Fukuoka Whisky Talk 2014

Fukuoka Whisky Talk 2014 will be held the afternoon of May 18th and will include various talks on whisky tasting and production . . . and of course lots of opportunities to taste different whiskies. Admission is 3,000 yen.

Note, the poster shown is for last year. The one for this year looks almost identical, but there was not a high quality version available.

http://www.bottles.jp/SHOP/7714-ticket.html

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

Meiji VAAM Apple Flavor

Meiji has introduced a new VAAM flavor, apple. The reason why this is interesting is because it is not a citrus flavor, the most typical way to mask amino acid flavor. The two products shown here are the zero calorie, VAAM water in grapefruit and apple flavors. 明治 ヴァームウォーター

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

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

Wendy's Golden Week Campaign

Over the Golden Week period, Wendy's is offering an extra patty free on certain sandwiches - but you have to ask for the extra patty to get it.

http://wendys.co.jp/

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

Sapporo Yebisu Royal Selection

Sapporo's premium brand is Yebisu and they will be offering a limited edition version called Yebisu Royal Selection only in convenience stores from May 20th. The design and use of royal colors, which I think looks very nice, is meant to convey luxury and class. The Yebisu version is made with a special blend of 5 malt varieties: Munich malt, wheat malt, Pilsner malt, caramel malt, and crystal malt. サッポロ エビスビール ミュンヘン麦芽、小麦麦芽、ピルスナー麦芽、カラメル麦芽、クリスタル麦芽

"Brewed with five kinds of quality malt for rich flavor and a complex aroma"
「五種の厳選麦芽の奥深いコク」

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/

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

Mr. Donut Mr. Croissant Donut

Mr. Donut is featuring the combination donut croissants that became popular in New York last year. I have not tried the original, but these appear to be selling well. They are good, but very sweet - possibly too close to the US level of sweetness for my taste. I cannot remember where, but in an article I read that donuts in Japan use half the level of glaze as the same donuts in the US. ミスタードーナツ ミスタークロワッサン

http://www.misterdonut.jp/

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

Kirin Dutch Oven Giveaway

Kirin is giving away 500 dutch oven-drink sets to Facebook or Twitter users to participate in the promotion. There are two courses: a Kirin beer course (Kirin Ichiban Shibori Beer) and a non-alcohol course which includes the Gogo no Kocha (tea) and Kirin Mets Cola. キリン 一番搾り 午後の紅茶 メッツ

kirin.co.jp

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

KFC I'm at Kentucky Campaign

For Golden Week here in Japan, Kentucky Fried Chicken is conducting a campaign where you check in on Facebook at a KFC location you can then choose your "goal" or what type of coupon you would like. This ties in with this year's World Cup and the current Cristiano Ronaldo promotion. ケンタッキーフライドチキン

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

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

Kirin Yokohama Fruhlingsfest

Grand Kirin will have a booth at this week's Yokohama Fruhlingsfest or Spring Beer Festival which is being held in the historic red brick storehouses in Yokohama called Akarenga (through May 6th). It looks like this festival is related to the larger Oktoberfest in Japan festival. キリン フリューリングスフェスト オクトーバーフェスト

http://www.okt-fest.jp/okt-ykhm2014-1.html

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

Suntory Tokyo Hakushu Midpark Cafe

Suntory has set up the outdoor Hakushu Midpark Cafe in Tokyo Midtown, which features Suntory Hakushu Whiskey and Hakushu Highballs and smoked meats like the assorted platter shown in the photo (2,000 yen). This cafe is open through May 25th. 白州 サントリー ハイボール

http://www.suntory.co.jp/whisky/hakushu/style/mpc/index.html

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

Suntory Tokyo Tower Highball Garden

Beer Gardens are very popular in Japan, even though they do not always work all that well in the height of summer due to the heat and humidity which makes sitting outside even in the evenings not as pleasant as you might otherwise think. Therefore while there are beer gardens in some of the major parks in Tokyo, Osaka, etc., other beer gardens are indoors. Outdoor beer gardens work much better in northern Japan (Tohoku and Hokkaido) where the evenings are much cooler.

The highball boom in recent years has led to Suntory opening some highball gardens as an alternative. This location at the base of Tokyo Tower is open daily until late September. サントリー

http://www.suntory.com/

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

Kirin Danone Volvic Drink 1 Give 10 liters for Mali

Volvic is the water brand now owned by Danone. In Japan, it is sold through Kirin. The water business in recent years has tried to associate themselves with public good, to counter negative perceptions such as essentially selling tap water at huge mark-ups in environmentally unfriendly containers.

Since 2006, some proceeds from the Volvic business in some European countries, North America and Japan (over 1.2 million US dollars to date) have gone to clean water and public health projects in Mali. The project name is "Drink 1 Give 10" and promises to make 10 liters of clean water available for each 1 liter purchased. Very nice, but it doesn't capture all the activities such as working to eradicate guinea worm. キリン

http://www.kirin.co.jp

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

Glico Pucchin Pudding Earrings

Glico is asking for feedback on prototype earrings modeled on easily recognizable shape of their popular Pucchin pudding brand. Are you a big enough pudding fan to hang advertisements from you ears? If so, you probably go one step beyond what most companies refer to as loyal customers. グリコ プッチンプリン

http://www.glico-dairy.co.jp/

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

Haagen-Dazs SpoonVege Ice Cream

Haagen-Dazs Japan will be introducing two vegetable flavor ice creams on May 12th and has been doing a good deal of advance advertising. Certainly an interesting idea, and National Public Radio in the US mused, wrongly, that kids could get their vegetables for dessert instead. But actually no health or nutrition benefit is being claimed. Although there is some tomato paste and condensed carrot juice added, this is not a vegetable substitute. In fact, you could think of this as the opposite of telling kids to eat their vegetables because they are good for you. In this case, you get the vegetable flavor without much added nutrition. I suppose this could be marketed as a "healthy choice", meaning it is arguably more nutritious than the alternative due to the added vegetable concentrate. Commendably, Haagen-Dazs is not taking that angle.

In a move that fits with Japanese sense of food and color, each vegetable is paired with a similarly colored fruit - tomato/cherry and carrot/orange. ハーゲンダッツ スプーンベジ

http://www.haagen-dazs.co.jp/

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

MOS Morning Menu

MOS Burger is also trying to compete in the breakfast time slot (7:00-10:30). Their menu does not look all that different from the regular menu though - besides coffee, you have rice burgers and smaller sandwiches with coffee. Not very good photos on the website, but here is a photo of the MOS Morning Vegetable Burger. 朝モス モーニング野菜バーガー

http://www.mos.co.jp/

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

KFC Karaage Specialty Shops

Kentucky Fried Chicken entered Japan in 1970 and built a market many others thought impossible. After all, the Japanese had their own traditional way of frying chicken, called karaage (bite-size fried chicken pieces seasoned in a variety of ways). Now KFC is using their special seasoning to go after the karaage market also. They have opened 2 stores in Tokyo and one in Yokohama specializing in karaage. These karaage come in 4 seasonings: original KFC special seasoning, extra spicy, soy sauce flavor, and sesame seed/garlic flavor. Very interesting move. 唐揚げ ケンッタキーフライドチキン

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

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

McDonald's Limited Avocado Sandwiches

McDonald's is offering limited edition avocado sandwiches in three varieties: hamburger, chicken sandwich and ebi (shrimp) burger. All sandwiches feature large cut slices of avocado and Italian-style ciabatta (チャバッタ) bread. The hamburger uses a wasabi containing soy sauce, and the other two sandwiches use a Cobb salad style sauce. マクドナルド アボカド

http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/

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

Morinaga Kraft Sernik Cheese Cake

Kraft, which goes through Morinaga in Japan, has introduced a cheese cake flavored processed cheese product in the familiar 6 piece, individually wrapped portion boxes. This is part of a series where they are bringing tastes from around the world to Japan. This product is based on the Polish cheese cake called sernik and has an apple and honey flavor. In Poland, sernik is make from a fresh cheese called twarog, but I assume reproducing that aspect in Japan would be impractical. クラフト 森永 チーズケーキ

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

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

Seven Gold Suntory Premium Beer

I love this product design, I want to buy it for that reason alone. 7-Eleven has a large and growing private brand line and is now working on a line of premium privately branded products, called Seven Gold. This is their premium beer offering, developed with Suntory. These two also collaborate on the very popular 3rd category, private brand beer call The Brew. セブンイレブン 金のビール

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

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

Glico Men's Pocky from 1996

Here is an image of a Glico Pocky variety from 1996. As the name implies, this product was aimed at men, with a rich cacao aroma. Glico also says that the green packaging was a novelty at the time. グリコ メンズポッキー

http://www.glico.co.jp/

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

Lawson Station Hawaii Aloha Shirts

The Lawson convenience store chain has locations in Hawaii. In the Honolulu Festival, the company store uniforms won the Company Aloha Shirt Exhibition Contest. These shirts do look pretty nice. I like the design. ローソン

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

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

Shibuya Hooters and the Budweiser Dancers

In what is being touted as a dream collaboration, the Budweiser Dancers teamed up with the Hooters Girls at the grand opening of the new Hooters location in Shibuya, Tokyo. I will leave it up to you as to whether this as a positive cultural development or not.

http://www.budweiser.jp/

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

Kikkoman Soy Sauce Brownies

Soy Sauce in brownies? Kikkoman thinks they fit well together and offers a recipe for soy caramel sauce to prove it. At first thought it sounds terrible, but it might be worth a try to give your brownies that extra flavor that sets them apart. キッコーマン 醤油

http://www.kikkoman.co.uk/recipes/?p=1133

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

Nestle Baked Pudding Flavor KitKat

This is really interesting - Nestle is certainly thinking outside the box on this one. Pudding flavored KitKat chocolate which can be baked for extra flavor. They claim it is a new eating and aroma experience. Details on how they have changed it to make it bake-friendly are not given, but warnings on over-baking are emphasized. ネスレ キットカット

http://nestle.jp/

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

Haagen-Dazs Caramel Crush

Haagen-Dazs introduced Caramel Crush flavor on the April 7th. It uses caramel from France and fermented butter. ハーゲンダッツ キャラメルクラッシュ

http://www.haagen-dazs.co.jp/

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

KFC x Ronaldo Collaboration

Kentucky Fried Chicken is collaborating with Christiano Ronaldo on a special sets which come with the chance to win special sports bottles and clear files. The set pictured here also comes with the new donut balls just introduced. ケンタッキーフライドチキン

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

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

Rich MOS Cheese Burger

This is the latest limited edition offering from MOS Burger. Wow, thick slice of tomato, Gorgonzola cheese, meat sauce, onion, and gouda/cheddar on a beef patty. モスバーガー リッチモスチーズ ゴルゴンゾーラ

http://mos.jp/

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

Colonel Sanders in Japan

KFC posted this wonderful photo of Colonel Sanders in Japan, but gives few details. The clothes and the fact that Colonel Sanders died in 1980 point to the 1970s. ケンタッキーフライドチキン

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

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

Asahi Wonda Tokusei Cafe O'lait

Asahi Wonda Tokusei Cafe O'lait claims to retain a freshly brewed taste. It is very good, but is sold in 185g cans, sort of small. Wonda is Asahi's line of canned coffees. Canned coffee can be found in every vending machine in Japan. アサヒワンダ特性カフェオレ

http://www.asahiinryo.co.jp/

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

KFC and Ponta Points

All the major convenience stores use different electronic money systems to offer discounts, track sales and promote loyalty. The electronic money system associated with the Lawson chain is Ponta and as with other systems, sales generate points which can be used for future purchases.

Kentucky Fried Chicken also accepts and offers Ponta points. This weekend, KFC is offering double points on the Iitokodori Pack, which includes chicken, fish, a biscuit and fries. いいとこどりパック ケンッタキーフライドチキン

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

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

KFC Kiwi and Aloe Krushers

Here is an interesting new flavor from KFC - a Kiwi and Aloe flavored Krushers, containing chunks of each. Interesting, but my personal favorite is still cookies and cream. ケンタッキーフライドチキン

http://www.kfc.co.jp

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

Glico Okinawa Salt Vanilla Ice Cream

Giant is Glico's brand of ice cream cones which can frequently be found in convenience stores. This new Salty Vanilla variety uses salt from the oceans around Okinawa. Among other things, such as brown sugar, Okinawa is known for good tasting salt. グリコ 沖縄海塩 バニラ

http://www.glico-dairy.co.jp/

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

Starbucks Fresh Banana and Chocolate Cream Frappuccino

Starbucks just introduced the Fresh Banana and Chocolate Cream Frappuccino, which includes a whole banana in a chocolate frappuccino topped with chocolate brownie crumbs, whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Looks great, but it should not be mistaken for coffee - 397 calories vs 0 calories for coffee.

http://www.starbucks.co.jp/

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

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream Sandwich

Very nice step by step instructions on ice cream sandwich construction by Ben & Jerry's Japan. ベン＆ジェリーズ

http://www.benjerry.jp/

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

Lawson Miyazaki Tartar Sauce Flavored Karaage

Karaage is often translated as Japanese fried chicken. It consists of smaller, boneless chicken pieces fried with Japanese seasoning. Not really chicken nuggets because the chicken is not minced.

It is so popular and traditional that it has its own trade organization, The Japan Karaage Association, which holds promotional events in stores all across the country. Interestingly, there are regional karaage varieties, and in the Miyazaki area, tartar sauce is used with karaage. So the Japan Karaage Association and the Lawson convenience store chain have collaborated on developing Miyazaki tartar flavored karaage for sale in stores. It appears the tartar flavor is in the batter, so you don't have to bother with separate tartar sauce packets.

The chicken character on the package is Karaage-kun, the Japan Karaage Association mascot.

日本唐揚協会 ローソン 宮崎タルタルソース味 からあげクン

http://www.lawson.co.jp

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

Pokka Sapporo Green Shower Sparkling

This week, Pokka Sapporo Beverage is introducing a new carbonated, lightly flavored water drink called Green Shower. Carbonated waters have become much more popular in recent years here in Japan. This product uses a special hops from the Furano area of Hokkaido, called Furano Beauty, for flavor and has introduced an interesting (or slightly strange) mascot in the form of a giant, but gentle, forest hops monster (called the Green Shower Monster). You never know what will catch on, this might be genius marketing. ポッカサッポロ グリーンシャワー 富良野 北海道 フラノビューティ

http://www.pokkasapporo-fb.jp/

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

Kirin Tanrei Green and Cherry Blossoms

Kirin suggests toasting the cherry blossoms with Kirin Tanrei Green Label their second category, or happoshu, beer with 70% reduced sugar. キリン、淡麗、グリーンラベル

http://www.kirin.co.jp

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

Suntory All-Free and Cherry Blossoms

Suntory All-Free is an alcohol-free beer which as the name implies is also calorie and sugar free. Zero alcohol beers are a cash cow for beer companies as they are positioned on the beer shelves of stores and look cheap in comparison with heavily taxed beers, even though they are priced at a hefty premium. サントリー

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

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

Meiji and the Colors of Spring

Using this nice shot of products from various companies, Meiji explains that in product packaging, the colors of spring are typically pink, yellow and green. 明治

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

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

Morinaga BB536 and Cherry Blossoms

Connecting a probiotic yogurt and cherry blossom viewing is a bit more difficult than making the same connection with alcohol products, but Morinaga suggests that you make a yogurt sauce with Morinaga Bifidus Yogurt BB536 and use it to top fried chicken nuggets or boiled eggs. 森永ビヒダスヨーグルト

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

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

Ito Ham and Cherry Blossoms

Ito Ham is one of the major food companies specializing in meats, thus the ham in the name. Their cute mascot is drawn from the shape of sliced ham and is named Ham Kakaricho, or Assistant Manager Ham. Since sliced ham is used for most bento lunch boxes these days in Japan, the connection with cherry blossom viewing makes sense. The bottle of sake and the red cheeks would also be familiar to anyone in Japan. 伊藤ハム ハム係長

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

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

Suntory Sumiwataru Umeshu and Cherry Blossoms

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 Seoul Makgeolli and Cherry Blossoms

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.

Yamazaki Tanita Lunch Pack Collaboration

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.

Fujiya and Cherry Blossoms

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.

Calbee 7-Eleven Matcha Cream Jagarico

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.

Meiji VAAM and Energy Burning

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 Namacha and Cherry Blossoms

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 Free Cone Day in Japan

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.