Ajinomoto General Foods Inc. put on sale Thursday sets of coffee drinks in plastic bottles bearing short essays by a popular comedian who recently won a prestigious literature award.
"I like coffee and wrote them while drinking coffee," said Naoki Matayoshi, part of the comic duo Peace, at a publicity event in Tokyo the same day, referring to the nine essays related to coffee he wrote for AGF's Blendy brand drinks.
One set, priced at ¥1,800 ($14.5), consists of nine 900 milliliter bottles, each bearing a different essay. The company will sell the sets at Kinokuniya bookstores across Japan until Aug. 6.
Earlier this month, Matayoshi, 35, won the Akutagawa Prize for up-and-coming authors with his novel "Hibana" ("Spark"), depicting exchanges between a struggling young comedian and a senior comedian.