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| Stab your message |
On February 22nd, which happens to be ninja day in Japan, the Japan Ninja Council (nihon ninja kyōgikai), an organization devoted to promoting all things ninja-related, released their first ever product, origami ninja stars.
This new product, called “Ninja Syuriken Origami,” is just origami paper that you can use to make ninja stars. Although an origami ninja star set is a perfectly respectable product, it’s hard to call this idea particularly unique or remarkable. And yet, you wouldn’t know that if you checked out the marketing campaign that the Japan Ninja Council has chosen to go with.
The marketing push began last week when the Japan Ninja Council released a well-made and fun to watch promotional video that actually gets you interested in their paper ninja stars. The video begins with some cool ninja action and ends with instructions for how you are supposed to use these origami “syuriken.” As you’ll see in the video below, these origami ninja stars aren’t just for throwing around mindlessly.
So, you’re supposed to write a message in each ninja star before you throw it? Okay, that’s a cute idea, but most of you are probably thinking “Why would I ever need to or want to do that?” To answer that question, we’ll have to refer to the actual, totally real and very confusing English translation of the Amazon product description for Ninja Syuriken Origami. If this doesn’t convince you that these aren’t just paper ninja stars, then nothing will.
JAPAN NINJA COUNCIL, organized with the aim to spread the nature of
Japanese Ninja, came up with a product that carries on Ninja’s spirit.
Combining “SYURIKEN”, a traditional weapon of Ninja, and “ORIGAMI”, a
traditional Japanese plaything that sometimes acts as a prayerful gift,
the council developed a communication tool carrying a special message
that could not be sent on SNS. In Japan, there are psychological senses
of communication such as “pathos” and “vital energy”. In the process of
making NINJA SYURIKEN ORIGAMI, users make wishes on a single sheet of
paper and typify their thoughts. In doing so, they experience the
communication that is rooted in the Japanese history and feel Japan’s
primitive mind that are still alive today.
After reading that amazing description are you ready to buy yourself a set of this life-changing new “communication tool?” It’s pretty undeniable that there’s no better way for you to convey those special “psychological senses
of communicationm,” while at the same time experiencing “the
communication that is rooted in the Japanese history and feel Japan’s
primitive mind that are still alive today.”
If this interesting sales pitch worked on you and you’d like to spend the 450 yen (US$3.99) that it costs to get a pack of eight sheets of ninja star paper, then you’re out of luck because at the time of this writing, the Japanese Amazon page for this product lists it as out-of-stock. It seems the Japan Ninja Council should have spent less time on marketing and more time on making sure they had enough product.
In any case, if you’d still like to check out the Amazon page, then click on the link below.
