General Edition Sunday, September 18, 2005 Issue No. 343
+++ INDEX
- What's new
- Services lineup
- News
- Candidate roundup
- Upcoming events
- Property
- News credits
Wine Offer Largest imported wine collection in Japan only 1 click away from you. The World of Prestigious Wines is now available for you on-line with the relaunch of the Pieroth Japan K.K. web site <http://www.pieroth.jp/> Pieroth Japan (est. 1969) offers over 1,500 spirits and wines (including 750 Bordeaux) from 16 countries. Many of these are exclusive to Pieroth Japan. The importer also offers expert wine advice, personal wine tasting, and home delivery. Its stock is stored in climatically controlled warehouses. Ashley Associates is proud to be providing the creation, maintenance and development of ongoing marketing activities for the Pieroth Japan web site. Please visit <http://www.ashleyassociates.co.jp> for more information about us. |
| +++ WHAT'S NEW |
In this month's issue of Japan Inc. magazine, on sale in book stores next week, we have an article about an interesting privately owned technology firm called Ubiquitous Business Technology Inc., otherwise known as Ubit. Started in spring of 1999 under the moniker 104.com by a Dr. Yoshiro Mizuno, and assisted by a team of foreign and Japanese engineers, the company had a hit web site called KissKissKiss. The site's most memorable feature was a calendaring program which tracks ovulation patterns for female users. At its peak, KKK had hundreds of thousands of users.
But with the ebb and flow of the Internet, the site's popularity waned, and by 2001 the senior management faced the dilemma of what to do next. The then VP of Sales and now a director on the board, Arjen von Bokland -- yes, our very own Wireless Watch contributor -- decided to build on some existing relationships in Europe and ride the coming i-mode wave there. Although i-mode didn't take off the way everyone expected, Ubit's core mobile content delivery system, MS2, was light years ahead of European competitors and Von Bokland was able to impress several major carriers enough to have them start using it.
In 2002 Orange became a client and asked Ubit to host their new WAP enhanced services. Things went well, and between 2003 and 2005 Ubit and Orange partnered to create many highly successful content sites and promotions for video clip downloads. Clients included Euro Cup (soccer), Tour de France (cycling), UEFA (soccer), and Star Wars, as well as content sites for Disney, Warner Brothers, and Universal Music. Now, in late 2005, Ubit serves the mobile end of more than 200 web sites in Europe, and another 12+ in Japan. This is a lot of clients! While the Japanese end of things may sound a bit under-developed, in fact the customers (and the content they serve) are massive, and include NTT DoCoMo, Nikkei, and Asahi.
Perfect ubiquity in mobile internet is a tall order. But that's what Ubit's MS2 software offers. Most mobile content in Japan is really just a cut and paste effort by the media editors and publishing staff and does little to consider the type of phone and their physical limitations. For example, MS2 doesn't offer TrueTone ring tones to a handset that can't play them.
While Ubit continues to build a solid and profitable business around the MS2 platform, the 800lb gorillas of the global market are jockeying for position in mobile content management. Starting August 2004, IBM bought out Venetica, then in March 2005 Ascential. Likewise Sybase in July 2005 bought out Extended Systems for $71.3MM. And in early 2005, Oracle teamed up with Nokia to promote Oracle's Content Services product for mobile solutions. This means that Ubit is potentially sitting on a $100m business, and it's not even public yet. We predict that Ubit will attract the interest of some major players over the next few months and at very least, an IPO...
You heard it at Japan Inc first.
...The Information Janitors/
MAGAZINE INTERNSHIP Japan Inc magazine is offering a journalism internship. The Intern will write and edit articles under the direction of the Editor-in-Chief. The Intern will work in the magazine’s editorial office twice a week and be reimbursed for travel. |
| +++ SERVICES LINE-UP |
Contact [email protected] if you want your company here.
- Personal International Investor -- a convenient source of ideas and information on how to invest profitably as an expat in Japan. Every Thursday, 48 weeks of the year. Completely free.
http://japaninc.typepad.com/personal_intl_investor/
- Advertise with Japan Inc newsletters. JIN and Terrie's Take cost just 2 yen per person to reach 51,000 people. Great for last minute offers and event advertising.
[email protected].
- Get a low-cost office in Tokyo, at the Venture Gas Station incubator. Just JPY80,000/month, in Minami-Aoyama. Spaces closing fast -- enquire now.
[email protected]
- J@pan Inc. magazine has gone quarterly. Subscriptions now just JPY3,600 a year. Sign up at
http://www.japaninc.com/mag/subs.html
- Find new bilingual sales staff -- a specialty for DaiJob.com,
[email protected]
- Anyone can buy a .JP domain...online...real-time...in English! Register now at:
http://www.JapanRegistry.com
JIC Sponsored Interviews You read Terrie's Take and JIN, and so do 54,000 other executives inside and outside Japan. Let them know what your company does, with our new Sponsored Interviews service. We create a lead-in for the interview, and run it within the newsletters, with links back to the page holding the full interview. For a small additional charge, we will also run it in the Japan Inc magazine, the www.japan.com website, and the www.japaninc.com web site for archiving. Cumulatively, your message will be seen by at least 120,000 English-language readers. |
| +++ NEWS |
- New compound prevents neuron-degeneration
- Chinese antivirus company kicks off
- FX margin trades weaken Yen
- First internet gambling site
- Tokyo Star Bank goes public in October
-> New compound prevents neuron-degeneration
Scientists from Nagoya University School of Medicine have announced in the Nature Medicine journal that they have found a chemical compound that prevents neuron-degeneration. The compound, called 17-AAG, may serve as a component to fight neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, as well as a delivery vehicle for cancer killing compounds. The interesting thing about 17-AAG is that it only acts when protein receptors start to degrade, otherwise there is no action. (Source: TT commentary from webindia123.com, Sep 13, 2005)
http://tinyurl.com/7td9s
-> Chinese antivirus company kicks off
Chinese software developer, Kingsoft, has established an office in Japan to sell its anti-virus, office applications, and online games software here. The company has already gained some recognition here for its marketing of the DuBa antivirus program, which is free for the first year. ***Ed: This is actually an interesting company, established in the late 1980's to sell a Chinese word processing program called WPS, the company was almost wiped out by Microsoft products in the 1990's. However, with the launch of a full office product in 2001, the company really came into its own after Microsoft China threatened legal action against the Shanghai education board for illegal use of Microsoft products in schools. The education department retaliated and did a deal with Kingsoft to license 45,000--50,000 copies of WPS Office 2003.** (Source: TT commentary from people.com, Sep 16, 2005)
http://tinyurl.com/7cp55
-> FX margin trades weaken Yen
Ironically, even as the purchase of Japanese stocks by foreign investment funds is hitting new records, Japanese individual investors are putting even more money into foreign exchange and stocks. Margin trading on FX, a risky but potentially rewarding activity, is particularly popular. Out of $8-11bn of spot FX trades per day in Japan, about 20% is for margin trades. Gaitame.com, Japan's largest online FX margin broker said that its monthly turnover of yen-dollar trades jumped 60% from the start of this year, to $3.9bn for August. Daily turnover is $200-300m. (Source: TT commentary from nikkei.co.jp, Sep 18, 2005)
http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20050917D17JF446.htm
-> First internet gambling site
Don't know how we missed it, but Softbank has just done a deal with the Iwate Prefecture Horse Racking Association to start Japan's first online betting web site. Softbank plans to take bets for the Iwate races from April, 2006. ***Ed: The Interactive Gambling Council reckons that global online gaming will reach $19bn by 2009, making this a potentially huge new business for Softbank. No guesses for which sport after the horses will be in the queue for online betting.** (Source: TT commentary from allheadlinenews.com, Sep 6, 2005)
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7000041803
-> Tokyo Star Bank goes public in October
Following in the footsteps of Shinsei Bank, Tokyo Star Bank will go public in October this year, with up to 30% of shares being offered to the public for a valuation of about JPY245bn. The IPO will bring lead investor Lone Star a profit of about JPY200bn on an original investment of JPY40bn. Tokyo Star Bank was resurrected from the ruins of the Tokyo Sowa Bank, which failed in 1999. (Source: TT commentary from nikkei.co.jp, Sep 16, 2005)
http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20050915D15JFA05.htm
NOTE: Broken links
Many online news sources are now removing their articles after just a few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we apologize for the inconvenience.
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| +++ CANDIDATE ROUND UP |
DaiJob, Inc's executive placement team, AMBITION Consulting
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DaiJob has great candidates. Contact Alex Burr at
[email protected], or Ph: 03-3499-3040 for details.
[No listings this week. Back with fresh candidates from next Sunday.]
| +++ UPCOMING EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS |
Yen Mortgages for Local Properties A Roundtable Event with Industry Specialists from Shinsei Bank, Plaza Homes, Banner Japan & PLATINUM. |
IT events announcements are priced at JPY50,000 per week. |
| +++ THIS WEEK'S PROPERTY |
-> The Aurora
This soaring property development in the heart of Brisbane’s riverside frontage is fast becoming one of the best personal and investment development projects.
The Aurora offers five different floor plans with many inclusions such as 2 and 3 bedroom apartments with powder room -- as well as 2 bathrooms convenient for families and guests and, of course, cark parks. Depending on apartment type, the total area for these magnificent apartments ranges between 192sqm to 125sqm. With panoramic views of Brisbane and surrounding areas, these wonderful dwellings feature quality interior finishes such as 100% wool blend carpets, polished stone tiles, modern kitchen appliances, ample closet space, and a wide range of colour schemes to choose from.
There is still plenty of room to entertain and enjoy the benefits of being close to all the amenities Brisbane has to offer. From the apartment’s balcony you can see all of Brisbane by night. If you need a city change or are looking to invest, these apartments are the an ideal opportunity to buy into this semi-tropical coastal city.
http://japaninc.typepad.com/australian_properties_e/
E-mail us at [email protected] for more details on any property listed here.
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END
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| +++ ABOUT US |
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