Kirin Beverage Co., Ltd. Presenting "Victory Handshakes" to SAMURAI BLUE

The Kirin Group, official sponsor of the Japan National Football Team (SAMURAI BLUE), has adopted a new slogan this year: "Let's show the world a new Japan." They are supporting the national team through various initiatives, including hosting the "Kirin Challenge Cup 2014."

 

On March 3rd, just before the Challenge Cup began, the presentation ceremony for the "Kirin Afternoon Tea Delicious Unsweetened 'Victory Rice Ball Project'" was held at the National Nishigaoka Soccer Stadium in Kita Ward, Tokyo. This followed the decision to make Delicious Unsweetened the official beverage for rice balls and the Japan National Football Team. Coach Alberto Zaccheroni and player Shinji Kagawa, who were training at the venue, attended. Toshiya Maruoka, General Manager of Kirin Beverage Marketing Headquarters, and "Gogo-no Ko-chan," the official character for the rice ball project, presented the beverage and the "Victory Rice Balls." The Victory Rice Ball Project involves engraving support messages for the national team, collected from the public, onto the nori seaweed wrapping the rice balls using a laser cutter, and delivering them to the team. Over 6,200 messages were submitted.

In the new TV commercial titled "Japan National Soccer Team Official Drink!?", actors Aoi Yu and Kamenashi Kazuya, portraying company employees, and Gogo no Ko-chan appear alongside Coach Zaccheroni. The commercial can be viewed on the product website ( www.kirin.co.jp/products/softdrink/gogo/ ).

 

Commemorative photo with Coach Zaccheroni's mannequin

       

　On March 5, SAMURAI BLUE faced New Zealand in the "Kirin Challenge Cup 2014 ~Thank You National Stadium~". The final national team match at the stadium before its renovation drew a crowd of approximately 48,000 spectators, with Japan winning 4-2. At the outdoor event space of the adjacent Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, the company's booth offered a set sale of delicious unsweetened drinks and rice balls featuring the character for "win" (勝). Additionally, a lifelike mannequin of Coach Zaccheroni, named "ILMISTER" (a general term for soccer coaches in Italy), was installed, drawing crowds of visitors lining up for commemorative photos.