Mobile credit card

NTT DoCoMo has announced a mobile credit card brand with "iD", which will allow card holders to make credit card payments via the contactless smart card technology in their DoCoMo wallet phone. The brand is to be launched on December 1, 2005.

With this, NTT DoCoMo is adding further payment functions to its wallet phones, which are based on Sony’s Felica smarkt card technology, for which company expects to have 10 million users by March next year. At present the phones can be used with the Edy e-money service, and SUICA capabilities for train ticketing will be added soon, turning the handset into wallet for small purchases, travel card, and identification. The credit card technology iD will add payment functions for larger amounts.

Winter is here

Kirin has released its limited winter beer Shiro Kirin which means it is time to take down the autumn colors on this blog and switch to winter ones.

Go East!

In the past years, in the eastern part of central Tokyo a number of trendy new shopping malls such as Oazo and Corredo Nihonbashi have sprung up, while others such as Japan's oldest department store Mitsukoshi in Nihonbashi were extensively refurbished. The free paper Metro Min has published a guide to this area, with a nice cover in the style of Akira Yamaguchi (who incidentally also created the ad for the reopening of Mitsukoshi after the renovation).

JT goes LV

Japan Tobacco has released a new cigarette targeted at brand-concious and self-confident women in their 20s with the brand Duo. The source of inspiration for the logo seems obvious, and the model looks like she has stepped out of an ad for Peach John like the one below.

Innovative PET Bottles

Japanese drink manufacturers have released a number of new and innovative designs for PET bottle in recent months. A good example is the design of the new bottle for the mineral water Rokko No Oishii Mizu by House Foods, which incorporates various improvements from the fields of universal design and environmental friendliness, for example:

1) The character for “water” is molded into the plastic at the top of the bottle.
2) The label can be peeled off easily
3) A dent below the label makes the bottle easier to grip
4) The label is printed in water-based ink

Walkman Connect

A huge campaign for the new Sony Walkman Connect seems to be on the way in Shibuya right now. Details can be found here.

Beaujoulais Nouveau

Since its official release on November 17, Beajoulais Nouveau is on sale absolute everywhere in Japan - from supermarkets to convenience stores and even (as above) electronics stores. No wonder - according to this article sales to Japan account for more than 50 percent of all the Beaujolais Nouveau exported from France.

Pringles "Devil Hot"

P&G Japan is trying hard to get in on the extremely-hot snack boom (which was kickstarted in 2003 by Tohato with Habanero) and has released a new Pringles flavor - Devil Hot.

X Box Lounge

The X Box 360 Lounge has opened in Aoyama, offering the chance to try out Microsoft's X Box 360 before its release in December in a cafe setting.

Starbucks and "mature" consumers

Starbucks coffee shops were brimming with high-school kids or university students during the peak of the Starbucks craze in Japan during 2000. In 2005, things seem to have calmed down considerably and the majority of customers (especially in suburban stores) is in the age group between 40 and 60 - a nice example not only of the trend lifespan in Japan (not to mention the ageing society).

I am not sure whether Starbucks is happy with this situation, but other companies such as East Japan Railway have started to target this age group (referred to as "mature" consumers) with dedicated campaigns. With the freeter/NEET problem continuing and the affluent baby boomer generation reaching retirement age in the next few years, other companies are bound to follow suit and shift their focus away from the young and towards older customers.

Coffee Japanese Style

Calpis has jumped on the bandwagon and also released a canned coffee drink inspired by the image of traditional Japan (i.e. Japanese product name written in calligraphy) with Fuka Aji.

Fluffy Latte

Meiji continues releasing products with a simple package design centered on typography, Japanese names and a soft and friendly image, such as the yogurt drink Utsukushii Ashita ("beautiful tomorrow") and the coffe drink Funwari Latte ("fluffy latte").