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

Overall Balance Scale fights dreaded “metabo”

The Overall Health Balance Scale from National Electric is possibly the most high tech weapon we’ve seen yet to fight the much-discussed “metabo” (metabolic syndrome). Not only does the device measure your weight, BMI, subcutaneous fat ratio, organ fat level, muscle level, and basal metabolic rate, it also ranks you in each category on a five point scale and gives you an overall health rating based on your age.

The easy to read screen, attached to the scale by a pull string, can be brought all the way up to eye level, eliminating the problem of not being able to see the scale beyond one’s belly.

The screen also acts as a sensor for determining the amount of subcutaneous fat: while holding the device over key points, like the stomach, thighs, and upper arms, the sensor will scan the depth of the undesirable stuff and reveal the data in millimeters.

As if that weren’t enough, the balance scale can rate your balance and posture using four additional sensors to help you find your center of gravity.

If this doesn’t curb “metabo” we don’t know what will. Available from May 1st, price yet to determined.

Tags: gadgets, health

Japan’s best sellers (so far) for 2008

With 2008 already a quarter over (gasp!) the Nikkei Marketing Journal gives us a round-up of a few of the hit products so far this year. First up is the “Shower Clean Suits” from men’s apparel company Konaka. This wool suit is designed to be cleaned with just a hosing from the shower head, no detergent or ironing needed. The fabric is made from a special fiber with minute holes designed for quick evaporation, allowing it too dry quickly in a shaded corner of your room.

Not only is this suit incredibly convenient, but also cost effective, saving on pricey dry cleaning fees (which, due to the rising cost of oil, have increased 5-10% recently). Since the suit debuted in February, sales have doubled expectations and would-be Shower Clean Suit owners have been waiting listed.

Next on the list are food staples, of the non-prepackaged variety like meat and vegetables (or more specifically pork and cabbage). Following a health scare earlier this year, when a shipment of pre-packaged gyoza from China was discovered to contain unhealthy amount of pesticides, the idea of eating organic and home made food has jumped from the pages of earth mama magazines into the mass media and is making, at least for now, a real impact in what consumers are buying at major grocery chains around the country.

Compared to this time last year, the purchasing of (relatively) natural foodstuffs is up 3.7%.

We were hardly surprised by the next product, sugar-free beer, since hardly a conversation goes by without someone dropping the word “metabo,” the trendy contraction for metabolic syndrome that has become a catch-all phrase for anyone who could use a little trimming around the waste.

Kirin Zero, which was released this February sold one million cases in just 20 days, a number equivalent to a quarter of the projected sales for the whole year. Likewise Suntory Zero Nama has sold 700,000 cases in the first month since its March debut, exceeding expectations by 20%.

Rounding out the list is the NTT Docomo P905i model mobile phone, which has the capacity to stream a “One Seg” digital television signal to the handset’s three-inch screen.

From Panasonic Mobile Communications, the mobile phone wing of the company behind the popular Vieja TVs, the P905i has been Docomo’s best-selling phone for four months in a row.

Any predictions for the next three months?

Tags: beverage, Fashion, food, health, Mobile

Total body relaxation from Dainichi

With all of its capacity for destruction, it is nice to see an example of technology put entirely to good, like this “Auto Healther” Massage Bed from Dainichi. Short of being swathed in furs, this has to be the most luxurious total body massage contraption we’ve seen, or at least the most high-tech.

In this case, total body means a simultaneous whole body massage as several rollers work your muscles from head to foot, at a speed, manner, and pressure specifically designed for each section of the body. So while separate rollers move up and down your legs, others are kneading your shoulders.

If that weren’t enough, it also heats up, has a built in audio system, colorful display, and a pretty pink trim. Massage chairs are often found in public bath houses, hot springs, and spas around Japan. At ¥1,380,000 (about $13,000), however, the Auto Healther is likely intended for exclusive use by the wealthy and high-end spas. Still, I am putting in a petition to have one in the office.

Tags: health

Starbucks and Kagome team up to say Be Juicy

In a country with a coffee vender on every corner (be it a café, convenience store, or vending machine), Starbucks has carved out a niche offering conspicuously sweet non-coffee drinks, like the Matcha Frappuccino. Their latest venture is the Be Juicy series, developed in collaboration with juice drink company Kagome and sold exclusively at the coffee chain. It seems like Kagome, the brand behind last year’s surprise hit, “Tomate” tomato flavored alcohol (made in collaboration with Asahi) is on a roll.

The 100% juice line-up includes sweet carrot and ginger, grape and raspberry, mango and orange, plus plain apple or orange for kids. Targeted towards the increasing number of health conscious men and women in their 20s and 30s, the campaign includes an animated video playing on Shibuya crossing’s famous Q Front building screen.

And at ¥270, the price is actually less than a cup of coffee, by ¥10 anyway. Remember to be health conscious and eco friendly and bring your own cup.

Tags: beverage, health

Flavagenol, the latest beauty fix from Suntory

Is there life after collagen? With collagen showing up in just about everything these days, promising prolonged youthful beauty, we’re on the look out for the next big thing. Set to debut on April 22, Suntory has a new beauty supplement made from flavangenol, a pine bark extract that promises to fight free radicals, improve circulation, and reduce dark pigmentation.

Each capsule includes 40mg of France-harvested flavangenol plus ceramide, firethorn berries (an ancient Chinese beauty secret), rose extract, and vitamin C. A month’s supply (at three doses a day) costs an impressive ¥5,460. The product is a result of research from Suntory’s Flavangenol Research Laboratory.

Tags: beauty, Flavagenol, health, Suntory

Vitamin supplement for improved gaming

With game console sales in Japan up 13.4% last year (thank you Wii!), the gamer market is a profitable niche. So thought the Toyama-based Kyowa-yakuhin when they created a series of vitamin supplements, Game Suppli, designed specifically for gamers.

There are two varieties, one designed for long play with blueberry to improve eye stamina and one for improved concentration with DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid. Packets of 30 capsules, intended for twice daily intake, are available for ¥880 from Cyber Gadget.

If you can’t get the kids to play outside, you can now at least encourage a little healthier gaming.

Tags: gaming, health

Save your breath: Oxygen doghouses and air therapy

The “oxygen” trend has surely peaked in Japan (Is hydrogen taking over?). CScout Japan spent the day at dual expos recently where we got to check out the latest goods being made for Japan’s aging society and for health in general. As opposed to what we saw last year, this year had an overabundance of what is (normally) a fairly abundant resource to begin with.

Of course, there are some innovations in the oxygen market that must be noted. Aromatherapy/oxygen bars have been in Tokyo for several years, but the recent move is for people to bring the experience into their homes.

The aroma set is standard fare these days, but the O2 Jet System from OxyBar Japan is a combination ambient light and oxygen producer. The maker told us that they’re producing it for homes and hospitals, but also for clubs so guests can grab a quick hit of O2 through the tubes.

For those of you who want to share the experience with another, or have a really sick dog, the O2 Doghouse will provide oxygen to your best friend in a custom “dog hospital”. You can even share the same generator as you relax together.

The Healing Dome from Nippon Relax is a combination oxygen/wet sauna/aromatherapy/light therapy dome that meant for home relaxation. We also saw several instant water oxygenizers that you spray into the cup before drinking. The most futuristic offering was the OxyFit system which is an oxygen-generating pack worn on the back and used for sports.

There were also MANY hyperbaric oxygen tanks on display from at least ten different companies. While previous models looked very medical, the latest offerings are going for style. The black IDEA 02 Science tank from Adrect has an internal phone, music system, and features a faux leather trim.

More into customizing? The Dream-Plus from Kawasaki can be customized in colors and with graphics. Aside from the pink model there was a “deep-sea” version completely covered in fish and coral.

Despite the large size of most these items, most makers insisted that they’re producing for consumers who want to put them in their homes. Perhaps it’s only people with massive abodes in Japan that can afford a hyperbaric oxygen tank, but the sheer number of choices available shows that they must be selling in some way.

Tags: health, OxyFit, Oxygen, Wellness

Cafe Colon functional coffee cleans and caffeinates

Caffeine is already a diuretic, but can coffee clean your body through intestinal bacteria?

Billed as being good for a variety of ills including fatigue, allergies, obesity, an even halitosis, Cafe Colon is a functional beverage that combines the burgeoning RTD coffee market with the needs of an aging population.

Cafe Colon contains EM-X, an Okinawan antioxidant made by fermenting rice bran, brown rice, and seaweed that is said to clean the body and slow aging. The EM-X is mixed with deep-sea water, lactic acid, oligosaccharides, and brewed with organic coffee to create an original, functional brew.

We had a taste of the coffee recently (at the same expo we had the Placenta 10000), but not so much that our colons noticed. Japan’s aging society is increasingly looking for ways to make their lives healthier by improving the products they already consume, and Cafe Colon is just a tiny example of this growing market.

Tags: beverages, cafe colon, Coffee, FOSHU, health