Word: japanism
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Sure, I was going to Tokyo for work, but my mind was focused on cream puffs - specifically, the ones whose sublime vanilla-bean-flecked custard nestles in a cradle of chocolate choux. During a trip to Japan last year, I had eaten a not insignificant number of these pastries, and I relished the opportunity to reacquaint myself with their virtues. But when I sidled up to a Tokyo store's cream-puff section - yes, there is a fridge shelf dedicated to this particular genre of baked goods in many Japanese groceries - to my great distress, my favorite dessert was nowhere...
...other country is as obsessed with novelty as Japan. While product launches in the U.S. are often the stuff of great fanfare and huge p.r. budgets - New Coke, anyone? - endless iterations on an edible theme are the norm in Japan. American beer drinkers partial to Budweiser basically face a binary choice: Bud or Bud Lite, although they might occasionally find such niche-market products as Bud Select or Bud Extra. By contrast, when a Japanese beer drinker goes to buy a can of Asahi at an average convenience store, he has to choose between Super Dry, Premium, Prime Time, Black...
...Ever since post-war Japan tied its economy to innovation, the quest for novelty has assumed frenzied proportions. Most Japanese TV ads for food and drinks incorporate the mantra shin hatsubai, which roughly translates as "new product for sale." Indeed, Japan is the world's speediest economy when it comes to bringing new products to market, according to a study of 31 nations published in the September/October issue of Marketing Science. (Norway was second, with the U.S. ranking sixth.) Even international brands target the insatiable Japanese market differently. Pepsi, for instance, has introduced Japan-only products such as Pepsi White...
After a stunning Oct. 25 announcement in India that he had "given up," the Dalai Lama reiterated during a visit to Japan this weekend that he is losing faith in talks with the Chinese government over Tibet's future. Having served the Tibetan people for 68 years as their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama said that the situation for Tibetans is deteriorating and that Chinese rule in Tibet is "almost like a death sentence." The leader has declared a position of complete neutrality, intending to stay silent on how the Tibetan people should engage with the Chinese government in upcoming...
...back on her home turf. The New Hampshire native spent her summer canvassing in the state and has been on two other Dems trips this fall. Her canvassing partner (and blockmate) Maia Usui ’11 can’t even vote. Usui, who was raised in Japan and attended high school in Thailand, considers the trip a more exotic experience than her politically-minded friend...