Japanese graves use technology for limited space

Now that the Bon Festival week of holidays is wrapping up, millions of Japanese are returning from some much needed rest and relaxation back in their hometowns. Since O-Bon is traditionally for ancestor worship, many also take the time to visit the graves of their dead family members and tend to burial plots like the one below.

Previously we broke the story about Japanese gravestones integrating QR Codes into their burial plots, but most Japanese in the cities cannot afford the $20k (or more) it would take to buy a plot of land.

To solve this problem, Nichiryoku has created an interactive family plot that fuses technology with the traditional. The cremated remains of your loved ones are stored in a personal sealed box which is kept in an underground vault. When you wish to access the box you scan an RFID card which then tells the system to bring up your box and place it in the prayer area.

Check out the videos for a better idea. Sorry for not translating, but the visuals should give you the idea. In the video on the right, the woman is visiting her father (speaking from beyond the grave) who is surprised that she came. However, since he’s “close to the train station” she said it’s no problem!

Judging from Nichoryoku’s site, building construction is an important factor for those seeking to inter themselves for the afterlife. You can see detailed plans and photos of this concrete and steel ancestral bunker to put your mind at ease. Perhaps ironically, it’s built far stronger than most homes where the living wait for the next big earthquake!

With Japan’s aging society there are more and more funerals every day, and limited space options are bring out lots of creative solutions to this problem. As depressing as it is, death is a big business these days in Japan. Again, the innovative Japanese spirit shines, albeit in a way that only works in Japan (for now).

Tags: Aging Society, Graves, Innovations, QR Codes, RFID
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Marketing & Ad Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

Camel Crush cigarettes tested in Japan?

When we first blogged about the new Kool Boost cigarettes featuring an internal “powerball” infused with menthol, we though it was brilliant. Smokers can add more menthol by squeezing the filter to break the capsule, thus releasing the mentholated goodness.

Now it seems that RJ Reynolds is slowly releasing a stateside version of their Camel brand with the same capsule inside the filter. The Camel Crush are currently being tested in select markets back in the U.S.

It would be interesting to know the degree as to which this innovation was tested in Japan. The U.S. Patent application explains its origins, but Japan may just be (for better or for worse) the ideal testing ground for FMCG such as tobacco.

Back in the U.S., people will actually ask someone for a cigarette and then decline it when it’s the wrong brand, but Japanese are far more willing to switch brands for any number of reasons: Cool packaging, freebies, product modifications, limited editions, etc. Sure, the older generation of salarymen stick to their Mild Sevens, but young people treat cigarettes like they do any other FMCG. After all, who wants to drink the same brand of coffee their whole lives?

This attitude makes Japan a great testing ground for many products, but also a deceiving one. If smokers abroad aren’t open to switching brands for any type of FMCG, it’ll take more than a menthol ball to win them over.

Tags: Innovations, Marketing, Tobacco
Category: Marketing & Ad Trends
Other categories: Technology & Gadget Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

Limited Edition premium vices come to Japanese cigarettes

Taxes are an interesting thing. Like most restrictions on free trade, they end up encouraging creative ways to innovate while complying. The large beer tax in Japan gave way to Happoshu, a cheap substitute that creatively skirted the law by not technically being “beer”. In response, high-priced beer brands decided to innovate and go the premium route, and have been extremely successful doing so.

Tobacco is no different. As taxes increased in the last year by about twenty cents, many people are deciding (to their credit) to quit or cut down. Now tobacco companies are going the premium route that beer has taken, creating better blends, sharper packaging, and premium-quality giveaways.

Seven Stars has taken the popular side-slide box from the Alphabet series of cigarettes, and put out a limited-edition package that looks quite nice compared to their usual bland fare.

Peace, another typically bland brand, has gone all-out and created a popular premium blend that stands in stark contrast to the standard Peace. Including a stylish booklet and lighter, the Peace Infinity aim to stand out by being longer and modifying the filter with textured paper and an interesting “aft filter” that looks cool, but may not actually do anything. Who knows. The Infinities go for ¥350 a pack compared to ¥300 for regular Japanese smokes.

The Parliament Platinum premium tobacco’s highlight is the flashy box, quality cut, and (most of all) the cool lighter that comes with each box. These are ¥500 per package, which makes them the most expensive we’ve seen so far. However, they’re constantly sold out when we look around, and seem to be quite popular (I have no data on this).

The point isn’t that these are “cool” or that they’re necessarily better (stay away kids!), but that more restrictions lead to innovations in many ways. While not made available in mass quantities, these offerings also boost the core brands and give them a modern edge, just as Suntory Premium Malts has done for the standard (and not so delicious) Suntory beer.

Tags: Innovations, Limited Edition, Product Innovation, Tobacco
Category: Marketing & Ad Trends
Other categories: Technology & Gadget Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

Crush your menthol: Kool Boost Powerball cigarettes

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Tobacco marketing in Japan is amazing.

We’ve covered offerings from Camel, Lucky Strike and Kent, but the attraction there was purely about marketing. Kool has upped the ante with great marketing on top of the strangest product modification we’ve ever seen. The Kool Boost cigarettes were just released in July and are being sold with a free match case in a plastic ball to promote the “powerball” within.

While Kent’s earlier promotion with their Mintek menthol seam looks pretty cool visually, when you squeeze the Kool Boost filter you literally burst the powerball, releasing its (rather strong) menthol goodness as outlined in the above diagram. We opened one up to see what it looked like (see below), and they weren’t kidding.

Stuff like this goes over well in Japan, particularly when tobacco is sold in creative packaging, however wasteful it may be. The plastic balls themselves were all piled into a big bin like in a children’s ball pit at Chuck E. Cheese, so at first I thought they were toys. However, what raises the ire of nanny-staters abroad is simply creative marketing in Japan.

Tags: Innovations, Product Innovation, Tobacco
Category: Marketing & Ad Trends
Other categories: Technology & Gadget Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends