Name: Solid Alliance "...of the world" series USB drive
Category: USB memory drive
Price: JPY3200
Release date in Japan: July 25, 2008
Tokyo-based Solid Alliance, fine purveyors of USB drives shaped like ducks and sushi, now has a USB drive with your name on it - if that happens to be Satou, that is. Which, fortunately for the company, is pretty often the case in Japan.
The 19-million-strong members of clan Satou often find themselves mistaken for "that other Satou", and some have been known to wish for a more distinctive last name. But listen up, "sekai no Satou" ("Satous of the world")! It's time to display clan pride, says Solid Alliance. The company's new 1GB drive takes the shape of the two characters making up Japan's most common family name: "sa" plugs into your PC, while "tou" is the cap. Curvy Edo-era "yose" script adds to its visual impact. Solid Alliance adds a loop for a chain or strap, so you can openly display to the world your membership in this most inclusive of clubs.
(You're paying for your branding here, though, Satou-san. A generic 1GB USB drive is easy to find for less than JPY1000; even a 4GB drive should cost less than this model.)
Solid Alliance also adds a fervent wish for any and all athlete Satous to bring home gold from Beijing, along with the hope that "all of Japan's Satous win gold medals in the Olympics called life".
And if you're not a Satou? Solid Alliance is accepting votes online for the next name in the series. "Yamadas of the world"? "Fujiwaras of the world"? Perhaps one day, electronics shops will display racks of USB drives in hundreds of names, just as ready-made "hanko" name stamps are sold in stationery shops. So go ahead and vote for your lineage (though if you're not a Tanaka, Suzuki, Yamamoto, or Takahashi, you've got some waiting ahead of you).
More info: http://item.rakuten.co.jp/sastore/c/0000000336/ (Japanese)
Vote for the next name: http://www.solidalliance.com/cgi-bin/oftheworld/vote.cgi
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