Mister Donut Calpis Donuts

Mister Donut Japan has released a summer series of donuts in collaboration with Calpis. For those who don’t know, Calpis is a Japanese soft drink with a light, milky taste, similar to a yoghurt or yakult. Mister Donut in April released a Hello Kitty series of donuts that was very popular.

The new Mister Donut Calpis Donuts went on sale on July 7 with Calpis (ramune soda) and Calpis (strawberry) flavours available.

The donuts come in different styles such as the Calpis Star Donut Soda, Calpis Star Donut Strawberry, Calpis Cream Donut, Calpis Pon de Soda, and Calpis French Style Donut Soda.

Calpis Star Donut Soda 

Calpis Star Donut Soda (147 yen) contains Calpis cream and is topped with a soda flavoured chocolate and silver sugar. It was designed especially for Tanabata which coincides with the anniversary of Calpis. The Calpis flavour matches this donut style best in our opinion as its light and fluffy.

Calpis Star Donut Soda

Calpis Cream inside the Calpis Star Donut Soda

Calpis Star Donut Strawberry 

Calpis Star Donut Strawberry (147 yen) contains Calpis cream and is topped with strawberry flavoured chocolate and silver sugar. This was by far and away our favourite as we really liked the sweet strawberry chocolate icing.

Calpis Star Donut Strawberry

Inside the Calpis Star Donut Strawberry

Calpis Cream Donut 

Calpis Cream Donut (136 yen) contains Calpis cream and is coated in sugar.

Calpis Pon de Soda

Calpis Pon de Soda (147 yen) contains Calpis cream as a filling and is partly topped with a soda flavoured chocolate. We found this our least favourite as the Calpis filling and topping was very strong and overpowering.

Calpis Pon de Soda with the cute Mister Donut / Calpis Wrapper

Calpis Pon de Soda Donut

A look inside the Calpis Pon de Soda with Calpis Cream Filling

Calpis French Style Donut 

Calpis French Style Donut Soda (147 yen) contains Calpis cream as a filling and is partly topped with a soda flavoured chocolate. The Calpis flavour was also a good match with the French Style donut but it still has a very strong soda flavour.

Calpis French Style Donut waiting to be taken out of the wrapper

Calpis French Style Donut

A look inside the Calpis French Style Donut

Have you tried any of the Mister Donut Calpis Donuts?
Please leave your comments below.

Mister Donut website

Star Wars Pocky

Japanese food maker Glico has joined forces with Star Wars to produce some limited edition Star Wars Pocky. Pocky (ポッキー) is a Japanese biscuit stick produced by Ezaki Glico, and made its debut in 1966. Star Wars Pocky comes in two different boxes, one featuring Darth Vader and the other Luke Skywalker. These are the Giant Pocky, so each one is about 20cm and thicker than your normal Pocky. One pack contains 6 Pocky sticks and they come in three flavours Strawberry, Kyoho Grape, and Matcha Green Tea with each one individually wrapped.

Note: Kyoho is a type of giant mountain grape in Japan.

The front cover of Star Wars Pocky

The back features some info on the lightsabers

Each Pocky stick corresponds to a different Star Wars character’s lightsaber. The Strawberry one belongs to Darth Vader, the Grape to Luke Skywalker and the Matcha to the Jedi Master Yoda. They are very cool and do look like Star Wars Lightsabers. You can have a lot of fun eating these.

The Star Wars Pocky Lightsabers individually wrapped

How do they taste? Both the strawberry and grape have a strong smell and are pretty light on the flavour with the biscuit stick dominating. The flavour is quite artificial tasting with the grape one reminding us of the Grape Hi-Chew. Matcha Green Tea was by far and away the most delicious with a nice Matcha taste and even had Matcha inside the biscuit stick. I wouldn't say I’m a big fan of the Giant Pocky (excuse the pun) as the Pocky is too heavy on the biscuit and a lot lighter on the icing/topping compared to your regular Pocky.

Star Wars Pocky ~ Strawberry

Star Wars Pocky ~ Kyoho Grape

Star Wars Pocky ~ Matcha Green Tea

Glico as part of this campaign have produced a whole range of branded snacks such as curry, gyudon, chukadon, fried rice, Pretz, and other snacks. You can see all of these at the Glico website

A few that we have had the chance to try include:

Glico Star Wars Shinise Yoshoku Beef Curry

Star Wars Tomato Pretz

Star Wars Cecil Milk Chocolate

Star Wars Pocky is available in convenience stores and some supermarkets in Japan. You can pick up a packet for 300 yen (USD$3.00).

You can read more about Pocky on my recent Pocky Post

Check out my Star Wars Pocky Video on YouTube

Star Wars Pocky

Twin Burger at Lotteria Japan

Lotteria Japan is famous for its interesting menu and unique burger selections such as The Ramen Burger, which Japan Australia tried back in May.

Lotteria’s latest creation is the Twin Burger that combines two of its most popular menu items, the deep-fried Shrimp Burger and the Zeppin Cheese Burger. The deep-fried Shrimp Burger has been on the Lotteria menu since 1977, while the Zeppin Cheese Burger comes piled with cottage and red cheddar cheese.

The Twin Burger available in Japan from July 4 allows you to enjoy both the Shrimp Burger and Zeppin Cheese Burger at the same time. The Twin Burger costs 500 yen (USD$5.00) and will be available until July 31.

How does it taste?

The deep-fried Shrimp Burger is really good with a crunchy patty with nice tartar sauce. The Zeppin Cheese Burger was really tasty as well with lots of melty gooey cheese. We picked up the Twin Burger with small fries and a medium drink for 850 yen (USD$8.50).

The Twin Burger comes wrapped in a two colour wrapper

The Twin Burger ready to be eaten by Japan Australia

A close-up of the Twin Burger ~ Love that gooey cheese and tartar sauce

Two burgers in one is a pretty good idea in our book! Have you tried the Twin Burger from Lotteria?

Lotteria Japan website

Summer Fashion in Japan

Summer trends in Japan for 2013 include vivid colours and colours such as blue, red, yellow, green, pink as well as neon colours. Printed designs and patterns are also very popular this summer. Soft pastel colours and whites that give a feeling of transparency and sophistication are also trending.

Classic Japanese patterns from the past have also made a come-back this year. The Japanese yukata (浴衣) is a popular choice for summer this year as well.

The yukata is a casual summer kimono usually made of cotton and worn by both men and women. Cotton is perfect for the hot summers as it lets air through and is very cool and comfortable. A typical yukata ensemble includes the yukata, obi (sash), geta or zori (traditional Japanese sandals), sensu (foldable fan), and kinchaku (carry bag). It is a popular look and very common during the hot summer months starting in July and the summer festivals and fireworks (hanabi) which are also part of this season.

Japanese Yukata

Geta ~ Traditional Japanese Sandals and Kinchaku ~ Carry Bag

Sensu ~ Japanese Folding Fan

Yukata are traditionally made with indigo dyed cotton but these days a wide variety of colours and designs are available. The traditional yukata had patterns of flowers or nature against a background. The general rule is that younger people wear bright vivid colours and bold patterns. The older generation prefer dark, simple patterns and matured colours. Men usually wear solid dark colours.

Japanese Men's Yukata

A lot of young people are also completing their yukata look with a pair of cool sunglasses. Men are also wearing hats and women hair accessories to make the look more modern. It is a wonderful mix of the traditional with the new and modern, which is a big part of fashion today in Japan.

This post is proudly sponsored by SmartBuyGlasses Japan, one of the world's largest online eye wear retailer.

Japan Australia June on Instagram

June was another busy month for Japan Australia with lots of travel and some great photos of various places around Japan. The following pictures below were our favourite for the month of June 2013. I hope you enjoy them and please feel free to leave a comment below letting us know which was your favourite.

A great way to cool down during summer in Japan is a boat ride on a lake

The Hydrangeas (Ajisai) are starting to bloom at home

A beautiful Gifu sunset from the balcony at home

Awesome sky in Gifu

A local shrine in the Fujiwara area of Inabe in Mie Prefecture

The beautiful mountains around Inabe City in Mie Prefecture

Which picture do you like the best? Please leave a comment below.

You can also follow Japan Australia on Instagram at http://instagram.com/japan_australia

Tanabata Star Festival

Tanabata (七夕), also known as the “Star Festival” takes place every year on the 7th day of the 7th month here in Japan. In Japanese, Tanabata (七夕) means; 七 = seventh 夕= evening, or evening of the seventh. The Japanese festival originates from Chinese legend, and celebrates the meeting of the two stars, Altair and Vega. According to the legend, the Milky Way, a river of stars that crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunisolar calendar. It is a fabulous story!

The date of Tanabata varies depending on the region of Japan and is usually held at either July 7th or August 7th. The celebration is held at night and colourful Tanabata Festivals are held across Japan. One of the biggest and most famous is the Tanabata Festivals of Hiratsuka near Tokyo in July and Sendai in August.

A popular Tanabata custom in Japan is to write wishes on small pieces of coloured paper (tanzaku) and hang them on a specially decorated bamboo trees or branches in hope that the wish will come true. The bamboo trees or branches are usually placed in the backyard or entrances of houses and are set afloat on a river or burned after the festival, around midnight or on the next day.

Tanzaku ~ small pieces of coloured paper with wishes on them

Google Japan even joined in the Tanabata celebrations

This year to celebrate Tanabata we enjoyed some Japanese snacks called Koala no March, which released a limited edition Tanabata version.

Lotte Koala no March ~ Tanabata version

Featuring different Tanabata Koala's

Special Tanabata edition packaging

The koala's all lined up to be eaten on Tanabata

Quarter Pounder Jewelry Premium Burgers

McDonald’s Japan revealed this week that it will offer a special series of premium burgers called “Quarter Pounder Jewelry Burgers” for a limited time in July. Each burger will be priced at 1000 yen (USD$10.00) and will be sold at all outlets across Japan for just one day. The first burger was available today (July 6th) with the next on July 13th followed by July 20th.

You may remember that McDonald’s Japan only just recently launched the Premium Quarter Pounder Burgers with the Quarter Pounder BLT and Quarter Pounder Habanero Tomato.

The first Jewelry Premium Burger went on sale today (July 6th) and was the Golden Ring Burger featuring thick-cut smokey bacon, pineapple, beef patty, Monterey Jack cheese and fruity barbecue sauce.

The Golden Ring Quarter Pounder Burger

Next on the list is the Black Diamond Burger on July 13th, featuring a black truffle sauce, Emmental cheese, and grilled mushrooms and onions.

The last will be the Ruby Spark Burger on July 20th, featuring chorizo, avocado and pepper jack cheese.

The burgers cost 1000 yen (USD$10.00) with no French fries or soft drink, which can be added for an extra 200 yen (USD$2.00).

You will need to hurry as these have been very popular and the Golden Ring Burger was sold out around lunch time at a lot of outlets around Japan.

Japan Australia was intrigued by these new burgers, so headed out today to track down the Golden Ring Quarter Pounder Burger.

The Golden Ring Quarter Pounder Burger

The Golden Ring Burger is served up in a special jewelry box container and bag with ribbon. We felt like we had just made a purchase at Tiffany’s or something! It certainly is a luxurious start to a meal and made us feel very special. It was only available today and was sold out quite quickly so we had a little difficultly tracking one down, but managed to do it after a few stops.

The burger comes in a special jewelry bag with ribbon

Jewelry box container with the burger inside

Tip: You better hurry in on July 13th if you want to try the Black Diamond Burger.

The Golden Ring Burger features thick-cut smokey bacon, a slice of grilled pineapple, a decent size beef patty, Monterey Jack cheese and a fruity barbecue sauce with more than 10 different spices. These are all contained with a crunchy bun topped with poppy seeds.

How does it taste?

We were very happy with the taste and it was one of the best burgers we’ve had this year anywhere. The first thing we noticed was the thick cut smokey bacon, followed by the sweet pineapple which compliments the fruity barbecue sauce perfectly, and keeps the beef patty nice and moist. We also really liked the bun that was soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Some people will say that 1000 yen is too expensive for a burger. Yes, it probably is, but when you factor in the whole experience it was very worthwhile in my book. Already looking forward to the Black Diamond Burger next week.

Featuring thick-cut bacon, pineapple and fruity barbecue sauce

A medium size set will cost 1200 yen (USD$12.00)

McDonald’s Japan Website