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Pepsi Japan’s Impressive Momotaro (Peach Boy) Pepsi Nex Ad Campaign

Momotaro aka The Peach Boy is a very well known Japanese folktale. It’s most often depicted with cute characters, although the story itself is an action packed battle starring Momotaro and the monkey, pheasant, and dog he befriends in his travels. Pepsi Japan has picked up the story and began releasing a series of commercials…

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Salty Watermelon Pepsi Japan’s Newest Limited Time Flavor

Just in time for summer and following in the footsteps of Pepsi drinks intended to be both great thirstquenchers for hot and humid Japan, Pepsi has released it’s latest and most delicious sounding flavor so far. Salty Watermelon Salty Watermelon Pepsi is scheduled to go on sale in Japan starting July 24th for the suggested…

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Japanese Video Game Arcade Documentary “100 Yen” Coming Soon

If you’ve been to Japan and walked through one of the drinking districts or shopping districts or malls or most any place with a good amount of foot traffic, you may have been tempted to slip inside and drop a few hundred yen into a video game. The popularity of public arcades lives on in…

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Wendy’s Returns to Japan with Old Favorites and a New Premium Menu

We wrote about Wendy’s planning a return to Japan over a year ago and the return has now become a reality. Wendy’s is back in Japan, and most importantly so is their trademark baked potato with toppings which had been sadly and inexplicably discontinued in the months leading up to Wendy’s previous demise in Japan….

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Pepsi Pink – Pepsi Japan to Release Strawberry-Milk Flavored Pepsi

Pepsi’s latest limited release flavor will be called “Pepsi Pink” and reportedly will be strawberry milk flavored. Pepsi Japan has often experimented in the past with different flavors including Mont Blanc Pepsi and Baobab Pepsi.. Next up is a pink colored drink that is created to be not strawberry flavored, but have a strawberry and milk flavor…

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Ai Kago Adult Video Bound – Tabloids Report Former Morning Musume Idol’s Million Dollar Contract

So far this story doesn’t have a lot of legs, but some Japanese Tabloids and internet sites are reporting that Ai Kago, who recently was hospitalized after attempting suicide has signed a contract for 100,000,000 yen, or well over 1 million dollars at current exchange rates. As I said, mainstream media has not yet confirmed…

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Great Collection of Photos from 2011 World Cup Finals Nadeshiko Japan

Even the new 2011 World Cup Champions, Nadeshiko Japan have jobs. Most of them play for company affiliated teams in Japan’s corporate league. This means that aside from training and playing in games, they have regular jobs they do during the off-season. One such player is Aya Sameshima, who is with the Boston Breakers now…

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Paris Syndrome, Japanese Tourists, and Modern Journalism

There is news going around that seems to reference a 5 year old BBC article that calls up 20 year old research and has been recycled into an article on the internet that points out that nearly a dozen (nearly a dozen! That could be 10 whole people or more!) Japanese citizens are treated for…

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24 Hour TV Marathon Runner for 2011 Will Be Kazuo Tokumitsu

Every year, Nihon Terebi, also known as the Nippon Television Network has a 24 hour telethon. The telethon, known as 24 Hour TV (Love Will Save the World) always features an entertainer as a marathon runner. The marathon runner’s training and story are featured throughout the weeks leading up to 24 Hour TV, and during…

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Johnny’s Entertainment Introduces the Latest Johnny’s Boy Band – Kis-My-Ft2

Yes. The band is called Kis-My-Ft2 or Kis-My-FtII. It’s Johnny’s latest entry into the boy band market in Japan. Johnny’s is the entertainment company responsible for SMAP, TOKIO, Arashi, Kinki Kids, V6, Kat-Tun, and Hey! Say! JUMP. The newest venture tries to put the names of the members into some recognizable form (as was done…

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Japanese Government Considering Sales Tax Hike

The Japanese government is looking into temporarily raising the sales tax from 5% to 8% for a three year period. They expect the tax hike to increase tax revenues by 7.5 billion yen per year. Just hoping they don’t get used to the money and extend that beyond the three year period.