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Fujitsu to offer mobile health support services to women in Japan

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NTT Docomo recently unveiled its new summer smartphone lineup, and included among its new handsets was the Arrows NX F–05F. Made by Fujitsu, this will be one of many Fujitsu phones that will feature a new Karada Life Pregnancy Support app targeting female users. According to Fujitsu today, the service will be available starting May 30th here in Japan. The application was developed by Fujitsu using APIs from Luna Luna, a service that millions of women in Japan use to be more aware of their menstrual cycles, by recording period timing and body temperature. In short, a range of services will be provided by both Fujitsu and Luna Luna, including estimation of menstruation and ovulation times (based on data from the previous two months) and lifestyle advice. There is also convenient body temperature management that makes use of wireless and automatic transmission of data from a thermometer [1] to smartphones (pictured below). Our readers may recall that we also saw Ateam release an app for women trying to get pregnant late last year. But it’s good to see more companies like Fujitsu get involved to provide more options. It’s interesting to watch more and more companies in Japan strive to…

fujitsu-karada

NTT Docomo recently unveiled its new summer smartphone lineup, and included among its new handsets was the Arrows NX F–05F. Made by Fujitsu, this will be one of many Fujitsu phones that will feature a new Karada Life Pregnancy Support app targeting female users. According to Fujitsu today, the service will be available starting May 30th here in Japan.

The application was developed by Fujitsu using APIs from Luna Luna, a service that millions of women in Japan use to be more aware of their menstrual cycles, by recording period timing and body temperature.

In short, a range of services will be provided by both Fujitsu and Luna Luna, including estimation of menstruation and ovulation times (based on data from the previous two months) and lifestyle advice. There is also convenient body temperature management that makes use of wireless and automatic transmission of data from a thermometer [1] to smartphones (pictured below).

Our readers may recall that we also saw Ateam release an app for women trying to get pregnant late last year. But it’s good to see more companies like Fujitsu get involved to provide more options.

It’s interesting to watch more and more companies in Japan strive to serve female users. Just last month, for example, Amazon Japan launched a new female-focused store front to specifically target women and mothers.

fujitsu-karada-2


  1. Specifically, the Terumo Corporation’s WOMAN °C W520DZ thermometer, which is ostensibly not included.  ↩

Japan’s Voltage boasts 22M users of its dating-sim games for women

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Japanese app developer Voltage has announced this week that its catalogue of dating simulation apps [1] for women (there are about 60 in total) has surpassed 22 million users. The milestone was reached back in February, according to the company (PDF). Included in the company’s repertoire are Sudden Kiss for a Promise, Office Secrets (also available in English if you’d like to try), as well as Gossip Girl, a title based on the popular American TV show. We interviewed Voltage representative Emiri Okawa last year at the Tokyo Game Show, as you may recall (see below). An explanation on translation: Voltage calls this genre of apps love/romance drama apps. We’ll opt for ‘dating simulation’, in the interests of clarity.  ↩

voltage-22-million

Japanese app developer Voltage has announced this week that its catalogue of dating simulation apps [1] for women (there are about 60 in total) has surpassed 22 million users. The milestone was reached back in February, according to the company (PDF).

Included in the company’s repertoire are Sudden Kiss for a Promise, Office Secrets (also available in English if you’d like to try), as well as Gossip Girl, a title based on the popular American TV show.

We interviewed Voltage representative Emiri Okawa last year at the Tokyo Game Show, as you may recall (see below).


  1. An explanation on translation: Voltage calls this genre of apps love/romance drama apps. We’ll opt for ‘dating simulation’, in the interests of clarity.  ↩

Amazon Japan launches new storefront to better serve women

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Today Amazon Japan launched a storefront focused on females, dubbed ‘Amazon Woman’ (amazon.co.jp/woman), catering to women and mothers specifically. According to CNet Japan (Japanese), it’s the first time that Amazon Japan had a project team driven by a core of female employees. The site will focus on fashions, cosmetics, food, lifestyle goods, etc, with over 6000 items currently listed. While women may not be treated so fairly in Japan, many internet companies in the country are starting to realize the opportunities in providing custom services to women. Even here at The Bridge we have a special category dedicated to women on our Japanese site. CNet Japan

amazon-women

Today Amazon Japan launched a storefront focused on females, dubbed ‘Amazon Woman’ (amazon.co.jp/woman), catering to women and mothers specifically. According to CNet Japan (Japanese), it’s the first time that Amazon Japan had a project team driven by a core of female employees. The site will focus on fashions, cosmetics, food, lifestyle goods, etc, with over 6000 items currently listed.

While women may not be treated so fairly in Japan, many internet companies in the country are starting to realize the opportunities in providing custom services to women. Even here at The Bridge we have a special category dedicated to women on our Japanese site.

CNet Japan

Japan’s CyberAgent jumps into market for mothers with crowdsourcing site

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Back in May, CyberAgent announced the launch of a business that would be specifically for mothers here in Japan. This is a natural and smart step for its Ameba platform, considering that many of its top Ameba bloggers are female celebrities with children. Mothers mean business. For mothers, Ameba chose a crowdsourcing website as its first business, calling it Mama & Crowd. Although crowdsourcing is a busy market with existing players like Crowdworks and Lancers, Mama & Crowd will focus on mothers as its work force, and will provide work that doesn’t require such specialized skills — simple jobs like responding to questionnaires or writing short articles fo the web. Mama & Crowd will officially launch in late December, but it already begun its pre-registration on November 19th. Here in Japan, we are seeing more and more apps and services for the mothers demographic. Prima is another example, a flea market mobile app for mothers. The app can be used to sell and buy used clothes and items for kids under 12. The app recently enabled of payment through national convenient stores. According to a survey conducted by CyberAgent through its own flea market app ‘Maifri’, the numbers indicated that…

Mama&Crowd
Back in May, CyberAgent announced the launch of a business that would be specifically for mothers here in Japan. This is a natural and smart step for its Ameba platform, considering that many of its top Ameba bloggers are female celebrities with children. Mothers mean business.

For mothers, Ameba chose a crowdsourcing website as its first business, calling it Mama & Crowd. Although crowdsourcing is a busy market with existing players like Crowdworks and Lancers, Mama & Crowd will focus on mothers as its work force, and will provide work that doesn’t require such specialized skills — simple jobs like responding to questionnaires or writing short articles fo the web. Mama & Crowd will officially launch in late December, but it already begun its pre-registration on November 19th.

Here in Japan, we are seeing more and more apps and services for the mothers demographic. Prima is another example, a flea market mobile app for mothers. The app can be used to sell and buy used clothes and items for kids under 12. The app recently enabled of payment through national convenient stores.

According to a survey conducted by CyberAgent through its own flea market app ‘Maifri’, the numbers indicated that more businesses should enter this market. Female respondents between the ages of 20 to 30 with children were asked about their mobile phone usage. When asked whether smartphones have changed how they doing housework and raising children, 77% of respondents said that it has. Some examples of how mothers use their phones include searching for food recipes for cooking, and showing videos to kids when they’re crying in public. Almost 90% of mothers answered that the smartphone is a useful tool for them.

With smartphone becoming an essential part of motherhood, we can expect to see more apps targeting this particular segement in the future.

Mobile app lends a hand to expectant mothers in Japan

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There are many ways for expecting mothers to prepare for the birth of a child. One can participate in classes to learn about how to better care for a baby, buy baby beds and other necessary items in advance, and even baby-proof the house. Here in Japan, there is one other thing you can do to prepare. You can install a useful mobile app that helps women when they go into labor. It’s called ‘Jintsu-kitakamo‘. Jintsu Kitakamo can roughly be translated as ‘I think my contractions have started’. It lets you count the time that has passed between each contraction. When the pace between contractions shortens and mothers are close to going into labor, they can call pre-programmed phone numbers with a single tap. It could be your husband’s cell phone number, for example, or the number for a taxi company. The time you’ve counted can be sent by email, taking away the hassle of texting on your own to update concerned people such as your mother or your husband. The app also provides tips from ‘senpai’ mothers (those with children already) and lets new mothers ask questions regarding pregnancy in general. In Japan, many taxi companies provide services exclusively…

Jintsu-taxi

There are many ways for expecting mothers to prepare for the birth of a child. One can participate in classes to learn about how to better care for a baby, buy baby beds and other necessary items in advance, and even baby-proof the house. Here in Japan, there is one other thing you can do to prepare. You can install a useful mobile app that helps women when they go into labor. It’s called ‘Jintsu-kitakamo‘.

Jintsu-Kitakamo

Jintsu Kitakamo can roughly be translated as ‘I think my contractions have started’. It lets you count the time that has passed between each contraction. When the pace between contractions shortens and mothers are close to going into labor, they can call pre-programmed phone numbers with a single tap. It could be your husband’s cell phone number, for example, or the number for a taxi company.

The time you’ve counted can be sent by email, taking away the hassle of texting on your own to update concerned people such as your mother or your husband. The app also provides tips from ‘senpai’ mothers (those with children already) and lets new mothers ask questions regarding pregnancy in general.

In Japan, many taxi companies provide services exclusively for expectant mothers. By registering for the service in advance, these mothers are put on top of wait lists for urgent occasions. One popular service, ‘Jintsu Taxi‘, is provided by major taxi company Nihon Kotsu. A year after its launch, there were around 21,000 registered mothers-to-be, and it has been used 7,710 times. One in five pregnant women have registered to the service.

The birth of your first child can be very stressful, especially when you go into labor. Jintsu Kitakamo may be a very niche service, but it is one that definitely serves a great need.

Designing for Women: 10 of the Cutest Color Palettes from Japan

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Over the past few months, we have written about what we see as a trend coming from Japanese mobile developers: The country is exceptionally good at creating cute web services and apps that appeal to women [1]. On a visual level, a lot of these cute Japanese services possess many of the same qualities. And when it comes to choosing color schemes, that means lots of pinks, pastels, and other soft tones. I thought it would be good to collect some color palettes from Japanese services that are popular with women. For designers out there who are creating web services or apps for ladies, especially ones in Japan, do take note of the choices here when deciding your own color schemes [2]. Here they are, in no particular order: 1. Fril ¶ Fril is a flea market app for female students in high school or college. It encourages users to sell their unwanted clothes online. It was created by Fablic Inc. More on Fril in our database. Color Sample Color Code #ff899a #ffd2d2 #fef6e4 #e9f7f5 #695d53 2. iQon ¶ iQon is an online fashion coordination service. It allows users to create their favorite looks using photos of accessories and dresses…

japanese-girl-color-palettes

Over the past few months, we have written about what we see as a trend coming from Japanese mobile developers: The country is exceptionally good at creating cute web services and apps that appeal to women [1]. On a visual level, a lot of these cute Japanese services possess many of the same qualities. And when it comes to choosing color schemes, that means lots of pinks, pastels, and other soft tones.

I thought it would be good to collect some color palettes from Japanese services that are popular with women. For designers out there who are creating web services or apps for ladies, especially ones in Japan, do take note of the choices here when deciding your own color schemes [2].

Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Fril

Fril is a flea market app for female students in high school or college. It encourages users to sell their unwanted clothes online. It was created by Fablic Inc.

More on Fril in our database.

Color Sample Color Code
#ff899a
#ffd2d2
#fef6e4
#e9f7f5
#695d53

2. iQon

iQon is an online fashion coordination service. It allows users to create their favorite looks using photos of accessories and dresses available on the website.

More on iQon in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#fa3599
#fff0f4
#f4f4f4
#fdfdfd
#c2b8bb

3. Papelook

Papelook is a mobile photo app that allows users to create their own collages. Users can easily cut out objects by tracing it with their finger, and then rearrange it with other snippets into elaborate photo collages.

More on Papelook in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#adde6b
#ee99aa
#f3ede8
#49bbcc
#d7ccb9

4. CocoPPa

CocoPPa is a cute mobile app that lets you collaboratively create cute iPhone homescreens. It offers a platform where users around the world can share and collaborate on these kind of designs.

More on CocoPPa in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#642E16
#FFA7BF
#F6EBD9
#C79968
#FFE8EB

5. Snapeee

Snapeee is a photo decorating and sharing app for iOS and Android. It allows users to alter and decorate their pictures using over 4000 decoration themes.

More on Snapeee in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#aea08d
#d2c4b0
#9FE0E6
#fdd1c9
#d9d3c9

6. @Cosme

@Cosme (pronounced ‘At Cosme’) is a cosmetics and beauty products internet portal, founded back in 1999. Users can check product reviews and rankings, ask questions about skincare and makeup, and even find out where products are available offline.

More on @Cosme in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#068681
#775555
#e8e5e0
#f9f7f1
#e88d9c

7. Luna Luna

Luna Luna is a tool that helps women be more aware of their menstrual cycles. By recording your menstrual period and body temperature, it predicts suitable timings for pregnancy, or help with contraconception. The service was originally provided on featured phones, but now there are dedicated applications.

Read more on Luna Luna in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#ffbecc
#C4E0EE
#fdf4f5
#181F55
#FFFAF6

7. Decopic

Decopic is a photo application that allows users to decorate their photos with cute stamps, frames, and filters.

More on Decopic in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#723A0E
#FAA69C
#6B5954
#EEF2F0
#B29F6C

8. Nikkei Woman

Nikkei Woman Online is the internet version of a Japanese lifestyle and entertainment magazine for women in their 20s and 30s.

Color Sample Color Code
#cd4a81
#C97F89
#A7A098
#FBFBFB
#CED7E8

9. Benesse Women’s Park

Women’s Park is a review portal for mothers that launched back in 2000. The public company behind the site is Benesse, whose primary business is education.

Color Sample Color Code
#E85369
#FF7B7B
#FFFFE8
#FFECEC
#016DBF

10. Nailbook

Nailbook is Japanese photo sharing service for nail art. User can save photos by pushing “Kawaii” button.

Read more about Nailbook in our database

Color Sample Color Code
#F7342E
#FFC4D0
#FFD674
#F7F7F7
#FEE5EB

  1. Big thanks to Yukari Mitsuhashi who has written about the vast majority of all these services almost single-handedly.  ↩

  2. Another big thanks to Ricky Elrod for his clever little Color Palette Generator Ruby script which I used as a starting point for creating the color palette tables above.  ↩

Can’t find your iPhone in your purse? Tunewear has the case for you

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Women’s bags tend to be the destination for an endless number of daily items. This causes a problem. When your phone is ringing, we often struggle to find our phones among the clutter, and we sometimes even miss the call as a result. Well, worry no more! A new iPhone case from Japan solves this problem. It’s called Julia Phone Pochette by Tunewear. This iPhone case is essentially a tiny sholder bag, just big enough to hold your handset. It also comes equipped with several pockets for your IC cards (for public transport) and a pretty gold chain to strap over your shoulder. It comes in three color variations: red, pink, and green, and is available for 3980 yen (or about $42). There are a lot mobile phone accessories and decorations in Japan — some weird, some cute, some very convenient. This product reminded me of a past initiative by Softbank Selection, where they turned to Facebook to find out what kind of things women prefer for their mobile phones. It’s great to see companies paying attention to women’s needs in this way. I’m sure it’s a strategy that will pay off with big sales, especially here in Japan.

JuliaPhonePochette

Women’s bags tend to be the destination for an endless number of daily items. This causes a problem. When your phone is ringing, we often struggle to find our phones among the clutter, and we sometimes even miss the call as a result. Well, worry no more! A new iPhone case from Japan solves this problem. It’s called Julia Phone Pochette by Tunewear.

This iPhone case is essentially a tiny sholder bag, just big enough to hold your handset. It also comes equipped with several pockets for your IC cards (for public transport) and a pretty gold chain to strap over your shoulder. It comes in three color variations: red, pink, and green, and is available for 3980 yen (or about $42).

There are a lot mobile phone accessories and decorations in Japan — some weird, some cute, some very convenient. This product reminded me of a past initiative by Softbank Selection, where they turned to Facebook to find out what kind of things women prefer for their mobile phones.

It’s great to see companies paying attention to women’s needs in this way. I’m sure it’s a strategy that will pay off with big sales, especially here in Japan.

5 Internet services Japanese women can’t do without

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In Japan, the internet is very much mobile. And while people in this country spend a lot of time on their phones in general, it may surprise you to know that women use mobiles 25 minutes longer than men per day, according to a recent Nielsen survey. Women spend about 47 hours per month on their mobile phones, with the most frequently accessed services being chat application Line and popular online mall Rakuten. But beyond those, there are lots of great internet services that I believe that many Japanese women cannot or should not do without. Here is a quick overview: OZmall ¶ OZmall is an information portal operated by Starts Publishing. The website is an online version of OZmagazine, a publication available in Tokyo. OZmall features a huge database, including information about hair and nail salons, hotels, and restaurants. On the site, users can obtain OZmall exclusive deals called ‘Premium Reservation’. For beauty salons, the discount rate can go as high as 70%. OZmall launched all the way back in year 1996, the same year that Yahoo Japan made its debut. The site gets over 3 million monthly unique visitors. Women’s Park ¶ Women’s Park is a review portal…

japanese-women-bw

In Japan, the internet is very much mobile. And while people in this country spend a lot of time on their phones in general, it may surprise you to know that women use mobiles 25 minutes longer than men per day, according to a recent Nielsen survey. Women spend about 47 hours per month on their mobile phones, with the most frequently accessed services being chat application Line and popular online mall Rakuten. But beyond those, there are lots of great internet services that I believe that many Japanese women cannot or should not do without. Here is a quick overview:

OZmall

OZmallOZmall is an information portal operated by Starts Publishing. The website is an online version of OZmagazine, a publication available in Tokyo. OZmall features a huge database, including information about hair and nail salons, hotels, and restaurants. On the site, users can obtain OZmall exclusive deals called ‘Premium Reservation’. For beauty salons, the discount rate can go as high as 70%.

OZmall launched all the way back in year 1996, the same year that Yahoo Japan made its debut. The site gets over 3 million monthly unique visitors.

Women’s Park

women'sparkWomen’s Park is a review portal for mothers that launched back in 2000. The public company behind the site is Benesse, whose primary business is education. There are over 4 million registered members on Women’s Park, most of them being mothers in their 20s or 30s. Users can post questions or find answers about topics like pregnancy, parenting, or relationships with neighbors.

Benesse also partnered with popular crowdsourcing services CrowdWorks back in April, providing work opportunities for mothers.

Luna Luna

LunaLunaLuna Luna is a tool that helps women to be more aware of their menstrual cycles. By recording your menstrual period and body temperature, it predicts suitable timings for pregnancy, or help with contraception. The service was originally provided on featured phones, but now there are dedicated applications.

Luna Luna has over two million members, an impressive number, considering that there is no social aspect to this service. It costs 189 yen per month (about $2).

Oisix

OisixOisix is an online subscription service that delivers fresh, organic vegetables and other foods from strictly selected farmer partners. In its thirteen year history, it has accumulated 750,000 subscription members. Oisix has partnered with over 1,000 farmers, each following the guidelines put in place by the company. Vegetables are harvested only after an order is made.

For any housewives out there looking for quality ingredients, this is a great resource!

Cookpad

Cookpad-logoCookpad is Japan’s largest recipe portal, used by over 32 million people as of April of 2013. The company provides apps for smartphones and tablets, with the total number of downloads exceeding 14 million. The recipe portal launched in 1998, and has grown massively ever since. Registered users can upload recipes of their own, and other users can post reviews to those recipes which in a way shows the popularity of a certain recipe.

Users are free to browse recipes, but to search for the most popular ones in a given category, they must pay a premium membership fee of about 300 yen (or $3). The number of premium members was 950,000 as of April of 2013.