The idea of mascots isn’t unique to Japan. Everywhere in the world, one can find mascots all around them. When someone thinks of mascots, the ones belonging to sports teams or food companies come to mind and Japan is no different. However, the Japanese world...
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WHAT IS THE 47 JINOMOTO CAMPAIGN? To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the arrival of Starbucks in Japan, the first location being in Ginza in 1996, Starbucks decided to ask local baristas to create a unique frappuccino flavor using local ingredients that would represent its prefecture....
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Jul
There’s a lot of speculation surrounding the reason why Japan has continued to keep such a low infection / death rate amidst the 2020 COVID-19 crisis even though it meets several conditions that make it more vulnerable to the disease. The country leads the world...
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Shikwasa (Citrus depressa) is a citrus fruit native to Taiwan and the Ryuku Islands (Okinawa), Japan. Shikwasa are available from August to January, and are added to numerous dishes in Japan as a flavor enhancer: added to soy sauce and used for sushi, as a...
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Hada Labo (肌ラボ) is an $11 Japanese face cream, which according to their website sells a bottle of lotion every two seconds in Japan. A Google search in the US for Hada Labo lotions reveals the usual players - Amazon and Ebay - dominating the search...
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'Kawaii' plays a large role within Japanese culture and can be found almost everywhere - within fashion, pop-culture, merchandise, and even for bank and insurance mascots. Local councils even use cute signs for road works! And for those who have noticed the high pitched voices amongst many Japanese female announcers...
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Apr
Although a vast body of research exists revealing the many socio-cultural differences between Japan and the West, it may be interesting to know that research exists suggesting Japanese and Westerners literally ‘see’ the world differently. As a study conducted by Takehiko Takeda and Richard Nisbett...
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Running focus groups can be quite challenging in any market and Japan is certainly no exception. Differences in language and culture demand that researchers carefully consider the research design for localization in order to get the most out of discussions. With this in mind, we have outlined a number of...
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