Umeshu is a mixture of Japanese shochu, plum juice and sugar. Suntory Sumiwataru is made by a special process including 100% Japanese plums, low temperature distillation, and specially sourced water and results in umeshu with 50% less sugar than other products. サントリー 澄みわたる梅酒
http://www.suntory.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Suntory suggests the Japanese spirit makkoli (or makgeolli or makkolli) for cherry blossom season. Makgeolli has become very popular in recent years in Japan. It has the same alcohol content as beer, but with a complex taste (some sweet, sour, and bitter). Often called rice wine, it is actually an unfiltered, fermented mixture of rice, barley and wheat, with a slight carbonation.
Seoul Makkoli was developed by Suntory and Lotte especially for the Japanese market.
サントリー ラッテ ソウルマッコリ
http://www.suntory.co.jp
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
In an interesting collaboration, Tanita is working with Yamazaki on the development of balanced, low calorie lunch packs. Tanita is an international maker of health measurement equipment for such things as weight and body fat. They recently opened a limited number of restaurants, one right in the middle of the business district around Tokyo Station, which look like company lunch halls but but focus on well balanced, low calorie meals. These restaurants also have registered dieticians on hand for free counseling.
Each Lunch Pack comes with two sandwiches, sometimes they are the same, but in cases like this, they can complement one another and provide interesting combinations. With this background, Yamazaki has teamed up with Tanita new Lunch Pack varieties.
The two Lunch Pack varieties here are both sets of different sandwiches.
variety one) pumpkin salad, plus chicken and stewed tomatoes
and
variety two) burdock root salad plus tofu hamburger
ヤマザキ ランチパック タニタ
http://www.yamazakipan.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
In a photo which looks crudely photoshopped, Fujiya's familiar spokescharacter Pekochan popular Fujiya products such as chocolate and peach drink for consumption during cherry blossom viewing. 不二家
http://www.fujiya-peko.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Jagarico is a brand of puffy potato stick snacks sold by Calbee. Special matcha tea and cream flavor Jagarico will be sold exclusively through 7-Eleven stores. Sounds interesting. カルビ じゃがりこ 抹茶クリーム
http://www.calbee.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
While not an official claim, Meiji studies indicate that in test subjects users burn fat earlier in the exhaustion cycle, providing more energy early and avoiding the abrupt switch from burning carbohydrates to burning fat. Combine this with the fact that you get more energy from fat per gram (7 kcal vs 4 kcal from sugar) and the fact that you have more fat available and this graphic claims that VAAM makes 80,000 kcal of energy more readily available than the usual 2,000 kcal from sugar.
Interesting to see how marketing people handle study results. 明治 ヴァーム
http://www.meiji.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Kirin beverage suggests Namacha,a nice cold, unsweetened tea, for your cherry blossom viewing. キリン 生茶
http://www.kirin.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Ben & Jerry's (Unilever) holds a world-wide Free Cone Day each year in early April. Japan was not an exception, with free cones being given out at 3 locations. News reports showed long lines at each location on April 8th, which also corresponded with a minor religious holiday, Buddha's Birthday or Hana Matsuri. ベン＆ジェリーズ
http://www.benjerry.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
While this might not be the product which comes first to mind, Morinaga suggests eating aloe yogurt while viewing the cherry blossoms. Yogurt with added aloe has long been a best seller for Morinaga and it is associated with skin care and beauty. The package carries the wording "deliciousness which helps maintain beauty" which comes as close as possible to a claim without passing over the line. This package also promises 50% more aloe than in the past.
http://www.morinagamilk.co.jp/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Glico posted this nice image of cherry blossoms in front of its head office in Osaka. Cherry blossoms, spring and food absolutely go together in Japan. グリコ
http://www.glico.co.jp
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
