I can't help but pay attention to Tommy Lee Jones and that white dog. I don't know why.

If you talk about white dogs with Japanese people, many of them will first think of a white dog which always appears in a very popular series of SoftBank cellphone TV commercials. This series is so interesting and funny that it has been very popular for more than five years. It has a storyline that revolves around the Shirato/白戸 family consisting of a girl, her brother, her parents, and her grandmother.　Aya Ueto/上戸彩, a very popular actress, plays the role of the daughter. Both her mother and grandmother are played by two well-known actresses. Her bother is played by an American. Interestingly enough, a white dog plays her farther. He is a white dog in appearance, but he thinks and speaks like standard Japanese fathers do. Other family members treat the dog as a normal father. I've heard that a company, which has been creating the series since the start, wanted to use a popular actor as the father, but the budget wasn't enough, so the company reluctantly used the white dog instead. Because of this, the company didn't expect the series to become that popular. No one knows what will turn out to be lucky, right? Anyway, in the series, a new episode appears very frequently, and it always captures a trend and portrays the family as humorous. So, a lot of people, regardless of gender and age, like the series.

Speaking of a very popular series of TV commercials, the series of Suntory canned coffee commercials where Tommy Lee Jones appears is still continuing. Surprisingly, he has been playing the role of an alien in the commercials since 2006. Have you heard of it ? Since the series also portrays Japanese society with humor and irony, I've found it interesting. I've been wondering why Tommy Lee Jones has been doing a sort of comedy as an alien in the commercials for such a long period of time. Does he enjoy the role? Is it for a lucrative endorsement contract ?

About two months ago, the aforementioned two companies, Softbank and Suntory, started collaborating in promoting their products. About two months ago, the aforementioned two companies, Softbank and Suntory, started collaborating in promoting their products. These episodes in the commercials are ridiculous, but I can't help but pay attention to them. I don't know why.

Is there a series TV commercials which has been popular for a few years in your country?

A SoftBank cellphone commercial with English subtitles. This is old.

A Suntory canned coffee commercial with English subtitles. This is also old.

The new collaboration TV commercial.

If you examine that 12 luxury sports cars' accident and thar Draemon commercial, you will catch glimpses of what cars are to Japanese people !?

Last December, a spectacular car accident happened in Japan. Since the multiple pileup involved 12 luxury sports cars like Ferraris, it drew international attention and was reported worldwide (click here). Although news reports gave few details about the cars' drivers, beyond quoting police officials as saying their ages ranged from 37 to 60, many people assumed that the drivers must be super rich. After a while, a magazine reported that some of the drivers whom it visited were not that rich, rather seemingly ordinary people. Although I didn't know if the information was accurate, I thought that it was likely. Can you guess why?

People between their 40s and 60s were raised when Japan was a developing country. After they started working, they would usually work very hard to purchase and do what they wanted. Men from that generation would get their driver licences as soon as they turned 18. They would be eager to ride around in a high-end car. Cars tended to be considered as a status symbol for men. Women would want men to cruise around. For some women, the matter of what kind of cars men have would be a important criteria for judging men. On top of that, the generation tends to like getting expensive but unique things because they experienced the bubble economy when they were young. Taking this into account, given the aforementioned drivers' ages, it's likely that the drivers earned money the hard way and took out loans to buy a luxury car in order to make their dreams true.

According to an official survey, roughly speaking, over 95% of the men from 30 to 64 have a driver's licence. As for women, about 90% of those from 30 to 49 have one (50-54:83.5%, 55-59:74.7%, and 60-64:67.2%). It was very common for this generation to get their driver's licences around 20. In contrast, it's been said that people in their teens and 20s have less interest in cars. They, especially those living in large cities, even have less intention to get their driver's licences. According to the aforementioned official survey, driver's licence holder ratios by age and gender are that 81.5% for men from 20 to 24, 93.4% for men from 25 to 29, 72.4% for women from 20 to 24, and 87.5% for women from 25 to 29. Another survey announced recently shows that the driver's licence holder ration of 20-year-old people is 56.7%, which is 4.9% increase over the previous year.

It's been difficult for young people to get a stable job with a good salary. It's been said that young people only buy what they need now even if they can afford to buy extra things. Unlike older generations, they don't see cars as a status symbol for men. Under these circumstances, I expect that more young people will become indifferent to cars.

Anyway, a Toyota TV commercial series has been drawing great attention (Please see the YouTube videos. I think that the English subtitles added by somebody are good enough to understand the story. I think that you can see English subtitles only on YouTube site). This is because it's a live-action version of Doraemon, a popular Japanese animation. In the animation, other than Doraemon, main characters are school children. The Toyota's commercial series portrays their lives in 20 years, in other words, the characters who have turned 30. Popular actors and actresses who match the image of original characters play the 30-year-old characters (Jean Reno plays Doraemon). Remarkably, the story line of the commercial series is focused on making young people feel like they need to get their driver's licences. The commercial shows how seriously Toyota takes the current situation.

【My previous blog articles related to the topic】
Things in which young Japanese people are less interested
http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/03/things-in-which-young-japanese-people.html
Japanese young people having no desire for purchase
http://japan-through-my-eyes.blogspot.com/2010/03/japanese-young-people-having-no-desire.html

Freddie Mercury is singing with Japanese lyrics!! How impressive!

Have you heard of Cup-o'Noodles produced by Nissin/日清食品, a Japanese food company which was the first in the world to invent instant noodles? Have you ever eaten them ? Cup-o'Noodles are convenient instant noodles. All you have to do to eat them is just add hot water and wait for three minutes. This product has been very popular among Japanese people since it went on sale in 1971. Although there are various kinds of convenient instant noodles displayed in supermarkets, Cup-o'Noodles still seems to do well. In Japan, some people like eating a Cup-o'Noodle for lunch, and some store them as a sort of emergency provisions. As a matter of fact, they are helpful at disaster sites. When they went on sale in 1971, Cup-o'Noodles were welcomed especially by construction workers standing outside during the cold winter nights. Personally, I usually don't eat them. When I'm working late and on special occasions like this, I eat them.

Anyway, I think that Cup-o'Noodles TV commercials are always fascinating. When this year began, Freddie Mercury started appearing in a new TV commercial. He is singing "I was born to love you" with Japanese lyrics there. Needless to say, the lyrics are made to promote Cup-o'Noodles. I'm very impressed by it. I wonder how the commercial was made, although I'm sure that high technology is used.

According to Nissin, this year, it has been 20 years since Freddie Mercury passed away and it has been 40 years since Queen was formed. This TV commercial is a part of their worldwide advertising campaign, as well.

Impressive Japanese TV commercials. If you study Japanese, please try to enjoy the wordings.

Every time I move back to Japan from a foreign country, I realized that TV commercials in Japan are creative and interesting, although I don't know very much about TV commercials in Western countries.

A very popular series of cellphone commercials is so funny and interesting that I always look forward to the next one (The first video). This series has a storyline that revolves around a family. The father is a white Japanese dog. The mother is being played by a popular middle-aged Japanese actress. A young popular actress, Aya Ueto/上戸彩, is playing the daughter's role. An American is playing the son's role. This portrays our social trends sarcastically and humorously , so the commercials can always catch the public attention.

Speaking of a popular series of TV commercials, the series of a canned coffee commercial where Tommy Lee Jones appears are still continuing. Surprisingly, he has been playing an alien role in the commercials for more than four years.

Although this kind of TV commercials usually catches my attention, sometimes other serious commercials resonate with me and makes me think a lot. An organization , AC Japan, examines our society and the world, and decides every year what it should advocate through its advertising campaigns. The Japanese phrases that are used in this newest TV commercial, created by this organization are impressive, so I want to introduce them. The phrases are below. I hope you can enjoy the wordings.

「こころ」はだれにも見えないけれど
「こころづかい」は見える
No strangers can see your heart (it implies that no strangers know what you are thinking), but every stranger can see your kindness/thoughtfulness/consideration.

「思い」は見えないけれど
「思いやり」はだれにでも見える

The meaning of this phrase is almost the same as the one from the phrase above, although nuances of these two phrases conveyed are slightly different.

The cellphone commercial

The canned coffee commercial series where Tommy Lee Jones appears

The AC commercial

Unique ? Weird? Christmas in Japan --part 2: Christmas for unmarried young people

In Japan, Christmas is a special event for young unmarried people. Many of them really want to spend their romantic Christmas with their boy/girlfriends. Some of them fiercely look for someone to date for it if they don’t have boy/girlfriends. They appear to feel unbearably lonely if they spend Christmas Day without a lover. When the economy was good, many young couples had an excellent Christmas dinner and spent their romantic nights at high-class hotels. Many young women received expensive gifts from their boyfriends. Some couples went on short skiing or snow boarding trips. Some couples spent Christmas at Disneyland in Tokyo. Although few young people can afford such luxurious Christmas celebrations these days (thanks to the economic downturn), they seem to enjoy their romantic Christmas in various ways based on their incomes.

When I was a college student many years ago, young couples already considered Christmas special. I don’t know how or when it became special to young people, but I can think of a few possible reasons. The first one is that in order to boost their sales, many businesses created enough of an special atmosphere to convince young people that Christmas was special. Actually, it has been highly commercialized here. In addition, young people used to be the most attractive target, although these days, they are not the driving force of consumption anymore. The next one is that you are free to arrange your own Christmas plan however you want since it is neither a traditional nor a religious event for the majority of Japanese. The final reason is that the 23rd of December became a national holiday when our current emperor ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne 20 years ago because that day is his birthday. Since then, it has been easier to take a few days off around Christmas although we don’t have any Christmas holidays. This has made people pay more attention to Christmas.

Finally, I’ll introduce the TV commercials that had great influence on young people. These were broadcast from 1988 to1992 by JR Central (JR 東海) in order to boost the number of passengers on bullet trains (Shinkansens/新幹線) between Tokyo and Osaka. The song in this commercial is still very popular as a Christmas song. The second version was the most impressive to me (there are five different versions in the YouTube video). Incidentally, the Japanese economy was good from 1988 to 1992.

Is Tommy Lee Jones Interested in Appearing in Comedy Shows ?

You've probably heard that many Hollywood stars appear in Japanese TV commercials. I've heard that they usually dare not to appear in TV commercials in the west, especially in the US, even when they are offered a good deal. I don’t know for the fact if they don’t appear in TV commercials there though. I guess that they want to avoid their images being affected or blemished by their commercial appearances in the US. In Japan, in contrast, there is a low risk of that if the broadcast is limited to inside Japan only. On top of that, I suppose that many Japanese corporations offer lucrative endorsement contracts to them and accept their many requests. For them, Japan might be an attractive place to make extra money.

Brad Pitt has appeared in the Softbank (a mobile phone company) TV commercials since 2006. The commercials aren't often broadcast, and are intensively broadcast during a certain time of a year. This winter and spring, George Cloone appeared in the Honda TV commercials. I think that these commercials are ordinary and predictable, which means that they are made based on their own images in movies. The Suntory canned coffee commercials that Tommy Lee Jones has been appearing in for more than three years, in comparison, are surprising. In these storyline commercials, he is an alien. The alien came to the earth in order to see what is going on there. The commercials with him have been frequently broadcast for such a long time. Additionally, they are kind of comedies. He has been doing a comedy in the commercials. I started assuming that he is really interested in doing a comedy. Otherwise, why has he been doing that? Just for money?

Tommy Lee Jones

George Cloone