Ito Ham Giveaway Recette and Hello Kitty

Ito Ham is conducting a 3 phase giveaway involving items that go well with sandwich meats. We are now in the second phase of this giveaway and the prize is a speciality bread (half a loaf) and commemorative plates.

Recette is an online bakery which sells specialty bread at pretty steep prices: 30 dollars for a loaf or 15 dollars for half a loaf (pictured above).

The plates commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Hello Kitty.
伊藤ハム

http://www.itoham.co.jp/campaign/asafresh2014/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Xylitol Gum Information Sheet from Compound Interest

Anyone interested in chemistry, science or food chemistry should definately follow Compound Interest which post great graphics daily. This post is about Xylitol Gum which is a very popular functional ingredient here in Japan.

http://www.compoundchem.com/2014/09/04/xylitol/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Nikka Whiskey and Barley Varieties

Different varieties of barley are used for barley tea and for whiskey/beer. This nice illustration shows the difference. Six-row barley on the right is used for barley tea and two-row barley on the left is used for whiskey/beer. The two row barley has lower protein and higher carbohydrate content and therefore is more suitable for fermentation. However for some varieties of both whiskey and beer, six-row barleys are used. ニッカ

http://www.nikka.com/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Coca Cola Emergency Vending Machine

This is an emergency ready vending machine that in case of an earthquake or other major emergency will provide safety information and give out drinks free of charge. コカコーラ

http://www.cocacola.co.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Ben & Jerry's Toasts Goodbye to Summer

Ben & Jerry's toasts summer goodbye. ベン＆ジェリーズ

http://www.benjerry.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Asahi Mitsuya Cider Aomori Apple

Asahi is offering a special version of their long selling Mitsuya Cider line which includes Orin variety apples from Aomori Prefecture. This is a special variety of golden delicious apple. 王林 青森県 三ツ矢

http://www.asahiinryo.co.jp/mitsuya-cider/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

KFC Red Hot Chicken

The end of the summer brings the reintroduction of Red Hot Chicken at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Japan. A whole meal of only Red Hot Chicken can be a bit much, so KFC often offers mixed sets also including regular original recipe chicken. ケンタッキーフライドチッキン

http://www.kfc.co.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Morinaga Mt. Rainier Caffe Latte Mochaccino

Morinaga has just introduced a mocha and cinnamon variety to its Mt. Rainier Caffe Latte line for the fall called the mochaccino, which is rated as very sweet. Looks like it is designed to compete with Christmas varieties at the big coffee chains. 森永

http://mtrainier.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

7-Eleven Shikoku Area

7-Eleven just opened its first convenience store in a train station on the island of Shikoku. So Japan's largest convenience store chain is making progress in this area where they have not traditionally been strong.

http://www.sej.co.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Lawson Sanrio and Onigiri

Two Sanrio (the Hello Kitty company) characters Kirimi-chan (a slice of salmon) and Kamaboko-chan (a slice of fish paste) visit Lawson convenience store to promote new varieties of onigiri (rice balls).

http://www.sanrio.co.jp/character/kirimichan/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Suntory Highball Cola

Suntory is offering a cola highball for the fall season. Not much of a highball fan, but the highball boom which started several years ago appears to still have some legs. サントリー

http://www.suntory.co.jp/whisky/torys/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Meiji Savas and a Healthy Meal

Meiji suggests runners try high protein powdered sports drink Savas to go with a healthy meal. 明治 ザバス

http://www.meiji.co.jp/sports/savas/index.php

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Morinaga Glucosamine Drink

Through its home delivery network, Morinaga now is selling a drink containing ingredients associated with joint health. A similar drink has been sold by Meiji through its home delivery network for years. Increasingly, Japanese dairy companies are using their home delivery networks to sell items for regular use like probiotics and supplements. This joint health drink contains glucosamine (1,500 mg), collagen (1,000 mg) and hyaluronic acid (5 mg).  森永 宅配 グルコサミン コラーゲン ヒアルロン酸

http://takuhaimilk.ne.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

KFC Route 25 Adult Kentucky

There are now two KFC Route 25 locations, with a central location now added in the Otemachi area. Route 25 is Kentucky Fried Chicken's attempt to take the brand upscale. That can be seen from this photo where Suntory Premium Beer and highballs are being offered with your chicken. It is being dubbed "Adult Kentucky" which sounds a bit better in Japanese - Kentucky Friend Chicken is frequently abbreviated Kentucky in Japanese. Now that there is a more central location, I really should go by and see how it looks for myself. 大人ケンタッキー

http://www.kfc.co.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

FamilyMart Bari Chocolate Collection

FamilyMart, the convenience store chain, has a new line of black sweets aimed at men. It is called Bari Chocolate, which comes from the Japanese word "barito" plus "chocolate". Hard to exactly translate in this case, but it conveys the sense of eating something in a rough manly manner. The product shown is a cream filled pasty, called shu cream in Japan or chou a la creme in French. This product has bits of hard chocolate incorporated in the bread part. There is also a black cheese cake in the collection with more products to come. シュークレーム

http://www.family.co.jp/topics/2014/140729_01.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

The Original KitKat

Here is a photo of the original KitKat, which at the time (1935) was called Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp. ネスレ キットカット

http://nestle.jp/brand/kit/product/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Meiji Apollo Regional Varieties

Here are a few of the Meiji Apollo regional varieties which correspond to local well known commodities and are sold to tourists to take back as presents, "omiyage" in Japanese. Clockwise from the bottom left you have grape flavor from the Shinshu area (Nagano), Mikan (Mandarin orange) flavor from Shizuoka, apple flavor from the Michinoku area (Tohoku), melon flavor from Hokkaido, and matcha green tea flavor from the Kansai area. 明治 アポロ お土産

http://www.meiji.co.jp/sweets/okashi-land/products/apollo/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Burger King Freah Avocado Whopper

Here is another view of the Premium Fresh Avocado Whopper. Very nice food photography. Interested to see not only what it tastes like, but what it looks like in real life. バーガーキング アボカド

https://www.burgerkingjapan.co.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Burger King Avocadict Summer Specials

Burger King is offering 3 avocado enhanced burgers: the Fresh Avocado Burger, the Fresh Avocado Whopper Jr. and the Fresh Avocado Whopper Premium. This photo makes them all look pretty good, but the real burger might look somewhat different after the avocado shrinks down. A recent McDonald's avocado burger looked completely different from the advertisement.

The Fresh Avocado Whopper premium claims 50 percent more avocado (compared to what I'm not sure), but it does look like almost a whole sliced avocado. That might make it worth the 550 yen price. バーガーキング アボカド

https://www.burgerkingjapan.co.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

CirclekSunkus RICOH THETA Giveaway

CirclekSunkus, a large convenience store chain, is giving away 143 of the new RICOH THETA 360 degree cameras. You can enter once a day through the end of the month via the Facebook page and it doesn't look like purchase is necessary. サークルＫサンクス

https://www.facebook.com/circleksunkus

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Kirin Free Float

Kirin Free, the world's first 0.00% alcohol free beer, was the product of the year two years ago and has been a great source of profit ever since. The reason for this is alcohol taxes are very high and this item is sold right next to real beer - meaning that even an inflated price looks like a bargain.

In this social media post, they suggest making an ice cream and fruit float using Kirin Free. If nothing else, it certainly is pretty. キリンフリー

http://www.kirin.co.jp/products/nonalcohol/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Glico 5th Generation Neon Sign Countdown

The Glico Osaka Dotonbori Neon sign has become one of the iconic photo taking spots in Japan. It is now time to renew the sign and Glico is counting down with new photos every day on their social media feeds. The sign goes dark on August 17th and the new sign (6th generation) will be introduced next Fall. This photo shows some of pretty young ladies who are shrine maidens from the nearby Imamiyaebisu Shrine. グリコ 今宮戎神社 道頓堀

http://www.ezaki-glico.net/neon/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Ito Ham and Typhoon Season

It is typhoon season and in keeping with that, the Ito Ham mascot "Ito Kakaricho", a slice of ham, is being blown off the bento box where he usually sits. 伊藤ハム

http://www.itoham.co.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Suntory Boss FamilyMart Collection

In another Suntory product which finds a new middle ground between branded and private brand products, the newest edition to the Boss canned coffee line is only available at FamilyMart and is part of the FamilyMart Collection (private brand). Therefore, it is the Suntory Boss brand, but also part of the FamilyMart private brand collection.

This line under the Boss brand is called The Espresso and uses a blend of the highest quality Brazilian coffee beans. It comes in regular, low sugar and black varieties. サントリー

http://www.suntory.co.jp/softdrink/boss

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Kirin Signed Soccer Ball DVD Giveaway

Kirin is perhaps the biggest corporate sponsor for the national soccer teams. In this current promotion, a signed uniform and personalized message DVD from Shinji Kagawa are being given away to one lucky elementary school student. Another 5 will receive signed soccer balls. Entry is by hand written letter, where the student must write about his dream and how he or she is working toward achieving that dream. キリン 香川真司

http://www.kirin.co.jp/csv/soccer/cp0731/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Guinness and Mountain Day

Japan has created a new public holiday called Mountain Day. It does not go into full force until 2016, but can still be celebrated this year on August 11th. Kirin would like you to do it with a Guinness. 山の日 キリン 

http://www.guinness.com/ja-jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Morinaga Aloe Yogurt Strawberry Smoothie

Morinaga suggests making watermelon smoothies with their aloe yogurt. They call this "healthy beauty" based on the watermelon containing "beauty ingredients" such as lycopene, beta carotene, vitamin C and citrulline. Not really a claim that would pass even the loosest standards, but probably more healthy than not. 森永

http://www.morinagamilk.co.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Meiji Cup Golf Tournament

The Meiji Cup Golf Tournament will be held in Sapporo this weekend. Meiji promotes their VAAM sports drink for even moderate exercise, so that is a natural tie in, but Bulgaria yogurt, chocolate, Amino Collagen supplement and Meiji Tokachi Smart Cheese are also featured. Relatively cool Hokkaido in August sounds very attractive. It is also safely away from seasonal typhoons. 明治

http://www.meiji.co.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Lawson Machi Cafe

Lawson, one of the big convenience store chains, is now selling fresh coffee, both hot and cold. Lawson's version is called Machi Coffee, or town coffee. Not exactly why it took so long to make it to Japan, but in the past year or so, it has become a feature at most convenience stores and has even become a new category to be measured in the industry press - called "counter coffee". Over the weekend, Lawson is selling counter coffee for 50 yen off. 

http://www.lawson.co.jp/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Calpis on Top of Mt Fuji

It is Mt. Fuji climbing season in Japan and this ad shows cheers being toasted with Calpis at the top of Japan's most famous mountain. カルピス

http://www.calpis.co.jp/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Meiji Apollo Chocolate

The Meiji Apollo Chocolate brand  is celebrating 45 years this year. This chocolate look umbrella shaped with the top half being strawberry chocolate and the bottom half milk chocolate. However, the shape and name are actually a result of the launch of Apollo 11 and the first trip to the moon in the same year. This remains a product found in almost every convenience store and supermarket in Japan. 明治 アポロ

http://www.meiji.co.jp/sweets/okashi-land/products/apollo/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.