| The story below is originally published on Mainichi Daily News by Mainichi Shinbun (http://mdn.mainichi.jp). |
| They admitted inventing its kinky features, or rather deliberately mistranslating them from the original gossip magazine. |
| In fact, this is far from the general Japanese' behavior or sense of worth. |
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| ※ この和訳はあくまでもボランティアの方々による一例であり、翻訳の正確さについては各自判断してください。 もし誤訳（の疑い）を発見した場合には、直接ページを編集して訂正するか翻訳者連絡掲示板に報告してください。 |
How to leave a lasting impression on people
Brought up in a society which discourages acts of self-promotion,many Japanese find it difficult to sell themselves to a desired person,be it a business acquaintance or an attractive member of the opposite sex.
How can we leave an imprint in the mind of someone we want to impress?
Denim tackles this classic question in a 10-page feature filled with concrete suggestions.
The ideas the magazine lists for the needy reader ranges from unconventional to familiar and from costly to inexpensive.
The most unusual method Denim introduces is screening a personal promotional video in a movie theater.
There is one particular cinema in Tokyo, Higashi Nakano Box,which is selling a 15-second slot for anyone who wants to use the silver screen as his or her billboard.
The magazine says it costs 30,000 yen a month to have a personal ad or a videotaped work of art screened every day at the theater.
An even more spectacular display is available for desperate self-promoters with money to burn.
Denim tells its readers that a professional fireworks agency can set large block letters on fire with a big bang for about 300,000 yen.
But the service is only available on two conditions--the client must secure enough open space for a fireworks display and make the reservation more than 1 1/2(*2) months before the scheduled date of the display.
Other methods Denim recommends are less bold.
They involve printing of personal names,faces and messages on a variety of items from manju (a bun with a beam paste) to wine bottles.
For example,making a set of 20 manju bearing a name as giveaways costs 7,500 yen,according to the magazine.
If printing names and faces on things like mugs and business cards and handing them out seems tame,one can ask a company called Another One to manufacture a three-dimensional likeness--a stuffed doll that looks like oneself.
According to Denim,the company asks 20,000 yen for making a "comical" doll on the basis of a single portrait photo and 38,000 yen for manufacturing a "real" doll on the basis of three or more frontal pictures.
These dolls are meant to serve as an impressive present,reminds the magazine.
Will shy Japanese go this far?
Denim definitely thinks so.
The magazine directs the reader who is not too impressed with the idea of a likeness doll to a made-to-order bust.
"It will be good to make your own bust and give it to your girlfriend as a present," argues the magazine,adding,"Making your girlfriend's father's bust will also help you win his approval."
According to the magazine,a Tokyo company called Kinyosha uses computer analysis and manufactures a bust to order in two weeks for 170,000 yen.
While Japan's print media is not known for personal ads,there are a few magazines that avail pages to individual advertisers.
Denim says that a bimonthly covering performing and graphic arts called DICE is offering a tiny publicity space measuring 1/24th of an A-4 size page for 5,000 yen.
Some readers are using this space to look for employment while others are making use of the arrangement to put out their creative work,notes Denim.(TI)
