OpenTrace is a service that “Traces items through the supply chain and adds them together to show the impact of products on the environment” (from TechCrunch). OpenTrace is run by Rinen Inc, which is owned by Hirofumi Manganji and Hiroaki Shimachi. Rinen has received a Japanese government grant called Exploratory Software Project which is given… Continue reading Two Japanese startups launch at TechCrunch50
Category: Company
Cookpad – the number one recipe site
Cookpad is the biggest recipe site in Japan, and has 416,000 recipes on the site. Alexa shows that Cookpad has a higher rating than Food Network or AllRecipes (with 40,000 recipes). Cookpad has 4.5 million unique visitors per month, and 280 million page views per month. Ofcourse, recipes are posted by users. Unlike other recipe… Continue reading Cookpad – the number one recipe site
Japan’s national TV station NHK makes a leap forward in mobile broadcasting
Japan’s national TV station NHK is not just a broadcaster but also quite active in technology development. For example, the organization is driving forward the Ultra-HDTV format (7680 x 4320 pixels, also known as Super Vision), which is to be deployed in Japan 2015. On the web, NHK first expanded to Youtube and starting today,… Continue reading Japan’s national TV station NHK makes a leap forward in mobile broadcasting
Web2.0 is dead in Japan
It sounds like a joke, but the Japanese company “Web2.0, Inc.” turns out to be in deadpool in coming September 2008. Web2.0 Inc. was established by Digital Garage, the nation leading event-ticket seller company Pia and the No.1 online price comparison service Kakaku.com on November 15th 2005 and offers Social Bookmark service PingKing. With the… Continue reading Web2.0 is dead in Japan
Top 20 of Japan’s most valuable web companies
The following list shows an up-to-date list of Japan’s most valuable web companies by market capitalization. It’s interesting to see 6 of them are large-cap (with 2 being very close). But 3 of these companies rather belong to the realm of financial services (the list includes companies, which are not exclusively engaged in Internet-related business).… Continue reading Top 20 of Japan’s most valuable web companies
Joblet: An exemplary online job service made in Japan
I recently visited “The Plant”, a Tokyo-based web development company, which was established in 2005 and now serves a number of big-name clients, such as MTV, Otto, NHK or Diesel. The company also runs Asoboo, Japan’s largest international social network (available in English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Spanish). The Plant’s newest baby is called Joblet… Continue reading Joblet: An exemplary online job service made in Japan
Japanese super train Shinkansen with full Wi-Fi between Tokyo and Osaka
On Thursday railway operator JR Toukai announced they will offer full Wi-Fi on the N700 Shinkansen bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka. This route is the most important one in Japan. Travellers will be able to access the web in all seats for the first time in Japan. The Wi-Fi connection is even supposed to… Continue reading Japanese super train Shinkansen with full Wi-Fi between Tokyo and Osaka
Mixi will set up China subsidiary
Japanese Social Network Giant, Mixi Inc. announced that they will establish a 100% subsidiary in Shanghai, China, to enter the Chinese market this April or May 2008. Most of Mixi’s revenues now come from its social network service for the PC and cellular phones. Mixi says they think China is promising because of the increase… Continue reading Mixi will set up China subsidiary
Japanese stock market has lost its confidence
The Osaka prefectural police is investigating ‘Orben‘, a public company, for securities fraud. Orben acquired 16 companies in two years from 2004. Orben executives allegedly reported false income and revenue for their subsidiaries. Supposedly, owners of Orben had sold their stocks at very high prices. An industry expert says Orben is well known for Yakuza… Continue reading Japanese stock market has lost its confidence
Yahoo! Japan is worth $28billion
The market capitalization of Yahoo! Japan stands at $28 billion (as of Feb. 2008). Telecommunications conglomerate Softbank is the largest shareholder, holding 41% of the company’s shares. Yahoo! owns 33.4% of Yahoo! Japan’s shares. Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo! is $44.6 billion while Yahoo!’s share of Yahoo! Japan is worth $9.3 billion.