Archive for Sustenance
September 19, 2008 at 11:35 am · Filed under food, Art, Sustenance, Marketing, Akita
Bad news for rice in Japan — the recent tainted rice scandal has dulled the public’s appetite for the staple, and kids these days are consuming less than ever. In an attempt to revive interest in the grain, agricultural cooperative JA Ugo (based in Ugo, Akita prefecture) is enlisting the help of a sweet, doe-eyed anime rice farmer girl.
Designed by eroge illustrator Aoi Nishimata, the original moe character will appear on 10,000 bags of locally grown “Akitakomachi” rice, which will go on sale September 22. Some Tokyo department stores have reportedly said the bags are unsuitable for their shelves, but JA Ugo believes young people will embrace the design. The moe rice will undoubtedly sell well, provided it’s free from mold and pesticide.
In recent weeks, consumers have been shocked to learn that moldy rice tainted with the pesticide methamidophos was served to thousands of people at schools, day-care […]
Original post by Edo
June 24, 2008 at 12:36 pm · Filed under food, Vegetation, Art, Sustenance, Attraction
Rice-growing season has only just begun, but this year’s first crop of rice paddy art, which is created by planting various colors of rice in the field, has already started to emerge.
In the Yamagata prefecture town of Yonezawa, an image of 16th-17th century samurai Naoe Kanetsugu has appeared in a field near the Onogawa hot spring. The samurai, whose image is based on a portrait housed at the nearby Uesugi Museum, appears along with a pair of fireflies and the kanji characters for “Love” and “Tenchijin,” the name of an NHK drama about Naoe Kanetsugu that will air next year. The rice will be harvested in October.
This year marks the third time that crop art has been grown in Yonezawa. Here are a few photos of works from the past two years.
2007
2007
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2006
In recent years, a growing number of local governments around Japan have started organizing rice paddy […]
Original post by Edo
April 16, 2008 at 9:45 am · Filed under food, Art, Sustenance, Simulacra, Music
Food hackers at Obacchi Jacket Lunch Box cut and arrange ordinary bento lunch box ingredients to recreate famous album covers.
Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire: Egg, paprika, nori (seaweed sheet), kamaboko (fish sausage), carrot, potato, ham, black sesame, rice
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland: Nori, paprika (red & orange), egg, rice
Aphex Twin - Richard D. James Album: Potato, umeboshi (pickled plum), fish/vegetable flakes, nori, kamaboko, rice
KISS - Destroyer: Egg, nori, ume (Japanese plum), kamaboko, rice
Read the full post (160 words, 8 images)
Original post by Edo
February 25, 2008 at 9:12 pm · Filed under food, Sustenance, Simulacra, Marketing
Fresh on the Akita prefecture promotional gimmick scene is a unique and decidedly male mascot modeled after the region’s famed kiritampo grilled rice cake skewers. “Kirichimpo” (kiri means “cut” and chimpo is slang for the male organ), a lovey-eyed kiritampo stick with a conspicuous protuberance dangling from its lower end, is the brainchild of Fruru Co., Ltd., an Akita-based souvenir designer and wholesaler.
Read the full post (235 words, 2 images)
Original post by Edo
February 13, 2008 at 4:28 pm · Filed under food, Cellphone, Sustenance, Simulacra, Game
For mobile gamers in western Japan, a hearty seafood dinner awaits just a few key clicks away, thanks to a unique new cellphone fishing game that rewards successful players with home deliveries of fresh, real-world fish.
The game — called “Ippon Zuri” (which means “pole-and-line fishing”) — was created by FIT, a Fukuoka-based system development company who teamed up with a local seafood wholesaler. Game play is simple: players use the phone keys to cast bait to promising-looking fish in the game’s virtual waters, which include sea bream, crab, and other seasonal fish. When a fish takes the bait, the player is sent to a slot machine screen where, if luck prevails and 3 numbers line up appropriately, the virtual fish is hooked and reeled in. A message is then relayed to the wholesaler, who picks up the real-world equivalent from the local seafood market and delivers it, whole and […]
Original post by Edo
January 22, 2008 at 2:40 pm · Filed under food, Sustenance, Simulacra
A unique chocolate made to look like a beetle larva has captured the fancy of candy aficionados in Japan. Produced by the Komatsuya confectionery and bakery based in Akita prefecture, the bite-sized Larva Chocolates (Youchu Choco) have a grub-shaped body made from milk chocolate and corn flakes, a layer of skin made from white chocolate, legs made from tiny strips of dried squid, and a dainty mouth made from orange peel. Komatsuya, which is struggling to keep up with demand, hand-produces about 400 per day and sells them online (shipping in Japan only) for 210 yen ($2) each. The company also offers up the repulsive-yet-cute candy grubs at product fairs, where they tend to get snapped up in a hurry. Larva Chocolates are now available in Tokyo at the Chocolate and Sweets Expo, which is being held at Sunshine City (Ikebukuro) until March 9.
[Source: Akita Keizai Shimbun]
Original post by Edo
January 11, 2008 at 8:04 am · Filed under food, Sustenance
Otaku idol Shokotan (Shoko Nakagawa)’s obsession with sand dollars has resulted in a new type of sweet bun, called Sukashikashipan, which is scheduled to hit Lawson convenience store shelves nationwide at the end of January.
Since Shokotan began drawing attention to sand dollars (known as sukashikashipan in Japanese) on her popular blog last April, she has often remarked how they look like a type of kashipan (sweet bun). A Lawson product development team apparently agreed (they also picked up on the fact that sukashikashipan sounds like kashipan), and they contacted Shokotan about helping them design a new product. The result is a sugary treat that looks like a palm-sized sand dollar, complete with five radially symmetric holes. Sukashikashipan will sell for 125 yen (a little more than $1) at Lawson stores nationwide beginning January 29.
As an added bonus, the package will feature a QR code that, when scanned, takes […]
Original post by Edo
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