Ameba Pigg is a virtual community operated by Japanese tech giant CyberAgent, perhaps most famous for its Ameba Blog platform. The virtual community was launched back in Feburary of 2009, and has over 15 million registered users to date. After creating an avatar on Ameba Pigg, users can play around in the virtual community and chat with friends.
This community is especially popular among the younger generation, especially women. According to a study over on Game Business about a year ago, the breakdown of monthly active users was about 35% men and 65% women. Ameba Pigg’s users are so enthusiastic that recently a middle school girl was arrested for stealing virtual currency from friends’ accounts. These currencies are used to purchase items for user’s avatars, which is a major source of income for the company.
Ameba Pigg has successfully pulled off what Second Life attempted to do. As a platform with over 15 million users, brands now seek to promote their business on the service, even politicians sometimes as well. Back in May, Japanese convenience store Lawson, launched an O2O advertisement campaign on the social game Pigg World. Lawson opened an official account on the site and delivered coupons that could be used at its stores, of which there are over 10,000 in Japan. The first coupon was a 30 yen discount from Lawson’s signiture sweets, Premium Rollcake.
CyberAgent also launched a special website on Ameba for the upper house election which will take place on July 21. Already 120 candidates in the election have opened blogs on Ameba, and over on Ameba Pigg, candidates have created their own avatars, and election patrolled around the virtual city of Shibuya to raise awareness of the election. On July 4th, candidates from different parties even gave speeches in the virtual city of Shibuya.
Ameba Pigg lauched its English version back in March of 2010 as Ameba Pico, and was largely accepted by users in Asian countries. The virtual community gained over three million users in six months, but the service closed down in December of last year.
CyberAgent is now aggressive in moving to mobile. The company now operates over 100 mobile apps in total, and many consumers are aware of it because of its TV commercials running in heavy rotation. It will be interesting to see whether the company will be as successful on mobile as much as they have been on PCs, and whether or not it can build the next Ameba Blog or Pigg in the age of mobile.
For more information on how Ameba Pigg works, check out one user’s video below.
Many of my overseas friends who visit Japan for the first time are fascinated when they see multi-story parking lots. The lack of land and the dense population forces Japan to be creative in how space is used. This is also true of housing and office space. Ofon is a kind of self-assembly furniture from Kokuyo Furniture and design studio Nendo, and is a good example of this sort of idea. The concept of Ofon is to “Fully enjoy work in a limited space.” The furniture comes in different parts, such as desks, boxes, and cabinets. Depending on the size and shape of the open space at an office, people can combine the various parts to make furniture that fits and is also functional. The design is sort of similar to Muji in taste, very simple and very minimal. Another neat point about this sort of ‘joiny’ furniture is that the components can be screwed and unscrewed using a regular 500 yen coin. Breaking down the parts is as easy as pushing a button too. It allows office furniture to be moved around and rearraged to modify the work environment, even on a daily basis if you desire. Ofon comes…
Many of my overseas friends who visit Japan for the first time are fascinated when they see multi-story parking lots. The lack of land and the dense population forces Japan to be creative in how space is used. This is also true of housing and office space. Ofon is a kind of self-assembly furniture from Kokuyo Furniture and design studio Nendo, and is a good example of this sort of idea.
The concept of Ofon is to “Fully enjoy work in a limited space.” The furniture comes in different parts, such as desks, boxes, and cabinets. Depending on the size and shape of the open space at an office, people can combine the various parts to make furniture that fits and is also functional. The design is sort of similar to Muji in taste, very simple and very minimal.
Another neat point about this sort of ‘joiny’ furniture is that the components can be screwed and unscrewed using a regular 500 yen coin. Breaking down the parts is as easy as pushing a button too. It allows office furniture to be moved around and rearraged to modify the work environment, even on a daily basis if you desire.
Ofon comes in a range of colors including woody, plain (white), pop, and bitter (black/grey). They are available for purchase over on the official Ofon website.
See the original story in Japanese. The 3D printing business is pretty hot in Japan right now. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve heard lots of news in this space. Many co-working spaces providing 3D printing facilities were launched around the country, and Japanese movie rental service DMM recently launched an online 3D printing order service in partnership with local companies Nomad and TeamLab. As the market is still in the early stages, we still don’t know who will be the main players in this space. But recently I had have an opportunity to visit a company that has a very strong presence in the Japanese 3D printing industry. They are iJet corporation, based out of Yokohama. The company was founded back in May of 2009. And despite the fact that have yet to really make any marketing efforts, hundreds of notable Japanese companies are now included on its list of customers. I had a chance to hear from the company’s founder and president Masaru Kumehara about how the company plans to change the Japanese market. A small company with big potential If you haven’t yet heard of iJet, it is probably because they are cultivating marketing channels in…
The 3D printing business is pretty hot in Japan right now. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve heard lots of news in this space. Many co-working spaces providing 3D printing facilities were launched around the country, and Japanese movie rental service DMM recently launched an online 3D printing order service in partnership with local companies Nomad and TeamLab.
As the market is still in the early stages, we still don’t know who will be the main players in this space. But recently I had have an opportunity to visit a company that has a very strong presence in the Japanese 3D printing industry. They are iJet corporation, based out of Yokohama. The company was founded back in May of 2009. And despite the fact that have yet to really make any marketing efforts, hundreds of notable Japanese companies are now included on its list of customers.
I had a chance to hear from the company’s founder and president Masaru Kumehara about how the company plans to change the Japanese market.
A small company with big potential
If you haven’t yet heard of iJet, it is probably because they are cultivating marketing channels in partnership with retailing companies rather than actually marketing themselves. For example, 3D printing studios such as Aoyama 3D Salon, Omote 3D Shashin Kan, and Recs 3D in Hong Kong do not have their own 3D printing facility on site. But rather they outsource the printing process to iJet. Tokyo Otaku Mode is also preparing to launch an e-commerce channel pretty soon, where they will sell character figures manufactured by the company. Kumehara adds:
Have you ever watched Intel’s TV commercial? They use the tagline “Intel Inside”. That’s what we’re aiming at. Many makers produce personal computers, and they typically have Intel-made chips under the hood. They don’t brandish the name [overtly] but everyone knows that PC makers cannot produce computers without the chips. We want to be somewhat like Intel in the 3D printing business. ¶
iJet’s president Masaru Kumehara
In order to provide the entire 3D printing process as a service, studios must have three things: a 3D scanner, software for processing scanned data, and a 3D printer. But you will need even more than that. In contrast to 2D printing, you will be required to process scanned data to make it fit a 3D printing output, and you’ll also need some finishing touches afterwards. These processes cannot be automated, but rather it is totally artisanal. At the company, professionals called ‘modelers’ (who typically worked as clay-model sculptors or illustrators) are taking care of this difficult production process.
When I visited the company’s factory, they seemed busy finishing many client orders. The scene looked something like a team of animators working on a film, bringing very realistic sculptures into the world [1].
Will traditional print shops shift to 3D printing?
iJet can receive orders for all 3D printing tasks: scanning, data processing, printing and finishing. They also support the installation and operation of 3D scanners for their partner studios. For customers, when you order 3D printing at a studio, your original sculpture will be scanned at their storefronts, and that scanned 3D data will be transmitted to iJet, who takes care of the data processing, printing, finishing, and even delivery.
For 3D printing manufacturers, if you buy a printing device from major makers in the US (such as 3D systems or Strata) it will cost around 15 million yen ($150,000). But in order to make your business profitable after paying for the printer, you will need to receive many printing orders from customers. So Kumehara has a plan to partner with print shop chains in order to better meet consumer needs.
Print shop chains have been differentiating their businesses by providing in-shop photo-processing machines to serve customers better. But of course, with the rise of digital cameras and more advanced consumer printers, they’ve been forced to completely shift their business model. At these shops, 3D printing services may be provided as an additional service, making it more accessible to the every day consumers.
New opportunities in the entertainment industry
The rise of 3D printing is causing a drastic change in the Japanese manufacturing industry. In conventional manufacturing, mold making typically requires several months and cost a lot. But in some cases, iJet can deliver a 3D printed sculpture in as little as a few weeks after receiving an order.
If you create a human figure modeled from a real man, you can add texture so that it looks just like him. Because of its realistic detail and the short delivery time, the company been receiving non-stop orders from the music and animation industries for 3D printed figures. For the entertainment business, you don’t even need to order a large quantity, so customers can easily create and sell something by starting on a limited testing basis. And then based on the the market response, you can shift to mass-production.
The video below is a TV commercial from a Japanese plastic surgery clinic. At the end, you can see many performers wear masks. These were all made by iJet.
Can 3D printing be one of Japan’s core businesses
As some of our readers may know, the Japan Expo exhibition took place in Paris last week. We’re told that it was a big success, even better than previous events. But it’s a reminder that content development is one of Japan’s strong points. As I watched the folks at the iJet factory finishing their 3D sculptures, it reminded me that this will be another sort of animation industry for the country.
Prior to founding this company, Kumehara ran a digital printing company in Yokohama. But the 2011 earthquake severely impacted his business, eventually leading him to shift to 3D printing. As the time progresses, more players will jump into this space and gradually an ecosystem will form. .
iJet looks poised to lead the 3D printing business in Japan. It will be interesting to see how if their meteoric growth can continue.
The company secured funding from investors back in February, but no details about the amount have been disclosed yet.
For me this was a very impressive moment, and I wish I could share pictures or videos. But since most of the projects were related to popular characters or celebrities, it could result in possible rights issues if I do so. ↩
CanCam is a women’s fashion magazine from publishing house Shogakukan, first published in 1982. The magazine is wildly popular among girls, especially those in their early 20s. The magazine’s circulation was high as 800,000 back in 2006, but it has declined since then. Its popularity was largely due to three popular models who appeared on the cover at the time. And now the magazine is searching for its next-generation model online. To be precise, they’re looking on Google+. Anyone over the age of 13 can participate in the contest [1], simply by posting photos of themselves with the dedicated #cancam hashtag. The magazine’s editors are looking for more than just girls who can pose, but also someone with a mix of talents such as styling, editing, and self-expression. The number of +1s a girl receives in a given day is taken into consideration as the magazine chooses one girl per day. Generally speaking, there are two types of girls/womens’ magazines in Japan: Aomoji and Akamoji. Aomoji are magazine that encourage girls to express themselves uniquely, and Harajuku street magazines or Kyary PamyuPamyu would fall under this category. But CanCam is the latter type, focusing more about whether or not boys…
CanCam is a women’s fashion magazine from publishing house Shogakukan, first published in 1982. The magazine is wildly popular among girls, especially those in their early 20s. The magazine’s circulation was high as 800,000 back in 2006, but it has declined since then.
Its popularity was largely due to three popular models who appeared on the cover at the time. And now the magazine is searching for its next-generation model online. To be precise, they’re looking on Google+.
Anyone over the age of 13 can participate in the contest [1], simply by posting photos of themselves with the dedicated #cancam hashtag. The magazine’s editors are looking for more than just girls who can pose, but also someone with a mix of talents such as styling, editing, and self-expression. The number of +1s a girl receives in a given day is taken into consideration as the magazine chooses one girl per day.
Generally speaking, there are two types of girls/womens’ magazines in Japan: Aomoji and Akamoji. Aomoji are magazine that encourage girls to express themselves uniquely, and Harajuku street magazines or Kyary PamyuPamyu would fall under this category. But CanCam is the latter type, focusing more about whether or not boys will like them. So in that sense, Google Plus is a sensible choice for the magazine. Looking at the comments on the model’s pictures, it’s not surprising that many of them are boys.
CanCam’s next generation model audition will start on July 23rd and will run for 100 days. The final winner will receive a 10 million yen contract fee (about $100,000). If you’d like to follow along, you can check out CanCam Plus to see how the audition is going.
On a related note, Google+ has previously been leveraged by Japanese girl supergroup AKB48, as we mentioned in a past article.
Being a Japanese national is not an requirement. ↩
One of the great things about the Internet Age is that we get to see lots of collaborative projects taking place across great distances. A good example of this is the Mr. Shingu Paper Zoo app, a game created by a three-man Scottish development studio, Stormcloud Games, and a Japanese origami expert Fumiaki Shingu. Despite living on opposite sides if the world, the two parties managed to collaborate on the Paper Zoo game, which is a combination of origami instruction and a virtual pet game (think Tamagotchi). The game itself is a fun little diversion for anyone with young kids, or for anyone with an interest in learning origami. The app encourages them to fold a (virtual) piece of paper into one of many possible animals, such as hippos, pelicans, or elephants. Of course attentive kids or ones with parental guidance can even try making them with real paper. After that you can care for their animals too, dress them up, feed them, and even clean up their poops. Check out the short trailer below to learn a little more. Stormcloud’s managing director Frank Arnot explained a little about how this collaboration got started: We found Fumiaki via his website,…
One of the great things about the Internet Age is that we get to see lots of collaborative projects taking place across great distances. A good example of this is the Mr. Shingu Paper Zoo app, a game created by a three-man Scottish development studio, Stormcloud Games, and a Japanese origami expert Fumiaki Shingu.
Despite living on opposite sides if the world, the two parties managed to collaborate on the Paper Zoo game, which is a combination of origami instruction and a virtual pet game (think Tamagotchi). The game itself is a fun little diversion for anyone with young kids, or for anyone with an interest in learning origami. The app encourages them to fold a (virtual) piece of paper into one of many possible animals, such as hippos, pelicans, or elephants. Of course attentive kids or ones with parental guidance can even try making them with real paper. After that you can care for their animals too, dress them up, feed them, and even clean up their poops. Check out the short trailer below to learn a little more.
Stormcloud’s managing director Frank Arnot explained a little about how this collaboration got started:
We found Fumiaki via his website, Origami Club, and as soon as we saw his origami we knew he was the person we wanted to partner with for the game. His origami was very Nintendo-esque – it was simple but very cute and above all, fun.
But then there was the language gap to overcome, since Frank doesn’t speak Japanese and Shingu doesn’t speak English. How could the two parties possibly work together?
Frank credits a government body called Scottish Development International which facilitates exports and overseas business. An SDI representative made contact with Shingu and presented the game idea, and then found a translator to help with the contract. Frank notes that the project likely would not have been possible without their help.
It’s great to see this kind of collaboration succeed thanks to help from a a body like this. I’m not aware of many organizations that exists here in Japan for this purpose (my colleagues point out Jetro), but it would be great to see some formalized efforts as more and more Japanese companies look abroad.
If you’d like to try our the Paper Zoo app, you can get it for $2.99 over on the App Store. An Android version is said to be coming soon.
See the original story in Japanese. TwitCasting is a mobile livestreaming app developed by Tokyo-based startup Moi Corp. The company’s founding CEO Yoski Akamatsu has unveiled that the service recently surpassed 2.7 millions users and is expected to hit the 3 million milestone by the middle of next month. The company seems to be surprised by its rapid user growth. They ran a promotional campaign giving away special cushions to users. The campaign was intended to continue for a week, but the rewards were running out in about six hours. This was totally unexpected, as Akamatsu explains: We spent almost one month preparing the rewards. It feels like we spent three days to cook a stew, but someone came and ate it in just 10 minutes. ¶ The service’s main user base is teenagers, a group that was just on summer vacation which resulted in lots of activity. In addition, Japan is currently in the middle of the lower-house election campaign, and people are using the app for to livestream soapbox speeches by law-maker candidates. For users, it’s easy to find such speeches using the app. Interestingly, TwitCasting is picking up many users in overseas markets too. When Brazilian protesters…
50,000 Brazilians viewed the protest using the app.
TwitCasting is a mobile livestreaming app developed by Tokyo-based startup Moi Corp. The company’s founding CEO Yoski Akamatsu has unveiled that the service recently surpassed 2.7 millions users and is expected to hit the 3 million milestone by the middle of next month.
The company seems to be surprised by its rapid user growth. They ran a promotional campaign giving away special cushions to users. The campaign was intended to continue for a week, but the rewards were running out in about six hours. This was totally unexpected, as Akamatsu explains:
We spent almost one month preparing the rewards. It feels like we spent three days to cook a stew, but someone came and ate it in just 10 minutes. ¶
The service’s main user base is teenagers, a group that was just on summer vacation which resulted in lots of activity. In addition, Japan is currently in the middle of the lower-house election campaign, and people are using the app for to livestream soapbox speeches by law-maker candidates. For users, it’s easy to find such speeches using the app.
Interestingly, TwitCasting is picking up many users in overseas markets too. When Brazilian protesters recently clashed after the Confederations Cup final, 50,000 users tuned in to the stream, hitting about 20,000 viewings at its peak. Some local news media such as Tarde or Info introduced the app as they reported the story. Akamatsu added:
A total of 900,000 Brazilians used our app during the Confederations Cup. Brazilians typically prefer Twitter to Facebook, but for us, about 80% of our users were using Facebook login. Perhaps people are using Facebook for more political activities? The protests are now over and Brazil has calmed down. But we’ll be thinking further about intensifying our global expansions. ¶
Moi Corp. previously fundraised $634,000 from East Ventures and other investors back in May. Let’s keep an eye on the young company to see how they evolve.