Japanese pop singer and song-writer Kohmi Hirose[J] (@kohmi), who has released a number of popular songs in '90s and been singing winter dating stuffs for young couples, is also one of the celebrity twitterers.   Kohmi exchanged many tweets with Kazuyo Katsuma[J] (@kazuyo_k), a friend of her, economist and the best-selling business book author in Japan, and found out what Twitter is and how it can contribute especially in giving her a good opportunity for the better interactive communication with her fans.

Kohmi calls Twitter a nickname "he-we-he-heey" (an onomatopoeia) as she pleases, and today she released an original theme song[J] titled "Viva! he-we-he-heey!".

As far as we've learned from several news sources, Kohmi composed the song on her voluntary basis, and she didn't seem to be asked to do so by Twitter's management or its Japanese business partner Digital Garage.   In the future, Twitter might have several aliases especially in non-English speaking countries, but this could be also an essential combination of ultimate translation and well-localized marketing strategy to be required when a new service goes into a different country from where the service originates.

Meanwhile, Digital Garage announced it would co-develop a localized mobile interface for Japanese Twitterers this fall, which caused its share price to mark limit-up on Thursday.

Tags: Community, Japan, News, Person by Masaru IKEDA
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When we purchase something to wear on the Internet, what the most unsatisfied thing is that we cannot try it on before making an order.   Japanese major clothing e-retailers usually accept returning item even after the item has been tried on.   This helps to minimize the disadvantage of e-commerce services, and to make up a difference with convenience that face-to-face retailers may give you.    Sure, I agree that it could be well work for ready-made items retailers, but...is that all?   Anything else?

Odawara-headquartered nationwide optical retail chain Megane Super[J] added a virtual fitting feature on the company's e-commerce site, which allows you to feel as though you could try your choice of glasses on with a 3D animation overlapped with your portrait.   You can experience the feature at the chain's real store in Akihabara as well, and it makes you possible to take your favorite pair of glasses from the variety of 200 different lens frames and 15 colors of lens, and to purchase it on the web.

The virtual fitting feature uses a brand new technology developed by Tokyo-based tech start-up Motion Portrait.  In order to tell the power of your glasses to the optician, you'll be requested to take either one from the following options:

• sending the optician a prescription prepared by your ocular.
• ordering glasses having the same lens power with that you've previously purchased at any store of the chain
• entering your contact lens power on the web, and the optician will calculate your glasses lens power from it.

If you have no way to find how strong your glasses power is, the optician's chain highly recommends you to drop by any of its 430 stores located nationwide for a consultation.

The following video shows you a presentation made by Motion Portrait at Infinity Ventures Summit 2009 Spring.   The company won the top prize at the event. (See also Serkan Toto's story on this for TechCrunch.)

Via Impress Internet Watch[J]

Tags: Company, Japan, New Service, Technology by Masaru IKEDA
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Wake up in the morning, commute, work, have a lunch, work again, come back home, take a bath and go asleep - for everyday, for ever. Aren't you bored with monotonous daily routines? A Tokyo-based company, which states creating stimulus things as its corporate mission, will probably make it happen.

Xtone[J] (pronounced as "eks-tone"), a tech start-up based near Shibuya and co-developer of Nico Nico Douga[J], introduced last week a moe-taste iPhone/iPod touch app called "Amamiya Momo", which allows you to enjoy communicating with a virtual tsundere catgirl.

According to Japanese Otaku Lingo, "tsundere" is a term used to describe girls that are cold and strict at first or in public, but becomes all lovey-dovey when they are alone together.

By tapping the catgirl on screen or shaking your iPhone/iPod touch, she gives you back a selected response from 200 different patterns in accordance with time and your location. If your iPhone is GPS-enabled, her behavior depends on which you're home or not, since she is a sort of Tsundere.

The app speeches Japanese, and English subtitle captioning is also available for English-speaking Akihabaran moe-culture lovers. Her official website says, her blood-type is AB, and she is a daddy's girl and was born the middle of three girls.

It costs JPY350 or USD2.99 and is available at any country edition of the Apple AppStore.

Author's Note: Be careful not to mistype Amamiya as Amemiya when you make a retrieval. "Amemiya Momo" has nothing to do with the app introduced above, and she is a popular adult video actress in Japan, no doubt, especially among men.

Tags: Cellular Phone, Japan, Joke, New Service by Masaru IKEDA
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According to an Aichi regional newspaper Chunichi Shimbun [J], there was an interesting new attempt on Bon-Odori, traditional summer dance festival around Japan, to avoid future noise problem bothering neighbors.

15-20 minutes in their regular festival, 50 FM radio are lent to bon dancers, who are attending locals, and they dance with music from their earphones. The festival space keeps silent.

The festival space is planned to move to other in 2015, where hospital locates near by. And this trial is to see if this radio-driven silent bon festival can be an answer for noise issue, as the organizer said.

The city, Tokai-shi, Aichi prefecture is suburb of Nagoya, Japan's 4th biggest city. I do not know if there are many such people getting mad at bon festival music, but in the crowded country, some people are sensitive not to generate noise. Like talking over cellphone is banned at many train lines, which encouraged mobile web growth. (Though daily urban life in Japan is surrounded a lot of public announcements)

Tags: Japan, News by Akky Akimoto
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In commemoration of announcing "Favorite Places[J]" as a promotion campaign of Google Map, on Monday Google Japan[J] placed "real" red pins at several locations, which imitate mark-up symbols used on Google Map, including JR Shibuya Station and a Buddhist temple next to Tokyo's fish market that foreign visitors never forget to drop by.

The pin statue is 4 meters (=13.1 feet) high, and a specially designed pin has a hole in the heart of its body, where a small monitor shows you the video of hot spots selected by celebrities as their favorites. The pin statues are exhibited at the following locations for the dates given.

• Honganji Temple in Tsukiji: from August 3rd to 9th
• West Exit, JR Ebisu Station: from August 3rd to 9th
• Center Exit, JR Shibuya Station: from August 3rd to 9th
• New South Exit, JR Shinjuku Station: from August 4th to 5th
• Central Exit, JR Ikebukuro Station: from August 8th to 9th
• Exit for Showa St., Akihabara Station: from August 8th to 9th

The videos being played at the pin with a hole are available on YouTube as well. The following is prepared by Google Japan and introduces "Favorite Places" in Tokyo. (4 mins. 20 secs.)

In Kyoto, Japanese-style paper lanterns are decorated at the Favorite Places.

Via Google Japan Blog[J] and CNET Japan[J]

Tags: Japan, New Service by Masaru IKEDA
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