Qomune[J], a Tokyo-based start-up providing a web-based platform that collects your shopping history from major online retailers and allows you to share your shopping experience with others at ease, is about to leave the company’s hometown for a two-week tour to Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In addition to their first service for Japanese… Continue reading Qomune To Begin Asian Tour To Meet J-Fashion Lovers And Tech Start-ups
Category: News
Japan’s Foreign Ministry Opens Twitter And Facebook Accounts
Back in March, right after the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, the Prime Minister’s Office opened a Twitter account first before launching a Facebook page just a few days later. And yesterday, the country’s Ministry Of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) decided it’s time to do the same. According to Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, the move to… Continue reading Japan’s Foreign Ministry Opens Twitter And Facebook Accounts
Snapeee: Can Teen Taste Snapshot Sharing Win Hearts Of The Young In Asia?
Tokyo-based tech start-up Mind Palette[J], who was chosen as one of the five projects that Cyber Agent support in their incubation program, released the iPhone app called Snapeee this week. It is a picture-based social network platform that has a feature of decorating user’s snapshots, that is deeply inspired by the Japanese subculture fashion that… Continue reading Snapeee: Can Teen Taste Snapshot Sharing Win Hearts Of The Young In Asia?
Asahi Shimbun Follows To Nikkei, Digital Subscription Starts Today
Asahi Shimbun, one of the largest newspapers in Japan and the world, is to start “Asahi Shimbun Digital” at 3 p.m. today, May 18th 2011, which is seen on its teaser page [J] (thanks @kansai_takako). The teaser page does not tell much, but I think the “digital” means paid-subscription of online version, like Nikkei has… Continue reading Asahi Shimbun Follows To Nikkei, Digital Subscription Starts Today
SF New Tech Calls For Entries To Present At Japan Night
Brandon Hill, the CEO/founder of San Francisco-based web consultancy btrax, gave us an invitation to potential presenters and attendees at a must-join tech start-up demo event that will take place next month. As of this writing, four start-ups of Kayac, Chatwork, J-Grab, and Conyac have passed the first screening. Entries to present are acceptable until May 20.… Continue reading SF New Tech Calls For Entries To Present At Japan Night
Japanese Virtual Diva Hatsune Miku First US Tour In July
[Update] Although first on hologram system, Hatsune Miku already had a regular screen concert in San Francisco. (hat tip to @miyagawa) Japanese virtual singing instrument application Vocaloid character Hatsune Miku will hold a concert at “ANIME EXPO 2011” in Los Angeles on July 2. This is the first time that she holds concert oversea. Recently, Toyota USA featured Hatsune… Continue reading Japanese Virtual Diva Hatsune Miku First US Tour In July
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
Rakuten Switches Portal Search Backend To Google
Rakuten, Japan’s huge online mall, announced on 10th that they are to use Google search on their portal Infoseek Rakuten. Infoseek Rakuten has been using Yahoo! Japan search backend, and requested Japan Fair Trade Commission to investigate if Yahoo! Japan-Google search alliance is antitrust. Naver, Korean-originated search engine running Japanese search site, announced [J] on… Continue reading Rakuten Switches Portal Search Backend To Google
Kayac Introduces FB-integrated VoIP App For The iPhone
Kanagawa-based funny app developer Kayac introduced Reengo, a VoIP app for the iPhone that allows you to place a call to your Facebook friend without dialing the number. According to TechCrunch Japan[J], the company chose Facebook from available options as an integration platform because they would like to spread the app out globally. As… Continue reading Kayac Introduces FB-integrated VoIP App For The iPhone
30 Months in Prison for Livedoor Founder Horiemon
The Japanese business world lit abuzz yesterday as it was announced that the former head Livedoor, Takafumi Horie, had his appeal rejected by the Japanese Supreme Court, thereby finalizing his conviction for accounting fraud issued 4 years ago. Takafumi Horie, or Horiemon as he is popularly known for his resemblance to the manga character Doraemon,… Continue reading 30 Months in Prison for Livedoor Founder Horiemon