Test body

Test body

Bathhouse just north of Tokyo provides rubber Psyduckies, Ditto sauna stones, and other sights and scents to soothe tired Trainers. The focus of the Pokémon Sleep mobile game/wellness app is, of course, promoting good sleep habits, but that’s all in the service of helping people feel good both mentally and physically. In that sense, Pokémon Sleep shares the same goals as hot spring baths and saunas, which brings us to a collaboration between the game and Japan’s Yunoi Soka Health Center bathhouse. On Wednesday, Yunoi Soka, as we’ll call it for short, kicked off its Sauna and Sleep event. Inspired by data from Pokémon Sleep players showing that they experienced deeper, more restful sleep by having a sauna session before hitting the sack, Sauna and Sleep brings a bunch of Pokémon touches to the facility’s interior design. Artwork and posters of snoozing Pocket Monsters can be found throughout the building, including a pair of Pikachu noren cloth curtains that you’ll pass through on your way to the men’s or women’s baths. ▼ And yes, the Pikachu on the women’s bath noren is a girl, which you can tell from the heart-shaped tip of its tail. Posters showing Pokémon scrubbing before their soak in the tub are in place, as is a giant illustration of Snorlax, the Pokémon who catches the most Zs of all. Instead of rubber duckies, some of the baths have rubber Psyduck(ies)… …and Snorlax shows up again in the wash buckets. During the event, Yunoi Soka’s sauna rooms will lay out Poké Ball-style mats to lounge on, as well as sauna stones shaped like Geodude and Ditto. Two special sauna scents have been created for the event, inspired by the Greengrass Isle and Cyan Beach locations from the Pokémon Sleep game. Yunio Soka Health Center is located in the town of Soka, Saitama Prefecture, which doesn’t get a lot of tourism traffic. However, the town is direct neighbors with Tokyo, so getting there from the capital is pretty easy. From Tokyo’s Oshiage Station, where the Skytree is located, it’s just a 20-minute train ride to Soka Station, and from there you can hop on a free shuttle bus that’ll whisk you to the bathhouse in 12 minutes. The Pokémon Sleep Sleep and Sauna collaboration is scheduled to run until December 17. Location information Yunoi Soka Health Center / 湯乃泉草加健康センター Address: Saitama-ken, Soka-shi, Kitaya 2-23-23 埼玉県草加市北谷2-23-23 Open 10 a.m.-8 a.m. Website Source, images: PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

We need to tell you to take a look before the new slang of today outruns us all… eh ho eh ho… As you advance in years, it is easy to start marveling at how the world keeps changing, from technology to popular culture. Perhaps one of the most rapidly evolving things is language, with new generations utilizing words in different ways to those in the past, or inventing completely new words. That does mean, however, that it is easy to get shipwrecked by the neverending waves of change, and be left bewildered by the barrages of “rizz”, “skibidi”, and “cap”. The Japanese language also sees constant evolution, with new words and phrases appearing frequently. Releasing a summary of the year’s newly-coined terms, along with their origins and uses, is an annual tradition of publisher Jiyukokuminsha, which is great for anyone who is left wondering about why so many kids are talking about Labubu and Myaku-Myaku (the Osaka-Kansai Expo mascot) in what is known as The Year Book of the Contemporary Society. Earlier this month, the latest installment of the series for the year 2026 was released, bringing with it a list of 30 different words that have been nominated for entry to the Shingo Ryukogo Taisho (New Words and Buzzwords Awards), with the top word set to be decided at the start of December. Let’s take a look at a selection of five of our favorite ones for this year. 1. Eh Ho Eh Ho / エッホエッホ This phrase originates from a photo of a running baby barn owl by Dutch photographer Hannie Heere, which when people saw it, conjured up an image of the owl saying “Eh ho eh ho” as it runs, as if it is huffing and puffing. Starting off on Twitter, it then became viral on TikTok as people paired it up with marching animations and comedic clips, usually in the form of “Eh ho eh ho.. I have to tell everyone that [a little piece of trivia].” This trivia can sometimes be something well known, which adds to the comedic value that this little owl is desperately running to tell everyone something that they already know. ▼ In this clip they are saying they need to tell people the beloved children’s character Anpanman’s head is filled with tsubu-an (coarse red bean paste), which is a fact that anybody who knows about the character is likely to know. View this post on Instagram 2. Otetsutabi / おてつたび The term otetsutabi refers to a short-term holiday service that is recently growing in popularity among young people and on social media. It combines the two words of otetsudai (“help” or “assist”) and tabi (“journey”) and refers to a program where travelers will temporarily work for a local business in a rural area, usually for two to seven days. In exchange for the help they provide, the traveler will receive a wage, accommodation, and opportunities to meet locals and experience the area, while still getting time to explore and sightsee around the region. Included activities could be assisting at a farm, helping out in travel accommodations or other tourism facilities, or seasonal work like fruit picking and snow-related tourism assistance. This idea of otetsutabi is not limited to Japanese nationals, but seeing as participants are receiving money, even if it is just for a couple of days, a valid work or working-holiday visa is required. 3. Bijyu ii jan / ビジュイイじゃん Bijyu ii jan is a line from the idol group M!LK’s song titled “Ii jan”. Bijyu ii jan essentially means “Your visuals look great, don’t they?”, and the phrase became popular due to the catchy impact of a dramatically modulated section of the song. Recently, people have been using it to compliment others’ appearances, which is most probably meant literally rather than the image that I get from the music video in that “you look great, but it’s certainly a little… different between that and what you normally would opt for.” ▼ The line features around 1:14, but the video is best viewed from the start for the shock factor of the transition. 4. Ni ki / 二季 Ni ki, or “two seasons”, is something that has been cropping up more frequently in social commentary these days, referring to how the extreme seasonal weather shifts have led the country to feel more like Japan only has summer and winter now. It has been a long held belief, and a source of pride for many Japanese people, that the country has four very distinct seasons, each with its own charm that shapes a lot of Japan’s cultural life. So, it’s understandable that quite a few people are anxious about the changing climate and how it will affect various aspects of their lives, but there are some who are doing their best to adapt to the changes. 5. Chokominto yori mo a・na・ta / チョコミントよりもあ・な・た This phrase originates from a song by Japanese idol group AiScReam called “Ai♡Scream!”. The section of the song it comes from is a call-and-response where a member of the group asks another about what flavor of ice cream they like, to which the answer is “more than mint chocolate… you”. Due to the playful and flirtatious delivery, and subsequent parodies by many famous K-pop artists like Twice and Aespa, the line is now being used as a way to jokingly express affection. In Japan, mint chocolate flavor is the favorite of many people, so to say you like someone more than that… well… you might as well just start picking out an engagement ring now. My personal favorite that I have been hearing from students recently would have to be Chappii / チャッピー, a cute nickname for ChatGPT, although I’m not sure how I feel about how familiar they are with it to feel like giving it a nickname. With only a couple of days left to go until the announcement, we’re eager to see which of these terms will be crowned this year’s number one. Source: Nominee List, Book Press Release, Otetsutabi Website Top image: Pakutaso ● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Soon, you could have a pod that washes your body for you in your home bathroom. When you straight-up name your organization “Science,” you’d better be prepared to make some pretty high-tech things, and the Osaka-based bathroom fixture company did just that when they created the Mirai Ningen Sentakki, which translates to “Future Human washing Machine.” Officially dubbed the “Human Washer in the Future” in English, it’s a 2.3-meter (7.5-foot) long pod in which you lie down, close the lid, and lay back and relax while the machine washes you like a piece of laundry, minus the spin cycle. It’s exactly the sort of unbridled, pie-in-the-sky creativity that visitors to the Expo 2025 world’s fair in Osaka wanted to see, and following the immensely satisfied response, last month Science announced that its human washing machines would be coming to hotels…and now comes the follow-up that they’re coming to homes, too, as the machines will also be offered for sale to the general public, and through one of Japan’s major home electronics stores. Starting next month, a Mirai Ningen Sentakki will be on display at electronics retailer Labi’s Ikebukuro Main Branch in downtown Tokyo. Visitors won’t just be able to look at this piece of sci-fi-style tech, but they’ll be able to try it out, too, as demonstrations will be offered, though as at Expo 2025, participants will probably be asked to wear bathing suits, not hop in nude like they would when actually using it to bathe. The full cycle takes about 15 minutes, during which the human washing machine also plays a series of relaxing images and tranquil music pieces. As the pod’s nozzles spray soap and water to wash and rinse the occupant, it also performs biometric scans to gauge their health, so the washing is just one service the machine performs. This obviously isn’t going to be a budget upgrade pitched to cost-conscious consumers, and Labi’s parent company Yamada Holdings is estimating a price tag of somewhere around 60 million yen (US$400,000), and it’s unclear whether or not that includes shipping and installation. The demonstration/trial at Labi, however, appears to be free (though reservations will likely be required), so there’s still a way to experience the Human Washer in the Future in the present without deep pockets or a time machine of your own. The Mirai Ningen Sentakki is scheduled to go on display from December 25. Source: Jiji via Yahoo! Japan News Top image: PR Times Insert image: PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

We find out if this Japanese flavour was worth the time and effort it took to develop. How well do you know your fried chicken? That’s the question KFC appears to be challenging us with at the moment, thanks to the grand unveiling of a new burger that’s been eight years in the making. Called the Chicken Tatsuta, this burger veers away from the Colonel’s secret herbs and spices to provide us with a more specialised Japanese flavour. Unlike the nation’s most well-known type of fried chicken, karaage, which is coated in wheat flour and potato starch and usually unmarinated, tatsuta-age consists of chicken coated in potato starch and marinated in a sauce containing soy sauce, mirin, and ginger, creating what some would describe as a more flavourful dish. ▼ KFC is clearly of this opinion, with posters for the new burger stating, “The Tatsuta Burger enters a new era“. As that statement suggests, Tatsuta Burgers aren’t a new thing in Japan, with chains like McDonald’s and Dom Dom Burger doing good business with their own versions. It is, however, a new thing for KFC, and the fried chicken specialists have taken their time to ensure their Tatsuta Burger is the very best it can be, from the juicy thigh inside to the marinade and seasonings surrounding it. So…has the eight years of refinement been worth the effort? We were keen to find out, so we headed out to purchase a burger for 540 yen (US$3.45) and put it to the test. First off, it looked like a generous meal, with a huge chunk of chicken tatsuta spilling out over the sides of the bun. ▼ It was a simple burger, with just a piece of fried chicken thigh and shredded cabbage inside. The moment we took a bite, however, we were hit with two shockwaves. The first surprise was the extreme crunchiness, which was unlike anything we’ve ever had at KFC. The batter was incredibly crunchy, and stayed that way until the very end, which is something you won’t find in Tatsuta burgers from other chains. ▼ Beneath that crunchy exterior lies a supple chicken oozing with juices. The second surprise was the strength of the ginger flavour, which cuts through in a similar way to that of a McDonald’s Chicken Tatsuta, but here in the KFC version it’s incredibly well-balanced. ▼ It seems strong at first, but it doesn’t overwhelm the chicken, which is a testament to the professional seasoning. The combination of crunchy batter, juicy chicken thigh, and delicious ginger makes this one of the best burgers KFC has ever produced. In fact, we’d go so far as to say it’s the best Tatsuta burger out there, so if you have the chance to try it, we highly recommend you do. KFC really is heralding a new era of Tatsuta Burgers, and we’re pleased to say it was well worth the eight years it took to develop. Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

This black Slime plushie had become his white whale until something I’d never experienced before happened. A friend of mine recently visited Japan, and since he’s an avid gamer who runs a video game website, we hit up the local arcades while he was here to see what sorts of cool prizes they had in their crane games/UFO catchers. As we made the rounds, my friend got really into collecting Dragon Quest Slime plushies. For example, here he is posing with a compact keychain-strap Slime, one of several he won from the machine in the background, which, you can see, was empty by the time he was done with it. However, during his trip one prize would become his white whale, and it was, in a bit of linguistic irony, a black Slime. That big fella there is the Slime Dark, not to be confused with the Dark Slime, which is a separate monster within the Dragon Quest mythos. Also called the Shadow Slime in English-language versions of the games, the Slime Dark is easily distinguished from the regular Slime by its black color, but this plushie was also very, very big, measuring about 40 centimeters (15.7 inches) in diameter. It’d make a great interior accent and conversation piece for the home of anyone with cultured tastes, but there was one problem. It refused to get in the prize redemption hole. Time and again my friend put a coin into the machine and carefully work the controls to grab the Slime right where he wanted to, only to watch it slip out of the claw’s grasp and fall back down. He wasn’t discouraged, though. Winning at crane games is all about having patience. There’s a certain amount of random variability manufacturers are allowed in setting the grip strength, so no matter how good your technique is, an occasional dropped prize in unavoidable. Oftentimes, winning a prize is more about making incremental progress towards the drop area, then managing to hook a corner of the hole so the rest of the prize falls through too, or maybe getting the item to bounce in after slipping out of the claw right next to the opening. However, even after about a dozen tries, my friend hadn’t made any discernible progress. Possibly due to a combination of the Slime’s shape, slickness, and weight, plus the soft pillows at the bottom of the machine, the Slime always ended up in the exact same place, falling out of the claw before establishing any sort of lateral momentum. About all it was doing was randomly rotating, which at first gave us a glimmer of hope that maybe a firmer grip could be achieved depending on whether the plushie’s point part was pointing up, down, or to the side, but nope. After each try, the Slime ended up right back where it had started. ▼ I can’t remember if this was try 1 or 12, but that makes no difference in terms of where the Slime started and ended. Now, not everyone knows this, but at arcades in Japan you’re allowed to ask the staff to reposition the prizes inside the crane games to make it easier to win what you want. However, we hadn’t bothered asking for help, because there are basically two kinds of repositioning you can request. One is to have the prize returned to its starting position, which is useful if it’s happened to bounce or roll up against the glass or beyond the possible positions for the claw, making it impossible to grab. The other thing you can ask for is for the staff to move the prize closer to the hole so that it doesn’t have to be carried as far the drop zone or has a better chance of bouncing in. Like I said, though, the problem we were running into was that the Slime wasn’t moving or bouncing at all, repeatedly falling directly down with a gentle thud that could be heard even outside the machine’s housing. It was already in its starting position, and getting it moved closer to the hole wasn’t going to do us any good if we couldn’t get it to budge even an inch closer after that, so there was no point in asking for help. Still, my friend really wanted that Slime Dark, and so, rather than switch objectives and go after the Lazy Gorilla plushies in the next machine over, he made multiple trips to the change machine (shown by the arrow in the photo below) to get more 100-yen coins so he could keep chasing the Slime. After yet another frustrating failure (probably number 15 or so), an attendant came walking up to us with a serious-looking expression on his face. “Okyaku-san,” he said in a somber tone, meaning “customer” or “sir,” in this context, followed by a long pause, and I fully expected him to regretfully inform us that we would have to move along and give other customers a chance to play on the machine, since it was clear we weren’t going to be winning the Slime Dark. It turned out, though, that he just needed a moment to figure out how to say what he wanted to in broken English, since he wasn’t sure if we could speak Japanese or not. He wasn’t kicking us off the machine at all, and instead said… “I…support.” He then opened up the case and, with no prior prompting from us, moved the Slime so that it was now sitting right next to the prize drop hole. As explained above, my friend and I were pretty sure this wasn’t going to do the trick. Still, I’d never seen the arcade staff themselves be the ones to initiate this kind of assistance. It was an extremely thoughtful gesture, especially considering that the employee had assumed there might be a language barrier between us, so I thanked him sincerely, and when he realized we could communicate with each other in his native language, he said “I can see that your friend has been trying really hard to win it. Good luck!” Unfortunately, though, just like we’d feared, repositioning the Slime like this didn’t end up being any help at all. Instead of dropping straight down into the center of the machine, it was now dropping straight down right next to, but still not into, the prize hole. Figuring this was a sign that luck just wasn’t on our side today, it looked like my friend was finally almost ready to give up, but it turned out we didn’t need luck on our side when we had our new ally. Having kept an eye on how we were doing after the repositioning, the attendant came over once again, this time too with no prompting or pleading from us, and opened up the case again. This time he pulled a second Slime off the rack and put one right up next to the prize drop. He then stacked the second Slime on top of that one, sliding it to the left so that almost half of it was over the hole. The second Slime actually fell into the hole the first two times he did this, as he slowly edged it back to the right so that it was at the last possible millimeter before it would tumble in. Then he closed the case back up and told us to aim the claw at the bottom Slime so that as the claw lifted it up it would flip the top Slime into the hole. And that is how my friend finally won his Slime Dark. Like I said, I’ve honestly never seen the arcade staff be the ones to propose repositioning the prize, let alone have them do it twice, with the second time being in a way that all but guarantees the player will get it to drop. Thinking about it, it really is a win-win, as there’s a benefit for the arcade too. While crane game players are braced for a certain number of failures, they obviously don’t want to feel like there’s no hope at all of winning. Seeing one customer making repeated trips back and forth between the change machine and crane game with no prizes to show for it is probably discouraging for other customers too, making them less likely to drop a coin into a machine of their own and try their luck. From the arcade’s perspective, after a certain point the optics of a happy customer who’s won a prize, and as a result also ending the disheartening scene of someone continuing to lose, are going to be worth more than squeezing a few extra yen out of a single customer. So I wouldn’t be surprised if this arcade, and possibly others too, have a rule where management says that once a customer’s losses start to get too visible, the staff should start making moves to try to get them to win what they’re after and move along. Or maybe we just lucked out and happened to be at the arcade when their kindest, most proactive attendant was on duty. Either way, my friend had a Slime Dark in his luggage as he flew back to the U.S. and while it’s important to remember that UFO catchers are not vending machines, there just may be a point where, in the arcade’s eyes, you’ve paid enough to deserve a prize. Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

No good deed goes unpunished. Last summer, we reported on an announcement by the police that a certain toy gun found in crane games across Japan was deemed a real gun. Honestly, it’s a little laughable, since even though the toy barrel is large enough to hold a real bullet and the toy hammer is correctly aligned enough to fire the bullet, chances are the whole thing would probably just blow up in a would-be shooter’s hand. Still, the National Police Agency is clearly leaving nothing to chance. Our report and others also mentioned that, along with the Real Gimmick Mini Revolver, 16 other toy gun models were deemed lethal weapons by the police. It was around that time that a 77-year-old man in Shizuoka City recognized one of those other toys as two in his possession. They arrived at his home from an e-commerce site about a year earlier, even though he had never ordered them. Because he couldn’t contact the intended recipient, he had just been hanging on to them. ▼ News report showing images of the toy gun in question The reports mentioned that a grace period was enacted wherein anyone who hands in their toy guns would not be charged with illegal possession of a firearm, so on 29 August, that’s what the man did. However, the grace period only applied to the Real Gimmick Mini Revolver, not the other 16 guns, so after testing to confirm the toys could fire real bullets, the Shizuoka Police filed charges against the man on 19 November. Readers of the news online were outraged by the treatment of this elderly man, who through no fault of his own was treated like a criminal. Others felt that if the police’s goal is to get these guns out of the public, this isn’t helping. “So, he would have been better off dumping them than giving them to the police?” “Shouldn’t the person who ordered the guns be charged instead?” “That’s terrible to just get a package, then be suspected of a crime.” “I get a lot of things from China I didn’t order. It’s mostly car interior strippers.” “It was sent to his doorstep. What more could he have done?” “Way to discourage other people from surrendering them.” “The guy would have had no idea it was illegal, and didn’t order them, so no intent.” “The police drop charges against people all the time, but not this guy?” The police actually never drop charges against anyone, because they technically aren’t authorized to. That sort of decision is left to the public prosecutor’s office. Of course, they have the discretion to overlook certain transgressions and let people off with a warning when, for instance, they encounter someone wearing a mankini out in public. But as far as the system goes, their job is to report the crime and submit the charges to the prosecutor’s office, who will then decide whether to drop them or proceed. While a warning even seems too much for this case, it’s made complicated by the fact that the police received illegal goods from the “suspect.” Since there’s an official record of the toys being handed over, everything needs to be done by the book, or the police will risk being accused of mishandling a firearms case. In the end, there’s a 99.999 percent chance the case will be dropped by the prosecutor in a heartbeat, because it’s stupid. Nevertheless, it’s still a crummy way to treat a guy just trying to do the right thing. Source: Mainichi Shimbun, Hachima Kiko Top image: National Police Agency ● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Hayao Miyazaki’s darkest anime film will be his second to become a kabuki play. It seems like just yesterday we were talking about the upcoming Evangleion kabuki play. Ah, wait, it literally was yesterday. And yet, there’s already another gigantic development in the anime-to-kabuki adaptation world, with the announcement of a kabuki version of Studio Ghibli and director Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke. Originally released in the summer of 1997, Princess Mononoke was originally intended to be Miyazaki’s final film, and for nearly 20 years held the title of the highest domestically grossing Japanese film. While Miyazaki eventually changed his mind about retiring, Princess Mononoke remains a unique work within the Studio Ghibli anime library. It’s by far the grittiest, darkest, and most violent anime that Ghibli has ever produced, yet not without the studio’s trademark sense of tempered hope and optimism. ▼ Poster for the Princess Mononoke kabuki play As a story full of strong emotions and high drama that’s set in Japan, Princess Mononoke feels especially suited to a kabuki adaptation, at least in terms of tone and costuming. It is, however, also an anime with multiple characters who are giant talking animals, and one in which the lush, almost enveloping natural environment is practically a character unto itself, so the cast and crew have some challenges waiting for them as well. Two cast members have already been revealed, with 21-year-old Dango Ichikawa tapped to portray male-lead Ashitaka and 35-year-old Kazutaro Nakamura stepping into the role of monster princess San. ▼ Dango Ichikawa (left) and Kazutaro Nakamura (right) スーパー歌舞伎「もののけ姫」上演決定！アシタカ役は市川團子、サン役に中村壱太郎https://t.co/z6F4XI7O8I pic.twitter.com/NMxMoOnvDH— ステージナタリー (@stage_natalie) November 26, 2025 ▼ Ashitaka (left) and San (right) Penning the script for the Princess Mononoke kabuki play will be the two-person team of Keiko Niwa and Kazuhisa Tobe, who also collaborated on the script for the kabuki adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind back in 2019. Niwa is actually the screenwriter for a number of Ghibli anime: Arrietty. From Up on Poppy Hill, When Marnie Was There, Tales from Earthsea, Ocean Waves, and Earwig and the Witch. Tobe, incidentally, is also writing the Evangelion kabuki play. Serving as director will be Yokoichi Kensuke, helming an anime-to-kabuki project for the second time following his direction of the One Piece kabuki play. As for the anime’s director, it’s unlikely that Hayao Miyazaki will be involved in any direct, or even indirect, capacity, aside from quietly giving the adaptation his blessing. When Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was greenlit for a kabuki adaptation, it came with two firm conditions from Miyazaki: the title could not be changed, and he would do nothing to assist the production, nor would he be involved in any media promotions for it. Miyazaki is still listed as the work’s original creator in the credits for the kabuki play, however, as is anime composer Jo Hisaishi for the original score, with Studio Ghibli credited for “cooperation.” The Princess Mononoke play will be performed at the Shinbashi Enbujo Theater in downtown Tokyo in July and August of 2026, with exact dates and ticket details yet to be announced. Source: Shochiku Top image: Studio Ghibli Insert images: Shochiku, Studio Ghibli ● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

We taste-test Starbuck’s latest Japanese S’mores Frappuccino, plus their first-ever hot apple cider. Starbucks Japan knew that the day would come when we’d be craving some more S’mores Frappuccinos. That desire is right there in the name, after all, and on November 26 they obliged us with the release of the brand-new S’mores Chocolate Frappuccino. But while the name of the new drink had us licking our lips in anticipation, it’s a little odd in two ways. First off, the “Chocolate” Part is redundant, seeing as how chocolate is one of the three ingredients, along with marshmallows and graham crackers, that you absolutely have to have to make S’mores. The other unusual thing about the S’mores Chocolate Frappuccino is that, unlike Starbucks Japan’s previous Matcha S’more Frappuccino and Caramel S’mores Frappuccino, the name of the new drink doesn’t include its special extra ingredient: espresso. Yes, for the first time in a while coffee is playing a role in one of Starbucks Japan’s seasonal Frappuccinos. The S’mores Chocolate Frappuccino base is a mix of chocolate sauce and espresso, topped with marshmallow, crunchy whole-wheat cracker bits, plenty of marshmallows, and a sprinkling of brulee sugar. With the S’mores Chocolate Frappuccino, our resident Frappuccino expert K. Masami took a moment to take in its deep color that promised a luxuriously rich chocolate flavor. It would have been right at home against a backdrop of Christmas stockings or a tree decked out with twinkling lights, but it didn’t look at all bad against the blue sky of a sunny late-autumn afternoon either. Taking a sip, there is a strong cholate sweetness to start, but it gives way to a surprisingly bitter, and enjoyable, finish as the espresso finds its way through to your taste receptors. The squishy marshmallows and crunchy cracker bits both bring sweetness back into the mix, and overall this is still clearly a dessert drink, even if it does also provide a caffeine hit from the espresso. Overall, it’s a very satisfying experience, delivering the tastes and textures of S’mores with a little extra sophistication, and the Starbucks staff told Masami that for those wanting to tip the scale a little more towards the coffee side, they recommend adding a second shot of espresso as a customization to their order. While this is the newest member of Starbucks Japan’s S’mores Frappuccino family tree, the chain is also debuting its first-ever Hot Apple Cider. Once again, the ingredient list is a lot more complex than the name implies, starting with steamed apple juice and adding orange, cinnamon, and clove flavors plus pieces of freeze-dried apple, strawberry, and cranberries. Masami also asked for an extra sprinkling of cinnamon, a zero-cost optional topping. Even before she’d brought the cup all the way up to her mouth, Masami was enveloped by the inviting, comforting aroma of apples. Despite the large number of ingredients, all of the flavors worked to create a gentle sweetness. As the pieces of freeze-dried fruit soaked in the cider, they began to soften but still retained a fun touch of crisp iciness in their core texture, while the drink itself warmed Masami up from her core with every sip. Between the coziness of the Hot Apple Cider and the S’mores Chocolate Frappuccino’s overall excellence and recommended customization, these are both beverages worth going back for repeats of during the limited but unspecified amount of time they’ll be on sale. Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!