Pokemon Train

...I rode on the Pokemon train today.


...every single ad inside the train was of Pokemon. Even the outside was painted with them.

Taken on the Meitetsu train line in Nagoya.

Ikemen

Interesting ad in the Hankyuu Umeda train station the other day...


Apparently there's a new TV show called, basically, "Cool Guy Paradise."

(No, I didn't watch it.)

Coincidence!

Today.
Triangle Park, Ame-mura, Shinsaibashi, Osaka.

There is a mysterious crowd, hanging out and watching the building with the big TV screen. There are crowd control people, keeping the general public away from the front of the shop there. There are people with t-shirts, bags, etc. from a band called An Cafe, which is a band I actually know and like.

I decide to hang out and see what's going on.


2 PM. There is a rush of excitement from the crowd. The screen is showing an ad for An Cafe's new single (which will be released in August). They play through one entire song in the ad, to much cheering and clapping and exclamations of "kawaii!" ("cute!").



The video ad ends. The video screen slowly raises. (I didn't know it could do that.)

Standing in the second story of the building are the members of An Cafe, wearing cute summer yukata. (For the record, they are all guys. Even the one in pink.) There is more cheering. They talk about their new CD and their next concert in Osaka (which is free! but unfortunately it's also after I leave). Then the screen goes down again and it is over.


...until they come out and got into the van that's waiting. Then there is more screaming and cheering and waving. Also, the distribution of free postcards by staff people.

See? Postcard! (image from their website):


Hooray for coincidence!

What do you need?

(Hep 5 is a big shopping center in the middle of Umeda.)

Balanced Meal

The Japanese version of the food pyramid...it's a top! You have to eat enough of each food group or else it will fall over!


...I just realized that my title for this post is a horrible pun. That was actually unintentional.

Eight Floors of Anime

Buildings in Akihabara...including the 8-floor Animate. We started at the top and walked through each floor on the way down. (By the end, even I was getting a little tired of anime goods.)

It's giant...it's purple...

...it's a penguin?


McDonald's has put out ads with purple penguins to promote McFlurries over here. (Or would it be McFlurrys? Hmm.) Either way, they had their mascot hanging out by the JR train station in Akihabara, Tokyo.

For some reason, it was a little creepy. I have nothing against mascots in general - in fact I ususally like them - but I felt no inclination to go pose with this one. I was actually trying not to attract its attention...

Lipton Ad

The new Lipton Tea ad is cute! It also makes me laugh.


I took this picture in Shibuya (Tokyo), but I've seen them in Osaka, too.

Here's a close-up of the text at the bottom. (It's even a fairly accurate English translation.)