Yahoo Hoshou: Yahoo Japan Starts “Safety” Service For Online Shoppers

Yahoo Japan, the country’s biggest website, is a major force in the domestic e-commerce sector. The transaction value for their auction service “Yahoo Auction” (by far the biggest in Japan) and “Yahoo Japan Shopping” reached a staggering 950 billion yen (US$12 billion) last fiscal. Reason enough for the company to announce a new service for… Continue reading Yahoo Hoshou: Yahoo Japan Starts “Safety” Service For Online Shoppers

LION Releases Unique Alarm App Which Prevents You From Being Ashamed On Train

Have you ever felt ashamed by leaning on to person sitting next to you constantly while on train falling asleep?  Sure, I have.  Often. LION[J], as a promotion for energy drink Gronsan[J],  released mobile alarm app[J] that could keep you away from this common situation you may find on commuting trains in Japan. The app… Continue reading LION Releases Unique Alarm App Which Prevents You From Being Ashamed On Train

[TGS2011] BDNA Officially Presented

Today took place the official presentation of the new social games company BDNA, a joint venture between Bandai Namco (75%) and DeNA (25%). As they announced in the previous report, the capital of the company will be 100M yen (1.3M$), starting operations next October 1st. Shin Unozawa, COO & Vice President of Bandai Namco Holdings, will be… Continue reading [TGS2011] BDNA Officially Presented

Japanese Social Marketplace FlutterScape Raises USD750K In Second Seed Funding

FlutterScape, a social marketplace specializing in introducing “Japan-only” or “Japan-made” products for online shoppers outside the country, recently fundraised JPY60M (approx. USD750K) in their second seed-round from three VC firms, which are Japan Venture Capital (NVCC)[J], ngi group and Innovation Engine. In their first seed round, the company fundraised JPY25M (approx. USD310K) from Digital Garage,… Continue reading Japanese Social Marketplace FlutterScape Raises USD750K In Second Seed Funding

Fashion Recommendation Site iQon Fundraises USD1.7M From Itochu And GMO

Tokyo-based tech start-up Vasily[J], who is known for running a fashion recommendation site called iQon, has fundraised JPY140M (approx. USD1.7M) from Itochu Technology Ventures and GMO Venture Partners. iQon does not sell clothes online but recommends you a bunch of ready-to-wear collection of fashionable clothes, accessories and shoes etc. with links that take you to… Continue reading Fashion Recommendation Site iQon Fundraises USD1.7M From Itochu And GMO

GMO-VP Launches “F-Commerce” Fund And Invests In Platform Developer

On Friday, GMO Venture Partners[J], an investment arm of Shibuya-based web juggernaut GMO Internet Group, launched a private equity fund specializing in investing in start-ups who are developing e-commerce and ad services to be provided on the Facebook platform (a.k.a. F-commerce), which is called Social Ad & Commerce Technology Fund.   It has a JPY57M(=USD670,000) volume… Continue reading GMO-VP Launches “F-Commerce” Fund And Invests In Platform Developer

Uniqlo Launches FB-Integrated Photo Community For Sharing Dress Experience

Fast Retailing, also known as its brand name of Uniqlo, launched a Facebook integrated photo sharing community called Uniqlooks (available in seven languages) last Thursday.   It allows users to upload pictures of those wearing at least a piece of Uniqlo’s products and share them with the other users for exchanging ideas on how to coordinate… Continue reading Uniqlo Launches FB-Integrated Photo Community For Sharing Dress Experience

Cerevo Fundraises USD3M From Three Japanese Venture Funds

Tokyo-based Internet-enabled consumer electronics developer Cerevo[J], who is known for having introduced a series of Ustream encoder products for streamcasters, fundraised approximately USD3M (=JPY250M) by allocating new shares to Enova[J], Inspire Corporation and Neostella Capital.   Enova is a venture fund founded by several semiconductor manufacturers/retailers, Inspire is a VC-firm owned by Mr. Makoto Naruke… Continue reading Cerevo Fundraises USD3M From Three Japanese Venture Funds

NHN Plans To Flood Japan With Smartphone Games

NHN Japan, the local arm of South Korean web giant NHN and operator of online gaming portal Hangame, is planning to seriously step up game development for smartphones, especially on Android. Japan’s biggest business daily, The Nikkei, is reporting that NHN in Korea has set up a 100-people team that’s supposed to create the titles,… Continue reading NHN Plans To Flood Japan With Smartphone Games

Toyota’s Marketing Arm To Hold Social App Contest And Cheer Motor Industry

Toyota Marketing Japan(TMJ)[J], a 100% subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, announced it would have a contest on ideas of new apps integrating social network platforms which especially intend to make people interested in motor vehicles, in association with NHN Japan, GREE, DeNA, Mixi and Yahoo.  Presidents of those companies will serve as the judges of the contest.… Continue reading Toyota’s Marketing Arm To Hold Social App Contest And Cheer Motor Industry