Suntory The Premium Beer Hills

Suntory is also opening a beer garden location, this one in trendy Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, and only for one month. That is a lot of effort for just one month, but they are likely to get a lot of media coverage to justify the expense. サントリー

http://www.suntory.co.jp/beer/premium/event/hills/

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

Kirin Ichiban Garden Brewery Experience

Kirin is opening special beer gardens again this year, which feature Ichiban Shibori Frozen, which is a draft version of their best selling Ichiban Shibori Beer, topped with frozen foam. Despite calling it a "brewery experience", no beer is produced on-site. Currently there are beer gardens in the Shibuya area of Tokyo and Osaka, with plans to open more locations in Fukuoka and Sendai. The image of the store looks very spacious, which would not be a cheap endeavor in Shibuya. キリン一番搾り 

http://www.kirin.co.jp/products/beer/ichiban/is_garden/

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

Kirin Tropicana Green vs Golden Kiwi

Tropicana, which goes through Kirin in Japan, asks whether you like green or golden (also called gold) kiwi. I don't see either offered currently, so they might be planning on offering one or both in the new future. In preparation, I have provided a link to a comparison of their nutritional properties, which are similar but do differ. キリン クリーンキウイ ゴールデンキウイ

http://www.livestrong.com/article/379079-are-green-kiwi-fruit-gold-kiwi-fruit-nutritionally-the-same/

http://www.kirin.co.jp/

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

Yamazaki Fish Sandwich Lunch Pack

Here is another Yamazaki Lunch Pack, called the fried fish and tartar sauce sandwich and the package stresses that the tartar sauce contains pickles. This is the new flavor of the month requested by customers in an online poll. I cannot find exactly what type of fish is used, but it appears to be mimicking fast food fish sandwiches. McDonald's has used cod, hoki and pollack over the years. ヤマザキ ランチパック フィッシュフライ＆タルタルソース

http://www.yamazakipan.co.jp

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

Yamazaki 3 Varieties of Delicious Lunch Pack

One of Yamazaki's new Lunch Pack offerings is a variety pack including a sausage sandwich, a potato salad sandwich and a bacon and egg sandwich, called "3 varieties of deliciousness". ヤマザキ ランチパック ３種のおいしさ

http://www.yamazakipan.co.jp/

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

Suntory Brasil Selection Bourbon Amarelo Coffee

Suntory has introduced a new Brazil themed canned coffee in their Boss line to coincide with the upcoming World Cup. The can uses the Spanish or Portuguese spelling for Brazil, and the Brazilian flag, while the coffee itself is made from high quality Bourbon Amarelo beans from Brazil. サントリー ブルボンアマレロ ボス

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

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

Kirin Sumikiri Beer 1 Year Anniversary

Kirin Sumikiri is a 3rd category beer, which is said to be inspired by the refinement of the Japanese sword, not exactly sure what that means in practice, but the label could be seen as resembling steel of a fine blade. This product claims to use technology from Ichiban Shibori beer and Tanrei beer technology to bring out the best barley flavor and emphasizes 100% malt flavor in the beer portion of the product which is then mixed with spirits produced from barley to be classified in a lower tax third beer category.

This advertisement shows actor Etsushi Toyokawa, who often plays samurai in movies, in a nice outfit which includes a Kirin crest on the helmet. キリン 澄みきり 豊川悦司

http://www.kirin.co.jp/

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

Starbucks Digital Money

Starbucks Japan has offered prepaid cards in Japan for some years, but they are now also offering payment via a smartphone app. It appears that registration and charging the card are done online and payment is conducted on the same IC card reader as used for the prepaid cards. This payment system uses mobile wallet technology available in most smartphones and some other phones in Japan. スターパックス

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

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

Sapporo White Belg Beer

With White Belg, Sapporo tries to capture some of the Belgian white beer taste in a 3rd category beer. They use some Belgian techniques and Belgian malt in process. Sapporo has now announced international recognition for this beer. They have won the Superior Taste Award at the iTQi (International Taste and Quality Institute) awards. I have not heard of these awards before, but winning an international competition is always nice. サッポロービール ホワイトベルグ

http://www.sapporobeer.jp/

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

Kirin CircleK Sunkus Oriental Mango Tea

Kirin has collaborated with the convenience store chain CircleK Sunkus on a new Mango Tea which uses Alphonso mangoes (called the king of mangoes by Kirin). This is a limited edition product and contains about 10 percent juice. キリン サークルKサンクス

http://www.kirin.co.jp/

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