SPF forecast for UV-conscious weather watchers

With summer around the corner we are already seeing the expected deluge of “UV Care” goods, including creams, shirts and parasols that all promise to cut out the harmful rays and keep a woman’s skin from showing any signs of outdoor activity. Knowing a buzzword when it sees one, the Japan Weather Association has added a “UV Information Page” to their tenki.jp portal, the nation’s largest weather information website (Tenki = Weather in Japanese).

The site includes a recommended SPF for the day and map detailing the strength of UV rays around Japan, expressed through a color-coded five level scale.

Surely this will turn not a few complexion-obsessed women into devout UV weather watchers, but we have to wonder, where is the cute character? Surely if they didn’t have the resources to create one they could have gotten the always tan-less Hello Kitty to sign up.

Tags: Skin Care, Weather

Real models for real fashion

The “real fashion” movement, characterized by a devoted following to the fast fashion of Shibuya 109 and the pages of magazines like Vivi, has gotten a bit more real. In addition to their stable of popular professional models, fashion magazines often use “reader models,” non-professional, non-agency wanna-be models who, in response to ads in the magazine or website, send in photos and an applications.

These “regular girls” inspire readers to personally connect with the publications and are, of course, a whole lot cheaper. Recently, however, these readers turned models have been striking out on their own.

Dokumo Girls is a fashion and beauty website penned by five reader models who had their first 15 minutes of fame in the pages of Vivi, JJ and the like. The site, which features blog-style articles on hair cuts and shopping trips, is part of the larger Dokumo Style site that contains online shops, brand tie-ins, street photo reports, and extensive advertorial all featuring reader models.

In similar style, free magazine Venus, created by a group of college women and now three issues strong, is also positioning itself as a reader model publication.

On pages interspersed with ads and advertorial, the amateur model editors strike poses and weigh in on the season’s fashion trends. They also hold twice yearly fashion shows put on by reader models and manage a website, girlsfashion.jp, that contains event and audition information.

Last month, Venus held a pop-up office on the first floor of the iconic LaForet department store in Harajuku, which served as a make-shift reader model studio. Shoppers were invited to stop by to shoot a mini-session with the hopes that the jury of peers would select their picture for the pages of the magazine.

Fashion watchers in Japan have been begging for the latest fashion revolution, and while the ultra-mainstream girlie girl looks featured in these reader model publications are hardly cutting-edge, even the purists among them have to admit that these girls are shaking things up a bit.

Tags: Fashion, LaForet, magazines, Models

Dairy comes in surprising places

Despite what you may think about the traditional dairy-free Japanese diet, milk continues to make steady inroads, most recently showing up in a number of FMCG food products that have proved surprising hits.

The latest is this questionable Milk Curry cup noodles from Nissin, which joins Milk Seafood and Cheese Curry in the pro-dairy instant soup line-up.

Milk isn’t just an ingredient, but a draw on its own at Hokkaido-based Motoyama Milk’s newly opened Motoyama Milk Bar in the Roppongi Hills shopping complex.

The stylish, modern soda fountain features milk shakes served by “milk maids” in somewhat convincing costume, plus an assortment of other milky menu items. Gimmicky and pricey, yes, but sure to draw visitors.

Meanwhile, industry giant Meiji Dairy, announced plans to open a simulated cheese factory this month, called Tokachi Cheese Plaza in Hokkaido. Tourists who flock to Hokkaido in the summer to escape the heat can watch a simulated process of natural cheese production, have their questions answered at the PR corner, and dine in the restaurant.

Since Hokkaido is well-known to be the dairy producing region in Japan, manufacturers who want a piece of the current appetite for local foods are playing up their Hokkaido connections. TV talent Tanaka Yoshitake (from the northern region of Japan, just shy of Hokkaido), has produced a series of Hokkaido Fresh Caramels that are made from fresh cream and New Zealand white honey. They also come in rustic cheese wheel packaging to highlight the dairy connection.

Judging by the amount of press these little sweets (¥850 for 12) have gotten since they debuted at the beginning of this month, visitors to Hokkaido this summer will no doubt be scooping them up by the bagful as souvenirs.

Tags: beverages, FMCG, food, Hokkaido

Weekly Blog Parts: Sekisui BlogHeim

Japanese pre-fab house builder Sekisui has created a nifty little blog part that allows you to create your own little Sims-like homestead for your blog. Of course your house is chosen from Sekisui’s digitalized collection of modern homes, and you can pick your own family, the weather, and a special message. There’s also a photo album feature that we uploaded a few to.

The marketing aspect is that you get to test out the house, kick the tires as it were, against the elements by the click of a button. Earthquakes and fires might destroy the neighboring homes, but not the Domani LX!

Build your own Sekisui digital pad here (Japanese only). However, there’s a burglar around as well, so don’t say you weren’t warned.

Tags: Blog Parts, Pre-Fab

Perfect ice for perfect drinks

Somebody out there is working on a device to create the perfect ice cube. Or ice sphere actually.

Taisin has introduced a mold that seamlessly creates a perfect sphere, no chipping and shaving required. Simple place a chunk of ice into the metal press and, as it melts, the device will close around the ice forming a ball, which is then released by the flick of a switch.

The Ice Mold, available in 55, 65, 70, and 80mm mold sizes, can make 30-40 ice balls an hour.

Spheres of ice are preferred by serious on the rocks drinkers because the reduced surface size means that the ice melts at a slower pace, keeping your drink from getting watery to quickly.

Contrary to what you might think, bartenders in Japan consistently take home top honors at global competitions, not because of their flashy antics or strange new concoctions but because there is an intense devotion to making simply the best drink, of which perfect ice is an obvious component.

Speaking of top-notch beverages, Asahi’s Nikka Whiskey label will be releasing again for a limited time its Non-chill Filtered 20 Year Single Malt Whisky that took home the award for best single malt whiskey at the annual World Whisky Awards.

Chilling during the filtering process is common practice to reduce the risk of the whiskey becoming cloudy, though at a sacrifice of taste. Nikka’s Non-chilled filtered goes for full taste, at the risk of having to sacrifice a few cloudy batches. Sales are limited to 1350 bottles and will sell for ¥20,000 (about $187), which considering the other premium beverages on the market, seems totally reasonable.

Combine the Non-chill Filtered Nikka Whiskey on the rocks and a Taisin ice sphere for a perfect whiskey on the rocks!

Tags: Asahi, beverages, gadgets

Big haired big brothers take over Shibuya 109-2

An unlikely fashion revolution is taking place on the top floors of the Shibuya 109-2 shopping complex. While 109-2 is typically considered to be the younger sister of popular teen fashion center Shibuya 109, with junior high-school girl friendly fashions, two years ago the top floors became home to 109 Men’s, the base camp of the increasingly popular onii-kei fashion movement.

Last month, 109 Men’s underwent a major renovation, taking over an additional floor that had previously housed a cosmetic emporium for the girls who shop downstairs.

Mood-lit shops with names like Kingdom and Buffalo Bobs are decked out with the latest tight t-shirts and jeans, flannel shirts, and black leather jackets.

Onii-kei, or “big brother style” is the male version of the sexy gyaru (”gal”) style popular among teenage girls who hang out in Shibuya. However as the gyaru (think dark tanned skin, teased and bleached hair, heavy make-up, and impossibly short skirts) have been cleaning up their act recently, the men are picking up the slack. For the past year onii-kei guys, with their extreme “wolf hair,” have been on the rise.

Big belt buckles, loud hats, heavy silver jewelry, and pointy shoes are key accessories for the onii-kei look.

This purikura print club arcade is the only remnant of the 7th floor’s previous incarnation as a girl gathering spot. Though, in an weird twist, it gives the girlfriends a place to hang-out while the boys do their shopping.

Tags: Fashion, Onii-kei, Shibuya

Highschoolers making healthier convenience stores

We’ve been noting for sometime that convenience stores are working to offer healthy alternatives to the fried chicken and barbecue pork buns that have given them a reputation for fast and fattening food. So what is interesting about the new “healthy lunchbox” available at Ministop convenience stores in the Kinki region isn’t so much the waistline friendly tofu hamburger and 15 different grain rice, but the fact that the product was conceived and developed by high school students.

The healthy lunchbox (¥430), pictured left, versus typical Ministop fare (¥128-¥240), right.

16 students from three Osaka City vocational high schools who participated in a business-training tutorial proposed the idea last October and spent five months developing a sample product that was tested this February. The final shelf-ready lunchbox will debut on May 13th. Good work kids!

Tags: Convenience Stores, FMCG, food, health

Awaseba, the virtual fitting room

Online shoppers have been waiting for this: a software application that allows users to virtually try-on clothing and accessories on their personal computer. Now Avielon Co. is debuting one, called Awaseba.

The product is being marketed to online retailers, who can then feature the Awaseba service on their sites. A one-year rental fee for the program costs ¥630,000 (about $6,000).

In exchange, the service is free for the online shoppers, who create an account with an email address and password login. First-time users simply upload a photo of themselves onto the Awaseba server that will function as their virtual self inside the virtual fitting room.

Luxy Coordinate Collection, a junior ladies fast fashion retail site, and Upsold.com, a general “design goods” online shop, have already signed on to make the service live in the near future.

Some online sites, like stylewalker.com have avatar components for their own sites that users can dress, experimenting with different outfit combinations.

A program like Awaseba, however would not only allow users to use a real image of themselves but also maintain only one profile image for multiple shops.

We can hope (and expect) that this will catch on soon!

Posted by Rebecca Milner

Tags: Fashion, Retail, Web 2.0

4 million yen cognac, courtesy of Asahi

Asahi Beer, which holds the rights to distribute French cognac Remy Martin in Japan, has announced that 30 bottles of Remy Martin’s premium champagne cognac Louis 13th Black Pearl Magnum will be released in Japan from this month. 358 bottles will be released globally, which gives Japan nearly 10% of the shares. Not bad!

The precious liquid, which comes in an original Baccarat crystal holder, will be available at select department stores for an astounding ¥4,000,000 (or about $38,000) for a 1,500ml bottle.

And we thought the 30-year-old special reserve Hibiki Whisky that Suntory released last year this time was expensive! That limited edition liquid gold went for a mere ¥1,000,000 a bottle and was limited to 100 bottles in Japan, 10 of those in Tokyo.

Like the Hibiki (pictured above), we expect the Louis 13th Black Pearl Magnum to be swallowed up in the high-end nightlife establishments in Tokyo’s Ginza and Kyoto’s Gion at an even more exorbitant 50% mark-up. Cheers to the high life!

Posted by Rebecca Milner

Tags: alcohol, Asahi, beverages

Beams shops now selling iPods next to rotating T-Shirts

Fashionable retailer Beams has now entered into an agreement with Apple which will make them the first non-electronics store sales point for iPods in Japan. While only available at a few Beams shops from the onset, this means that shoppers can now buy iPods alongside their favorite Beams clothes (both static and rotating), and even pick up some special Beams iPod accessories while they’re at it.

The new collaboration began on April 26th at select Beams stores and is planned to expand nationwide.

Tags: Apple, Beams, Fashion, iPod