Low-alcohol beverages, such as canned cocktails, are increasingly popular with young people in Japan. Kirin Brewery, a Kirin Holdings subsidiary that has a 34% share* of the Japanese canned ready-to-drink market, sees western-style cocktails as a potential growth opportunity. For four months, ending March 2008, Kirin splashed out a bright new way to promote cocktails and paint itself as a leading brand in this market.
      Color therapy is now very popular with women in their twenties and thirties. The technique involves choosing colors and using messages conveyed by those colors to draw out inner qualities and provide guidance. Now, cocktails are undeniably both colorful and popular, so why not create a line of “Color
Therapy Cocktails” as a fun way to combine two subjects close to customers’ hearts?
      Using six highly colorful imported liqueurs, Kirin created ten different cocktails, including Exotic Tea, a yellow-green drink containing Cusenier Passion Fruit and green tea. To bring bars and restaurants on board, the company also distributed promotional tools, including original Color Therapy Cocktail recipe collections that explained the color combinations, and uniquely designed Color Therapy Coasters that could be arranged in multiple color patterns. Many of us have sought solace from cocktails at one time or another, but who knew they could also provide answers to life’s important questions?
* Source: Jozo Sangyo Shimbunsha
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Tokyo’s urban sprawl includes some stunning architecture, particularly in the Shiodome district by the city’s historic waterfront. Originally marshland, this ultramodern area today has several landmark skyscrapers.
      The Shiodome Building, a joint development by Mitsubishi Estate and Tokyu Land Corporation, was completed on December 14, 2007 as the final major construction in one of Metropolitan Tokyo’s largest urban development projects—the Shiodome SIO-SITE scheme, launched in 1992.
      About 135 meters tall, the soaring building is located at the district’s southern gateway next to JR Hamamatsucho Station, and makes a striking addition to the stylish urban environment.
      For business people, it is certainly well-equipped, with an office zone extending from the fourth to the 24th levels. Moreover, the Private Office Zone on the 3rd floor provides serviced offices for small or newly started companies who require small-scale facilities. The new building is already fully tenanted.
      The Gourmet Zone at the bottom, called “HAMASITE Gurume,” offers visitors, office workers and local residents a multitude of restaurants and bars in a friendly, open space. And, as if that wasn’t enough, Tokyo’s famous Hamarikyu Garden is just nearby. Not bad, eh!
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It is all very familiar—you are behind the wheel cruising down the street, with buildings on both sides and cars ahead of you, behind you or passing you in the opposite lane. Yet, there is one key difference: the world outside the windshield is not real. Rather, it is an extremely realistic simulation.
      The world’s most sophisticated driving simulator, unveiled by Toyota Motor Corporation in November 2007 and located in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture, uses a range of advanced technologies to faithfully reproduce the sensation of driving.
       Mitsubishi Precision provided many of the key components, including a lightweight but highly durable dome shell equipped with a 360° imaging system, a huge simulation database and a powerful yet easy-to-use driving simulation program for use in R&D. The company also provided operator control panels, drawbridge systems and air conditioning equipment.
      The central dome, 7.1 meters in diameter, contains an actual vehicle suspended on a platform. The dome, which is capable of moving 20 meters sideways and 35 meters forward-backwards, immerses the driver with its giant concave screen while tilting and vibrating realistically. A high-quality surround sound system further enhances the realism.
      The simulator is a powerful tool for analyzing driving characteristics, for instance during the development and verification of accident reduction technologies, and will be of great assistance in creating new automotive solutions.
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Tough days ahead for video pirates! A new, revolutionary technology, developed by Japan
Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) and Mitsubishi Electric, has made it possible to see where and when video content is copied with a video camera from a TV or movie screen. The new tracking method, known as “electronic watermarking,” embeds information about the time and place a video is shown by using video and other data to create subtle changes in the visuals. Though imperceptible to the human eye, these changes are easily read by a computer.
      The electronic watermarks are also extremely resilient. Not only do they survive recopying, they can also be detected in copies that have been filmed from an oblique angle or partially erased. As in the past, watermark data can also be detected in digital or analog copies made using video recorders and DVD recorders.
      Finding ways of fighting video piracy has long been the focus of intensive R&D. In recent years, the problem has become increasingly serious due to the emergence of large screen, high-resolution TVs, compact high-definition camcorders and other such products, which have made high-quality copying easier than ever. The new technology is expected to be a highly effective weapon in this ongoing battle.
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Nikon is world-renowned for its advanced optical technology, with a product line ranging from digital cameras to semiconductor wafer-handling equipment. In laboratories worldwide, the company is also highly regarded for its digital imaging systems for microscopes.
      In January, Nikon’s new DS-Ri1 camera head for microscopes went on sale in Japan. DS-Ri1, the latest addition to the company’s Digital Sight series of microscopy imaging equipment, is specially designed to capture full-color images of very high resolution for real-time, high-speed data sharing among researchers.
      There is great need among researchers for a camera of this type. When exhibited at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan and the 80th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Japanese Biochemical Society in December 2007, the unit drew considerable interest.

      A key feature is the cooling of the central imaging chip to 10 °C below ambient temperature, resulting in outstanding color fidelity. There is also a new imaging algorithm that delivers extremely high resolution 4076x3116 pixel images—ideal for low magnifications and enlargements. Finally, DS-Ri1 can be combined with an optional PC-connectible control unit, creating a multifunctional microscope imaging system with basic measurement functions.
      Potential users range from researchers working in advanced biological and medical fields to general medical institutions. Industrial uses include research and development, and quality assurance and inspection processes.
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NYK Crew Awarded for Daring Sea Rescue
On November 16, 2007, Japan’s red-ribbon Medal of Honor was awarded to the crew of NYK Starlight, a containership operated by NYK, for rescuing two balloonists from the rough seas some 1,500 km off the coast of Miyagi, Japan in the early morning of January 27, 2004.
      Captain Peter Damian Misquitta, the master of NYK Starlight at the time of the incident, attended the award ceremony with his wife and accepted the award on behalf of the crew. The ceremony was held at Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and was followed by an audience with the Japanese Emperor.
      The red-ribbon Medal of Honor is awarded to individuals who have risked their own lives to save the lives of others.
Kirin Beverage Ventures to Vietnam
A Vietnamese joint venture, Vina Kirin Acecook Beverage Company, Limited is scheduled to launch this year. The new company will manufacture and market soft drinks to meet demand in this rapidly growing Asian economy. Kirin Beverage, a subsidiary of Kirin Holdings, will combine its knowledge of soft drink marketing and highly competitive manufacturing technology with the Acecook Group’s knowledge of the Vietnamese market and sales resources. The formation of this joint venture reflects Kirin Beverage’s recognition of Vietnam as a growing and strategic soft drink market.
Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance in Joint Takaful Venture in Egypt
In December 2007, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance (a member of the Millea Group) and Egypt Kuwait Holding Company, S.A.E. signed an agreement to establish joint venture Takaful companies in Egypt. Takaful is a special type of insurance that is compliant with Shariah, Islamic law.
      In early 2008, the two companies established a Family Takaful company for Shariah-compliant life insurance services, and a General Takaful company for Shariah-compliant general insurance services in the country. Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance holds 40% of the capital for the two joint venture Takaful companies, which totals 30 million Egyptian Pounds, or US$5,435,000.
      Seeing the potential of the growing Islamic finance industry, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance launched its first Takaful venture in Saudi Arabia in 2001. Since then, it has successively expanded its Takaful business in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia—and now, Egypt.
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