Japanese geek uber-blog Netafull now available in English

There is a huge interest in Japanese geek and otaku culture in the west and I feel it is even growing.

Now, one of the most influential and famous geek blogs of this country, Netafull, decided to establish an English version. In my "Top 50 blogs of Japan" ranking from January, Netafull secured an excellent 7th rank (of all blogs - not just Tech). When I accessed the Technorati Japan ranking today, Netafull was even ranked as No. 6 (I am aware that Technorati hitlists are not really reliable).

Netafull centers on various topics such as video games, gadgetry, Japanese web culture, computers, anime, movies etc. The person responsible is Masato Kogure-san.

The Japanese version of the blog is updated daily with LOTS of new posts. As of now, the English Netafull is somewhat "thinner" but there are several interesting articles online already.

Anyway, I think the blog is really cool and you should check it out.

Report: 300 blogger conference in Akihabara/Tokyo

300 people attended what is sure to be one of the biggest get-togethers of bloggers in Akihabara, Tokyo's (no: the world's) geek paradise, yesterday. I took part as the only gaijin in the room ;).

The 3-hour conference which is named "スタート×キッカケ×ブログ" ("start x chance x blog") was perfectly organized by Japanese staffing and recruitment company Pasona Tech.

The presentations and panel discussions were held completely in Japanese by a total of 9 high-profile bloggers, two of which I know personally. Topic-wise, the event was centered on different aspects of writing popular blogs: reasons, motivation, hints, problems, how is blogging connected with the speakers' jobs etc.

The conference was divided into three sections (please note that all following links are in Japanese):

Session 1:
Presentation by Chika Watanabe (blog)

Session 2:
Panel discussion led by Motohiko Tokuriki (blog)
Panelist: Hiroumi Mitani (blog)
Panelist: Jin Uehara (blog)
Panelist: Waren Oshou (blog)

Session 3:
Panel discussion led by Takamichi Horikawa (blog)
Panelist: Etsuo Ohashi (blog)
Panelist: Masatake E. Hori (blog)
Panelist: Mitsutoshi Masuda (blog)

Pictures: Blogger event in Akihabara, April 19th, 2008 (click to enlarge)

Founding a web-centered company in Japan as a gaijin

As many people reading this blog, I am very passionate about the Internet, both from a technological and from an economic perspective. It was clear to me for a long time to turn this passion into a profession and that time has come ;).

Founding a web-centered company in Tokyo
As a person with a clear business background (after getting my MBA in Germany, I currently am in the process of becoming a PhD in business administration), I will try my best to promote and ultimately sell Japanese web technology and services to the world.

There are many, many web software products, services and companies in Japan ready for conquering Western markets. Japan is in my eyes a country totally underrated in the Internet world - however, the potential to be a top player does exist.

The company which is currently in the process of incorporating is aimed at exposing Japan's web industry to the world - just like Tokyotronic and Asiajin proactively do for quite some time now.

However, the company's focus will likely be broadened in time to cover more possibilities to bridge the gap between Japan and the rest of the web world. My two Japanese co-founders are as bullish as I am - I have no doubts we can make a substantial difference, even as a startup!

The future
I will keep the Tokyotronic readers up-to-date with any news that I hope are interesting in the incorporation process of the new company. There will be no photos of "our new IKEA office shelves-look!", no boring alibi stories or copy/paste stlye press releases - promised.

Tokyotronic will be turned into the official company blog at a later time. However, providing my readers with substantial news about the Japanese IT/web scene will remain the prior purpose of this blog!

Please don't hesitate to address any questions to me at totoserkan (at) gmail.com

Report: Gaijin-lead Web 2.0 service iknow! event in Tokyo

Last Wednesday, I attended an event at the Tokyo 21 c Business Club in Marunouchi focusing on the relatively fresh Japanese web service iknow! (link leads to an English page).

iknow! is marketed as a social learning web service for Japanese users interested in studying English. On the site, teachers can connect to students and students can interact with each other to improve their English skills. However, that's not all.

In fact, iknow! is a full-fledged web site featuring TONS of functions which are useful also for completely individual training: dictations, vocabulary tests, quizzes, brain stimulation games etc. When the service launched in October last year, I was actually VERY impressed with its high quality and the team is working on improving and expanding iknow!.

Cerego, the US-based company running the service uses, chose "learning technologies" as its slogan. In fact, Cerego's CEO Eric Young told me several scientists were hired to make sure iknow! is being developed in Japan based on the most current methodologies of learning and teaching languages.

The event itself centered on the main functions iknow! offers to users and a Q&A which followed after the presentation. Eric and Andrew Smith Lewis (CEO of Cerego Japan) answered several questions from the audience which included iknow! users who were not from the web industry or press. I found that very cool!

The language education industry in Japan is a multi-billion dollar business. I am eager to see how iknow! will try to monetize its service in the future. Although Cerego employs a huge team, iknow! is completely free at the moment! The CEOs said the main focus at the moment is to attract as many users as possible.

And the initial numbers are more than impressive: According to information given during the presentation, 100.000 users are currently registered. This service is going to be a huge success, I am sure!

Pictures: iknow! event at Tokyo 21c Business Club (click to enlarge)