The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has decided to give prosecutors files on 18 people, who are suspected to have slandered comedian “Smiley Kikuchi[J]” by posting groundless comments on his blog alleging that he is involved in a high school girl’s murder case. This kind of situation, in which blog readers slander a blog’s owner by… Continue reading Tokyo Police Acts Against Slander On Blog Posts
Category: News
Japanese Government Promotes Puppet Security Idol “Securina”
Securina is an another virtual idol unit by puppets newly appeared into Japanese otaku scene, as a part of “Check PC” campaign backed by METI, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. Shina, from Tokyo, who is unfussy and easygoing, likes Parfait. and Sena from Osaka, assertive and boyish, likes drive. The “Check PC”… Continue reading Japanese Government Promotes Puppet Security Idol “Securina”
Comic Giant Officially Allows Bloggers To Republish One Of Its Titles
Kodansha, Japan’s leading comic and novel publisher, announced today that it is allowing bloggers to republish the comic titled “Mikako-san [J]” authored by famous cartoonist and illustrator Kyo Machiko [J]. The title appeared serially in Kodansha’s weekly comic magazine “Morning”, and the same content is also on the magazine’s official website [J]. Her fans can… Continue reading Comic Giant Officially Allows Bloggers To Republish One Of Its Titles
Japanese and French giants shake hands in e-commerce deal
Sumitomo, one of Japan’s almighty general trading houses (sogo shosha), will buy a 34% stake in Hachette Fujingaho [JP], the Tokyo-based subsidiary from Lagardère Active, a media conglomerate headquarted in Paris. The two companies already signed a basic agreement on January 14 with the deal being worth 5 billion Yen (55 million USD/42 million Euros). Sumitomo… Continue reading Japanese and French giants shake hands in e-commerce deal
Google inflates Search Market Share versus Yahoo! Japan
Google Japan’s year-end announcement on Dec 22nd, 2008 shocked the industry, when they loudly proclaimed that their search market share had reached 41%, which is only 3 points behind the 44% of Japanese portal giant Yahoo! Japan, using data from Nielsen/NetRatings (report on @IT [J]). The news raised some eyebrows because no such indications had… Continue reading Google inflates Search Market Share versus Yahoo! Japan
Rakuten to start PHS service in April
Rakuten[J], Japan’s largest e-commerce player, unveiled that it is planning to start a PHS (personal handy-phone system) service as an MVNO (or mobile virtual network operator) for its corporate users this coming April. Jointly with Fusion Communications, and under a roaming agreement with Japanese PHS operator Willcom, Rakuten intends to provide free mobile phone service… Continue reading Rakuten to start PHS service in April
KAYAC sells their 88 websites
Kayac, a web development and consulting service in Kanagawa, announced that they sell 88 web services they created last year. Kayac, which often addresses themselves as “Omoshiro Houjin Kayac”, which means “Funny Corporation Kayac” in Japanese, is known as an unique web development company. Some of their weird topics are; locating at the old capital… Continue reading KAYAC sells their 88 websites
Gree says net profit is up 500%, expects yearly sales of 123 million USD
Mobile social networking site Gree [JP] said Friday that their net profit will probably increase by a whopping 500% on a year-by-year basis to 3.5 billion Yen (38.6 million USD, 28.7 million Euros) in the current fiscal year (which ends for GREE on June 30). This is 300 million Yen (3.3 million USD, 2.5 million… Continue reading Gree says net profit is up 500%, expects yearly sales of 123 million USD
TV Asahi Quiz Show cooks up Fake Blogs for Clues
Tokyo-headquartered private TV broadcaster TV-Asahi used fake blog sites on its quiz show, fabricated by the program’s production staff as a real news source for the show’s questions, and as a result, the broadcaster is being heavily criticized by audiences and TV watchdogs. The show was broadcast nationwide in Japan during last weekend’s prime time, and… Continue reading TV Asahi Quiz Show cooks up Fake Blogs for Clues
Surprise Automatic Withdrawal Angers Japanese ISP Kai’s Customers
Tokyo-based ISP and web-hosting provider, Kai Creates Inc. (its services website is called “Linkclub“), recently changed its service rates without notifying its customers. A large number of customer complaints have been reported to several consumer authorities, some sources report. Kai is famous as a time-honored Internet venture, it started business in 1990 before the dawn… Continue reading Surprise Automatic Withdrawal Angers Japanese ISP Kai’s Customers