A fully recreated Showa-style living room, with a modern surprise, awaits retro-seeking visitors.
There’s always that time period that people tend to romanticize, or look back upon with nostalgia-tinted glasses, and for most of Japan that period is the Showa era. To mark 100 years since the start of the Showa era, a delightfully retro celebration is being held in the Otemachi Place entertainment complex in Tokyo from December 8 to December 12, 2025, called Otemachi Timeslip 2025: Back to Those Nostalgic Days. What’s even better is that the event is completely free, so you don’t need to factor the ticket price into your budget, and it’s only a seven-minute walk away from Tokyo Station’s Marunouchi North Exit, or right next to the subway’s Otemachi Station’s A5 exit.
While the Showa period officially spans a long stretch from 1926 to 1989, Showa nostalgia in Japan tends to center around the 1960s to 1980s, when sights of rooms with tatami flooring, complete with cathode-ray televisions and wooden furniture, were frequently seen. This event offers visitors a small glimpse into the everyday scenes and textures that defined the pre-’80s Showa atmosphere.
The main highlight of the event is a fully recreated Showa-style room for guests to enjoy. However, the organizers have also included a modern twist where the television displays an image of the guest who is standing in the photo spot, for a little fusion of modern technology and retro charm. Whether you just want to snap some photos of the room from the outside, or step inside to immerse yourself in a little bubble of nostalgia, this room is a charming example of a time before more minimalistic interiors.
The event doesn’t end there, as there is another corner that displays real Showa-era items that are rarely seen today, including small juice and cigarette vending machines, enamel signs, and a vintage Tiger mechanical calculator. These artifacts will stir memories of visitors who lived through this period, as well as spark curiosity in younger and international visitors who may be encountering them for the first time.
For Japanese book lovers, on the third floor of the building, a collection of secondhand bookstores will gather to sell used books, manga, picture books, and magazine clippings from the era, which is wonderful news for all who prefer the tactile charm of printed media.
However, no nostalgic trip is complete without a taste of the past. The beloved bakery Yoshida Pan will be in attendance, offering a tempting lineup of koppe-pan, a classic bread roll that was once iconic in school lunches. From savory fillings to sweet varieties, these simple yet satisfying snacks have something for everyone.
Visitors will also be able to write and send event-exclusive New Year’s cards through a Showa-style post box, adding a little retro flourish to Japan’s customary year-end greetings Japanese people send cards to family and friends to wish them well.
Though the event runs until December 12, the photo spot will be open until December 19, so even if you can’t make it down there this week, you still have a chance to step back into history before Christmas without having to wait and rely on a ghost of the past to whisk you away back down memory lane. If your schedule still doesn’t quite line up, or you want more of that Showa-style charm, the Odaiba Retro Museum might just be right up your alley.
Event information
Otemachi Timeslip 2025 Mukashi Natsukashii Ano Koro E / OTEMACHI タイムスリップ 2025 -昔懐かしいあの頃へ-
Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Otemachi Nichome 3-ban 1-go kara 2-go 1F&3F
東京都千代田区大手町二丁目3番1号から2号 1F&3F
Event time: 11:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
Event website
Location website
Source, images: PR Times
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GQuuuuuuX kicks are ready to help you walk around in mobile suit style.
Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX isn’t just the newest Gundam anime series, nor is it merely the one with the most unintuitively pronounced title (it’s meant to be said like “G quacks”). It’s also the first creative collaboration between Sunrise, perennial production studio of the Gundam anime franchise, and Studio Khara, founded by Hideaki Anno and best known for the Rebuild of Evangelion movies.
Because of that, you could describe some aspects of GQuuuuuuX as being Gundam through an Evangelion lens, especially the mecha designs, which blend the sleek futuristic style and unnervingly organic aspects of the two. And hey, while GQuuuuuuX is out here bringing new creative partners together, why not through in a few more with some stylish Gundam GQuuuuuuX sneakers from Reebok?
Designed for Gundam fashion brand Strict-G, two models are on offer, both variants of Reebok’s Instapump Fury 94. One takes its cues from the titular Gundam GQuuuuuuX, with the bright white and bold blue, yellow, and red that’ve become the calling-card colors of the Gundam franchise’s hero mecha.
As part of the Rebok Pump family, there’s a button on the tongue that you press to inflate the shoes’ bladder parts with air for a better fit, and on the GQuuuuuuX model one of them button has a Pomeranian on it, the symbol of the faction protagonist Amate joins up with. The mecha’s Greco-alphanumerical designation, gMS-Ω, is also displayed on the side of the shoe.
▼ Ω is “omega,” just in case GQuuuuuuX wasn’t enough of a “How do you say that?” challenge.
The other sneaker model gets its design from GQuuuuuuX’s Red Gundam. This eye-catching mecha works as a visual metaphor for GQuuuuuuX’s core what-if premise, as it’s meant to show the fate of the original RX-78 Gundam had it been captured by original Mobile Suit Gundam antagonist Char and become his personal combat machine, receiving his preferred customizations and paint job in the process.
Instead of a Pomeranian, the pump button here bears the emblem of the Principality of Zeon, and gMS-α (alpha) is printed on the side.
▼ Reebok released its first Pumps in 1989, and they’ve still carry a sort of ‘80s/early ‘90s vibe, making them an appropriate pick for a partnership with GQuuuuuuX, a series that’s often tipping its hat to the past.
Both versions are priced at 27,500 yen (US$180) and officially go on sale in March, but they’re already available for preorder through the Premium Bandai online shop here between December 12 and January 25.
Source: PR Times, Premium Bandai
Top image: Premium Bandai
Insert images: PR Times, Premium Bandai
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Japanese prefecture that already has a Hello Kitty airport is getting ready for even more Sanrio cuteness.
In April, Japan’s Oita Airport renamed itself to Oita Hello Kitty Airport. This wasn’t just a silly tongue-in-cheek gesture, like when Kagawa Prefecture named a Pokémon as its new governor. The facility now really is officially called Oita Hello Kitty Airport, and it’s decked out in all sorts of Sanrio character decorations.
The original plan was for this arrangement to last for half a year, but that was obviously too short a time for an arrangement so awesomely adorable, and it’s now been extended until the end of 2025. There’s been no word yet as to whether or not another extension is going to happen, but it wouldn’t be a shock if one does since Harmonyland, the Sanrio theme park located not far from the airport, is going to be renovated and expanded into something developers are saying will be grand enough to be considered a resort.
The announcement was made on Monday in a ceremony at the Oita prefectural capital building (pictured at the top of this article) attended by Hello Kitty, Oita Governor Kiichiro Sato, and other government and Sanrio representatives.
Harmonyland, in the Oita town of Hayami, is one of two Sanrio theme parks in Japan, the other being Puroland, located in the Tama district of northern Tokyo. With Harmonyland sitting on a hillside, the renovation plan is to create the atmosphere of an amusement park in the sky. While concrete details are still being hashed out, a ropeway to ferry visitors around the vertically varied topography and an outdoor canopy to make the park more usable on days with rain or intensely strong sunshine have already been mentioned, as has a new amphitheater for stage shows and musical performances.
▼ Concept art/images for the reimagined Harmonyland
Also part of the plan is a brand-new hotel, currently under construction on a plot of land adjacent to Harmonyland, providing guests with accommodations both classy and cute, in addition to views of the park, nearby mountains, and Beppu Bay.
Speaking of Beppu, you might recall that the town of that name is one of Japan’s top onsen (hot spring) travel destinations, and Oita as a whole takes great pride in the quality of its hot springs. At the announcement ceremony for the resort, the developers said they want to create a destination where visitors can enjoy Oita’s beautiful natural scenery, food culture, hot springs, and hospitality along with Sanrio’s style of cute fun, suggesting that hot spring baths might be among the hotel’s amenities.
No timetable for the completion of the project has been set, but the overall goal for the new Puroland, the developers say, is for it to be “the kindest place in the world,” where “all visitors, regardless of age, gender, or physical characteristics can enjoy themselves.” That’s definitely a lofty goal, but a sweet one too, and if there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about being able to make friends with just about anyone, it’s Hello Kitty.
Source, images: PR Times
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These Spirited Away characters may not be able to talk, but they’ve still got seven ways to help you make a fashion statement.
When Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003, you could say it marked a turning point for anime. While the medium had long been popular in Japan and enjoyed support from pockets of enthusiasts outside its home country, Spirited Away’s Oscar win made a tremendous difference in legitimizing Japanese animation as a cinematic art among mainstream critics and audiences, ushering a new age of global respect for, and interest in, anime.
However, what we’re taking a look at today is Spirited Away and the similar capitalized New Age, as the American headwear maker has enough Spirited Away hats that you could wear a different one every day of the week.
When looking for muses to draw inspiration from within the Spirited Away cast, you can’t leave out No Face, and even if you tried to, the guy would probably just let himself into the party anyway. Embroidered at the front of the 59Fifty structured cap, No Face also looks to be helping himself to the New Era logo, having seemingly tossed it towards his mouth like yet another morsel plucked from the dinner spread laid out by the attendants in the bathhouse of the gods.
▼ Spirited Away’s Japanese-language title, Sen to Chihiro to Kamikakushi, is written in Japanese on the side of the closed back cap.
This is far from the last we’ll see of No Face in this collection, though. He takes on a bit of a sporty persona with this 9Twnety-style cap, with a patch making him look a little like a baseball team mascot.
Once again, the design features Japanese text, with abura, the first kanji in the name of the of the Aburaya bathhouse where written at the back right of the cap and “Studio Ghibli” above its opening.
If you prefer your Ghibli heroes to be a bit more dashing than an amorphous blob with a mouth in his stomach, this 9Thirty cap has Haku, in his dragon form.
The asymmetrical artwork includes a flock of with Yubaba’s sentient shikigami paper talismans giving chase.
A pair of 9Fifty caps, with structured crowns and flat brims, have No Face at the front and a collection of symbols that appear in the anime rendered in a neon sign-like motif.
No Face is looking quite a bit less docile at the back, though, where he’s seen rampaging and giving Boh and Yu-Bird a fright.
Rounding out the baseball cap collection is a 9Forty A-Frame with a structured crown, curved brim, and, most importantly, a whole bunch of Soot Sprites, or susuwatari, as the version of the creatures seen in Spirited Away are also called.
▼ The industrious little guys can be seen enjoying some konpeito candy after a hard day’s work.
And last, the final piece of headwear mixes things up with a bucket hat design that makes it look like No Face it circling around your noggin.
Prices start at 4,400 yen (US$29) for the Soot Sprite cap, with the round-emblem No Face and Haku designs 4,620 yen, the bucket hat 5,500, the black and white rampaging No Face versions 6,050, and the 59Fifty with No Face posing with his arms thrown out wide 6,600 yen.
The entire lineup is available through Studio Ghibli specialty store Donguri Kyowakoku after a recent restock, and can be ordered through the chain’s online shop here.
Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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