SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Tokyu Hands is known for its amazing array of goods. From bicycles to Kabuki face masks and everything in between, this is a company that’s built their brand with a focus on providing unique and innovative Japanese products to the local and international market.

Now, the cafe on the top floor of their Shibuya store is also showcasing its creative credibility, by transforming its space into a pop-up Bonsai Cafe, in collaboration with the Omiya Bonsai Museum in Saitama. With miniature trees and special goods on display, here it’s the unusual menu that’s really taking centre stage.

After seeing photos of their special matcha latte, an unusual tiramisu and a parfait served in a bonsai pot, we pulled on our gumboots and headed out on a rainy afternoon to give these treats a try. Come with us as we treat our taste buds to an enchanted walk through a delicious miniature garden.

Japan
(bonsai • coffee • desserts • green tea • matcha • parfait • sweets • Tokyu Hands)

Five places to get awesome limited-edition matcha sweets right now

Oona McGee
May 27, 2014

For many in Japan, the bright green hues and bitter tones of powdered green tea partners perfectly with all things sweet, making for an irresistible dessert flavour. Now, as springtime brings the first tea of the new season, convenience stores and sweet purveyors are releasing limited-edition matcha, or powdered green tea, desserts. We take a look at five of the most popular finds that Twitter users in Japan can’t wait to get their hands on. Read More

Japan
(desserts • food and drink • green tea • sweets)

We resist the urge to climb Denny’s Japan’s Tower Pancake so we can eat it instead

Casey Baseel
Apr 17, 2014

Japan’s mountainous topography means that real estate is always at a premium. The towering skyscrapers of major cities like Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka are a natural response to this, as often there’s no direction left to build but up.

We couldn’t help but wonder if the chefs at Denny’s in Japan were inspired by the country’s urban architecture when they created the newest indulgence on their menu, the Tower Pancake, which, especially for a country not exactly known for its gargantuan servings, is quite the gastro challenge.

Japan
(Denny's • desserts • food • pancakes • sweets)

You won’t believe how easy it is to make this delicious ice cream pudding!【Recipe】

Kay
Dec 18, 2013

It’s been over 80 years since the words “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!” were made famous by the 1920s song of the same name. Well, here we are in the 21st century, and it looks like we’re still screaming for ice cream, because who doesn’t love the sweet, cold stuff, right?

Even in the middle of winter, frozen treats like yukimi daifuku and other ice cream products in tantalizing seasonal flavors (seriously, why do they have to come up with ice cream flavors like pumpkin, apple pie and french toast?) can be incredibly tempting. Among our favorites, of course, is Häagen-Dazs ice cream, and today, one of our reporters from the Japanese RocketNews24 site shares with us his very own quick and easy recipe for creating a yummy dessert using store-bought Häagen-Dazs ice creams cups. And what makes it interesting is that although it involves ice cream, it isn’t a frozen dessert!

Global, Japan
(desserts • Häagen-Dazs • ice cream • pudding)

Can you bring yourself to eat the art on these awesome anime cakes?

Casey Baseel
Jul 19, 2013

A quick glance at the name of Japanese cake maker Priroll should tell you that they specialize in roll cakes. What might not be so readily apparent is that the “Pri” stands for “printing.” Customers can include a photo when ordering, which Priroll will then reproduce on the side of one of its desserts, making it a great choice for birthdays, graduations, or other celebrations.

Being able to reproduce any image on this sweet, spongy canvas, though, means that the folks at Priroll aren’t limited to using just photographs, though. If you want, they can also whip you up an anime cake.

Japan
(anime • art • cake • cool • desserts • food)

Getting free ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s just became every Japanese citizen’s civic duty

Casey Baseel
Jul 19, 2013

Japan loves ice cream, so when Ben and Jerry’s started opening locations here in 2012, it was welcomed with open arms.

But the Vermont-based company didn’t just bring its assortment of tasty flavors with untranslatable pun-based names. It also brought its well-known commitment to social activism with it. In keeping with those values, Ben & Jerry’s Japan is offering free ice cream to encourage people to vote in the country’s upcoming election.

Japan
(desserts • food • free • ice cream • politics)

To live and dine in L.A.: we find marshmallow ramen in the City of Angels

Casey Baseel
Jun 12, 2013

Among the extensive pantheon of ramen varieties is tsukemen, in which the noodles are served on a dish with a bowl of dipping sauce on the side. My first experience with the dish was in college, when a buddy took me to a tsukemen place that had opened up near our campus in Tokyo that was famous for their sauce made with fish stock. At the time it seemed like a wildly exotic concoction, but little did I know that years later my hometown of Los Angeles would produce an even more outlandish version of the dish: marshmallow ramen.

USA
(cool • desserts • food • ramen • sweets • weird)

Are you man enough for Family Mart’s line of masculine sweets?

Casey Baseel
Jun 12, 2013

So here’s a tricky question: do desserts count as masculine or feminine food? On the one hand, a slice of chocolate cake is just as bold a statement of your culinary decadence as a nice fried pork cutlet. In either case, it’s at least a little wild and macho to eat something with such shaky nutritional value yet unquestionable deliciousness, similar to how I rationalize eating a pack of ham out of the fridge when I’m too lazy to go buy bread for a sandwich as being a natural result of my raging testosterone.

On the other hand, sweets are, well, sweet. Truly red-blooded males can’t even bring themselves to utter the word “sweet” unless they add “taste of revenge” after it while clenching a fist and glaring at the horizon.

Thankfully, Japanese convenience store chain Family Mart is here to help end this confusion with a line of desserts tailor-made for everybody born with a Y chromosome.

Japan
(cool • desserts • food • sweets • weird)

Tokyo Akihabara’s Karaoke Lounge Pasela Offers Delicious Pudding in a Cute Take-Home Pot

Karen Bremer Masuda
Dec 3, 2012

Electronics aren’t the only things coming out of Akihabara these days! If you’re a pudding lover, you’ll be thrilled with this tasty custard dessert, something that karaoke and leisure company Pasela has on their menu at their newest venture, bakery Honey Toast Cafe.

And that’s not all! The custard dessrt is served in the cutest little pottery honey pot which you can take home with you!

With the entire first floor of the giant leisure site being a bakery, you can enjoy a variety of bread and sweet treats- this pudding included- before heading up to the seventh floor to scream into a microphone. Or, if you don’t need to let off steam with a little karaoke, you can remain downstairs and go straight to the pudding! Read More