I won’t lie: with all the awesome things available in Japan, I think it’s going to be pretty easy to make this Japan Envy series a weekly thing! I won’t limit myself to a specific day or anything, but rest assured, you’ll be seeing a lot more of these in the future.

Today while browsing Twitter I stumbled upon Taito’s very own Twitter page and promptly proceeded to follow them (If you’re not following me yet, head on over and do so!). Scrolling through their recent tweets lead me to an announcement about their new Space Invaders tote bag.

I have to say, I love this simple yet chic design. I’m a big fan of tote bags, known as “eco bags” in Japan, and the added inside pocket in this design that is alluded to on the bag’s website sounds like a nice addition to me. And priced at only ¥500 (more or less $5), it’s a steal! Too bad you can only get your hands on one of these puppies by visiting one of many Taito Station arcades in Japan. Curses!

I might just have to convince my host mom to purchase one on my behalf…

This may or may not turn into an ongoing thing, but I know a lot of bloggers out there have themed posts, so I’m going to try my hand with a series called “Japan Envy” to compile all the things that make me wish I was living in Japan. Otherwise this would just be a “hey look at this cute orange juice bottle” post (which it basically is, but I can get away with it now that I say I’m going to do it as a regular series).

Monster Hunter Diary G, aka Monhon Nikki Poka Poka Airuu Mori G, is an adorable Animal Crossing-esque Monster Hunter spin-off game featuring chibi versions of the game’s mascot, Felyne (known as Airuu in Japanese). Now, I’ve never played a Monster Hunter game, nor have I played the original Monster Hunter Diary, but I am super-duper excited about Monster Hunter Diary G‘s August release. Seeing this gets me even more excited:

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That, my friends, is Felyne orange juice. Feast your eyes on that adorable packaging! What I wouldn’t give to be in Japan right now so I could drink cold orange juice out of a Felyne-adorned can. Now, I don’t know anything about this brand Bireley’s, but from the looks of things it appears to be regular old orange juice to me.

So, in all honesty, I could care less whether Monster Hunter Diary G is a quality game or not. I mean, I’m sure I’ll get much enjoyment out of it so long as it’s not horribly misguided. But regardless of gameplay, if it inspires adorable orange juice bottles and does crossovers with My Melody, well then by golly, it deserves my attention!