SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Transplanting yourself into another country can help you learn the language, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll absorb every bit of the culture. This image is a perfect example of that: Your understanding will depend entirely on how familiar you are with Japanese culture and history. So, we’ve broken this package down into five degrees of cultural awareness! And don’t feel bad if you don’t “get it,” because quite a few Japanese people were lost as well.

Internet, Japan, USA
(Bunmeido • castella • commercial • culture • rebus • twitter)

Japanese curry commercial is the weirdest thing you’ll see all week, make you cry lasers【Video】

ロケットニュース24
Nov 13, 2015

Every once in a while a commercial comes along that so accurately deconstructs the human condition that it’s hard for any of us to not cry lasers over it. There was that one time Intel showed us the harrowing tale of a young boy whose friend was dying of cancer, and that Toyota one about a father and daughter? Well, I darn near vaporized my cat while watching that one.

Now, noodle giant Nissin and their White Curry Meshi (rice) bring us a spot titled “Sorrow of Wasteland“, which tells the story of desperate struggle between two men who were once friends. Get your tissues and ruby-quartz glasses out for this one, folks!

Internet, Japan
(commercial • curry • Ika Hachiro • Japanese TV • Kenya Osumi • Nissin • video • White Curry Meshi • wtf)

Can you spot what’s odd about this Japanese classroom?【Video】

Scott Wilson
Oct 20, 2015

Japanese commercials are known all over the world for being just as entertaining as the programs they interrupt. Whether they’re ridiculously cute, heartbreakingly sad, a little confusing, or nightmare-inducingly bizarre, most commercials have something special going on.

So what about this commercial? It looks so normal at first; it’s just a bunch of high school girls hanging out in a classroom, playing a guitar, reading, whatever. But then, right in the middle, something happens. Watch it for yourself and see if you can figure it out before the reveal!

Japan
(beautiful boys • commercial • crossdressing • high school • Japanese high school • surprise • video)

Buildings transform into giant robots in Japanese real estate company’s anime commercial【Video】

Audrey Akcasu
Oct 7, 2015

When was the last time you sat down to watch a YouTube video by a real estate company? We’re going to assume never, because who even knew that real estate companies had YouTube accounts?

Japan’s Mitsui Real Estate Residential, however, not only has a YouTube account, but their recently posted video is becoming wildly popular. The company managed to combine their housing expertise with the fail-safe giant robot genre to create a short animated series about apartment buildings that transform into giant robots!

Japan
(anime • commercial • real estate • robots • video)

Japanese coffee maker’s commercial is dark, milky, and udderly crazy 【Video】

ロケットニュース24
Sep 30, 2015

Not everyone loves Japanese TV, but we have to admit that one thing it has going for it is absolutely bonkers commercials. You can find weird, unsettling, funny, emotional, or even just hilarious commercials the world over, but it sometimes seems that Japan has a particularly high concentration of them. Maybe there’s something in the coffee…

And speaking of coffee, Japanese coffee brand Blendy has produced one of the most bizarre commercials we’ve seen to date, mixing absurdist comedy with unsettling, dark undertones. Oh, and milk. Lots and lots of milk.

Internet, Japan
(Blendy • coffee • commercial • cows • funny • video • wtf)

Thai anti-drinking PSA is surprisingly compelling 【Video】

Master Blaster
Sep 9, 2015

As a child I distinctly remember anti-drug campaigns telling me to “Just say no!” and how narcotics would turn my brain into a fried egg rather than a raw one, which I guess meant that cold, transparent and runny is the optimum condition for one’s gray matter.

And after I was released from rehab for the third time, I realized that those messages were largely ineffective. This was because rather than educate about the way drugs work both chemically and socially, they simply resorted to speaking down to the viewer and giving us simple commands that we were expected to blindly obey for some reason.

Looking at the above image to an alcohol abuse PSA from Thailand, you might expect more of the same dogmatic obscurity of days past. However, this ad—as bizarre as it is—is a very persuasive and inspiring message regarding knocking off the booze and getting your life together.

SE Asia
(alcohol • commercial • drinking • funny • PSA • Thailand • video)

How do 43 coins tossed through the air create one short but lovely song? Concentration!【Video】

Preston Phro
Sep 7, 2015

Music is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful artistic mediums humankind has. It can move us in ways that are hard to understand or even describe, eliciting everything from tears to vicious mosh pits. Of course, one of its most renowned powers is helping people concentrate.

Take, for example, classical music, which seems to help students focus while cramming for finals or aid tired workers in getting through a long day. So, to promote their new drink Shuchu Regain (集中リゲイン), Suntory has released a series of YouTube videos demonstrating the power of concentration. Today, we’ll be looking at “the world’s fastest orchestra,” The Extreme Minuet, played by having 43 men toss coins into beakers from several feet away.

Internet, Japan
(commercial • Extreme Minuet • Mozart • music • Suntory • ultra-fast video • video)

Tear-jerking Thai commercial is about stabbing of a homeless man – Can you guess what it’s for?

Casey Baseel
Sep 1, 2015

Making the viewer feel good is a time-tested method of crafting an effective commercial. Gather a bunch of attractive people, have them frolic in beautiful surroundings for 30 seconds, and at the end subtly slip in the product, implying “You too could be having this much fun with this brand of car/beer/athlete’s foot medication!”

Thai advertisers, though, sometimes decide to take a different tack, with emotionally devastating commercials that seem designed to reduce all who watch them to blubbering piles of streaming tears and seeping sympathy. Case in point: this new ad with man’s inhumanity to man as its central theme features dialogue such as “What the f** are you smiling at?”, terrible violence, and a completely unexpected final purpose*.

SE Asia
(commercial • moving • sad • Thailand • video)

Touching new Subaru commercial traverses time to win to our hearts

Krista Rogers
Feb 9, 2015

When they aren’t filming commercials involving attacks by Titans or epic 60-hour-long miniature car model shoots, Japanese car manufacturer Subaru has proven to us that they’ve also got some commercials designed to hit you right in the feels.

Take this endearing new clip set in a snowy winter’s scene, for instance. It will surely warm your heart, despite the cold!

Japan
(commercial • snow • Subaru • sweet • video)

Ghibli animator Yoshiharu Sato directs commercial for Satsuma Shiranami

Anime News Network
Jan 10, 2015

Satsuma Shuzo began streaming an animated commercial directed by Yoshiharu Sato last week. The commercial, titled Oyaji no Imo no Kamisama. (Dad’s Potato God.), advertises the company’s Satsuma Shiranami sweet potato shochu (traditional japanese hard liquor).

Japan
(anime • Anime News Network • commercial • Satsuma Shiranami • Studio Ghibli • video)

Sick of BABYMETAL? How about some sumo metal!

Preston Phro
Dec 21, 2014

Japan has a few, shall we say, unusual commercials that have raised eyebrows around the world. While you may laugh, when you think about it, it just shows that Japan’s marketers really know how to get the audience’s attention–and isn’t that the job of a commercial, to get people’s attention? We’d say so, and we think we may have found our favorite new eyebrow-raising Japanese commercial!

An exhilarating, upbeat sound track? Check. A simple, direct message that makes almost no sense at all? Check. Half naked people? Oh, holy hell, yes, check!

Internet, Japan
(commercial • funny • metalcore • move band • Sumo)

Mario Kart’s Mercedes-Benz collaboration enters the real world with TV spot

Anime News Network
Nov 13, 2014

Car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz had previously collaborated with Nintendo on in-game car models for the company’s Mario Kart 8 video game. However, now Nintendo is helping out Mercedes-Benz by lending its characters and themes for the company’s latest commercial, “GO!GLA.” This week, the company posted the Peach and Luigi versions of the commercial:

Japan
(commercial • Mario Kart • Mercedez)

If you were ever an athlete growing up, this video is going to bring you a swelling of emotions

KK Miller
Oct 4, 2014

Athletes who compete in amateur sports have one of the most difficult tasks. To compete on the world level, these athletes have to train their butts off and since they aren’t paid to compete, have to hold down a job as well. What they are able to accomplish when facing severely stacked odds is pretty spectacular.

With the conclusion of the 2014 Asia Games, Japan has once again had the chance to cheer on their storied athletes. It’s important to see these sportsmen in high level competitions because they inspire an entire generation of young athletes to continue to do what they love. A commercial airing during the television broadcasts for the Asia Games is also showing the incredible hearts of these great athletes. Find out who is giving back and what their special message is after the jump.

Japan
(2014 Asia Games • amateur • athletes • commercial • inspiring • sports)

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu plays dress-up in new Nintendo 3DS ad

Anime News Network
Sep 30, 2014

Nintendo has recruited fashion model and singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu to promote the New Nintendo 3DS game system before it launches in Japan on October 11. On a new website, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu introduces the system’s interchangeable “Kisekae Plates” (literally, dress-up plates). With these plates, players can customize the exterior design of the New Nintendo 3DS in countless ways.

In a new television commercial, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu plays dress-up by putting extravagant outfits on Mario, Link, and other familiar characters:

Japan
(3DS • Anime News Network • commercial • Kyary Pamyu Pamyu • nintendo)

This Japanese Febreze ad looks a bit like the start of a kaiju movie 【Video】

Philip Kendall
Sep 26, 2014

Before moving to Japan, I always liked to imagine that Japanese TV shows would be a cross between Takeshi’s Castle and Iron Chef. In reality, television here is far less entertaining, and seems to consist predominantly of carefully orchestrated panel shows and broadcasts which are so plastered with gaudy graphics and subtitles that I often feel as if I’m reading more than I’m watching when I sit in front of my TV set.

Thankfully, Japan’s primetime ads are usually far more quirky and entertaining. Take this recent commercial for odour-removal spray Febreze, for example, which features a giant, gurning sun dual-wielding bottles of the stuff.