McDonald's Madagascar 3 Happy Set‏

McDonald's is giving away Madagascar figures with Happy Sets in coordination with the release of Madagascar 3.

http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/happyset/hs/index.html

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

Soft Ice Cream in Moto-Hakone

This is a neat little soft ice cream shop in Moto-Hakone, near the pier, that serves over 60 varieties, including flavors such as wasabi, soba, rose, black sesame, etc.

Wendy's Coca Cola Freestyle‏

I saw my first Coca Cola freestyle machine in Japan at Wendy's. It promises over 100 beverage varieties. Interested to see how it will do in Japan. In general, self-serve is not offered that much in Japan. You rarely see it in convenience stores and only in the past few years have family restaurants started introducing drink bars.

http://wendys.co.jp/wendys/index.php

http://coca-colafreestyle.com/

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

FamilyMart Skype Promotion

FamilyMart is conducting a Skype promotion where Skype credits purchased through any FamilyMart in-store payment machine, qualifies you for a chance at one of the 7,000 additional 400 yen credits. A minimum 500 yen credit purchase is required. A code on the Skype credit receipt needs to be checked online to see if you have won any extra credits.

All convenience stores in Japan have in-store payment machines where all sorts of purchases, payments and entries can be made. But each chain runs their own network so the options differ.

http://www.family.co.jp/campaign/skype201207/index.html

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

Photo - Hakone Owakudani Black Eggs

These eggs turn black from being hard boiled in sulfur containing hot spring water. Only the shell turns black as can be seen from this photo.

Meiji New Kinokoyama Flavors

Meiji's sister products Kinokoyama きのこの山 and Takenokonosato たけのこの里 (sometimes collectively referred to as Kinotake) have introduced new flavors.
- cocoa flavored cookie base with chocolate and banana flavored topping
- cooked chocolate flavor
- grape flavored chocolate topping on a regular cookie base
and
- banana flavored topping on a cocoa flavored cookie base

http://www.meiji.co.jp/sweets/chocolate/kinotake/products/

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

Wendy's Ocean Premium‏

Here is a much better photo of the Ocean Premium sandwiches.

http://wendys.co.jp/wendys/index.php

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

Meiji Perfect Plus Banana Bread

This is essentially the same product as mentioned yesterday, but with a different and interesting flavor. The same nutrient balance is advertised, including the glucose and caffeine.

http://www.meiji.co.jp/health/p-plus/balance/balance_banana.html

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

Hakone Owakudani Black Eggs

Here are some black eggs (boiled in sulfur containing hot spring water) on sale at the ropeway station. These are cardboard tubes containing the eggs and the there are images of the springs and the ropeway on the package.

FamilyMart Intoen Hatsune Miku

As part of their Hatsune Miku collaboration, FamilyMart is selling special vegetable drinks with the character's image on them. These drinks are made by Itoen, but you will not find them on their website. I assume this is because they are being careful not to take sides against the other major convenience store chains (7-Eleven, Lawson, etc.). The ingredients are not listed on the website, but the drinks are called "Future Vegetables" or 未来野菜 which sounds better in Japanese. This product is also a tie-in to a popular Hatsune Miku song "Po Pi Po" ぽっぴっぽー which is about drinking vegetable juice, odd I agree, but an obvious opportunity for a vegetable juice maker. The song has been out for awhile, so the song did come first.

http://www.family.co.jp/goods/thisweek/120814/hc0g7400000ljksc.html

Wiki with Japanese lyrics
http://www5.atwiki.jp/hmiku/pages/3087.html

Translated English Lyrics
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/The_lyrics_for_po_pi_po

YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQgaCVT9Bw8

Link with good photos
http://gigazine.net/news/20120813-hatsune-yakisoba/

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