Power Blend Tanaka: Psychic Takoyaki, Instructions Included
The flavour list began with “light”, “rich” and “mild”. Farther down were the spring at Lourdes, a range of famous names, living and long dead, and Hennessy Napoleon with a “20-year warp”.
“First Love Special” was another option. The list gave it a number, but no tasting notes. Number 51 promised 20 per cent fewer calories.
This was Power Blend Tanaka, a small takoyaki shop in Tokyo’s Minami-Senju neighbourhood. Takoyaki are balls of batter containing pieces of octopus, cooked in rounded moulds. The heading above the list promised “modern magic”, the practical application of telepathy and a world first: the discovery of the “material brain”. According to the owner, all matter has a brain-like part that understands language. Give it the right signal, and a takoyaki could change its flavour after cooking. The handwritten list offered some possibilities.
Outside, red lanterns hung beside the serving window. The menu below it listed portions of takoyaki and variations such as octopus with kimchi or mochi rice cake with cheese. Those choices concerned what went into the food.
The list inside concerned what could happen afterwards.
First, let it cool
When I asked to try the flavour-changing experience, I was given a small plate. The procedure was to move a takoyaki onto it, break it open and let it cool thoroughly.
A notice on the wall was more specific: the takoyaki had to be cool enough for a child in kindergarten to eat. Anyone who preferred their takoyaki hot was instructed not to attempt it. That warning was underlined in pink.
Psychic powers, it seemed, had a serving temperature.
Tasting the original was an important part of the procedure. There needed to be something to compare with whatever followed. The board put the “recognition rate” at over 90 per cent.
The takoyaki itself was excellent. It would have been worth coming for without the demonstration.
Behind the counter, batter spread across the griddle’s rows of rounded moulds. Whatever happened to the flavour later, the food still began on a hot cooking surface.
Start at beginner level
The next instructions were on a larger board headed “Challenge 3: Food”. It divided the process into beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.
At beginner level, the signal was a light tap on the plate or takeaway container with a chopstick. One tap was for the original taste. Two were supposed to produce a lighter flavour; three, something rich and mellow; four, something creamy. Seven produced “your own flavour”, one into which your own energy and vibrations had been entered.
The instructions also specified where to send the signal. If the takoyaki had cooled on a plate, tap the plate. If it had cooled in its takeaway container, tap that instead.
Even telepathy needed the correct address.
At intermediate level, the flavour list came back into use. Instead of varying the number of taps, you said a flavour name or menu number, then gave one signal. The takoyaki, in theory, understood language. This was where the famous names, the cognac and First Love Special entered the procedure.
The advanced instructions removed that restriction. There was no need to choose from the list: you could name what you wanted to try, or convey it by thought, then give the signal.
What had looked like an unusually broad menu turned out to be a set of suggestions.
A note at the bottom said that the same takoyaki could be changed repeatedly. The different flavours did not require separate portions. They did, however, require leaving some of the takoyaki uneaten.
Something to drink
Drinks had their own instructions, labelled “Challenge 2”.
Drawings of a can and a plastic bottle divided each into an upper and lower section. Here, the location of the signal mattered as well as the number.
For stronger carbonation, the chart prescribed one signal to the lower part and a four-second wait. Two signals there would chill the drink within ten seconds.
The top of each container was labelled “reset”. One signal there was supposed to restore the original taste.
The upper part also handled personal matters. Two signals there were for a “rejuvenation mix”, covering appearance and vigour. Three, after saying someone’s name, produced that person’s flavour, which you were to memorise; three to the lower part did the same for your own. You then tapped both parts at once with two fingers in a V. If your flavour came out, you would be the one who led; if theirs, the one who followed. If the drink turned unpleasant, you were not compatible.
Compatibility, it turned out, was a matter of taste.
The takoyaki had brought me to the counter, but the instructions extended well beyond it. A plate, a takeaway box, a drinks bottle: ordinary containers had acquired a surprisingly elaborate set of functions. Below the flavour list, a board labelled “Challenge 5” was devoted to men’s perfume.
The boards explained how to do everything except decide whether it actually worked.
I had followed the procedure myself: let the takoyaki cool, tasted the original, then gave my signal.
The flavour did seem to change. Whether that was the takoyaki, or how much I wanted it to change, I could not say for certain.
Visit this place
Restaurant
Power Blend TANAKA (パワーブレンド TANAKA)
About 2 minutes on foot from Minami-Senju Station west exit
7-4-7 Minamisenju, Arakawa City, Tokyo 116-0003, Japan
Practical Information
- Opening hours
- Current listings disagree on closing time. Tabelog and Gurunavi list 12:00–23:00, closed Wednesday, with service ending when sold out; Google Maps currently shows shorter hours. Check before making a special trip.
- Reservations
- Not accepted
- Phone
- 03-3803-2924
- Official website
- Power Blend TANAKA
Information last checked: September 26, 2026opening hours, reservations and contact details
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