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Hiro Shimono, Karamatsu, Other Celebrities Appear in Fried Chicken Mook

Japan's distinctive style of fried chicken, kara'age, has many fans. So many, in fact, that Kadokawa is publishing a mook (magazine/book) dedicated entirely to it: Kara'age Walker 2017.

The mook focuses on celebrities with a penchant for fried chicken. On the cover is Yua Shinkawa (Shūko in the live-action Blue Spring Ride). Within, readers will find Erika Ikuta and Nanami Hashimoto (members of the idol group Nogizaka 46) and gravure idols Nonoka Ono and Miwako Kakei partaking in fried chicken gravure; Hashimoto's photos showcase zangi, the fried chicken style of her native Hokkaido. Anime fans will recognize Karamatsu, one of the Matsuno brothers from Mr. Osomatsu, indulging in kara'age gravure too.

Yua Shinkawa

Erika Ikuta

Nanami Hashimoto

Nonoka Ono

Miwako Kakei

Karamatsu Matsuno

Voice actor Hiro Shimono (Keima in The World God Only Knows, Jiro in DAYS, Ayato in RahXephon) features in the gravure spreads as well. He is a well-known fried chicken enthusiast, having been voted "Best Kara'agenist" (an honor which goes to the person who loves kara'age the most) four times by the Japan Karaage Association. He's released a DVD of his visits to famous kara'age eateries, performed a kara'age ondo (a traditional song style) for LAWSON convenience stores, and will cook kara'age at the Animate Girls Food Festival on November 6 in Tokyo's Ikebukuro Park.

Other than tantalizing you with photos of attractive people consuming delicious food, Kara'age Walker includes information on 250 of Japan's best fried chicken restaurants as selected by the Japan Karaage Association. The mook is available for 950 yen ($9.25) at Kadokawa's online store; alternatively, if you buy it at an Animate store, it comes with a removable cover showing Shimono, and you can win different photos of Shimono if you also buy his new single, "One Chance."

Source: Nijimen; Images from Kara'age Walker Twitter