Recently, Sqaure Enix has taken to Facebook and Twitter in order to promote the upcoming VanaFest2010 in Tokyo.  There are fan pages and feeds in English, French and German that are dedicated to getting fans around the world the information they crave the second it's announced.

However, with considerably less fanfare, it seems that some key Square Enix employees in Japan have caught the Twitter bug as well.  President and CEO Yoichi Wada is signed up under @yoichiw and FFXI/FFXIV Producer Hiromichi Tanaka has grabbed @tanakahiromichi.

They are surprisingly casual with other Square Enix Twitterers and also many random users out there who comment to them.  However, don't expect any big leaks besides Tanaka's admission that he's hard at work on FFXIV.  This casual nature also led many people to wonder if these accounts were real.  Japanese media sites did some digging and vouched for them, but a lot of forum-goers were still skeptical.  What better way to confirm them today than with -- puppies!

Tanaka has been showing off his dogs a bit on his feed, and today he mentioned his beloved canines would appear in a special section of Dengeki Games.  Sure enough, Volume 6 went on sale today with a section entitled "WE LOVE DOG & CAT!!" that talks to a variety of people in the gaming industry about their pets.

Tanaka has four dogs, whose names I will approximate from the printed Japanese: ちぇりい Cherry age 11, リート Leet age 8, シルフィ Sylphy age 8 & アンジー Angie age 2.  In his blurb, he gives recommendations on how dog owners can solve common problems, such as housebreaking accidents and bad behavior.  Tanaka says that treating your dog like partners, rather than pets, is the key.  Instead of a boring eat-poop-sleep lifestyle, Tanaka enjoys challenging his dogs through training, dog shows, excercing and playing with other dogs and basically seizing any kind of adventure they can experience together.  As the magazine states, the way his dogs so perfectly line up together is proof of his philosophy and effort.

Anyway, I'm sure this is all just fascinating for you fans out there who are just aching to hear what VanaFest2010 will bring.  Sorry if a little lighthearted distraction isn't your cup of tea -- but fear not!  ZAM will be in attendance at the Tokyo event, and we will be sure to bring back plenty of pictures and info for all our readers.  Between our visit and the NA Community Team's valiant efforts, every last bit of Final Fantasy goodness is sure to be squeezed out of Tokyo's Seinenkan Hall.

Not to mention a surprise or two ...