Princess Kako Attends Welcome Ceremony in Brazil; Greeted with Japanese Music, Dance Performance
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Princess Kako interacts with Japanese Brazilians in Maringa, Brazil, on Sunday.
MARINGA, Brazil – Princess Kako, the second daughter of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, attended a welcome ceremony held by a Japanese Brazilian organization in Maringa, Brazil, on Sunday after traveling by air from Sao Paulo.
Princess Kako touched on the history of Japanese people who emigrated to Brazil, saying, 'I thought about the difficult journey taken by your ancestors, and I carry in my heart the history of Japanese Brazilians.'
Fourth-generation Japanese Brazilian children performed wadaiko Japanese drum music and soran-bushi dance at the ceremony. 'I could feel your energy,' Princess Kako said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
SoraNews24
2 hours ago
- SoraNews24
AR sport Hado added to Shizuoka high school curriculum
Shoot fireballs for your health! It's been said that sports participation in Japanese schools has been on a steady decline in recent years. It would seem that tossing the old ball around and climbing ropes has taken a backseat to tossing grenades and climbing rusty ladders out of the stygian depths of a demon-infested video game underworld. There's also the tendency for sports to ostracize those with less physical strength and coordination, making it a traumatic and depressing ordeal for some. So, in an effort to make sports both more inclusive and glitzier, Shizuoka Nishi High School in Shizuoka City has become the latest to adopt the AR sport of Hado into their physical education curriculum this June. ▼ Welcome to Hado Hado is brought to us by Meleap Inc., whose CEO Hiroshi Fukuda always wanted to shoot fireballs from his arms as seen in video games and TV. In the sport, players wear an AR visor and wrist terminal and get into teams of three before taking the court. When the battle begins, one arm is used to shoot fireballs and can be charged by holding it up. The other arm can be raised to also raise a shield and is charged by keeping it down. Through their visors, each player can see a ring divided into four segments in front of all the other players. Points are awarded for each segment hit and the team with the most points after 80 seconds wins. Also, before playing, everyone can use their arm terminal to set their stats. You are allowed to allot up to 10 points across four skill: Bullet Speed, Bullet Size, Charging Speed, and Number of Shields that can be deployed at one time. This allows players to augment their own natural ability during games either by balancing them or enhancing existing strong points. Playing in this way lets students enjoy a more level playing field so kids of all shapes and sizes can compete together while still getting a lot of exercise and eye-hand coordination practice. Hado is currently played in 100 schools in Japan and 300 around the world. Adults also play the game and the Hado World Cup was held in Shanghai, China on 24 May. The entire event was streamed online and can still be viewed on YouTube, so I won't spoil it by saying which of the 18 participating countries won if you want to watch it. Of course, it's also possible to go full AR game with Hado and still get some exercise in. Team-based games like Hado Monster Battle let you and your friends work together to take out a giant beast with your fireball-throwing skills. I have to say, it makes me a little jealous that kids today can do this in gym class when all we had when I was their age was a parachute… Aw, who am I kidding? The parachute was awesome, but this is really cool too. Source: PR Times, Hado Featured image: PR Times Insert images: PR Tines, Hado ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
SoraNews24
9 hours ago
- SoraNews24
Ponyo-catching game comes to Ghibli Park anime theme park this summer
Ghibli Park gives you a chance to experience a traditional Japanese summer festival and to take home multiple Ponyos if you've got the right skills. Japan's summer festivals are somewhat like county fairs in the U.S. At both types of events there are fireworks, street food stalls, and carnival games. Of course, once you get down to the finer details, there are plenty of differences, too. You won't find fireworks shaped like anime character Doraemon or stands selling takoyaki (octopus dumplings) in America, for example, and also unique to Japanese festival are kingyo sukui (goldfish catching) booths. Kingyo sukui is a game in which you purchase a paper net and use it to scoop goldfish into a bowl. Any fish you scoop in are yours to take home as new pets, but the paper is thin and tears easily, so it takes a deft, delicate touch to catch any. This summer, though, Ghibli Park, the theme park in Aichi Prefecture dedicated to the anime films of Studio Ghibli, is putting its own spin on kingyo sukui by inviting you to catch not goldfish, but fish girl Ponyo, star of the Ghibli anime of the same name. Technically, this is what's called super ball sukui, a kingyo sukui variant where instead of scooping up live fish, players use their net to capture little high-bounce rubber balls. The rules are the same: you keep scooping until your net breaks, and take home whatever you can get into your bowl. Some people ever prefer super ball sukui to kingyo sukui, since the latter means you've got living creatures you'll now need to take care of, and also puts pressure on you to get home quickly and find a proper aquarium for your new pets, since goldfish are given to winners in a plastic bag filled with water. So instead of those worries and responsibilities, Ghibli Park's Ponyo super balls have either a little figure of the character inside the ball, or a piece of artwork from the movie. Either way it's a fun way to experience a fun bit of traditional Japanese culture first-hand, and it's especially nice if you're visiting Japan from overseas, since you wouldn't be able to take any kingyo sukui-won fish back with you across internatipnal borders on your flight home. Ponyo doesn't have her own dedicated section of Ghibli Park, so instead the Ponyo-catching game (which costs 500 yen [US$3.45] per play) will be set up in Dondoko Forest, the same part of the park as sisters Mei and Satsuki's house. The game booth will be open from July 19 to August 31, but you might want to consider timing your visit for August, because for that month Ghibli Park's screening room will be showing the Hayao Miyazaki-directed anime short The Whale Hunt. ▼ Don't worry, The Whale Hunt is a cuter, happier movie than the title might have you imagining. An August visit to Ghibli Park will also still allow you to take part in another summer activity at the park, making kinako, a roasted soybean powder used in many Japanese sweets, the old-fashioned way, and, if you go on one of three special dates, you'll also get a rare opportunity to experience Ghibli Park after sundown. Source: PR Times Top image: Studio Ghibli Insert images: Pakutaso, PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
SoraNews24
12 hours ago
- SoraNews24
Shinkansen coffee and ice cream vending machines make train travel in Japan magical
Bullet train blends you won't get anywhere else. For a lot of Japanese travellers, a ride on the Shinkansen bullet train is synonymous with ice cream, specifically Sujata ice cream. Our reporter Mr Sato is one such traveller, who says he just doesn't feel like he's on the Shinkansen unless he eats it, which is a bit of a problem as in-car sales stopped in 2021, making it more difficult to get. So when he found himself up early for a trip to Nagoya on the Shinkansen recently, he was thrilled to see a vending machine on the platform that was selling his beloved ice cream…in more than one flavour. ▼ Vanilla, Strawberry, Belgian Chocolate and Shine Muscat Grape. These were little tubs of joy for Mr Sato, and after a moment's deliberation, he decided to order the chocolate variety for 420 yen (US$2.94). ▼ The ice cream is so famous it's simply known as '新幹線アイスクリーム' ('Shinkansen Ice Cream') ▼ Within an instant, his ice cream popped out into the chute, and he noticed there was something else in there too… ▼ … a bunch of spoons. Grabbing a wooden spoon, he was just about to turn on his heel and head to the queue for his carriage when he spotted another vending machine beside it. This one contained… ▼ … Shinkansen Coffee! This was something he'd never seen before so he wasn't going to miss the chance to try it, especially when he stepped close to the machine and saw it had a choice of blends, each one named after one of the three Shinkansen that stop at this platform. ▼ The Shinkansen Kodama Blend is said to have a soft acidity, while the Hikari has a gentle bitterness and the Nozomi, the fastest train of the three, features a rich bitterness. ▼ Plus, there was an extra surprise — the Doctor Yellow Blend, named after the elusive, bright yellow inspection bullet train. Due to its rarity, spotting a Doctor Yellow is said to be a sign of good luck so that's the coffee Mr Sato went for, hoping it might give him some fortune. Available in a 'Big Size' for 500 yen, the beans for this blend are medium roasted, like the others, but with a strong acidity as their main feature. After pressing the button for his coffee, the brewing process was displayed on the screen at the top of the machine, giving it a nice, live feel. As he waited, he felt a sense of warmth and care from the sign that alerted customers to the possible 95-second wait time, preventing them from missing their train. Sure enough, after about 95 seconds, his Doctor Yellow Blend was served. The cup even had a yellow design around it to signify the special train, which was a very cute touch. With his ice cream and coffee, Mr Sato was a very happy passenger as he slid into his seat on the train. Lifting the lid on his coffee, it had a fantastic aroma, and when he took a sip he found it had a pronounced acidity, just as the flavour chart had indicated. Personally, he would've preferred a stronger bitterness, but for a vending machine coffee, it was incredibly good. Now it was time to dig into the ice cream… literally. You see, this ice cream is renowned for being incredibly hard — spoons have been known to get stuck in the tub, failing to retrieve ice cream as they should — earning it the nickname 'Shinkansen Sugoi Katai Ice' (Super Hard Shinkansen Ice Cream). The struggle to eat the hard ice cream has long been part of its appeal, but this time, Mr Sato found it was rather easy to dig into. According to the manufacturer, the Sujata vending machines can only reach a low of -25 degrees Celsius (-13 degrees Fahrenheit), so the ice creams aren't as rock-hard as they once were. Although the ice cream may no longer be firm enough to make it from Tokyo to Nagoya without melting, it still tasted fantastic, especially when paired with the bitter coffee, and he was glad he bought both of them. The machines can be found at platforms 14 and 15, 16 and 17, and 18 and 19 at Tokyo Station, and Mr Sato highly recommends trying them if you can. He says they're wonderful travel companions. 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 ]
