SXSW Panel – Japanese Mobile Leaders Forum

SXSW Panel – Japanese Mobile Leaders Forum

Panel – Japanese Mobile Leaders Forum

Summary:
“Japan” “Mobile” “Social Media” – what do you see when you have these words together? Cyber utopia? Shrinking Galapagos? Ninjas with high-tech swords? It’s about time we know what the real scenes are in Japan. With the leaders of the mobile social media in Japan, we will discuss what the Japanese mobile social media world looks like, where they are headed, and how the “outer world” will affect / or be affected. Needless to give examples like the explosive rise of Twitter in Japan, the question is not whether the country is the “land of the rising sun” in mobile social media or not – it’s how high has the sun risen, and why.


Presenters
Eiji Araki VP, Prod, GREE International Inc
Serkan Toto, Japan Correspondent, TechCrunch
Taisei Tanaka, CEO, Geisha Tokyo Entertainment Inc
Tak Miyata, Exec VP, mixi Inc
Takahito Iguchi, CEO, Tonchidot

Notes:

  • Miyata – Mixi
    • Mixi currently the #1 social network in Japan, with 22M users, 15M mobile application users
    • Mobile app – Social Phone app, with SoftBank – Address book, camera, message, calendar
    • Social giving with Mixi – 1.6 M donated in 2 days through apps
    • Mixi 10 times as big in Japan as Facebook is in the US
    • First social network which allows you to share your entire life online – basically anything you can attach an NFC sticker to, you can share on Mixi.
  • Iguchi – Sekai Camera
    • Social augmented reality app
    • Multiple uses – tourist guides, shopping, event promotion
    • Art promotion – An AR visual arts presentation event was heldo on valentines day in collaboration with a pop band and apple store shibuya tokyo. User generated messages of love were floated arountd the fasion epicenter, viewable with Sekai Camera.
    • Mobile social games have been a huge success in japan, and are starting to catch on globally
    • location based services and games have been very disruptive, inspiring entrepreneuers and consumers alike
  • Taisei Tanaka – Geisha Tokyo Entertainment
    • Rock star in Japanese social network
    • developed on eof the most successful social game in japan – omiseya-san (shopmaster) – 3.3 million users, and Okanemochi-san (billionare) 1.2 million users.