THE BRIDGE

tag Campfire

Japan’s crowdfunding site Campfire breaking away into cryptocurrency, P2P payments

SHARE:

See the original story in Japanese. Campfire, one of leading crowdfunding sites in Japan, announced earlier this month that it has fundraised 600 million yen (about $5.5 million US) from JAFCO (TSE:8595) and SBI Investment. Details such as the payment date and investment ratio were not announced. The company also revealed that their total funding so far has reached 1 billion yen (around $9.1M US). See also: Japanese crowdfunding site Campfire secures $3M to launch social lending service Since the company’s beginning in 2011, they have seen over 6,500 projects, had 240,000 backers participate in crowdfunding while the total amount of deals transacted on the platform has reached 2.4 billion yen (about $22M US). In particular, they have experienced remarkable growth in the past year, and in 2017 the total value of transactions has increased to 12 times that of the period from January to March of 2016.  With this funding, the company expands into cryptocurrency, P2P payments, and investment businesses. One year since founder’s return as CEO It has been awhile since the idea of crowdfunding appeared. Around eight years ago Kickstarter took the lead in 2009. If we look at the annual review published by them we can…

See the original story in Japanese.

Campfire, one of leading crowdfunding sites in Japan, announced earlier this month that it has fundraised 600 million yen (about $5.5 million US) from JAFCO (TSE:8595) and SBI Investment. Details such as the payment date and investment ratio were not announced. The company also revealed that their total funding so far has reached 1 billion yen (around $9.1M US).

See also:

Since the company’s beginning in 2011, they have seen over 6,500 projects, had 240,000 backers participate in crowdfunding while the total amount of deals transacted on the platform has reached 2.4 billion yen (about $22M US). In particular, they have experienced remarkable growth in the past year, and in 2017 the total value of transactions has increased to 12 times that of the period from January to March of 2016.  With this funding, the company expands into cryptocurrency, P2P payments, and investment businesses.

One year since founder’s return as CEO

Kazuma Ieiri, Founder and CEO of Campfire
Image credit: Takeshi Hirano

It has been awhile since the idea of crowdfunding appeared.

Around eight years ago Kickstarter took the lead in 2009. If we look at the annual review published by them we can get a general feel for their numbers. About 580 million dollars is invested in nearly 58,000 annual projects, and since the numbers published by Campfire are cumulative it is difficult to compare the two.

In February of last year Kazuma Ieiri returned as CEO of Campfire. At that time he expressed a feeling of crisis.

It’s been five years since we began Campfire out of love for crowdfunding, but honestly if Campfire itself and crowdfunding as a whole is left as it is, I’m worried about shrinking.

At the time, Ieiri was grappling with a 5% cut to commission fees.

I want to launch 1000 individual projects for 50,000 yen (about $460 US) from one large project totaling 50 million.

This train of his thought lead to the concept of the “democratization of funding.”

His next move was swift.

They made a rapid fire succession of announcements about use cases leveraged by the crowdfunding platform: Local businesses that promote local initiatives, fan clubs that are allowed to charge on a subscription basis, in addition to music performance supporting projects currently showing great growth.

In addition to cutting fees, the company also gradually removed hurdles so that more people could participate in crowdfunding, for example, adding the “All-In” function that allows projects to receive funds even if they do not reach their target. As a result, the total transaction amount will increase greatly, and after seeing an increase in capital, etc. via external funding, they will once again be on the path to growth.

Breaking away from crowdfunding

So, what are Ieiri’s views on crowdfunding and the future?

First, it is easier to understand by organizing the new business expansions announced this time around. The business will be comprised of the FireX cryptocurrency exchange (recently launched), a P2P (peer-to-peer) payments service called Polca (scheduled to launch in June), investments, and their  major existing business area dealing with crowdfunding projects.

The overall picture presented by Campfire

What they all have in common is the matching of people who intend to start something and those who wish to support them. Of course, their cryptocurrency business is not solely for trading; an even bigger incentive is likely that they are more easily able to decide rules based on comparisons with legal currency.

Polca is an extremely personal support/financing project, and Campfire a slightly larger project, with the businesses that could stem from them bringing investments and loans. Through the use of crothe ghosts of transaction fees that haunt them at every turn can be exorcised.

To tie it all together, the hazy picture the company paints of their platform, with people connecting at the center and the goal of support through distribution of their own money effectively creates an economy.

The next stage of the “Democratization of Funding”

Speaking with Ieiri at Infinity Ventures Summit in Kobe.
Image credit: Takeshi Hirano

In an interview conducted in November of last year, Ieiri confided his thoughts on expanding the scope of the project from crowdfunding to a social and money lending business. He reiterated those sentiments this time around.

He said:

Japan is full of challenges–so much so, that they even say we’re a developed country with problems. […] A redistribution of wealth, I think is what it’s called–I believe it’s necessary to create a system to circulate money from private citizens who have it to those who do not. However, it remains, how to do it through a steady business scheme rather than charitable activities.

Crowdfunding was supposed to be the ideal democratization method for Ieiri. However, as the beginning numbers show, the wall remains high to make it even bigger and turn it into a financial method anyone can access. The announced funding appears to be a way to break through the wall.

At the time of this news was revealed, I was able to get in contact with Ieiri in Kobe during the invitation only conference, Infinity Ventures Summit. He had this to say on the funding:

It’s been about one year, February of 2016, since returning full-scale to Campfire, which had 3 employees at the time. Now that number has increased to nearly 70, and we moved offices just the other day. In regards to finance, as we announced, we have earned nearly 1 billion yen cumulatively.

In terms of the total transaction voume, this year it’s expected to be around 3.5 billion yen, bringing the total to 5 billion. We’ve seen some growth, but we still have a ways to go. Until now we were ‘Campfire for Crowdfunding’, but from here on out we will evolve into Campfire–aiming for a world where anyone can raise their voice for any funding needs, including crowdfunding. I intend to use the funding to advance our new image, one that goes beyond the framework of crowdfunding in order to advance the democratization of funding.

I plan to continue checking the trend of how the crowdfunding model evolves in Japan.

Translated by Amanda Imasaka
Edited by Masaru Ikeda

Japanese crowdfunding site Campfire secures $3M to launch social lending service

SHARE:

See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Campfire, the Japanese crowdfunding site which was recently reported to expand into the social lending space, officially announced today that it has fundraised 330 million yen (about $2.9 million) in the latest round. Participating investors are D4V (by Ideo and Genuine Startups), GMO Internet (TSE:9449), SMBC Venture Capital, East Ventures, iSGS Investment Works, Suneight Investment, Septeni Holdings (TSE:4293), DeNA (TSE:2432) and Freakout Holdings (TSE:6094) in addition to two individual investors including Mamoru Taniya. Coinciding with the funds, Campfire names Mamoru Taniya, who is known as the founder and chairman of Japanese robo-advisory startup Money Design as well as an early-stage investor in Lifenet Insurance (TSE:7157), its new chairman while Yusuke Sato (CEO of Freakout Holdings) and Antonio Kamiya (CTO of Fujisan Magazine Service, TSE:3138) are appointed as outside directors. In addition, Hiroue Harada, who won the data scientist of the year award, now joins the team as Chief Information Officer. At this time around, the company published an infographics (see above) on how much money they have offered to crowdfunding projects through the platform, seeing over 1.6 billion yen (over $13.8 million) offered in total compared to 700 million yen (about $6 million)…

Image credit: Campfire

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based Campfire, the Japanese crowdfunding site which was recently reported to expand into the social lending space, officially announced today that it has fundraised 330 million yen (about $2.9 million) in the latest round. Participating investors are D4V (by Ideo and Genuine Startups), GMO Internet (TSE:9449), SMBC Venture Capital, East Ventures, iSGS Investment Works, Suneight Investment, Septeni Holdings (TSE:4293), DeNA (TSE:2432) and Freakout Holdings (TSE:6094) in addition to two individual investors including Mamoru Taniya.

Coinciding with the funds, Campfire names Mamoru Taniya, who is known as the founder and chairman of Japanese robo-advisory startup Money Design as well as an early-stage investor in Lifenet Insurance (TSE:7157), its new chairman while Yusuke Sato (CEO of Freakout Holdings) and Antonio Kamiya (CTO of Fujisan Magazine Service, TSE:3138) are appointed as outside directors. In addition, Hiroue Harada, who won the data scientist of the year award, now joins the team as Chief Information Officer.

Image credit: Campfire

At this time around, the company published an infographics (see above) on how much money they have offered to crowdfunding projects through the platform, seeing over 1.6 billion yen (over $13.8 million) offered in total compared to 700 million yen (about $6 million) in the first four years since the launch back in June of 2011.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda

Japanese e-commerce site connects consumers and creators, starts with knit goods

SHARE:

See the original article in Japanese With so many products all around us every day, it can be difficult for us to know who makes what, or how a certain product is made. Makers and consumers are very much divided. But a new e-commerce site, Gemiy, was recently launched in Japan based on the idea of breaking this border that separates makers and consumers, thus creating a more humanized relationship. Gemiy was launched by Ikumi Kinoshita, a senior student at Keio University. She is originally from Fukui prefecture, located in Japan’s midwestern region. When she moved to Tokyo, she had a strong sense that there was a big distance between generations, and between rural and urban areas. City life was somewhat uncomfortable, with so many people behaving indifferently to each other. She started thinking how she could break the wall, and eventually launched Gemiy as her proposed answer. The site currently specialized in knit products, allowing buyers to customize the designs they want. Not only does the buyer get a custom-made product, but they user also feel a connection with the creator by knowing who made that particular product. All items ordered on Gemiy will be have a tag attached…

GEMIY-1024x584

See the original article in Japanese

With so many products all around us every day, it can be difficult for us to know who makes what, or how a certain product is made. Makers and consumers are very much divided. But a new e-commerce site, Gemiy, was recently launched in Japan based on the idea of breaking this border that separates makers and consumers, thus creating a more humanized relationship.

Gemiy was launched by Ikumi Kinoshita, a senior student at Keio University. She is originally from Fukui prefecture, located in Japan’s midwestern region. When she moved to Tokyo, she had a strong sense that there was a big distance between generations, and between rural and urban areas. City life was somewhat uncomfortable, with so many people behaving indifferently to each other. She started thinking how she could break the wall, and eventually launched Gemiy as her proposed answer.

GEMIY-customize-1024x448

The site currently specialized in knit products, allowing buyers to customize the designs they want. Not only does the buyer get a custom-made product, but they user also feel a connection with the creator by knowing who made that particular product. All items ordered on Gemiy will be have a tag attached with the creator’s name and a thank-you card enclosed in the package. Customers can also send a message back to the creator if they wish. Kinoshita tells added:

I hope people of my generation or older can use the service when they want something very special for themselves or for someone very important to them.

The creators registered on Gemiy are skilled in making specific products either as a hobby or professionally. For example, a creator named Yoko from Fukui prefecture has 30 years of knitting experience. Shizuka and Saitama prefectures have many people with excellent skills in needlework. In a way, such a service is sort of like getting an item handmade by your mother.

Right now, the company doesn’t have any specific standard for screening creators. But the team will meet with then and match up products for them to make.

The initial idea for Gemiy came from a custom-made knitting service Heartmade, previously crowdfunded on Campfire. The project raised 500,000 yen ($5000), which was well beyond their target of 300,000 yen ($3000).

Gemiy plans to expand its product lineup to include things like glasses, shirts, Yukata (casual summer Kimono), sake, and chopsticks. Also, tours of production areas and workshops are being planned. Kinoshita says:

Right now, the custom-made feature would be the biggest motivation for users to try out the service. Later, we’d like to put more information about creators and production areas on the website, in order to spur an emotional response among potential customers.

Skipping the middleman: Japanese startup goes to the source for high-quality shirts

SHARE:

The revival of “Made in Japan” products. That is the mission of online fashion commerce startup Factelier. Having launched back in October of 2012, it eliminates the middle-man in fashion distribution by working directly with manufacturing factories. The resulting products can be purchased at one third the price of department stores. At the time of launch, Factelier leveraged Japanese crowdfunding service Campfire, hoping to raise just 300,000 yen (or about $3,000). But eventually it brought in over 1,100,000 yen (about $11,400) from over 70 supporters. The company’s very first partner was a factory in Kumamoto prefecture called Hitoyoshi, which works with over 74 worldwide brands. Factelier is seeing an ever-increasing demand from its customers and continues to add new products every month. The most recent product was a polo shirt selling for 7,350 yen (or about $74). It has an estimated market price of about 13,000 yen (an estimate based on the initial costs, equal to about $130). These shirts are manufactured in collaboration with a factory called Seiko, well-known for its state of the art sewing technology. In recent years, the rate of clothing products made in Japan has dropped by a whopping 45% compared to 1990. There are…

Factelier

The revival of “Made in Japan” products. That is the mission of online fashion commerce startup Factelier. Having launched back in October of 2012, it eliminates the middle-man in fashion distribution by working directly with manufacturing factories. The resulting products can be purchased at one third the price of department stores.

At the time of launch, Factelier leveraged Japanese crowdfunding service Campfire, hoping to raise just 300,000 yen (or about $3,000). But eventually it brought in over 1,100,000 yen (about $11,400) from over 70 supporters. The company’s very first partner was a factory in Kumamoto prefecture called Hitoyoshi, which works with over 74 worldwide brands.

Factelier is seeing an ever-increasing demand from its customers and continues to add new products every month. The most recent product was a polo shirt selling for 7,350 yen (or about $74). It has an estimated market price of about 13,000 yen (an estimate based on the initial costs, equal to about $130). These shirts are manufactured in collaboration with a factory called Seiko, well-known for its state of the art sewing technology.

Factelier-poloshirtIn recent years, the rate of clothing products made in Japan has dropped by a whopping 45% compared to 1990. There are many reasons behind this decline, but the emergence of a low-budget fashion market and the strong yen have definitely had an impact. As a result, the industry is seeing layoffs of highly skilled workers, and many factories are even closing. But by connecting factories directly with consumers at an appropriate price, many of them will be able to secure sales and revenue they would otherwise miss.

The company behind Factelier is Lifestyle Accent, and its founder Toshio Yamada was born into a family business that sold women’s clothes. He grew up with “made in Japan” quality clothes and studied abroad in France. He has experience in working at a luxury brand (Gucci in Paris) and has also worked in the online fashion commerce field. Yamada tells us:

70% of our customers are in their 30s and 40s. People find that our original products, produced in collaboration with [quality] factories, are great for gifts as well. All of our customers have one thing in common: they are looking for high quality products and care less about the brand name. We are doing very well right now and seeing a steady increase in demand.

Factelier supports international shipping using EMS. But currently its website is only available in Japanese.

Kickstart this: 14 of Japan’s top crowdfunded projects

SHARE:

Visualizing.info is a website that visualizes statistics and metrics from market surveys. On May 1st, the website was updated for the first time in almost a month, and it presented some interesting statistics from the Japanese crowdfunding space. The website has collected figures from the major Japanese crowdfunding sites: Readyfor, Campfire, Motion Galery, Countdown, and Kibidango. It presented an overview of what projects are trending or are most influential by counting the number of supportive ‘likes’ or the accumulation of funds raised. So what projects are the most popular in Japan in terms of the amounts raised? Let’s have a quick look below. All the statistics were current as of April 30th, 2013. Readyfor 1st place: Fill an empty library Raised 8.2 million yen from 862 people This project aims to help a library in Rikuzen Takada fill its shelves with with books. The library is located in the heart of an area that was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, where most books were damaged or destroyed by the subsequent tsunami. 2nd place: Support the koalas Raised 4.8 million yen from 677 people It aims to help a zoo in Nagoya grow eucalyptus to feed their…

visualizing.info

Visualizing.info is a website that visualizes statistics and metrics from market surveys. On May 1st, the website was updated for the first time in almost a month, and it presented some interesting statistics from the Japanese crowdfunding space. The website has collected figures from the major Japanese crowdfunding sites: Readyfor, Campfire, Motion Galery, Countdown, and Kibidango. It presented an overview of what projects are trending or are most influential by counting the number of supportive ‘likes’ or the accumulation of funds raised.

So what projects are the most popular in Japan in terms of the amounts raised? Let’s have a quick look below. All the statistics were current as of April 30th, 2013.

Readyfor

1st place: Fill an empty library

  • Raised 8.2 million yen from 862 people

This project aims to help a library in Rikuzen Takada fill its shelves with with books. The library is located in the heart of an area that was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, where most books were damaged or destroyed by the subsequent tsunami.

library

2nd place: Support the koalas

  • Raised 4.8 million yen from 677 people

It aims to help a zoo in Nagoya grow eucalyptus to feed their koalas. As some of our readers may know, koalas don’t eat anything other than eucalyptus. But these trees don’t grow naturally, and have to be grown artificially. Due to a lack of funds from the local government, this project raised money by turning to the public for financial support.

coala

3rd place: Send young artists to Italy

  • Raised 4.2 million yen from 388 people

Elementary school students living in the area affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake have created artwork made from the debris left by the devastation. These are to be exhibited at the Toy Museum in Zagarolo, Italy. The project owners wish to take the children to attend the exhibition.

artwork_from_debris

Campfire

1st place: From Fukushima to Chernobyl

  • Raised 6 million yen from 728 people

Three famous Japanese journalists and critics who have been observing the devastated area affected by the 2011 disaster are planning to visit Chernobyl to cover what’s has been happening there after the nuclear power plant accident. The three have raised money for a trip and will bring the latest reports and information to their audience in return.

2nd place: iPhone Polaroids

  • Raised 5.3 million yen from 268 people

A hardware manufacturing group called Impossible Instant Lab is planning to produce a device that allows you to develop Polaroid-style physical photos using the iPhone.

3rd place: Akihiro Nishino’s picture books

  • Raised 5.3 million yen from 585 people

Popular Japanese comedian Akihiro Nishino has created his own original picture books. He is hoping for a global outreach, and is planning to hold an exhibition at a gallery in New York.

Motion Gallery

1st place: Herb & Dorothy

  • Raised 14.6 million yen from 915 people

Japanese film maker Megumi Sasaki created a documentary film called Herb & Dorothy. It focuses on how an elderly couple living in NYC assembled one of the most important post–1960 art collections in history, on their modest civil-service salaries. Megumi wants to show the movie at a Japanese theater.

2nd place: Like someone in love

  • Raised 5.6 million yen from 244 people

Award-winning Iranian film maker Abbas Kiarostami shot a film in Japan called Like Someone in Love. Abbas once gave up on shooting the film due to the Great Earthquake, but eventually production was finished. The story revolved around an old man and a young prostitute in Japan, and thus far has been well received by critics. This effort aimed to raise funds to go towards the film’s distribution in Japan.

3rd place: Remembering Yanana

  • Raised 3.2 million yen from 132 people

These days, many Japanese local governments have introduced mascot characters called ‘Yuru-chara,’ primarily in an effort to promote local products and tourism in their areas. “Yanana” is one of the characters hailing from Gifu, Japan, but she subsequently had to stop her activities because her promotion schedule was unexpectedly terminated. For the purpose of keeping her alive in the minds of locals, some fans are raising money to hold retirement event, establish a monument, and even create a movie in her honor.

yanana

Countdown

1st place: Gamarjobat

  • Raised 8.4 million yen from 399 people

Japanese comedy duo Gamarjobat has been performing pantomime shows in 32 countries around the world. The duo has appeared on the BBC variety show Blue Peter and their next destination is Hollywood. To help them make it there, they want to create a promotional video about themselves.

2nd place

  • Raised 4.1 million yen from 115 people

A Japanese inn owner hopes to found a co-working space in a hot spring resort. Located in the Tohoku region just three hours away from Tokyo by bullet train, the owner wants to create a facility where everyone can comfortably work – but given the relaxing environment, heal at the same time.

3rd place: Online sign language dictionary and keyboard

  • Raised 2.9 million yen from 132 people

This project aspires to create the world’s first online dictionary for sign languages. Readers may recall that we previously featured this idea back in February.

Kibidango

1st place: The perfect camera bag

  • Raised 6.5 million yen from 226 people

Ulysses is the ideal camera bag. The creators have been polishing the idea for eight years, and they’ve finally invented one which uses natural materials but is still durable and easy-to-use.

2nd place: Pinot noir from Niigata

  • Raised 2.5 million yen from 107 people

A winery owner in Niigata plans to create a new wine using a Pinot noir grape. He wants to cultivate a grape vineyard, create his wine, and finally ship it. His customers (investors) have to wait five years for the wine to mature.

Subscription-based Japanese sake service? Yes please!

SHARE:

Hanami season is not only a wonderful time to check out cherry blossoms, but it also gives us a great excuse to drink sake in broad daylight guilt-free. But most of us are not sake experts, and it can often be difficult to choose one given the variety of choices out there. But Sakelife can be a solution for many facing this dilemma. The service is a monthly subscription commerce for Japanese sake. It began back in Feburary of 2012 by collecting its initial funding on the crowdfunding website, Campfire. The project succeeded in just three hours and gained four times the amount of funding they had asked for. Sakelife curates quality bottles of sake for its users every two months, including a sake glass as well. The subscription also comes with an informative weekly newsletter about sake. The curation is the responsibility of Masanori Takahashi, the 25th representative of a long-established sake maker whose roots go all the way back to the Muromachi period (1336). Sake subscription is available in two types of plans starting at 3150 yen (about $33) including the shipping fee. We’ve heard rumors that the startup is planning to launch outside of Japan, so we…

sakelife-subscription

Hanami season is not only a wonderful time to check out cherry blossoms, but it also gives us a great excuse to drink sake in broad daylight guilt-free. But most of us are not sake experts, and it can often be difficult to choose one given the variety of choices out there. But Sakelife can be a solution for many facing this dilemma. The service is a monthly subscription commerce for Japanese sake.

It began back in Feburary of 2012 by collecting its initial funding on the crowdfunding website, Campfire. The project succeeded in just three hours and gained four times the amount of funding they had asked for.

Sakelife curates quality bottles of sake for its users every two months, including a sake glass as well. The subscription also comes with an informative weekly newsletter about sake. The curation is the responsibility of Masanori Takahashi, the 25th representative of a long-established sake maker whose roots go all the way back to the Muromachi period (1336).

Sake subscription is available in two types of plans starting at 3150 yen (about $33) including the shipping fee. We’ve heard rumors that the startup is planning to launch outside of Japan, so we will let you know if and when it’s available to overseas users.

Speaking of sake, we recently came across a project called Shuzo-Meigara Note (which translates as ‘sake brewer notebook’) that aims to promote sake culture. Shuzo-Meigara uses unused sake brewer’s cardboard and makes it into a sleek hand-made design notebook.

shuzo-meigara-notebooks

There are fourteen kinds of notebooks availabe on an ecommerce website, but shipment is limited to Japan for now. Shuzo-Meigara note can be a nice gift for friends who enjoy sake, and and it also helps promote the sake brewery. The traditional and powerful font of sake labels makes the notebook very unique and original.

Japanese designer ditches chopsticks for amazing musical fork

SHARE:

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, and the following is a prime example. At CES 2013 Hapilabs turned a lot of heads with their smart fork. That device promotes healthier eating by making sure you don’t eat too much or too fast. But another unique utensil from Cerevo Dash, the EaTheremin, aspires to enrich your dining experience by turning your meals into a musical performance. How does it work? I’m glad you asked. The handle and tip of the fork contain separate electrodes, which create a weak electric current flowing through the food and the body (mouth → handle) when you eat. It plays different sounds depending on the type of food on the fork and the way in which it is eaten (according to changes in electrical resistance). All you have to do is add the battery and it’s ready for use. There are two varieties of EaTheremin. The digital version selects and plays pre-loaded sound effects from the internal memory based on the food’s electrical resistance. For…

EaTheremin

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, and the following is a prime example.


At CES 2013 Hapilabs turned a lot of heads with their smart fork. That device promotes healthier eating by making sure you don’t eat too much or too fast. But another unique utensil from Cerevo Dash, the EaTheremin, aspires to enrich your dining experience by turning your meals into a musical performance.

How does it work? I’m glad you asked. The handle and tip of the fork contain separate electrodes, which create a weak electric current flowing through the food and the body (mouth → handle) when you eat. It plays different sounds depending on the type of food on the fork and the way in which it is eaten (according to changes in electrical resistance). All you have to do is add the battery and it’s ready for use.

There are two varieties of EaTheremin. The digital version selects and plays pre-loaded sound effects from the internal memory based on the food’s electrical resistance. For the analog version, simple sine waves change subtly based on the food’s electrical resistance and how you eat, thus producing a sound like a theremin for your enjoyment [1].

This is a cool idea for a number of reasons. The fork could prove an effective tool in convincing picky children to eat foods they don’t like or helping hospital patients or elderly folks with cognitive impairments to enjoy meals again.

They raised ¥308,500, but regrettably the project concluded before the designers could reach their reaching the funding target. But we hope that this clever fork can find its way to our dinner tables sometime soon.


  1. The theremin is an electronic musical instrument from Russia, played without making physical contact. You simply move your hand in proximity to the instrument. If you’ve ever listed to Good Vibrations from The Beach Boys, that weird whining instrument is a theremin.  ↩

How a Japanese team is crowdfunding a lunar rover

SHARE:

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. The X Prize Foundation was founded by Peter H. Diamandis with the aim of developing and supporting space exploration [1]. One of participating companies in this competition is the Japanese company White Label Space. This private company independently develops Moon rovers in Japan. White Label Space is shooting for the Google Lunar X Prize, a prize awarded by the X Prize Foundation and sponsored by Google. It began back in 2007, and in order to collect the prize money a team must land a privately-developed unmanned space probe on the surface of the moon while also meeting some other specified criteria. We’re not sure exactly how they plan to get their rover onto the moon, but the professor leading the technology development team, Kazuya Yoshida, has experience in launching satellites into space. So we’re optimistic about their prospects. To fund the development of the company’s miniaturized rovers, White Label Space (WLSJ) launched a fundraising…

campfire-space

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.


The X Prize Foundation was founded by Peter H. Diamandis with the aim of developing and supporting space exploration [1]. One of participating companies in this competition is the Japanese company White Label Space. This private company independently develops Moon rovers in Japan.

White Label Space is shooting for the Google Lunar X Prize, a prize awarded by the X Prize Foundation and sponsored by Google. It began back in 2007, and in order to collect the prize money a team must land a privately-developed unmanned space probe on the surface of the moon while also meeting some other specified criteria. We’re not sure exactly how they plan to get their rover onto the moon, but the professor leading the technology development team, Kazuya Yoshida, has experience in launching satellites into space. So we’re optimistic about their prospects.

To fund the development of the company’s miniaturized rovers, White Label Space (WLSJ) launched a fundraising campaign via Campfire to pay for the production cost and testing of its prototype. Having set an initial goal of raising ¥2,000,000 (or about $22,000), they successfully gathered ¥2,301,520 by December 4, 2012.

campfire-space-2


  1. It is supported by many of the internet’s heavy-hitters including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as well as the founder of Virgin Group, Richard Branson.  ↩

Old-school art meets modern day funding in Japan

SHARE:

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. From Sukimaki Animation, While the Crow Weeps is a short animation using multiplane cameras, implementing a technique often used in the past to create 3D effects in traditional cell animation. In While the Crow Weeps this method was used to capture each individually hand-drawn frame. The subject of the art series is a group of crows, and in addition to the unique camera technique, it also uses Japanese paper (washi), black India Ink and mineral pigments as painting materials. By choosing these unusual, older methods, the project aims to expand the expressiveness of the artwork. Using this multiplane camera technique in production is very rare in the age of personal computers. The technique gives the artwork a distinct atmosphere and warmth that cannot be expressed with digital processing. The Campfire campaign aimed to raise JPY 300,000 (about $3,300) to fund production costs. That goal was reached successfully on December 13, 2012, and the project…

crows-tears

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.


From Sukimaki Animation, While the Crow Weeps is a short animation using multiplane cameras, implementing a technique often used in the past to create 3D effects in traditional cell animation. In While the Crow Weeps this method was used to capture each individually hand-drawn frame.

The subject of the art series is a group of crows, and in addition to the unique camera technique, it also uses Japanese paper (washi), black India Ink and mineral pigments as painting materials. By choosing these unusual, older methods, the project aims to expand the expressiveness of the artwork.

Using this multiplane camera technique in production is very rare in the age of personal computers. The technique gives the artwork a distinct atmosphere and warmth that cannot be expressed with digital processing.

The Campfire campaign aimed to raise JPY 300,000 (about $3,300) to fund production costs. That goal was reached successfully on December 13, 2012, and the project has since stopped seeking additional patrons. The artwork is scheduled to be completed by this spring.

For an idea of how this artwork looks, you can see the video clip below.

Japan’s amazing self-stirring pot now for sale on Amazon

SHARE:

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. When we think about rapidly advancing technology sectors, we don’t often think about cooking. But if you’ve ever stood impatiently over a boiling pot, mixing vegetables or pasta, this self-stirring pot, named kurokuro nabe, is technology that will likely have you drooling. It’s a ridiculously simple design, with diagonal gutters along the sides which draw water up to create a whirlpool as water heats up. The result is a wonderful self-mixing pot that should save you the time and trouble of always watching to see when it needs stirring. If you aren’t already floored by this, let me further point out that since the whirlpool brings bubbles to the center of the pot, it also prevents water from boiling over. Undesirable material like fat or oil also gathers in the middle, and can be scooped out easily. When video of the prototype was initially posted on YouTube (see video below), it racked up over…

kurukuru nabe

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.


When we think about rapidly advancing technology sectors, we don’t often think about cooking. But if you’ve ever stood impatiently over a boiling pot, mixing vegetables or pasta, this self-stirring pot, named kurokuro nabe, is technology that will likely have you drooling.

It’s a ridiculously simple design, with diagonal gutters along the sides which draw water up to create a whirlpool as water heats up. The result is a wonderful self-mixing pot that should save you the time and trouble of always watching to see when it needs stirring.

If you aren’t already floored by this, let me further point out that since the whirlpool brings bubbles to the center of the pot, it also prevents water from boiling over. Undesirable material like fat or oil also gathers in the middle, and can be scooped out easily.

When video of the prototype was initially posted on YouTube (see video below), it racked up over 740,000 views, far exceeding the expectations of its designers and prompting them to produce a marketable product. It was even featured in prominent Western media like The Huffington Post and Daily Mail.

The funds raised for this project on were earmarked to cover production costs of at least 1000 pots, with trial manufacturing and mass production were to take place in the development department of Toyo Rikagaku Kenkyusho in Niigata Prefecture. That company is so renowned for its technology that Steve Jobs came all the way to Japan to place an order for iPad production there.

Although the creators raised 311,000 yen (almost $3,400) in their Campfire crowdfunding campaign, the project didn’t reach its funding target. Perhaps there’s not much of a crossover between cooking enthusiasts and Campfire backers? But thankfully, this miracle pot is being sold on Amazon Japan, so we’re delighted to see that it’s finally available for purchase.

You can check out more information about kurokuro nabe over on its website (in Japanese).