Our readers may recall when we reported about Tokyo-based Hachimenroppi, a unique startup that delivers fish to restaurants using a disruptive approach.
Today the company unveiled a fascinating heat map showing the geographical distribution of fish quantities transacted at every wholesale market and port in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Obviously it gives a clear picture of which areas are relatively out of reach from conventional fish distributors.
In these areas, consumers are less likely to have fresh fish at local stores or restaurants, especially fish delivered on the same day that it’s caught. The startup sees a huge potential in expanding its business to those areas.
See our report on Line Kids Movies in Japanese A few weeks back Line Corporation announced that it would be releasing a movie app for children called Line Kids Movies. That application officially went live today on iOS [1], and if you’re in Japan and have kids, you may want to check it out. Programs included on the platform include Astro Boy, Pokemon, and Doraemon. As we mentioned previously, it’s a paid subscription service. But you can also earn watching time by sharing videos to your friends as well. As you can see in the screenshot below, there’s a timer in the top corner that tracks your remaining video time, an interesting device that will likely serve as a interesting way to bring new users to the service. I personally wouldn’t pay for such a service right now, but if it were ever to become available as a dedicated app on Apple TV, I’d likely give it a try. Android will follow soon. ↩
A few weeks back Line Corporation announced that it would be releasing a movie app for children called Line Kids Movies. That application officially went live today on iOS [1], and if you’re in Japan and have kids, you may want to check it out. Programs included on the platform include Astro Boy, Pokemon, and Doraemon.
As we mentioned previously, it’s a paid subscription service. But you can also earn watching time by sharing videos to your friends as well. As you can see in the screenshot below, there’s a timer in the top corner that tracks your remaining video time, an interesting device that will likely serve as a interesting way to bring new users to the service.
I personally wouldn’t pay for such a service right now, but if it were ever to become available as a dedicated app on Apple TV, I’d likely give it a try.
Mixi has announced today that its popular puzzle RPG game, Monster Strike, now has 5 million users. It initially launched on iOS back in September of 2013, and then on Android in December. Mixi announced in February that it would partner with Chinese internet giant Tencent to bring Monster Strike to China, ostensibly the first localization for the title when it happens. The game is still (to my knowledge) only available in Japanese, but if you’d like to give it a try, it’s a free download on iOS and Google Play. The success of Monster Strike thus far has been credited with helping the company return to profit this year, and former general manager of the game department Hiroki Morite was recently named to become Mixi’s new CEO, leading into what the company is calling a ‘regrowth’ stage. Mixi has been promoting Monster Strike heavily on television in Japan, and its commercials have resulted in the last million users coming in just 18 days. Mixi
Mixi has announced today that its popular puzzle RPG game, Monster Strike, now has 5 million users. It initially launched on iOS back in September of 2013, and then on Android in December.
Mixi announced in February that it would partner with Chinese internet giant Tencent to bring Monster Strike to China, ostensibly the first localization for the title when it happens. The game is still (to my knowledge) only available in Japanese, but if you’d like to give it a try, it’s a free download on iOS and Google Play.
Mixi has been promoting Monster Strike heavily on television in Japan, and its commercials have resulted in the last million users coming in just 18 days.
Line’s ‘Cookie Run’ game (trailer above) has surpasses the 20 million downloads mark (as of April 4th), with strong performance across the Asia region. On Google Play, it’s currently the top game in Thailand and Taiwan, and on iOS it’s the top game in Laos and Indonesia. Such milestones are pretty common for Line’s repertoire of casual games, but Cookie Run (released in late January) has been rather quick, picking up 10 million in its first month and another 10 million in 36 days after that. Via Gamebiz.jp
Line’s ‘Cookie Run’ game (trailer above) has surpasses the 20 million downloads mark (as of April 4th), with strong performance across the Asia region. On Google Play, it’s currently the top game in Thailand and Taiwan, and on iOS it’s the top game in Laos and Indonesia.
Such milestones are pretty common for Line’s repertoire of casual games, but Cookie Run (released in late January) has been rather quick, picking up 10 million in its first month and another 10 million in 36 days after that.
With over 20 million downloads under its belt, Jorte is perhaps Japan’s most successful calendar app. Speaking as more of a power user who integrates a number of tools – Fantastical and Drafts – as a composite solution for my daily schedule, Jorte is not for me. I think it’s a mobile design disaster of overcrowded text [1], but interestingly, it seems makes a lot of sense to mainstream users. And that’s who Jorte is trying to serve. When I spoke to Jorte representatives recently, including founder and CEO Koichi Shimohana, I was told that their aim is not to appeal to geeks, but rather to build a calendar app that the general public would use. And that approach appears to have been very successful considering its large userbase [2]. By implementing a more accessible, traditional-looking calendar design, Jorte is casting its net very wide. Here in Japan that strategy already has brought in a big catch, with still some room to grow domestically. Jorte started on Android in 2010, and so far 90% of their users are on that platform. The Jorte iOS app, released in late 2012, is just catching up to its Android counterpart in terms of…
With over 20 million downloads under its belt, Jorte is perhaps Japan’s most successful calendar app. Speaking as more of a power user who integrates a number of tools – Fantastical and Drafts – as a composite solution for my daily schedule, Jorte is not for me. I think it’s a mobile design disaster of overcrowded text [1], but interestingly, it seems makes a lot of sense to mainstream users.
And that’s who Jorte is trying to serve.
Jorte founder and CEO Koichi Shimohana
When I spoke to Jorte representatives recently, including founder and CEO Koichi Shimohana, I was told that their aim is not to appeal to geeks, but rather to build a calendar app that the general public would use. And that approach appears to have been very successful considering its large userbase [2]. By implementing a more accessible, traditional-looking calendar design, Jorte is casting its net very wide. Here in Japan that strategy already has brought in a big catch, with still some room to grow domestically.
Jorte started on Android in 2010, and so far 90% of their users are on that platform. The Jorte iOS app, released in late 2012, is just catching up to its Android counterpart in terms of features, but iPhone users certainly represent a growth opportunity. I’m told that the company is shooting for 35 million users overall by the end of this year.
Unlike most calendar apps, Jorte has taken more of a content-based approach with its product. There are an incredible amount of things that you can import and track, such as the schedule of your favorite baseball team, your neighborhood’s garbage/recycling pick-up schedule, or a DVD rental release calendar. The company has more than 50 partners providing 10,000 of such ‘interest calendars’. I understand that one of their possible business models is to give a priority listing position to a company or content provider in a certain category [3].
As for Jorte’s overseas performance, it’s global user breakdown is as follows:
Obviously in order to do well abroad, proper localization will be key. And to date Jorte has wisely made use of its user community assist with that effort over on its translation project home page. In the app’s English version, certain UI text still needs work before they can make a serious push to US and European markets. Jorte faces competition from Naver and Daum in Korea, but the size of the Android market there is obviously a very attractive one.
If you’d like to try out Jorte for yourself, I encourage you to give it a try. You can get it for free over on the App Store or on Google Play.
There are options to adjust and customize, but for me, it’s a bit too troublesome. ↩
On iOS, my guess if that that more people use the default calendar app. But I always see Jorte ranking quite high among calendar apps in the productivity category, typically in the top three. ↩
Other monetization methods include paid icon sets, background sets, and more. ↩
The Tomodachi-Mitsui & Co. Leadership Program, a US/Japan cross-cultural entrepreneur exchange, has just begun accepting applications for its 2014 program: Ten Americans and ten Japanese aged 35 or younger and representing the public and private sectors will travel to each others’ country for one week to engage as a group and meet with established and up-and- coming leaders from business and government. The American delegation will travel to Fukuoka and Tokyo, and the Japanese delegation will travel to Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. The application deadline is April 11th for US entrepreneurs, and April 18th for Japanese entrepreneurs. If you’d like to learn more details about the program and how to apply, check out usjapantomodachi.org or this PDF overview.
Ten Americans and ten Japanese aged 35 or younger and representing the public and private sectors will travel to each others’ country for one week to engage as a group and meet with established and up-and- coming leaders from business and government. The American delegation will travel to Fukuoka and Tokyo, and the Japanese delegation will travel to Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.
The application deadline is April 11th for US entrepreneurs, and April 18th for Japanese entrepreneurs. If you’d like to learn more details about the program and how to apply, check out usjapantomodachi.org or this PDF overview.
Junya Mori
Rick Martin
