Talented Japanese actress Yuki Amami 天海祐希  appears in this funny TVCM for Suntory’s サントリー Strong Zero ストロングゼロ chuhai (chu-hi) drink.   Though this strong drink contains 8% alcohol, Suntory emphasizes the very strong grapefruit flavor.

TVCM

review of Suntory Strong Zero drink

A young Keanu Reeves appears in  a Japanese TV commercial for Suntory Whisky.  Does Keanu even like whiskey?

Keanu Reeves Japanese Suntory Reserve Whisky TV commercial

It’s Christmas season and there is always a lot of drinking going on so don’t get too drunk.  One alternative is non alcohol beer. Cheaper,  lower taxed, low alcohol (and no alcohol) beer was introduced to the Japanese market in 2003.  By law, non-alcohol beers in Japan can have up to 1% of alcohol.  Last summer, Nikkei’s Plus 1 日経プラス1 column presented the most popular non-alcohol beers ノンアルコール in Japan based on the consumer liking of the taste.

The top 10 non-alcohol beers available in Japan according to Nikkei are:

 Read more...

Lucky Cider  ラッキーサイダー (KiraKira Sparkle) from Suntory is a great refreshing summer drink. This TV commercial is from 2009 and features the beautiful Nozomi Sasaki 佐々木希 who sings

Papa Mama Lucky morning!
My friend is unlucky!
Sun is shining for me!
Handsome guys want me!!
Big money hit me!!!
I am a lucky girl!
Because I drink Lucky Cider!!
Hi!!!

This has come true for Nozomi as she is so successful now (because she drank lucky cider???)

Nozomi Sasaki Lucky Cider TVCM

Back in the mid 1970′s even the legendary pop duo The Carpenters did TV commercials in Japan.  They appeared in 2 ads for Suntory’s Pop (soft drink) and on TV commercial for Morinaga’s Hi-Crown chocolate

Suntory Pop TV commercials

Morinaga Hi-Crown chocolate TV commercial

After the earthquake and tsunami last year, most TV broadcasters pulled TV commercials as a sign of respect for the victims and aired Public Service announcements (PSAs) like this one about being nice to your friends.

However, if you weren’t one of the gaijin that left Japan “the flyjin”, and was stuck at home with little to do except watch TV, you soon got sick of the PSAs and started to think about how entertaining most Japanese TV commercials really are.

 Read more...

Mugi-cha 胡麻麦茶 is a popular seasame barley tea in Japan and known to lower blood pressure.  The following video clip is an extremely wacky Japanese TV commercial for Suntory’s brand of Goma mugi cha.

SUNTORY　TVCM　胡麻麦茶 『A FIRE MAN』

British new wave band Duran Duran were very popular in Japan in the late 1980s.  The lads allowed their images (in bobblehead animation) and music to be used for a TV commercial for Japanese whisky maker Suntory’s whiskey Q brand.

“is there something I should know” Ver. Commercial for Suntory Whiskey Q.

Now that its summer, we can expect icy cold beers to be quenching thirsts.  However, did you know that despite Japan’s hottest summer in 113 years last year,  domestic shipments of beer and beer-like beverages in 2010 were the lowest on record since 1992?

According to figures released by Japan’s five leading breweries, total shipments for 2010 stood at 459.17 million cases, down 2.8 percent from 2009 to mark the sixth straight year of decline. One case is equal to 20 633-milliliter bottles.  Beer-like beverages include low-malt “happoshu” and inexpensive “third-category” near-beer that contain little or no malt.  Read more...

On yeah! We are big fans of Japanese gravure idol Yukie Kawamura 川村 ゆきえ, 川村雪恵. The   Hokkaido born 158cm tall E-cup babe has the measurements 87 – 59 – 87 cm.  She debuted in 2003 when she won second place for the Weekly Young Jump Grand Prix and later appeared in the magazine, photo album and DVD.

See more information about Yukie and our huge collection of  photographs and videos after the jump.  Read more...