Message from the publisher.

Japan has to be one of the noisiest consumer markets in the world, with product messages coming at you from every imaginable surface, sight, sound, human interaction--and recently smell and taste. This of course is not a new thing and even hundreds of years ago, Japanese merchants were busy creating flyers and posters and affixing their 'cool' logos to them. If you wanted a snapping Ise ebi in Yoshiwara, you read the signs, with the biggest, most colorful ones afforded by the best shops.

In the 21st century, as a means of coping with the marketing onslaught, most Japanese people I know have learned to block out the noise to retain their sanity. It always surprises newcomers to Japan how the place is so cluttered--think power lines, shop signs, and radically different architectural styles impacting the view on any Tokyo shopping street. People have learned to not look at the offensive bits, and instead focus on the small flower pot on the sidewalk and see the beauty in it.

Having a population that is able to screen out distractions means marketers have to come up with ever more devious, or in-your-face, means of marketing to their audience. My favorite place to see this marketing-versus-humanity evolution at work is in Shibuya. Whatever is new to catch your attention, you'll see it there first.

Several years ago, the hot thing was a big truck slowly working its way through the crowded streets, with huge rear-illuminated plastic signboards announcing the arrival of a new product. The most attention-grabbing was that for Moba-ge--a brand new cell phone gaming site. The effect of music, acid colors, and lights on the back of a 10-wheeler had just as an electric effect on the crowds as it did ...