English Friendly Japan?!

A recent internet survey reveals that English conversation is the most popular extracurricular activity among working Japanese women. According to the study, 24.5% of working females 20-34 are taking English conversational lessons after work or on weekends, followed by going to the gym (22.5%), Yoga/Pilates (22.2%), and cooking classes (15.0%)... What does this mean?

If I read the data right, acquiring English conversational skill is as meaningful as physical wellness or cooking skills. So are Japanese women aspiring to be the perfect cosmopolitana to fulfill intenational men's fantasy of Asian 'chic mystique'. To wit; here is a TV commercial by a language school:



No, I shall be politically correct: The research indicates that foreign language skills play a significant role in the concept of well-being for Japanse women; that sounds better.

Besides that's just advertising, probably by some dude.

Total Luxury

So Japan (Tokyo's Ginza and Omotesando, to be precise) is the lap of luxury - brand shops galore, expensive sushi, kobe beef, etc. - nothing new. In the 80's, Japanese tourists in the US were identified - and at times parodied - with their eyeglasses and big cameras. Nowadays, it's Louis Vuitton, Prada and Hermes that give them away.

The big French and Italian brands make big bucks here - According to a Jetro report, Japan is "the world's most concentrated source of income for luxury brands." Even during the economic malaise of the 90's there was no shortage of custom hand crafted leather with a (take-your-pick) brand badge on the buckle.

(From Jetro

Well the brands are showing their appreciation and investing even more in their presence, making Tokyo (in particular Ginza) the brand flagship building capital of the world. More so, they're taking the whole concept of Luxury up a notch. New buildings from Bulgari, Armani, Chanel, etc etc etc, are propping up all over Ginza with their own Michelin-starred restaurants, private lounges and even (in Armani) a posh spa.

It all started with Hermes:

Dior:

Armani (with the world's only Armani Spa):

Even Mikimoto:Gucci:

Pen Spinning Rocks

You've probably seen them in school or maybe at the office - the Asian guy twirling his pen on his fingers - and tried unsuccessfully to mimick. I could never get that pen to spin just so!

Well for reasons beyond any rational comprehension, Pen Spinning has become the latest fad here in Japan. It's not new of course - I learned on the news today that Pen Spinning dates back to the 1930's when a rural prefecture introduced 'Pencil Spinning' as a form of 'hand exercise' for school kids. Since then it's gone through its ups and downs but with YouTube, blogs and what not, the Pen Spinning fad has reached critical mass.

Here's the latest, hottest video making the rounds on YouTube Japan:


There's even a Pencil Spinning Association that sponsors national tourneys, videos of new moves (all with names), blog links and anything else your average pen-spinner might need to know.

Check out the latest Pen Spinning Gear! Perfectly balanced designer spin pens - spin with style my bruthas!

Return of the Mouse!

I know Mickey has failed in the US, but could make it right this time in Japan: Disney mobile has launched its service starting March 1, 2008 with Japan's fastest growing operator, SoftBank (ex-Vodafone).



Japanese mobile phone business has a unique structure in which operators (e.g. NTT DoCoMo) dictate content services (e.g. iMode). Therefore, handset manufacturers have to customize specs for each operator to meet their unique service standards. This drives up costs for the manufacturers and is a key reason Japanese handset makers have little presence abroad, despite some of the most cutting edge designs and technology. It also means non-Japanese makers such as Nokia, Samsung, LG, and Motorola continually fail to make a dent in Japan. (even RAZR bombed)

All of this makes the launch of Disney Mobile in Japan a novel approach: it will use SoftBank's infrastructure while offering consumers dedicated phone models and content services such as ring-tones, wallpapers, and even Disney-ized character mails. This kind of business model is often called MNVO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), yet in this case, it is almost like a joint-venture with a single operator.

From a consumer's point of view, this is great news: You can get premium-looking phones with Mickey all over the place, you can subscribe to Disney application services for free, and get other exclusive goodies.　While not a fan personally, (never even been to Disneyland!), I can see this will drive Disney fans crazy. Mickey is gonna do it this time for sure.

As a matter of fact, I kinda start to like Hillary Duff...

Changing the Game

By now the story of Nintendo's Wii gaming system is well-known - left for dead, Nintendo came out of nowhere to rattle Sony and Microsoft who were (and still are) battling over the 'hardcore' gamer market. Xbox has done well in the US but still struggles in Japan. Vice versa for Sony. But neither of them were prepared or able to capture the elusive 'non-gamer' segments - females and families - putting all efforts instead on the main battle.

This left Nintendo free to come up with something truly innovative - both in technology and positioning, if not in naming...

Okay so why I am talking about this? This summer, Nintendo will launch Wii Fit outside of Japan. Already a big hit here, Wii Fit twists and expands the home gaming system paradigm even further.

Here are some ads we've seen here in Japan - simple but effective. And all family friendly (stuff grandpa or kids can do) or SJF-friendly.

Launch Copy: Wii Fit basic function as a bathroom scale! But it also records family weight, body fat, BMI, etc., and acts as a health management tool.



More 'Family' health management:



Wii Fit YOGA: No gamers allowed!


Family exercise: Ski Jump!


P.S.: Thanks to greengary14 on Youtube for posting all the ads!