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Markets in everything, Japan edition (again)

You could devote an entire blog to this category:

Japanese toy company People has released a new age alarm clock that supposedly helps kids wake up by turning them into Ultraman. It's called the Okiro! Asa Ichiban Taiyou Senshi - Charenjaa Kitto (Wake up! First Sun Warrior of the Morning - challenger kit) and was manufactured for the Japanese Ministry of Education “early to bed early to rise” program. The $38 kit comes with the extravagant eye shield and helmet; a series of talismans and message cards (no doubt world-saving secret missions); and a 27-day program that will involve your child taking orders from "the commander."

The commander wakes the child up at 6 a.m., and prompts players to put on the helmet and hit a "roger" button to acknowledge their wakefulness. Then, they are ordered to count to 10 in five different languages: English, Japanese, German, Swahili and Malagasy. At that point, the player is "allowed to take off the equipment and start the day"...

Here is the full story (with illustrations) and thanks to Yana and Caleb for the pointer.  What if you can't count to ten in Malagasy?  What happens to the rest of your day?  Keep this link in mind or maybe try How to Get a Date in Malagasy.

Posted by Tyler Cowen on June 25, 2008 at 06:16 AM in Economics | Permalink

Comments

but does this alarm clock have a back button?

Posted by: MS at Jun 25, 2008 8:43:12 AM

This has got to be a violation of the Geneva Convention. Who decided that waking up early was such a good thing? Like Daylight Savings Time, it sounds like a holdover from a more agricultural society.

Posted by: BoscoH at Jun 25, 2008 1:55:15 PM

thanks for all

Posted by: seks shop at May 18, 2009 7:52:49 AM

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