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Beer lovers, history lovers, food fetishists, take note.
In December, Kirin will be bringing to market two limited edition lagers that are recreations of brews the company sold in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Expected to be available throughout Japan, the revival beverages are being released to celebrate Kirin's 120th anniversary.
In 2006, the company sold similar products for a short time. While today's Kirin contains ingredients like rice and starch in addition to hops and barley, early incarnations did without starch or contained hops and barley only.
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The Panasonic NA-FR10S1 combination-washer/dryer uses special eco-friendly technology. This poster, which appeared in trains around Japan, very effectively conveys the point that the machine uses 25 fewer liters of water to complete each load of wash.
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You only need to learn four Japanese words to understand the core of this ad for Lotte's Chococo cookies.
Chokoko: the brand name
Doko: "where"
Koko: "here"
Soko: "there"
But those four words are enough, thanks to good direction, the right camera movement and effective music.
It's not much in terms of branding, but get your attention it does, and the quick product shot and eating scene were enough to start me hankering for those cookies. The tag narration at the end provides an additional boost for those who understand Japanese: "Crispy and rich chocolate cookies. Lotte Chococo."
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So, you're a Japanese consumer and you're thinking of buying a new outfit online, or you're wondering how you might look with the latest trendy hairstyle, but you can't decide which look is right for you. Well, worry no more.
If you're an owner of a KDDI au cell phone, you can now use their EZ MY STYLING feature to snap a photo of yourself and composite it with various hair styles and fashion items. And if you want to get that haircut or buy those clothes, well the au partner companies that provide the images will be more than happy to assist you.
The technology was developed by the same folks who powered the Schick Japan Hige-Chen website we wrote about back in February.
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Asahi Brewing* just released this new product, dubbed "Ginger Draft." Despite the name, this isn't a shandy-like cocktail combining beer with ginger ale; it's a low-malt brew containing ginger extract. From the looks of the ad campaign and website, it's clearly targeting drinkers under 30.
*Thanks to reader David Kawabata who caught a typo in the original version of this article which mistakenly identified the brewer as Kirin instead of Asahi.
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Japan's subways and trains are crowded, so transportation companies frequently hang posters to remind passengers to be considerate of others.
Recently, this series from Tokyo Metro has been running with different executions appearing each month.
Apart from the numbingly clumsy and dull English copy (sadly, even today most Japanese companies can't be bothered to hire professional, native-English-speaking copywriters), the posters are eye-catching, and the copy does the job for the vast majority of passengers who are, obviously, Japanese.
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