Random Japan

Mr. Sato decides to go out for a cup of coffee…with a giant 20-pound Starbucks mug!

Kay

This week, Starbucks Japan released a giant US$700 ceramic mug, and naturally, we had to order one and get Mr. Sato to do something crazy with it!

The “Big Logo Mug”, which was released for sale exclusively through Starbucks Japan’s online store starting December 1, is definitely a hefty piece of pottery. And not only is it huge, it also comes with an eye-popping price tag of 86,400 yen (US$703.64)! Seriously, who would be buying this? Well, as it turns out, plenty of people were interested in the oversized mug, and the item quickly sold out the day it was released.

We too couldn’t resist ordering one ourselves and sharing our experience with you, so here’s our report on Mr. Sato’s adventure taking the mug out for a cup of coffee.

STATS

• 48.7: Percent of female temp workers who say they’ve experienced “maternity harassment” from colleagues after getting pregnant or having children
• 8: Wards in central Tokyo whose residents will be eligible for Amazon Japan’s new one-hour delivery service
• ¥2,016: Cost of a single finger of KitKat’s new Sublime Gold edition, which will go on sale at “chocolate boutiques in eight swank department stores”

AND FINALLY…

• Officials at the health ministry have confirmed Japan’s first cases of hepatitis E.
• A photograph of the legendarily faithful dog Hachiko, lying on his stomach in front of Shibuya Station, has been discovered some 80 years after it was taken.
• The picture was captured by a local bank employee who died in 1947; his familygave the photo to 92-year-old Takeshi Ando, the sculptor who made the statuethat stands outside the station.
• Bottom Story of the Week: “Mobile Crane Veers onto Sidewalk in Tokyo, Knocks over Police Station Sign” (via The Mainichi)

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Just Like America's Republican Party



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'Explosive' shopping not the only reason Chinese people visit Japan

While Chinese tourists’ shopping sprees in Japan continue at such a pace that “explosive buying” has become the buzzword of the year, an academic survey has shown that Japanese landscapes, culture and art may be more alluring than the bright lights of the cities’ famous shopping districts.

The survey conducted by Wang Yin, a Nagoya-based Chinese postgraduate student who researches Chinese tourist behavior, shows the percentage of respondents from her homeland selecting “viewing countryside” or “appreciation of traditional culture and arts” as reasons for visiting Japan came to 29 and 26% respectively, surpassing the 15% that nominated “convenience in shopping” as motivation for their visit.

Wang, who conducted the survey a year ago with 115 respondents of which 30 percent had previously visited Japan, said Japanese tourist spots are well known in China through the broadcast of Japanese TV drama series such as “Oshin” and those featuring 1970s starlet Momoe Yamaguchi.