lotus roots, 'renkon'

I heard lotus roots are good for your throat and vocal. They are common vegi in Japan. You peel and slice it and stew or fry it. I grate and squeeze them and drink a juice of it. Tastes a bit sweet.

Manga to get same-day global release

major publishing firm Kodansha Ltd. will make new manga installments digitally available in English worldwide. In collaboration with Crunchyroll , the simultaneous release project will use the site’s platform to release new installments for 12 popular Kodansha series, including the smash-hit “Attack on Titan”, “Fairy Tail” and “Space Brothers”.
The service will be made available in a total of about 170 countries. A monthly subscription will cost $4.99. In return, subscribers will have access to new installments in the 12 series concurrently with their Japan release in such Kodansha publications as Weekly Shonen Magazine and Weekly Morning, without a long wait after their Japan release.

creator of Anpanman died

Takashi Yanase, creator of “Anpanman,” died at 94.
Suffering from severe food shortage during and after the ww2, lead him to an image of hero who brings foods to starving people.
Often criticized as ‘it is cruel to let people eat anpanman’s face’, he used to reply ‘no problem, because it is made of bread’ jokingly. He also stated that true justice is not something cool, and you often sacrifice yourself for that. There is a deep philosophy behind the comic books.
There are five anpanman museums in Japan.

nekomimi, warm clothing

you can bundle up in this product(left), or the one on the right
the clothing have insulation, washable, with hood, nekomimi(cat ears) and tail. comes in 6 patterns.

'La Maison en Petits Cubes'

La Maison en Petits Cubes is an animated film for by KATO Kunio.

Steve Jobs in manga

belated again.

Manga version of ‘Steve Jobs’ in available on iTunes, since August 2013. as the guardian said.

New album by Yuming

She sings Nausicaa song.

flying with a character from 'JOJO'

January 2013, the Gucci store in JR Kyoto Isetan put up a shopwindow featuring a life-size figure of Rohan Kishibe illustrated by JOJO's creator Hirohiko Araki;
a collaboration between the Italian clothing brand, and the fashion magazine Spur.

a morning drama 'amachan' is nearing the end

'Morning dramas' are serial dramas broadcasted by NHK. Two dramas are aired a year, first one from april through September and second one from October through march. The storyline goes on, typically as a female heroine goes through challenges while working to achieve her dreams.
This term, they run 'Amachan', which has been so successful, that has won over a number of avid viewers men and women, young and old, becoming a massive social phenomenon. The heroine stays in Tohoku(near Fukushima) as a diver for shells in training and moves later on to Tokyo to pursue another dream. The line ‘je je je’ to express exclamation from the local dialect has caught off as a buzzword.
It impressed us, depicting the mega earthquake hit Tohoku area on March 11 2011 in the drama.