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Japanese government to finally lift ban on online drug sales

Masaru Ikeda 2013.06.12

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe announced earlier this week that the government would lift the ban on online drug sales as a part of his economic stimulus package. In Japan, online drug sales has been prohibited not only because of the obvious fear that people would abuse over-the-counter drugs without proper medical consultation, but also — and this is the main reason — is that conventional drug retail chains and entities in the pharmaceutical industry are resisting the change. As some of our readers may know, Hiroshi Mikitani, the head of Japanese commerce giant Rakuten (JASDAQ:4755), has been strongly lobbying the government for the past few years to remove the ban. It should also be noted that company has more than a half stake in the Japan’s largest online drug retailer, Kenko.com (TSE Mothers:3325). That company has established a local subsidiary in Singapore to serve Japanese customers without violating the Japanese drug law. Rakuten’s Mikitani and Kenko.com’s CEO Genri Goto once brought a lawsuit against the government, because the regulation reduced accessibility of drugs and supplements for many who really needed them. Upon the government’s announcement, Kenko.com’s Goto commented: I really appreciate the prime minister’s decisive judgment (to lift the ban)…

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe announced earlier this week that the government would lift the ban on online drug sales as a part of his economic stimulus package. In Japan, online drug sales has been prohibited not only because of the obvious fear that people would abuse over-the-counter drugs without proper medical consultation, but also — and this is the main reason — is that conventional drug retail chains and entities in the pharmaceutical industry are resisting the change.

As some of our readers may know, Hiroshi Mikitani, the head of Japanese commerce giant Rakuten (JASDAQ:4755), has been strongly lobbying the government for the past few years to remove the ban. It should also be noted that company has more than a half stake in the Japan’s largest online drug retailer, Kenko.com (TSE Mothers:3325). That company has established a local subsidiary in Singapore to serve Japanese customers without violating the Japanese drug law.

Rakuten’s Mikitani and Kenko.com’s CEO Genri Goto once brought a lawsuit against the government, because the regulation reduced accessibility of drugs and supplements for many who really needed them. Upon the government’s announcement, Kenko.com’s Goto commented:

I really appreciate the prime minister’s decisive judgment (to lift the ban) because it will permit the sale of “all types of medical drugs” online. In terms of providing pharmaceutical consultations to customers when purchasing drugs, it is needless to discuss whether online or face-to-face consultation is better. To meet the needs and expectations of consumers, we need to discuss what kind of rules will serve them better.

On a related note, Askul (TSE:2678), one of Japan’s largest B2B services dealing in office stationary is reportedly going to join the Japanese online drug market soon. In terms of the variety of drugs available, Askul expects to sell more than 4,000 kinds of drugs on its website, which means stiff competition for Kenko.com which has 4,300 items currently available.

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Japan’s subscription-based service ‘Box To You’ partners with Yahoo Japan

Junya Mori 2013.06.12

See the original post in Japanese. Tokyo-based startup ‘Grow’ has announced a partnership with Yahoo Japan today. This means that Yahoo Japan users will have access to the startup’s subscription-based e-commerce service Box To You. All items provided by the subscription-based service are also available on Yahoo Shopping, which is Yahoo Japan’s e-commerce channel. ‘Box To You’ was launched back in August of 2012, and it gives users a chance to purchase food products presented by celebrities or notable farmers, with products periodically delivered from food producers or farms. Users are able to interact with presenters via Facebook, which may encourage them to sign or update a subscription contract. Grow received seed funding worth $485,000 back in December of 2011, and subsequently completed a second funding round from three Japanese investors back in May of 2013. Details of that investment were not disclosed.

See the original post in Japanese.

Tokyo-based startup ‘Grow’ has announced a partnership with Yahoo Japan today. This means that Yahoo Japan users will have access to the startup’s subscription-based e-commerce service Box To You. All items provided by the subscription-based service are also available on Yahoo Shopping, which is Yahoo Japan’s e-commerce channel.

‘Box To You’ was launched back in August of 2012, and it gives users a chance to purchase food products presented by celebrities or notable farmers, with products periodically delivered from food producers or farms. Users are able to interact with presenters via Facebook, which may encourage them to sign or update a subscription contract.

Grow received seed funding worth $485,000 back in December of 2011, and subsequently completed a second funding round from three Japanese investors back in May of 2013. Details of that investment were not disclosed.

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5 Internet services Japanese women can’t do without

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.06.12

In Japan, the internet is very much mobile. And while people in this country spend a lot of time on their phones in general, it may surprise you to know that women use mobiles 25 minutes longer than men per day, according to a recent Nielsen survey. Women spend about 47 hours per month on their mobile phones, with the most frequently accessed services being chat application Line and popular online mall Rakuten. But beyond those, there are lots of great internet services that I believe that many Japanese women cannot or should not do without. Here is a quick overview: OZmall ¶ OZmall is an information portal operated by Starts Publishing. The website is an online version of OZmagazine, a publication available in Tokyo. OZmall features a huge database, including information about hair and nail salons, hotels, and restaurants. On the site, users can obtain OZmall exclusive deals called ‘Premium Reservation’. For beauty salons, the discount rate can go as high as 70%. OZmall launched all the way back in year 1996, the same year that Yahoo Japan made its debut. The site gets over 3 million monthly unique visitors. Women’s Park ¶ Women’s Park is a review portal…

In Japan, the internet is very much mobile. And while people in this country spend a lot of time on their phones in general, it may surprise you to know that women use mobiles 25 minutes longer than men per day, according to a recent Nielsen survey. Women spend about 47 hours per month on their mobile phones, with the most frequently accessed services being chat application Line and popular online mall Rakuten. But beyond those, there are lots of great internet services that I believe that many Japanese women cannot or should not do without. Here is a quick overview:

OZmall ¶

OZmall is an information portal operated by Starts Publishing. The website is an online version of OZmagazine, a publication available in Tokyo. OZmall features a huge database, including information about hair and nail salons, hotels, and restaurants. On the site, users can obtain OZmall exclusive deals called ‘Premium Reservation’. For beauty salons, the discount rate can go as high as 70%.

OZmall launched all the way back in year 1996, the same year that Yahoo Japan made its debut. The site gets over 3 million monthly unique visitors.

Women’s Park ¶

Women’s Park is a review portal for mothers that launched back in 2000. The public company behind the site is Benesse, whose primary business is education. There are over 4 million registered members on Women’s Park, most of them being mothers in their 20s or 30s. Users can post questions or find answers about topics like pregnancy, parenting, or relationships with neighbors.

Benesse also partnered with popular crowdsourcing services CrowdWorks back in April, providing work opportunities for mothers.

Luna Luna ¶

Luna Luna is a tool that helps women to be more aware of their menstrual cycles. By recording your menstrual period and body temperature, it predicts suitable timings for pregnancy, or help with contraception. The service was originally provided on featured phones, but now there are dedicated applications.

Luna Luna has over two million members, an impressive number, considering that there is no social aspect to this service. It costs 189 yen per month (about $2).

Oisix ¶

Oisix is an online subscription service that delivers fresh, organic vegetables and other foods from strictly selected farmer partners. In its thirteen year history, it has accumulated 750,000 subscription members. Oisix has partnered with over 1,000 farmers, each following the guidelines put in place by the company. Vegetables are harvested only after an order is made.

For any housewives out there looking for quality ingredients, this is a great resource!

Cookpad ¶

Cookpad is Japan’s largest recipe portal, used by over 32 million people as of April of 2013. The company provides apps for smartphones and tablets, with the total number of downloads exceeding 14 million. The recipe portal launched in 1998, and has grown massively ever since. Registered users can upload recipes of their own, and other users can post reviews to those recipes which in a way shows the popularity of a certain recipe.

Users are free to browse recipes, but to search for the most popular ones in a given category, they must pay a premium membership fee of about 300 yen (or $3). The number of premium members was 950,000 as of April of 2013.

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Japan’s impressions of the new Mac Pro: Tasty!

Rick Martin 2013.06.11

It has been less than 24 hours since Apple unveiled the new Mac Pro at WWDC. Since then, it hasn’t been hard to find wisecracks on the interwebs about the computer’s tubular (or Tubelor?) appearance. Maybe it’s a garbage can? A flower pot? Or maybe a long lost cousin of R2-D2? On the Japanese net, the conversation has taken a bit of a creative turn, with a number of observers pointing out that the new Mac Pro would make an awesome cooking pot. We’ve collected a few pictures from some of the matome out there, and presented them below. They don’t really require any translations as the pictures speak for themselves! [View the story “What Japan thinks of the new Mac Pro” on Storify]

It has been less than 24 hours since Apple unveiled the new Mac Pro at WWDC. Since then, it hasn’t been hard to find wisecracks on the interwebs about the computer’s tubular (or Tubelor?) appearance. Maybe it’s a garbage can? A flower pot? Or maybe a long lost cousin of R2-D2?

On the Japanese net, the conversation has taken a bit of a creative turn, with a number of observers pointing out that the new Mac Pro would make an awesome cooking pot. We’ve collected a few pictures from some of the matome out there, and presented them below.

They don’t really require any translations as the pictures speak for themselves!

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Drone helicopter sushi: London restaurant capitalizes on Japan’s futuristic reputation

Rick Martin 2013.06.11

We’ve previously written about how Japan has used technology to improve operations in sushi restaurants, for example, using iPads to take orders, or using IC tags on plates for quick calculation of bills. All this has made the process far more efficient. But one sushi restaurant in London might have jumped the shark when it comes to sushi tech, using a remote-control drone copter as a sort of flying tray to deliver orders to customers at their tables. It’s called the iTray (no points for originality there) and London’s Yo’ Sushi has been using it on a trial basis with plans to expand use to other locations if all goes well. The effort is part of the company’s promotion for a special Japan-inspired burger, which uses toasted rice instead of a bun [1]. According to The Daily Mail chef Mike Lewis thinks that alluding to Japan in this way will resonate with customers, noting “with the YO! Burger and iTray we know guests will feel like they’ve had a taste of the future.” This is an interesting notion, creating a faux-future that customers may think resembles Japan. Of course in actual fact, there is no such sushi helicopter in Japan…

We’ve previously written about how Japan has used technology to improve operations in sushi restaurants, for example, using iPads to take orders, or using IC tags on plates for quick calculation of bills. All this has made the process far more efficient. But one sushi restaurant in London might have jumped the shark when it comes to sushi tech, using a remote-control drone copter as a sort of flying tray to deliver orders to customers at their tables.

It’s called the iTray (no points for originality there) and London’s Yo’ Sushi has been using it on a trial basis with plans to expand use to other locations if all goes well. The effort is part of the company’s promotion for a special Japan-inspired burger, which uses toasted rice instead of a bun [1].

According to The Daily Mail chef Mike Lewis thinks that alluding to Japan in this way will resonate with customers, noting “with the YO! Burger and iTray we know guests will feel like they’ve had a taste of the future.”

This is an interesting notion, creating a faux-future that customers may think resembles Japan. Of course in actual fact, there is no such sushi helicopter in Japan — not that I know of anyway. But Japanese companies can learn a lesson here: Even though the country has lots of economic problems recently, many people in the west still equate the Japan with a magical high tech future.

Brand Japan still has tons of global marketing potential, and that’s something many companies can take advantage of in this way.

I’ve never seen such a hamburger bun here in Tokyo. Maybe it’s an Osaka thing or something. ↩

GungHo’s ‘other’ mobile game, Princess Punt Sweets, passes 6M downloads

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Japanese government to finally lift ban on online drug sales

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