Japanese Virtual World Anime Film Aims At Oscar

Are you interested in the virtual world and Japanese anime film? Then, let’s check the “Summer Wars”. “Summer wars” is a Japanese anime film released in 2009 summer in Japan. The screening has just begun in U.S.A. on December 24. Story Kenji is a teenage math prodigy recruited by his secret crush Natsuki for the… Continue reading Japanese Virtual World Anime Film Aims At Oscar

Japanese “Giga Pudding” becomes massive meme on 4chan overnight

Overnight – a Japanese DIY pudding called Giga Pudding has become a massive meme on message-board 4chan. This enormously sized pudding, launched in 2008, contains over 20 servings and requires 1.6 liters of water to make. A promotional web video in which a pudding character endlessly sings “Puddi Puddi” had made the rounds for the past… Continue reading Japanese “Giga Pudding” becomes massive meme on 4chan overnight

More Employees, More Games: CyberAgent To Expand US Presence

Japanese Internet behemoth CyberAgent (listed with a $1.2 billion market cap) is ready to expand its activities in the US. The company today announced it will establish a development base in San Francisco this Wednesday (December 1) with the goal of creating smartphone apps for international markets. CyberAgent has been active in the US since… Continue reading More Employees, More Games: CyberAgent To Expand US Presence

Rakuten Brings “Super Points” Loyalty Program To Buy.Com

Japan’s biggest e-commerce company Rakuten, which currently boasts a market cap of US$9.7 billion, has been relatively quiet after having acquired US-based Buy.com earlier this year (for US$250 million). Now Buy.com is announcing it has introduced a loyalty program called “Rakuten Super Points” on its site. The way it works is pretty simple: much like… Continue reading Rakuten Brings “Super Points” Loyalty Program To Buy.Com

Event Report: San Francisco Japanese Tech Entrepreneur Night

As reported last month and a video link presented on October 14, 2010, the SF New Tech Japan Night event was held in San Francisco(SF). The event was sold out with over 260 on-line tickets sold with an additonal 40+ at the door.  Enduring a little jet-lag and some tech culture shock, six start-ups from… Continue reading Event Report: San Francisco Japanese Tech Entrepreneur Night

Luna Luna – Mobile Menstruation Care Site, 2.7% Of Japanese Women Pay, Now Goes U.S.

In Japan, paying for contents on cellphone web is so common. That supports unbelievable profit on social gaming networks Gree and Mobage-Town. Over 2% of population purchase weather forecast on cellphone with 105 yen or more, which I recently wrote for The Japan Times, is also a good example. There is another successful, interesting cellphone… Continue reading Luna Luna – Mobile Menstruation Care Site, 2.7% Of Japanese Women Pay, Now Goes U.S.

Live: Six Japanese Tech Start-ups Present At SF NewTech Japan Night

As Shunichi Arai introduced here last month, San Francisco-based digital consulting agency btrax, Inc. organizes an event featuring six Japanese tech start-ups today.   Without being at the venue in San Francisco, you’ll be able to watch it live on Ustream from all around the world. The live starts today at 11:30am JST, 7:30pm PDT and… Continue reading Live: Six Japanese Tech Start-ups Present At SF NewTech Japan Night

Japan Internet Tech Entrepreneur Event In San Francisco

A first of its kind event is being held in San Francisco featuring Japanese Entrepreneurs on October 13, 2010.  This event named SFNewTech Japan Night is the vision of Brandon K. Hill, President/CEO of btrax, Inc – a San Francisco based digital consultancy agency.  “I wanted to help Japanese Entrepreneurs extend their market outside of… Continue reading Japan Internet Tech Entrepreneur Event In San Francisco

Mochi Media “Scores” Hit Virtual World Ameba Pico From Japan’s CyberAgent

Virtual world Ameba Pico (Ameba Pigu in Japan) is a success story. The service was launched by Tokyo-based web powerhouse CyberAgent in February 2009 and went on attracting four million members [PDF] in Japan. CyberAgent announced an English version in November 2009, which went online in March 2010. And if The Nikkei, Japan’s biggest business daily,… Continue reading Mochi Media “Scores” Hit Virtual World Ameba Pico From Japan’s CyberAgent

Mixi To Enter Asia, The US And Europe

Earlier this week, I read a quite interesting interview Fumiaki Koizumi, the CFO of Japan’s biggest social network Mixi, gave to the Nikkei (the country’s leading business daily). In the interview, Koizumi touches upon a few interesting points on how Mixi wants to internationalize after all these years. Here’s a summary: Mixi now has over… Continue reading Mixi To Enter Asia, The US And Europe