Rakuten To Dissolve Lekutian In China, Joint-Mall With Baidu

Japan’s largest e-mall company Rakuten today announced [J] that they would shut down its Chinese e-mall Lekutian(rakuten.cn) planned in May, 2012. Rakuten jointly established Lekutian with China’s search engine giant Baidu in January 2010, and began the mall in October 2010. The reason is explained as Lekutian did not show the growth they had expected,… Continue reading Rakuten To Dissolve Lekutian In China, Joint-Mall With Baidu

Jeff Bezos Wants Amazon Japan’s Sales To Grow 30%, Bring Kindle Over This Year

There can be no doubt that with a US$15 billion market cap, 75 million user accounts in Japan alone, and over 10,000 employees worldwide, the 800-pound gorilla in Japan’s e-commerce sector is Rakuten. Amazon Japan however, launched as early as 2000 (3 years later than Rakuten) continues to be a formidable opponent for the country’s… Continue reading Jeff Bezos Wants Amazon Japan’s Sales To Grow 30%, Bring Kindle Over This Year

[Photo] How To Land A Job At Rakuten

Gayle L McDowell’s book “The Google Resume: How to Prepare for a Career and Land a Job at Apple, Microsoft, Google, or any Top Tech Company” is translated to Japanese and sold in Japan this month. The cover image of the Japanese version book posted by a blogger Yumaendo got a huge buzz on Facebook,… Continue reading [Photo] How To Land A Job At Rakuten

e-Money Service Edy Rebrands Itself As Rakuten Edy

BitWallet, who runs one of Japan’s most successful e-money service Edy since 2011, who joined the Japan’s largest e-mall group Rakuten in January 2010, 2 years ago, announced [J] that the e-money brand Edy will be changed to “Rakuten Edy” from June 1, 2012. Rakuten did similar renaming on companies they bought, like DLJdirect SFG… Continue reading e-Money Service Edy Rebrands Itself As Rakuten Edy

Video: Girl Band JKT48 (AKB48’s Sister Band) Promoting Rakuten In Indonesia

JKT48, the Indonesian sister band of ultra-popular Japanese girl group AKB48 (Asiajin), is promoting Rakuten Belanja Online, Rakuten’s joint venture with Jakarta-based media powerhouse PT Global Mediacom, on Indonesian TV. In the 30-second commercial, various members of the group can be seen wearing different clothes and accessories and using gadgets – and apparently all items can… Continue reading Video: Girl Band JKT48 (AKB48’s Sister Band) Promoting Rakuten In Indonesia

5 Trends In Japan’s Web And Mobile Worlds In 2011

2011 is over – reason enough to take a look at some of the key trends that shaped Japan’s web, mobile, and gaming industries last year. I could think, in no particular order, of five major developments that made a significant impact last year: March 11 Triple Disaster The triple disaster that hit Japan on… Continue reading 5 Trends In Japan’s Web And Mobile Worlds In 2011

Rakuten’s Virtual Currency Claimed To Be Stolen And Used For Online Game Nexon

There have been consumers complaining that their Rakuten Super Point, virtual currency circulated in Japan’s largest online shopping mall Rakuten Ichiba and its affiliated services, had been disappeared, the record said that they had spend it on online game service Nexon. There are already over 100 Rakuten users reported to Rakuten that their points were… Continue reading Rakuten’s Virtual Currency Claimed To Be Stolen And Used For Online Game Nexon

Rakuten To Shut Down 6 Million Users Zenryaku Profile

Nikkei reports [J] that Rakuten has decided to close its Zenryaku Profile, a social networking site having 6.4 million users and runs for about decade, even before the word “social networking service” established. The site was originally run by other company, moved under Rakuten when it purchased a company who owned the service. Different from… Continue reading Rakuten To Shut Down 6 Million Users Zenryaku Profile

Japan’s No.1 e-Mall Rakuten Trying To Be Like Twitter/Facebook By Rakuten Profile

Japan’s largest online mall company Rakuten started promoting its unknown service Rakuten Profile [J] since around October 10 to its 62 million members. The service comes with Twitter-like “tweet”, following/followers, Facebook-like “share”, your profile badge on Rakuten blog, Rakuten Profile seemed to launch without any release around August 9, 2011 [J]. There were no no… Continue reading Japan’s No.1 e-Mall Rakuten Trying To Be Like Twitter/Facebook By Rakuten Profile

Yodobashi Camera Online Site Ships Electronics The Same Day For Free Around Tokyo

Yodobashi Camera [J], one of the largest electronics chain store who also runs online commerce site, started and expanding the area for “the same day, free” delivery from Tokyo and around. On Auguest 18, they announced [J] they would deliver items within the same day if ordered by 10 a.m. to Tokyo 23-wards. They also… Continue reading Yodobashi Camera Online Site Ships Electronics The Same Day For Free Around Tokyo