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B Dash Camp panel: New tides in social B2B

Rick Martin 2013.04.22

This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2013. The afternoon session of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2013 included a panel on the changes in B2B business brought about by the social web. Participants in the discussion included: Akira Kurabayashi, senior director, corporate development Koki Uchiyama, CEO, Hottolink Inc. Masahide Nakamura, President and CEO, Allied Architects Inc. Moderator: Yasuhisa Tsubata, Reservation service unit manager, media services, Yahoo Japan 16:05 – Kurabayashi: “In the US, social networks exist in business, not just in the consumers space. There are so many players in the business social area.” He explains a little about Marketing Cloud, their leading social marketing platform. 16:08 – Nakamura: About 3000 companies in Japan using social B2B, but we figure the number of companies that will use social for business will increase. […] We think this is like 15 years ago in the consumer space, where things are only just starting to take off. 16:12 – Tsubata notes that maybe if more people use Line for B2B then maybe it can boom. He observes Line CEO Morikawa taking notes in the front row. Mr. Uchiyama says jokingly that he’d like to partner with them! 16:15…

This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2013.

The afternoon session of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2013 included a panel on the changes in B2B business brought about by the social web. Participants in the discussion included:

Akira Kurabayashi, senior director, corporate development
Koki Uchiyama, CEO, Hottolink Inc.
Masahide Nakamura, President and CEO, Allied Architects Inc.
Moderator: Yasuhisa Tsubata, Reservation service unit manager, media services, Yahoo Japan

16:05 – Kurabayashi: “In the US, social networks exist in business, not just in the consumers space. There are so many players in the business social area.” He explains a little about Marketing Cloud, their leading social marketing platform.

16:08 – Nakamura: About 3000 companies in Japan using social B2B, but we figure the number of companies that will use social for business will increase. […] We think this is like 15 years ago in the consumer space, where things are only just starting to take off.

16:12 – Tsubata notes that maybe if more people use Line for B2B then maybe it can boom. He observes Line CEO Morikawa taking notes in the front row. Mr. Uchiyama says jokingly that he’d like to partner with them!

16:15 – Nakamura: There’s lots of information moving about these days, and for example, if you eat at a restaurant you may recommend it online, and this sort of social data is abundant online — and search might not be the most efficient to sort though it. I think the volume of data will only get larger, and we’re still in the early stages of sorting though it.

16:23 – Uchiyama: In 2010 there was a stock forecast system using social media, so I think with things like that there’s not a big gap between the US and Japan. […] On Japanese companies not yet being aggressive: Japanese companies are often thinking about past cases, rather than new ideas. […] The literacy level of the customers is very different as well.

16:27 – Nakamura: Asia’s GDP is projected to soon account for 52% of the world, so I don’t think it’s merely about exporting US services to these regions, but you also have to localize of course.

16:31 – Tsubata: B2B is a good sector to invest in, and there are lots of companies looking to market on the web and in the social world, and I think there’s lots of potential there.

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Line Corporation’s CEO Morikawa on fast and furious global expansion

Rick Martin 2013.04.22

This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2013. In the opening session of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2013, we had a chance to hear from the CEO of Line Corporation, Akira Morikawa. The company’s popular Line chat app now boasts over 140 million users around the world, and over 45 million in its home market of Japan. The moderator, Ryuichi Nishida, tried to ask if they have a next target goal in terms of users, but Morikawa-san declined to bite on that one. Morikawa explained a little about the recent rebranding of the company from NHN Japan to Line Corporation, explaining that this decision was largely based on creating a brand intended for global expansion. Mr. Nishida asked about what the company’s localizing strategy is, and whether they plan to establish regional subsidiaries in all the countries or regions where they operate. Interestingly, Morikawa-san explained that they do not, noting that they prefer to operate in a more flexible manner, as a sort of borderless company. He says that when they find some success in a certain region, they do fly there and do business – but they don’t need to be there perpetually. He…

This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2013.

In the opening session of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2013, we had a chance to hear from the CEO of Line Corporation, Akira Morikawa. The company’s popular Line chat app now boasts over 140 million users around the world, and over 45 million in its home market of Japan. The moderator, Ryuichi Nishida, tried to ask if they have a next target goal in terms of users, but Morikawa-san declined to bite on that one.

Morikawa explained a little about the recent rebranding of the company from NHN Japan to Line Corporation, explaining that this decision was largely based on creating a brand intended for global expansion.

Mr. Nishida asked about what the company’s localizing strategy is, and whether they plan to establish regional subsidiaries in all the countries or regions where they operate. Interestingly, Morikawa-san explained that they do not, noting that they prefer to operate in a more flexible manner, as a sort of borderless company. He says that when they find some success in a certain region, they do fly there and do business – but they don’t need to be there perpetually. He added:

Maybe we were lucky to succeed in each market, but we didn’t think very deeply about [each one]. Japanese companies think too much. They devise a way to do the best [thing] from the start, and then you can’t really go anywhere.

This somewhat echoes his sentiments from last week at the Japan New Economic Summit, with more of an emphasis on speed and agility. This is pretty unique for a company in Japan, and it’s likely the characteristic that contributed to their unique success thus far.

For more information on the growth of Line, please check out our interactive Line Timeline which chronicles its growth from its launch back in 2011 up until the present day.

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7 April Fools’ Day internet pranks from Japan

Rick Martin 2013.04.01

April Fools’ Day traditionally doesn’t mean much in Japan. But it seems as though a number of companies have jumped on the bandwagon this year, publishing some interesting online pranks. We’re not fans of screwing with our readers, so you won’t get any fake articles from us. But we do still have a sense of humor, so here’s a quick summary of some of the more notable ones from around the Japanese interwebs today. But be warned, some of them are better than others! 1. Au’s zzzPhoneBed ¶ Au’s April Fools effort is simultaneously the best and the worst joke of the day in Japan. The premise is that since we use our mobile phones in bed so much, that the company just decided to produce a bed-sized smartphone. It lets you exercise by running on top of it like a treadmill as it scrolls, and you can even buy sheet covers for it if you like. It’s called the zzzPhoneBed, and no, it doesn’t actually exist. Regrettably, the promo video for the zzzPhoneBed does exist. Remember that awful Domino’s x Hatsune Miku promo video? Yeah, well this is worse. I realize it’s for a Japanese audience, but man, it’s…

April Fools’ Day traditionally doesn’t mean much in Japan. But it seems as though a number of companies have jumped on the bandwagon this year, publishing some interesting online pranks. We’re not fans of screwing with our readers, so you won’t get any fake articles from us. But we do still have a sense of humor, so here’s a quick summary of some of the more notable ones from around the Japanese interwebs today. But be warned, some of them are better than others!

1. Au’s zzzPhoneBed ¶

Au’s April Fools effort is simultaneously the best and the worst joke of the day in Japan. The premise is that since we use our mobile phones in bed so much, that the company just decided to produce a bed-sized smartphone. It lets you exercise by running on top of it like a treadmill as it scrolls, and you can even buy sheet covers for it if you like. It’s called the zzzPhoneBed, and no, it doesn’t actually exist.

Regrettably, the promo video for the zzzPhoneBed does exist. Remember that awful Domino’s x Hatsune Miku promo video? Yeah, well this is worse. I realize it’s for a Japanese audience, but man, it’s painful to watch. Truly cringe-worthy.

2. Domino’s Pizza in a can ¶

Speaking of Domino’s Japan, the company has a new April Fools page set up today to promote its special ‘Pizza in a can’. Priced at just 401 yen (i.e. 04/01). This is actually a smartly executed April Fools joke, because when you try to buy it, Domino’s apologizes and gives you a 20% off coupon! (h/t ascii.jp)

3. Google ‘Patapata’ text input system ¶

It’s becoming something of an April Fools tradition for Google Japan to roll out a new text input method. this year is no exception, with its ‘Patapata’ version of its Japanese input editor. Essentially, it’s scrolls characters rapidly in front of you, and you’re to push a button when you see the one you wish to type. Fun, hey? You can see Google’s official explanation in the promo video below. And for anyone who wants to try it out, there is a functioning web version online that you can try!

4. Japanese movie site transforms into ‘Forcebook’ ¶

Here’s a fun page from Japan’s movie-focused website eiga.com. Today it has a fun landing page presenting users with a Star Wars style scrolling text intro, explaining how the internet has affected even Jedi Knights:

Not so long ago, in a galaxy far away.

Episode X. Forcebook.

As information technology swept across the galaxy, even Jedi Knights began to familiarize themselves with the internet. But it has caused social isolation and depression among the Jedi Knights, sending them one after another to the dark side of the internet.

Master Yoda takes the matter seriously when Luke Skywalker is forced to shut down his blog after a nasty smear campaign. To improve the Jedi Knights’ communication skills Master Yoda hires IT consultants from Coruscant and sets up a new social networking service called Forcebook.

Clicking anywhere on the page, however, presents you with an apologetic message saying: ‘Sorry, today is April Fools. May the force be with you!”.

5. Dwango’s i to Tunes ¶

Japanese internet company Dwango has a fun April Fools product called ‘i to Tunes’, which claims to be a music streaming service that involves the use of tin cans and yarn (I’m pretty familiar with this technology from back in kindergarden, actually). Signing up for the supposed application brings you to a page that says i to Tunes is undergoing maintenance, with a footnote explaining that today is also April Fools.

6. Ameba Pigg overrun with pigs ¶

If you’re a member of the Amebe Pigg virtual world, you’ll notice when you sign in today that avatars have been changed into actual pig faces. Chiho Komoriya has some fun screenshots over on VS Media, if you’d like to learn more about this April Fools overhaul.

7. Cross-dressing clock ¶

Readers might be familiar with a fun web service called ‘Bijin Tokei’ or ‘beautiful girl clock’, which uses pretty models holding up signs showing you what time it is. Today there’s a weird parody of Bijin Tokei from the folks over at web production company core-tech.jp. It’s called Cross-dressing clock, and similarly, it features women holding up signs to show the time. The only thing is, these women are not actually women at all.

If you’d like to browse even more fun April Fools jokes from Japan, check out CNet Japan’s extensive round-up, or search for #4fooljp on Twitter.

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With over 4M downloads, crazy ‘Battle Cats’ game from Japan still has some surprises in store

SCORE 1,648

Rick Martin 2013.03.29

One of my very favorite mobile games over the past year has been Battle Cats (known in Japan as Nyanko) from Kyoto-based game developer Ponos. It’s a pretty simple tower defense title, but the unique cat heros and strange enemies give the game a very distinct, very weird character. Even though it only launched back in November, the title already has more than 4 million downloads, and that’s without the assistance of any of the major game platforms like GREE or Mobage [1]. I recently had a chance to speak with a Ponos representative about their very unusual game. I was surprised to discover that there was an i-mode version of Battle Cats before these latest smartphone titles for Android and iOS. And while the Japanese and English version have some differences, both were created to have the appearance of a movie parody. While the title can’t really be called a runaway hit, I find I keep coming back to it because I just have a hunch that there’s a lot of potential for more growth here. Our video demo of Battle Cats over on Youtube has a crazy amount of comments from overseas users, which has really surprised me….

One of my very favorite mobile games over the past year has been Battle Cats (known in Japan as Nyanko) from Kyoto-based game developer Ponos. It’s a pretty simple tower defense title, but the unique cat heros and strange enemies give the game a very distinct, very weird character. Even though it only launched back in November, the title already has more than 4 million downloads, and that’s without the assistance of any of the major game platforms like GREE or Mobage [1].

I recently had a chance to speak with a Ponos representative about their very unusual game. I was surprised to discover that there was an i-mode version of Battle Cats before these latest smartphone titles for Android and iOS. And while the Japanese and English version have some differences, both were created to have the appearance of a movie parody.

While the title can’t really be called a runaway hit, I find I keep coming back to it because I just have a hunch that there’s a lot of potential for more growth here. Our video demo of Battle Cats over on Youtube has a crazy amount of comments from overseas users, which has really surprised me. Most of it is simply players looking to share invite codes, but to me it is a pretty strong indication of an active overseas fan base. I asked the folks at Ponos if they have been surprised that players outside Japan are taking such a liking to Battle Cats:

Well, the truth is that there was hardly any marketing. So you could say it is pure organic growth. I didn’t think of Battle Cats as a hit outside of Japan before. I must say I’m surprised myself. We are currently examining how to appeal to a broader audience, outside of Asia, where people know less about Japan and might have trouble connecting with the various places, treasures and characters.

Profitable cats?

god-cat — God Cat iPhone wallpaper, anyone?

But is the game making any money? It has done well on the top grossing charts in Japan, and on Android it has been a top 50 grossing app in Taiwan and Singapore too. The company declined to disclose any details about its revenue for the game (players can buy cat food to purchase in-game items) but they say that Battle Cats is “doing fine” in terms of income.

What can we expect in the future for Battle Cats? I’m told that they are working on some new content, including new original characters and attacks. These are coming in one of the next updates.

Given the ‘kimo-kawaii’ nature of the game [2], I was also curious to know whether or not the company intended to get into merchandising, like many other popular mobile games these days. They affirm that this is indeed the case, and that they are speaking with a number of companies, looking forward to having a lineup of Battle Cats merch “in the near future.”

Finally I had to ask about the very difficult chapter 3, round 48 that both myself and a number of readers have been having difficulty with. The Ponos rep tells me:

I will answer this not as employee but from experience. As the campaigns get increasingly more difficult you need to efficiently use ranged attacks and shield characters in order to defeat the enemy.

While I haven’t spent too much time trying to beat this round recently, I noticed that there have been some double-chance ‘Treasure Festival’ events in the game recently (see below), where players can then make an effort to improve the power of their cat army. I think if you keep an eye out for such events, and follow the strategy above, then the round should be beatable.

I’m looking forward to seeing the new content when it’s published, and it will be interesting to see if new additions to the game can sustain Battle Cats’ recent success. Stay tuned!

I’d even consider putting Line in this class these days, given the dominance that we’re seeing from that platform recently. ↩
I recently learned this word. Thanks Emily and Serkan! ↩

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Japan’s Kolor app brings you mission-based rewards on your mobile

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.03.29

See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based startup Interest Marketing just jumped into the O2O market with a mobile app called Kolor. Kolor is a marketing promotion tool for stores that works in a manner not unlike the Scavngr app. For Scvngr users, you can earn rewards when you take a snapshot of yourself drinking a beer at a bar, and the rewards earned can then be redeemed for discounts. Such campaigns are intended to capitalize on social network platforms such as Twitter and Facebook for greater reach. So what does Kolor do exactly? It’s a mission-based gamification app that uses social media analytics to measure a user’s influence across his or her social network, sort of like Klout does. Users are invited to participate in missions when they receive a campaign notification from a participating advertiser. Which advertiser contacts you is determined by your ‘like’ accumulation on Facebook as well as your favorites registered on the Kolor app. For example, if you have ever liked a cosmetic maker’s Facebook page, you could receive a notification for a mission by a participating cosmetic company. Missions come in many varieties: check-in to a location, join a contest, send a tweet, get…

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based startup Interest Marketing just jumped into the O2O market with a mobile app called Kolor.

Kolor is a marketing promotion tool for stores that works in a manner not unlike the Scavngr app. For Scvngr users, you can earn rewards when you take a snapshot of yourself drinking a beer at a bar, and the rewards earned can then be redeemed for discounts. Such campaigns are intended to capitalize on social network platforms such as Twitter and Facebook for greater reach.

So what does Kolor do exactly? It’s a mission-based gamification app that uses social media analytics to measure a user’s influence across his or her social network, sort of like Klout does. Users are invited to participate in missions when they receive a campaign notification from a participating advertiser. Which advertiser contacts you is determined by your ‘like’ accumulation on Facebook as well as your favorites registered on the Kolor app. For example, if you have ever liked a cosmetic maker’s Facebook page, you could receive a notification for a mission by a participating cosmetic company.

Missions come in many varieties: check-in to a location, join a contest, send a tweet, get coupons, or answer a quiz answer on Facebook. Interestingly there’s a gamified mission that earn rewards only when you achieve the mission earlier than your friends.

When you clear a given mission, you receive ‘Value Point’ incentives, badges, or graduate to a higher user level. Value Points can be redeemed for experience-focused rewards such as parties and even round-the-world trips. The app’s Personal Media Value metric (or PMV for short) is set according to your social influence and the quality of your postings to social networks, and that changes the Value Points you earn when you achieve a mission.

In terms of differentiation from other conventional marketing apps, Kolor lets users target an appropriate niche of potential customers, says the startup’s CEO Hikari Sakai. The company has already established agreements with almost 20 companies including ItoHam Foods, Sapporo Beer, Tokyu Hands department store, and Parco for using the app in their marketing efforts. The clients can receive an analysis of participating users and insights about the democraphics. The service uses a performance-based fee model, and a client will be charged every time a promoted mission is achieved by a user.

The iOS app is already live, and Android and desktop versions will follow next month.

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How Stores.jp is helping small businesses in Japan come online

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.03.28

While it is unlikely that we’ll see an ecommerce competitor as huge as Rakuten in the near future, there is still much room to grow in the online commerce sector, especially for small businesses. According to research by Japanese Ministry of Economy, the portion of of the country’s retail industry who are online is only 2.8%. That means that 97.2% of all retail businesses in Japan limit themselves to selling things offline. Of this 97.2%, the overwhelming majority are very small business run by only a few people with presumably limited internet skills. Stores.jp is aimed at these small businesses, allowing them to create online stores in a matter of minutes. It’s the equivalent of services like Yokaboo or Flying Cart. The company behind Stores.jp, Bracket, also runs other services such as Shoes of Prey, an online custom shoes service (headquartered in Australia), and a C2C car sharing site called Cafore. Shoes of Prey promises satisfaction guaranteed, allowing users to return their custom designed shoes if they are not 100% happy with them. To sell off these returned shoes, the company tried using services like Stores.jp, but found them too confusing to use with too many features. So they decided…

While it is unlikely that we’ll see an ecommerce competitor as huge as Rakuten in the near future, there is still much room to grow in the online commerce sector, especially for small businesses. According to research by Japanese Ministry of Economy, the portion of of the country’s retail industry who are online is only 2.8%. That means that 97.2% of all retail businesses in Japan limit themselves to selling things offline. Of this 97.2%, the overwhelming majority are very small business run by only a few people with presumably limited internet skills.

Stores.jp is aimed at these small businesses, allowing them to create online stores in a matter of minutes. It’s the equivalent of services like Yokaboo or Flying Cart. The company behind Stores.jp, Bracket, also runs other services such as Shoes of Prey, an online custom shoes service (headquartered in Australia), and a C2C car sharing site called Cafore. Shoes of Prey promises satisfaction guaranteed, allowing users to return their custom designed shoes if they are not 100% happy with them. To sell off these returned shoes, the company tried using services like Stores.jp, but found them too confusing to use with too many features. So they decided to build a more simplified version, and that resulted in Stores.jp.

To use the site, no coding or HTML skills are required. To create your store, all you need is your email and password. After registration, just upload photos, names, and descriptions of your products and your online store is completed. When orders come in, you send out the product and the money will be paid to your designated bank account. Stores.jp follows a freemium model where up to five items per month can be sold with zero cost. For sellers with more items to sell, the monthly cost is 980 yen (about $10) with an additional payment system usage fee of 5%. For premium accounts, the site offers marketing and log analysis features as well.

Stores.jp was released in August of last year, and so far over 25,000 stores have been opened on the site. According to Bracket CEO Yusuke Mitsumoto, the total number of stores on Rakuten is 40,000. The number of items registered exceeds 70,000 and it currently has more than 500,000 monthly users.

But Stores.jp is not without competitors. Three months after its release, an almost identical site called Base was released and had over 7,000 stores within three weeks. In an effort to stay ahead of the competition, Stores.jp offers additional services including professional photography and the creation of store business cards. Both options are provided free, with photography available for maximum of twenty items.

Merchants on the site are mainly small businesses but there are also well-known chains like Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and a famous magazine called Tokyo Calendar. These bigger companies use the site to create online shops dedicated for a particular campaign or content. For example, Tokyo Calendar opened a Japanese sake shop for its sake issue.

To find out more about how the Stores.jp works, check out the video below.

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Online support software provider Zendesk makes its presence in Japan official

Rick Martin 2013.03.13

See also this story in Japanese. Online customer support platform Zendesk has officially established a presence here in Japan, celebrating the launch of its KK in Tokyo yesterday evening. I had a chance to catch up with the company’s CEO Mikkel Svane the day before the event, and asked him a little about how Zendesk plans to approach the Japanese market. So far the company has about 100 customers here in Japan (having made its services available in Japanese last year) out of a total of 3,000 in the Asia Pacific. The majority of customers in the region are from Australia and New Zealand, because the company’s initial traction has been in English speaking markets, but recently opportunities are presenting themselves in other countries too, as Mikkel explains: There are [new] markets that we see recently with some traction, and Japan is one of these. It’s a big, homogenous, scalable market. We have been fortunate to work with some early partners with whom we have a mutual respect. […] I think it’s important to bridge the cultures and that’s very much in the DNA of Zendesk — we have a crazy mix of nationalities. We will be patient, we have…

See also this story in Japanese.

Online customer support platform Zendesk has officially established a presence here in Japan, celebrating the launch of its KK in Tokyo yesterday evening. I had a chance to catch up with the company’s CEO Mikkel Svane the day before the event, and asked him a little about how Zendesk plans to approach the Japanese market.

So far the company has about 100 customers here in Japan (having made its services available in Japanese last year) out of a total of 3,000 in the Asia Pacific. The majority of customers in the region are from Australia and New Zealand, because the company’s initial traction has been in English speaking markets, but recently opportunities are presenting themselves in other countries too, as Mikkel explains:

There are [new] markets that we see recently with some traction, and Japan is one of these. It’s a big, homogenous, scalable market. We have been fortunate to work with some early partners with whom we have a mutual respect. […] I think it’s important to bridge the cultures and that’s very much in the DNA of Zendesk — we have a crazy mix of nationalities. We will be patient, we have a lot to learn — but we are committed long term.

He admits that for the Zendesk team coming to Japan, there’s certainly more than a little mystery surrounding the market here. Like many Western companies aspiring to get into Asia markets, finding the right local staff and local partners will be key:

I think we’ll rely a lot on the people that we hire to see what version of the Zendesk product and culture will work here. We will work with early adopter companies and gain a foothold there, and that is how we plan to embrace the Japanese market. I feel very confident about that.

Educating and informing

As many of you may know, Zendesk made headlines in late February when a hacker broke into its system and downloaded email addresses. And while the company was pretty transparent about what transpired, I was curious whether or not this affected their pursuit of new customers, especially here in Japan. Mikkel explains that for customers who are in the buying process, there are some who would like to know more about what happened, and some existing customers have questions as well. They have been explaining how that vulnerability was exploited, and relating the measures that they are taking to ensure it doesn’t happen again. I’m told that Zendesk signed a big client just last week, certainly a good sign that companies still have faith in them.

In order to help further educate potential customers about their services, Zendesk has been holding the same sort of ‘bootcamps’ which it has held in other regions. Here in Japan, their first bootcamps were conducted with translators, but the most recent one in February was conducted entirely in Japanese in cooperation with a local partner.

Interestingly, Mikkel and his team observe that working with smaller businesses here in Japan is pretty much the same as working with small businesses elsewhere. The company has worked with startup incubators around Asia, and they hope to do the same in Japan as well. They already work with Open Network Lab, and I expect there will be more to come later as well.

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9 great ideas from Japan’s NICT student entrepreneur competition

SCORE 1,918

Masaru Ikeda 2013.03.10

Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) recently held its annual business plan presentation event for college and university students. It’s called Kigyouka Koshien, which literally means ‘entrepreneur championship.’ The event took place at an CyberAgent Ventures’ Startup Basecamp this past Thursday. NICT provides mentoring to students who have a passion for entrepreneurship. At the Thursday event, nine finalists from different regions came together in Tokyo, all hoping to walk away with the championship. Here’s a quick run down of what the participating teams are working on. Judges: Koki Sato (CEO, Septeni) Ryuichi Nishida (editor-in-chief, TechCrunch Japan) Tsuyoshi Hoshina (CTO, Nihon Unisys) Masahiko Honma (representative partner, Incubate Fund) Re-Ja ¶ Most of us wish we could spend more time with our parents, or perhaps we regret not seeing them as often as we’d like. Presented by students from Kansei Gakuin University and Kobe University, Re-ja is a mobile app that uses gamification to encourage people to talk more with parents. The app presents the same quiz questions to you and your parent, and if you both answer correctly, you will get a reward point that can be used to buy something for them. Moku Tomo ¶ Japan is…

Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) recently held its annual business plan presentation event for college and university students. It’s called Kigyouka Koshien, which literally means ‘entrepreneur championship.’ The event took place at an CyberAgent Ventures’ Startup Basecamp this past Thursday.

NICT provides mentoring to students who have a passion for entrepreneurship. At the Thursday event, nine finalists from different regions came together in Tokyo, all hoping to walk away with the championship. Here’s a quick run down of what the participating teams are working on.

Judges:

Koki Sato (CEO, Septeni)
Ryuichi Nishida (editor-in-chief, TechCrunch Japan)
Tsuyoshi Hoshina (CTO, Nihon Unisys)
Masahiko Honma (representative partner, Incubate Fund)

Re-Ja ¶

Most of us wish we could spend more time with our parents, or perhaps we regret not seeing them as often as we’d like. Presented by students from Kansei Gakuin University and Kobe University, Re-ja is a mobile app that uses gamification to encourage people to talk more with parents. The app presents the same quiz questions to you and your parent, and if you both answer correctly, you will get a reward point that can be used to buy something for them.

Moku Tomo ¶

Japan is said to have more than 20 million smokers. Moku Tomo is an app that lets them to find a smoking area nearby using a handy map. The business model is based on sponsorships from cigarette companies, from pharmaceutical companies selling nicotine patches, and from restaurants which have such smoking areas. The presenters, from Doshisha University in Kyoto, are now in talks with Japan Tobacco and British Tobacco.

S.P.M.i Series ¶

Shingo Aida (of Aizu University in Fukushima) has developed an iOS app that acts as an alternative to seat posture measurement instruments. Such instruments are used to prevent those with mobility problems from developing posture issues or sores by ensuring the wheelchair is adjusted specifically for their body size and shape. An instrument of this kind helps people live better but is very costly. So Shingo has developed this app which is much cheaper. The target market is comprised of about 10,000 people in Japan and 80,000 more in the US.

Private tutor knowledge base ¶

When we hire a private teacher for our son or daughter, the biggest problem is usually that the quality of the lectures is very much dependent on who you hire. Tamiko Iwama (of Digital Hollywood University) wants to standardize the quality of the lectures by providing tutors with a web-based knowledge sharing platform. Learning materials and slides can be stored on the platform, and tutors can download them via the dashboard and customize their own lectures.

Code Library – Top Award Winner ¶

It’s often said that learning to reading code is like mastering a new language. But it’s not always easy since other people’s code could be written or structured far differently than what you might envision. And physical books for programming languages can be very costly and bulky. Code Library is a smartphone app that allow users to receive a lecture regardless of time and location. As part of its testing, Hamhei Horiuchi (of Tokyo’s University of Electrocommunications) has introduced a beta app called Code Library Lite, which will enable him to receive lots of feedback from programmers so he can refine the service.

Zero Gaku Shoku ¶

A ‘Gakushoku’ is a cafeteria at a university which typically offers decent foods at affordable prices. For students who usually have little or no income, expenses for lunch at the cafeteria can account for most of their spending. That’s why this Chuo University team has come up with the idea of giving students a chance to win a complimentary meal. A QR code is printed on the back of a meal ticket, and a student can then scan it with his smartphone and watch ads while he waits for the meal. The team receives revenue from advertisers and pay a commission to cafeteria owners participating in the program.

C@ndy ¶

The world’s Muslim community has huge market potential with a population of 1.6 billion people. A team from Yokohama National University hopes to found a sort of Craiglist for Muslims, in order to bridge Muslim communities around the world and here in Japan too. To refine the idea, the team has enlisted feedback from the folks at the Saudi Arabian Embassy and mosques in Tokyo. In partnership with Japanese travel agencies, C@ndy expects to provide information on travel packages for Muslim people, offer Japanese dishes made from Halal foods, and provide venues for praying during the trip.

Iron Beads Master ¶

Perler beads (or Hama beads) are a popular craft for children. But it’s difficult to build an original design on aa peg board. This team from Yonago National College of Technology hopes to produce a system that lets children create their own designs from their favorite pictures on an iPad. They plan to speak with Kawada Co., Ltd., a local distributor of Perler beads in Japan, to explore the monetization potential of this idea.

ShinBunet ¶

Elderly people in Japan (and in Okinawa, where this team originates) are eager to use digital devices to browse the web, but in many cases they can’t. In order to bridge this digital divide, the team has developed an app that lets elderly to browse news and updates from social media and blog on an iPad in a way that reflects the newspaper experience. Instead of searching a keyword to look for a specific topic, all you have to do is place your hand over an interesting story on your physical newspaper, just in front of the iPad camera. The app will detect which story you are interested in, and then collect updates from the blogsphere, showing them to you if they were a from a physical newspaper.

koushien_zoomout — Pictured: The team from Okinawa National College of Technology presents ShinbuNet

news

Trouble managing your Facebook page? Help is on the way this spring, from Japan

Rick Martin 2013.02.22

Japan-based Comnico has been helping many companies manage their Facebook pages over the past few years. But like many Japanese tech companies these days, Comnico has its eyes on overseas customers, and given the cultural and language barriers that come with international consulting, the company now has its eyes set on an interesting niche where it hopes to thrive. So what’s the big plan? Comnico has developed a tool that will enable companies to better manage, monitor, and promote Facebook pages on their own. I recently had a chance to catch up with CEO Masayuki Hayashi, who gave me an overview of Comnico’s new marketing suite, which the company hopes to make available to overseas customers this spring. The suite actually includes four products, which can be broken down as follows: Post Manager: This tool lets users make postings to their Facebook pages from within Comnico’s marketing suite. It has a very slick multi-user interface that includes url shortening (custom domain available), plus access to Getty Images in case you’d like to supplement your update with attractive pictures [1]. The post manager also includes a built-in image editor, making use of the Aviary API for quick cropping, addition of text,…

Japan-based Comnico has been helping many companies manage their Facebook pages over the past few years. But like many Japanese tech companies these days, Comnico has its eyes on overseas customers, and given the cultural and language barriers that come with international consulting, the company now has its eyes set on an interesting niche where it hopes to thrive.

So what’s the big plan? Comnico has developed a tool that will enable companies to better manage, monitor, and promote Facebook pages on their own. I recently had a chance to catch up with CEO Masayuki Hayashi, who gave me an overview of Comnico’s new marketing suite, which the company hopes to make available to overseas customers this spring. The suite actually includes four products, which can be broken down as follows:

Post Manager: This tool lets users make postings to their Facebook pages from within Comnico’s marketing suite. It has a very slick multi-user interface that includes url shortening (custom domain available), plus access to Getty Images in case you’d like to supplement your update with attractive pictures [1]. The post manager also includes a built-in image editor, making use of the Aviary API for quick cropping, addition of text, or other edits. Posts can then be scheduled, or saved as drafts if they require approval from others in your company.
Insights: This feature can score your Facebook page, based on a number of criteria such as your reach among both fans and non-fans, and even the reaction you are getting per post. You can even compare your score with those of your competitors, and download and view the reports Excel format if you wish.
Promotions: While it is normally very difficult and expensive to conduct a promotion or campaign on Facebook, this feature lets you create ready-made ones far quicker, letting you offer rewards to participants with relative ease.
Monitoring: It can often be a chore to keep up with user discussion on your Facebook pages. Comnico’s tool helps detect flagged words, and also makes use of human monitoring through a partner company based in Okinawa. This monitoring feature lets you view posts by time, and it also includes multi-lingual support.

Shooting for businesses big and small

And while an offering with the apparent capabilities as this one shouldn’t come cheap, Comnico will be making pricing affortable to small businesses by tiering pricing according to the number of Facebook fans a company has. So for example, a company with less than 500 fans might pay 5000 yen per month (just over $50), while one with 20,000 fans might be 200,000 per month.

Who what kind of customers does Comnico foresee using such a service? Masayuki tells me that it would be a good fit for B2C companies like restaurants, for example. He adds that the advantages of a service like this in Japan are particularly apparent given that alternatives such as Gournavi charge a certain amount to manage fans, and that’s in their own closed system. That contrasts with Facebook, which is still growing in popularity in Japan, where companies can have direct access to their own fans.

Comnico has been operating this suite in Japan and is looking at April for the release of the English version. They don’t have any specified target for how many users they’d like to acquire in their overseas expansion, but they’re looking forward to giving it a try so they can see what happens. After its work in Japan the company has over 100 clients already under its belt — many of them very recognizable — so I imagine that should lend them some credibility in the eyes of potential clients.

It’s certainly good to see another Japanese company venturing beyond the nation’s borders in the interests of expanding business. Let’s stay tuned to see how they do.

Hayashi tells me that images tend to do far better on Facebook in terms of reach and engagement. ↩

news

Japanese manga artist crowdfunds digital exhibition overseas

The Bridge 2013.02.12

This is part of our Crowdfunding in Japan series (RSS). Services like KickStarter have become a global phenomenon with the power to let creative individuals take their ideas to new heights. It’s happening here in Japan too, most notably on Campfire, the country’s answer to Kickstarter. Yuta Kayashima has been working as an illustrator while trying to realize his dream of becoming a manga artist. Ever since he was a student, he has been experimenting with the blending of manga and digital technology. His works Manga 2.0 (made with Adobe Flash) and Hack to the Brain were honored by the judicial committee for the Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs. He has also distributed a special vertically written comic called Saiyu Shojo (A Young Girl’s Westward Trip) on the booklog site Puboo, a service where anyone can make and sell ebooks. From January through March 2013, Mr. Kayashima will participate in a modern art exhibition in Mexico featuring a Ukiyo-e theme. This Ukiyoe x Digital Comic project is a effort that combines traditional Japanese drawings and the latest media technology. He is planning to make an interactive comic, which will allow the audience to perform operations on the exhibit using a…

This is part of our Crowdfunding in Japan series (RSS). Services like KickStarter have become a global phenomenon with the power to let creative individuals take their ideas to new heights. It’s happening here in Japan too, most notably on Campfire, the country’s answer to Kickstarter.

Yuta Kayashima has been working as an illustrator while trying to realize his dream of becoming a manga artist. Ever since he was a student, he has been experimenting with the blending of manga and digital technology. His works Manga 2.0 (made with Adobe Flash) and Hack to the Brain were honored by the judicial committee for the Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs. He has also distributed a special vertically written comic called Saiyu Shojo (A Young Girl’s Westward Trip) on the booklog site Puboo, a service where anyone can make and sell ebooks.

From January through March 2013, Mr. Kayashima will participate in a modern art exhibition in Mexico featuring a Ukiyo-e theme. This Ukiyoe x Digital Comic project is a effort that combines traditional Japanese drawings and the latest media technology. He is planning to make an interactive comic, which will allow the audience to perform operations on the exhibit using a mouse, and the scene will be displayed using a projector. The exhibit is described as follows:

Three beautiful sisters from the Ukiyo-e world travel through a time warp to the modern era. To their misfortune, in the present-day world their looks are no longer considered to be quite so attractive, but that does not curb their desire to be considered beautiful. They discover that many modern day anime characters are considered beautiful. As such, the jealous three sisters search for modern beauty, stealing various parts from other characters and competing against each other to enhance their own images.

It sounds like a pretty fascinating story, and if Kayashima’s past work is any indication (see video below), the exhibit should be equally impressive. For all our Mexican readers (we know there’s at least a few of you), do check out the exhibition if you get a chance.

The project recently appeared as a crowdfunding project on Campfire, and happily it turned out to be a success story, as the target of ¥250,000 (over $2,700) was successfully reached on Nov 3, 2012.

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