It is the height of the Japanese summer, a season typically spent at firework displays, local festivals, and at sport venues. This year, of course, is a bit different and many things are canceled or scaled down (again!) due to the ongoing pandemic. And so we are thinking back to happier times when we would roam baseball stadiums, admiring both the games and the lovely "beer girls" (uriko) who sell the drinks. Like booth companions ubiquitous at conventions, these girls have attracted their own fandom. After all, what better way to sell drinks than getting hot young women to walk around ...

We all like beer and we all like girls. Despite feminism and more sophisticated advertising methods, it's been the custom of Japanese beer companies to pick a pretty girl every year, and stick her in swim wear holding a beer on beach. The bikinis seem to have disappeared in the last few years, though bars and restaurants often still display the older, tantalizing posters. I think this reflects the more sombre tone of recessionist Japan or could it be that feminism is finally penetrating the ad agencies? Buxom, cheerful and smiling...that's the way a drinking man apparently wants his ...