CScout Japan and CNN Today on food trends

CScout Japan Managing Director Michael Keferl was a guest on CNN Today with Kristie Lu Stout and Andrew Stevens to talk about some food trends in Japan. The focus was on our recent posts about character lunch accessories, “udon” pudding, and a new “fresh tea” bottle innovation.

Of course, the character lunches and pudding are Japan-centric (and we don’t expect to see a wave of udon pudding shops opening up either), but the bottle from Aojiru Tea has great potential for many different kinds of beverages in and out of Japan. Click the screenshot to check out the video.

Tags: , CNN, food, Press

Japan Inc. March/April: Eco Fashion

Rebecca wrote the latest piece in our collaboration with Japan Inc. for the March/April issue. This time we’re reporting on Eco Trends in fashion, though it’s safe to say that the “Eco” factor has a lot more to do with image than ecology!

See our first piece on Convenience Store Trends HERE.

If there are any topics you’d like to see CScout Japan report on, be it on the web, in print, or for television, please contact us and give us your suggestions.

Tags: Eco, Fashion, Japan Inc.

Rebecca Milner on Meiji to Showa Era illustrations

CScout Japan trend consultant Rebecca Milner has a new piece up on Tokyo Art Beat about illustrators Kasho Takahata, Takehisa Yumeji, and their respective museums here in Tokyo. Click the screenshot to check it out.

Tokyo Trend Scouting covered in Forbrukerteknologi

CScout Japan CEO Sven Kilian was featured again recently in the Norwegian technology magazine Forbrukerteknologi. It looks like a great piece, but we’ll have to make a point of brushing up on our Norwegian for the future.

Also included in the article are references to the Sega Homestar Pro home planetarium and the Sony Rolly.

Tokyo Art Beat - Diamond Designs

CScout Japan’s trend consultant Rebecca Milner has just posted her latest piece for Tokyo Art Beat on the Bunka Gakuen Costume Museum’s exhibition of contemporary diamond jewelry. Check out the article Diamond Designs here.

In a related Tokyo Art Beat vein, I’ll be at the new bilingual TAB Talks event tonight at Gotanda Sonic, featuring Japanese editor Yoshio Suzuki (Brutus, anan, and many more).

CScout Japan featured on NHK’s @Human

CScout Japan recently spent the day with the NHK television show @Human. Before heading out to the infamous Maid Christmas Party, we hung out in Shibuya talking about trendscouting in Japan and the services/insight CScout provides to foreign clients who want to know more about the market here.

Many thanks again to NHK and everyone else involved.

Japan Inc. Jan/Feb: Convenience Store Trends

CScout Japan wrote a piece on convenience store trends for the January and February issue of the bimonthly Japanese-market oriented magazine Japan Inc.

Click the picture to read more…

Tags: Convenience Stores, Japan Inc.

CScout Japan on CNN Business Traveler with Richard Quest

Last month, CScout Japan was featured on CNN’s Business Traveler, a show that highlights the globe trotting exploits of one Richard Quest, CNN’s resident business guru.

We spent the afternoon in Akihabara, checking out new gadgets and technology, and generally giving an impression of what’s out and what’s to come in the world of Japanese mobile technology. That, and the RumbleSonic (you’ll see).

Click the photo to see the video at CNN (at the 4:55 mark).

Tokyo Trend Tours get good press

During the Tokyo Motorshow CScout Japan had the privilege of hosting a Tokyo Trend Tour for a delegation of journalists from some of the largest publications in Germany. After meeting with designer Tokujin Yoshioka, we roamed the streets of Tokyo explaining trends, mindsets, and the ever-evolving Tokyo landscape.

Below is some press coverage from the tour (German only) from RP-Online and the Frankfurter Allgemeine.

AOTS and CScout - Made in Japan #2

No talk about why the iPhone won’t work here, but we did get into mobiles a bit on last week’s Attack of the Show…

See Made in Japan #1 here.