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    Melburnian’s Kagawa Kangaroo Business Is Bounding

    Melburnian Suliana Tesi Nakamura looks to be doing very nicely operating Kangaroo K.K., an English conversation school and real estate business located in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, where she has lived since 2011. Aussie Nakamura’s choice of the kangaroo for her company and logo is pretty bloody obvious, and a logical choice for the woman who moved to Japan in 2005 and taught English in Tokyo before moving to her current location. Nakamura worked in real estate Down Under and is using her multicultural background to leverage her multifaceted business now. The appearance of any company, organization, or individual on Kangaeroo.com does not constitute an endorsement, approval, or criticism of that…

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    A Bagful Of Businesses In This Kangaroo’s Pouch

    Kangaroos K.K. operates a handful of different businesses, none of them with a direct relationship with either Australia or marsupials, but there’re are plenty of peas in this macropod. The company operates a mix of social-service, education and community businesses, including foreign-worker support and recruiting; staffing and temporary placement especially for childcare, education and welfare; security services; Japanese language education; children’s snack development and sales; childcare and child development support programs; and related event and training planning. Kangaroos doesn’t explain why it chose the name for the company, but choosing a kangaroo for a childcare, welfare or community business is common and sensible in Japan for three reasons: The pouch…

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    Chiba Company Rapt To Choose A Roo For Wrapping

    Kangaroos are the choice of a company symbol for packaging-materials trading company Kawawa Co., Ltd. from Nagareyama, Chiba Prefecture. Kawawa chose to use a kangaroo to symbolize their operations because it represents “the spirit of wrapping,” according to the company’s website. Although the company has nothing to do with Australia, it chose to represent itself with the country’s national symbol because its pouch is a natural metaphor for wrapping, carrying with care, and protecting what’s inside. Even beyond the company’s official explanation for using a kangaroo logo, the choice is very logical for Japanese commercial design. The pouch representation is perfect for packaging. A kangaroo’s pouch is one of the…

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    How Kangaroos Stop Demolition Work Scaring Japanese Kids

    Kangaroos have provided a way to provide a friendly face for a company operating in an industry sometimes seen as an unsavory business in Japan. Enomoto Kogyo uses the consumer-facing name of Kaitai Kangaroo for its demolition business; a line of work many Japanese associate with seediness and ties to organized crime. It’s an issue the company addresses directly, and a reason it puts kangaroos front and center of its operations. The company explicitly states it created the mascot to change the image of demolition and make the service more approachable. “The kangaroo character is a friendly mascot that visits customers and helps make demolition less scary for children and…

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    Nissan’s Fine Fragrance From Perfumed Kangaroos

    Automaker Nissan Motor Co. has long used kangaroos in its advertising, particularly in the early 2010s and notably when enlisting the aid of technopop girl group Perfume, which was then at the peak of its popularity. Nissan stylized Perfume’s three members–Kashiyuka, A-chan and Nocchi–as pink kangaroos to promote its Serena, Note and Cube models. Perfume used the opportunity for a cross-promotion of their then-newly released single, Voice, which would go on to reach No. 2 on the Oricon national charts. The campaign aimed to get the attention of a young, pop-loving audience who enjoyed animated characters and prompt them into visiting a Nissan dealership. The ad ran from July 14,…

  • Affection, Trust, Speed And Dynamism Behind Japan’s Most Famous Kangaroo Logo

    Of the surprisingly numerous Japanese entities that choose to use a kangaroo for their corporate logo, Seino Holdings Co. Ltd. is probably the best known. Seino Transportation Co. Ltd., the core company of the group, operates trucks adorned with a kangaroo logo that traverse Japan as one of the country’s largest logistics companies. They make kangaroos a daily sight throughout Japan. Seino provides a variety of services around the theme of Kangaroo Deliveries, such as Kangaroo Express and Kangaroo Home Delivery. Seino, based in Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture, was founded in 1930 and has a kangaroo logo since 1960. Seino’s corporate site says the choice of a kangaroo derives from its…

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    Japan’s Mobs Of Macropod Motifs Missing Marsupials In Masterpieces

    Something strikes me about kangaroos in Japan, where companies like Seino and Nikko Kanko have made the marsupials highly visible. Kangaroos are possibly even higher profile than their native Australia, where Qantas uses the national symbol in its logo, but the macropod is a somewhat uncommon sight elsewhere in the corporate sector. I wouldn’t go so far as to say kangaroos are a ubiquitous presence in the Japanese retail or corporate sector, but it would be no exaggeration to claim they are a daily presence. Far more so, actually, than they are in Australia. That got me to thinking about the presence of kangaroos in the Japanese art world, which…

  • 豪州受刑者が「ベジマイト食べる権利」求め提訴

    殺人罪で服役中の男が、ビクトリア州の刑務所で「国民食」と言えるぐらいの人気食品ベジマイトの持ち込みを禁じている措置は、「豪州人としての文化を享受する権利」を侵害しているとして、同州司法・地域安全省と刑務所を管轄するコレクションズ・ビクトリアを相手取り訴えを起こした。 訴えているのはアンドレ・マッキーニー受刑者（54）。人権侵害の確認と、「健康維持に十分な食事を提供していない」として矯正法違反を主張しており、裁判は2026年に開かれる予定だ。 マッキーニー氏は、2006年に導入された州内刑務所でのベジマイト禁止措置の撤回も求めている。 コレクションズ・ビクトリア側は、独特の強烈な香りを持つ茶色い発酵食品が「麻薬探知犬の嗅ぎ分けを妨げる」として禁止を正当化。受刑者が違法薬物を隠すため、ベジマイトを包装に塗りつけて臭いを紛らわせるケースがあったという。 また、没収品リストによると、ベジマイトは水や砂糖、別の酵母と組み合わせれば密造酒の材料にもなるとされる。もともとビール酵母の残りから作られる食品だ。 司法・地域安全省とコレクションズは今回の訴えについてコメントしていない。 マッキーニー氏は1994年に殺人罪で有罪となり、現在はフィリップ島の最高警備刑務所「ポートフィリップ刑務所」で服役中。終身刑の最低服役期間を終えた後、自らの意思で十数年前に再び拘置を選んだという異例の経歴を持つ。 同氏は、仮釈放を「勧める」名目で当局が取った対応が威圧的だったとし、複数の訴訟でも豪州当局を相手取って争っている。

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    Australia’s ‘Voice’ So Close Yet So Far To Japan

    豪州の“ザ・ヴォイス”、日本ではあと一歩届かず John Farnham is probably the most successful solo male singer Australia has ever produced. Despite decades of Australia producing performers who achieved global superstardom, Farnham never quite joined their ranks. But he came tantalizingly close early in his career with a launchpad from Japan. ジョニー・ファーナムは、おそらくオーストラリアが生んだ最も成功した男性ソロ歌手だと言っていいでしょう。世界的スーパースターを何人も輩出してきたオーストラリアですが、ファーナムはなぜかその仲間入りには至りませんでした。でもキャリア初期、日本がそのきっかけになり得る大舞台を用意してくれていたのです。 Farnham has long been “The Voice” of Australian pop music. The now-retired star is renowned in Australia almost without exception for at least two things: a singing capacity so great he is commonly referred to as “The Voice;” and for being a delightfully warm and friendly person. When prolific Aussie songwriter Brian Cadd penned the powerful “Don’t You Know It’s Magic” and earned entry…