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.
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.
As part of a winter marketing campaign by canned coffee brand Georgia Coffee Max, a number of toilets at ski resorts across Japan have been decorated with wrap-around murals depicting the view from the top of a ski jump.
The attention-grabbing loos, which include a pair of skis printed on the floor, are designed to provide target customers an extra thrill as they take care of bathroom business.
Ski jump toilet at Madarao Kogen ski resort [Image via Re-Ski]
Advertising messages are placed on the toilet paper holder and on the wall behind the toilet.
In 1974, home appliance retailer Yamagiwa Corporation printed 1,974 copies of a promotional poster featuring a Jesus portrait by noted pop artist Tadanori Yokoo. The poster depicts Christ in front of a colorful mandala-like pattern centered around an inverted triangle, which Yokoo described as being a Tantric symbol of Shakti, the feminine creative energy of the universe, though it could just as well represent the Holy Trinity.
As part of an online marketing campaign for the Walkman media player over the past few years, Sony has produced over a dozen short videos featuring a stellar assortment of underground Japanese musicians cutting loose in the studio.
* * * * *
- Tucker
DJ/keyboardist Tucker shows off his mad cooking skills by whipping up a spicy blend of rhythmic kitchen noise topped with crunchy guitar. >>> Video
Armed with a bone conduction microphone and electric artificial larynx, performance artist/body musician Fuyuki Yamakawa drops a flurry of skull-thumping, mouth-tweaking beats.
Sanwa Bank ran some funky magazine ads for the JCB card in the early 1970s.
Date with Miss Venus... Travel to Mars... Brain transplant... Space restaurant... Vacation home on the moon... Time machine... Rent-a-rocket... Life extension medication... All OK with the JCB card!!?
- - - - -
"I'm back from my reconnaissance mission. This is Earth money."
Of the countless trains running on Japan's 20,000-kilometer (12,000-mile) rail network, a few are decorated with images of anime and manga characters, colorful ads, and designs by notable artists. Here is a small sample.
Characters from Leiji Matsumoto's "Galaxy Express 999" anime/manga adorn this train that used to run on the Furusato-Ginga line in Hokkaido. The train line closed down in 2006.
Trains on the Tottori line in Tottori prefecture are decorated with characters from Shigeru Mizuki's "GeGeGe no Kitar?" manga/anime series. Mizuki was born in Tottori prefecture.
Miyagi prefecture is the birthplace of manga/anime artist Ishinomori Sh?tar?, whose works include Cyborg 009 and the Kamen Rider Series. Some of his characters adorn trains on the Senseki line.
Yanase Takashi, creator of the Anpanman anime series, is from Kochi prefecture in Shikoku. The JR Shikoku railway network operates some Anpanman-themed trains.
Anpanman train interior, JR Shikoku, Shikoku [More]
* * * * *
One-Piece ad train, Enoshima Electric Railway [More]
* * * * *
Pichon-kun on the Skytrain, Bangkok, Thailand [Photo]
Japanese characters can occasionally be found on trains in other countries. This photo shows Pichon-kun, the robot mascot of Japanese air-conditioning manufacturer Daikin, on the side of the Skytrain in Bangkok, Thailand.
They may be cute, but they thirst for blood. These official mascot characters are tasked with recruiting blood donors in Japan.
Japan's most well-known blood donation mascot is Kenketsu-chan ("blood donation girl"), a little pixie with big shiny drops of blood for ears. Kenketsu-chan is the official blood donation mascot of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, which maintains a website devoted to the character.
Kenketsu-chan
From the site, we know that Kenketsu-chan's ears shrink when she runs low on blood, but return to their original size when people donate. We also know that she comes from Tasuke Island (Help Island), which features a heart-shaped spring at its center. The spring shoots forth rainbows that carry Kenketsu-chan to wherever people need blood.
As the Japanese government's official blood donation mascot, Kenketsu-chan is often seen working alongside the nation's numerous regional mascots.
Kokoron-chan
The blood donation mascot of Iwate prefecture is Kokoron-chan, whose name is derived from the word "kokoro" (heart). She was designed to evoke an image of peace, warm-heartedness and blood.
Kibichii-chan // Yūton-kun // Otasuke Ketta-kun
Kibichii-chan, who has been employed by Fukushima prefecture since 1996, takes her name from "kibitaki" (Narcissus Flycatcher, a songbird indigenous to the region) and "chi" (blood). Yūton-kun is from Kyoto, and Otasuke-ketta-kun is from Hokkaidō.
Aipii // Chiipitto
Aipii works the blood drives in Ehime prefecture, and Chiipitto -- whose name is a play on the words "chi" (blood) and "kyūpitto" (Cupid) -- works in Hiroshima prefecture.
Ken-chan and Chii-chan // CrossKid-kun
Ken-chan and Chii-chan, whose names mean "donation girl" and "blood girl," serve the town of Iwaki in Fukushima prefecture. Standing side by side, they form the hiragana character for "i" (い), which stands for Iwaki and inochi (life). Akita prefecture's CrossKid-kun (Kurosukiddo-kun) is a cedar tree-shaped boy with a red cross on his chest. His name is a play on the words "cross," "kurosugi" (a type of cedar) and "kid."
Ebio-kun
Ebio-kun, whose name is pronounced "A-B-O" (like the blood types), is the official blood donation mascot of Saitama prefecture.
Buratto-kun // Chii-tan
Buratto-kun, whose name means "blood boy," is employed by Aomori prefecture. Chii-tan, or "blood girl," works in Shiga prefecture.
Otasuke Kenta // Dr. Blood
Osaka prefecture uses two mascot characters to attract donors -- Otasuke Kenta and Dr. Blood.
Blood-kun
Finally, Blood-kun is the official blood donation character of Niigata prefecture. According to his website, Blood-kun carries a backpack full of blood. He has short legs but can run fast when hurrying to deliver blood, and his red hat turns into a flashing warning light in an emergency. The spiral on his stomach represents blood circulation. He appreciates it when people offer to fill up his backpack.
