On Sunday I went to Costco, the American warehouse retailer that recently opened a store near the J-List office here in Japan, which took some courage as I knew how crowded the Japanese stores can get on the weekends. I was there to pick up certain bulk items which are hard to find in Japan, including large bags of Starbuck’s coffee for the J-List staff (we’re a very caffeine-motivated company), various types of cheese (Japanese supermarkets have an amazingly bad selection of the stuff) and various other random items. Surrounded by the familiar Costco fixtures and signs advertising USDA CHOICE BEEF, done both for uniformity of customer experience as well as appearing kakko ii or “cool” to Japanese shoppers, I started to feel unsure whether I was in the U.S. or Japan, as if I’d stepped through a portal back to San Diego somehow. Rounding the corner in the drink aisle, I saw the store had started carrying Dr. Pepper, sold in giant 24-can packs, somewhat hilarious since you don’t even see six-packs for sale in stores very often. I was surprised: despite the emergence of the drink as a fun Akihabara-related meme in Steins;Gate and other anime series, most Japanese seem hard-wired to dislike Dr. Pepper in the same way they almost univerally detest root beer and Mexican style refried beans. Maybe Dr. Pepper is going to be the Next Big Thing in Japan.
Is Dr. Pepper going mainstream in Japan?
