In Hakodate, the battle rages on between alien squid from the planet Ikaaru and giant robots shaped like the city’s landmarks. In their latest offensive, the dastardly squid invaders have muscled their way into the trailer for “It’s on Me” (Watashi Dasuwa), a new film shot on location in Hakodate.

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The film, which debuts today at the Tokyo International Film Festival, is a low-key drama about a woman who returns to her hometown to spread the wealth she accumulated in Tokyo.

Although the story itself has nothing to do with aliens (and unfortunately no extraterrestrials actually appear in the film), it happens to be set in Hakodate, which is home to an unconventional tourism campaign involving giant robots that defend the city against alien cephalopods seeking revenge on a population that eats too much squid. This tourism campaign has now wrapped its tentacles around the film.

+ Video: Alien squid dances next to a streetcar advertising the film

The new and improved trailer, which was recently posted on the film’s YouTube channel, is nearly identical to the original version, except for the appearance of alien invaders. Only in Hakodate.

[Via: Nippon Cinema]

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“I’m Here” poster, Katsuhiko Shibuya [+]

“I’m Here” poster, Katsuhiko Shibuya [+]

Poster for “Life” exhibition, Mamoru Suzuki, 1994 [+]

Poster for “Life” exhibition, Mamoru Suzuki, 1994 [+]

Garbage bag design, Gento Matsumoto, 1994 [+]

“Hiroshima-Nagasaki 50″ poster for JAGDA exhibit, Mamoru Suzuki, 1995 [+]

“Hiroshima-Nagasaki 50″ poster for JAGDA exhibit, Mamoru Suzuki, 1995 [+]

“Hiroshima-Nagasaki 50″ poster for JAGDA exhibit, Mamoru Suzuki, 1995 [+]

Iconova – Portrait of Towa Tei, Keiji Itoh, 1994 [+]

Poster for E Company, Tatsuo Ebina, 1993 [+]

Poster for E Company, Tatsuo Ebina, 1993 [+]

Editorial design for Hanatsubuki magazine, Katsuhiko Shibuya [+]

Poster for Yume-No-Yuminsha theatrical troupe, Noriyuki Tanaka, 1989 [+]

Poster for Yume-No-Yuminsha theatrical troupe, Noriyuki Tanaka, 1989 [+]

“Life/Elements” poster for “Life” exhibition, Keiji Itoh, 1994 [+]

Voice, Ken Miki, 1993 [+]

Primitive, Ken Miki, 1993 [+]

Delicate Technology, Ichiro Higashiizumi, 1991 [+]

Editorial design for “Dress-up Vol.1,” Noriyuki Tanaka, 1994 [+]

Editorial design for “Dress-up Vol.1,” Noriyuki Tanaka, 1994 [+]

Modera Tone, Kazumasa Nagai, 1995 [+]

Godiva advertising poster, Osamu Fukushima, 1992 [+]

Godiva advertising poster, Osamu Fukushima, 1992 [+]

Laforet advertising poster, Takuya Ohnuki, 1991 [+]

Poster for Sapporo wine museum, Kotaro Hirano [+]

Poster for “Life” exhibition, Osamu Fukushima, 1992 [+]

Poster for “Life” exhibition, Osamu Fukushima, 1992 [+]

From the site (which can be viewed only once before an “error message” is displayed):

“For countless millenia, humans have evolved unconsciously, spreading out to populate the world. For the first time ever, we may glimpse our long genetic inheritance… And from it, we may plot the path by which we wish to continue. Junko is the first child of her type ever to be born. She and the other Junsui are the children of ALL mankind. Through the new technology of genetic target augmentation, Junko has been gifted with only the most optimal human alleles. Junsui are the best of all we have ever been, and therefore represent the best way of coping with an uncertain future.”

The Nippon Shin Eisei website claims to offer customers access to revolutionary new gene enhancement technology that can ensure the best possible future for their unborn children. Most of the site appears to be password-protected, but if you send an email requesting one of their test kits, you will get the following response:

From: infoSPLATshineisei.jp
Subject: Thank You For Interest in NSE

Dear Consumer:

Thank you for interest in Nippon Shin Eisei.

Due to overwhelming response, Nippon Shin Eisei has temporarily decided to issue a cessation of test kit distribution by mail.

We foresee the ability to distribute kits again in the near future. We are proud to announce that NSE is currently undergoing a transition to a new office and laboratory facilities which will enable us to accommodate a much larger volume. At which time this becomes a possibility, you will be informed by electronic mail.

If you are in the Matsuyama area, please feel free to schedule a genetic analysis through our office. Please note that samples from both prospective parents are necessary.

Thank you for your interest in the More Than Me and Junsui programs.

Best Regards,

Masa Tatenuma
Founder, NIPPON SHIN EISEI
http://shineisei.jp

“Yourself as you wish to be remembered.”

[Link: Junsui Project Introduction]

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Spotted at the International Stationery and Office Products Fair, this eye-catching digital signage system consists of a 0.3-millimeter-thick high-luminance rear-projection film (Vikuiti Rear Projection Film developed by 3M) applied to a 3-millimeter-thick glass substrate cut into the shape of a woman. A rear projector beams video onto the film, whose microbead-arrayed surface produces a crisp, brilliant image viewable from any angle, even in brightly lit environments.

[Source: Robot Watch]

[Link: Uniqlo Calendar]

Marines vs. Giants

Marines vs. Swallows

Marines vs. Bay Stars

Marines vs. Dragons

Marines vs. Carp

Marines vs. Tigers

[Link]

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[Link: Graphis]

Godzilla [+]

Kanegon [+]

Gomora [+]

Alien Baltan [+]

[Via: I Believe in Advertising]

See also: Hungry (for giant prehistoric beasts)?

The city of Hakodate, Japan has been producing official tourism videos unlike any you’ve ever seen before — action-packed affairs starring famous landmarks as giant robots that battle a runaway mechanical squid hijacked by vengeful aliens.

The first video begins with an interesting factoid: According to a survey of 100 aliens, Hakodate is the number one city they would most like to invade.

+ Video 1

The invaders here are alien cephalopods from the planet Ikaaru, who seek revenge on the people of Hakodate for eating too much squid. The aliens hijack an enlarged version of Hakodate’s tourism mascot — a mechanical squid named “Ikabo,” which was built by Future University-Hakodate (FUN) in 2007 — and send it on a rampage through the city.

Angry alien squid from Ikaaru: “All they eat is squid!”

A pair of giant robots are called into action to protect Hakodate’s precious historical buildings from destruction. Hakodate’s Gory?kaku Tower transforms into a deadly fighting machine, while an enormous Ch?k? Dog? (a treasured 3,200-year-old hollow clay figurine unearthed in Hokkaid? in 1975) awakens from a deep slumber.

Giant Ch?k? Dog? wakes up

The city’s star-shaped Gory?kaku fortress also joins the fight. After coming under attack, the fortress rises up from the flames and takes off like a giant spaceship.

+ Video 2

In the second video, the battle between the hijacked Ikabo squid robot and the Gory?kaku Tower robot rages on into winter.

+ Video 3

In the final video, the fierce battle appears to end as the Gory?kaku ship delivers a deadly blow to the Ikaaru spacecraft. But the fight has really only just begun — another fleet of alien ships is fast approaching.

Hakodate appears to be under full-scale alien attack and its survival is in question. Visit Hakodate soon… before it’s too late.

To promote its laptops and showcase digital signage technology capable of utilizing real-time data over the Internet, electronics giant Toshiba tested an interactive digital billboard in Tokyo last weekend that allowed YouTube users and pedestrians with mobile phones to play video games against each other. (Watch a video of the game action.)

Played on a digital billboard above the entrance to the Yodobashi Camera superstore in Akihabara, each game involved up to six players in a 90-second race to paint squares on a grid and hunt for Toshiba’s cuddly Pala-Chan mascot. Mobile phone players followed the action on the billboard and used the number keys on their handsets to control the game’s paint brushes, while YouTube players on computers used the arrow keys on their keyboards. (More video.)

To participate, pedestrians in Akihabara called a phone number displayed on the billboard before the start of each game, while YouTube users simply clicked a button on Toshiba’s toshibanotepc channel (where the game is still available).

Winners who played via mobile phone in Akihabara received Pala-Chan parkas from Toshiba representatives stationed near the billboard site.

The company plans to use similar interactive billboard games to promote other products around town in the future.

[Source: Nikkei]

“I am in danger. You are in danger. Japan is in danger. Protect yourself with yellow.”

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So reads the text on a billboard advertisement at the west exit of Shinjuku station, the latest in a series of Norton Symantec security software ads starring multi-talented otaku idol Shokotan.

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Yellow suits her well.

(Thanks, randomcommenter, for the translation tip!)