Noodol Cafe isnât your typical ramen joint. You could buy the noodles at any old supermarket. You could even make them at home, within minutes.
What makes Noodol Cafe stand out is its gimmick. But what may kill it is a Japanese celebrity. With a Death Blog.
Online in Japan, the Death Blog is notorious. Itâs not actually called the âDeath Blogâ or âDEATH BLOGâ, but âAki Higashiharaâs Official Blogâ. Her ability to seemingly âkillâ things off, such as the Nintendo Wii, are so famous that upon spotting her name on the Noodol Cafe site, a Japanese forum user wrote, âAki Higashihara, oh shit.â
Opening Jan. 23, the cafe is the work of Platinum Production, a talent agency. On the Noodol Cafe site, it lists some of the celebrities it manages like idol group flight attendant inspired idol group Passpo, former spacey Sega pitch girl Yuko Ogura, and Aki Higashihara. If the Japanese internet is to be believed, just writing her name on this shopâs site, is putting Higashiharaâs mark on it. This cafe is doomed.
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All this for ÂĽ800 (US$10). If youâve ever bought cup ramen and a soft drink in Japan, youâll know how overpriced this isâusually both donât cost over a few bucks. âHoly crap this is pricey,â said one Japanese commenter.
It is pricey. It is gimmicky. Both of which might, overtime, drive customers away once the shopâs initial sheen wears off. But it might be something else. It might be Higashihara.
As previously mentioned, Higashihara finally purchased a Nintendo Wii in Nov. 2010. The following E3, the Wii U was formally revealed, thus effectively killing off the Wii. But wait, thereâs more:
⢠Higashihara works as a campaign girl for the Dreamcast, and then the console is defeated by the PlayStation 2.
⢠She works as a campaign girl for loan firm DIC. DIC goes under.
⢠In 2007, she begins appearing on horse racing show Super Keiba. The show, in its 20th year on air, is cancelled three months later.
⢠In 2008, she states sheâll marry Inoue at the Imperial Hotel. A fire breaks out at the hotel.
⢠In early 2008, Higashihara appears at a McDonalds. Parasites are found in the burgers the next day.
⢠That same year, she appears in an ad for instant ramen. Later, parasites are found in that companyâs instant noodles and insecticides are found at the factory.
This is the stuff of internet folklore in Japan. Itâs the kind of thing people joke about and donât really take seriously. But with her track record, âOh shitâ, indeed.
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