My 3rd Techcrunch article+USA trip to TC 50

My 3rd article on Techcrunch is now online, this time I blogged Mixi. The Japanese version can be found here on Techcrunch Japan.

Although the company is worth $1 billion, almost no one outside Japan knows about it (my earlier reports). I am hoping the coverage on Techcrunch will improve that situation to some extent.



The Washington Post also put it up.

Please digg the article here - only if you like it, obviously ;).

On a (slightly) similar note, I will be attending the Techcrunch 50 conference in San Francisco this year. The event takes place from September 8-10 (tickets are still available here). Please contact me in case you would like to meet up for some Japanese Tech talk ;).

As always, please make sure to also follow my articles on Crunchgear (on Japanese technology, gadgets and subculture) and - last not least Asiajin - (on the Japanese web industry).

Thank you for your support!

Article about me on Turkey's leading Tech blog Webrazzi

Here is an article Erhan Erdoğan wrote about me and my activities here in the Japanese IT and web industry.



His "Webrazzi" is Turkey's leading web industry blog. The article is written in Turkish (I am German but my parents hail from Turkey, I speak the language and I love that country).

Teşekkürler, Erhan!

I just met with MobileCrunch boss Greg Kumparak

My colleague Greg Kumparak is in Japan for a few weeks and -of course- I had to meet him here in Tokyo, which I did today (on very short notice!).



Greg is the editor-in chief of MobileCrunch, a relatively new -yet very successful- blog belonging to the Techcrunch network. MobileCrunch covers everything related to mobile devices: hardware, phones, gadgets, business-related news, rates and prices, rumors, technology, you name it.

Gotta say he is a cool guy (typical Californian) and pretty good in playing Half-Life 2 as well ;). This is Greg:

My second article on Techcrunch (TC USA and Japan)

Following the story about Quillpill (a microblogging tool for writers and readers of fiction), my second article on Techcrunch is online now. The Japanese translation of the second TC article is here.



Topic: Nico Nico Douga, Japan's answer to Youtube!

Please remember to take a look at my CrunchGear articles as well ;).

My first article on Techcrunch is online!

You can read my first article on Techcrunch here.



The Japanese version (on Techcrunch Japan) can be read here.

Please sphere, digg and bookmark it by the thousands ;).

Openweb.asia unites all English blogs on Asian IT, Tech and Web

The main trigger for my establishing this blog last year was the ridiculously small amount of information I could get about the Japanese web industry in English at that time. Asiajin (which I am co-authoring) followed suit and improved the situation dramatically, now boasting over 1.800 RSS readers.

Now, my China-based friend Gang-Lu initiated a project which he dubbed OpenWeb Asia. Gang is Director for Business Development Asia at Netvibes. He also has his own blog in English, which covers the Asian web scene (Mobinode).



OpenWeb Asia is essentially a network of premium blogs written in English that deal with IT, Tech and web stuff coming from Asia. Naturally Asiajin and Tokyotronic are represented already ;). A total of 15 blogs are centralised on OpenWeb Asia already. This is a very good idea and I blame myself for having been to slow to come up with this idea before Gang did ;).

A conference is also planned for the near future.

Click here to read Gang's official announcement.

Super-blog ReadWriteWeb covered the launch of OpenWeb Asia just yesterday.

This is the Facebook group Gang set up for OpenWeb Asia.

The OPML file (15 blogs) can be downloaded here.

Applications accepted for Sun Microsystems / Recruit’s Mash-up awards (September 2008)

Since today, Japan-based web companies are welcome to send in applications for the 4th Mash-up awards jointly organized by Sun Microsystems Japan and Recruit.

The first price is 10 million Yen (approximately $10,000).

Applications will be accepted until September 16th, while the awards show will be conducted on October 19th.

Last year, Yuki Naotori from 7ns won the SUN/RECRUIT award with his Google Maps mash up called ONGMAP (thankfully available in English).

Useful online calendar(s) for Tech events in Tokyo

Here are a couple of VERY useful calendars for Tech and web freaks who want to plan ahead for industry events of all kinds:

IT events in Japan (Japanese, recommended)

ZD NET's calendar (Japanese )

General business events (English, but not focused on IT-provided by Andrew Shuttleworth)

CNET's IT industry events calendar (Japanese )

@IT's calendar (Japanese)

If you know more, please share in the comments!

Techcrunch 50 competition: Call for Japanese web companies

My friend Umihiko Namekawa from Techcrunch Japan just posted an article in his blog about the upcoming Techcrunch 50 competition (organized by Techcrunch USA and to be held in September in San Francisco).



Following the abscence of Japanese web companies in last year's Techcrunch 40 event, potential participants from this country are encouraged to take part this year.

The time schedule is pretty tight but professional support will be provided by the organizers.

More information (in Japanese) can be found here on the official site.

I joined the Techcrunch empire (+other news)

As the title of this post suggests, I am now a member of the almighty Techcrunch empire. To be exact, I am actually the only blogger from the Techcrunch (USA) network who is based in Japan.



I started writing for Crunchgear a couple of days ago. Crunchgear is the sister blog of Techcrunch, covering gadgets, computer hardware and technology news in general. They needed someone to take care of the Japanese side of things (it was about time) and thankfully chose me!

Crunchgear has nearly 40.000 RSS readers while Techcrunch even boasts 920.000 RSS readers.

My list of articles on Crunchgear can be found here. So far it's great fun and I will continue giving my best to expose the power of Japanese technology to the world!

Also, I hope to contribute to Techcrunch itself sometime to let their readers know the web industry over here offers cool stuff, too.

However, I will continue blogging for Asiajin (my list of Asiajin articles is here).

Some more news
This shameless self-PR spree doesn't stop here:

If you want to hear me speaking about various stuff (mainly about the Japanese Tech scene and myself), please check out the podcast interview I gave for my friend Robert Sanzalone the other day.

PS
Also, in case you are interested on the shrinking gap between television and the web in Japan, please check out a recent article on that topic here or here (also to be found in the printed versions of Australian newspapers The Sun and The Sydney Morning Herald).

It's an interesting piece my Aussie friend Justin Norrie wrote and yours truly is quoted.

PPS
I removed the Google ads from this blog quite some time ago. Tokyotronic is now completely non-profit ;).

Also, I put a Zooomr Zipline widget on my blog (see the sidebar). You can do the same here.

RECRUIT-sponsored Javascript User Interface conference in Tokyo

The YAPC Asia in Tokyo ended yesterday. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend (and try to understand as a Non-Techie) all presentations: I was simply too busy.
Next year, I will be there again (here is my former post on the event).

On Monday, I will be attending the JUI 2008 conference in Tokyo (Javascript User Interface). My friend Yusuke Kawasaki and his employer, Japanese powerhouse RECRUIT, are the main drivers. behind the event.

Yusuke told me the number of registrants already exceeded the 100 mark even though the JUI 2008 was brought to life in a hurry and is the first conference of its kind. It will take place in the RECRUIT office building in Ginza.

These are the main speakers. Some high-profile engineers will be there:

- Paul Bakaus - http://ui.jquery.com/
- "amachang" - http://d.hatena.ne.jp/amachang/
- "inucara" - http://inucara.net/
- "iandeth" - http://iandeth.dyndns.org/mt/ian/

For registration and more info, please visit Yusuke's blog (in English). The JUI 2008 Facebook group is here.

My report on the event can be found on Asiajin.

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

Asiajin Meeting #1 with Web entrepreneurs and developers in Tokyo

Asiajin, the other IT and Web blog I am writing for, is organizing an event for the first time for everyone interested in the Japanese Internet world.

The Asiajin meeting #1 will take place in Tokyo/Akasaka on February 26th (Tuesday), beginning at 19.00. Entrance is free courtesy of Cybozu Labs.

We are expecting 5-6 presentations. The principal language will be English. Japanese participants are encouraged to come to improve their language and presentaion skills in English. Gaijin (like me) are very welcome as well of course.

Please look for details and RSVP here.

New article at Asiajin (I became editor)

I am happy to announce today that I am new editor at Asiajin (here is my former post about this amibitious blog project in English).

Asiajin's mission is basically the same as Tokyotronic's: To expose the power of the Japanese IT industry to the world. In my view, genuine IT and web services from this country are ridiculously underrepresented in the West. This means less business opportunities for Japanese companies and less chances for an exchange of innovative ideas, thoughts and concepts among IT professionals.

Both Asiajin and Tokyotronic would like to work against this development. Asiajin's scope is broader since it is planned to integrate news from other Asian nations as well. I will keep up the work here at Tokyotronic by the way.

In my first posting as Asiajin editor I analyze an original Japanese web product: The Japanese blog search engine and blog analyzer kizasi.