app
Rick Martin
Here’s a fun app for any freelancers or homeworkers based in Japan. Dengen Cafe, released this past December, gives you a mapped view of cafes in your area that have a power outlet, so if you’re running low on juice, you can stop and plug in. It’s in Japanese (and is focused on Japan) but is pretty easy to navigate. Check out Dengen Cafe on the App Store.
Here’s a fun app for any freelancers or homeworkers based in Japan. Dengen Cafe, released this past December, gives you a mapped view of cafes in your area that have a power outlet, so if you’re running low on juice, you can stop and plug in. It’s in Japanese (and is focused on Japan) but is pretty easy to navigate.
Check out Dengen Cafe on the App Store.
Tokyo-based startup Pitapat was founded back in 2011, a subsidiary of Japanese web giant CyberAgent (TYO:4751). Some of our readers may recall that it launched Qixil an invitation-only Q&A app back in April. Now the startup is announcing today that the service has been fully opened to the public, and anyone can now join the Q&A forums without an invitation. Qixil is somewhat similar to Quora, and has acquired more than 1,000 users from a wide range of profession like lawyers, politicians, and investors. According to the company, if you post a question on the app, there’s about a 92% chance that you’ll get an answer back from someone. It originally focused on startup-related topics, mainly exchanging questions and answers between entrepreneurs and investors. However, upon this public release, the service is allowing users to discuss all kinds of topics. On the app, a user can post a question in the category of his or her choosing. If you answer the question and other users evaluate your feedback, you’ll win a point for that particular category. By accumulating points, you subsequently might be qualified as a professional or expert in that category.
Tokyo-based startup Pitapat was founded back in 2011, a subsidiary of Japanese web giant CyberAgent (TYO:4751). Some of our readers may recall that it launched Qixil an invitation-only Q&A app back in April. Now the startup is announcing today that the service has been fully opened to the public, and anyone can now join the Q&A forums without an invitation.
Qixil is somewhat similar to Quora, and has acquired more than 1,000 users from a wide range of profession like lawyers, politicians, and investors. According to the company, if you post a question on the app, there’s about a 92% chance that you’ll get an answer back from someone.
It originally focused on startup-related topics, mainly exchanging questions and answers between entrepreneurs and investors. However, upon this public release, the service is allowing users to discuss all kinds of topics.
On the app, a user can post a question in the category of his or her choosing. If you answer the question and other users evaluate your feedback, you’ll win a point for that particular category. By accumulating points, you subsequently might be qualified as a professional or expert in that category.
Yukari Mitsuhashi
If you’re a fan of Japanese sake, you should keep a spot open on your homescreen for Sakenote. This app allows you to keep track of sake you’ve drank, write a review of it, take photos, and even note where you had it. If your geo-location setting is on, the app automatically detects where you are so that you can look back on those places later on. Sakenote works sort of like Snooth Wine or the Japanese wine tracking app called Vinica developed by Kakaku.com. It’s very simple. You just start by tapping the plus sign in the upper right corner to add your favorite sake to your list. You can even search for sake names and brands using the Roman alphabet. If you want to search by kanji, there are apps like imiwa available to hand-draw your kanji so you can then copy and paste. When taking photos of the sake’s label, you might want to take photos of Tsumami (light snacks) as well so that it can help to trigger your memory later. You can share your sake with your friends on Twitter or Facebook as well. The app’s developer has plans to collaborate with sake manufacturers and…
If you’re a fan of Japanese sake, you should keep a spot open on your homescreen for Sakenote. This app allows you to keep track of sake you’ve drank, write a review of it, take photos, and even note where you had it. If your geo-location setting is on, the app automatically detects where you are so that you can look back on those places later on.
Sakenote works sort of like Snooth Wine or the Japanese wine tracking app called Vinica developed by Kakaku.com. It’s very simple. You just start by tapping the plus sign in the upper right corner to add your favorite sake to your list. You can even search for sake names and brands using the Roman alphabet. If you want to search by kanji, there are apps like imiwa available to hand-draw your kanji so you can then copy and paste.
When taking photos of the sake’s label, you might want to take photos of Tsumami (light snacks) as well so that it can help to trigger your memory later. You can share your sake with your friends on Twitter or Facebook as well. The app’s developer has plans to collaborate with sake manufacturers and restaurants to provide even more additional features later on.
Even if you become forgetful while drinking, Sakenote is a good way to ensure that you’ve remembered all the important details about your drinking. The app is available on iOS and Android.
Update: Readers may recall that we a wrote about a very similar app once before called Sakelover. It’s actually the same app, with a rebrand so that they could take the service global.
[See our Japanese article on Zaim’s update] Japanese personal finance application Zaim has today pushed out a new update to its iOS app that gives it one very exciting and powerful feature. For users here in Japan, the app now has convenient OCR functionality which enables you to record and categorize your purchases simply by taking photos of your receipts. For a quick demo of how it works, check out the video above. On the Zaim blog, they boast an average recognition rate of 96% for this new OCR feature. The app will also collect data about the name of the store too, so you’ll have a record of where you’ve made your purchases. This is especially handy considering that the web version of Zaim lets you download your data in CSV format (see right), which you can then bring into your preferred spreadsheet software. For now, it’s just the iOS version of Zaim that has the OCR function, but Android users can look forward getting this soon as well. I’ve been a big fan of the Zaim app for a long time. It was developed by Tokyo-based entrepreneur and programmer Takako Kansai, who – as legend has it –…
[See our Japanese article on Zaim’s update]
Japanese personal finance application Zaim has today pushed out a new update to its iOS app that gives it one very exciting and powerful feature. For users here in Japan, the app now has convenient OCR functionality which enables you to record and categorize your purchases simply by taking photos of your receipts. For a quick demo of how it works, check out the video above.
On the Zaim blog, they boast an average recognition rate of 96% for this new OCR feature. The app will also collect data about the name of the store too, so you’ll have a record of where you’ve made your purchases. This is especially handy considering that the web version of Zaim lets you download your data in CSV format (see right), which you can then bring into your preferred spreadsheet software.
For now, it’s just the iOS version of Zaim that has the OCR function, but Android users can look forward getting this soon as well.
I’ve been a big fan of the Zaim app for a long time. It was developed by Tokyo-based entrepreneur and programmer Takako Kansai, who – as legend has it – developed the app while on the train commuting to and from work.
A rather historical event took place at one of the biggest train stations in Japan Shibuya just a few weeks ago. The old Toyoko train line, which has a history of 78 years, closed down as part of a large scale urban renewal project. The train service was re-routed to the 5th floor underground lane. The switch-over construction at the station was done overnight in just four hours, leaving a large empty space right in middle of Tokyo. Uniqlo found the vacant 660-square-meter space convenient for a pop-up shop called UT Pop-up Tokyo. The Toyoko-line Shibuya terminal is now filled with more than 1,000 kinds of items and over 12,000 t-shirts. The shop opened on March 28th as a part of the Uniqlo pop-up shop World tour, led by well-known Japanese creative director Kashiwa Sato. The project is planned to launch in different cities around the world including (but not limited to) London, Paris, New York, and Singapore. Visitors can even shoot videos of themselves at the site using a new mobile app called UT Camera, which converts their original movie into a unique animation. The resulting content is displayed on a big screen at the pop-up store as well…
A rather historical event took place at one of the biggest train stations in Japan Shibuya just a few weeks ago. The old Toyoko train line, which has a history of 78 years, closed down as part of a large scale urban renewal project. The train service was re-routed to the 5th floor underground lane. The switch-over construction at the station was done overnight in just four hours, leaving a large empty space right in middle of Tokyo.
Uniqlo found the vacant 660-square-meter space convenient for a pop-up shop called UT Pop-up Tokyo. The Toyoko-line Shibuya terminal is now filled with more than 1,000 kinds of items and over 12,000 t-shirts. The shop opened on March 28th as a part of the Uniqlo pop-up shop World tour, led by well-known Japanese creative director Kashiwa Sato. The project is planned to launch in different cities around the world including (but not limited to) London, Paris, New York, and Singapore.
Visitors can even shoot videos of themselves at the site using a new mobile app called UT Camera, which converts their original movie into a unique animation. The resulting content is displayed on a big screen at the pop-up store as well as on a dedicated website.
The pop-up shop works for shoppers looking for fun t-shirts, but it also functions as a form of interactive entertainment. It will be open until April 7th, selling unique t-shirts in collaboration with Star Wars and other artists. This UT line of t-shirts has sold over 160 million worldwide.
Rick Martin
Last week we mentioned a new augmented reality iPhone app from Domino’s Japan featuring virtual pop star Hatsune Miku. The app overlays a virtual song and dance performance right on top of your pizza box using the iPhone camera. Domino’s has reportedly even seen shortages of its new Hatsune Miku pizza boxes at some locations, with some stores reporting a 10x increase in sales. As we noted last week, Kamakura-based studio Kayac was involved in the planning and development of the application, and it certainly looks to be a successful campaign so far, in terms of publicity. Domino’s even has pink Hatsune Miku branded motorbikes for deliveries! In order to get a better idea of how the app works, I went ahead and ordered a pizza. These are the sacrifices we make for you, dear reader, so I hope you appreciate it! Check out Hatsune Miku’s augmented reality performance on pizza boxes in our video below.
Last week we mentioned a new augmented reality iPhone app from Domino’s Japan featuring virtual pop star Hatsune Miku. The app overlays a virtual song and dance performance right on top of your pizza box using the iPhone camera. Domino’s has reportedly even seen shortages of its new Hatsune Miku pizza boxes at some locations, with some stores reporting a 10x increase in sales.
As we noted last week, Kamakura-based studio Kayac was involved in the planning and development of the application, and it certainly looks to be a successful campaign so far, in terms of publicity. Domino’s even has pink Hatsune Miku branded motorbikes for deliveries!
In order to get a better idea of how the app works, I went ahead and ordered a pizza. These are the sacrifices we make for you, dear reader, so I hope you appreciate it!
Check out Hatsune Miku’s augmented reality performance on pizza boxes in our video below.
How do you pay your respects to a loved one who has recently passed away? You might go to a nearby church, or pay a visit to the cemetery. In Japan, many people used to have a Buddhist altar at home, but this is less common these days. Nagoya-based smartphone app developer Hanbunko has introduced another way, with a series of iPhone apps dedicated to a sort of digital remembrance. Users can simply pray for someone by looking at his or her portrait on their phone, while listening to appropriate music or chanting a sutra. The app has a sutra version and a sort of ‘nursery song’ version, and the both can store up to 10 portraits. The apps are available for free on the iTunes app store, but you will be charged if you wish to eliminate an in-app ad (85 yen). For the ‘nursery song’ version, the app has several tunes performed by Hiroko Scott, who has been writing music for the harp and piano in Australia. The startup expects to add more songs later on. You can check out the video demo below to learn more about how these apps work. Hanbunko is also well known for…
How do you pay your respects to a loved one who has recently passed away? You might go to a nearby church, or pay a visit to the cemetery. In Japan, many people used to have a Buddhist altar at home, but this is less common these days.
Nagoya-based smartphone app developer Hanbunko has introduced another way, with a series of iPhone apps dedicated to a sort of digital remembrance. Users can simply pray for someone by looking at his or her portrait on their phone, while listening to appropriate music or chanting a sutra. The app has a sutra version and a sort of ‘nursery song’ version, and the both can store up to 10 portraits. The apps are available for free on the iTunes app store, but you will be charged if you wish to eliminate an in-app ad (85 yen).
For the ‘nursery song’ version, the app has several tunes performed by Hiroko Scott, who has been writing music for the harp and piano in Australia. The startup expects to add more songs later on.
You can check out the video demo below to learn more about how these apps work.
Hanbunko is also well known for having developed an iOS app that helps people suffering from certain verbal impediments or challenges to communicate with others selection certain options within the app (available in English and Japanese).
Many of our readers are likely familiar with Shopkick, a popular smartphone app that rewards customers as they enter a store. Well, Japan has very similar service called Smapo, which provides a smooth combination of in-store hardware and a free smartphone app for both iPhone and Android. I recently had spoke with Yo Shibata, the CEO of Spotlight Inc. (the company behind Smapo) to find out more about this service. With Smapo, all that a user has to do is to download the free app, and turn it on when walking into a participating merchant — exactly like Shopkick. Every time the app is turned on, users receive about 30 yen (about 30 cents) in points which can later be exchanged for gift certificates to be used at participating stores. What differentiates Smapo from its US counterpart is that it uses a sort of inaudible audio signal to detect users walking in, via the required in-store hardware which is about the size of a matchbox. There are so many small shops in Tokyo, and many brands decide to set up within crowded departments where in many cases, there is no proper store entrance. Smapo’s technology is valid as long as…
Many of our readers are likely familiar with Shopkick, a popular smartphone app that rewards customers as they enter a store. Well, Japan has very similar service called Smapo, which provides a smooth combination of in-store hardware and a free smartphone app for both iPhone and Android.
I recently had spoke with Yo Shibata, the CEO of Spotlight Inc. (the company behind Smapo) to find out more about this service.
With Smapo, all that a user has to do is to download the free app, and turn it on when walking into a participating merchant — exactly like Shopkick. Every time the app is turned on, users receive about 30 yen (about 30 cents) in points which can later be exchanged for gift certificates to be used at participating stores.
What differentiates Smapo from its US counterpart is that it uses a sort of inaudible audio signal to detect users walking in, via the required in-store hardware which is about the size of a matchbox. There are so many small shops in Tokyo, and many brands decide to set up within crowded departments where in many cases, there is no proper store entrance. Smapo’s technology is valid as long as the user is in the store space (the inaudible audio signal does not go beyond the store’s walls) so wherever they are, the system works.
Many notable merchants have already joined Smapo including mega electronics franchise Bic Camera, department stores Daimaru and Marui, as well as popular fashion retailer United Arrows. All of these merchants wanted a new way to attract consumers. Because many people do their product research in advance on computer and on smartphones these days, there is less of a need to actually visit the stores than before. Newspapers are one common place where merchants advertise, but the number of newspaper subscibers have dropped to half of what they used to be 15 years ago.
The user demographic for Smapo is half male and half female. And in an effort to satisfy the younger female generation, Smapo recently launched 58 more merchants targeting young women, including The Body Shop, and Amo’s Style (a lingerie brand). Early adopter male users are still fans of the app too. At Bic Camera, which can be a heaven for tech savvy geeks, Smapo can bring over 10,000 people to a store monthly.
But how effective is Smapo in actually attracting new consumers? Shibata-san cited Marui as an example. Their problem was that people perceived their brand as one specifically for young people, and they wanted to make an effort to bring in customers who shopped there in their youth, but may be a little older now. By bringing users to a specific part of the store such as the men’s shoe section or the women’s bags floor, they managed to land many new customers.
When they run a TV commercial, of all the customers who arrive at Marui, only 10% are new. With Smapo, that number rose to an impressive 40%. And of those 40%, about half the people ended up buying something.
Besides the chat application war that’s famously going down in Japan, O2O is another sector that’s going to generate some heat this year. NTT Docomo have adopted the exact same model as Shopkick and Smapo for their newly launched Shoplat. The system works in the same manner, but it seems that their speciality is restaurants and bars for now.
Ever since their launch in September of 2011, Smapo has seen no significant competitor, which also meant that they were essentially wholly responsible for developing the market. With the largest mobile carrier in Japan now in the game, we expect that this space is going to get far more competitive in the coming months. It is not very often we see such a young startup butting heads against an internet giant in Japan. Stay tuned, because this is going to get interesting.
Masaru Ikeda
