"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.
Works at japanese social networking / social gaming leading company GREE from beginning stage.
Led development project of PC based social networking service, mobile social networking service, several social game titles and smartphone services.
Developed "Clinoppe" and "Haconiwa" that are most successful mobile social game in japan and played by over 10million users.
Currently lead product development projects for global market in SF.
Part-time, Dr. Serkan Toto works as the first and only Asia-based writer for the TechCrunch network, mainly covering Japan-related technology and web companies for TechCrunch, CrunchGear and MobileCrunch.
Full-time, Serkan is working as an independent web and mobile industry consultant with a focus on the Japanese market.
He is 7-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics.
Serkan is a German of Turkish descent and lives in Tokyo.
Founder/CEO
Geisha Tokyo Entertainment, Inc.
As COO of a subsidiary of game company Tecmo, designs and produces
several console and mobile hits, including "Monster Farm POP" and
"Tecmo Bowl for mobiles". In 2006, founds next-generation
entertainment company Geisha Tokyo Entertainment, Inc. In 2008,
releases the first consumer software product to use augmented reality,
"Cyber Figure ARis". Most recently, expands into the social mobile
market with "Omiseya-san", the #1 shop simulation game in Japan, and
"Okanemochi-san", the hit social board game. One of the rockstars of
Japan's social media business.
Major works:
"Cyber Figure ARis" (PC) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCCx7zANsGE
"Omiseya-san" (mobile) 3.6M UU
"Okanemochi-san" (mobile) 800.000 UU / 1 month
Tak Miyata is Exective Vice President of alliance and global business at mixi, the largest social networking service in Japan.
Tak leads mixi’s efforts on expanding its business in global scale. He took the initiative to form the alliance with two major social networks in Asia, “Renren”, China No.1 social network with 150 million users, and “Cyworld”, Korea No.1 social network with 24 million users, to standardize and to co-promote their social application platform.
Prior to mixi, a serial entrepreneur, Tak has founded several companies in Japan and US, including mobile service firm J-Magic and image recognition software company NevenVision acquired by Google.
Tak holds a Master’s degree in nano Science from Waseda University.
Tonchidot Corporation Founder & CEO. Creator and evangelist of several innovative multimedia platforms and
web service. Vastly experienced in providing consumer oriented services using cutting-edge technology, with a focus on social applications since 2003. Founded Tonchidot in 2008 to concentrate on developing the world
of Sekai Camera.
BA Philosophy, Ritsumeikan Univ, Kyoto, Japan.
