Herbal tea

Coca Cola Japan has teamed up with the manufacturer of herbal medicine Nihondo and released Karada Meguri-cha, a herbal tea drink with health and anti-stress benefits.

Golden Min.

The free paper Metro Min. has started publication of a sister issue targeted at those over 50 with Golden Min..

Kirin Sasato-ocha

A few weeks ago Kirin has released Sasato, a green tea drink with a suspiciously similar bottle design to Suntory's Iemon.

Beauty water

Water with added health and beauty benefits seems to be everywhere this spring. Kirin has released Post Water, and Contrex, which is distributed by Suntory in Japan, has teamed up with the model Shiho in its latest campaign.

Kirin goes back to nature...

...or rather "back to the nature" as it says on the package of its slow-life tea drink Jikkan, targeted at the growing group of LOHAS consumers in Japan.

Dove is everywhere

Unilever has launched a massive campaign (including posters and billlboards at all large train stations in Tokyo) for its brand Dove as part of the Campaign for Real Beauty. Interestingly, this campaign has been adapted and changed to fit the Japanese market - both images and message are much less individualistic and controversial.

Nintendo DS

An advert for the Nintendo DS download spots DS Station in Tokyo station. At the DS Stations (placed all over Tokyo) owners can download trials of new games or exchange data such as the virtual pets they raised in the game NintenDogs.

Coca Cola Anniversary

New, retro-minimalist advertising campaign by Coca Cola Japan to commemorate the brand's 20th anniversary.

Update: It seems that the original 330ml glass bottles have been re-released to mark this occasion.