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Ewww! Japanese ear-picking mobile game hits 1 million downloads

Rick Martin 2013.02.28

Japan has more than its fair share of strange mobile apps and games, and we hope to show you a few of them every now and then on this site – just because they’re fun. One such application is called Everyday ear-picking, which has just reached the 1 million downloads milestone. The game has you cleaning some stranger’s ear, as he provides feedback (in Japanese) as to how your doing. If you’re lucky, you might fish out some really big blobs of ear muck, which you can then add to your collection book. In the latest update to the game, the developers have added even bigger pieces of ear-muck for you to fish out [1].　Check out the video below for a closer look at how it works. While it’s pretty amazing that an ear-picking/cleaning mobile game even exists at all, it’s perhaps even more amazing that a million people have downloaded it. Initially released back last fall, the iOS version has been a steady top 50 ‘entertainment’ app for about three months now, while the Android version peaked last November when it was a top 5 game on Google Play in Japan for about three weeks. But overall, it’s a…

Japan has more than its fair share of strange mobile apps and games, and we hope to show you a few of them every now and then on this site – just because they’re fun. One such application is called Everyday ear-picking, which has just reached the 1 million downloads milestone.

The game has you cleaning some stranger’s ear, as he provides feedback (in Japanese) as to how your doing. If you’re lucky, you might fish out some really big blobs of ear muck, which you can then add to your collection book. In the latest update to the game, the developers have added even bigger pieces of ear-muck for you to fish out [1].　Check out the video below for a closer look at how it works.

While it’s pretty amazing that an ear-picking/cleaning mobile game even exists at all, it’s perhaps even more amazing that a million people have downloaded it. Initially released back last fall, the iOS version has been a steady top 50 ‘entertainment’ app for about three months now, while the Android version peaked last November when it was a top 5 game on Google Play in Japan for about three weeks.

But overall, it’s a good example of how a fun, unique idea with a dash of humor can hit a sweet spot with casual gamers in Japan, even with ridiculously simple artwork and gameplay. (via Gamer.ne.jp)

Did I just write that sentence? I think it’s time to call it a day! ↩

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Wind Runner: The latest Line game to hit number 1 in Japan’s App Store

Rick Martin 2013.02.28

NHN Japan has been releasing a number of casual games via its popular Line chat platform in recent months, all of them relatively casual titles, many of them puzzlers like Line Pop or Line Birzzle. But its latest title, Line Wind Runner, while it is still very casual, is perhaps one of the most fun games to come from Line so far. The game is a side-scrolling platformer, and reminds me a little bit of Sonic the Hedgehog in that you have to collect as many stars as you can [1]. But the controls are appropriately simple for a mobile game, as your character runs on its own, and you merely need to jump over obstacles on your way. You can do one tap for a single jump, and to do a sort of air glide, you do a double tap which lets you reach greater heights. Currently Wind Runner is the top ranked game in Apple’s Japanese App Store, and it is the second ranked free app overall. It’s also doing well in other Asian countries, ranking as the third highest free app in Thailand and Taiwan, and the second highest in Cambodia. On Google Play, it’s also doing…

NHN Japan has been releasing a number of casual games via its popular Line chat platform in recent months, all of them relatively casual titles, many of them puzzlers like Line Pop or Line Birzzle. But its latest title, Line Wind Runner, while it is still very casual, is perhaps one of the most fun games to come from Line so far.

The game is a side-scrolling platformer, and reminds me a little bit of Sonic the Hedgehog in that you have to collect as many stars as you can [1]. But the controls are appropriately simple for a mobile game, as your character runs on its own, and you merely need to jump over obstacles on your way. You can do one tap for a single jump, and to do a sort of air glide, you do a double tap which lets you reach greater heights.

Currently Wind Runner is the top ranked game in Apple’s Japanese App Store, and it is the second ranked free app overall. It’s also doing well in other Asian countries, ranking as the third highest free app in Thailand and Taiwan, and the second highest in Cambodia.

On Google Play, it’s also doing ok, but still has lots of room to improve.

Sonic collected rings. ↩

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Have a bubble wrap fetish? New iPhone 5 case from Japan has you covered!

Rick Martin 2013.02.26

Few among us can resist the simple pleasure of popping bubble wrap. Japan’s Bandai capitalized on this widespread public fetish a few years back when it produced its Mugen Puchipuchi keychain. And now, phone accessory vendor Strapya has just released a similar product, as its new Puchipuchi iPhone 5 case brings bubble wrap goodness to the backside of the Apple’s latest smartphone. Like Bandai’s keychain, the bubbles can be popped an infinite number of times, so you can keep popping for as long as you want — or until someone comes along and punches you in the face for making a racket, whichever comes first. Check out the demo video below, which shows some lucky fellow in bubble-popping ecstacy. The case is priced at 2,100 yen (or about $23) and can be ordered from the Strapya website. Of course that case only gives you bubble popping on the back of your iPhone. But if you’d like to take care of the front too, check out the Puchipuchi kibun application for iOS which lets you pop virtual bubbles on your screen. Similarly for Android users, there’s the Hatsune Miku-themed bubble pack + miku application available on Google Play.

Few among us can resist the simple pleasure of popping bubble wrap. Japan’s Bandai capitalized on this widespread public fetish a few years back when it produced its Mugen Puchipuchi keychain. And now, phone accessory vendor Strapya has just released a similar product, as its new Puchipuchi iPhone 5 case brings bubble wrap goodness to the backside of the Apple’s latest smartphone.

Like Bandai’s keychain, the bubbles can be popped an infinite number of times, so you can keep popping for as long as you want — or until someone comes along and punches you in the face for making a racket, whichever comes first. Check out the demo video below, which shows some lucky fellow in bubble-popping ecstacy.

The case is priced at 2,100 yen (or about $23) and can be ordered from the Strapya website.

Of course that case only gives you bubble popping on the back of your iPhone. But if you’d like to take care of the front too, check out the Puchipuchi kibun application for iOS which lets you pop virtual bubbles on your screen. Similarly for Android users, there’s the Hatsune Miku-themed bubble pack + miku application available on Google Play.

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Japanese iPhone spy game turns English study into exciting covert mission

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.02.22

When it comes to English language skills, Japanese people tend to be more book-smart. We learn English as a second language starting in elementary school, but it was only in April of 2011 that English became mandatory for elementary school students. Before that, English study began in middle school. As an island nation, there are a limited number of foreigners in Japan [1], and for the most part, you can pretty much live here without needing any other language except Japanese. Of course a lack of practice invariably results in a corresponding lack of skills. And to help address Japan’s English problems, a company called Roll & Move is trying to make English learning more fun. How? Its app Choho-Listening E.I.A. (E.I.A. stands for English Intelligence Spying Agency) is encouraging users to become spies on a secret mission! After starting the app, you’re welcomed by your secret agent boss who helps you jump into the plot. After some preliminary questions about your current English skills, you’re given a passport corresponding to your proficiency level. From there, you’re off on a secret mission to spy on people’s conversations and report back (answering questions about the conversation) to your boss about your…

When it comes to English language skills, Japanese people tend to be more book-smart. We learn English as a second language starting in elementary school, but it was only in April of 2011 that English became mandatory for elementary school students. Before that, English study began in middle school. As an island nation, there are a limited number of foreigners in Japan [1], and for the most part, you can pretty much live here without needing any other language except Japanese.

Of course a lack of practice invariably results in a corresponding lack of skills. And to help address Japan’s English problems, a company called Roll & Move is trying to make English learning more fun. How? Its app Choho-Listening E.I.A. (E.I.A. stands for English Intelligence Spying Agency) is encouraging users to become spies on a secret mission!

After starting the app, you’re welcomed by your secret agent boss who helps you jump into the plot. After some preliminary questions about your current English skills, you’re given a passport corresponding to your proficiency level. From there, you’re off on a secret mission to spy on people’s conversations and report back (answering questions about the conversation) to your boss about your findings.

With background noise and buzzing sounds, the audio environment seems very real. The illustrations and design of the app suits the exciting secret mission plot line, and the story settings motivate users to complete and study more. The app is not only fun but the content is very practical, created based on actual TOEIC problems.

Almost half the people I meet lament their lack of English skills. And admittedly, most study methods are pretty boring. But I definitely recommend this neat little app so aspiring students can say ‘Sayonara’ to English study of the coma-inducing variety.

The total number of immigrants was 7.1 million in 2011, minus 2.3 million from previous year. ↩

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Ninja Camera: Japan’s top iPhone photo app is perfect for perverts

SCORE 1,305

Rick Martin 2013.02.22

Ninja Camera is a very sneaky iPhone app from Japan which is intended to let the users take photos without anyone noticing. It was released this week, and has been ranked number one in the photo and video category since then [1], so it’s certainly popular with at least a few people. As you can see in our demo video above, Ninja Camera has three stealthy shooting modes: Silent camera mode: The normal viewfinder is displayed, but when you take a photo, there isn’t any shutter sound. Note that in Japan, camera phones are required to make this noise, although many apps allow users to get around this. Hidden camera mode: This is perhaps the most nefarious feature, as your camera’s screen shows fully functioning web browser, with a tiny camera viewfinder in the bottom corner. So even if someone is watching over your shoulder, it appears as though you are innocently browsing the web – when you are actually snapping photos [2]. Dark camera mode: This shooting mode blacks out the entire screen, making it appear as though your phone is off. But there are faintly visible shutter buttons on the bottom, letting you continue to snap off pictures….

Ninja Camera is a very sneaky iPhone app from Japan which is intended to let the users take photos without anyone noticing. It was released this week, and has been ranked number one in the photo and video category since then [1], so it’s certainly popular with at least a few people.

As you can see in our demo video above, Ninja Camera has three stealthy shooting modes:

Silent camera mode: The normal viewfinder is displayed, but when you take a photo, there isn’t any shutter sound. Note that in Japan, camera phones are required to make this noise, although many apps allow users to get around this.
Hidden camera mode: This is perhaps the most nefarious feature, as your camera’s screen shows fully functioning web browser, with a tiny camera viewfinder in the bottom corner. So even if someone is watching over your shoulder, it appears as though you are innocently browsing the web – when you are actually snapping photos [2].
Dark camera mode: This shooting mode blacks out the entire screen, making it appear as though your phone is off. But there are faintly visible shutter buttons on the bottom, letting you continue to snap off pictures.

Back in 2011 when such photo applications started to become more of a problem, an Apple Japan representative was cited by the Yomiuri Shimbun as saying that “There’s no problem as long as the developer’s stated purpose for the app doesn’t go against social ethics.”

In Ninja Camera’s app description, the developer of Ninja camera lists three example purposes for its stealthy app: shooting a sleeping baby, taking pictures of pets sensitive to sound, and taking photos in a quiet place. Ultimately, I think the responsibility does lie with the user. But in my view, an app like Ninja Camera definitely looks like it was intentionally designed for snapping covert pictures of unsuspecting ladies. If you look at one of the app’s promo photo (below and to the right) it shows a photo taken of a lady from behind — so the intent isn’t really even obscured here — even though it’s not explicitly stated.

ninja-camera-2

ninja-camera-1

I write this post on a Friday, so it has been released for four days now. ↩
A little digging shows that some other applications have this function, including the similarly named Private Ninja Cam. ↩

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Japanese prime minister takes on jumping monkey role in new iPhone game

Rick Martin 2013.02.21

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe bounced back into the public eye this past December when he became the leader of Japan for the second time after a five-year absence. But I’m not sure if he could have ever foreseen becoming the star of his own iPhone game, but that’s exactly what has happened in a popular new title Jump! Mr. Abe from Riko Design. The game is an extremely simple one, where the user must bounce Mr. Abe on a trampoline as high as possible. He starts off with small jumps in front of the National Diet Building, but if you can time his jumps correctly he flies even higher, beyond Tokyo Tower, and past the newly erected Tokyo Sky Tree. Switch to 20-jump mode, and you can send Mr. Abe to even greater heights, past iconic landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia (apparently the game developer isn’t a stickler for accurately representing the scale of the buildings!). What’s interesting about Jump! Mr Abe is that this very casual game appears to have been a simple reinvention of Riko Design’s other recent title Jumping Monkeys, which uses the exact same type of…

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe bounced back into the public eye this past December when he became the leader of Japan for the second time after a five-year absence. But I’m not sure if he could have ever foreseen becoming the star of his own iPhone game, but that’s exactly what has happened in a popular new title Jump! Mr. Abe from Riko Design.

The game is an extremely simple one, where the user must bounce Mr. Abe on a trampoline as high as possible. He starts off with small jumps in front of the National Diet Building, but if you can time his jumps correctly he flies even higher, beyond Tokyo Tower, and past the newly erected Tokyo Sky Tree.

Switch to 20-jump mode, and you can send Mr. Abe to even greater heights, past iconic landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia (apparently the game developer isn’t a stickler for accurately representing the scale of the buildings!).

What’s interesting about Jump! Mr Abe is that this very casual game appears to have been a simple reinvention of Riko Design’s other recent title Jumping Monkeys, which uses the exact same type of game play. I’m not sure if the developer is making any sort of hidden political commentary here by putting Mr. Abe into a role it previously reserved for monkeys — but it’s a fun casual title that many kids might like nonetheless, I think.

Currently the game is the 9th ranked free title on the Japanese app store, and but ranks first in the family category and fifth in gaming. Check it out over on the app store.

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The slick new iPhone app that brings Japanese fashion trends to Asia

Junya Mori 2013.02.14

See original story in Japanese Tokyo-based app developer YoutFit recently released an application called Japan Style, with the aim of bringing Japan’s latest fashion trends to the world in a magazine style. Its content will be updated every month, and its target readership will be the Asian region. So far it’s available in English and traditional Chinese. In its first edition it features products from Zozotown.com, the global version of Japan’s largest fashion e-commerce site. The app will show you fashionable shops, beautiful scenery, highly-rated restaurants, and other spots where you can experience Japanese youth culture. New content every month is not very frequent, but they might pick things up a bit in the future as they step up their marketing. Japan Style thinks that users can even use this application as a mobile travel guidebook. They want the app to be an information hub that introduces Japanese fashion spots to foreign visitors in Japan. The app is available for free over on Apple’s App Store.

See original story in Japanese

Tokyo-based app developer YoutFit recently released an application called Japan Style, with the aim of bringing Japan’s latest fashion trends to the world in a magazine style. Its content will be updated every month, and its target readership will be the Asian region. So far it’s available in English and traditional Chinese.

In its first edition it features products from Zozotown.com, the global version of Japan’s largest fashion e-commerce site. The app will show you fashionable shops, beautiful scenery, highly-rated restaurants, and other spots where you can experience Japanese youth culture.

New content every month is not very frequent, but they might pick things up a bit in the future as they step up their marketing. Japan Style thinks that users can even use this application as a mobile travel guidebook. They want the app to be an information hub that introduces Japanese fashion spots to foreign visitors in Japan.

The app is available for free over on Apple’s App Store.

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Smartphone penetration at 40% in Japan, survey says iPhone most favored

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.02.08

If you hop on any train in Tokyo, you’ll notice that everywhere you look people are using a smartphone. But what is the actual smartphone penetration rate in Japan? I recently stumbled upon some data by Impress R&D where the company surveyed 85,000 internet users about their smartphone usage. According to the survey, the smartphone penetration rate in Japan was 39.8% as of November 2012. That’s a significant increase from 22.9% in October 2011, and about a 10% increase from May of the same year, as you can see in the chart above. Most men and women in their 20s own smartphones: about 58.9% for men and 58.5% for women. Men in their 30s are the next highest demographic at 53.7%, followed by teenage boys. Japan loves the iPhone ¶ So what kind of smartphone do they use? It turns out Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone is the most popular with 31.5%. It’s followed by an assortment of Android runners-up: 12.1% have Sharp’s Aquos phone, 12% have Sony’s Xperia, 7.2% are using the Samsung Galaxy, and 6.0% opt for Fujitsu’s Arrows. In terms of operating systems, iOS accounts for 33.1% and Android makes up 66.4% — that’s a 5.5% increase for Android…

If you hop on any train in Tokyo, you’ll notice that everywhere you look people are using a smartphone. But what is the actual smartphone penetration rate in Japan? I recently stumbled upon some data by Impress R&D where the company surveyed 85,000 internet users about their smartphone usage.

According to the survey, the smartphone penetration rate in Japan was 39.8% as of November 2012. That’s a significant increase from 22.9% in October 2011, and about a 10% increase from May of the same year, as you can see in the chart above. Most men and women in their 20s own smartphones: about 58.9% for men and 58.5% for women. Men in their 30s are the next highest demographic at 53.7%, followed by teenage boys.

Japan loves the iPhone ¶

So what kind of smartphone do they use? It turns out Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone is the most popular with 31.5%. It’s followed by an assortment of Android runners-up: 12.1% have Sharp’s Aquos phone, 12% have Sony’s Xperia, 7.2% are using the Samsung Galaxy, and 6.0% opt for Fujitsu’s Arrows. In terms of operating systems, iOS accounts for 33.1% and Android makes up 66.4% — that’s a 5.5% increase for Android since last year for those of you keeping score at home.

Impress also asked about respondents’ use of social media. 38.7% responded that they use Facebook (compared to 25.4% last year) and 37.9% use Twitter (40.6% last year). According to another survey focusing on Facebook usage in Asian countries, Japan ranked fifth with 16.35 million estimated users [1]. Surprisingly, more and more people are using Facebook, and many of them appear to be moving on from Twitter.

The ever-growing mobile chat application Line place placed third with 33.9% of respondents using the service. Although in a recent MMD Laboratory survey of 670 respondents, Line came out as the most favored social service.

The most common usage of smartphones is texting or email according to 28% of respondents, followed by browsing the web and talking 14.2%, followed by social media at 13.2%.

SocialBakers currently puts the number at about 13.8 million, so take both these totals with a grain of salt. ↩

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Traditional Japanese art meets mobile: Paper iPhone cases from Kyoto

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.02.07

If you have ever visited Japanese variety stores like LOFT or Tokyu-Hands, you’ve likely seen the tremendous choice of iPhone cases. There are even websites like Case-Mate or Society6 where you can buy uniquely designed iPhone cases which are not mass produced. But I recently stumbled across one case that could be the first made of paper — or if not the very first, perhaps the sturdiest paper case. It’s called Musubi, which means “to tie” in Japanese. It’s a product by Kyoto-based manufacturer Suzuki Shofudo [1]. The case is made from a special robust paper using stereo-chemical paper pressing technology to mold it into the shape of an iPhone. To use it, you just need to place the paper case on the front and back of the iPhone, and then attach three stickers on the sides to hold the papers together. And that’s it, you’re done! The paper appears pretty thick although I’m not sure how much protection it would provide. There are five designs included in the Musubi package, allowing you to dress up your iPhone differently depending on your mood. The designs are traditional Japanese patterns that symbolizes relationships between people. For five cases, the price is…

If you have ever visited Japanese variety stores like LOFT or Tokyu-Hands, you’ve likely seen the tremendous choice of iPhone cases. There are even websites like Case-Mate or Society6 where you can buy uniquely designed iPhone cases which are not mass produced.

But I recently stumbled across one case that could be the first made of paper — or if not the very first, perhaps the sturdiest paper case. It’s called Musubi, which means “to tie” in Japanese. It’s a product by Kyoto-based manufacturer Suzuki Shofudo [1].

The case is made from a special robust paper using stereo-chemical paper pressing technology to mold it into the shape of an iPhone. To use it, you just need to place the paper case on the front and back of the iPhone, and then attach three stickers on the sides to hold the papers together. And that’s it, you’re done! The paper appears pretty thick although I’m not sure how much protection it would provide.

There are five designs included in the Musubi package, allowing you to dress up your iPhone differently depending on your mood. The designs are traditional Japanese patterns that symbolizes relationships between people. For five cases, the price is 1890 yen (about $20), which is generally less than the price of one iPhone case you can buy at a store. The cases are available for both iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5.

The case can be bought online through the Suzuki Shofudo website if you’re in Japan, or if you’re passing through Kyoto, their store is here. We’ll let you know if they become available to overseas buyers. I’m sure that the demand for such a slick design would be pretty high!

More details can be found on their website (Japanese). See this pdf for starters. ↩

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Is your iPhone dirty? Japan has a miniature zamboni robot that’ll clean it!

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.02.05

In a recent survey, 88% of smartphone users responded that they are often bothered by finger prints and other marks on their screens. And since not everyone has a piece of microfiber readily on hand, this is clearly a first world problem that absolutely must be solved. And fittingly, we have an equally first world solution. Use Automee-S, a tiny robotic cleaner that was just announced by TOMY Company, Ltd. Home cleaning robots like the Roomba are pretty popular in Japan. And TOMY applied the same concept to smartphones and tablets. In fact, it was way back in 1985 when they built their first cleaning robot named the SO-G (which means “cleaning” in Japanese) which uses brooms to clean. The company describes the Automee as an invention that combines practicality and playfulness. When you turn it on, it is propelled by three wheels on the bottom, and cleaning paper wipes off all fingerprints and oil on the screen. This toy is smart enough to detect the edge of whatever device it is cleaning and turns itself around to avoid from falling off. In this way, the Automee covers the entire surface, making sure everything is nice and clean. If you’d…

automee-s-2 — A zamboni for your iPad or iPhone!

In a recent survey, 88% of smartphone users responded that they are often bothered by finger prints and other marks on their screens. And since not everyone has a piece of microfiber readily on hand, this is clearly a first world problem that absolutely must be solved. And fittingly, we have an equally first world solution.

Use Automee-S, a tiny robotic cleaner that was just announced by TOMY Company, Ltd. Home cleaning robots like the Roomba are pretty popular in Japan. And TOMY applied the same concept to smartphones and tablets. In fact, it was way back in 1985 when they built their first cleaning robot named the SO-G (which means “cleaning” in Japanese) which uses brooms to clean.

The company describes the Automee as an invention that combines practicality and playfulness. When you turn it on, it is propelled by three wheels on the bottom, and cleaning paper wipes off all fingerprints and oil on the screen. This toy is smart enough to detect the edge of whatever device it is cleaning and turns itself around to avoid from falling off. In this way, the Automee covers the entire surface, making sure everything is nice and clean. If you’d like to see it in action, there’s a video over on the company’s website.

The approximate cleaning time is four minutes for smartphones (12cm x 6cm) and eight minutes for tablets (24cm x 19cm). Automee itself is about 7 cm in width and weighs 82g. It comes in four color variations: orange, blue, pink, and white. The two circles in front of the robot intended to mimic eyes, giving it a pet-like feel. The company is even planning to release other kinds in the future such as trains, cars, and animals.

Automee-S will be sold in a range of retail stores all over Japan, as well as online. It costs 1,575 yen (or about $17) and goes on sale on March 28 [1].

For those who read the headline and wondered what a ‘zamboni’ is, here you go. ↩

iphone

Ewww! Japanese ear-picking mobile game hits 1 million downloads

Wind Runner: The latest Line game to hit number 1 in Japan’s App Store

Have a bubble wrap fetish? New iPhone 5 case from Japan has you covered!

Japanese iPhone spy game turns English study into exciting covert mission

Ninja Camera: Japan’s top iPhone photo app is perfect for perverts

Japanese prime minister takes on jumping monkey role in new iPhone game

The slick new iPhone app that brings Japanese fashion trends to Asia

Smartphone penetration at 40% in Japan, survey says iPhone most favored

Japan loves the iPhone ¶

Traditional Japanese art meets mobile: Paper iPhone cases from Kyoto

Is your iPhone dirty? Japan has a miniature zamboni robot that’ll clean it!

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