Does Marriage-Hunting SNS Treat Men As Women’s Livestock?

On Wednesday, A Shibuya-based dot-com venture CyberAgent launched a free mobile SNS, named “Otokonoko Bokujo (a.k.a. Otoboku)” meaning boys pasture, targeting marriage-hunting females. After a female user signs up for an account of the service, she will be allowed to upload portraits and profiles of her male friends to her own “virtual pasture” set up… Continue reading Does Marriage-Hunting SNS Treat Men As Women’s Livestock?

Promotion Character Battle: Digital Deer vs. Analog Bear

Since Tsuyoshi Kusanagi stepped down from the role promoting digital terrestrial TV service (see this for more details), NAB,  the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan, were forced to introduce a new promoter, which is Chide-jika[J], punning the words of digital TV and deer. In opposition to the deer’s activity, users of Japan’s largest… Continue reading Promotion Character Battle: Digital Deer vs. Analog Bear

Fortune Telling Company Moves Up to TSE 1st Section

Zappallas, a Japanese Fortune Telling content company has moved up to Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section. Enlisted in Mothers section in 2000, Zappallas has managed to meet TSE requirements of moving to the First Section. Zappallas offer Furtune Telling content on Mobile Websites as well as normal web access. According to Zappallas financial reports, demand… Continue reading Fortune Telling Company Moves Up to TSE 1st Section

NHK Broadcasts Lunch Time TV Program For Cellphone

1-seg (one-seg) is a mobile terrestrial digital audio/video and data broadcasting service in Japan.   Usually it airs the same programs simultaneously with the land-based TV channels do. In March, Japan’s state-run TV/radio broadcaster NHK started broadcasting the 1-seg programs in weekday’s lunch time, specifically designed for office workers having their lunch break.   The programming is… Continue reading NHK Broadcasts Lunch Time TV Program For Cellphone

Uniqlo Starts Online Sales in Mainland China

   Japan-based casual clothing retailer First Retailing(its brandname, Uniqlo) started its online sales in Mainland China[C], in tie-up with Taobao[C].   Taobao is China’s largest online shopping mall by the e-commerce giant Alibaba, and it engages more than 100 million frantic shoppers in the country.   This is the first independent entry by a Japanese large retailer to China’s… Continue reading Uniqlo Starts Online Sales in Mainland China

Ex-school Sites Are On Sale For The First Time In Japan’s Internet Auction History

A rural town located on the south coast of Hokkaido Island, Niikappu, put four of the town’s unused municipal elementary school sites on sale on Yahoo Auction[J].    The sites consist of school buildings, swimming pools and teachers’ dormitories.   The bid started in the USD21M to USD67M price range. Because of the declining number of applicants for schools… Continue reading Ex-school Sites Are On Sale For The First Time In Japan’s Internet Auction History

Tezuka Manga Works Come To Your Palm Every Week

Tokyo-based mobile app developer Yappa started distributing the manga works of Tezuka Osamu, with a content distribution technology that the company also used to develop the Sankei Newspaper’s iPhone/iPod app also uses (I mentioned the app a bit in this article). The company publishes a new issue online every week, and each issue takes a… Continue reading Tezuka Manga Works Come To Your Palm Every Week

How To Grow A Music Star Without Street Live Performance In Tokyo

There used to be some pedestrian precincts in Tokyo, where young indie music artists and bands came down from every corner of the country, they performed their original tunes in front of a street audience and dreamed to debut and release their sound pieces from major labels. But now in the highly populated area of… Continue reading How To Grow A Music Star Without Street Live Performance In Tokyo

Legendary Business-Manga CEO Helps Adobe’s Business

On the back cover of this issue of the weekly manga (Japanese comic) magazine “Weekly Morning” (which I fond of reading), Kosaku Shima from popular business manga series Kacho Kosaku Shima (Kosaku Shima the section chief) asked my help on Adobe’s website. Weekly Morning’s printed circulation is over 410,000 copies every week [J], which is… Continue reading Legendary Business-Manga CEO Helps Adobe’s Business

Japanese Social Media Prism

Based on the concept presented at www.briansolis.com, H. Yoshikawa, Y. Yamagichi, and T. Nakamura rendered the Japanese Social Media Prism. This prism is being maintained constantly, so make sure you visit the original blog post for updates. Each Flower petal represents a Service Category (written outside the petal). Better known services are placed closer to… Continue reading Japanese Social Media Prism