Category: Drink

Kirin Lager Meets YMO

Kirin eventually, somewhat belatedly, in early 1996, gave in to consumer preferences and changed Kirin Lager to a less bitter, draft beer.

Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) is an influential Japanese technopop band formed in 1978, and renowned as a major influence in popular music and for pioneering the technopop music genre. The principal members are Haruomi Hosono (bass), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums and vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards). The band have reunited in 2007 for an advertising campaign for Kirin Lager which lampooned their longevity and charted No.1 on various Japanese digital download charts (including iTunes Store chart) with the song “Rydeen 79/07”, released on Sakamoto’s new label commmons.

Moog synthesizer (pronounced /ˈmoÊŠg/, rhymes with “rogue”) may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for analog and digital music synthesisers.

Hot Calpis

Calpis (カルピス) is a Japanese uncarbonated soft drink, manufactured by Calpis Co., Ltd. (カルピス株式会社), headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. The beverage has a light, somewhat milky, and slightly acidic flavor, similar to plain or vanilla-flavored yogurt, or Yakult. Its ingredients include water, nonfat dry milk, and lactic acid, and is produced by lactic acid fermentation.

In English-speaking countries the beverage is sometimes called “Calpico,” because “Calpis” may sound like “Cow Piss”.

Japan belongs to the temperate zone with four distinct seasons, but its climate varies from cool temperate in the north to subtropical in the south. In winter, a high-pressure area develops over Siberia, and a low-pressure area develops over the northern Pacific Ocean. The result is a flow of cold air eastward across Japan that brings freezing temperatures and heavy snowfalls to the central mountain ranges facing the Sea of Japan, but clear skies to areas fronting on the Pacific.

Sean Connery downs a double Crest

For some time it was believed by many that whisky made in the Scotch style, but not produced in Scotland, could not possibly measure up to the standards of the traditional Scotch distilleries. Until fairly recently, the market for Japanese whiskies was almost entirely domestic.

Suntory operates two museums, the Suntory Museum of Art in Tokyo and the Suntory Museum Tempozan in Osaka, in addition to a number of cultural and social programs across Japan.

[Sean] Connery has “Scotland Forever” tattooed on his arm, and used his fee from Diamonds Are Forever (1971) to establish a charity to support poor children in Edinburgh, as well as Scottish film production. He has said that he will return to Scotland when it is granted independence.