May 4, 2009
One of the best ad campaigns I have seen in Japan is for Kewpie’s Tarako (Cod Roe) Pasta Sauce. These ads have been running for the past three years and have created a branding craze for Kewpie dolls dressed up as tarako. Check out these ads bordering on creepy and kawaii (cute).
May 3, 2009
Last night, I was at a local izakaya, Washio, with some friends. My friend Takachiho, fresh off of work, downed two bottles of beer, three sake servings and quickly moved onto his next drink all in the time span of about 80 minutes. “Master, please give me an awamori!” (Master is the word used in […]
March 6, 2009
A single Japanese male rarely eats at home. He works all day, and drinks all night. The uncommon instances he eats at home usually falls somewhere within the 18th and 24th of the month (pay day in Japan for salaried workers is on the 24th or 25th), when he breaks into the emergency stash of […]
March 4, 2009
photo Yomiuri OnlineThe global economic crisis has brought on haken-giri, an onslaught of job cuts for haken workers in Japanese companies. Haken workers are part-timers and day-laborers who work on a contractual basis, rather than as an salaried employee. This means that a huge percentage of the young Japanese workforce who used to commute to […]
February 22, 2009
Tori-ina made me a yakitori fiend. I now crave yakitori whenever I see the word chicken or am reminded of anything wooden and cylindrical. This tiny, unassuming joint is located on a side street one minute from Hatagaya Station (near Shinjuku) in Tokyo. Every day is Friday at Tori-ina, so expect to stand in line […]
February 15, 2009
Look what I found while I was walking through a shop the other day in Man Jose- little cakes and pastries made out of DUNDUNDUN… TOWELS!!! Designed by a Japanese company, Prarie Dog, this line of Le Patissier towel pastries are so ridiculously darling. They make little individual cakes and slices, and whole cakes too! […]
February 12, 2009
I have been living alone for seven years now. I love living alone. There is no one to be passive aggressive towards, plus everything in your fridge is still there when you get home. But the longer I live alone, the more I become oblivious to potentially unattractive behaviors (leaving used tissues everywhere) and fashions […]
February 11, 2009
If you have a big trip involving a shinkansen (bullet train) in Japan, you will inevitably run into the question of which bento to buy for your lunch or dinner for the train ride. Katsu? Eel? Gyoza? Grilled fish???? This is a big thing for Japanese people, as we are always asking ourselves, “What do […]
February 3, 2009
It’s trash day in my neighborhood and I snapped some photos with my cell phone on my way to work – reminded that Japan loves beer. And what’s funny is that for every household’s aluminum can bin, there’s usually only one or two brands in it. Beer brand loyalty is huge in Japan. Like the […]
January 31, 2009
The marketing concept of drinking an ukon extract drink like Ukon no Chikara (rough translation: Tumeric’s Power) is to get over a wild night with fellow salarymen. The tagline on the bottle says “Let’s drink to everyday vitality!” (very ironic). I had one sitting on my desk at work for about 6 months, as a […]