Japan Digest – 2 Jul

Here you can find interesting startup news from Japan, not only from its capital, Tokyo, but also other startup hubs like Fukuoka, Kyoto, Osaka, and many more.

(1) Nielsen Japan, a consumer and healthcare-related market research company, investigated the traffic Dropbox and Evernote have seen in the past 12 months, and it appears the both services have enjoyed much success  for the first five months of 2011.

(2) According to a recent report in business daily The Nikkei, Amazon Japan is planning to hire Japanese graduates coming straight out of college for the first time ever in spring 2012.

(3) Business daily Nikkei is reporting that KDDI, Foursquare’s partner in Japan, is ready to buy a 5% stake worth 500 million Yen (US$6.2 million) in Colopl, a simulation game in which cell phone users manage a virtual colony. In other words, the company is now valued at US$125 million.

(4) When the Japanese were asked why they think Facebook, a global phenomenon, has not taken off in Japan yet, many answer that its user interface is hard to understand, which is strange because the UI did not keep away people in many other countries. A potential solution is the newly launched information site Facebook Navi(f-navigation.jp).

(5) Groupon Japan is taking its competition with rival Ponpare up a notch: Everybody who registers for their service can download a PC game worth 3,980 Yen (US$50) for free.

Thank you to nordicfactory for the flag image.