How the “Shy” Japanese are Using Social Media
Social Network Services (SNS) used by the Japanese are both common to other users in the world but also different. I will describe some of the differences that the Japanese use and why they use them the way they do. Read More » by
 GregPopular Japanese Visual-kei bands on Facebook
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 BrandonFebruary Entrepreneur Spotlight – An Interview with Rochelle Kopp – Japan Intercultural Consulting
This month we focus on an entrepreneur in the intercultural realm – Rochelle Kopp, leader of Japan Intercultural Consulting. Her consulting firm bridges business culture between Japan and the US. Rochelle’s energy for making Japanese companies globally successful is inspiring. Read More » by
Greg5 Reasons Japanese People Spend Money Online
I recently came across this article (Japanese) analyzing some of the reasons Japanese people spend money online. The author of the article explains that there are five major categories that motivate them to spend on online goods and services–some maybe cross-culturally common. by
BrandonTop 10 Largest Japanese Companies in the WorldWe took the Forbes Global 2000 list and summarized where the Top 10 Japanese companies rank. The Top 10 list describes the type of industry that each company serves and lists the sales, profits, assets and market value for each company. Forbes ranks these global titans by a composite ranking from four metric – sales, profits, assets, and market value. by
Greg7 Elements of a Japanese e-Commerce Web Page – The Japanese Information DashboardSome people view Japanese web pages with curiosity and puzzlement with its busyness. We will try to relieve the mysticism and frustration by pointing out certain elements in an example Japanese web page and why it works for the Japanese. Japanese Web Page De-mystified
As a general guide, Japanese web pages act as a one-stop trip for most Japanese-a sea of information that just tantalizes our brains but comforts the inhabitants from the land of the rising sun. It is quite organized as the each section or module has meaning. Pastel colors and flash is a given for these pages. In a previous blog on Japanese landing pages, we discussed how ‘kanji’ characters add another level of busyness for the our eyes with its 23 strokes versus the more simple 4 stroke roman alphabet. by
GregProduct Tour de Japan – US Seasonal Buying Trends for Common Japanese Products
As marketers, aren’t we always trying to find products that will be accepted in a given market? Entering the US Back-to-School season, I thought about some common Japanese products that might have potential popularity during the key US buying seasons of 2010. by
GregCollaboration of Japanese Web Titans – Yahoo! Japan and DeNA
Last week DeNA and Yahoo! Japan announced that they will launch Yahoo! Mobage this summer as a PC based game. The two companies believe combining the platform for Mobage-town (more than 18 million registered members) with Yahoo! Japan’s strength and ability to attract customers with the DeNA’s game development and operational expertise offers the opportunity for major marketing and development synergies. by
GregAsia’s Influence Strong in Forbes Top 15 Tech Billionaires
Larry Page & Sergey Brin | Art by Graziano Origa As people have gradually built more of their life on Internet platforms, the accumulation of wealth has shifted from manufacturing magnates and media barons to tech entrepreneurs – all under the age of 50. The top 15 Internet and computing related billionaires according to the latest Forbes ranking. by
 AdminTop 10 Japanese Social Media SitesFollowing up on our blog post about Japan’s Top Ten Websites (by overall traffic), we wanted to highlight some important alternative rankings for hot sites that illuminate the direction Japanese audiences are heading towards. Naturally, Alexa is not the last word in ranking what sites are the most popular, given the complex variables at play. Nielsen’s Net Ratings found interesting results for Top 10 Most Popular SNS Websites in Japan, published on CNET Japan: 1. Ameblo.jp – 21. 2 million users by
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btrax has grown rapidly from a San Francisco boutique design house into a cross-cultural branding and web consulting agency with amazing clients in six countries.
J-pop, once dismissed as derivative, disposable and with a shorter shelf life than sushi, has acquired a cachet of cool. Japanese musicians have developed their own unique take on the pop-music idiom, and Visual-kei (glam rock) bands like 
