JA and TPP Negotiations

JA (or Zenno 全農) the association of agricultural cooperatives in Japan has added material to explain Japan's decision to join the TPP free trade discussions. They are against the talks but try to get visitors to the site to come to that conclusion on their own. In this cartoon people are asking "how will it affect my life?", "I don't understand the details" and "you mean, China and Korea are not participating?"

http://www.zennoh.or.jp/press/topic/2011/022801.html

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

Sapporo Kin no Off Recipe

Sapporo is holding a "recipes that Hiromi Nagasaku uses to take care of her body" contest were recipes for and ingredients needed to prepare her favorite foods. The recipes are for sweet and spicy tofu hamburger or chopped steak (甘辛ソースのふんわり豆腐ハンバーグ) and shrimp and scallop healthy mustard stir (海老とホタテヘルシーマスタード炒め) fry. I have also provided a link to her Wikipedia page where you can see that despite her looks, she is actually 41 years old.

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/kinnooff/recipe/index.html
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%B8%E4%BD%9C%E5%8D%9A%E7%BE%8E

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

Worldwide Olympic Sponsors

Olympic Worldwide Sponsors

Obviously, this is an elite category, but as I have mentioned before, it does place limits on this companies also. The two food companies, McDonald's and Coca Cola, both actively support the Olympics in all the media, but they cannot choose Japan over other countries. All the companies who support the JOC have signs on their sites cheering on the Japanese team.

http://www.joc.or.jp/about/partners/

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

JOC Official Partners

Japan Olympic Committee Official Partners

The food companies in this category are Nissin, Meiji, Lotte, Nissin Oillio, Marudai, Zennno and possibly TBC. The odd thing about Zenno (or JA as many people know it) is that I can find very little mention of them being a sponsor on the internet. I believe their sponsorship is based on their support for Japan's table tennis team, but even that is sparse. Seems like they would make more of their investment. Most of these companies concentrate on a few top athletes in a few select sports.

http://www.joc.or.jp/about/partners/

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

JOC Gold Partners

Japan Olympic Committee Gold Partners

Only two food companies shelled out enough to make this status - Asahi and Ajinomoto.

http://www.joc.or.jp/about/partners/

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

Morinaga Lipton Summer Smile‏

Lipton goes through Morinaga in Japan and they are holding a "home cafe goods" giveaway. They look to be glasses and plates suitable for a picnic. Entry is by mailing in proof-of-purchase marks from Lipton teas (lemon tea, Jasmine lemon peel tea, milk tea or peach tea).

http://www.liptonchilled.com/campaign/1000/summersmile/

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

TBC Olympic Sponsor

TBC, which stands for Total Beauty Care, is essentially a chain of facial, hair removal, etc. salons across Japan. However, they also sell a line of supplements (vitamins, skin care, CoQ10, etc.) as drinks or pills. So, I would count them as a borderline food company.

http://www.tbc.co.jp/

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

Lotte Olympic Sponsor

http://www.lotte.co.jp/entertainment/campaign/gambare/index.html

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

Lotte Olympic Sponsor

http://www.lotte.co.jp/entertainment/campaign/gambare/index.html

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

Morinaga Aloe Yogurt Giveaway‏

Morinaga markets its aloe yogurt as a beauty aid - and even adds "For Beauty Body" in English for effect. As part of that theme they are giving away skin care and weight related items to 1,500 people who mail in proof-of-purchase marks.

http://www.aloe.ne.jp/#/campaign/

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