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

Report: Mobile Monday Tokyo – Mobile Browsing

On Monday, a Mobile Monday Tokyo event themed “Mobile Browser UI Designs & Standards” took place in KDDI’s Designing Studio in Harajuku. The entrance fee was between 1,000 and 2,000 Yen and an impressive 150 people showed up. While the venue itself was really cool, I am not sure if letting guests sit on stairs… Continue reading Report: Mobile Monday Tokyo – Mobile Browsing

Mobile barcodes:Huge success in Japan so far.

In Japan, mobile barcodes(QR Codes:local version of the 2D barcodes) has been widespread and acquired a stable position as one of the familiar media to provide a direct access to customers these days. They are mainly targeting mobile-savvy group of twenties to mid-thirties leading them to sales promotion sites for products such as snacks and… Continue reading Mobile barcodes:Huge success in Japan so far.

Report: Cross-cultural IT and web engineer party in Tokyo

On Friday, the first cross-cultural party for IT and web engineers was held in Pasona Tech’s office in Shibuya. Pasona Tech’s parent company, Pasona Group is a large staffing and recruitment company with over 3,000 employees. They are also present in the USA. The event was well attended with approximately 50 people showing up (Japanese… Continue reading Report: Cross-cultural IT and web engineer party in Tokyo

Tokyo2point0 event: Recruit API and Marketing in virtual worlds

This Tuesday, the 9th Tokyo2point0 event in Harajuku/Tokyo was held. As always, the venue was totally crowded. More info can be found on the Tokyo2point0 site, the Facebook group or on Mixi. This month the event featured two presentations which left more time for networking. I had the feeling that the event was more fun… Continue reading Tokyo2point0 event: Recruit API and Marketing in virtual worlds

Usage of mobile videos and TV in Japan

Japanese Web Marketing Information Portal “Web Marketing Guide” and market research company Net Asia conjointly conducted a study on the use of mobile videos and digital TV in Japan. At the end of last month, 345 people (172 female, 173 male) aged between 15 and 49 were surveyed. The results show that more and more… Continue reading Usage of mobile videos and TV in Japan

YAPC::Asia 2008 will be held May 15-16 in Tokyo

YAPC::Asia 2008 (Yet Another Perl Conference) will be held May 15-16 at Tokyo Institute of Technology. YAPC::Asia is one of the biggest technology conference in Japan, and is a bilingual (Japanese/English) conference with many speakers from overseas. Early registration has been started. Usually the seats are sold out soon. Presentation deadline will be Feb. 25th.

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

Asiajin Meeting Tokyo #1 on 26th(Tue), Feb.

We are going to hold our first readers’ meeting on 2/26 (Tue) night. Asiajin Meeting Tokyo The meeting will include 5-6 English presentations about 1. popular net services in Japan, or 2. their project/product. Those presentation will be in English by Japanese web entrepreneurs/developers, all of whom heavily use Japanese net services everyday at their… Continue reading Asiajin Meeting Tokyo #1 on 26th(Tue), Feb.