TOKYO, May 18 – It looks exactly like a box of tobacco, but it’s not. It’s “chabacco”- a box of powdered Japanese tea leaves, and its sales in vending machines have just been launched in Tokyo Station. Each box is beautifully designed with the motifs of tea plantations, Mt. Fuji, and tea-picking ladies, for example. One box contains a total of eight sticks of powdered tea leaves in variety such as fukamushi deep steamed green tea and roasted bancha tea. It costs 500 yen per box. The chabacco vending machines were placed on May 14 in Gransta in-station shopping and dining area in Tokyo Station ahead of the World No … Continue reading →

FUKUSHIMA, May 14 – A maze of rape blossoms, created on a farmland in the Kaihama district of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, is attracting visitors from outside the region. Takayuki Ueno, a 45-year-old local farmer, borrowed a farmland damaged by the tsunami and has been cultivating rapeseed and soybeans. Every year since 2013, he has been making the field open to the public after the blossoms bloom in late April in hopes of offering a place for children to enjoy. Some 10,000 people, including families with children, visit the place every year. This year, he created two mazes of rape blossoms on a 2.2-hectare … Continue reading →

FUKUOKA, May 13 — If you’re looking for Mother’s Day gift ideas, give a heart-shaped watermelon. Heart-shaped watermelons appeared for Mother’s Day display at Iwataya Department Store in Fukuoka’s busy shopping district. One heart-shaped watermelon prices at 10,800 yen ($98). The department store sells some 20 pieces every year.