Yahoo! Japan Search Team Blog [J] announced that their search results page by TV program names show products, services and point of interests (shops, restaurants, etc.) at the top.

Here is an example which I searched on Y!J by keyword "ladies 4"(in Japanese, of course), an afternoon program featuring lifestyle info on TV Tokyo.

At the top of the result, preceding to the official site, Wikipedia page and others, latest products links provided by Yahoo! TV G-Guide (online TV info).

In this case, food products and a restaurant taken up on today's program were listed, and linked to a detail page, from where you can check the restaurant info and food products name, price and details. Each products are not linked to Yahoo! Shopping, but I think they should do that.

The official blog tells that every time some food and shops are introduced on TV, search volume of the food and shop names hikes up. But there are many inaccurate names also typed and those TV watchers might fail to reach the info. Yahoo! Japan recommend to search by the program name you are watching/have watched and they will give all featured info on search.

Currently this only works for TV stations in Kanto/Tokyo area, but as the area covers over 30 million of population, this may enhance TV program's influence to shop-owners, e-commerce companies, etc., and some wise producers may also recommend Yahoo! Japan search more than competitors when they need.

Tags: Japan by Akky Akimoto
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Japan's social networks seem to be hitting a ceiling growth-wise, and apparently they increasingly feel the need to go abroad in order to grow.

"Japan's Facebook" Mixi, which now counts 20 million members, is operating "Mixiu" in China. DeNA, the company behind mobile gaming platform Mobage-town (19.4 million members), has always been more aggressive in terms of internationalization. It operates MobaMingle, a mobile social network that can only be accessed from outside Japan; it launched MiniNation, a social gaming platform for the iPhone last month; it invested in Aurora Feint, a US-based social gaming platform, in 2009; and it also acquired IceBreaker, a US- and China-based maker of "mobile social networking software", last year.

So far, only one of the big three of Japan's social networking world has chosen to stay home: mobile gaming startup GREE. But Yoshikazu Tanaka, GREE's CEO and the world's second youngest self-made billionaire (following Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg) at 32, today announced some big news via Twitter.

To make it simple, let me just translate his tweet:

"GREE moved to the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange today! But there's more. First, internationalization. Within the next 12 months, we will open offices in the US and China. Second, we will bring GREE to more devices. Every employee will get an iPad. We will also support iPhone and Android. GREE will start to mass-recruit new employees in order to handle internationalization and smartphone development."

I heard Naoki Aoyagi, GREE's CFO, talking about expansion plans into China during a discussion panel at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) last month in Beijing, but the plans for the US come as a bit of a surprise (although DeNA already runs a subsidiary in California called DeNA Global).

Tags: China, Japan, News, Person, USA by Serkan Toto
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Japan's 3 million best selling comic essay "Darling ha Gaikokujin"(My Darling Is A Foreigner), which also became a movie this spring, depicting international relationship and marriage between Japanese girl and American guy, was digitized and published as one of the first Japan originated iPad manga application both on US and Japanese app store.

Original Japanese Manga

On the iPad verion, you may display both language simultaneously, or hide Japanese text.

Here is a movie trailer someone added English subtitle,

The app is available on US AppStore / Japan AppStore. It is ranked the most selling iPad paid-book app from Japanese publisher (86th among all) on June 3rd.

See Also:

News Release [J]

Tags: Japan, USA by Akky Akimoto
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An Apple-fan Osakan blogger Dark Kyokucho(Chief) [J] found a good way to realize rebirth of the old beautiful clamshell macintosh iBook... iPad-and-keyboard frame.

At first he discovered [J] that the iBook screen space fits iPad well. Then he managed to put Apple Keyboard. Lastly, to connect iPad and keyboard by iPad Camera Connection Kit within the small space around the iPad, found the good extension cable [J].

Now iPad users can enjoy Macintosh experience.

via @otsune [J]

[Update 2010-06-11] Another Japanese blogger hirac made an iPad Stand By Macintosh Classic [J]

Tags: Japan by Akky Akimoto
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Tokyo based video bloggers gathered at Yoyogi Park, one of the largest parks in Tokyo, with their iPhone 3GS and made a family movie with bullet time effect as seen on the movie Matrix.

9 iPhone users: AqbiRec, Yoshiki Kondoh, Yukina, Jet Daisuke, Ken3tv, Hapii, Asakawazu, Shingo Soejima and Motomocomo
Assistant: Koji Sasagawa, Azusa and her son

Making scene,

It is said that their was the third time session for them on thier new Ning page [J]. There is a preceding work by 7 iPhones at the famous Shibuya scramble crossing uploaded, too.

They are calling for 30 iPhone users for the next session to create smoother effect rounding 360 degree.

via Motomocomo Nakiwarai blog [J]

[Update 2010-06-07] The organizer Tanaka Koji/AqbiRec tweeted that they would have a next session, hoping 30 iPhones, at 11:00 a.m. Sunday 13th June. Bring your iPhone 3GS and gather at Yoyogi Park Harajyuku Gate.

Tags: Japan by Akky Akimoto
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