Right, one of the (many) things that Japan takes to the point of absurdity is brand licensing. If any sort of media content becomes successful, particularly ani

Right, one of the (many) things that Japan takes to the point of absurdity is brand licensing. If any sort of media content becomes successful, particularly anime/manga or J-pop artists, you can be sure that there will be branded drinks, foods, restaurants, toys, outfits, even red-light district "services". Maybe it's just that coming from suburban America, I'm used to spending more time in a car (isolated from the visuals and sounds of ads) and the population density is lower, but the advertising/branding just seems that much more intense in Tokyo. Then again, I've been to NYC, and it didn't feel like that - for example, the train stations didn't have ads.