October 2026 Kitchen Update

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Your personal chef Tina here! I’ve got a juicy new Kitchen Update for you, with your next batch of pins on the way! Keep reading to see what I mean!

What's Arriving This Month: Our next batch of pins has been completed, and as much as I wanted to get them to you in this month's Maki Mail, they sadly didn't leave port before the Golden Week holiday so they've been waiting in Shenzhen. The good news is that I do have a tracking number already, and by the time you read this, the shipment should be on it's way! If you've already preordered any of the pins below, you'll recieve them in your next Maki Mail Delivery! If you didn't but want to, you still can. The pins we'll be delivering next will include... 🌟= Brand New Dishes

• 🌟 Oreo Taiyaki (Regular, 🌟TLC Variant & 🌟Golden)
  • Visit TaiyakiLovingCooks.com for variant details!
• 🌟 Azuki Bean Taiyaki (Regular & TLC Variant)
  • Visit TaiyakiLovingCooks.com for variant details!
• 🌟 Taiyaki Seal Sundae
• 🌟 Russian Bluefin Tuna
• 🌟 Kitto Katto (Regular & Blueberry Cheesecake)
• Taiyaki Seal - Restock
• Cobra Soba - Restock
• TaMeowGo - Restock
• Straw-bear-y Shortcake - Restock

The next pin order I am making after BLFC will include the August Tasting Room Menu, August restocks and three new Nekos that you’ll see below.

To-Go Menus Updated: I have finally updated the core Tasting Room Menu, a rough draft copy is included in today's Maki Mail for you to check out! Something you'll notice in it is that I didn't focus on adding new pins - That's because the Sushi Tomodachi Pin Collection has grown way, way, WAY too big for a single menu. We just broke over 150 pins made so far, so I've decided to break things down into a more spoon-fed approach. This will be the first menu that most people will get when they find the Sushi Bar for the first time, and will highlight the most popular pins that make the sushi bar bit clear. New folks will then discover more pins as they come back for seconds, thirds… twenty-eighths… You’ll get to experience this too next month when you'll get to see a first draft of an updated Secret Menu, then you'll get an Entree Menu, then you'll get a Drink Menu... etc, etc, etc. More importantly for you, check out the new Achievements on this menu. I bet you've already unlocked some! You’ll be able to redeem these new achievements one of two ways:

1️⃣ If your account’s order history meets the completion criteria, you’ll get a notification that you can add achievements to your cart along with your next order. - OR - 2️⃣ If you’ve gotten pins from Mystery Boxes, we won’t see those on your order history, so simply take a photo of your pins along with the menu and upload it to sushitomodachi.co/proof

Any achievements or unlocked nekos will then be shipped in your next shipment or you can pick them up at cons.

NEW NEKOS: I have implemented tasks for three new Maneki Nekos you can earn - They're not up on the website yet 100%, but that is okay because they just got ordered. You can still complete the tasks and unlock the new Maneki Neko (Wasabi), Maneki Neko (Sweet Peach) and keep voting in Taste Tests to unlock the Maneki Neko (Tasty Tempura) pins to receive them after they come in!

SUSHI TOMODACHI COMIC ON BACKERKIT? It has been my dream to share more lore about the Sushi Tomodachi. I have wanted to show you their personalities and wanted to find out what kind of trouble they can get into, but just couldn't seem to find the time, and my ADHD made the endless possibilities feel impossible to choose a where, when and why. Then I realized something... what if I got your help? I am running a new, experimental campaign on BackerKit this month where the stretch goals are you unlocking the story. We are funding a pin campaign, but the pins are only half of it. The pin set itself is small, because I wanted it to be something more completable than the current collection, but I also wanted them to be a special set that you get just for participating in this new endeavor. Sushi Tomodachi Pumpkin Patch is the name of the campaign, and you can check it out as part of Pintober 2026 - You even get a freebie perk for backing 3 or more artists in Pintober as an extra thank you not only from me but also the other amazing pin artists participating. There a QR code to scan to access the campaign on the next page!

The storyline portion of the campaign is running NOW, but the pin pledging portion of the campaign will launch Oct 20-Nov 2 during Pintober 2026!

Check out the campaign now by clicking here or by scanning the QR code here 

What's Next: I have been sending out weekly Taste Tests - Voting used to be open to the public, but I decided to make them a VIP Exclusive perk. You should be the one deciding what goes on the menu, it just makes sense! You'll be seeing some holiday themed tests coming down the way soon. In my defense, I enjoy spoopy season and I'm not in a rush to the holidays!! I am just working to get ahead because of my goal to get the Tasting Room Pin Club to deliver -same month-. It's taking a lot of trial and error to get the cadence right (Back-to-back summer cons always do a number on my scheduling) but it’s gettin' there. As far as next pins to come in go, there are definately some restocks that have been in queue for far longer than I've wanted. One of the challenges I have had has been that every month I put together my pin order, but sometimes have to delay some of what I planned when the quote comes in higher than expected. My process has been to lock in the Tasting Room Menu pins, then try to add 1-2 more pins from the queue, but with so many designs restock progress has been slow. Something you can know for certain is that every single one of the pins listed on the new To Go Menu will return, even if it takes me some extra time. Adding the restocks to the Tasting Room Menu each month has made it much easier for me to make progress on the queue, since it’s a great chance for people to see pins they haven’t seen before come back! The next order I have planned currently includes the following items from the restock queue: Raion Ramen, Suzuki Snow Leopard, Sika Spring Roll (Doe), Spicy Tuna Tiger Roll.

Next Month’s Maki Mail ships Nov 12: I’m excited to get you more of the pins you’ve been waiting for in next month’s Maki Mail! You’ll be able to add items to next month’s Maki Mail shipment as long as you place your order before Nov 4! Thank you for reading, and I can’t wait to serve you again!