Tag Archives: food

Cosplay

Nico Nico Chokaigi 2013 Part 1: Cosplayers

This weekend saw the second Nico Nico Chokaigi being held at Makuhari Messe by Dwango. “Chokaigi” can be translated as “super conference”. The event which ran for two days over April 27 and April 28 is an event made for Otakus with some of the interests being covered ranging from dance, cosplay, games, food, art and loads more popular sub cultures.

The event had a similar theme as last year which was “reproducing (almost) everything in Nico Nico Douga in real world.” Many cosplayers were in attendance at the industry booths, enjoy the pics below.

*all of the photos were taken by Mikikazu Komatsu with the cosplayers’ permission

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Part 2: itasha

Part 3: Hatsune Miku

Events, Food, Japan, Melbourne, Pop Culture

Japanese Summer Comes To Melbourne

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A couple of weeks ago saw the return of the annual Melbourne Japanese Summer Festival at Docklands with public numbers swelling on a fantastic Summer day. The following description of the event is from the Facebook page which you can check out for the fun had on the day.

The Summer Festival or “natsu matsuri” is an annual event throughout Japan and comes to life this February in Melbourne at the Docklands. Since its inception in 2010, the festival has grown enormously, doubling its attendance to reach 10,000 people in summer 2011. Traditionally held honour one’s ancestors, the festival features the “bon odori”, a dance performed in a circle whilst wearing cotton kimono known as yukata. At the Melbourne festival, all visitors are encouraged to learn and join in the dance. In addition, the festival will showcase a number of performances, including Taiko Drumming, Shamisen and Sumo! The festival will also be packed with a wide range of stalls with traditional Japanese games, activities and foods – including the favourites sushi, okonomiyaki and bento. Another big attraction of the day will be the chance to win one of the fantastic raffle prizes, including the major prize of two return economy-class tickets to Japan, courtesy of Singapore Airlines. The festival provides an excellent opportunity to strengthen the ties between Melbourne and Japan and share in rich Japanese cultural traditions with the Melbourne community.

You can also check out the website for more info as well as see the gallery below full of great pictures taken by Matt, you can catch him on YouTube here, or his Flickr feed. Thanks for the use of the pictures!

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Food, Japan

One Piece Gets Its Own Rice Brand In Japan

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It wasn’t enough that One Piece is getting a perfume released for the series now today we hear that One Piece will also be receiving its own brand of rice. Apparently, rice bags with anime characters on them sell particularly well in Japan so it made sense for Dino, the official online store for Fuji TV, chose One Piece which also happens to be the station’s most successful anime.

The “One Piece Rice Premium Set” will see the four main characters from One Piece adorning the bags of rice. Those characters will be Zoro, Sanji, Chopper and of course, everyone’s favourite pirate, Luffy. The set will ship with eight 420 grams bags of rice, a wooden spoon carrying a pirate flag brand and one One Piece Compact Bag coming in four different colours.

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The set will be sold online at the store for ¥5, 250 each