I know many of you like matcha-themed dishes or desserts.
So, today, I'll introduce some of them that I've had this year and last year in Japan.
Matcha Seafood Flavored Cup Noodle.
Nissin released "Japan
Noodles Trio" on January 23th this year. Japan Noodles Trio are: "Matcha Seafood Flavored Cup Noodle", "Sukiyaki-Style Donbei" and "Ume Kobucha U.F.O.".
These three were released almost five months ago, and all of them were limited-time offers, so we can't purchase them anymore at convenience stores all over Japan or on the official online store of Nissin, but I guess you can buy one or two at some super markets, maybe at a reasonal price. I'm not sure though...
Cup Noodle, Donbei and U.F.O. are Nissin's popular brands, and Donebei is their instant udon while U.F.O is yakisoba noodles.
Ume Kobucha U.F.O. and Matcha Seafood Flavered Cup Noodle.
Ume Kobucha (梅こぶ茶) means "Plum Kelp Tea". Though the photo shows only two of three, I had all the three including sukiyaki one during the season, and my favorite is matcha one. I still have some except sukiyaki udon one.
Well, Nissin sometimes teams up with Square Enix, which is one of the famous video game companies not only in Japan but also in the world. I've read before (maybe on Nissin's facebook) that Nissin's headquarter is near the Square Enix's (both are located in Shinjuku, Tokyo), and Nissin gave their products, maybe cup noodles, to Square Enix. Then, Square Enix made collaborate commercials in return for it. 
Nissin Cup Noodle × Final Fantasy XV TV Commercials in Japan.
I've never played FF XV itself (my favorite one is FFⅥ), but I think many FF fans like their commercials. I like especially the scene that Leviathan is in Cup Noodle. So funny.
Leviathan is a mythical beast, and I think people who have played FF series definitly know Leviathan. 
Speaking of cup noodle or instant udon, "Akai Kitune Udon" is my favorite, too. It's not one of the Nisssin's items, but it is very popluar in Japan as well as "Midorino Tanuki Soba". Both are Toyo Suisan's items, and many Japanese people have wondered at least once, like, "which do I like? Well, I think I like Akai Kitune (or Midori No Tanuki) better than the other one.", or something like that.
Aka （赤)
means red, and Midori （緑）
means green, and Akai Kitune's pacage is red one while Midori No Tanuki's is green. And I like "Akai Kitune" better than "Midorino Tanuki", though red is not my favorite color while I love green color. You should try both, and find out which is your favorite. If you are not living in Japan, you can buy them on the official online shop.
The next matcha items are from......my favorite Tully's Coffee. 
Tully's Coffee was doing "お江戸さくら祭" menu from March 22 th till April 20th this year, in Tokyo's 23 wards only.
In English, it's "Oedo Cherry Blossom Festival", and Oedo simply means Edo. The menu offered limited beverages and sweets: "Sakura Matcha Latte", "Sakura Tea Cappucino", "Sakura Mille Crepe" and "Waffle Sand Sakura Strawberry". I tried three of them. 
Iced Sakura Matcha Latte. 
My outfit in the photo is matcha color like the matcha latte, right?
Also, they offered limited goods, such as "Edo Limited Tumbler" and "Tully's Mini Teddy 春錦". And when I saw their Edo Tumbler for the first time, it reminded me of Nissin's matcha cup noodle, whose pacage has an illustration of "Geisha", or "芸者". Generally speaking, Geisha are female entertainers who are trained to sing, dance, and so on, so that they can entertain guests. They say there were male geisha as well during the Edo period.
Edo Limited Tumbler of Tully's Coffee
It came in two colors and I have both. The main design is the same, but the color and the design of the background is different. The one with Mt. Fuji is "景" (Kei), and the other black one is "粋" (Iki).
I think "景" in the name means a nice view or something. Since the tumbler has an illustration of Mt. Fuji, you can feel as if you enjoyed the great view of Mt. Fuji. In Japanese, a view is 景色 (Keshiki), so maybe the kanji charcter "景" of the name comes from 景色. On the oter hand, "粋" means cool, stylish, or something like that. 
I heard both had been so popular among customers, and not only local people but also foreign tourists had bought Tully's Edo-limited tumblers. I found that both had sold out so quickly at some Tully's Coffee shops, such as Roppongi Hills location, the other location in Roppongi (maybe near the Pasela Resorts Roppongi, a famous karaoke shop with Dragon Quest themed bar), and my favorite Tully's which is located in Hitotsugi Street, Akasaka.
It has been almost three months since Edo tumblers were released, so I don't think you can get Edo tumblers at any Tully's Coffee shop, but I've seen some at Kabukiza location a few weeks ago. If you want one, stop by the location. This location has its exclusive "Rilakkuma" tumblers, and exclusive drinks, too.
春錦 (Haru Nishiki) mini teddies at Tully's Coffee Akasaka Garden City.It's also my favorite Tully's coffee location. This location is open on weekdays only. Actually, Akasaka is my favorite place, and I'll write about my favorite shrines, restaurants, and Tully's Coffee shops in Akasaka some other time.
So, 春 (Haru) is Spring. 錦 (Nishiki) has some meanings, and I think "春錦" in the name means something colorful and beautiful which we can enjoy during the spring. "Tully's Mini Teddy 春錦" has cherry blossoms pattern on its body, and it's beautifulAnd beautiful cherry blossoms, or Sakura, can been seen during the spring in Japan, as many people know that the cherry blossom season is the spring every year. 
Also, Tully's Coffee served Kyoto-limited menu "カフェマチ京都 －Coffee meets Matcha－" for a limited time last year, from October 21th until the end of November. There were 3 matcha items on the menu, and I had all three. Actually, I desided to take a trip to Kyoto last year to have Kyoto-limited items at Tully's Coffee in Kyoto. On top of that, I had always wanted to visit Tully's Coffee shop in Arashiyama, Kyoto.
Also, I wanted to get Kyoto-limited tumbers including matcha color one "京香" (Kyoka), which was released as one of the limited items of "-Coffee meets Matcha-".
京香 is usually used for person's name, so I guess Kyoka is the nickname of this tumbler, or its theme. Say, Kyoto is 京都 in kanji, so "京" in the name is from Kyoto. "香" means a smell, an aroma, a scent, a fragrance, etc... and I guess this tumbler's name, "京香" , means Kyoto style or something?
I had dinner at Eggs 'n Things Kyoto while staying in Kyoto. Since Eggs Kyoto hadn't started the original menu yet at that time, I had a seasonal Eggs Benedict and my favorite Acai Banana Yogurt Drink. I'd love to have Kyoto's 2 original items the next time I take a trip to Kyoto.
I had this "［雅］ 宇治抹茶 ＆ 白玉" at Tully's Coffee Randen-Arashiyama Station, in Kyoto. "［雅］ 宇治抹茶 ＆ 白玉", or Miyabi Uji Matcha & Shiratama, was an Uji Matcha frozen parfait. "雅" means elegance or grace in English.
Well, this Arashiyama location is different from any other Tully's Coffee shop in Japan. It's surrounded by these Japanese-style round bars. I'm not sure if I can say round bars for these, though. 
Anyway, they are so beautiful, right? I'll upload another blog post about Tully's Arashiyama and Kyoto-limited tumblers as well with many photos, some other time. 
"［濃］ 宇治抹茶ラテ" at Tully's Coffee Kyoto Avanti. It was an Uji matcha latte topped with 金箔, gold leaf flakes. I ordered this hot one, but I guess an iced one was also available. We use the kanji "濃" when we say "濃い"(Koi) or "濃厚"(Noukou). If latte, tea, green tea, coffee, etc... are 濃い, it means they are strong, and if these drinks are 濃厚, they are rich. Rich tea, rich green tea, rich coffee, and so on...you know what I mean. So, I think "濃" of the name shows their Kyoto-limited Uji matcha latte is rich.
Oh, Uji Matcha Latte (hot /iced) is on the regular menu of Tully's Coffee, but it's not served with whipped cream and gold leaf flakes on it.
"Waffle Plate Uji Matcha Custard & Shiratama Azuki" at Tully's Kyoto Avanti again. It's my favorite Tully's Coffee shop, too. It's near the Kyoto station. If you have a chance to visit Kyoto, please come by Tully's Coffee shops.
Oh, Shiratama, or 白玉, is like a small rice ball as you can see in the photos above and below, and it's sticky. I really like 白玉, and it goes very very well with Matcha and Azuki. 
I think their waffes are very good.
I like Tully's waffles much better than Tully's pancakes, actually.
The last matcha items I'll introduce today are... 
mister Donut's limited edition items. Mister Donut collaborated with Gion Tsujiri, and mister Donut served 6 matcha donuts and 2 matcha drinks this year for a limited time, as "misdo meets 宇治茶 祇園辻利". I tried them all.
"Pon De Premium Matcha" and Tully's mug with its logo. "Pon De Ring" is mister Donut's popular item in Japan, and this limited one is matcha ver.
Also, its official character "Pon De Lion" is popular, maybe especially among children. So sad that Pon De Lion Park in Sola Machi of Tokyo Skytree shut down early this month, and we can't buy this "Pon De Lion Donut" anymore. It was only available at Pon De Lion Park. 
He's cute, right? Well, it was tasty, too, though I almost couldn't eat it because it was so pretty. I think mister donut in Japan should add this donut to their regular menu.
Get back to the matcha topic, this one is "Premium Matcha Fashion". It's an old-fashioned doughnut, part of which is covered with matcha chocholate.
And the other 4 donuts.
I forgot which is which... Maybe the upper right is "Azuki Matcha Whip" and the upper left is "Matcha Tounyu Whip". And I guess the lower right is "Shiratama Matcha" and the lower left is "Warabi Mochi Matcha".
"Matcha Tounyu Whip". Oh, Tounyu, or 豆乳, is soy milk in English. "Matcha Tounyu Whip" was filled with soy whipped cream, so whip of the name means whipped cream, I guess. "Azuki Matcha Whip" must have had whipped cream too, but I'm not sure.
The left one is "Azuki Matcha Whip", which was topped with きな粉, or Kinako, I guess.
Kinako is roasted soybean flour or powder. And the right one is "Warabi Mochi Matcha". (maybe)
"Shiratama Matcha" donut with a mug of Eggs 'n Things. This mug is my favorite too! You can buy it at any Eggs 'n Things location.
Also, you can get the Tully's mug that I mentioned earlier at Tully's Coffee shops. The white mug with Tully's logo comes in two sizes, small and tall. Of course, I have both.That mug which is on the red beverage coaster in the photo is a small size one, and the one with the matcha Pon De Ring is maybe a tall one.
...I forgot to write about matcha drinks. Left: "Match Au Lait" Right: "Matcha Au Lait Tounyu Whip"
As I mentioned before, Eggs 'n Things will be serving their new seasonal menu "In Summer" next month. I hear this "In Summer" is July only. I mean... this seasonal menu is only available from July 1st till July 31th.
On top of that, they've just realsed that they add two items, "Healthy Salad Bowl"and "French Toast & Fruits", to the grand menu on July 1st. These two items are for "TABLE FOR TWO", which is a non-governmental organization "tackling imbalances in World Food Consumption".
If you have either dish of these two at Eggs 'n Things restaurants, you can donate 20 yen per dish to TABLE FOR TWO, and TABLE FOR TWO uses the donations to give school meals to children in developing nations. It seems that they can provide 1 school meal with 20 yen. I mean, 1 school lunch in developing countries is equal to 20 yen in Japan.
...So sorry, I made a mistake in one sentence, so I corrected it. I wrote their name wrong...I spelled TABLE FOR "ONE", not "TWO". TABLE FOR "TWO" is what they really want to do and I think that's the reason why their name is "TABLE FOR TWO". If you don't get it, please read "THE SOLUTION" part on their website.
"TABLE FOR TWO" has its own English ver. as well as the Japanese ver, so check them out! 
Wow, they also have the German ver. 
, and the Korean ver. 
I've heard of their "Change the World with Onigri" before. I think I've read about it maybe last year, on the offcial facebook or blog of Shinjiro Koizumi, a famous lawmaker in Japan and a member of the House of Representatives.
So, we can have delicious and healthy dishes, and can contribute to the world at the same time. Amazing. I can't wait to have "Healthy Salad Bowl" and "French Toast & Fruits" at Eggs 'n Things
But before that, I'd love to try the items on their seasonal menu "In Summer". 
