In Japan, the word ‘Enjo” refers to when something goes viral on social networks for all the wrong reasons. Twitter is the most common environment for such unfortunate incidents, and recently, there has been an unusual series of prank photos posted by various part-time restaurant employees. Sometimes the people responsible are customers as well, but in almost every case the results are pretty embarrassing. Below you can see some examples of some prank photos that an assortment of foolish kids have posted on Twitter.
In many cases, the people behind these incidents are teenagers. News of such cases has appeared on TV, which appears to be spawning more and more dumbass kids to imitate the behavior. In an extreme case, one steakhouse was forced to shut down after waves of complaints were made to the restaurant. In Japan, these sorts of pranks also contribute to an unfounded fear of social networks as well.
Now there are even websites and Twitter accounts that keeps people informed about these incidents. And as you might expect, Naver Matome, has a round-up of these viral photos too. These pranks on social networks are becoming more and more of a problem, with no sign of ending. Even planking is better than this.
A customer lies on ice cream. (photo via. Hamsoku)
Burger King employee dives into leftover hamburger buns. (photo via m9l)
Pizza Hut employee using pizza dough as a facial mask. (photo via. 2ch)
See the original story in Japanese. Crowdsoucing platforms can be divided into two categories: 1) general purpose and 2) industry-focused. The latter is very much focused on specific business fields such as translation or design, and such crowdsourcing platforms are on the rise. MugenUp is a Tokyo-based startup that provides a crowdsourcing platform for animated content and illustrations. The company just announced that it has raised series B funding worth 130 million yen (or approximately $1.3 million) from Industrial Growth Platform and SMBC Venture Capital. MugenUp was launched back in June of 2011 as a social games developer, but that plan didn’t quite work out. So last year they shifted to work on an animation-focused platform, since they thought they would be able to take advantage of the experiences from their past projects. Readers may recall when we spoke with the startup’s CEO Ryota Ichioka back in May, he told us about how they serve as an illustration solution to many game companies who might have just a few full-time illustrators. We plan to grow into a 100-person team in a year For crowdsourcing platform operators, if you focus on a specific business sector, the fortunes of your business will…
Crowdsoucing platforms can be divided into two categories: 1) general purpose and 2) industry-focused. The latter is very much focused on specific business fields such as translation or design, and such crowdsourcing platforms are on the rise.
MugenUp is a Tokyo-based startup that provides a crowdsourcing platform for animated content and illustrations. The company just announced that it has raised series B funding worth 130 million yen (or approximately $1.3 million) from Industrial Growth Platform and SMBC Venture Capital.
MugenUp was launched back in June of 2011 as a social games developer, but that plan didn’t quite work out. So last year they shifted to work on an animation-focused platform, since they thought they would be able to take advantage of the experiences from their past projects. Readers may recall when we spoke with the startup’s CEO Ryota Ichioka back in May, he told us about how they serve as an illustration solution to many game companies who might have just a few full-time illustrators.
We plan to grow into a 100-person team in a year
For crowdsourcing platform operators, if you focus on a specific business sector, the fortunes of your business will obviously be very directly dependent on trends in that sector. The rise of the Japanese social gaming industry has helped the startup’s business grow rapidly, enabling them to raise a 100 million yen ($1 million) in funding from Japanese VC Nissay Capital back in September of 2012.
MugenUp functions as an intermediary between customers and clients, helping them find appropriate matches. A key aspect of this process is a chat system called Mugen Work Station. This allows their directors to communicate with crowdsourced workers, monitor the production process, and give workers revision requests if needed.
We heard more from CEO Ichioka about how business is going these days.
In terms of the orders we’re receiving, projects related to mobile games are continuously growing. But I think the content of games on each gaming platform is changing. For example, illustration work for card battle games is still in a high demand in browser-based gaming apps, but native app developers typically ask us to help them develop animated 3D/2D content developed with Unity.
MugenUp directors advice crowdsourced workers using the chat system.
Ichioka shared a little more about their hiring plan:
Our total number of registered crowdsourced workers will hit 10,000 very shortly. In the office, we have 60 full-time and part-time workers. With these funds, we will add people with skills to handling 3D animated content, and we plan to grow into a 100-person team in a year.
In addition, our chat system has a handy translation feature that helps our directors communicate with foreign crowdsourced workers in English and Chinese.
According to Mr. Ichioka, the chat system also keeps clients updated about how their outsourced projects are going, and an upcoming version will allow them to check how workers are creating character designs at any time.
The startup is receiving many orders for 3D content. Ichioka explained the startup’s future exists in the accumulation of these content data.
We’ve been receiving orders for 3D models of real products. They are typically orders to optimize data for actual production rather than just digital content. So we are aiming to move into a market that will replace the metal mold business.
When we look at the digital fabrication industry, 2D or 3D design data can be alternatives to metal molds. The point is not about creating products featuring popular characters, but the accumulation of design data allows the startup to analyze and predict what kind of characters or shapes will be popular in different markets.
While most of their future plans were not disclosed, they revealed that the accumulated design data includes many useful engineering tips, such as how much shrinkage you need to plan for when creating a vinyl chloride creation with digital 3D data.
We’re aiming at a comprehensive platform for design data, making the most of our experiences through our crowdsourcing platform business. We’re trying to adopt our kind of service operations and database design to genres such as toys or figure sculptures.
For anime studios out there, you will be able to easily digitize your intellectual property (such as anime characters), letting you easily partner with toy makers and co-develop derivative works.
The startup is already profitable and planning to get listed on a stock exchange in a few years. It is interesting to see how crowdsourcing work styles will be adopted here in Japan and around the world.
Japanese girls tend to be very fashion-conscious. And although there are popular apparel brands that they typically favor, a few individuals prefer to stand out from the crowd. If you’re one of those people looking to wear something a little different, you may want to check out ‘Rikei Accessories’. It’s a unique line of jewelry made using electronic components. Rikei Accessories comes from an Osaka company called Xi Design. The products can be purchased over on Sainome, an ecommerce site operated by the company. There you can find beautifully designed jewelry made from circuit boards, or a heat-resistant electronic wire bracelet that resembles DNA. According to the Nikkei, these jewelry are getting popular with women in their 20s and 30s Check out a few examples of this science jewelry below. Ear-pierce (¥6,600) DNA Bracelets (¥2,500) PC Board Necklace (¥3,400)
Japanese girls tend to be very fashion-conscious. And although there are popular apparel brands that they typically favor, a few individuals prefer to stand out from the crowd. If you’re one of those people looking to wear something a little different, you may want to check out ‘Rikei Accessories’. It’s a unique line of jewelry made using electronic components.
Rikei Accessories comes from an Osaka company called Xi Design. The products can be purchased over on Sainome, an ecommerce site operated by the company. There you can find beautifully designed jewelry made from circuit boards, or a heat-resistant electronic wire bracelet that resembles DNA.
According to the Nikkei, these jewelry are getting popular with women in their 20s and 30s Check out a few examples of this science jewelry below.
5Rocks is a Korean startup focused on providing business intelligence (BI) tools for mobile gaming developers. The startup announced today that it has raised 2.55 billion Korean won (approximately $2.3 million) from Japanese venture capital Global Brain. For the latter, this represents its first investment in a Korean startup. Tokyo-based Global Brain has formed joint investment funds with established businesses such as Japanese telco KDDI and internet portal Nifty. The firm boasts a strong portfolio of notable Japanese tech startups including Nanapi, Monoco, Rarejob, and Origami. 5Rocks was launched back in September of 2010 and raised 2 billion won ($1.8 million) from Seoul-based Stone Bridge Capital. The startup was previously known as Ablar Company, providing a mobile-based restaurant finder and booking services for Korean consumers. Back in June, the company rebranded itself as 5Rocks and started developing the mobile BI tools, capitalizing on its previous experience in the mobile app business. The company launched a closed beta version of its BI tools back in late June. A month after launch the tools were adopted by many local game developers including Sunday Toz, Link Tomorrow, Gamevil, Load Complete, Rocket Oz, and Momo. In terms of differentiation from similar tools like Micro…
From the right: Nobutake Suzuki (Global Brain), Yasuhiko Yurimoto (Global Brain CEO), Changsu Lee (5Rocks CEO), Jeong Seok Roh (5Rocks CSO).
5Rocks is a Korean startup focused on providing business intelligence (BI) tools for mobile gaming developers. The startup announced today that it has raised 2.55 billion Korean won (approximately $2.3 million) from Japanese venture capital Global Brain.
For the latter, this represents its first investment in a Korean startup. Tokyo-based Global Brain has formed joint investment funds with established businesses such as Japanese telco KDDI and internet portal Nifty. The firm boasts a strong portfolio of notable Japanese tech startups including Nanapi, Monoco, Rarejob, and Origami.
5Rocks was launched back in September of 2010 and raised 2 billion won ($1.8 million) from Seoul-based Stone Bridge Capital. The startup was previously known as Ablar Company, providing a mobile-based restaurant finder and booking services for Korean consumers. Back in June, the company rebranded itself as 5Rocks and started developing the mobile BI tools, capitalizing on its previous experience in the mobile app business.
The company launched a closed beta version of its BI tools back in late June. A month after launch the tools were adopted by many local game developers including Sunday Toz, Link Tomorrow, Gamevil, Load Complete, Rocket Oz, and Momo. In terms of differentiation from similar tools like Micro Strategy and Yellowfin, 5Rocks’ solutions are more niche-focused, and dedicated to improving user retention in mobile gaming apps.
The startup revealed that it will start soon providing a closed beta version to five Japanese game developers: Pokelabo, MyNet, Mutations Studio, KLab and NewsTech. Following its entry into the Japanese market, they are planning business expansion to Mainland China.
Here in Japan, we have seen several startups competing in this space, including planBCD, Growth Push, and Fello. With 5Rocks now also in the arena, these startups will be forced to be deliver even better features moving forward.
(Thanks to beSUCCESS for pointing out this one, and for image above)
Here we go again. Yet another report (mis-)using SocialBakers stats to create the unfounded narrative that Facebook has serious troubles in Japan 1. Taylor Beck over on Fast Company’s Co.Labs blog writes “Why the Japanese Love Twitter But Not Facebook“: Facebook […] is proud of the 21 million users it claims in Japan. Despite alarming reports in June–derived from Facebook’s own self-service ad tool–that Facebook in Japan had declined by 19.5 percent in half a year, Facebook Japan’s new director told the daily Nikkei on August 14 that its numbers are fine: 86% of the 21 million Japanese are using the mobile service (versus the global average 71%), and 72% of mobile Facebook users in Japan use it daily, much higher than the global average, 57%. The “alarming reports” he mentions are based on SocialBakers figures (in turn, based on Facebook’s ad tool, as he says). Taylor goes on to cite another source for good measure: No independent data are available for Facebook’s latest performance in Japan, but The Guardian, among other media, have reported recent declines in Japan and other markets, especially on Facebook’s desktop use. But it turns out this new source is the same as the first….
Here we go again. Yet another report (mis-)using SocialBakers stats to create the unfounded narrative that Facebook has serious troubles in Japan 1. Taylor Beck over on Fast Company’s Co.Labs blog writes “Why the Japanese Love Twitter But Not Facebook“:
Facebook […] is proud of the 21 million users it claims in Japan. Despite alarming reports in June–derived from Facebook’s own self-service ad tool–that Facebook in Japan had declined by 19.5 percent in half a year, Facebook Japan’s new director told the daily Nikkei on August 14 that its numbers are fine: 86% of the 21 million Japanese are using the mobile service (versus the global average 71%), and 72% of mobile Facebook users in Japan use it daily, much higher than the global average, 57%.
The “alarming reports” he mentions arebased on SocialBakers figures (in turn, based on Facebook’s ad tool, as he says).
Taylor goes on to cite another source for good measure:
No independent data are available for Facebook’s latest performance in Japan, but The Guardian, among other media, have reported recent declines in Japan and other markets, especially on Facebook’s desktop use.
But it turns out this new source is the same as the first. Here’s an excerpt from that article from The Guardian:
In the last month, the world’s largest social network has lost 6m US visitors, a 4% fall, according to analysis firm SocialBakers. […] Users are also switching off in Canada, Spain, France, Germany and Japan, where Facebook has some of its biggest followings. A spokeswoman for Facebook declined to comment. (bold is mine)
Nevermind that SocialBakers actually criticizedThe Guardian (twice) on its own blog saying that the figures are estimates intended for marketers, not journalists:
The numbers are from Facebook’s ad interface, and Facebook unlike other companies, updates this data on a pretty regular basis. No other company does that – they give you rough estimations on an irregular basis, which is not enough in todays moving social marketing world.
SocialBakers used to have charts for country user numbers (Japan’s charts used to be here), but they have now been removed because of stuff like this. The Next Web has more on the matter.
So I hope that puts it to rest. If you build alarmist Japan-hates-Facebook narratives with this particular building block as your cornerstone, you’re going to have a bad time2.
Facebook does indeed have challenges ahead in Japan, with the meteoric growth of Line – and on this front the article had lots of good points. But overall, I don’t see any evidence of Facebook having significantly more issues than Twitter, as the link-baity headline suggests.
Just to be clear, I really hesitate to do these little ‘media police’ posts. But on this site we work pretty hard to try to make sure that people understand what’s happening on the Japanese net. And while we’d like to stay positive, sometimes addressing stuff like this is necessary. Tedious, but necessary.↩
Regarding Taylor’s peripheral assertion halfway through his piece that Twitter has caught on in China, he regrettably cites a Forbes article that is based on a very questionable Global Web Index report. I’ve already addressed that whole mess here.↩
See the original story in Japanese. Lenet is a web service that allows users to order a pick up of your laundry and have it delivered to your home when it is done. White Plus, the startup behind the service, announced today it has raised 300 million yen (approximately $3 million) from Japanese investment company Jafco. They said there would be no way to sell laundry services online. When users order online, the startup’s courier will come and pick up the laundry within a couple of hours. Subsequently the laundry will be washed at partnering cleaners and then returned to your door. We had a chance to hear from the startup’s CEO Takayuki Inoshita about why there has been no startup taking advantage of this opportunity so far: When I visited industrial laundry facilities to explore partnerships, many of them got angry at me. They said there would be no way to sell laundry services online. The laundry industry is a space where facilities requires a lot of time to respond to claims from consumers. This frequency depends very much on how a clerk at the shop behaves in the inspection process when receiving laundry from customers. For a laundry…
Lenet is a web service that allows users to order a pick up of your laundry and have it delivered to your home when it is done. White Plus, the startup behind the service, announced today it has raised 300 million yen (approximately $3 million) from Japanese investment company Jafco.
They said there would be no way to sell laundry services online.
When users order online, the startup’s courier will come and pick up the laundry within a couple of hours. Subsequently the laundry will be washed at partnering cleaners and then returned to your door.
We had a chance to hear from the startup’s CEO Takayuki Inoshita about why there has been no startup taking advantage of this opportunity so far:
When I visited industrial laundry facilities to explore partnerships, many of them got angry at me. They said there would be no way to sell laundry services online. The laundry industry is a space where facilities requires a lot of time to respond to claims from consumers. This frequency depends very much on how a clerk at the shop behaves in the inspection process when receiving laundry from customers.
For a laundry company, if you bring your business completely online and experience difficulty in the inspection process, you’ll receive more complaints from customers. That’s why nobody has tried it online so far. But the startup took a unique approach and established its own laundry shop to examine what to do to make the service work. The company’s CMO Ryosuke Saito explains:
We actually built up our own shop where we were testing the inspecting process using laundry that we picked up from our customers. The reception process was the toughest part. We spent three years to learn how to refrain from wrinkling customer’s laundry when packing it for shipping to laundry facilities.
CEO Inoshita has received national qualification as a cleaning master. And as a result, the company has succeeded in standardizing the inspection process and bringing the entire service process online. By partnering with courier companies to pick laundry up from customers, they will complete the inspection process within two hours of receiving an order.
The company’s concept is very similar to that of Raksul providing discount printing services, in terms of make the most of downtime at factories. But unlike Raksul, laundry services are more difficult to standardize, so the company is still limiting its partner facilities for now.
The startup was launched back in 2009 by three co-founders, and they’ve been devoting themselves to developing the service, with a vision of a world where everyone is connected to the internet all the times.
With the new funds, the company plans to intensify its marketing efforts to get its user base to 1 million soon.
Yukari Mitsuhashi
A customer lies on ice cream. (photo via. Hamsoku)
Burger King employee dives into leftover hamburger buns. (photo via m9l)
Pizza Hut employee using pizza dough as a facial mask. (photo via. 2ch)
Takeshi Hirano
Masaru Ikeda
Rick Martin
