Discover insider tips, travel guides, and inspiring stories for your next adventure in Japan
System Service is bringing TV anime I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day prize merchandise to amusement facilities, with "Fabunui" plushies debuting gradually from the fourth week of August 2026.
Izu Shaboten Zoo and IZUKYU CORPORATION are releasing a second round of limited collaboration mascots pairing the zoo's popular capybara with the Resort 21 train, available exclusively through crane games at the zoo and Izu-Kogen Station starting August 20, 2026.
Made-to-order jacquard blankets, canvas art, and other original goods featuring artwork from TV anime Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia open for pre-order at the online shop Tomosuto, with orders accepted from August 21 through September 24, 2026.
Jewel Princess 姫川薬石 (Shadow Star) joins the 3D idle RPG Jewel Princess Reincarnation on August 14, 2026, alongside a Majesty Fes gacha and a revival of the 3D Fes collaboration with Detariki Z and Tenkei Paradox.
Plott Inc. has opened pre-registration for the first smartphone game based on its short anime series KAREKORE OF MIXED BLOOD, a tower defense RPG planned for release in October 2026.
Katayamazu Onsen in the Kaga Onsen-kyo hot spring region holds its "Yu no Matsuri" on August 22–23, highlighted by the powerful "Genpei Shobu Mikoshi," in which young men representing the Genji and Heike clans face off in an intense handstand duel atop the mikoshi.
Kinokawa Citizens' Festival 2026, a hand-made summer festival organized by the Kinokawa Citizens' Festival Executive Committee in Wakayama Prefecture, will feature one of the prefecture's largest fireworks displays alongside stalls run by local businesses and community groups.
KURAND is releasing "Yoibanashi," an original junmai daiginjo sake developed with Juufuutei Raden of the VTuber group ReGLOSS, in limited quantities from August 19 — the online sake shop's third collaboration with hololive production.
DU BOOKS will publish a new disc guide on September 15, 2026, spotlighting 619 landmark Japanese fusion and crossover albums from the 1970s and 80s, supervised by music writer Toshikazu Kanazawa.
Mimirin, a brand founded by 24-year-old Mina Ichikawa that turns retired kimono into teddy bears and gifts, opened its first physical store in Kyoto's Gion district on August 8, 2026, following a crowdfunding campaign that reached 110% of its goal.
A collaboration campaign between the anime NEEDY GIRL OVERDOSE and Rascal the Raccoon kicks off September 5, 2026, bringing newly illustrated merchandise, a pop-up shop, crane game prizes, and novelty drinks to GiGO Sohonten, GiGO Namba Avion, and other GiGO stores.
Makuhari Bay Park's Wakaba 3-chome Park hosts "NEIGHBORHOOD MARCHE vol.5," a two-day summer night market on August 22 and 23, 2026, with more than 60 marche stalls, 30-plus kitchen cars, live music, live painting, a kamishibai show for families, and a gacha game, open from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM.