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RecoChoku has dominated mobile music in Japan, but will foreign players change that?

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.06.19

We’ve heard rumors that Swedish music streaming service Spotify is preparing to make its debut in the Japanese market. But so far, there has been no official announcement. Meanwhile here in Japan, the service that’s getting most of the mobile music attention is RecoChoku Best. RecoChoku has operated various music entertainment services since way back in 2001, mainly downloadable ringtones for feature phones.

RecoChoku Best was launched in March of this year and provides over one million songs (mostly J-Pop) for mobile users for a monthly fee of 980 yen. With ‘Playing Your Memories’ as its theme concept, the app features songs by popular Japanese artists going as far back as the 1960s. Users can search for a particular song or choose from over 350 existing playlists.

For many Japanese people who frequently commute to places by train, the app has a caching feature to save your favorites (up to 1600 songs) so music can be enjoyed even where there is no mobile reception. RecoChoku also has a feature to play a digest of playlist and artists, as well as suggesting related artists, thus allowing users to discover new music. You can also listen to some songs along with lyrics, and I’m sure many karaoke fans would find this useful.

In a recent interview with Japanese entertainment portal Urepia, the developers of RecoChoku Best explained a little more about the service:

The difference between foreign music streaming services and RecoChoku is that we provide a context for listening to music. We have years of experince and knowledge about what Japanese people prefer when listening to music. Users can feel familiarity with the playlists that we offer on RecoChoku.

RecoChoku is promoting itself through collaborations with brands such as Coca-Cola Japan. In May, the two companies began a campaign where an exclusive playlist is made availble to the users when by scanning QR codes on coke bottles. Users can win a free trial of RecoChoku for up to 29 days.

There is a 14-day trial period available for anyone who wants to try out RecoChoku on iOS or on Android. The company has plans to release a web version sometime this summer.

RecoChoku recently won an award at MM Soken 2013, an event which aims to accelerate innovation in the tech industry. But while it has excelled in Japan so far, it will be interesting to see if its place in the market changes as foreign competitors begin to sneak in.

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Japan’s CloudDock has big plans for enterprise

Rick Martin 2013.06.18

Readers may remember when we mentioned Japan-based cloud service CloudDock back in April at the Echelon Tokyo satellite event. The company which operates it, Eugrid, is just a five-man team, but their offering is extremely ambitious. As we mentioned in our previous report, CloudDock is an enterprise cloud solution for Windows and iOS, that lets you keep all your user information, like documents and pictures, stored in the cloud, as opposed to storing it locally, or syncing a local file to the cloud. This is a big contrast to consumer cloud services like Dropbox, which can still be a security problem if your device is lost or stolen. The folks at CloudDock point out that some companies even have strict policies in place prohibiting employees from taking PCs out of the office for this very reason. With CloudDock, which launched in beta back in February, users can see their cloud files only after they login to the service. It’s at that point that icons are shown representing your files – but they are still not downloaded onto the device until you click on them. Upon logout, the device memory is wiped clean again. You can get a more visual explanation…

As we mentioned in our previous report, CloudDock is an enterprise cloud solution for Windows and iOS, that lets you keep all your user information, like documents and pictures, stored in the cloud, as opposed to storing it locally, or syncing a local file to the cloud. This is a big contrast to consumer cloud services like Dropbox, which can still be a security problem if your device is lost or stolen. The folks at CloudDock point out that some companies even have strict policies in place prohibiting employees from taking PCs out of the office for this very reason.

With CloudDock, which launched in beta back in February, users can see their cloud files only after they login to the service. It’s at that point that icons are shown representing your files – but they are still not downloaded onto the device until you click on them. Upon logout, the device memory is wiped clean again. You can get a more visual explanation in the promo video above.

What I find most intriguing about CloudDock’s game plan to date is that the company expects to support other public cloud storage services (as opposed to providing their own cloud storage or on-premise storage), such as Skydrive or Google Drive, but still letting users benefit from their end-to-end security enhancement solution.

The folks from CloudDock just recently attended the main Echelon conference in Singapore, and they tell me that they learned a lot while there, meeting lots of VCs and companies. A representative explained:

Singapore and the surrounding regions were pretty different from Japan. Especially when we look at security, most SMEs don’t care about it. Dropbox is fine for them. Very large companies such as banks and government related agencies do care, but it will be very difficult for a tiny company like us to penetrate. This is the same as Japan.

For now, I understand that the company will stay focused on their home market of Japan in order to “strengthen the fundamentals”. But as feedback has been very positive so far, they also want to spread the word about their service internationally too.

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Japan-based design site Creatty launches e-commerce channels

Takeshi Hirano 2013.06.18

See the original story in Japanese. Creatty is a website that allows creators to show off their work online. Connehito, the Japan-based startup that operates the service, recently announced an e-commerce channel called Creatty Store, where creators can sell their works online without inventory. Since its launch back in April of 2012, the website has acquired more than 20,000 fine arts and crafts items from creators. The service is available to access for free on PC, iOS, and Android platforms. On this new e-commerce channel, the startup plans to feature standout designs posted on the platform and help creators to manufacture them for sale. At the time of launch, items available include skins for smartphone handsets and t-shirts only. The startup will take care of manufacturing and shipping, and pay a commission (upon sale) to those who have designed the products. This is a somewhat unusual approach to its business scheme. For many C2C market sites dealing in handmade crafts (such as Etsy), users sell their works online and the platform will take a commission afterwards. The startup originally considered a concept similar to what other C2C services are doing, but instead they stand in the middle between creators and…

See the original story in Japanese.

Creatty is a website that allows creators to show off their work online. Connehito, the Japan-based startup that operates the service, recently announced an e-commerce channel called Creatty Store, where creators can sell their works online without inventory.

Since its launch back in April of 2012, the website has acquired more than 20,000 fine arts and crafts items from creators. The service is available to access for free on PC, iOS, and Android platforms. On this new e-commerce channel, the startup plans to feature standout designs posted on the platform and help creators to manufacture them for sale. At the time of launch, items available include skins for smartphone handsets and t-shirts only.

The startup will take care of manufacturing and shipping, and pay a commission (upon sale) to those who have designed the products. This is a somewhat unusual approach to its business scheme. For many C2C market sites dealing in handmade crafts (such as Etsy), users sell their works online and the platform will take a commission afterwards. The startup originally considered a concept similar to what other C2C services are doing, but instead they stand in the middle between creators and buyers. We asked CEO Shunsuke Oyu about why he chose this scheme. He explained:

For craft creators, we thought it would be very simple to photograph the works they produce and simply sell them online. That was our original concept. We developed a web app for selling them online, but very few people used it. We learned the market was not quite mature [enough]. And it was probably hard for them to make goods by themselves.

Typical creators using the service are generally folks into fine arts. And it’s likely difficult for them to manage an inventory of products like experienced e-commerce merchandisers.

Mr. Oyu explains that the startup will add more creators on e-commerce channels with plans to have up to 50 creators in the coming months. They are expecting to start dealing with canvas prints and fashion items as well.

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Fashion commerce is heating up in Japan

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.06.18

Fashion commerce is a fast-growing industry in Japan, a 104 billion yen market (over a billion dollars) according to the nation’s Ministry of Economy. Many companies are trying to get a piece of this very fruitful internet sector. And here are just a few of the ones that have caught our eyes recently. Emoclo Marketplace is a shopping site that works similar to Locondo, allowing users to try on clothes before they buy. Users can try clothes at home and send them back (at no cost) if they don’t meet expectations. You can buy up to five items at once and have a week to decide. At the time of launch, there are over ten fashion shops on Emoclo, with over 500 items available. We previously mentioned popular fashion site Zozotown in our previous article about Japan’s hottest online shopping malls. The company is expected to release its Wear app sometime soon, and that will certainly help its mobile strategy (see their promo video below). The app allows users to archive items that they like in offline shops by scanning the price tag, and then sharing and discussing these fashion items with other users. Another Japanese fashion e-commerce service with…

Emoclo Marketplace is a shopping site that works similar to Locondo, allowing users to try on clothes before they buy. Users can try clothes at home and send them back (at no cost) if they don’t meet expectations. You can buy up to five items at once and have a week to decide. At the time of launch, there are over ten fashion shops on Emoclo, with over 500 items available.

We previously mentioned popular fashion site Zozotown in our previous article about Japan’s hottest online shopping malls. The company is expected to release its Wear app sometime soon, and that will certainly help its mobile strategy (see their promo video below). The app allows users to archive items that they like in offline shops by scanning the price tag, and then sharing and discussing these fashion items with other users.

Another Japanese fashion e-commerce service with a long history is Buyma. It launched back 2004 and will expand to the U.S. market as Avenue K. At Buyma, Japanese people who reside in overseas countries function as local buyers. Imported brand items are often more expensive in Japan, but by using Buyma, people in Japan have access to the most recent items that have not yet been sold in Japan — and at a cheaper price too. Avenue K will be operated by their partner ImageNetwork. Beyond Japan, Buyma has already expanded to Korea.

These are just a few of the companies that are active in online fashion these days. Hopefully in the future we can continue to tell you about even more.

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7 services cooked up at Cookpad’s recent hackathon in Tokyo

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.06.18

Cookpad is the biggest recipe portal in Japan. We mentioned it in our recent post titled 5 internet services Japanese women can’t do without. The company is considered one of the most successful internet business in the nation, with over 30 million monthly users and a profit margin that exceeds 50%. Cookpad is also well-known for its international team, especially it’s development and design departments. With such a background, the company’s hackathons often turn out to be very popular events. The company held its 24-hour Hackathon Contest back in April. This event aimed to create solutions for everyday problems, with a focus on making the time between waking up and going to the office/school more useful. The winners of this 24-hour Hackathon Competition included some interesting services. We thought we’d share a few of them here. 1. Decopochi ¶ Decopochi nabbed first place with its DIY design service. It allows users to create their own original pochi-bukuro, or special bags used to give monetary gifts in Japan. The developer is a designer himself and wanted to develop a service to let older people be more creative. (Pochi-bukuro is often used to give children their allowance.) 2. Workout Relief ¶ Workout…

Cookpad is the biggest recipe portal in Japan. We mentioned it in our recent post titled 5 internet services Japanese women can’t do without. The company is considered one of the most successful internet business in the nation, with over 30 million monthly users and a profit margin that exceeds 50%. Cookpad is also well-known for its international team, especially it’s development and design departments. With such a background, the company’s hackathons often turn out to be very popular events.

The company held its 24-hour Hackathon Contest back in April. This event aimed to create solutions for everyday problems, with a focus on making the time between waking up and going to the office/school more useful.

The winners of this 24-hour Hackathon Competition included some interesting services. We thought we’d share a few of them here.

1. Decopochi ¶

Decopochi nabbed first place with its DIY design service. It allows users to create their own original pochi-bukuro, or special bags used to give monetary gifts in Japan.

The developer is a designer himself and wanted to develop a service to let older people be more creative. (Pochi-bukuro is often used to give children their allowance.)

2. Workout Relief ¶

Workout Relief is a simple service that aims to assist people with some kind of physical pain. It allows users to do light stretches and exercises, and they can post their original moves as well as vote for the most effective excercises. This product emerged from a real need, as the developer’s father ran into this sort of problem.

3. Shumi Search ¶

Shumi means ‘hobby’ in Japanese. And this service is especially for seniors with more time on their hands after retirement. Shumi Search attempts to solve such problems allowing its users to find hobbies that they can enjoy.

4. Urlife ¶

Time becomes more valuable as we get older. The Urelife app, which won second place at the competition, very conveniently allows you to see how precious the rest of your life is. You can set goals like meeting your parents at least twice a year, and it will then tell you how many times you are projected to meet them in your lifetime. This is a very handy tool for getting a big-picture overview of your life!

5. Journey ¶

There are lots of apps out there that measure how far you have moved or walked in a day. Journey does this too (by connecting to Fitbit), but it will introduces different countries of the world according to your distance travelled. For example, if you have walked 17,785 steps in a given day, the app will take you to Falkland Islands which is 17,785 kilometers away.

6. Okusuri Nonda? ¶

This app’s name can be translated as ‘Have you taken your meds?!’ It adds a gamification element to the mundane task of taking your medecine. Sometimes it can be hard to remember when to take your medicine. By tapping on the medicine drawing on the screen, you can keep track of how many meds you have taken so far.

7. MaybeTodo ¶

MaybeTodo won a special award for its very creative concept. These days everyone is running around to check things off their to do list. But MaybeTodo wants you to forget your tasks so you can truly enjoy life. Enter your task and the due date, and as time passes, the task gets lighter in color and automatically dissapears on the due date.

The winners of the 24-hour Hackathon Competition won a total of 500,000 yen (or about $5,000) in rewards, with the first prize being 300,000 yen.

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Japan’s Street Academy raises $420,000

Takeshi Hirano 2013.06.18

See the original story in Japanese. IntheStreet, the startup behind private lesson marketplace Street Academy, announced today that it has raised 40 million yen (approximately $420,000) from CyberAgent Ventures, Genuine Startups [1], and other angel investors. The service gives users an opportunity to teach something to someone else. By listing the topic that you can teach, you can then easily create a page announcing your lecture. When you teach your lesson, you will receive a fee from the student, and pay 15% as a commission to the startup. The startup’s CEO Takashi Fujimoto started his carrier as an engineer, and he was involved in major projects at an investment fund company. As AirBnB-like offline services have emerged, he wanted to launch a long-tail C2C business by himself. As he started exploring how he could execute his business, the learning community site Skillshare was launched in the US in 2011. Mr. Fujimoto explains: I thought this is it. We are told that the private lesson market is worth 2 trillion yen ($21 billon) in Japan. My wife provides a lesson where she’s teaching how to bake a cake, but she has a problem in terms of acquiring students. Small cooking schools…

See the original story in Japanese.

IntheStreet, the startup behind private lesson marketplace Street Academy, announced today that it has raised 40 million yen (approximately $420,000) from CyberAgent Ventures, Genuine Startups [1], and other angel investors.

The service gives users an opportunity to teach something to someone else. By listing the topic that you can teach, you can then easily create a page announcing your lecture. When you teach your lesson, you will receive a fee from the student, and pay 15% as a commission to the startup.

The startup’s CEO Takashi Fujimoto started his carrier as an engineer, and he was involved in major projects at an investment fund company. As AirBnB-like offline services have emerged, he wanted to launch a long-tail C2C business by himself. As he started exploring how he could execute his business, the learning community site Skillshare was launched in the US in 2011.

Mr. Fujimoto explains:

I thought this is it. We are told that the private lesson market is worth 2 trillion yen ($21 billon) in Japan. My wife provides a lesson where she’s teaching how to bake a cake, but she has a problem in terms of acquiring students. Small cooking schools still rely on distributing hand-outs for their promotion. This caused me to launch the startup.

In terms of marketplace sites connecting users with private lessons, Cyta.jp is still ahead of Street Academy. What’s the difference between the two services? Street Academy does not check whether teachers can provide the lessons/skills they claim. In contrast to that, Cyta.jp allows teachers to post the description after an interview, in an effort to verify the quality of lessons presented on the website. Fujimoto adds:

In terms of managing quality, our service relies on market principles, which is similar to what Tabelog (a Japanese restaurant review site) is doing. We understand it’s really hard to catch up with our competitors. However, we expect to overcome this by giving users more useful information such as what they have learned in the past, and what background a teacher has.

With these funds, the startup plans to intensify its marketing efforts with the goal of acquiring more than 10,000 students in a year.

Genuine Startups is an investment fund spun off from Tokyo-based startup incubator Movida Japan. ↩

RecoChoku has dominated mobile music in Japan, but will foreign players change that?

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Japan-based design site Creatty launches e-commerce channels

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