Recently, I was asked to provide an overview of Japanese media, with a focus on Japanese websites. I thought that I would share the information here as well for those who might be curious.
Obviously the major barrier to exploring the various Japanese websites and publications is that it is all in Japanese and is rarely in English. Plus, as anyone who has the slightest knowledge of the Japanese market will notice, the Japanese market is quite homogeneous and very specific. Thus, domestic companies dominate, and established names abroad oftentimes get no recognition.
One good example is that big PR/marketing agencies like Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi have low market share. The market itself is dominated by the big Japanese firms like Dentsu and Hakuhodo. In fact, in many cases, foreign agencies would team up with domestic agencies (same with accounting firms like Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, or Chuo Aoyama PwC).
Obviously the major barrier to exploring the various Japanese websites and publications is that it is all in Japanese and is rarely in English. Plus, as anyone who has the slightest knowledge of the Japanese market will notice, the Japanese market is quite homogeneous and very specific. Thus, domestic companies dominate, and established names abroad oftentimes get no recognition.
One good example is that big PR/marketing agencies like Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi have low market share. The market itself is dominated by the big Japanese firms like Dentsu and Hakuhodo. In fact, in many cases, foreign agencies would team up with domestic agencies (same with accounting firms like Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, or Chuo Aoyama PwC).
Social Networking Sites are big in Japan too, but Facebook is not at all popular, the main users being Japanese who have foreign experience or foreign friends. As far as I know, Myspace, Last.fm, and the like are also not popular at all. The most popular SNS is called Mixi. It is pretty much like Facebook but with less features. Most people do not register with their real names nor use their faces as profile pictures. Nevertheless, the website saw an explosive increase in popularity around 2006. The groups/communities inside are quite specialised, and it is quite easy to market to a target audience.
Blogs. Google's Blogger is not as predominant, with many people going along with domestic ones like Livedoor or Goo Blog. Also the aforementioned Mixi has a "journal" function, which many people use as a blog.
Online shopping: There are of course internationally recognised companies like Amazon, but there are powerful domestic players too, Rakuten being one of them. The developed delivery network and services (e.g., "cool shipping" services enable cakes or anything that requires refrigerating to be shipped at a specified hour) allow for smaller, independent merchants to sell a wide variety of items. A great site that many refer to when they are comparing prices and user reviews is Kakaku.com. The site not only covers products, but also courses, insurance programmes, financial products etc. Japanese people tend to do a lot of research before buying a product, and the knowledge of shop assistants is also superior to any country I've been in. Kakaku.com oftentimes even provide even more indepth information.
Print Magazines are still a very influential source of information (My impression is that a lot of people still do not use internet from a computer compared to the US or the UK, and would use their advanced 3G phones- in fact I would say that the Japanese cell phones are the most advanced in the world, and Nokia, Blackberry, let alone the iPhone, can hardly gain market share. Here is an example of phones). Japanese magazines tend to be a lot more consumer oriented, with the aim of giving very practical advice on everything. For example, the Japanese versions of international magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar exist; yet they are usually more for people who want to be "sophisticated" and "artsy", more so than in the US or Europe. Popular magazines like Non-no, Oggi, More, etc would have specials like "choose the ultimate cardigan" which would have pages and pages of cardigans from premium brands like Dior to cheap brands like Uniqlo, sorted not only by price, but also style, TPO, etc. Also, there are a lot more fashion magazines for men like Men's Non-no, Smart, Fineboys, etc. In London, you can usually read these if you are to go to Japanese hairdressers and Japanese used bookshops. It is essential that you understand how practical information is conveyed, so do take a look if you have the chance. As for an equivalent of Time-Out, it is called Tokyo Walker (or other derivatives depending on the region). There are even ones that put more focus on restaurants such as Tokyo Calendar.
For English press in Japan, there are not that many. The English edition of the top daily Asahi shimbun, the Japan Times and the Mainichi Daily News are recognised newspapers. There are magazines like Hiragana Times, and websites like seekjapan.jp. The website offers insights gained by foreigners living in Japan.
I will elaborate on each area in the future if there are any requests.
I will elaborate on each area in the future if there are any requests.
