Maehara Kouei Shouten 前原光榮商店, makers of Western style umbrellas, now in their 70th year of business, are famous for producing elegant, sturdy umbrellas made with…

When you think of olive oil, Japanese cuisine doesn’t normally come to mind, let alone pairing with sake. However, as we discovered upon our visit…

Japan has no shortage of papercraft vituosos who can create wonderful objects of art. For example, we have seen intricate kirie papercutting by Shinobu Ohashi…

It wasn’t too long ago that a Japanese art teacher and designer unleashed wearable, hyper-realistic gigantic felt cats heads that both wowed and terrified the…

Japan’s traditional gem and massive tourist draw Kyoto has green tea treats on every corner. Source: © Grape Japan But for something a bit less…

If you have a knack for UFO catcher games, this moogle could soon be blasting your favourite tunes on his horn. Source: © Grape Japan…

Studio Ghibli enthusiasts have a lot of ways to show off their fandom as they look forward to the opening of what appears to be…

You might be familiar with the creative designs of Japanese brand Mocolle, a name which mixes the Japanese word for “fantasy” (mousou) with “collection” for…

While green tea and products made with it continue to gain international attention, domestic consumption of simple green tea in Japanese households is sadly on…

It’s been nearly 7 years since the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan, but 2017 marked the first year that…

Much like Kit Kats, Japanese potato chips tend to embrace seasonal and limited-time-only (期間限定) flavors, which often result in adventurous flavors such as Sukiyaki Pringles,…

As one of the most popular game and anime franchises, Pokémon commands a lot of attention from companies and service providers, resulting in an amazing…

Akihabara is a paradise for collectors of anime, manga and video game merchandise. Although trawling through second hand shops looking for rare items and deals…

Japan’s sexy daikon radish meme is now a huggable waifu pillow When Japanese online retailer Felissimo isn’t coming out with eccentric animal-themed goods like scratch-n-sniff…

Wonder Festival is a semiannual event for mostly amateur figure modelers and sculptors to display and sell their latest “garage kit” creations, held at the…