Tokyo, August 1, 2007 - The Japanese have had a taste for volleyball for decades – and now they can prove it.
To celebrate this year’s World Grand Prix, host broadcaster TBS has joined forces with the Lawson convenience store giant to produce two mouth-watering snacks.
Under the title of Yanagimoto Ja-Pan (“pan” being the Japanese word for bread), Lawson customers can fill that mid-meal gap with a pork or sausage curry bun, produced by Yamazaki.
Fried pork cutlet is known as “katsu” – which also means win – while the “Wiener” mini-sausage is referred to as a “winner” -- something Japan aims to do under head coach Shoichi Yanagimoto.
The eye-catching wrappers come in red and black and feature Yanagimoto and his players. Costing 150 yen (or US$1.25), the curry buns are on the shelves from July 31 to August 27 – and are rumoured to be selling like hot cakes.