Meiji is introducing a new gum as part of its Xylish line called X Juicy Shower. This gum is not a zero calorie cum however, but instead focuses on a new taste technology. Meiji claims a new proprietary soft coating method which provides an initial burst of fruity flavor plus long lasting sweetness. This is accomplished by the combination of two methods. First, in addition to the hard, sugar coating which typically surrounds the gum base, X Juicy Shower has an additional soft, sugar coating beneath the hard coating. This results in an initial burst of fruity flavor. Second, the gum base contains encapsulated fruity flavor and encapsulated sweetener (for a longer lasting sweet taste). There are two flavors, Muscat and grapefruit. 明治 Ｘジューシーシャワー マスカット グレープフルーツ ソフト糖衣製法
http://www.meiji.co.jp/corporate/pressrelease/2012/detail/20121105_01.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Kirin Brau Meister is a German style beer developed by a Kirin employee who studied and received an official braumeister designation. I do not see that it is a beer based on the old German beer law, but instead is based on the German "weiter trinken", which means a taste you never tire of. The website explains it as going far beyond taste to include color, mouth feel, initial taste, after taste, as well as the finest ingredients. So this is obviously a premium beer and looks to only be available on tap.
http://www.kirin.co.jp/brands/braumeister/index.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Meiji is celebrating 20 years of its Meltykiss chocolate line. Meltykiss chocolates have powdery chocolate surrounding a creamy chocolate core (also flavored chocolate - matcha, strawberry). The product readily melts in your mouth, thus the "melty kiss". Meiji is now introducing product extensions of this line into two different existing Meiji chocolate product. Either the creamy or the powdery chocolate used in Meltykiss will be used in some Almond, Macadamia and Fran products and the Meltykiss will be prominent on the label. This addition may help differentiate these products from very similar offerings from other companies. 明治 アーモンド マカダミア フラン メルティーキッス
http://www.meiji.co.jp/corporate/pressrelease/2012/detail/20121030_01.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Eitaro is a famous store in Tokyo which makes a variety of sweets which are bought as omiyage presents when visiting Tokyo. This store seems to be in the fortunate position that the store is more famous than any single product they sell, making it harder for other stores to compete with them. KitKat has collaborated with Eitaro to produce a brown sugar syrup-white chocolate KitKat variety which is only available in Tokyo. ネスレ キットカット ミニ 榮太樓黒みつ
http://d.nestle.jp/kitkat/omiyage/kk_mni_eitaro_kuromitsu.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
I am not sure why, but chicken is associated with Christmas in Japan, probably just good marketing. MOS Burger has a cute Christmas offering of 5 partially deboned pieces of chicken (I think these are a combination of leg and thigh with just a little bone left for getting good grip). Packs of five can be had for 1,200 yen, but a discount is available for pre-orders. Also, you can buy coupons to give as presents.
The name for the promotion is Merry Xmos, cute..
http://www.mos.co.jp/cp/moschicken/121113/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
In celebration of Wendy's 43rd Anniversary, they are reducing the price of the Lobster & Caviar sandwich set, from 1,590 yen to 890 yen, between Nov 15th and Jan 2nd. So if the high price kept you from trying this before, now is your chance.
http://wendys.co.jp/wendys/index.php
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Meiji is offering a grape latte which uses kyoho grapes 巨峰, a variety of large size grapes developed and popular in Japan. The latte refers to the milk content, no coffee in this product. 明治 三ツ星 巨峰 ラテ
http://www.meiji.co.jp/corporate/pressrelease/2012/detail/20121026_01.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
The most well known omiyage present from Kyoto is a box of yatsuhashi (hard, Japanese cinnamon-flavored wafers) made by a company called Shogoin 聖護院八ッ橋. This product dates back to 1689. KitKat has teamed up with Shogoin to offer a line of yatsuhashi-white chocolate KitKat snacks which are only available in the Kansai area. ネスレ キットカット 聖護院八ッ橋
http://d.nestle.jp/kitkat/omiyage/kk_mni_shogoin_yatsuhashi.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Burger King has another interesting promotion, all-you-can-eat, called BiKing. The name is cute because it is a play on words. All-you-can-eat or smorgasbord is called Viking or "baikingu" in Japanese and sounds quite a bit like BiKing.
The promotion runs until the end of the month and works like this, you order a large side of one of the featured sets. Eat it all and you can have more within a 30 minute time span. Pretty restrictive, considering you have to resent an empty tray, cup and the receipt to receive more.
I suppose young people might consider it a challenge, but eating as much as you possibly can of this type food as possible in a short amount of time cannot be a good idea. Interesting, but I like the previous promotions much better. The black burger looked pretty cool and was actually pretty good.
http://www.burgerkingjapan.co.jp/campaign/cp65.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
With the purchase of a large set, McDonald's offering a set of 6 food magnets for 1,500 yen. A little more pricey than I would have expected, but cute. The promotion begins on November 23rd.
http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/campaign/foodmagnet/index.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
