Tampopo is part pachinko parlor, part video game arcade, and part museum.

Being a man of culture, when our ace reporter Mr. Sato is out and about in the suburbs and sees on the map that there’s a “game center” (as Japanese arcades are called) on the map, he often goes to check them out. This isn’t because he’s a hardcore gamer (though he’s got some impressive in-game victories under his belt), but because a lot of times suburban arcades have a lineup of retro games, and visiting them feels like taking a trip back in time twenty, thirty, or even 40 years.

So when Mr. Sato was in Tokyo’s Fussa district, a bit west of the city center, on a recent afternoon and noticed “Game Center Tampopo” (ゲームセンタータンポポ) on Google Maps, and just a three-minute walk from Fussa Station, he decided to pay the place a visit and play some games.

However, when he got there, and took a look inside…

…he saw that the place is packed with pachinko machines!?!

There are a total of 70 pachinko machines inside Tampopo, and not a single conventional video game. As such, “Game center” might seem like a misclassification of the facility, because pachinko parlors, by nature of being a form of gambling, are fundamentally different from game centers, right?

Except, Tampopo isn’t actually a gambling hall, because no matter what you do, you can’t win anything to take home.

Ordinarily, if you win at pachinko you can exchange the balls you’ve won for non-monetary prizes…and every neighborhood that has a pachinko parlor also, conveniently, has a small, nondescript shop (usually just a window set into an exterior wall) nearby that just so happens to be in the business of buying those prizes from people for cash (this whole song and dance is to get around Japan’s laws prohibiting gambling for money on pachinko). But at Tampopo, there are no prizes of any kind given out, regardless of how many balls you may win from their machines.

Why? Take a look at Tampopo’s machines, and you’ll probably notice that they’re all very old-school in design. Modern pachinko machines, pretty much without exception, have video displays and all sorts of other digital bells and whistles. Tampopo’s machines, though, are pretty much entirely analog.

As you might expect from gambling devices, there are a lot of rules about pachinko machines that operators have to follow. Machines have to be periodically certified as functioning properly and fairly, but even if their owners are keeping up with the required maintenance, the machines also have a specified maximum service life, after which they can no longer be legally used for gambling (i.e. the transaction in which players pay money for a chance at winning prizes). Once pachinko machines reach the end of their service period, most of them are scrapped, but Tampopo wants to give them a second life.

Tampopo’s machines are what are called “minashi machines,” meaning that they’re no longer played for gambling, but simply for fun. Instead of purchasing a set amount of balls, players at Tampopo pay for an unlimited amount of balls for a certain amount of time: 1,000 yen (US$6.50) for one hour, 2,000 yen for two hours, or 3,000 yen for a full day, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

After purchasing the ticket you want from a vending machine, the staff will write the ending time of your session on it and place it in a lanyard that you wear while playing.

▼ Mr. Sato’s card, with “until 1:10 p.m.” (13:10まで) written on it

The lack of any possible payout means this isn’t gambling, and the vibe is more like an arcade or retro tech preservation museum. As a matter of fact, back in his youthful days in Shimane Prefecture, Mr. Sato spent about a year working in a pachinko hall when machines like this were still in widespread use, and Tampopo is a cleaner and more pleasant place to spend an extended time (especially since it’s an entirely non-smoking facility) than the parlor he worked in.

Once your session starts, you can grab an entire box of balls and play to your heart’s content.

Free of any worry about winning or losing, Mr. Sato was able to sit back and appreciate the craftsmanship that went into pachinko machines of this era, when every pin, spinner, bumper, and target was a physical part of the playing field.

And should luck not be on your side and you run out of balls…

…you can just go and grab a refill.

Ah, and if you’re wondering why there are boxes of tokens (or “medals,” as they’re called in Japan), that’s because in addition to its 70 pachinko machines, Tampopo also has 19 slot machines, which are also part of its unlimited-play not-for-gambling deal.

While retro video games are enjoying a revival in popularity these days, retro pachinko is something much harder to find, but it’s a fascinating pop culture subcategory in its own right too, and there’s no better place to get a taste of it in the Tokyo area than Tampopo.

Location information
Game Center Tampopo / ゲームセンター タンポポ
Addres: Tokyo-to, Fussa-shi, Honcho 135
東京都福生市本町135
Open 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Closed Wednesdays (unless Wednesday is a holiday)
Website

Photos ©SoraNews24
Screenshot: Google Maps
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Not quite as glamourous as a secret bank account.

For most people doing long-haul domestic travel in Japan, the Shinkansen is their default method of getting from Point A to far-away Point B. However, sometimes it’s just as quick, if not quicker, to fly, especially if you’re starting at one end of the country and going all the way to the other.

In addition, while Shinkansen tickets are more or less constant in price, airfares fluctuate, so if you time your trip right, flying can be quicker and more economical than taking the train. Taking a plane starts to look like an even better option if you’re racking up frequent flyer miles…unless, that is, you’re a member of the yakuza, in which case trying to get frequent flyer miles can get you arrested.

On May 17, the Fukuoka Prefectural Police arrested Yuta Hirayama, a 42-year-old man from the town of Onojo, Fukuoka Prefecture. According to his arrest report, Hirayama has no officially designated job, but the police say he is a registered member of an organized crime syndicate that’s a subordinate group to the Kudo-kai, a Japanese mafia group based in Fukuoka.

Between June and November of 2023, Hirayama took nine domestic flights with a major Japanese airline, including flights between Fukuoka and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to visit an acquaintance who was in prison in east Japan. In the process, he accrued 4,224 frequent flyer miles to an account registered in his name. However, the terms of service for the airline’s frequent flyer program includes a clause that members, by using the program, profess that they are not members of a criminal organization. Based on their assertion that Hirayama is a member of such a group, the police say that by using his account to accrue miles, he committed an act of fraud.

As we’ve discussed before, transactions and service contracts with no-yakuza clauses are common in Japan. It’s illegal, for example, for yakuza members to make mobile phone contracts or attend professional baseball games, as telecom providers and sports leagues don’t want to be associated with criminal organizations. Businesses are especially leery of having yakuza as members of loyalty programs that offer any sort of customer credit, since it could be construed as providing them with financial benefits. That’s why, for example, there are supermarket point programs with no-yakuza clauses, and with 4,224 miles within the frequent flyer program that Hirayama was a member of being exchangeable for 4,224 yen (US$27) in flight credit, the airline has a no-yakuza clause as well.

There is an additional wrinkle to this case, though, in that Hirayama had been a member of the frequent flyer program since 2013, but the airline only added its no-yakuza clause in 2022. As such, even if proven to be a member of a criminal organization, Hirayama’s initial entry into the program wasn’t fraudulent. However, the 2022 no-yakuza clause was ostensibly among the periodic terms of service updates that such programs require users to agree to when logging into their account, placing the legal responsibility on yakuza members to read through the new terms and withdraw from the program. So while many people simply scroll down to where they can click “OK” on such updates, if you’re a gangster, you really should read through them.

It’s unclear whether prosecutors will seek jail time for Hirayama, but if he is confirmed to be a yakuza member, his frequent flyer miles will be forfeited.

Source: Asahi Shimbun via Yahoo! Japan News, Yomiuri Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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Scooby, Scooby-Doo, where are you? Ah, you’re in Japan!

Over the past few years, Japan has become one of the world’s most popular destinations for international travelers, with everyone from overseas otaku to major celebrities putting it on their travel itineraries. And soon Japan will be adding a few more high-profile guests, with the announcement of a new Scooby-Doo animated series that’s not only set in Japan, but animated by a major anime studio.

Warner Bros. has unveiled Yokoso Scooby-Doo, a new series starring the famous mystery-solving pooch, describing the premise as:

“While visiting Japan on the ultimate foodie adventure, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy unwittingly unleash hundreds of mythical monsters that are causing trouble across the country. With the help of Scooby’s uncle, Daisuke-Doo, along with new friends, a magical girl Yume and gadget whiz Takumi, the group embarks on an all-new mystery filled with monster chasing and fun chaos.”

あのハンナ・バーベラの名作『弱虫クルッパー』こと『スクービー・ドゥ』が…日本にやって来た！？
しかも日本アニメっぽく！？
最新作『YOKOSO SCOOBY DOO！』は
アメリカ限定完全無料配信サービス
『tubi』にて配信決定

日本の妖怪からも逃げまくるシャギーとスクービーを見逃すな！ pic.twitter.com/MIXdfpL2RA

— カートゥーン大好きトゥン子さん@海外アニメ紹介！ (@newofcartoon) May 18, 2026

While Warner Bros. Animation is listed as the series’ producer, the company has announced that the visuals will come from OLM. Originally named Oriental Light and Magic, OLM is a Tokyo-based anime studio that was founded in 1990, and whose credits include work on Berserk, Inazuma Eleven, and Yo-kai Watch. They’re most famous, though, as the studio that’s been animating the Pokémon anime, all the way since its beginning in 1997. Yokoso Scooby-Doo will also be directed by Itsuro Kawasaki, director of the Pokémon Origins anime.

▼ Yokoso Scooby-Doo (meaning “Welcome, Scooby-Doo”) appears to be a reworking/retitling of the Go-Go Mystery Machine series that Warner Bros. originally announced in 2024.

2024年に発表された
日本を舞台にした「スクービードゥー」の新作「GO GO MYSTERY MACHINE」が
『YOKOSO SCOOBY DOO！』色々と変わって発表

しかも制作はワーナーと日本の「株式会社オー・エル・エム」(アニポケ作ってる会社)と共同

絵柄も何となく日本アニメっぽい pic.twitter.com/l4Ijqi3u1I

— アクタレマン (@akutareman) May 18, 2026

Looking at the preview visual for Yokoso Scooby-Doo (or maybe we should call it the “key art,” in keeping with anime industry jargon), the goofy-grin Shiba inu is, ostensibly, Scooby’s uncle, Daisuke-Doo. The series’ version of the Mystery Machine sports a cherry blossom design on its fascia-mounted spare tire cover (although in orange instead of sakura-pink), and the van even sports a yellow license plate of the type used by Japan’s kei jidosha class of sub-compact cars.

Yokoso Scooby-Doo will stream exclusively on Tubi in North America, while international distribution will be through Cartoon Network. Frank Welker and Matthew Lillard will reprise their roles as Scooby and Shaggy, respectively, and there’s been no word yet about a Japanese-language dub. There’s also no announced release date yet, but if you’re in the mood for anime takes on classic American cartoon characters right now, there’s the new Looney Tunes anime series to watch.

Source: Variety
Top image ©SoraNews24
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New tie-up with hit anime comes with anti-scalper strategy.

Fast food and anime figures are two of the reliable simple sources of joy in life, and yet there was some trepidation about combining the two of them as McDonald’s Japan launched a collaboration with the Chiikawa franchise last week. Chiikawa Happy Meals went on sale on May 15, but there was worry that the promotion would be marred by the same sort of ugly behavior from scalpers that’s taken place in some of the chain’s previous high-profile partnerships.

Because of that, McDonald’s is taking some extra precautions in order to make it harder for would-be-resellers to buy the Chiikawa Happy Meals in bulk, and even popular Japanese second-hand goods site Mercari has pledged to remove posts from sellers attempting to flip the figures for a profit. McDonald’s restrictions were tightest on the day of the Chiikawa Happy Meals’ release, with sales limited to users of the McDonald’s app and capped at four Happy Meals per time block (morning or afternoon/night).

And you know what? The rules seemed to achieve their purpose, at least at the branch where we got our four Chiikawa Happy Meals. There were no massive lines, no one walking out with a dozen orders just for themselves, and no one just taking their toys and leaving uneaten food on the restaurant counter or littered on the street outside.

Each Happy Meal comes with one of four figures of the Chiikawa cast dressed in McDonald’s uniforms, so we ordered four meals, keeping our fingers crossed that we’d be lucky enough to get the full set.

▼ We got ourselves two Chicken McNugget Happy Meals and two cheeseburger ones, each priced at 540 yen (US$3.50), so we were pretty much set for lunches for the next few days.

And to our great joy, as we opened up the four figure boxes one by one, each of them had a different figure waiting for us inside!

Not only are they adorable, there’s even a bit of inspiration from Chiikawa lore in their designs. For example, Rakko, seen on the far right in the photo above, is depicted in the Chiikawa manga and anime as owning a car and being a skilled driver, so he’s dressed in the uniform of a McDonald’s Japan delivery person, as is Hachiware.

Also part of our set of four is Kuri-Manju (second from the lest in the above photo), the alcohol-loving character with a head shaped like a chestnut dumpling (Chiikawa can be a very unique franchise). Perhaps due to his regularly inebriated condition, Kuri-Manju is not part of the delivery team, and is instead dressed in the uniform of a McCafe by Barista crew member, in charge of McDonald’s Japan’s fancier dessert and beverage subdivision, which sometimes even has its own order counter inside the restaurant. Finally, there’s Chiikawa, who, fittingly for the series’ protagonist, is dressed in a McDonald’s manager’s uniform.

Each of the figures is about eight centimeters (3.1 inches) tall, compact enough to easily find space for on a shelf or your desk, but big enough to still provide a palpable Chiikawa aura.

▼ McDonald’s figures are quite a bit bigger than the ones beef bowl chain Matsuya gave out in their most recent Chiikawa collaboration, as you can see here.

In addition, the figures have holes on the bottom so that you can use them as pencil/pen toppers too.

As is becoming increasingly common with Japanese Happy Meals, McDonald’s is releasing its Chiikawa ones in two waves, with the first lasting until May 28, then a new set of four figures coming in as a second batch from May 29 to June 11, and hopefully the anti-scalping strategies continue to be effective in round two.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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Three Star Wars-themed collaborations from a galaxy far, far away appeal to both longtime and newer fans of the franchise.

We’ve known about Japanese dessert chain Ginza Cozy Corner‘s penchant for mini cake sets for a while now. From home-grown cuties such as Pokémon to international collaborations like Marvel’s Avengers and Pixar films, it seems no characters are safe from getting the Cozy Corner cake treatment–which now includes iconic members of the Star Wars franchise.

In celebration of the simultaneous U.S. and Japanese premiere on May 22 of The Mandalorian and Grogu film, a direct sequel to the three seasons of the hit Disney+ live-action TV series The Mandalorian, three special Star Wars-themed items are currently available at Ginza Cozy Corner locations throughout Japan and on its online shop. The pièce de résistance is a Nine-Piece Mini Cake Set for 3,564 yen (US$22.49) that pays homage to classic heroes and villains that appear in Episodes I through IX of the core Star Wars film series, spanning over 40 years of film history.

▼ Star Wars Nine-Piece Mini Cake Set

Pictured below, the character contents and flavors are as follows:

● Chewbacca (top left): chocolate and caramel whipped cream cake
● Ahsoka Tano (top center): coffee sponge cake with a layer of caramel whipped cream
● BB-8 (top right): mango whipped cream and yogurt-flavored whipped cream roll cake
● Stormtrooper (middle left): cheese-flavored cream tart
● Darth Vader (middle center): cocoa sponge cake with a layer of chocolate whipped cream
● C-3PO (middle right): tropical mousse cake topped with orange and lemon-flavored jelly
● Darth Maul (bottom left): cake topped with raspberry jelly, berry jam, and mousse
● Yoda (bottom center): matcha whipped cream and matcha-an (sweet bean paste) tart
● R2-D2 with a Porg (bottom right): yogurt-flavored whipped cake with freshly whipped cream

▼ Darth Vader getting the kawaii treatment wasn’t on our bingo card, but we’ll take it.

Meanwhile, for viewers who have fallen in love with the more recent cast addition of Grogu, popularly dubbed “Baby Yoda,” a single serving-sized Grogu Chocolate Cake is available for 777 yen.

▼ Grogu Chocolate Cake

This treat is a fluffy cocoa sponge cake stuffed with a layer of chocolate flake-filled cream and chocolate cream adorning the top.

Finally, for those who want a keepsake once the dessert is gone, the Star Wars Sweets Box is the perfect grab for 1,320 yen. It contains eight individually packaged baked goods including two butter madeleines, three Earl Grey madeleines, and three cookies printed with an illustration of the Mandalorian and Grogu that come inside a metallic box designed to look like it was made from Beskar, aka Mandalorian iron.

▼ Star Wars Sweets Box

A stylish two-sided charm reflector keychain is a bonus souvenir.

The above items will be available for purchase through approximately June 25, so place your order before they vanish from this galaxy.

The anticipation for the new film coming out also has us hoping that the Star Wars kabuki play will make a comeback in due time…this time with Grogu.

Source: Ginza Cozy Corner via Entabe
Images: Ginza Cozy Corner
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Mocchurin are back, and they brought a new friend with them.

As Japan’s leading donut chain, Mister Donut is always cooking up new treats, but last year they invented some new words too: mocchuri and Mocchurin. “Mocchuri” was the descriptor they came up with for something that’s extra mochi mochi, which is itself a Japanese word for something with a soft, chewy texture, like you’d find in a mochi rice cake. Mocchurin, meanwhile is the name Mister Donut gave to a new line of mocchuri donuts that were on sale for a limited time last summer, and were so soft that it almost felt like we could drink them.

Now Mister Donut is welcoming Mocchurin back to its menus, and with a brand-new member of the family. Last year’s four Mocchurin all took their cues from traditional Japanese sweets, and two of those will be returning. First we have the Mocchurin Kinako, coated with roasted soybean powder.

▼ If you’ve never had kinako/roasted soybean powder, it’s a little like a sweet cinnamon in terms of flavor and texture.

Also making an encore appearance is the Mocchurin Mitarashi, basted with the sweet soy glaze that’s spread on mochi dumplings.

Finally, the Mocchurin series will step out of the traditional Japanese sweets flavors with the Mocchurin Ichigo, or Mocchurin Strawberry, with a strawberry filling and powdered with strawberry sugar.

With the expansion of the flavor lineup, the Mocchurin mascot ensemble grows larger too, with the introduction of a strawberry character.

And because of how pillowy soft the Mocchurin are, they come on their own individually sized paper trays, which are adorable too.

The kinako Mocchurin is priced at 216 yen (US$1.40), the mitarashi at 226 yen, and the strawberry 237 yen. They’ve all gone on sale as of May 14 though Mister Donut’s online/mobile order system, and will be available for regular at-the-register purchase starting June 3. The kinako and mitarashi donuts are scheduled to be available until mid-August, but you’ll have to move more quickly to grab the strawberry, as it’s only projected to be around until late June, though Mister Donut promises that this is only round one of the Mocchurin release, with other, as yet-unrevealed flavors in the works as well.

Source, images: PR Times
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