Tokyo-based mobile social gaming giant DeNA takes the international version of its super-successful gaming platform Mobage-town [JP, PC version], Mobamingle, to India (find some detailed background info on MobaMingle here and here). According to a report in the Nikkei, the service will be made available to Indian users in English as early as at the… Continue reading Japan’s DeNA brings its mobile social gaming platform MobaMingle to India
Month: August 2009
Election Campaigning On The Net: When Does Law Catch Up With Social Trends?
Prior to the general election scheduled at the end of this month, Rakuten publicized a letter from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party(LDP) and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan(DPJ) in response to the question by 60 Japanese business leaders including Rakuten’s CEO Hiroshi Mikitani. The leaders asked both parties about their policies on six subjects… Continue reading Election Campaigning On The Net: When Does Law Catch Up With Social Trends?
First China, then the US: Japan’s No. 1 online shopping mall Rakuten (again) outlines plans to go global
Hiroshi Mikitani, founder and president of Japan’s leading online shopping mall Rakuten, has never made a bis secret of his seeing Rakuten as a global brand (here is some detailed background). This is especially interesting since Rakuten is the biggest “purely” Japanese web company there is (its market cap exceeds $8 billion currently and SoftBank… Continue reading First China, then the US: Japan’s No. 1 online shopping mall Rakuten (again) outlines plans to go global
Herbivorous-type Boys Scouter: What Animal Are You?
Motion Portrait, a Tokyo-based tech start-up and expert in image processing, and Gigno System Japan, a mobile app developer and a subsidiary of Tokyo FM Broadcasting[J], jointly introduced a new mobile service called “Herbivorous-type Boys Scouter （草食男子スカウター[J])“, which allows you to measure how aggressive you are for girl hunting. Author’s Note: Herbivorous-type boys or 草食系男子… Continue reading Herbivorous-type Boys Scouter: What Animal Are You?
Top 20: Japan’s most valuable web companies
About a year ago, I wrote an article on Asiajin that contained a list of Japan’s most valuable web companies by market capitalization. A lot has happened since then (thanks to the exchange rate we now have 12 large-cap companies instead of six, for example), so let’s see how the list looks today. I am… Continue reading Top 20: Japan’s most valuable web companies
UGC Song Parody: Freedom Of Expression Or Libeling Her?
Noriko Sakai, who used to be a popular J-pop idol in late 1980s and is now an actress starring on several TV commercial films, was arrested on a suspicion of possessing illegal stimulants last weekend. She has an enormous number of her fans in Asian nations, especially Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and several… Continue reading UGC Song Parody: Freedom Of Expression Or Libeling Her?
If The Shoguns Were Alive Today, Which Would Be Their Favorites?
Softbank Mobile released new five line-ups of luxury-textured and japan-lacquered covercase for iPhone 3GS/3G, which imitate an “inro” or a feudal pillbox used in Japan’s turbulent age. The list price is JPY 99,800 for each, which is approximately USD 1,050. The line-ups were designed on the concept of what kind of iPhone case the five… Continue reading If The Shoguns Were Alive Today, Which Would Be Their Favorites?
Flipnote Hatena Strikes Back To USA, Plus Europe Assisted By Nintendo Fame
Hatena, known by a million geekiest loyal users and the most popular social bookmarks service in Japanese [J], announced that their joint project with console game giant Nintendo “Flipnote Hatena” launches in North America on 12th, in Europe on 14th August (both in local time). Flipnote Hatena is a CGM service on where users draw… Continue reading Flipnote Hatena Strikes Back To USA, Plus Europe Assisted By Nintendo Fame
Event Preview: Web Innovation Showcase WISH2009 To Be Held
Agile Media Network, a Shibuya-based start-up company providing Japanese A-list bloggers with ad revenue opportunities and Asiajin’s adviser Motohiko Tokuriki[J] serves as the president of, plans to hold an event called WISH2009[J] on Friday evening next week. Mr. Tokuriki attended TedxTokyo last May, and he was highly inspired by the event and turned to think… Continue reading Event Preview: Web Innovation Showcase WISH2009 To Be Held
Peatea – URL Redirector Offers Deeplink At The Middle Of Pages
Goga released a single function URL redirector service Peatea, which lets you make an URL to show the any parts of the page directly. Even with the pages do not provide hash link for in-page jump, you can send a link to show the specific area on the page to your friends by this. All… Continue reading Peatea – URL Redirector Offers Deeplink At The Middle Of Pages