http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstCategory/index.php?cmenuid=80 Kyodo News on the Web: Daily international, Japan news, Japan News, national and local news coverage from the newspaper, breaking news updates, technology news, sports, reviews, listings. Kyodo News (C) All Rights Reserved http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstCategory/index.php?cmenuid=80 en http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=485540 Chocolate chefs are introducing new flavors for Valentine's Day gifts to be sold in Japan on Sunday that use traditional Japanese ingredients such as Japanese plums and ''yuzu'' citron. Jean Paul Hevin, a pastry chef from Paris whose chocolates are sold in Japanese department stores as well as his own stores in Japan, Hong Kong and Paris, said his new Valentine's Day creation contains yuzu mixed with almond powder. He said yuzu, a citrus fruit commonly used in Japanese food, is an attractive ingredient because it sometimes tastes like lemon and sometimes like orange. http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=483740 Apartment houses and condos decorated by two former female employees of a real estate company to cash in on the popular ''kawaii'' or cute concept are catching the fancy of female residents. Kana Arai, 32, and Kumi Tahara, 27, set up a real estate company called ''Tokyo Girls' Fudosan'' in 2006 to handle interior work for borderless guesthouses where residents live a communal life by jointly owning living rooms and kitchens, lavatories equipped with chandeliers and pink-colored toilets for female customers. http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=481609 Sturdy-looking cast-iron kitchenware of a European design attracted attention at a business fair featuring traditional Japanese creations that opened in Paris on Wednesday. During the Japan Brand Exhibition 2010, Nambu Ironware Cooperative displayed 14 pieces of the black ''nambu tekki'' products including pans, pots and soup bowls designed by Finnish artist Tauno Tarna and crafted using traditional casting techniques. http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=476187 A girl's fantasy inspired by British writer Mary Norton's novel is the main theme of the upcoming new animated film Studio Ghibli will release next summer, the Japanese leading ''anime'' creation atelier said Wednesday. Ghibli animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi will direct the film ''Karigurashi no Arrietty'' (Arrietty Borrows Everything) with the help of the country's anime great Hayao Miyazaki, Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki said at a press conference. http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=473371 Thai rookie cartoonist Jakraphan Huaypetch won the top prize in this year's International Manga Award contest hosted by the Japanese Foreign Ministry for works produced overseas, while Chinese, French and South Korean artists bagged the runners-up awards, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The 31-year-old Thai cartoonist was selected for his debut comic ''Super Dunker,'' which was published in Thailand in 2008 and featured a rural boy who is talented at street basketball. http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=472443 A collection of about 100 posters featuring Japanese ''manga'' and ''anime'' characters are among exhibits attracting youths in Brazil in a series of ''Cool Japan'' events under way in the Latin American country. At the Academia Brasileira de Letras in Rio de Janeiro, students of elementary and junior high schools are seen shooting a curious look at the posters that the country's leading academic institute started to display Nov. 9. http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=471420 A demonstration in the art of making small traditional Japanese sweets on the themes of flowers and birds was given to about 200 people in Rome on Tuesday evening. Staff from the traditional ''wagashi'' desserts maker Saiundo based in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, demonstrated how to create the sweets and decorate them at the event organized by the Japan Foundation. http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=468243 A ''manga'' library opened in Tokyo this weekend, featuring traditional Japanese comic magazines that were popular nearly half a century ago and a rare compilation of romantic comics for women. Visitors can also browse old issues of the smash-hit girls' magazines ''Ribon'' and ''Nakayoshi'' as well as most comic books published in Japan in the 1960s or later from among some 140,000 items stocked at the Yoshihiro Yonezawa Memorial Library of Manga and Subculture, which opened Saturday at Meiji University. http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=465836 The 2010 spring-summer Tokyo Collection Week started Monday, featuring about 50 brands and seeking to promote the latest Japanese fashions in the international arena. The event began with a fashion show by motonariono, a brand founded in 2006 by new-generation designer Motonari Ono, which featured sexy dresses incorporating lace and thin, soft fabric that suggests lingerie. http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=464571 A group of around 50 costume role players inspired by Japanese ''manga,'' ''anime'' and games attracted the attention of locals and tourists on Friday when they showed off their creations in Spanish Square in Rome. The ''cosplayers,'' who were taking part in a pop culture event called Romics, arrived in the square after marching through western Rome from Popolo Square via the busy Corso Avenue.