and My Melody paper lunch mat with an original pastel coloured design.

*One per person.

Let’s take a small peek at some of the cute food and desserts we can look forward to♡

Sailor Moon & My Melody Peeking Face☆Burger – ¥1,490

This is a cute doughnut-style burger with Sailor Moon and My Melody bobbing their heads up. My Melody‘s food burger has avocado in it while Sailor Moon‘s snack burger has berries. The place comes with cupcake-style mashed potatoes that complement the dish.

We Can’t Wait Any Longer! Sailor Chibi Moon & My Melody Purin à la Mode – ¥1,390

This is a pink purin à la mode and Sailor Chibi Moon is holding a spoon as if to ask whether it’s okay to start eating already!

Welcome to Candy Parlour! Bottled Soda – ¥790

All the characters are gathered together on the front of this bottle. The drink is a refreshing strawberry flavour.

They will also sell these popular menu items again.

There will of course be plenty of original merchandise sold of the two characters at the shop set up in the café. The shop can also be entered by those who can’t get into the café. The items are all limited in stock, so be sure to check them out quick!

Acrylic Key Chain – ¥400

They will sell 8 different key chain designs: the six sailors, Luna and My Melody. Look forward to seeing who you get.

Die-Cut Stickers – ¥380

Stickers will also be sold for the sailors, Luna and My Melody.

Why not visit the Sailor Moon and My Melody collaborative café while you’re in Fukuoka?

Internationally recognised ramen chain Ichiran are currently selling their Gokaku Ramen (‘Success Ramen’) at their Dazaifu Sando branch. It has been almost a year since they began serving it and has been praised by people both in and out of Japan.

Gokaku Ramen uses a natural pork ramen broth, inside which sits 59cm long noodles made from a special blend of wheat flour.

The Dazaifu Sando branch also sells its own merchandise, such as Gokaku Chopsticks. The restaurant is visited by many people preparing to take exams hoping to increase their chances of success. Since students visit the local Dazaifu Tenman-gū Shrine to pray to Sugawara no Michizane, the deity of scholarship, to pray for success on their exams, Ichiran wanted to support them and so created this dish.

The number of high school students and university students, as well as those taking state examinations and employment examinations, declaring that they have passed successfully continues to flourish.

But the success isn’t limited to Japan, as people who have eaten Goraku Ramen from overseas have claimed success too. Both them and their families have expressed their gratitude to the restaurant.

Select comments from customers (*translated from Japanese):

・Thanks to you, I was able to get into my first choice high school. Thank you so much.

・My little brother ate a bowl of Gokaku Ramen and passed his exams for the University of Tokyo.

・I passed my National Nursing Exam. Thank you! What a wonderful meal.

・I said “I will pass my exams for Kyushu University” to everyone yesterday. Announcements were revealed yesterday, and I passed. Thank you very much!!

・I ate this ramen, took my exam, and actually passed. Thank  you so much!!!

・I passed my Teacher Employment Examination!!!

“Gokaku” in Japanese is a homophone for “success” and “pentagon”. The Dazaifu Sando branch of Ichiran is scattered with lots of pentagon shaped bits and bobs, including the donburi bowls used for the meals, the 59cm noodles, cups (pictured) above, chopsticks and more.

Even the toilets. The sign reads toire, which means “toilet,” but with the extra lines drawn in a different colour it reads tooru, which is the verb “pass,” as in to pass an exam. The toilet paper holders also make up the kanji “合” used in 合格 (gokaku) to mean “success.” Even the staff’s name tags aren’t just regular tags – they are ema, which are small wooden plaques found at temples and shrines on which people write prayers and wishes.

If you have an exam coming up, whether for school or even the JLPT, then make sure you stop by Ichiran in Dazaifu for a bowl of Gokaku Ramen!

The pants-loving, superb dancing character Panpaka Pants and Pom Pom Purin, who has continued to receive love for over 20 years since appearing in 1996, are teaming up in a dream collaboration.

The Panpaka Pants × Pom Pom Purin Festival will be held at Fukuoka PACRO from January 19^th!

The Panpaka Pants × Pom Pom Purin Café will make its way to Kyushu for the first time for a limited period. To celebrate the grand opening, a Panpaka Pants × Pom Pom Purin POP UP SHOP will also make an appearance, and limited edition café merchandise will be sold via Village Vanguard Freaks.

Menu

Nakayoshi White Stew – ￥1,380

Pitta Bread Sandwich Set – ￥1,480

Purin Pancake – ￥1,380

Pom Pom Purin & Panpaka Pants Japanese Style Tiramisu – ￥850 each

Matcha Latte / White Mocha Latte / Marron Glacé Latte – ￥650 each

*all prices are tax excluded

Merchandise

Jacquard Tote Bag – ￥3,900

Panpaka Pants × Pom Pom Purin Puppets – ￥5,200

Tote Bag Sweets – ￥2,000

*sold at Village Vanguard Freaks

*select items listed

*all prices are tax excluded

Panpaka Pants × Pom Pom Purin Pop-Up Shop

Panpaka Pants × Pom Pom Purin Jiichirou Assorted Set (w/ tote bag) – ￥1,350

*sold at Jiichirou

*price is tax excluded

*please note that the contents are subject to change without note

There will also be a collaboration with the hugely popular Baumkuchen spit cake “Jiichirou.” There will be an assorted set that comes with a tote bag featuring an original illustration of both characters holding their own cake.

Despicable Me 3 will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in Japan on December 6, 2017.

Despicable Me 3 is the latest creation from Illumination Entertainment. Released earlier this year in July, the animated film topped the Japanese box office 4 weeks in a row and has earned $1 billion worldwide.

To celebrate the released of the movie on DVD and Blu-ray in Japan, an event titled “MINIONS RUN” will be held at Fukuoka Castle Kouro-Kan on Saturday December 9th. People will be given a Minions costume to wear and be sent on various missions they must complete to win the game.

All Minions must begin at the opening stage. They must then seek out secret locations that have been set up and solve all the puzzles!

There will be lots of great places to take photos too such as a billboard and giant balloon, so you can enjoy the event at your own face whole taking photos with your family and friends. There will also be a fair and Minions merchandise for sale, so be sure to go and take a look.

The event is also holding a hashtag campaign. Simply follow the official Minions social media and post the hashtag #ミニオンズラン福岡 (“Minions Run Fukuoka”) for a chance to win some merch. The event is running from November 11th to December 9th.

Illustrations used in the Nisshin Shokuhin Cup Noodle TV commercial illustrated by the illustrator, Eisaku Kubonouchi will be exhibited in Tokyo, Fukuoka and Taiwan.

【Nisshin Cup Noodle CM “HUNGRY DAYS Heidi version】

【Nisshin Cup Noodle CM “HUNGRY DAYS kiki’s delivery service version】

At the exhibition venue in Japan, related illustrations and panels which show the “making” process based on the original illustrations will be exhibited. The exhibition will consist of two periods, the first period and second period. The content of the exhibitions will be changed.

They will sell goods using the motifs of Eisaku Kubonouchi’s illustrations. Plus, they will hand out an illustrated poster or clear file (both items are not for sale) to visitors who spend more than 3,000 yen.

・Poster design

・Clear file design

Don’t miss this chance to see these original illustrations.