Twentythree

Desperate times…

The declining population issue in Japan has long been discussed with several eventual doomsday scenarios brought up, from an entire country of people named “Sato” to a more recent study suggesting that upwards of 40 percent of local governments are at risk of going extinct in the next few decades.

And yet, we’ve seen very little in the form of tangible solutions to boost the birthrate, namely alleviating the crippling economic and social factors that make having a kid far less attractive than just traveling or hanging out and playing PlayStation in what little free time people have.

While discussing the issues at a press conference on 25 April, Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura of Osaka Prefecture threw out a novel idea that people didn’t seem ready to hear. He suggested giving everyone the right to vote regardless of age, meaning that even a newborn baby would have a valid vote in elections despite not even knowing what their feet are used for.

▼ A baby twenty seconds into a lecture on how to detect gerrymandering

The idea appeared more as if Yoshimura was spitballing than declaring any concrete plans for election reform, but it drew a lot of criticism from comments online.

“He’s not making sense. I think the Expo is breaking his mind.”
“If I was a reporter I’d ask if it’s OK to pull kids from orphanages for their votes.”
“If children were given the right to vote, some parents would be easily brainwashed into voting for dangerous parties.”
“That’s not a simple policy change. It would be a constitutional amendment.”
“Of course, because Ishin [Yoshimura’s party] is so good at duping the child-rearing generation, they can get more votes.”
“They should cut off voting rights at 75 instead.”
“I don’t think children should have the right to vote, because they can be bullied or pressured by their teachers.”

What Yoshimura was suggesting is called “Demeny voting”, after Hungarian Paul Demeny who popularized the idea in recent years. The core concept is that kids under the conventional voting age could have their votes deferred to their parents, in essence giving a parent an additional vote per child under the voting age. Granted, purists would call this incredibly undemocratic but it does address a crucial problem head-on.

As the birthrate declines so too does the population of parents which in turn makes them less powerful as a voting demographic. As they continue to shrink in numbers, politicians will grow less interested in attending to their needs, thus moving us farther away from any policy that might improve the overall situation.

From a purely pragmatic view, Demeny voting makes sense, and there are other benefits of offering the chance to vote to people at a younger age by making them more aware and interested in the political system so they don’t grow into apathetic voters as adults.

▼ So, by applying the Schwartzberg Measure when changes occur in the electoral dis… Hey! This is important!

On the other hand, there’s also a whole can of worms in terms of practical issues like who gets the vote when each parent supports different candidates, what happens when parents divorce and remarry, and if non-citizens suddenly get to vote if their children are citizens.

Issues like these, and the fact that most people seem to utterly loathe the idea in general, suggest it may never happen in Japan. Still, it’s a lot better to see people in positions of power thinking big rather than churning out half-measures like dating apps and government-mandated nagging that don’t tackle the underlying problems.

Source: Kyodo, Hachima Kiko
Featured image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso 1, 2
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Masahiro Sakurai’s snack time draws comparison to 19th century painting.

“Likes video games” seems like a pretty standard trait for people who work in the industry, but even by that metric, Masahiro Sakurai is known for his purehearted love for the medium. As director and designer of the Super Smash Bros. crossover fighting series, Sakurai has had ample opportunities to showcase his admiration for a huge number of video game franchises, but it’s clear that he has an especially soft spot for cuddly character Kirby.

Kirby was actually created by Sakurai, who gave him a starring role in the story mode of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and to this day fans commonly refer to Kirby as “Sakurai’s son.” So usually it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise for some Kirby-related content to show up in Sakurai’s Twitter posts…but this recent one is still pretty shocking.

ほ あ あ あ あ あ あ あ あ あ ! pic.twitter.com/yhbaI6HY0h

— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) April 24, 2024

“Hoaaaaaaa!” tweets Sakurai along with the photo of him stabbing Kirby in the face. However, this isn’t a case of a creator snapping after succumbing to feelings of resentment towards their work. No, it’s just Sakurai having a snack.

▼ “OK, it’s snack time…”

さあ､おやつの時間だ… pic.twitter.com/dI6eziz1iS

— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) April 24, 2024

In honor of Kirby’s “birthday” on April 27 (the day on which the very first Kirby game was released in Japan back in 1992), Japanese convenience store Family Mart is now selling special Kirby sweets. Called Kirby Manmaruyaki, they’re basically a variation on imagawayaki, a traditional Japanese dessert that consists of a hockey puck-shaped grilled cake filled with an (sweet bean paste).

▼ The Kirby Manmaruyaki are produced by Bandai Namco and sold exclusively at Family Mart, making them, like Smash Bros., a multi-company crossover project.

Imagawayaki tend to be pretty solid in terms of flavor consistency. It’s a simple recipe that’s been around for generations, so they’re almost always delicious, and so for most people the transition from “see imagawayaki” to “eat imagawayaki” is natural and seamless. Seeing Sakurai about to chow down on Kirby, especially using a fork even though imagawayaki is generally a finger food, had other Twitter users leaving comments like:

“You’re gonna cut up that adorable-looking Kirby?”
“He’s too cute to eat.”
“Kirby looks so terrified.”
“Now the eater becomes the eaten…”
“Kirby is being devoured by his creator.”

One particularly cultured fan reacted with an image of 19th century Spanish painter Francisco Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son.

pic.twitter.com/tklwZ0QXPy

— 西洋かぶれ (@geragera535) April 24, 2024

Honestly, though, it’s hard to think of a video game character who’d be more understanding of your decision to eat them than Kirby, who’s made that the core element of his franchise’s gameplay for more than three decades. If you’re ready to follow in Sakurai’s snack choice footsteps, the Kirby Manmaruyaki is available at Family Mart branches nationwide for 230 yen (US$1.50). Unfortunately, if you’re wondering where you can buy Sakurai’s stylish fork, that remains a mystery, as does where you can buy his couch.

Source: Twitter/@Sora_Sakurai via Jin
Images: @Press
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Newly released design shows how the former station building will blend into a more modern landscape.

It was a sad day back in March 2020 when Harajuku Station’s iconic building was dismantled and taken away, replaced with a larger and more modern complex that may have been more amenable to the growing crowds that led to its dismantlement but has far less charm than the original 1924 building, which was the oldest wooden station building in Tokyo.

▼ The old structure had beautiful design features, including half-timbered construction, a spire, and a wooden signboard that read “原宿駅” (“Harajuku Station”).

It was yet another case of the new replacing the old in Tokyo, but now East Japan Railway Company (JR east) has made the exciting announcement that the original station building will be returning as part of a new development project. The company says that because it had stored the materials from the old building after it was dismantled, it is now able to take those materials out of storage and use them to recreate the building, only this time it will act as the centrepiece for a new commercial facility on the north side of the new station.

▼ Today’s Harajuku Station on the left, with the old building and new complex on the right.

The new complex, which consists of a basement level and four levels above it, will stretch across a site of 1,170 square metres (0.1 hectares). The development is based around the concept of “connecting with time, town and culture“, and aims to become a new symbol of Harajuku by honouring its past and present heritage.

While it’s yet to be seen whether the old station will appear in its exact original state, JR East says it aims to reuse as much of the old materials as possible, while ensuring the components conform to current laws and regulations. The construction is set to to take place in the eight months from from May to December 2026, with the opening of the commercial facility scheduled for the winter of 2026.

Source: East Japan Railway Company
Featured image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso, East Japan Railway Company
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But don’t worry, these Kaeruyaki are a sweet treat that’s less intimidating than they sound.

In March, Ghibli Park, the Nagoya-area theme park dedicated to the anime films of Studio Ghibli, opened its final area, called Valley of Witches and with attractions inspired by Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Earwig and the Witch. Except, with the involvement of a group as imaginative as Ghibli, the creative process is never really over, and there’ll always be new things to make a visit to the park special.

The latest of those? “Grilled Frogs.”

たい焼きならぬ「カエル焼き」登場。アンコをぎっしり詰めて、一匹ずつ丁寧に焼いています。「魔女の谷」のレストラン「空飛ぶオーブン」横の屋台で、本日から販売しています。あいにくの天気ですが、晴れていれば屋上庭園で頬張るのもよいですね。営業は10時30分から15時。（なくなり次第終了） pic.twitter.com/ar1SpFEvyp

— ジブリパーク GHIBLI PARK (@ghibliparkjp) April 24, 2024

These unique-looking morsels are being cooked up at a cart located next to the Flying Oven restaurant in the Valley of Witches section of the park. They’re certainly photogenic little critters, as shown in the announcement tweet from Ghibli Park’s official account.

Now, if you’re thinking you can’t recall seeing frog on the menu at any of the Japanese restaurants you’ve eaten at, your hunch is correct – frogs aren’t commonly eaten in Japan. And while the treats in Ghibli Park’s tweet may look like frogs, they contain no amphibian meat, but are actually stuffed with anko, sweet red bean paste.

Ghibli Park calls them Kaeruyaki (kaeru meaning “frog” and yaki meaning “grill” or “roast”), a play on words with taiyaki, the traditional Japanese dessert of grilled cakes of pancake-like batter made in the shape of a tai, or sea bream.

Ghibli Park hasn’t said why they decided to make frog-shaped taiyaki, but selling them in the Valley of Witches feels like a nod to fairytales and folklore about frogs being used as ingredients in witches’ brews and other magical ingestibles.

▼ We suppose there’s an off-chance that it’s based on the frog character from Spirited Away, but since his name is Aogaeru, it seems like they’d call the sweets Aogaeruyaki if he was the direct inspiration.

It’s possible that there’s a little wordplay at work in the Kaeruyaki’s name too, since depending on the kanji characters used to write it, kaeru can mean either “frog” or “come home/return.” Because of that, frogs are sometimes seen as symbols of good luck in Japan, ensuring a safe return journey, and with Ghibli Park regularly welcoming guests from around the world, it’s a kindhearted sentiment, and delivering that message in the form of something sweet to eat is a combo that’s hard to beat.

Source: Twitter/@ghibliparkjp
Images: Studio Ghibli
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Walking a bunch of papers down the street on a windy day. What could go wrong?

The Aichi prefectural government has issued an official apology for improper handling of the personal data of 121 resident households. The incident took place on April 19 and involved data pertaining to residents of government assisted housing at four buildings under the jurisdiction of the Prefectural Public Housing Division.

However, the data was neither leaked by an unscrupulous worker nor stolen by hackers. Instead it was taken by the wind.

As part of the regular administration of the government housing program, data needed to be transferred from a public corporation office to the Aichi prefectural government capital building in Nagoya. Unfortunately, this data was stored on physical media, which, as we’ve seen before, can cause problems for Japanese government agencies. There was the time, for example, when the Tokyo police department lost citizens’ data that they’d stored on floppy discs, or that other time when a city employee in Hyogo Prefecture got drunk, passed out, and lost a USB memory stick with residents’ personal information on it.

The Aichi government’s blunder was even more old-school, however, as it was carrying out its data transfer by physically transporting 1,696 pieces of paper, placed inside a cardboard box. What’s more, they upped the degree of difficulty by opting to transport the box in a handcart and having someone walk it over, out on the streets, to its destination, instead of driving it over. Oh, and they decided to do this on a day with strong winds.

The silent-era comedy movie setup was, it seems, too much for fate to resist. Before the public corporation employee who was pushing the cart reached the capital building, the cart tipped over and the box opened up as it tumbled out. Though the worker attempted to grab the documents, two hands aren’t nearly enough to snatch 1,696 papers, and many blew away. The search for scattered documents continued until sunset, at which point the Aichi government began contacting affected residents to inform them of the data leak/blow-away. The search continued for two more days, but without all of the documents being recovered.

According to the statement from the Aichi government, the documents included the government housing residents’ names (the leaseholder, in the case of families) and “rent” for the month of April, ostensibly referring to written records of the amount residents paid, since no mention has been made of cash being lost in the incident.

No improper use of the lost data has been discovered at this time, and in addition to issuing an apology the Aichi prefectural government says it plans to switch to digital records for this part of housing administration process, which will allow them to transfer data without any weather or cart balance concerns.

Source: Yomiuri Shimbun via Livedoor News via Jin, Chunichi Shimbun, Aichi Prefectural Government
Top image: Pakutaso
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Such an odd encounter that we’re hoping it was a YouTube prank. 

Visiting a foreign country can be an unsettling experience, especially when you’re in a place like Japan, where a lot of the signage is written in kanji characters and most of the locals only speak Japanese. Our reporter Seiji Nakazawa, who’s travelled the world on his own, is acutely aware of the difficulties people can encounter on a trip abroad, and so whenever he sees a foreign visitor in Japan who looks a little lost, he’s always quick to step in and offer as much help as possible.

The troubles he’s usually assisted with are mostly related to directions or sometimes advice in a convenience store, where one person pointed at a product and asked him if it contained fish. However, the other day, a foreigner approached him with a request he’s never encountered before, and it shook him so much he can’t stop thinking about it.

The encounter occurred at around 10 a.m. in a sparsely crowded area of Shibuya in Tokyo. The person approached him in English, but Seiji was so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he can’t recall whether they began with something like “Hi” or “Excuse me”. Either way, it was clear they were talking to him, and when Seiji made eye contact with the individual, he realised it was a Western-looking man.

He was a lanky man of medium build, wearing sunglasses and carrying a backpack, and he had a casual, sporty vibe to him, with slight stubble on his chin and the look of a backpacker. Seiji was ready to give him directions, or something similar, but the request for assistance was nothing of the sort. Instead, the foreigner wanted to know…

▼ …”Is there any place where I can stay on the cheap?“

He went on to say, “I don’t mind a place like a karaoke bar, if it’s cheap.” Seiji blinked as he attempted to process what was going on. First of all, he’d never had anyone approach him requesting accommodation information before, and secondly, where could this man stay on the cheap in a place as popular and central as Shibuya? Even karaoke bars in the area can charge a lot for a night, so perhaps a manga cafe would be cheaper, but in order to give him a good answer, Seiji would have to do a whole lot of research as it wasn’t something he could recommend off the top of his head in an instant.

▼ An 11-hour stay from 6 p.m.-5 a.m. at this karaoke joint costs 770 yen (US$4.95) on a weekday, but would that be cheap enough?

Seiji decided to give him the best advice he could in the moment, saying, “Maybe a manga cafe?” But then he was faced with more questions: “How much does a manga cafe cost? Can I stay there for the night?”

Before Seiji could say anything, the man thrust out his hand, saying, “This is all the money I have right now.” When Seiji looked at the man’s upturned palm, he saw he was holding about 660 yen (US$4.26) in his hand.

“Are you kidding?” Seiji felt like saying, because even a local like himself wouldn’t know where to stay for 660 yen. Super cheap accommodation would be closer to 1,000 yen per night, and Seiji began to feel concerned about where the man had stayed the previous night and where he would stay tomorrow, if this was all the money in his possession.

Seiji asked him where he would stay the following night, and the man said “Things will be resolved tomorrow“, which only threw up even more question marks in Seiji’s head. Still, he wanted to help the stranger, so Seiji took out his smartphone and attempted to run a search for cheap places to stay.

However, being a man on a tight budget himself, Seiji has the cheapest smartphone plan, which means loading pages takes forever and that’s what happened now, with his search results failing to load. As he struggled with his phone, Seiji asked, “Do you live here?” and the man replied: “Yes, but I just arrived recently so I don’t know much about things.”

This is where Seiji began to get the feeling that what the man really wanted to hear was an offer along the lines of “Would you like to stay at my house?” After all, with just 660 yen in his possession, it would be impossible for this man to stay anywhere really, and the best option would be for him to stay somewhere for free, especially if he wanted something to eat as well.

▼ An oversized locker in the area costs 600 yen on its own, so an overnight stay for that amount is like a pipe dream.

Seiji knows what it’s like to be down and out so he wanted to help the man out as much as possible, but he still had to consider his gut instinct, which was telling him there was something fishy about this man’s request.

Turning the tables around, if Seiji were to approach a stranger in a Western country with the same request, only in Japanese to show he was totally out of his depth, he wouldn’t be surprised if the person he approached offered him a free stay at their house, which made Seiji think this is what the stranger was hoping for. But then again, Seiji couldn’t shake the feeling that this might be some sort of YouTube prank, where the individual sets out to test people to see if they will eventually invite him back to their place to stay.

In the end, the stranger just kept repeating, “I have no money” and didn’t directly ask Seiji to stay the night with him, so with no good recommendations to give him, Seiji figured there was nothing else he could do except bid him goodbye. While he hopes the stranger will be okay, he was glad to end the exchange, as it made him feel uncomfortable and slightly unsafe, but Seiji found himself thinking about the encounter for a long time afterwards.

Though he’s had encounters with homeless Japanese people asking for money or assistance, this was Seiji’s first time to encounter a down-and-out foreigner. He didn’t know whether to feel sorry for the man, if it was a genuine case of money troubles, or angry at him, which Seiji would be if it was all a prank. Either way, it made Seiji feel sad for the state of society, where the proliferation of pranksters on YouTube, especially foreigners visiting Japan, makes locals wary of people’s motives, and the rising costs of living makes getting by harder for everyone on the daily.

Whatever, the case, he hopes he doesn’t experience this type of encounter ever again, but now he’s wondering…is this something anybody else has experienced in Japan? He’s intrigued to find out, so if you have any stories to share, please sound off in the comments section below!

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Unusual tempura takes this meal into weird territory.

Lovers of udon will tell you there’s one reasonably priced chain that never disappoints, and the name of that chain is Marugame Seimen. With branches around Japan and even overseas, Marugame Seimen is always looking to take noodles into new and unchartered territories, but their latest creation pushes the boat so far out it’s given rise to a love-it-or-hate-it dish.

The fusion dish is called Rich Cheese and Egg Carbonara Udon, and while that might not sound so surprising at first — noodles and pasta are both made from wheat so it’s not unreasonable to think they can be used interchangeably — looking at the meal will make you do a double take.

▼ The Carbonara Udon is priced at 790 yen (US$5.10).

What’s got people talking is the long piece of tempura inside the bowl, which you wouldn’t normally see in a carbonara. While Marugame Seimen has a wide selection of tempura for diners to add to their meals, they don’t usually serve this particular tempura either, because this is…

▼…bacon tempura.

A slice of deep-fried bacon is an ingredient that will ignite the ire of pasta lovers and noodle purists alike, so we couldn’t resist trying it for ourselves.

▼ It’s not just the bacon tempura that’s unusual — the dish contains kakiage (vegetable tempura) as well.

From the top, it looked like the tempura was the star of the show, but in actual fact, when we tasted it, the cheese and cream sauce was the real hero of the dish.

▼ The runny egg came in third as our favourite ingredient after the cream and melted cheese.

Meiji’s Hokkaido Tokachi Cheese is the type used in the dish, and it melts beautifully in the heat of the broth, imparting a rich and creamy flavour. In fact, it tasted so much like a Western-style carbonara that we ended up adding some soy sauce to bring the flavour over to the Japanese side, to create a better balance with the tempura.

▼ The tempura bacon was weird at first but then tasty, proving anything tastes great when it’s deep fried.

It was an odd combination of ingredients, but because we love cream and cheese as much as we love tempura, we thought this was a fantastic dish. It’s a flavour that people will either love or hate, though, so if you’re willing to take that leap into the unknown and find out which side of the divide you land on, you’ll want to stop by a participating branch, where it’s on the menu for a limited time.

Related: Marugame Udon
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