TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 13, 2024--
The Japan Fruit and Vegetables Export Promotion Council, in cooperation with The Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Center (JFOODO), is collaborating with the popular Sanrio Co., Ltd. character “Hello Kitty,” a character that is also popular overseas and is celebrating its 50th anniversary, to promote Japanese fruits and vegetables from around Japan. We will be running a social media campaign where you can post photos on Instagram on the themes of major seasonal events such as Christmas, New Year, Chinese New Year, and Valentine’s Day to be entered into the draw to win a special “Smile Japanese Fruits Gift", which is a perfect gift that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241213202671/en/
Special collaboration featuring the “Japan-grown Fruit” label* and Hello Kitty
*The “Japan-grown Fruit” label is a brand label only for fruits and vegetables produced in Japan that met strict Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries quality standards.
Campaign periods:
How to join:
(1) Videos using the fun japanesefruit x Hello Kitty filter
**Click the link in the profile to see the effects
(2) Video or images featuring people smiling and enjoying Japanese fruits
Target products:
Peaches, grapes, apples, persimmons, citrus fruits, strawberries, sweet potatoes
Target entrants:
Residents of Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Taiwan
Prizes:
Special “Smile Japanese Fruits Gift” set
Official Instagram account:
https://www.instagram.com/japanesefruit_official/
Click here for sales locations in each country:
https://jpfruit-export.jp/promotion/en/shop/
Implementing Body
Japan Fruit and Vegetables Export Promotion Council (JFEC)
https://jpfruit-export.jp/english.html
The Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Center (JFOODO)
https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/jfoodo/
Cooperation
About Sanrio
Sanrio is the global lifestyle brand best known for Hello Kitty who was created in 1974, and home to many other beloved character brands such as My Melody, Kuromi, LittleTwinStars, Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin, gudetama, Aggretsuko, Chococat, Bad Badtz-Maru and Kerokerokeroppi. Sanrio was founded on the philosophy that a small gift can bring happiness and friendship to people of all ages. Since 1960, this philosophy has served as the inspiration to offer quality products, services and activities that promote communication and inspire unique consumer experiences across the world. Today, Sanrio’s business extends into the entertainment industry with several content series, gaming offerings and theme parks. Sanrio boasts an extensive product lineup which is available in over 130 countries. Sanrio hopes to bring smiles to everyone’s faces with their vision of “One World, Connecting Smiles.” To learn more about Sanrio, please follow @sanriosingapore on Instagram and @SanrioSG on Facebook.
Special collaboration featuring the “Japan-grown Fruit” label and Hello Kitty
Note: The actual gift will be processed Japanese fruits. (Photo: Business Wire)
CHATHAM, N.J. (AP) — That buzzing coming out of New Jersey? It's unclear if it's drones or something else, but for sure the nighttime sightings are producing tons of talk, a raft of conspiracy theories and craned necks looking skyward.
Cropping up on local news and social media sites around Thanksgiving, the saga of the drones reported over New Jersey has reached incredible heights.
This week seems to have begun a new, higher-profile chapter: Lawmakers are demanding (but so far not getting) explanations from federal and state authorities about what's behind them. Gov. Phil Murphy wrote to President Joe Biden asking for answers. New Jersey's new senator, Andy Kim, spent Thursday night on a drone hunt in rural northern New Jersey, and posted about it on X.
More drone sightings have been reported in New York City, and Mayor Eric Adams says the city is investigating and collaborating with New Jersey and federal officials. And then President-elect Donald Trump posted that he believes the government knows more than it’s saying. “
Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!" he posted on his social media site.
But perhaps the most fantastic development is the dizzying proliferation of conspiracies — none of which has been confirmed or suggested by federal and state officials who say they're looking into what's happening. It has become shorthand to refer to the flying machines as drones, but there are questions about whether what people are seeing are unmanned aircraft or something else.
Some theorize the drones came from an Iranian mothership. Others think they are the Secret Service making sure President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster property is secure. Others worry about China. The deep state. And on.
In the face of uncertainty, people have done what they do in 2024: Create a social media group.
The Facebook page, New Jersey Mystery Drones — let’s solve it, has nearly 44,000 members, up from 39,000 late Thursday. People are posting their photo and video sightings, and the online commenters take it from there.
One video shows a whitish light flying in a darkened sky, and one commenter concludes it’s otherworldly. “Straight up orbs,” the person says. Others weigh in to say it’s a plane or maybe a satellite. Another group called for hunting the drones literally, shooting them down like turkeys. (Do not shoot at anything in the sky, experts warn.)
Trisha Bushey, 48, of Lebanon Township, New Jersey, lives near Round Valley Reservoir where there have been numerous sightings. She said she first posted photos online last month wondering what the objects were and became convinced they were drones when she saw how they moved and when her son showed her on a flight tracking site that no planes were around. Now she's glued to the Mystery Drones page, she said.
“I find myself — instead of Christmas shopping or cleaning my house — checking it,” she said.
She doesn't buy what the governor said, that the drones aren't a risk to public safety. Murphy told Biden on Friday that residents need answers. The federal Homeland Security Department and FBI also said in a joint statement they have no evidence that the sightings pose “a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.”
“How can you say it’s not posing a threat if you don’t know what it is?” she said. “I think that’s why so many people are uneasy.”
Then there's the notion that people could misunderstand what they're seeing. William Austin is the president of Warren County Community College, which has a drone technology degree program, and is coincidentally located in one of the sighting hotspots.
Austin says he has looked at videos of purported drones and that airplanes are being misidentified as drones. He cited an optical effect called parallax, which is the apparent shift of an object when viewed from different perspectives. Austin encouraged people to download flight and drone tracker apps so they can better understand what they're looking at.
Nonetheless, people continue to come up with their own theories.
“It represents the United States of America in 2024,” Austin said. “We’ve lost trust in our institutions, and we need it.”
Federal officials echo Austin's view that many of the sightings are piloted aircraft such as planes and helicopters being mistaken for drones, according to lawmakers and Murphy.
That's not really convincing for many, though, who are homing in on the sightings beyond just New Jersey and the East Coast, where others have reported seeing the objects.
For Seph Divine, 34, another member of the drone hunting group who lives in Eugene, Oregon, it feels as if it’s up to citizen sleuths to solve the mystery. He said he tries to be a voice of reason, encouraging people to fact check their information, while also asking probing questions.
“My main goal is I don’t want people to be caught up in the hysteria and I also want people to not just ignore it at the same time,” he said.
“Whether or not it’s foreign military or some secret access program or something otherworldly, whatever it is, all I’m saying is it’s alarming that this is happening so suddenly and so consistently for hours at a time,” he added.
Golden reported form Seattle.
This photo provided by Trisha Bushey shows the evening sky and points of light near in Lebanon Township, N.J., on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (Trisha Bushey via AP)
