Located in Tokushima, Birth Book Coffee specializes in both a tasty cup of joe and a delightful selection of dango and fruit daifuku. Daifuku is a Japanese sweet made of small round mochi filled with sweet filling, typically red bean paste. It’s the perfect snack to have with a warm drink, and now, Birth Book Coffee has unveiled some Christmas-themed sweets!  

Christmas

Chinese Zodiac

Chinese Zodiac

Character Daifuku

Character Dango

Matcha Chocolate Strawberry Daifuku

White Chocolate Strawberry Daifuku

    If Christmas isn’t your thing, the shop is also selling sweets shaped like animals from the Chinese zodiac.    Birth Book Coffee is a sweets shop, a coffee shop, and a book shop all in one. Employees make the sweets by hand each day, and invite guests to curl up with a nice story as they enjoy the calming environment. Each Daifuku is made using Shiga Habutae Mochi Rice, one of the three most glutinous rice varieties in Japan. It’s stickier and sweeter, making for a more rich treat. The reindeer Daifuku is flavored with caramel milk, and the Santa with red bean paste. Be sure to take a shot of them for social media, or give them as a gift!   The Matcha Chocolate Strawberry and White Chocolate Strawberry Daifuku are only available during winter, so try to snag them before they’re gone!

The Awa Washi Traditional Industry Center, a foundation which strives to inform and preserve the Awa Washi paper's 1,300 years of history, will be holding the 'International Mini Print Exhibition 2021' between October 9 and November 7. The event will exhibit over 1,800 prints from 58 countries.    This international print exhibition will be displaying works from both domestic and overseas artists, all printed on A4 Wagami, or Japanese Paper. The exhibition is being held to increase the amount of artists displaying their works, while allowing local residents to feel an international connection through Awa Washi culture. This is the fifth instalment of the exhibition, which is held once every two years. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, the organizers experienced some troubles such as shipping delays, but despite this, a total of 1,375 domestic and international artists applied to display their works. Each print has been carefully created by the artist, and will be displayed in one place to encourage not only those familiar with Awa Washi, but also introducing the culture to general art fans.   Why not immerse yourself amongst Japanese and International artwork at this unique paper event?

The Awa Odori Festival is the largest dance festival in Japan and is held every year in Tokushima Prefecture from August 12 to 15 as part of the Obon festival. This year, the first day welcomed over 380,000 spectators who gathered to witness the groups of traditional dancers.   This year marked the first Awa Odori Festival of the current Reiwa era which began on May 1, and so to commemorate the occasion, new elements were introduced. The biggest of these were four areas that showcases performances of Souodori which saw over 1,000 people dance along the 100 meter long dance floor. The first day of the festival was held at the Konyamachi Theater along the bustling shopping streets of Tokushima. This spacious location made for easy access and guaranteed you could watch the procession. While the people in packed-out outdoor theatre were looking left and right to see when the show was about to start, the clock struck 10pm, at which musicians began playing their instruments. The orchestra was made up of over 400 people who played enchantingly in perfect order. As they split into groups on the left and right side of the theatre, the crowd caught the first glimpses of the dancers. Out they came in different groups, starting with female dancers, then male dancers, and then more female dancers, this time dressed in happi coats. The crowd cheered them on, especially when they spotted somebody they knew.   The dancers made up in the free areas included groups of workers, students and various others. But in the paid premium area spectators were able to watch the "famous" group. The premium area was located in front of the town hall and packed full of people. The famous group are made up of dancers with incredible skill. There was also a group for people in the crowd or onlookers to join in if they wanted to as well. Many celebrities also took part including comedians Hayashiya Sanpei II and Kazuya Kojima, actresses Sachiko Kokubu, Tomoko Fujita and Wakako Shimazaki, and more.

Since Kenshi Yonezu released his single Lemon in March last year, it has gone on to enjoy huge success, reaching numerous milestones.   The song was written as the main theme for the TBS drama Unnatural which aired in January 2018. Its music video was released the following month and garnered huge views in an instant, and after just 475 days it had reached over 400 million. It was also the first Japanese music video to gain 300 million. Lemon has also sold over 300 million copies. It is the first song to rank three times in a row on Billboard JAPAN Hot 100: for both halves of 2018 and the first half of 2019.

Photo by Tomokazu Yamada

Speaking of its continued success, Yonezu comments: "I am thankful. It exceeded my expectations a long time ago, but I've been very interested to see just how far it will go. I'm mostly unaware of my own songs. I'd like it to continue to be loved by people." As a show of gratitude to how much Lemon has resonated with people, the CD cover art will be displayed permanently at the Otsuka Museum of Art in Tokushima in the form of a ceramic tile from July 30. Touban, or "ceramic tiles," don't lose their colour or deteriorate and so can keep their colour and shape for up to 2,000 years.

teamLab will set up their Resonating Trees exhibition as a permanent display at Tokushimaken Bunkanomori Total Park on April 29^th. This digital art space transforms and alters with lights, sounds and tech when people are present. teamLab is an ‘artist collaborative, interdisciplinary creative group’ made up of specialists including programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, architects – the list goes on. They work to blur together the art, science, technology and creative industries. The exhibition set to hit Tokushimaken Bunkanomori Total Park is titled ‘Resonating Trees’ and is one of the team’s Digitized Nature art projects. Rows and rows of trees will illuminate the area. Each of the tree lights is automatic so will resonate gently as they glow on with dazzling light before fading away. When passersby and animals pass through the trees, the colour of the lights will change and different sounds will play. Each trees’ lights will diffuse one after the other. Experience digital art like you’ve never seen it before with teamLab.