For 25 years, this seasonal favorite has been a hit in Japan. There is always a big ad campaign and people seem to sincerely look forward to it. Tsukimi 月見 means moon viewing and the name comes from the round shaped sunny side up fried egg which forms the essential element of this burger. You might also note the rabbit image by the moon. This comes from Japanese traditionally having an image of a rabbit on the moon, instead of the western man in the moon. This comes from the Japanese fairy-tale Tsuki no Usagi 月の兎 or Moon Rabbit.
This year's varieties are the regular Tsukimi Burger (egg, slab of bacon), Tsukimi Burger with Cheese, and the Full Moon Tsukimi Burger with Cheese (ham slice instead of bacon, a tomato based sauce aurore, and buttery, fluffy, round moon-shaped buns made with fresh cream).
マックドナルド 月見バーガー
http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/campaign/tsukimi/index.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Nestle is bringing back a seasonal favorite for Halloween. As it states in the copy "both kids and adults love pumpkin pudding", so that is the flavor for this holiday. There are 13 individually wrapped chocolate bars per package. Although not shown, there are 6 different Halloween designs for the small individual packages. Nothing wrong with this, but it does sound a tad strange. Since there are 6 designs and 13 items per pack, which means 2 each of 5 designs and 3 of the remaining design? Sounds like this would add unnecessary complexity to the production process, but I suppose Nestle knows what they are doing.
ネスレ キットカット パンプキンプリン
https://d.nestle.jp/kitkat/limited/9416338.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
There is an ongoing local gourmet food craze in Japan. One of the popular local dishes is Kanazawa Curry. Tombow Beverage of Toyama Prefecture has taken this one step further by introducing a Kanazawa Curry flavored cola. Not available in my area - maybe that is just as well.
トンボ飲料 金沢カレー コーラ
http://www.tombow-b.jp/kanazawacurrycola/index.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Burger King Japan has added Chicken Fries to its lineup, which are described as crispy and convenient to handle with an excellent balance of herbs and spices. These come with a choice of BBQ or honey-mustard sauces. The website offers a download so that you can decorate the chicken face on the package to look like various characters: Kabuki, Shogun, Ninja, Sumo and Manga. Some boxes also carry the slogan "Unleash the Chicken".
バーガーキング 日本 チキンフライ
http://www.burgerkingjapan.co.jp/campaign/cp178.html
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
As a variation on their boneless chicken, KFC now has a salty lime offering. There is not all that much added information, but a refreshing taste is followed by a spicy aftertaste, which appears to explain the lime, salt and pepper in the photo. ケンタッキーフライドチキン ソルティライムチキン
http://www.kfc.co.jp/menu/detail/?menu_id=426
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
For Lotteria the 29th is "Niku no Hi" 肉の日 or "Meat Day", because the number 29 can be read with the same pronunciation as meat "niku". For three days, the weekend plus the 29th, Lotteria is offering special versions of its premium burger, the zeppin burger 絶品バーガー or "masterpiece burger". The special versions consist of burger patties containing 1.5 percent more meat, double the amount of cheese (two slices of cheese made from Gouda and red cheddar), and extra chewy buns made with yeast cultured in rice malt 酒種. And for those who really need a meat rush, there is double patty version.
ロッテリア
https://www.lotteria.jp/campaign/000094/
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
As part of McDonald's McCafe by Barista series, they are offering a "New Barista Summer 2016 Collection" which due to the oppressive Japanese summer heat consists of cold smoothie drinks. There is a mango smoothie, a fruit and vegetable smoothie and now a grape smoothie.
This smoothie contains grape puree, with added grape juice and is topped with whipped cream and whole grapes. This looks much more indulgent than the more healthy smoothies appearing in convenience stores recently.
It might be of some interest, that there are Chinese characters for grape 葡萄, which are used here. But since they are not part of the standard set and few Japanese can write them from memory, the pronunciation is given in furigana above the characters to make sure everyone realizes just what they product is.
While the volumes are not noted here, the medium size is 460 yen, but the large size is only 40 yen more or 500 yen. Usually the upsell on size garners more extra money.
http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/campaign/barista/index.html
マックドナルド 葡萄のスムージー
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
GeGeGe no Kitaro is one of the most popular anime from Japan, just one of the many works that show the unique imagination and creativity of Japanese storytellers. I used to record and then watch GeGeGe no Kitaro religiously for many years after coming to Japan.
Last night at a company party, we went to Inataya 稲田屋 a restaurant affiliated with a Tottori Prefecture sake brewer Inata Honten 稲田本店. As the author of GeGeGe no Kitaro made his home in Tottori Prefecture, there is a Mizuki Shigeru Museum and Mizuki Shigeru Road lined with characters from this series there. Inata Honten is also based in Tottori Prefecture and they produce the GeGeGe no Kitaro shochu in the photo above. Shochu is an alcohol distilled from potatoes (in this case) or in other cases from rice, barley, etc.
I am adding a link to the Shigeru Mizuki 水木しげる Wikipedia page. If you want to read about an fascinating and praiseworthy life, have a look. From being conscripted in the Imperial army and being the lone survivor of his unit to peace activist and WWII documentarian, he was certainly much more than a talented anime writer and storyteller.
http://www.inata.co.jp/
http://inataya.co.jp/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeGeGe_no_Kitar%C5%8D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeru_Mizuki
ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 焼酎 稲田屋 稲田本店 水木しげる
Usually marketers want a clear, simple, easy to understand message to promote or support a product. Japanese marketers however sometimes go for a challenging message that includes wordplay. If the customer is patient enough to play along, it can work.
Loose translation of the copy:
"In a world of increasing entanglements, troubles and having to care for others, sometimes you just want to eat some ice cream. Emptying a package of Soh (after eating Soh), can also clear your head (of worries). No Think, Soh Happy"
Here it is in Japanese:
「NO THINK そーハッピー！
どうも。アイスです。最近、世の中つながりっぱなし。わずらわしいこと、気を遣うことが、増えてるような。そんな時代だからこそ、「アイスでもたーべよ。」みたいな時間って、意外といいんじゃない？と思うのです。爽がからっぽになる頃には、きっと、アタマもからっぽになっていますよ。
NO THINK そーハッピー。」
Points of explanation:
The product name is Soh and uses the Chinese character for "refreshing".
The "so happy" or "Soh happy" in the copy naturally connects to the product name.
To my mind, it sounds like a cross between two old popular songs "Don't worry, be happy" and "We don't need no education".
http://www.lotte.co.jp/products/brand/soh/
ロッテ アイス 爽
Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.
Two years the scandal two years ago where a Chinese company that KFC used as a supplier for chicken was found to be using expired meat, KFC Japan continues to advertise the exclusive use of Japanese chicken. This in-store poster promises 100% Japanese sourced chicken. ケンタッキーフライドチキン 国内産
http://www.kfc.co.jp
