Entries tagged with 'Japan'
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The Japanese. Known primarily for cute, they seem to have a bit of a naughty side, too. Open this box, and you'll see what I mean. On the outside, nothing big, right? Well, click through the jump and there's a bit of a NSFW surprise formed by the two pudding cups it contains. As tipster Matt Buchanan says, "BTW, purin isn't really pudding in the Bill Cosby style; it's more like flan." Full flash ahead, after the jump....
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Photograph from mstephens7 on Flickr 1958 was a big year. A fourteen-year old Bobby Fischer won the U.S. Chess championships, NASA was created and the very first sushi conveyor belt scooted around a restaurant! It all started in April of 1958 when a mobile stream of plates carrying tuna belly fat and salmon first rotated inside Mawaru Genroku Sushi restaurant in Osaka, Japan. Creator Yoshiaki Shiraishi called it "kuru kuru sushi," which adorably translates to "sushi-go-around" in Japanese, and eventually decided that 8 centimeters per second was the ideal speed—slow enough for safe arrivals, but also fast enough to keep up with voracious appetites. Shiraishi also invented a robotic sushi model, where robots carry the raw fish, but it didn't...
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How bad is Japan's butter shortage? Here's some more photographic evidence: Yongfook, a web designer based in Tokyo, took this photo in a supermarket where a block of a butter blend now costs about $7. So for $14 you could get a full only-butter block. Previously Japan Is Running Out of Butter Unbelieveable! This Is Not Butter!...
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A sign explains "that the management does not know when the next shipment of butter will come." Japanese croissant-lovers be afraid: Japan is going through an extreme butter shortage: Where is the butter? — cry Japanese consumers who have been hunting everywhere for the dairy product. The drastic reduction in raw milk production, complicated by hikes in the price of grain as well as changes in the global patterns of dairy product consumption, have caused a serious butter shortage in Japan. Empty shelves in the dairy section of grocery stores across the country have not seen a shipment of butter for days, and stores are posting signs apologizing for the shortage. [via Boing Boing]...
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Too cute to eat: The winners of the second Sanrio Character Bento Grand Prix 2008 were announced last week, with the top prize given to "Tenorikuma's Exciting Lunch Box" (pictured, center). Two Silver Charabenist (an amalgamation of "character" and "bento") awards were handed to the cutesy "Best Friend" set and the carblicious "How Do You Feel About a Bread Lunch?" set. Truth be told, all of the winning entries were way too cute and creative to herald a clear victory, if you ask me. [via Watashi to Tokyo]...
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Holy canoe! Not wanting to see so many wooden chopsticks go to waste at the city hall cafeteria where he worked, Shuhei Ogawara collected over 7,000 chopsticks for two years, then glued them together over three months, resulting in this 13-foot long canoe. At 66 pounds, it's a bit heavier than your average canoe, but a launching ceremony in May at Lake Inawashiro in Fukushima, Japan, will determine whether it'll be smooth sailing or not. [via Gizmodo]...
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Do you really like udon? I mean, really, really like udon to the point that you'd want to eat a bucket of it? Then Japanese competitive eater Nobuyuki Shirota has the restaurant for you: Shirotaya, a limited-time noodle shop in Osaka whose standard bowls of udon come with 16 portions of noodles for about $40. Don't be intimidated; those with normal appetites can order a sixteenth of a bowl of udon. Previously 'Major League Eating: The Game' Coming Soon for the Nintendo Wii One (or Fifty) Hot Dogs Too Many 59 and a Half! Trompe l'Oeil Udon Dessert...
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The words fresh and instant don't normally go together, but Kyo no Matcha lets you make your own fresh, bottled green tea on the go. A twist of the air-tight cap releases high-grade matcha powder from Kyoto into the water. Give it a shake, and you've got your fresh serving of green tea on the spot—no chemical additives or preservatives. Other flavors include turmeric and aojiru (a kale-based health drink). Only available in Japan, but with the rise in health drinks, it might be coming Stateside in the near future. [via Trends in Japan]...
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CScout Japan D.C.-based chef Michel Richard, whose "virtual egg" made from yellow tomato (yolk) and mozzarella (white), has nothing on this bowl of "noodles" (right). The broth is actually a caramel mixture, the noodles are pudding, and the toppings are chocolates and such. If you wanna get your hands on one, you either have to live in or travel to Japan, of course, where they're available from IchiMonji. [via CScout Japan]...
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"It may look just like a waffle, but one bite is enough to tell the difference. While the outside is toasted and crispy, the inside contains a thin layer of glutinous mochi." —The Japan Times At right, a moffle maker. Place in it a thick slice of mochi, the ultra-gummy pounded rice cake popular in Japan, close the lid, and voilà: a new type of treat. Word is that moffles are selling like gangbusters in Japan. And Sanyei, the company that makes the moffle-makers, is selling out of them. But you don't need a dedicated moffle-maker—bloggers in Japan are trading tips on making them in ordinary waffle-makers. And how do you adorn it? It is also possible to make moffle...
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