Japanese and Given Names

The use of given names in Japanese is interesting and can be frustrating. First of all, Japanese put the family name first, so the names are generally reversed when making the transition to English.

But the main frustration with given names is that they are used much less than in the West. In Japanese, if you just use someone's given name, it would sound like he or she is a family member or a very close friend. If there are two Suzuki's in the office, they might be distinguished by their given name and possibly by use of only their given names, but this would still be somewhat uncommon.

What is really confusing is when a Japanese uses only his or her given name when doing international business, or worse, he or she chooses a shortened version (such as Tak or Yasu) or even a Western nickname. Generally, that name is of no use when you try to employ it in Japan. If you just ask for someone by his or her given name, you will likely receive a blank stare. Even in the same office, only a minority of people would be able to state the full names of all their coworkers.

Over the past 10 years or so, computer systems have made it necessary to be able to at least pick out the full name of the person you are looking for, but stating full names from memory is another matter.

From Coke Light to Coke Zero

Here is a picture of a vending machine in transition from Coke Light to Coke Zero. In fact, this might already be dated (it was taken in May), because I have not seen much Coke Light recently, either in vending machines or in convenience stores.

Unless my memory forsakes me, there was Coke Light many years ago and then Diet Coke. The website says that Diet Coke became Coke Light in April of 2007 (it is called "Non-calorie Coke" in Japanese, ノーカロリー コカ･コーラ). Then Coke Zero was introduced in June of 2007 and appears to be taking over.

A vitamin fortified version of Coke Light has just been introduced, so that might be where they are taking the brand.

Suntory Dakara Zero Style

Here is a popular and interesting sports drink. Suntory's Dakara Zero Style claims zero sugar, zero fat and zero salt - thus the name. It also claims to retain its sweetness and to have a good balance for your body (presumably from the calcium, potassium and magnesium contained).

With all these zero's I was surprised to see that there are 17 kcal per 100 ml. That is not much less than low calorie beer (happoshu can be as little as 24 kcal per 100 ml). A closer look shows that there are sugars added, just not table sugar (zero 砂糖 but not zero 糖類 or zero 糖質).

Japanese Cheese Market

There is an interesting article in the June 30th edition of Shokuhin Sangyo Shimbun (食品産業新聞) about the Japanese cheese market. Here are some of the points made in the article:
- cheese prices are expected to go up another 10 to 15 percent by next Autumn, due to increasing dairy ingredient prices,
- as in other industries, repackaging is also being used in addition to price increases (for example, 10 slice processed cheese packs are now 8 slice packs),
and
- the price increases will likely lead to reduced imports of natural cheese and lower consumption of industrial use cheeses.

There is also a nice chart showing the variation in the Japanese cheese production and consumption for each year from 1990 to 2007. Here are some interesting numbers (all in tons) comparing the years 1990 and 2007 (data from the Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry).

Domestic Natural Cheese Production 28,415 and 42,948
Imported Natural Cheese 111,629 and 211,405
Processed Cheese Consumption 77,428 and 163,262
Total Cheese Consumption 153,325 and 279,189
(some of the natural cheese is used to produce the processed cheese)

Prices of Products Made from Flour

There is an article in the June 30th edition of Shokuhin Sangyo Shimbun (食品産業新聞) showing some of the price rises in products made from flour by comparing the prices in September with the higher prices in April (the month the government raised flour prices by 30%).

flour 137 to 157 yen
cup ramen 91 to 108 yen
spaghetti 142 to 174 yen
white bread 125 to 136 yen

Tea Harvesting Season in Shizuoka

There is an interesting chart in the June 27th edition of The Japan Food Journal (日本食糧新聞), showing the Spring tea leaf picking season for last year and this year.

The season was a bit delayed this year and the yield is down (due to the cool weather, I suppose), but still the season started only two days later than last year and lasted for the same number of days. The exact same pattern of harvested tea-per-day was shown both years. The first days are best and then the yield per day decreases steadily. This would not be interesting to someone in the tea industry, but I find the way mother nature keeps to a fairly strict schedule interesting.

2007 Season April 19th to May 17th
2008 Season April 21st to May 19th

The article points out that for the 3rd year in a row, the price of even good quality tea is down. That goes against the trends for other crops, especially grains.

Ramune Flavored Toothpaste

Here is a ramune flavored children's toothpaste from Apagard. I think this is a good example of how popular the ramune taste is with Japanese young people. Seems like the most popular flavor for such products in the US is bubblegum.

Ramune - a Japanese Flavor

Anyone who has lived in Japan, has seen ramune drinks - mostly likely at a local festival. There is a nice Wikipedia entry on ramune here. I did not realize that it had been invented by a foreigner, but apparently the Scot, Alexander Cameron Sim, first came up the the concoction in 1870 in Kobe.

The name comes from a Japanization of the word lemonade, and the flavor is a carbonated lemon-lime flavor. The unique bottle is also traditional and distinctive.

If any company is considering flavorings in Japan, ramune flavor should at least be considered, it is very popular with Japanese youth.

The photo is from Wikipedia under Creative Commons license.

Biofuels To Blame

Here is a damning article from the Guardian, which says that according to a still secret World Bank report, 75% of food price rises are due to biofuels and not 3% as the Bush administration claims.

I have always considered the idea behind biofuels to be ridiculous. The whole idea is clearly aimed at supporting farmers. And since Iowa is one of the first primary states for any presidential election, all presidents have to be pro-corn and pro-biofuel. But putting that much energy into making something to burn has always sounded crazy.

Japan has some initiatives to use the power from trash they intend to burn anyway. That makes a lot of sense. If I remember correctly that was referred to as biofuel also, even though the concept was quite different.

Heinz Squid Ink Spaghetti Sauce

Heinz sells squid ink pasta sauce in Japan. I am not sure how well the product is doing, but squid ink is a standard spaghetti sauce in Japan, and is available at all Italian restaurants. You also see squid ink flavored snacks fairly often - usually as limited edition products.

I checked on the US website and did not find any such product for sale in the US by Heinz, so I suppose this was specially developed for the Japanese market.

The love of all things squid is one of many things that overlaps in Japanese and Italian food.