Pants also not pictured, imagining they actually exist apparently optional.

Although it started out as the membership card for Japanese video rental chain Tsutaya, the T-Card has evolved into one of Japan’s most popular rewards cards. Points can be accumulated and exchanged for discounts when making purchases at a wide variety of stores and restaurants, including near-omnipresent convenience store chain Family Mart.

An ordinary T-Card (pictured above) just has a big, stylized yellow letter T on a blue field. But if you want to whip out something a little more…exciting, there’s now a limited-edition version decorated with an image of Japanese actor/rising star heartthrob Issei Takahashi. But while Takahashi’s likeness is plastered all over the card, his shirt is nowhere to be found.

▼ Or any of his clothing, for that matter.

In addition to supplying the voice of the male lead in the 1991 Studio Ghibli anime film Whisper of the Heart, Takahashi has been steadily adding to his fanbase with roles in films and TV dramas (including the live-action adaptations of manga/anime March Comes in Like a Lion) and for his magazine photo spreads showing off his boyish, smooth-faced good looks. His recently rising profile helped land him the role of the male lead in upcoming film Uso wo Ai Suru Onna (“The Woman Who Loved Lies”), starring opposite actress Masami Nagasawa, who also has her own special T-Card now.

Coincidentally, Nagasawa has a Ghibli connection as well, as she played Umi, the protagonist of the Goro Miyazaki-directed anime film From Up on Poppy Hill. Nagasawa also portrayed Tae in the recent live-action Gintama film.

But photogenic as Nagasawa may be, it’s Takahashi’s card that’s really getting attention and causing swooning. Even some of our female coworkers are smitten, with our Japanese-language reporter Yayoi saying:

“You can feel the ethereal sexiness of his gaze on you, and all of that bare skin It just makes my chest feel tight.”

If that’s something you’d like to experience whenever you rent a video or go to the convenience store to buy some potato chip-covered chocolates, you can apply for Takahashi’s T-Card (or Nagasawa’s) online here.

Source: PR Times
Top image: T-Site
Insert images: PR Times
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