Gaming blog Destructoid is now rocking out in the Destination Japan sidebar to the right. I've become addicted to this blog as of late, and I'm looking forward to their Tokyo Game Show coverage this year. Destination Japan is sponsoring the blog's coverage of the event, and we're very happy be teaming up with them to get the latest reports from the Tokyo Game Show to all of the gaming nuts out there. If you're visiting us from the link on the right side of the Destructoid front page, welcome!

We're hitting the plan book and readying our tour schedule for next year's tours here at Destination Japan, and we want to openly invite people to send in suggestions for activities and events they'd like to see on the tours. We've got plenty in store that we know you'll enjoy, but we want to hear the voice of the people! Tell us all the things you want to do, see, eat, visit, and experience! Anime conventions, visits to game companies, hobby/figure shops, akihabara, temples, shrines... the list is endless, but what are YOU most interested in?

Reservations for Tokyo Summer Maximum 2007 are no longer open. Any stragglers out there? We've got just a couple spots left, but seats won't be available for long. If you want in on this tour, we strongly suggest that you contact us right away!

When it comes to food, authentic Japanese ramen is hard to beat. The only thing I like more than authentic ramen is pizza, and unfortunately, I don't think anyone will be able to fuse those two together to a reasonable (see also edible) degree of success. Many of you know ramen as the cheap alternative to real sustenance, popular among students for its low cost.

Riding in on the wave of popularity that canned oden enjoyed comes canned ramen. I'm fairly skeptical of the taste, since that canned oden stuff was what many would call "not delicious," but I'm willing to give these a shot. They can be found in vending machines in Akihabara, and come out hot and ready to eat! I guess the vending machine dispenses chopsticks too?

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The news came in today that the Experience Japan tour we'll be going on during the Tokyo Summer Maximum tour coming up next month will be all about NINJAS!! We'll dedicate an afternoon to hearing a lecture about those warriors of mystery and espionage, then we'll get to try out some real ninja weapons(!!!). After getting friendly with some weapons, we're going to START FIGHTING. EACH OTHER. TO THE DEATH. Well, not to the death. Sorry. I got excited. We'll be doing some sparring with imitation weapons to get a feel for how they work against real opponents. Which means all of us will be recreating the experience in our living rooms when we get back.

WOOOO! We're a go for the tour!! Destination Japan's Tokyo Summer Maximum tour was given the official green light and everyone's really excited. With such an awesome tour lined up, we're really not surprised. Better start packing!

On that note, if you're still on the fence about the tour, fear not! A couple more people can still be squeezed in. Give us a call or e-mail ASAP to find out if you can still get in on the action!

The brand new Evangelion movie Rebuild of Evangelion: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE is right around the corner. On September 1st, the retelling of the iconic anime Neon Genesis Evangelion will hit theatres in Japan, and guess who's gonna be in Japan in September... Destination Japan is aware of this golden opportunity, and is excited to offer an optional tour to a movie theatre to watch the new Evangelion movie on the big screen - only on the Tokyo Summer Maximum tour!

If you haven't heard about the new movie(s), you can read up at the Wikipedia entry on Rebuild of Evangelion. Back in February, director Hideaki Anno sent out the above poster with a message that Anime News Network has translated. Those of you who are Japanese savvy can also check out the official website.

I have to say I'm really excited about this. Expect plenty of Pocky and other various konbini snacks to be provided, because really, you can't watch Evangelion without the proper helping of Pocky. In fact, I'm gonna go watch the trailer a couple more times.

We stumbled on this video over here at the H.I.S. offices this morning, and felt that we had to share it with you all. This video is by a comedy duo in Japan called "The Rahmens", and is a hilarious satire about the etiquette you should follow when eating at a sushi restaurant. You can find a bunch more clips like this one over at TV in Japan.

Destination Japan's temporary design is now dead and gone, and we're glad to be rid of it. We hope you like this new version. There are only a couple of spots that aren't working at the moment, but most of it should be up and running as before. This time around we have a much nicer design, as well as a place for links to resources and other sites. Let us know what you think!

Some of you designers out there might scoff at the nested tables design... but cut me some slack. I'll figure out how to design with CSS eventually.