A Japanese blogger Ku-ma-me made an interesting program code. It is a variation of Quine program.

The Ruby code generates Python code, which generates Perl code, which generates Lua code, which generates OCaml code, which generates Haskell code, which generates C code, which generates Java code, which generates Brainfuck code, which generates Whitespace code, which generates Unlambda code, which generates the original Ruby code again.

He wrote which versions of each programming language environment are needed, and how to run them. Blame me that I am too lazy to run them for check on my local

Tags: Japan, Technology by Akky Akimoto
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An NTT group company in mobile content development, NTT Solmare, and Kyoto-based mobile content developer Zero-Sum started distributing Japanese comic titles for cellphone users in India last Friday.

The service is provided to the users of the country’s 6th ranked mobile carrier Tata Teleservices, and is also expected to start for the country’s 3rd ranked carrier Vodafone Essar next month.   Every title costs USD0.42 or JPY45 approx.

In India, cellphone subscribers are increasing at the fast pace of 10 million a month in ten consecutive months.   The country’s accumulated population of cellphone users reached 441.7 million last July.

See Also:

• Press Release by NTT Solmare and Zero Sum[J]

Tags: Cellular Phone, Company, india, Japan, New Service by Masaru IKEDA
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One of the big differences between the web in Japan versus America or Europe is the way sites are being monetized. Generally speaking, the level of acceptance for the freemium model seems to be higher among Japanese users. As a ballpark number, it’s safe to say that usually between five and 15 percent of users choose to pay if they can go for a premium membership on a given site.

People on Japan’s biggest social network Mixi [JP], for example, can pay 315 Yen (2.40 USD/2.30 Euro) monthly, i.e. to get more storage space for their videos and pictures. There are many examples like this, with numbers varying widely. Major portal Livedoor [JP], for example, says 17% of their active blog platform [JP] users pay, generating 30% of overall sales (Mixi: around 7% of all sales).

Another example is Nico Nico Douga [JP], a Japanese video portal with a unique commenting system (Asiajin articles). Nico Nico says [JP] that the number of paid users passed the 500,000 mark this past Saturday. These people pay 525 Yen (5.70 USD/3.90 Euro) monthly to get more features for Nico Nico’s fixed web and mobile version.

Nico Nico video screenshot (click to enlarge):

Another interesting tidbit of information is how quickly this number ballooned (according to Nikkei IT Pro’s research [JP]):

• June 2007: Nico Nico Douga premium membership offering starts.
• May 2008: 200,000 paid members
• March 2009: 300,000
• July 2009: 400,000
• September 2009: 500,000+

This means it took Nico Nico roughly

• 23 months to attract the initial 200k paid users
• ten months to get from 200k to 300k
• four months to get from 300k to 400k
• just 2 months to jump from 400k to the 500k mark.

And Niwango says [JP] a recent survey showed that 77% of all paid users are satisfied with what they get for their money.

A major reason for Nico Nico’s success is that many people just love the service. The site with its tons of exclusive video material offers a unique experience, boosting user engagement to a level that’s probably unparalleled in Japan’s web world. The important thing to understand is that Nico Nico isn’t just a video portal but also has very strong social network/forum/community elements. (People basically discuss via texts placed on top of the video feeds and interact with each other in many other different forms.)

Tags: Japan, News by Serkan Toto
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photo by Doc Sleeve

Different from other countries where cartoon are mostly for kids, in Japan, manga (Japanese style comic) nation, many grown-up keep reading manga through their lives and eventually almost all kind of things, which are covered in type texts books in other culture, are provided in manga. (for example, last Manga I read was a biograph of 18th century Russian Empress Ekaterina II Alekseevna, based on French author Henri Troyat‘s novel)

Keitai Komikku, digital manga/comic scanned from original paper manga, cut and sometimes even with sound effect added, is also a rapid growing sector of cellphone contents in Japan. E-book is more popular in manga style and earning extra money from mobile users.

KDDI au, Japan’s 2nd largest cellphone carrier, started to provide pre-set online manga manual on their new cellphone, model-Iida PLY. This manga manual (example below) will be shipped with succeeding cellphones by KDDI au.

The manga manual explains how to save battery, how to use water-proof cellphone, etc.

See Also:

KDDI au Press Release [J]

Tags: Cellular Phone, Japan by Akky Akimoto
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