Subway Japan introduces a sandwich ranking system on there “1, 2, Sandwich Journal” The user is asked a series of simple questions, which happen to be the same questions they would ask you if you were ordering a sandwich. At the end of the survey (or order) you are presented with a coupon that has the exact items you selected with a 40 yen discount!

They also give you a small button and html code for the user to insert on their homepage or blog. This lets people know their favorite sandwich, and what they voted for.

After the simple questionnaire you can also check out the top 3 sandwich rankings. The rankings have been broken down in 9 categories, which consist of: Over all top 3, top 3 for men, top 3 for women, top 3 for teens, top for people in their 20’s… and then the ages go up. You can even get more in depth and find out the top 3 bread, dressings, and meats for each sandwich.

With the 40 yen discount, and fun interactivity Subway Japan can easily attract users and find out important information about demographics and what their wants and needs are. So in the long run, everyone wins!

These small little bags filled with goodies are known as onpacku (on-pack). These usually can be shown on any product (mostly beverages) when there is a promotion going on. Promotions vary from; new product release, sponsorship of a new movie, video game, or even seasonal reasons.

Japan is actually very well known for releasing items seasonally, and I don’t mean clothes- but food!. For example: in the spring time you can find sakura (cherry blossom) flavored kit-kat, or Poiful will come out with their summer blend of jelly beans, or Fanta will release a tropical fruit flavored line. All of these will be pulled from the shelves when the season is over.

But what are the benefits of the on-pack? If gives the buyer something more, it gives them something FREE! If you are browsing the cooler at a convenient store your eyes are automatically drawn, it just bulges out from the top. You want to pick it up and see what’s inside.

What usually sits on top of this big erect bottle? Almost anything that’s small, but usually a type of toy- like the example above. They’re great because if you have one, you want to collect the rest of the set. It’s almost as if you are buying the soda just to get the toy. In summer 2006 Gatorade’s summer on-pack had an assortment of items from sweatbands, massagers, energy pills, and even whistles. This was a seasonal line that helped promote summer fitness while enjoying it with Gatorade. This shows that some of the free items featured can actually be useful!

The on-pack is a wonderful way to attract a buyer of all ages. If you are not a fan of cheap plastic goodness you are bound to find something in these small packages that will interest you. It can also help the buyer pick one product over another because they’re not only are they getting a drink, they’re getting something free too.

If you are as amazed with the new Pepsi product released in Japan as I am, or how odd Angelina Jolie (she’s French) looks in the new Shiseido ad- you would be surprised to see how the advertising has changed. It turns out that search boxes seem to be the latest thing in advertising all over the little island, and have been for the past few months. Not only do they list the URL, but they also place a search box in the ad, with the keywords already placed.

You may be asking yourself “Why is this?” Could it be that dot coms are starting to run out? Could searching be THAT much more fun? In a way it makes sense. If I am telling someone to visit my portfolio I can tell them “Google my name and the word: portfolio” instead of saying “Double you double you double you dot” saying it, then spelling it, then having to write it down for them because it’s not a common word.

We also have the tendency to forget, and sometimes company URLs don’t really follow along with what they are producing. Keywords are common though; people remember them, AND by associating them with a product, people will think of that product when they see those words. Genius!

The image above is for an ad for a contact lens company called Ace Contacts. Their url is www.goace.jp and the search is “e-su kontakuto” = ace contacts.

Also, mobile web browsing in Japan is very common. Typing in just the keyword is faster than having to type “www” and “.com” even if there is a button for them on your phone. It’s also just easier to load a search engine and tap in a keyword.

I feel that AOL used to do something very similar to this on a lot of their advertising. Throwing in “AOL Keyword thigh master” or some other random subject/topic/thing at the very end. That’s the closest I have seen anything similar to in America.

I feel that if this catches on elsewhere, this could create a war in adwords; and who will be on top of searches? First fighting over dot coms, then this? How are you to fight using your words when you don’t even have any!?

American cuisine = Mcdonalds homepage?

Denshi mane (electronic money) was first used by NTT DoCoMo in Japanese mobiles, Edy (which stands for Euro, Dollar, Yen) is a free electronic pre paid money service that allows you to charge money on your phone or card. This can be used in convenient stores, shops and even vending machines. You can even use your phone when going on the train, instead of using your suica card. That’s the name of the JR Lines metro card, it uses a magnetic strip that you swipe. You can even use it to buy things from vending machines in train stations.

So how does this work? A small magnetic like chip is inserted on the back of a mobile. This chip uses Sony’s FeliCa technology. A small scanning device is placed next to a register, or is attached to a vending machine. All you need to do is scan the bottom of your mobile over the device, and it reads the strip inside.

How does it take your money? You actually have to charge your eddy account. You can do this in several ways. They have small stand alone machines where you can deposit money in and then scan your phone, which adds the money to your account. You can also use your home computer and charge your credit card, but the website only takes certain cards.

Today AU by KDDI and Softbank Mobile also offer this feature and it seems to be doing rather well, although some are better than others. While I was living in Japan I never used mine. The one time I had no cash on me and was really thirsty the convenient store I went into had a broken Edy Machine. I was very disappointed. I do however think this is a very useful tool because I feel this feature will let you even leave your wallet at home. Japanese mobiles seem to play a huge part in life in Japan. It’s almost as if you leave your mobile at home, you leave a part of your life. That’s pretty scary.

Who needs face to face communication these days? Created in 2004, Mixi (pronounced Mikushi) is one of the most popular social networking service sites in Japan with over 14,000,000 members by the end of 2007. It’s very much like how most social networking sites work. But it has a few little twists that make it unique from the rest. Mixi is made up of 99% Japanese and of course does not offer an English version.

First off, not just anyone can join Mixi. You have to be a member of the ‘über elite’ and have to have at least ONE friend that already has an account (if you don’t have one, I’ll sponsor you, leave your email in the comments), a bit like GMail was working when it was launched. They send you a friend invite, which gives you permission to access the site. The best part is, as soon as you register the person who sent you the invitation is already in your friends list! Like Tom Anderson, but you actually know them!!!

One feature that I think is great is the Ashiato (footprint) that allows you to see who has been stalking you has clicked on your profile. What a great way to track down your stalker and start a relationship. “Hi, I see you viewed my profile 13 times yesterday. You are genuinely scaring me. Let’s be friends!” Breadcrumbs will be displayed on the members profile that show the exact relationship between you and the other person.

Your profile is pretty basic. It shows your name, location, birthdate, interests and blood type. Blood type is a big deal in Japan. I think it’s about as pointless as a zodiac sign. Instead of someone saying “Oh my god, I can totally tell that you’re a Cancer” you would hear “I can so tell your’re AB” and of course the BS of bloodtype compaitiblity exists.

It also has a wall-like feature to it too, where your friends can write really ‘deep’ messages. After reading other friends comments I found it to be a bit different than what you see on Myspace/facebook. None of that “Hey girlfriend! Last weekend was so fun! OMG LOVE YOU!” but more of a positive message like “I like Mika because she’s really nice and makes cheesecake”. So profound and meaningful.

Communities play a big part in Mixi. Much like groups, or “clubs” the user can join a community of his or her interest and discuss same topics while meeting new people. There is a huge range in communities from music groups, fresh beer lovers, and even one for people who love Macintosh keyboard shortcuts. Some groups are private and you need an invite to join.

My thoughts on Mixi: The design itself is good, for the first few days of viewing. Since I joined a year and a half ago the same stale orange color remains, and I hate the color orange (sorry FullSix). However I feel it lacks the organization that facebook does. Most users fail to post their actual photo, or name, scared by the lack of privacy protection, a hot hot topic in the web industry. And it’s not because my japanese girl friends would sell you their dirty underwear online that they want to share EVERYTHING with you! As a result, this makes searching for friends very difficult, but stalking so much fun.