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
Author: Serkan Toto
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
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
Q&A: What’s the Japanese equivalent of [enter foreign web service here]?
This is a reboot of a post I wrote back in July last year, listing up the Japanese equivalents of websites that are popular in the US and Europe. For example, Japanese people don’t know Ebay but auction their stuff off on Yahoo Japan Auctions, get in touch with friends via Mixi instead of Facebook… Continue reading Q&A: What’s the Japanese equivalent of [enter foreign web service here]?
Keitai Shousetsu export: China to get 100 Japanese cell phone novels
A big web trend from Japan that gained traction in China is now poised to become even bigger: Keitai Shousetsu (cell phone novels). These novels, which are not only being read on cell phones but also written on them, are hugely popular in Japan where they are a multi-million dollar industry. Tokyo-based Digi-Book Japan (a… Continue reading Keitai Shousetsu export: China to get 100 Japanese cell phone novels
Search engine Baidu to offer e-commerce support in China for Japanese companies
Another case of Chinese and Japanese web companies shaking hands. Chinese search engine Baidu is a super-power in its home market and has, as the company’s first regular service outside of China, launched a Japanese version (Baidu.jp) back in 2007. Expectedly still struggling to gain market share from established players like Google and Yahoo, Baidu’s… Continue reading Search engine Baidu to offer e-commerce support in China for Japanese companies
Chinese newspapers (in their entirety) to come to the iPhone in Chinese, English and Japanese
Beijing-based mega technology conglomerate Peking University Founder Group Corporation has announced a new iPhone application that will make it possible for iPhone users in Japan to read five major Chinese newspapers in their entirety. Founder’s Japanese arm [JP], based in Tokyo, will launch the app as early as next month (press release in Japanese). For… Continue reading Chinese newspapers (in their entirety) to come to the iPhone in Chinese, English and Japanese
GREE’s market cap soars past $1.6 billion, now higher than DeNA’s and nearly twice as high as Mixi’s
It seems that GREE‘s [JP] success story won’t come to an end too anytime soon. The performance of the 99% mobile social network/gaming platform is becoming scary, as in bubble-type scary. Stocks are rising and rising since the company went IPO in December last year and the financial situation keeps on improving, too. And as… Continue reading GREE’s market cap soars past $1.6 billion, now higher than DeNA’s and nearly twice as high as Mixi’s
SMG and Alibaba: SoftBank strengthens ties with major Chinese web players
SoftBank seems to be pretty bullish about the growing Chinese web market, which is no wonder as there are about 300 million web users in that country (China has the biggest Internet population in the world). The Japanese technology behemoth formed two strategic alliances with high-profile Chinese partners in the last few days. Alliance with… Continue reading SMG and Alibaba: SoftBank strengthens ties with major Chinese web players
“Social illustration” network Pixiv now has 1 million members
Pixiv [JP], a Japanese-only “social illustration” network (Asiajin articles), today welcomed its one millionth member. The site boasts a healthy growth rate, as the user base stood at 100,000 in March 2008. Pixiv claims the site sees 720 million page views monthly and that users submit 15,000 illustrations daily. It’s not hard to believe. Look… Continue reading “Social illustration” network Pixiv now has 1 million members