Japan's Information Grand Voyage Project

Western academics in Japan-related research often use the term "iron triangle" when referring to a nexus of power which they say comprises private business, the bureaucracy in this country and its mightiest political party LDP.

If the iron triangle really exists, the boldly titled "Information Grand Voyage Project" (情報大航海: Jouhou Daikoukai) must be one of its offsprings in the IT field. This is the English site provided by the initiator, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (unfortunately the link at the bottom of the page is dead). This ministry (aka METI) is by far the most influential political institution in Japan.

Information found in Non-Japanese media about the Information Grand Voyage Project is curt to say the least. In other words, almost no one outside Japan knows about this initiative although it is planned to last 3 years and involves the METI and major Japanese technology companies. Thus it makes sense to shed some light on this project in the scope of this blog.

Here is Hitachi Consulting's more useful site on the project in English.

Key points and goals
- project began in 2007, lasts until the end of fiscal 2009 covering different phases from development, testing to deployment of innovative technologies
- parties involved: METI, Hitachi, JAL, NTT DoCoMo, Oki Electric, Blogwatcher and other companies
- main principles: user orientation, global contribution and use of open source technology

METI claims the goal of this project is to categorize the amount of information worldwide which exploded in recent years due to advancements in Information Technology and make it usable for human beings. The project partners aim at developing a new kind of search and analysis technology which helps filtering information specifically tailored to the individual in question.

However, the METI is not reluctant to say there is one more intention behind its initiative: proactively boosting Japan's global competitiveness in the IT industry.

There have been LOTS of other projects comparable to the Information Grand Voyage Project in the past (many of them not rooted in the technology sector). Usually, these programs are established to improve infrastructure, enhance competitiveness or to pave the way for revitalization of selected regions or industries in Japan.

How is this abstract project plan turned into concrete activity?
The project covers a number of seperate "mini-projects"/experiments which in the end should lead to the "establishment of an innovative environment". This would just mean bla-bla in a lof of other countries but as usual the Japanese mean it.

One example for such a "project within the big picture" is the "My Life Assist Service" jointly developed by NEC and NTT DoCoMo.



Testing by approximately 2,000 volunteers began last month. Testing sites include Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba. The experiment is scheduled to stop at the end of next month.

Using the GPS function in mobile phones, the service provides users with filtered/useful information specific to their location.

This is not really sensational news but there is more to it. Based on inference technology developed by the University of Tokyo, the My Life Assist Service also takes into account the individual's Web browsing behavior! By combining a user's location with the analysis of (let's say guessing of) his or her tastes and preferences based on web sites previously accessed, the service is presumably able to offer highly individualized information.

I read an interesting example here [j]. If a user listens to a particular song from a movie soundtrack (via his mobile phone-not unusual at all in Japan) very often, the service can recommend trips to sites where the corresponding movie was shot. Another example: If a person seems to browse through sites for vegetarians a lot, the system could display suitable restaurants in the user's vicinity during lunch time.

Cool and bold ideas but some serious privacy issues have already been raised. The companies involved are working on solving the problem though. That may be one of the reasons the My Life Assist Service is still called an "experiment" [j] by DoCoMo itself.

The Japanese government will evaluate which systems (as said above, other companies are developing projects as well) turn out to be worth integrating into the big picture.

While some of the "experiments" sound promising the budget for the Information Grand Voyage Project as a whole is a mere 40 million USD.

Review: Japan's No. 2 social network GREE

Mixi is the quasi-standard when it comes to social network usage in Japan (read more in my Mixi-review).

Japan's second largest social network is called GREE. There is no information in English available about GREE online. That means outside Japan almost no one knows about this Web site even though MILLIONS of people are using it (mobile and Web version). So I decided it is time for a write-up to present this service to Non-Japanese speakers.



I will review GREE in the following order:
I) General Info
II) Starting Page
III) Functions and Features
IV) Business Model
V) Opinion

I) General Info
Gree, Inc. currently employs 74 people in its HQ in Tokyo. The name GREE is derived from a sociological concept named "Six degrees of separation".

The company published a press release last month claiming they have over 3 million users now. Impressive, but still a far cry from Mixi's userbase of well over 12 million. Both services started operations in Japan at about the same time.

GREE's president Yoshikazu Tanaka is 30 years old and founded the company in 2004 (!). Before, he was responsible for operating Rakuten's auctions operations.

Click here for a detailed statistic on details how GREE clearly trails Mixi in the Japanese SN market.

II) Starting Page
GREE's top page is rather minimalistic as you can see from the JPEG below for which I translated key items:


III) Functions and Features
GREE is an invite-only service like Mixi.

In essence, GREE offers the following functions:
- blogs
- photo albums
- video uploads
- messaging system
- forums
- reviews
etc.

What's more interesting is GREE's mobile version. The service is called "au GREE" for KDDI's carrier "au". The company invested 31 million USD in July 2006 to develop a mobile version of the Web site. Softbank and DoCoMo customers know it as "GREE mobile". Mobile GREE is "integrated" into the Web version so that PC-only users are able to interact with handset-only users if necessary.

au GREE in particular proved to be a huge success. Its user base passed one million in July 2007 (information from the latest official press release related to this number).

What's the difference between the mobile and the Web version?
For example, - besides the usual features - au Gree users can send each other html-rich emails (called "decoration-mail"), play games based on flash and get their fortunes told. Click here for screenshots.

However, there is also a mobile version of Mixi which is even more successful. No Japanese Web company would dare to offer a PC-only service!

IV) Business Model
GREE makes money in the following ways:
- advertisements
- affiliate links to online shops
- premium accounts

A GREE premium account costs 315 Yen/month (2.80 USD/1.90 Euros). Premium users get 1 GB of storage for uploading videos and pictures and unlimited Email storage. Moreover, users can keep provisions if the products they reviewed are purchased after clicking an affiliate link.

V) Opinion
GREE can keep up with Mixi as far as basic features and functions are concerned.

The huge marketing pull with which Mixi managed to conquer the Japanese SN market is the decisive reason for GREE being a distant second.

Another reason is to be seen in GREE's design and usability approach. The Web site has a business-like, rather "cold" feel to it. Not exactly like LinkedIn or Xing obviously but Mixi somehow exudes more fun and looks more casual.

GREE doesn't do anything terribly wrong but suffers from the "The winner takes it all"-law pertinent to a lot of Web 2.0 services. That is why in my opinion it will be VERY hard for GREE to enjoy a Mixi-like success in Japan in the near future.

Japaaan: New SNS to uncover Japan's hidden must-go spots

As many people know, it is true that Japan is a big and beautiful country with a rich cultural heritage. Even a metropolis Tokyo has its nice places. I am kind of affiliated with the German embassy here in Tokyo and from what I hear Japan doesn't do a really good of promoting the country in Europe. Well, I can't say from here.

Now, a new social network called "Japaaan" was just recently established to do something very interesting: Unearthing Japan's nicest places which are yet unknown particularly to foreign visitors! So if you are an individualistic traveler who is interested in seeing Japan's hidden touristic treasures you should join the network. Families are welcome as well.

Signing up is free and done in 30 seconds. I am a member already ;).

Picture: New SNS "Japaaan"


My friend Yuki Naotori (CEO of web startup 7ns) created "Japaaan" in liaison with www.japan-hopper.com.

In detail, the network is a platform for people who are interested in travel destinations which are not accounted for in printed guides like "Lonely Planet" or on the usual travel web sites. This can include i.e. "hidden" onsen (Japanese hot springs), ryokans (Japanese inns), temples, remote villages, unknown sightseeing spots etc.

Gaijin and Japanese people are equally welcome to share their insider tips online.

Online AND offline plans
The activity is not only reduced to online discussions though. It is planned to actually travel to certain places together and document the experience. Later videos, pictures etc. of the trips would be posted on the web site.

I think this non-profit project is a cool idea. If you are interested, please join "Japaaan" here or through www.japaan.org.

There will be a first offline kickstart-meeting in a restaurant in Tokyo on January 9th. Everyone interested is cordially invited. Please visit the web site for details and make sure to let the webmaster know of you attendance as fast as possible so seats can be reserved.

Kanji-Fandom converts your name into Chinese characters

Did you ever wonder how your name is spelled in Chinese characters (called Kanji)? Writing it in Katakana (the Japanese alphabet) was yesterday. Now you can "Kanji it" very easily with Kanji-Fandom (website is completely in English).

This nifty and fun new web site (very minimalistic/Google-like) was just released and is still in beta. One of my readers pointed me to this service.


Just type in your name in the text box and the system automatically retrieves multiple Kanji characters which are connected to your gaijin name;).

For the default name "Michael Jordan" the result page looks like that:


You can choose from a list of Kanji and compose your own combination. The Kanji name can then be altered in various ways, commented on, rated etc.

For "Michael Jordan", the automatic recommendation looks like this:


It also explained what the Kanji means. In Jordan's case: Dance, Kick, Length and Group. Aptly named indeed ;).

Company Info
Kanji-Fandom is offered by B3United, a Tokyo based web company actually specialized in mobile solutions. For example, they provide the search engine for Chaku-Uta. Chaku-Uta is the wildly successful music download service from KDDI (Japan's No.2 mobile phone carrier serving over 25 million customers!).

How to use and register for KakikoTV

Following the review, here is some more information about KakikoTV. I will break down this posting into two parts:

I) How to register
II) How to use KakikoTV

Let's begin by
I) How to register
The sign-up process is very easy as displayed in the JPEGs below.



After confirmation, you are logged in (your name is displayed on the top right of the screen). You will also get a "Thank you"-email (without an activation link by the way).

II) How to use KakikoTV
You can choose between two ways to get videos from Youtube as seen in the following image.


After choosing a video the following screen appears:


Confirm and you get to the following page:


Confirm again and now you can start modifying the video:


The container on the right displays a list of all effects added to the video so far (in the JPEG above, there are two).

The main menu consists of the following functions/effects you can add (left to right):
- text
- subtitles
- speech balloons
- shapes (arrows, squares etc.)
- insert an image
- insert an animation (from a list: smiley, glowing light bulb etc.)
- insert a link to a Yahoo auction (!)
- insert a sound effect (from a list)
- insert sound freely
- show a list of all effects added (also to be seen in the container to the right of the video)

I could write on and on about each of these functions but that would lead too far. I suggest you try it out. It's very easy to use!

Here is an example for the options you can choose from after selecting the text function. You can alter text size, color, font, position on the video etc. etc.!


Confirm every effect by clicking on the floppy disk icon on the small menu appearing above the main menu (see JPEG above). It will be then added as a new effect to the list just like the text box in the example:


At the end, KakikoTV saves the video with all effects included automatically. You can access your "work" later, edit/delete each effect, put modified videos on display for other people and mail them to friends (see JPEG).

I think this information is enough to make good use of KakikoTV for Non-Japanese speakers ;).

Paralyzed people can now control avatars by their minds

Scientists at the Biomedical Engineering Faculty (web site is Japanese only) of Tokyo's Keio University (which happens to be my university) have developed a method which enables disabled people to control avatars on the Internet with their minds!

The project team is lead by Keio University associate professor Junichi Ushiba (web site is partly Japanese).

Electrodes attached to a person's head and connected to a computer turn thoughts into actual movement by avatars. The project focused on Second Life (a short take on Second Life is here).

The experiment turned out to be a success (OK, otherwise they wouldn't have shown it to the world). Probands can walk, shop and set up businesses in Second Life! No keyboard or mouse is needed.

I have seen machines in the USA which enable paralyzed people to type emails by using their brains but nothing like this new concept. I am not a biomedical engineer but I think the Japanese method is much more sophisticated.

More information and a movie can be found here. The project team's site is Japanese only but the movie is interesting to watch even if you can't understand the language.

Review: Japan's Youtube killer Nico Nico Douga

It's insane. It's very successful. It's very Japanese. It's a cooler video sharing site than Youtube. It's Nico Nico Douga (web site is Japanese only).

In my guest article for German blog zweinull.cc I briefly described the site in Deutsch (I am a German).

In this post, I will extensively review Nico Nico. Click here for my explanation of how to register for Non-Japanese speakers (this post is long enough).



I will review Nico Nico in the following order:

I) General Info
II) Starting Page
III) Functions and Features
IV) Business Modell
V) Opinion

I) General Info
Nico Nico Douga (ニコニコ動画) roughly means Smiling Videos. The site launched in January this year and since then turned into nothing but a huge success story. And no one knows about it outside Japan but that is what this blog is about, right?

Basically the site works like Youtube. People can upload, view, share and comment on videos of any kind. Basic membership is free.

The user base stands at approximately 3 million (data for October 2007, according to Niwango which is the company behind the site). There are almost 600,000 videos uploaded.

II) Starting Page
Please click at the JPEG below for an English description of the key elements of the starting page.


The whole site may look wild and crazy to Western eyes but lots of Japanese people (and me) love the design. Not long ago, Nico Nico even won the prestigious Good Design award (Japanese only).

In contrast to Youtube, you cannot even view videos without an account. That means you have to register to go further than the starting page.

III) Functions and Features
The biggest difference between Youtube and Nico Nico is the way users can communicate with each other. Youtube users usually write private messages to each other or share their opinions via the comment function just below the videos.

With Nico Nico however, people can actually communicate WITHIN the videos themselves! Users can write comments about a particular part of a video. The comments then "float" across the screen from right to left (easier for Japanese people to read) at a time users are free to choose. Now it happens that some videos feature hundreds of comments from hundreds of users overlaying the picture. Please see the video below for an example.


It may sound stupid but Nico Nico users particularly love this feature. It is the point of the service actually. As of November 22nd, almost 600 million comments were made (!).


Now, please click at the JPEG below for an English description of the overview page you see after logging in.

The main categories of videos can be found in two rows (the grey buttons). Categories marked with an "*" are explained separately.

1st row (left to right):
ALL MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT ANIME GAMES SURVEYS* RADIO* SPORTS POLITICS CHAT* SCIENCE HISTORY COOKING NATURE

In the "surveys" category, users can start video surveys. For example, users can ask the Nico Nico community which star they prefer in a 1on1 "duel". See the screen shot below for an example.


In the "radio" section, one can listen to and comment on radio programs recorded and shared by Nico Nico users! It sounds weird to have a function like that on a video site but people seem to like it.

Videos uploaded in the "chat" section give users the opportunity to communicate more easily. The videos here usually just serve as a background.

2nd row (left to right):
VLOG ME DANCING* ME SINGING* ME PLAYING AN INSTRUMENT* NICO NICO TIPS* PREMIUM USER AREA TAIWAN* MISCELLANEOUS TEST VIDEOS RESTRICTED-18* COMPANY VIDEOS*


In the "Me dancing/singing/playing an instrument" sections Nico Nico users can show how they can do just that. There is a lot of fun stuff to be found here.

In the "Nico Nico tips" section users can provide other users with hints on using the service.

For some strange reason Nico Nico is popular in Taiwan. This is the reason for setting up this special category.

The "Restricted 18" section is particularly interesting. Things get steamier here but there is no really "hard" stuff if you know what I mean.

The "company videos" category features commercial material. At the moment, especially music companies use Nico Nico to present the latest mucic clips from their artists.

IV) Business Modell
There are various ways Nico Nico makes money.

Firstly, there are advertisements on the site.

Secondly, Nico Nico aggressively promotes its premium accounts. The upgrade costs 525 Yen (4,85 USD/3,26 Euro) a month. Premium members get more bandwith, access to Nico Nico on their mobile phones, 2 GB more storage (4 GB total), additional comment colors etc. In October 2007, there were 86,000 premium account holders.

Thirdly, there is the Nico Nico market. Users can choose products from Amazon related to a certain video and put the corresponding links below it. Nico Nico gets the commission.

There are no advertisements embedded in the videos.

V) Opinion
Pros:
1)
Cool design (mangaesque characters, crazy appearance, I love that)

2)
Very good usability (good interface, clear selection of categories, simple navigation etc.)

3)
Videos load really fast

4)
No time restriction on the videos

5)
Very good selection of high quality, crazy and "exclusive" videos

6)
New and fresh concept (comments streaming over the screen leading to a new and direct way of communication between users)

Cons:
1)
Limitation of access at certain times for Non-premium members

2)
I want an English version really fast ;)

3)
Amount of videos still limited compared to Youtube

If Youtube is the king of quantity then (at least for me!) Nico Nico is king of quality and fun. Actually, one can't compare the sites. I wouldn't necessarily put family videos on Nico Nico. That's what Youtube is there for. Nico Nico is meant to be crazy and entertaining (for the most part). And I think they really achieve that goal.

Nico Nico is not worse or better than Youtube but -as I said above- certainly cooler.

Here is my explanation in English of how to register.

PS
There is a Taiwanese version of Nico Nico available already. Maybe there will be an English Nico Nico soon?

Review: Japan's Uber-social network MIXI

I think we can all agree Facebook and Myspace are the world's leading social networks. However, both sites play a negligible role here in Japan. Ususally only Japanese people having a lot of international friends are registered.

Over here, there is only one social network that matters: Mixi. Nothing else.

I could write novels about Mixi but I keep it short. I will review the site in the following order:

I) General Info
II) Starting Page
III) Functions and Features
IV) Business Model
V) Opinion

I) General Info
Mixi is by far Japan's biggest social network. It boasts the biggest user base and excellent corporate development. More than 10 million people (over 99% are Japanese, there is no international/English version) are currently registered. Japan has a population of 125 million.

Mixi is also the first Web 2.0 company in the world which did an IPO. In September 2006, the company managed to raise 1.9 billion USD on the Tokyo stock exchange. Mixi's founder Kenji Kasahara* became a billionaire at the tender age of 30. The company started operations in February 2004.

ALL of my Japanese friends and acquaintances use it ALL the time: In the university, in the office, in the train, in their free time. The mobile version is almost as often used as the "normal" one. Mixi's popularity in this country is really insane. The main target group consists of Japanese people aged 15 to 35.

A few days ago, Mixi officially announced it will take part in Google's "Open Social" system.

II) Starting Page
The starting page is as simplistic as it can get. Check out the screenshot below.


III) Functions and Features
The main functions are depicted in the screenshots below. This is how Mixi looks like directly after login. Please click on the shots to enlarge them, otherwise it could be hard to read my translation of main links in the top rows.



Let me briefly cover the functions:
1) Diary lets you access the latest blog entries from people in the community. Actually Mixi offers the most popular blogging platform in Japan!

2) Community in Mixi basically means forums. There are tens of thousands of discussion forums here: sports, relationships, politics, music, movies etc. A lot of Mixi members also use these forums to sell and buy stuff. So we have a bit of a Japanese Craigslist here as well ;).

3) Mixi allows its users to upload videos and photos. Naturally they can be tagged and commented on as well. Linking to Youtube is also possible.

4) In the music section, users can view the current the community's most popular songs and artists.

5) Mixi users can also review different products and services in a number of categories. For example, it is possible to post personal opionions on the newest CDs, restaurants, toys, movies etc.

6) The news section covers, well, news from all over the world and Japan itself. Like Google News, Mixi does not edit articles but uses outside sources (mainly Japanese newspapers). Unlike Google News however, the articles are integrated into Mixi. That means there are no outbound links and members can directly comment on news and easily integrate them into their Mixi blogs.

7) Mikly is Mixi's weekly Web magazine. Topics usually include music, news from the community, the latest events etc.

In the second row (see screenshot above) the major functions can be found again. There are some additional functions though.

1) Message means private messaging between Mixi users. Nothing special here.

2) The Favorites section lets users bookmark specific Mixi members or communities (=forums).

3) The ashi-ato function basically means tracking who accessed one's personal Mixi profile.

I could write on and on about these and more features on Mixi but for now this summary should be enough to give you a good picture.

IV) Business Model
As to be expected, Mixi makes approximately 80% of its money with advertisements.

However, there are more ways for the company to monetarize their site.

For example, in the "music" section, Mixi users can not only view the community's most popular titles but also buy them. Moreover, Mixi set up categories of its own (Hip Hop, Jazz, Rock, J-Pop) in this section of the site. Users then can decide which songs are the most popular in those categories and (of course) they can buy music here as well, i.e. via iTunes.

Mixi applies a similar approach in the "review" section. If a user reviews a random DVD for example, Mixi earns money from Amazon or other shops by using affiliate links. This is not really a new idea. However, there are tens of thousands of items reviewed so they must make a handsome amount of revenue with this method as well.

Mixi also offers premium accounts. For 315 Yen a month (2.75 USD/1.95 Euros) members can upload more videos, more photos etc.

V) Opinion
What is the big buzz about? To put it bluntly: There is absolutely nothing spectacular about Mixi. This may be one of the reasons the site is so successful. There are no shiny shiny functions anyone needs. I would say this social network is a very Japanese mix of MySpace's chaos and Facebook's lucidity.

Personally, I like Mixi a lot just because it offers great usability through a simplistic design. Also Japanese acquaintences and friends are usually all registered which makes it easy to keep track of them. I really hate having to log into MySpace and Facebook separately, meddling with features no one needs and going through ordeals with chaotic interfaces (MySpace is still terrible in that respect).

An interesting final fact to be mentioned is Mixi's "invite system". You cannot just register but must be invited by a Mixi member. This approach is very, very Japanese.

Thus Mixi sees to it that trolls, vandals and other annoying people cannot access the site without them having anyone to hold responsible. Neither a new nor spectacular idea but very welcome nonetheless.

*
In December 2007, CNN conducted a quite interesting interview with Kenji Kasahara (English language, 8.33 min.). Watch it here.

Usage of Mobile TV in Japan on the rise

Nowadays, it is quite hard to get a cell phone in Japan without a TV tuner built in. The first phones able to make use of the Japan-only "1seg"-system (broadcasting of digital audio and video signals) came out as early as 2005 (!).

Yesterday, Sharp -the king of the ring concerning TV displays- announced sales of cell phones equipped with its TV systems topped the 5 million mark since they were introduced in May this year! The JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association) said the total number of phones with a TV function built in totaled 13,2 million units until August this year.

Quality issues
Now, I have to say the quality of the 1seg-system is just great: The video is crystal clear and the audio is of superb quality, too. This means the Japanese really have a technological edge here. By the way, Sharp also announced they will produce TV cell phones with a thickness of just 1,8 cm, making the hardware even cooler (they reduced thickness by 5 millimeters).

However, there is one big problem: As of now, watching TV on a Japanese cell phone (even if it is digital and all that) is crap. Can you do it in a train? No. Can you do it in the metro? No. Can you do it in a car? No. Can you do it in a building? It depends (!). That is right, sometimes watching TV in a normal house is just impossible because there is no signal....

But I am sure Japanese companies will solve these problems someday. And: It is free to use for us consumers.

In the future, mobile TV could also be linked to mobile Internet meaning lots of opportunities for new applications, advertising models, marketing approaches, etc. etc.

Japan airs world's first show recorded in Second Life

It is 1.30 AM in Japan now and I stayed awake to witness the world's first TV show recorded in Second Life. Second Life is available in Japanese since summer and since that time registration from users from over here increased significantly.

I personally don't like the idea of being represented by ugly avatars and living in virtual worlds (including clubbing/dancing - now that's particularly stupid in my opinion).

Anyway, the show is not officially from Linden Lab and titled デジタルの根性 (Dejitaru no Konjou: Digital Spirit). It is made by Nihon TV (web site is Japanese only). Nihon TV is a major network based here in Tokyo.

The show runs 30 minutes and for a person who is as indifferent as me, it is of no value, really. This is the show's official home page (Japanese only).

Three Japanese celebrities are the hosts for the show - represented by avatars of course. They are talking about future events taking place in Second Life and promoting some movies the TV station produced. Some trash-talking and comedy is also thrown in.

Check out the screenshots taken below (I apologize for the size and poor quality):

Yahoo Japan brings the web to HD-TVs

Japan is a leading producer of TVs. Everyone knows that. Also, everyone heard a lot of marketing bla-bla in the last years about "merging technologies", "bridging digital gaps in the living room" and, of course, browsing the web on TVs. Obviously, this will be the case one day.

And Japan might be on the forefront of this development. And people here really mean it. In September, a high definition video-on-demand service was launched on the Japanese web TV site acTVila (Japanese only). acTVila is backed by the Japanese government, Sony, Matsushita, Sharp, Hitachi and Toshiba.

Screenshot: acTVila home page


Yahoo aims for HD TV
Now, Yahoo Japan is aiming specifically at the HD TV market. The company plans to launch an Internet portal designed for display on HD televisions as early as this Japanese fiscal year (ending March 31st, 2008).

Yahoo is working together with electronics giant Sharp on "Yahoo! HD for AQUOS" for big-screen TVs in "full HD"(1.980x1.080 resolution).

I saw a demonstration myself at CEATEC in Tokyo 2 weeks ago. The companies displayed selected content from Yahoo Japan's web site on a Sharp Aquos HD-TV. The content could be browsed smoothly by using an Aquos remote controller.

Now, displaying photos, maps, restaurant info etc. from Yahoo Japan's own web site on a large TV screen might make sense but it doesn't sound too sexy (for screen shots and technical mumbo jumbo, please click here).

However, this is only a first step. In an obvious second move, Sharp and Yahoo will add video distribution to the service later. Does this mean Japanese users will be able to watch Joost on their HD-TVs soon?

The companies are also hinting at integrating social networks and instant messaging as a third step! As of now, its unclear if this plan includes Yahoo-only services like Yahoo 360 or if there will be Facebook or MySpace in HD.

Interesting prospects but I am not sure if users want to browse the web on their TV sets in the first place. However, Yahoo Japan, Sharp and those technology-crazy Japanese people: This is one combination that might work. Accordingly, Yahoo Japan plans to acquire no less than 1 million users per month by the end of next year. I will keep you posted on this topic.

Yahoo Japan rules the Japanese internet
In Japan, Yahoo is by far the most popular web site. Some people even claim Yahoo Japan is the Japanese internet.

The company is controlling some 65% of the search market here. The Yahoo portal had 41.1 million uniques in August 2007 while Google Japan only had 30.9 million. The ROC in the last 5 years is 43% annually on average. Sales climbed 47% to 1.8 billion USD last year and profits surged a whopping 59% annually since 2001.

Interestingly, Japanese telecommunications giant Softbank holds 41% of Yahoo Japan while Yahoo itself controls 34% and is thus a minor shareholder!

Review: Japan's biggest Social Shopping community Kakaku

This review features a web site that I myself use excessively and which every Japanese knows of: Kakaku.com (the whole site is Japanese only). Kakaku (価格) roughly means "price", so what may sound cool to Westerners sounds kind of bland to Japanese ears. It is one of the most famous shopping sites in the country.

Kakaku is nothing less but Japan's biggest web site for price comparison. However, it is not a mere directory -which would be useful enough, given the tremendous amount of items listed- but a social shopping site. And every product listed on Kakaku can be rated and discussed by registered users: Very useful!

I will briefly review the site in the following order:

I) Starting Page
II) Product search
III) Web 2.0/Community aspects
IV) Business Modell
V) Opinion


I) STARTING PAGE

The starting page is HUGE (typically Japanese). It is actually full of ads and looks like this (parts A-D):

Starting page (parts A+B):




Here you can find: A search box, different categories, new products, company news, rankings etc. Please notice my FF plug-in blocks some of the spaces used for ads (I didn't turn it off).

The categories feature every consumer product you can think of: Food, electronics, sports etc. However, restaurants, appartment buildings (mainly in Tokyo), funeral services (!), schools (!) etc. are included as well.

Starting page (part C):


In the community box, you can find featured discussion topics from Kakaku users as well as selected reviews.

The box on the bottom left features "news" from participating companies and shops. However, those companies (in a more subtle way) advertise their products here.

Kakaku research is a side product. The company uses its site to conduct surveys and compile reports about different product related topics. The newest research report for example centers on Japan's mobile market. 2,404 users contributed to the survey which lead to that report. The aim of this section is to find popular products and concepts in a certain field.

Campaign is actually another way of advertising. For example, if you subscribe to a mail magazine, chances are you receive a coupon from Amazon (through a sweepstakes).

Starting page (part D):

Kakaku.com magazine is a bimonthly online, well, magazine. Actually, it is just another way of advertising and then selling stuff. The value of the information given is not really high.

News from Akihabara is for the nerds. In the "Cosplay" section for example, users can inform themselves about how the girls at the Tokyo Game Show booths were dressed this year.


II) PRODUCT SEARCH
Now, if you click on one the first entry (music instruments/gakki: 楽器) in the "hobbies" -category (highlighted in starting page, part A above), you will see the following page:

Product search (part A):


Some of the latest comments in the section for musical instruments are displayed , along with some reviews. Kakaku itself adds news articles which fit the category here.

Product search (part B):


The discussion forums are particularly popular. The featured ranking on screen B is on electric pianos/denchi piano: 電子ピアノ. Kakaku does NOT decide which pianos appear on the ranking. Only the users do: Web 2.0, there you go.

After clicking on the No. 1 product (the Privia piano), the following page appears.

Product detail page (part A):


In part A, the diagram in the rating box features details of the product like design, usability etc. The maximum amount of stars users can distribute to each of these factors is 5.

Product detail page (part B):


The box highlighted in red in part B has the following contents: price in Yen, shipping fees, availability, shop ranking, shop name, location and date of entry/comments.

After clicking on the cheapest offer, you get to the "final" page where you can see user satisfaction on the corresponding shop (100% would buy again in this case) and other details.


Clicking on the red button brings you to the shop's page where you can finally buy the product.


III) WEB 2.0 / COMMUNITY ASPECT
Kakaku would lose much of its appeal without user contribution. Important community aspects on the site include:
- Users are welcome to write reviews on the site.
- Users can rate every product offered by Kakaku partner shops. It is also possible to rate other people's reviews.
- The shops themselves register their products to the site.
- Users can introduce themselves to the community with personal profiles. Reviewers can be subscribed to.
- Kakaku also offers a BBS for its users which is heavily used.

IV) BUSINESS MODEL
The business model is quite simple: ads, ads, ads and even more ads. They simply put ads mainly in banner form and "disguised" as news/information/campaigns ALL over the place!

There is not a single page on Kakaku without ads. However, they do not seem to be too annoying since they are partly product-related. And one maybe subconsciously expects a lot of this stuff on a product comparison site.

The company also runs a lot of side businesses!
For example, Kakaku offers a loan comparison service. That means not only do they offer price information but users can also apply for loans, credit cards etc. via the web site. You can actually search for the offer which fulfills your needs best. So Kakaku applies their principal method of price research for consumer products and more or less taps into Japan's multi billion dollar loan market. Smart move and they really mean it. The loan section is quite comprehensive and detailed.

They also collaborate with a travel web site, a movie portal and a hotel reservation site amongst others. Also, they are also engaged in real estate!

The business model alone would be worth 2 blog posts!

V) OPINION
In my opinion, Kakaku is not perfect but the site comes close. It is a very useful Web 2.0-product which just makes sense from a user's and business point of view. A great mash-up of shopping, social network, discussion forum and information.

What impresses me most is the site's usability even though there are hundreds of thousands of products listed in dozens of categories. No hassle, no frustration in finding the information you look for. I can accept the ad load for that.

PS
The site was heavily revamped (and improved!) just today, October 1st, 2007. By the way, in the top left you can see that Kakaku became 10 years old this year (Kakaku.com 10 歳).

Update: Concept of KDDI's DVD Downloading and Burning Service

Well, KDDI's DVD service is now online.

Users outside Japan are blocked out. I registered for the service but as a movie and DVD fan, I will probably never need it.

Downloading DVDs might be interesting for Japanese customers in rural areas with no rental shops though.

Anyway, let me show you how the service works in 3 steps.

Step 1:
Check out the following screenshot of the starting page.


The flash-based center of the starting page features the "Tsunagari Mappu" which means "connection map". If you click on one of the covers, you reach step 2.

Step 2:
In the next page, you can see alternative movies similar to the one chosen in step 1. If you are still happy with the title chosen, you can click on the button in orange under the DVD's cover on the right.


Step 3:
The final page features movie details like length, staff, cast etc. The usual stuff.


Full Metal Jacket costs 1,029 Yen (9 USD/6,30 Euros) to download. The normal retail price of this particular title is 3-4 times higher. However, depending on how long you rent the movie, rental fees are about half the price.

In addition, you have to download the KDDI DVD Burning software. It is free but a hassle nonetheless.

It will be interesting to see if Japanese customers like this concept especially in the light of KDDI being the first company in Japan to come up with this idea.

New service makes use of the fastet Internet structure in the world

In terms of speed, Japan clearly boasts the best Internet structure in the world. The median download speed over here is 61 mbps per second. Even Web wunderkind South Korea is trailing with 46 mbps. The number for the USA is staggering: 2 mbps (!), according to a recent report in the Washington Post.

The newspaper even fears that in the future Americans will have a very hard time catching up with broadband service in this country which is backed by strong political support.

Japanese IT and telecommunications giant KDDI now makes use of Japan's web infrastructure. The company announced Tuesday it will introduce a new service allowing customers to burn DVD contents which are downloadable from the Internet.

KDDI calls this concept "DVD Burning Service" (*cough*). The tentative starting page will change tomorrow. As of now, it only features a video explaining the new service in Japanese (click the big button on the bottom).

Contents include movies, Anime and TV drama shows. Prices will vary and start from just 500 Yen (4,36 USD/3,08 Euro).

KDDI will start the service tomorrow with 1,000 foreign and Japanese titles. The company said they plan to offer 5,000 titles by the end of March 2008.

To promote their new service, KDDI teamed up with Warner Bros. Japan (Japanese only) amongst others. Customers can download WB movies for a special discount price until the end of October 2007.

This might work not only because of the fast Internet connections in Japan. DVD prices in this country are obscene. Compared to the USA or Germany, you pay at least double the money.

Review: Japanese Fashion Social Network "Stylewalker"

As in many countries around the world, a lot of girls in this country are obsessed with shopping and particularly brand shopping ( I hope I am not being too sexist here). People in Japan especially love Italian and French brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana and so forth.

In March this year, Square Enix (a large videogame company known for the hit RPG series "Final Fantasy) and Xavel Media Group partnered to form "Stylewalker Inc." (Japanese only). All companies are located in Tokyo and try to benefit from that Japanese "brand craziness".

Stylewalker is also the name of the joint venture's main product which is essentially a mashup of a social network, fashion portal and social commerce site.

The main target of Stylewalker are Japanese girls in their Twenties. Registration to the site is free. The company makes money in various ways I explain below.

The main site looks like this (for a larger view, please click):


The header is almost self-explanatory. It is as fixed as the left column (the links in that column lead to pages explaining the site).

Let me explain the links on the header from left to right:
I) Shopping
II) Doll Store
III) Style
IV) Group
V) Blog

I)
After clicking "Shopping" you get to the online shop segment of the site which looks like this:

The column on the right features different categories like Outerware (625 items), One-pieces (1135 items) and so forth.

Actually the items are sold directly on Stylewalker. That means they do not use any affiliate links. There is a shopping cart and a check out. This is one way they generate revenue.

II)
The "Doll Store" is quite a unique feature. On Stylewalker, users are able to create avatars which are called dolls. This sounds cuter and more appealing to Japanese women. Anyway, Square Enix programmed the avatar engine which must have been a piece of cake for them.

The dolls can be dressed in various ways and shown to other Stylewalker members for discussion. For dressing the avatars, members can use actual fashion items sold on the store so it becomes easier for them to decide what fits or not.

That is not free however.

Check the screenshot below:


On the right column, you can again choose items from various categories (just as in the Shopping section explained above). However, these are only virtual. The black dress on the left for example costs 320 stm. "stm" is the site's virtual currency. 10 stm cost 100 Yen (87 US cent) - you get 1000 stm free for registering. So here is the second way Stylewalker makes money.

III)
In the "Style" section pictured below), users can present their avatars. Again, the column on the right changes. Here, dolls are categorized into various styles like feminine (826 dolls), natural (1,112 dolls) and so forth.



If you click on an avatar, you can rate or comment on it in the next screen pictured below.


IV)
The "Group" section pictured below features various, well, groups in which users can discuss topics like manga, fashion (of course) etc. There is even a group for "Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie" (only 1 member is registered here though!).



V)
Blogging is huge in Japan. All kinds of people blog on all kinds of machines about all kinds of topics. Around the clock. Seriously, it is that big. So no wonder, there is a separate blog section on Stylewalker (see the pic below).


On the right column, you can see that diaries (3,481 postings) are most popular, followed by fashion.

A typical Stylewalker blog looks like this:



Opinion
All in all, I think the site is quite OK but nothing sensational. Design is too bland while usability is acceptable. To my knowledge, there is no site like this in the US or Europe. Especially the "doll idea" is unique for a site targeting grown ups. That feature reminds me of Mattel's enormously popular Barbie web site.

At least, we can see a sensible business model here. Stylewalker can make money with its shop and selling of virtual items. Moreover, it makes sense for fashion companies to advertise on this site as it easy for them to pinpoint their target group.

And companies do advertise their brands, products, events etc. (as you can see on the right column on the starting page). So here we have the third way the site can generate revenue. Here is the list of brands featured on Stylewalker. The site only features products from these companies!

Also, Xavel is running the hugely popular fashion portals Girlswalker and Fashionwalker amongst others (both sites are Japanese only). It is not hard to predict they will attract at least a portion of Stylewalker users to those sites and vice versa.

Business-wise Stylewalker is developed well but as indicated above, it might not be flashy enough to attract Japanese girls. Will dressing up avatars really help them evaluating if a certain piece of clothing fits them? Why not go directly to a shop (OK, not everyone lives in Tokyo)?

Success so far is so-so. Square Enix and Xavel announced they expect 50,000 users to register by the end of this year. There are no official numbers but judging from the current activity on the site this might be hard to achieve.

New device to limit web access for Japanese children

Japanese toy and entertainment giant Bandai released a new product past Friday.

With this gadget -which is basically just a special kind of USB stick- parents can make sure their kids do not surf "dangerous" web sites anymore. The stick is 9 centimeters long and is called "Pasokon Kids Key" (Pasokon is the Japanese abbrevation of the term "Personal Computer"). It costs 3,480 Yen (30 USD).

Pictures of the device can be found here (descriptions in Japanese only). Its design features Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh. Disney is very popular in Japan, too.

After inserting the key, the PC will change into a "kids mode". Children then can access the Internet only through a specially designed portal. Actually the whole OS is simplified, i.e. less and bigger buttons are displayed.

The so-called "i-Filter" makes sure kids only access sites viewed suitable for them. It is free for use for the first 90 days after which a small monthly fee is charged.