Hasta La Gadget!

The Marion Building in Yurakucho, central Tokyo, currently has its Christmas lights up to encourage the festive spirit among shoppers.

However, it’s not just the usual bunch of beaming bulbs. The organizers have decorated the pillars of the main hallway and collaborated with Panasonic to offer passers-by a sampling experience.

Literally inside the branded pillar is one of Panasonic’s beauty and wellness gadgets, such as their Nanocare face steamers. You can bend down and actually try out the product right there, though we’re not sure quite how relaxed you can get with hundreds of other shoppers walking behind you.

…means having it both ways!

Rather than be some promotional outreach to a neglected minority, Burger King is actually offering a Whopper “viking”, which means buffet to the rest of us, but Japanese would pronounce the “v” more like a “b”. Yeah, it’s a bit convoluted, but great for anyone who loves hot beef!

Press release

On Monday we made sure to get out to the annual COEDO Oktoberfest party thrown by our good friends (and client!), the award-winning COEDO Brewery of Kawagoe, Saitama.

In addition to great music and food, COEDO offered all of it’s premium, all-malt beers on draft for great prices, and the place was pretty packed!

We’d love to get some of these shirts for our upcoming project…

…which is bringing COEDO to the rest of the world! Right now COEDO is available in select restaurants, especially in NYC, but we’re working with the brand and our NYC office to broaden exposure and get some delicious COEDO into the hands of beer-lovers everywhere.

If you’d like to bring COEDO to your city, be sure to contact us. If you love beer, just a few minutes on the COEDO homepage should have you ready for a cold one.

We know that Japan likes to use historical figures for marketing. This year’s big draw was Ryoma Sakamoto, featured in TV drama, on golf clubs, beer cans and more.

To help build excitement over the approaching opening of the extended shinkansen bullet train line in Kyushu, south Japan, the train operators JR decided to erect countdown boards. Japan loves mascots and particularly local heroes, so it was natural choice to have Saigo Takamori proudly displayed on the sign at major stations on the island.

Although no actual reliable photograph of the samurai exists, Saigo’s fame is legendary enough to have become an enduring historical personality commonly represented in cartoonish form. Visitors may have stumbled upon the very manga-esque statue of him in Ueno Park in Tokyo, for example. However, having him as a symbol of Kyushu’s union by high speed train was not liked by everyone in the area, reports J-Cast.

[Image source here and here]

He might have been, alongside Ryoma Sakamoto, one of the movers and shakers behind the fall of the shogun, but in fact Saigo then went on to lead a regional rebellion against the new Imperial government later in his life. This rather complicated history sours his reputation as a “hero”, to the extent that being selected by JR was met with angry opposition.

Heeding the complaints (and perhaps mindful of the area’s past rebellions), just days after unveiling the countdown board JR has subsequently replaced Saigo with the more neutral official Kagoshima regional mascot.

Next week we’re heading over to our CScout NYC office and are keen to meet with potential collaborators for an ongoing project starting in the city soon.

Our work with a sophisticated microbrewery here in Japan means that we’re going to be doing some great events in NYC to spread the word. These range from underground gallery and dining events to larger collaborative parties, but we need someone to be an ambassador of sorts on the ground. Most importantly, we need a Japanese person who understands both cultures, loves beer, and can tap into various scenes that appreciate both traditional and modern Japan. That means art, design, anime, fashion…you name it.

You would be helping promote a Japanese craft beer in New York at events and festivals, and so obviously being a fan of beer is a necessity! The ideal candidate is capable, reliable and definitely in touch with the city and Asian culture (not just Japan). This is part-time work on an as-needed basis, but you’d be growing along with us as we progress in NYC and beyond.

Please send your resume to contact (at) cscoutjapan.com, putting “Japanese in NYC” in the subject line. The plan is to meet up with candidates sometime between July 28th and August 3rd while we’re in town, preferably in the early evenings. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!