Trends in Japan - CScout Japan Blog

Japanese Mobile Phone Publishing on ZDF

Written by: Michael Keferl on October 23, 2008 at 11:42 am | In Technology & Gadget Trends | 1 Comment

With publishing being forced to enter the digital world, the sudden boom of mobile phone novels in Japan has inspired many in the industry around the globe. We’ve been following this for some time now, and what’s going on shows the power of mobile technology in Japan, but also a culture of creativity that is often overlooked.

japan zdf mobile novels publishing 2

German ZDF television recently visited Tokyo to do a piece, and CScout Japan CEO Sven Kilian was asked to give them the rundown on mobile phone publishing from manga to Koizora.

Click below to view online (German only).

Special thanks to Natsuko Kimura, Managing Director of the KDDI DESIGNING STUDIO for letting us shoot the interview in a very suitable location.

Tags: Koizora, Mobile, Mobile Novels, Press, Press coverage, Publishing, ZDF
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Marketing & Ad Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

SNS for manga artists from Futabasha Press

Written by: Rebecca Milner on September 1, 2008 at 11:44 pm | In Marketing & Ad Trends | 3 Comments

Manga publisher Futabasha recently established an SNS community for would-be manga artists. “Manga Yomou!” (“Let’s read manga!”) allows members to post their own original work on the site with the aim of getting a readership and feedback from peers. However there is more to this basic Myspace for manga concept, the editor of Futabasha’s monthly comic magazine Comic High will have a presence on the site, offering evaluations of select works and even picking some up for publication in the magazine.

The site, billed as “Social Networking for Comics,” is organized into sections for user-made “indies comics” and illustrations displayed by ranking, plus space for reviews of new published series, member blogs, and a BBS.

With mobile phone novels like Koizora (which started out as a user generated story on the mobile phone homepage portal site Maho no iRando) becoming best-sellers in print, publishers have done well to take notice of this reader trend. In fact, it was Futabasha that published the highly successful manga series of Koizora last year.

While it might seem odd to buy a hard version of something you’ve already read for free online, sales figures prove otherwise. One reason for this is that readers have been said to want a souvenir of the work in the form of a printed version because they felt part of its discovery and success. Through Manga Yomou, Futabasha dangles the carrot of published success to draw members, who will then become an established readership for whatever the publisher chooses to bring to print.

Tags: Koizora, magazines, manga, Publishing, SNS, UGC, Web 2.0
Category: Marketing & Ad Trends
Other categories: Technology & Gadget Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

Personalized life with manga, drama, and rice

Written by: Rebecca Milner on August 15, 2008 at 4:11 pm | In Fashion & Lifestyle Trends, Marketing & Ad Trends | 1 Comment

Ultra-personalized souvenirs of special occasions might be a global trend, but Japan has added it’s own unique approaches to the theme.

Sakura Comics has debuted a service that allows couples to turn their love story into an original comic book, called “Wedding Story Manga.”

The plot unfolds around a personal story (a first meeting or a proposal, for example) while the characters are drawn to resemble photos provided by the customers. Clients can choose the style of drawing from a variety of samples and the length of the comic, from a two page black and white leaflet (¥29,800) to a 16-page full color mini book (from ¥191,800).

The finished product is intended as a souvenir for newlyweds to give to guests at the reception.

Another example is the Koizora-themed souvenir photo campaign from Watabe Wedding. This limited time service invites couples into a studio designed to resemble scenes from the incredibly popular drama Koizora (“Love Sky”), allowing couples to act out their favorite moments and poses. The professional images are then compiled into a souvenir photo book.

A TV version of the drama, which originated as a mobile phone novel, will run on TBS from August through September, as will Watabe Wedding’s campaign (package price from ¥20,000).

Weddings aren’t the only example, Yoshimiya has created a service for announcing the birth of a newborn with a commemorative bag of rice.

Not only the does the bag have the babies face printed on it, but the rice inside measures exactly the same as the baby’s birth weight. The idea is that far-away relatives can simulate holding the new family addition.