Nissan Dualis Powered Suit in Ginza (with pics!)

We finally got down to the Nissan showroom in Ginza to see the Dualis Powered Suit, and (as you you can see) it’s pretty darn cool.

According to Danny Choo, the Powered Suit was designed by Shoji Kawamori, creator of characters for the anime series’ Macross, Ghost in the Shell, Eureka Seven, Aquarion and Patlabor. Basically, it’s what the real Dualis would look like on Transformer steroids, and with really cool detail. More pics after the jump…

Click here for more

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Japanese beer for children - Kodomo no nomimono

Can you imagine these products being marketed overseas? With so much concern about “the children” these days we doubt that fake beer for kids would make it past the pitch stage at any beverage company. Well, almost any company. Sure, there’s the sparkling grape juice that kids sometimes get on New Years Eve in lieu of champagne, but to have it specifically marketed to kids is a different matter. While Americans would likely overreact and freak out, we haven’t seen any such reaction here in Japan and these drinks have been out for a couple of years now.

Sangaria started their line of fake alcoholic drinks for kids with Kodomo no nomimono (Children’s drink), and has been successful enough to offer it in bottles, cans, and even six-packs. They also expanded the product line to include children’s versions of wine, champagne, and cocktails. The beer, flavored like apple juice, even foams at the top when poured into a glass!

Doesn’t the kid with the onigiri look alot surlier with a beer in front of him?

The differences between the West and Japan are often highlighted the most in the little things in life, and this is definitely one of them. Japan is well known for its group drinking culture, and this is actually a great way to include the kids during family celebrations. These are even sold at restaurants, which is ideal since most parties in Japan are done outside of the home. Of course, if find your four-year-old passed out in front of the TV with a pile of empty fake beer cans around him, it might be time for a kodomo no intervention.

Pictures of children via Sangaria

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Sven and CScout Japan featured in Senses Magazine

Sven was interviewed for the latest edition of Senses, the in-house magazine for Symrise AG, focusing on trendscouting Japanese technology and the amazing product/development cycle here. It’s a very well-writtten piece, and definitely worth a look. Click on the screenshots below to check it out.

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Hello Kitty bling - Swarovski meets the Softbank 707SC

We took a trip to the new Softbank showroom in Omotesando and were blown away by the sheer number of different phones and colors they now carry. We’re suckers for cute when it comes to Japanese phones, and weren’t disappointed at all with the new Hello Kitty Edition of the 707SC. Studded with shiny Swarovski crystal, the Hello Kitty 707SC may just light up a room (literally) when you whip it out.

There were several other Swarovski covered models as well, which is in tune with the general trend of putting Swarovski on, well, just about anything. In most cases, however, the crystals are simply purchased from the company and then used to decorate items like t-shirts, belts, lighters, wallets, hats, and, well…anything that has surface area!

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Bambina - Fake nails for girly Japanese 3-year-olds

At the beginning of the year we posted about a cosmetic parlor for young girls, so we weren’t taken too off-guard when we heard that there are now professional-grade fake nails for children, specifically 3-7 year olds! Before you jump the gun and say that it’s “over-sexualizing” young girls, please keep in mind that in Japan these things are cute, and they simply don’t see it that way. Besides, I’ve seen blush for babies to give them that rosy-red-cheek look.

We stopped by Body International Co. today and had a nice talk with the CEO, Nakamura-san about the nails, called Bambina. They’re just a small part of Body International’s extensive “One Touch Nail” series. She explained that Bambina are becoming much more popular recently, especially because of the good press they’ve been getting. They’re made of the same stuff (ABS plastic) and stylish design that adult nails are made of, but…err…smaller. They’re also reusable many times by applying a special coating under the nail and letting it dry. At ¥4725 ($40) per set, this is important. The next step is just getting the kids to not lose them after ten minutes.

Nakamura-san made it clear from the beginning that the Bambina nails are not toys or for playtime, but the real deal. Her customers include children of celebrities, style-minded kids (moms?), and even a cute little girl in Korea who couldn’t transfer the money and instead sent ¥10,000 cash in the mail to get them for her trip to Hawaii. Seriously.

If you’re wondering why they chose 3 and 7 for their nail size ages, it’s actually quite simple. Every November is Shichi-go-san (七五三, meaning 7-5-3), when all three and seven year-old girls (five is only for boys) dress up in kimono, go to the local Shinto shrine, and have tons of pictures taken. Bambinas are simply another way to accessorize traditional garb with modern idea (another trend in itself).

Nakamura-san also had a couple more surprises for us, with single thumb and pinky nails for men, and a set of Superman-branded nails for girls who love the Man of Steel. What, no Catwoman?

Interested in getting some Bambina for your own cute 3-7 year old? Contact us!
Check out Bambina

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i:Virt Casual Bluetooth Watch from Citizen

Citizen has redesigned the popular i:Virt Bluetooth watch with new casual models featuring new black, blue, and pink faces and buttons. i:Virt Casual has the same great features with even more stylish design.

The i:VIRT is a Bluetooth watch that pairs with your mobile phone to notify you of incoming communications. When in a meeting or other inconvenient times, you can be discreetly notified on your watch and avoid making a scene by pulling out your phone. Not only that, but you can communicate back with the phone to reject or divert calls!

When a call comes you are notified either by sound or vibration, and the contact details are posted on the screen. It can also save your call history and up to 1000 address book entries, making identification instant and easy.

Want to buy the i:Virt? Just click HERE for the catalog.

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Ants! Catchyoo interactive floor display at Joypolis

We’ve covered Catchyoo projection displays before, but we’ve been seeing them more and more, from the new Tokyo Midtown complex to Omotesando Hills. Below is some video from Joypolis in Odaiba, which is basically the coolest indoor amusement park we’ve ever seen.

Aside from this projection (and another one involving billiard balls that we didn’t quite get into) Joypolis has been continually updating its interactive and virtual reality offerings, and we’ve yet to get bored in the slightest whenever we stop by. The added bonus? They had the Love and Berry Digital Stage!

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Japanese products go back to black

According to the Nikkei marketing journal, the last few years have seen a pretty decent resurgence of the color black（黒, pronounced “kuro”）in Japanese products, particularly concerning lifestyle and wellbeing. While often associated with dirt or being “tough” in the Western sense (The color of choice for manly gadgets and furniture), Japan brings a different perspective, associating the color with cleanliness. This is evident in the ubiquity of sumi (charcoal) products, which is used most often for filtration, particularly of water and air. This trend also carries over into lifestyle accessories such as the Iyashi，which is designed to project this feeling. Brands are now taking black, mixing its traditional clean qualities with modern design, and using it in a wide range of products.

Black makes other things easy to see. Products such as black cutting boards make it easier to cut vegetables and avoid cutting yourself, and are promoted especially for those with poor eyesight. Cotton ear cleaners and pore cleaning strips from Biore show everything you just cleaned off of yourself. Everything. How easily can you see the dirt? Well, we’d rather not show you here, so check out these pore-emptying pics at the Japanese blog Zaeega and be transported back to your pimply high school days.

Black looks professional. If you go to a small and trendy restaurant or bar, you’ll most likely see the staff wearing black aprons since white only looks clean when it actually is, and even then it doesn’t look very modern. Now, air conditioners and rice cookers are coming in black, and are appealing to both males and females. In this case, black is sleek, shiny, and modern, as evident in the $900 NJ-WS10 rice cooker from Mitsubishi.

Black is healthy. Products that are made specifically from naturally black material are popular as well, including black rice balls and soaps. Sumigaki charcoal toothpaste from Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals has been a hit since its debut in 2003, despite its dark black color. Most of us tend to like our toothpaste the color of our target tooth color, but Sumigaki takes its rough image and translates it into a feeling of
health, high quality, and efficiency.

Above all, black is simple. It’s useful because of the great contrast it provides, and the traditional role of black in Japan allows it to be embraced by feminine women as well as men.

Pictures via the above links and Yuho

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Some cool Kent functional tobacco marketing

Call us old-fashioned, but the freedom-loving CScout Japan team simply has nothing against tobacco. Smoke what you want, we say, but at least get something cool for free when you buy your cancer sticks. As we’ve noted numerous times before, Japan is simply the best when it comes to tobacco marketing. That’s why we were so excited when a cute girl standing next to a cigarette vending machine in Shibuya gave us this nifty promotion from Kent.

It doesn’t have the “hip” factor like Lucky Strike, but it’s a great promotion nonetheless. Boasting “Mintek Charged Flavour Technology” (read: “menthol”), the cigarette case holds two cigarettes (included in the sample) that have a green seam of menthol goodness running down the center. The case itself is also shaped exactly like the cigarettes, giving you a perfect representation of the product. Best of all, it expands into a portable ashtray, which is necessary gear for smokers in Tokyo.

We apologize for not having any pictures of the sample girl. What were we thinking?!

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