Princess Kako honors Japanese pioneers during Sao Paulo visit
SAO PAULO—Princess Kako arrived here on June 5 for an official visit commemorating the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Brazil.
In a gesture of remembrance, she visited Ibirapuera Park and paid her respects at a memorial site for early Japanese immigrants there.
Kako, a niece of Emperor Naruhito and the second daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko, bowed deeply and laid flowers at the monument.
According to local guides, Kako was visibly moved and remarked, 'They must have endured incredible hardships.'
Brazil is home to the largest Japanese diaspora in the world, with an estimated 2.7 million people of Japanese descent.
During her visit to the park, Kako also toured the Japanese Pavilion, a traditional wooden building donated to the city by the Japanese government and Japanese-Brazilian community in 1954.
The princess participated in a ceremonial cherry tree planting at the pavilion's garden and expressed her desire to return.
'I hope to come back during cherry blossom season,' she said.
Kako will stay in Brazil until June 15 and plans to visit Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and other destinations.
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SoraNews24
11 hours ago
- SoraNews24
Tokyo's hidden mall serves up Japan's best regional ice creams
The only thing better than a nationwide ice cream tour is doing it without leaving the city. Local specialty foods are one of Japan's many delights, giving both domestic and international tourists a reason for leaving the major cities, and exploring the less-traversed parts of the country. However, what if there were a way to enjoy what different regions have to offer without having to take up valuable time getting there in the first place? Well, that's where antenna shops come in. Antenna shops are set up by local municipalities or their affiliates in major cities to promote the region's products and culture. Lately, Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan, located right next to JR Yurakocho Station, has been trending on social media for being a hotspot of delicious regional foods, particularly now that summer is here, as the shopping mall has transformed itself into a paradise of soft serve ice cream, stocking cold and refreshing treats from all over the country. Among the various options on offer, the one that has made the biggest splash is the camembert ice cream from Joetsu Myoko Yukiguni Shoten Niigata-shoku no Kura on the first floor of the building. The Nojo Camembert Soft Serve is made with fresh milk from cows raised on Sado Island, and can only be enjoyed at this store, if you're not up to leaving Tokyo. The full-size version costs 400 yen (US$2.71), whereas the mini one costs 300 yen, but with a solid cheese flavor and milky richness, you're going to want to eat as much of this refreshingly light ice cream as you can—one full-size might not even be enough to satisfy your appetite for this perfect flavor. It is worth a visit to the store just for this ice cream alone. However, with an entire nation's worth of frozen treats to enjoy, why stop at just one variety? Right next door is the Okinawan goods store Ginza Washita Shop Honten, which has a soft-serve of its own that is similarly making its rounds on Japanese social media. From the popular Blue Seal ice cream brand comes Mango & Beni Imo Soft Serve for 440 yen, and to get it you just have to pick up a ticket for the variety you want at the back of the store. While your first thought might be that these two distinctive flavors would clash, they instead match beautifully, while also having a gorgeous appearance. The mango is fresh, fruity, and bursting with aroma, whereas the beni-imo (purple sweet potato) has a mildly sweet and gentle flavor. Despite the richness of the sweet potato, the aftertaste is incredibly refreshing. Exploring the stores around the shopping mall a little more, you'll soon discover that there's a lot more there than just ice cream, such as casdoce from Hirado in Nagasaki. In a similar fashion to French toast, casdoce is made by soaking castella in an egg mixture, before it's coated generously with coarse sugar. Heading down to the B1 floor, you'll soon discover Hirado City's antenna shop Yurakucho Hirado Shokan, where you can pick up two pieces of the snack for 540 yen. It might be overloaded with sugar, but it's not overly sweet, and is more like enjoying the flavor of a thick-rolled omelet rather than castella. Also, right next to the Niigata and Okinawa shops from earlier, you will come across the chocolate company Godiva's world-first bakery Godipan, which serves over 30 kinds of bread. So be sure to pick some up when you swing on by, perhaps alternating between breads and ice cream for an afternoon full of culinary delights. If you're looking for a perfect summer outing, without long train journeys and overbearing heat, you should pop into Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan, as not only is it just a short hop from the station, you get to send your taste buds on a nationwide tour of ice cream, staying perfectly cool in an air-conditioned indoor space. Location information: Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan / 東京交通会館 Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Yurakucho, 2-chome 10-1 東京都千代田区有楽町２丁目１０−１ Open: 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. (Joetsu Myoko Yukiguni Shoten Niigata-shoke no Kura); 10:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. (Ginza Washita Shop Honten); 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. (Yurakucho Hirado Shokan) ; 11:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. (Godiva Bakery) Website Related: Joetsu Myoko Yukiguni Shoten Niigata-shoke no Kura, Ginza Washita Shop Honten, Yurakucho Hirado Shokan, Godiva Bakery Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
SoraNews24
19 hours ago
- SoraNews24
Tokyo Station staff share their top 10 favorite ekiben
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Next time you find yourself in JR Tokyo Station and you've got a long journey ahead of you, there's no longer a need to be overwhelmed for choice with this list of top-tier lunches to sink your teeth into as the scenery whizzes on by. If you're still undecided on what to get, there's also a hand-picked list of bentos from some ekiben experts for you to choose from too. Related: Gransta Tokyo (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) Source, images: PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
Japan Today
20 hours ago
- Japan Today
Japanese omelette sushi changes the way we think about 'makizushi'
By Oona McGee, SoraNews24 You never know what you might find when strolling through a depachika ('department store basement') in Japan. These underground food halls are filled with all sorts of beautifully presented sweets, snacks, and ready-to-eat meals, and when our reporter Masanuki Sunakoma was strolling through the one at Takashimaya in Shinjuku the other day, he came across something he'd never seen before. ▼ There, next to some beautiful dashimaki (Japanese rolled omelettes), was a lineup of Dashimaki Futomaki. Futomaki literally means 'fat rolled sushi' as it's thicker than a typical maki roll. They usually contain a variety of colorful fillings, but the Dashimaki Futomaki keeps things simple with yolk-hued presentation… ▼ … and a huge slice of omelette inside each serving. This unusual roll comes from Kappo Sushi Kisaragi, a popular restaurant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. A pack of four costs 1,080 yen, with each slice presented beautifully, showing the craftsmanship involved in its simplicity. Staff at the store explained to Masanuki that these futomaki are made with rice that tastes good even when cold, early-harvested seaweed with a rich aroma, and soft, fluffy dashimaki with a deep yolk color and rich flavor, and every last detail has been tuned to perfection by skilled artisans. ▼ Each omelette is hand-cooked for a perfect finish and fragrant, delicious flavor. When Masanuki held the sushi up to the light with chopsticks, he could see how the whiteness of the rice and the darkness of the seaweed framed the main actor, the egg, even more brilliantly. The dashimaki was densely packed yet moist and fluffy. It wasn't just the texture that captivated his senses but the flavor too — the moist, vinegared rice was perfect, acting as a delicious base for the elegantly balanced dashimaki flavors to seduce his palate. The satisfaction he felt from just a single piece of sushi was outstanding. The harmonious contrast between ingredients was a testament to the professional techniques behind its creation, and the moderate acidity of the vinegared rice kept the aftertaste light so he could easily finish the entire box. If you're on the hunt for an unusual sushi that tastes as astounding as it looks, then this is something you have to try next time you find yourself in the underground paradise of a Japanese depachika. Photos ©SoraNews24 Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- We eat a canned omelette from a Japanese vending machine and hope for the best -- Supermarket sushi becomes a hot topic with foreigners on Reddit, but is it any good? -- Can you make a proper ehomaki lucky sushi roll with Daiso equipment? External Link © SoraNews24
