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Just in time for Valentine’s Day: Bouque.me helps Japanese couples finance weddings

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.02.14

Online wedding services are pretty hot these days. Websites like Loverly, a sort of Pinterest for weddings, and wedding-themed blogs like StyleMePretty are gaining in popularity. Even in Japan, it seems that couples are exploring one-of-a-kind weddings instead of more traditional ones which can sometimes be a little mundane. But there is still a big problem that has yet to be solved. Many couples are giving up on the idea of having a wedding due to financial reasons. That’s according to the folks at Bouque.me, who just released their service today, on Valentine’s day. Bouque.me is a product from Samurai Incubate, and is basically a tip collecting platform to financially assist couples planning to wed. In 2011, the amount of couples who got married numbered around 700,000. But among those couples, only 55,000 celebrated with a wedding ceremony. On Bouque.me, couples are able to collect tips from their friends on different social networks and through email as well. By creating your own wedding page on the site and sharing the URL, friends and acquaintances can get involved. People can tip as much money as they want and even add a personal note for the couple. Japanese people are often very…

Online wedding services are pretty hot these days. Websites like Loverly, a sort of Pinterest for weddings, and wedding-themed blogs like StyleMePretty are gaining in popularity. Even in Japan, it seems that couples are exploring one-of-a-kind weddings instead of more traditional ones which can sometimes be a little mundane. But there is still a big problem that has yet to be solved. Many couples are giving up on the idea of having a wedding due to financial reasons. That’s according to the folks at Bouque.me, who just released their service today, on Valentine’s day.

Bouque.me is a product from Samurai Incubate, and is basically a tip collecting platform to financially assist couples planning to wed. In 2011, the amount of couples who got married numbered around 700,000. But among those couples, only 55,000 celebrated with a wedding ceremony.

On Bouque.me, couples are able to collect tips from their friends on different social networks and through email as well. By creating your own wedding page on the site and sharing the URL, friends and acquaintances can get involved. People can tip as much money as they want and even add a personal note for the couple.

Japanese people are often very careful about giving gifts, and it’s a very personal and important act. It will be interesting to see how people react to the very modern idea of giving money online. When I asked about this, a Samurai Incubate representative responded that the Bouque.me is more than just a money collecting platform. The site fosters communication between the couple and the giver, and it allows for friends who are unable to attend the wedding (maybe they live in a different area and can’t be there physically, for example) to get involved.

According to a recent survey on weddings, 58.2% of couples cite “expressing gratitude towards not just family, but also friends” as a big reason to have a wedding ceremony. Of those couples who gave up on having a wedding ceremony, 44% answered that they plan on having a wedding in the future. So there is a problem, but we’ll have to wait and see if Bouque.me is the answer people are looking for.

On a related note, it was just last week that we saw Yahoo Japan take a 10% stake in wedding site Minnano Wedding. That service has 1.1 million monthly visitors, as well as more than 200,000 posts about 5,000 wedding places in Japan.

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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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Japanese designer ditches chopsticks for amazing musical fork

The Bridge 2013.02.11

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…

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.

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. ↩

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Could Japan’s next pop supergroup be crowdfunded?

The Bridge 2013.02.06

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 musical act The j-Pad Girls was formed in July of 2012 as part of a media art project. Each artist performs a Japanese classic hit song, and the group’s third release Kimi wo Nosete was ranked number one on the Amazon download chart, and number seventeen on the iTunes music video chart. While the singers are certainly easy on the eyes, they also have the savvy to promote themselves on the web. In their Campfire project supporting their second season, participants and winners from various beauty pageants also joined the group. The biggest factor in the popularity of Japanese supergroup AKB48 is that everyone in Japan could get involved in the building the next big idol. In the same way, by supporting j-Pad Girls through Campfire, people would get invites to the group’s private Facebook page where you can participate in polls to decide the next album cover as well as other activities….

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 musical act The j-Pad Girls was formed in July of 2012 as part of a media art project. Each artist performs a Japanese classic hit song, and the group’s third release Kimi wo Nosete was ranked number one on the Amazon download chart, and number seventeen on the iTunes music video chart.

While the singers are certainly easy on the eyes, they also have the savvy to promote themselves on the web.

In their Campfire project supporting their second season, participants and winners from various beauty pageants also joined the group. The biggest factor in the popularity of Japanese supergroup AKB48 is that everyone in Japan could get involved in the building the next big idol. In the same way, by supporting j-Pad Girls through Campfire, people would get invites to the group’s private Facebook page where you can participate in polls to decide the next album cover as well as other activities. Since a Facebook account is required to become a supporter, the group can also use platform to get an accurate idea of its fan base.

The project, which set a funding target of JPY 200,000 (nearly $2,200), reached that goal and completed recruiting of the group’s first members on November 28, 2012. It will be fun to see — and listen — to how The j-Pad Girls do in 2013!

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How a Japanese team is crowdfunding a lunar rover

The Bridge 2013.02.05

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…

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.

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. ↩

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

The Bridge 2013.02.01

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…

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).

Crowdfunding

Japanese manga artist crowdfunds digital exhibition overseas

Japanese designer ditches chopsticks for amazing musical fork

How a Japanese team is crowdfunding a lunar rover

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

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