Japan Digest: App to curb protruding nostril hairs, Cave focuses on social games, and more

(1) Chololi lets anyone send a pre-written notification to the offending hairy culprit anonymously via their email. “For all you people who are thoughtful and in a difficult position, we give you Chololi the deputy service for notification about nostril hairs” explains the site.

(2) Following a disappointing financial report, Japanese video game maker Cave announced it will focus more on social games going forward. The company has an 18-year old history and is especially famous for its shoot’em ups aimed at a hardcore gamer audience.

(3) Golgo 13, a Japanese cult manga from the 1960s, is getting the social game treatment. DeNA announced it has launched a social “battle RPG” of the same name on Mobage for Japanese feature phones. Meanwhile, DeNA also announced that Sega has chosen Mobage to launch the online version of the super-successful (and pretty awesome) mobile RPG Kingdom Conquest.

(4) Comcept, the company founded by famous video game creator Keiji Inafune, has released its first social game on GREE for Android. The title, dubbed “Dr. Momo’s Island”, was co-developed with Index.

(5) Monhan Tankenki Maboroshi no Shima, a social game based on the company’s action RPG series Monster Hunter, has jumped over the 500,000 user mark on GREE already, a more than solid number for such a new title.

(6) Sega has closed down one of the most ambitious mobile social games in Japan, Shenmue City (Shenmue Gai), on Mobage. The game’s developer, Ysnet, actually posted a two-liner thanking players on December 26 on the official homepage of the title.

(7) The Nikkei just reported that GREE will probably hit US$520 million in sales last quarter (three months through December 31). As if this wasn’t impressive enough, the paper says GREE is expecting operating profit to balloon to US$260 million.

(8) Another Japanese triple A video game brand is going social: it took a bit longer than announced last month, but Square Enix started offering Final Fantasy Brigade on Mobage, a social game based on the super-popular RPG franchise. Also, a smartphone version is available few days later after the game launched.

(9) Tokyo-based mobile contents provider MTI launched a Mobage and GREE competitor. Dubbed entag!, the mobile social gaming platform started operations on January 11.

(10) CyberAgent has announced that Ameba, its social networking and blogging platform, hits 20 million users across all related services at the end of last year. In another news, CyberAgent has released a new mobile social game on iOS: as the name suggests, Ninja Farm is a Ninja-themed farming simulation. In the game, players can create their own Ninja fighters, battle other players, or choose between a total of 100 different virtual items to decorate their farms with.

(11) Tokyo-based Interspace and Takara Tomy Entamedia have announced “Transformers for GREE“, a social game based on the popular movie and toy franchise.

(12) Tokyo-based (and listed) social game maker Index announced that Persona 3 Social, the social version of the classic RPG series, has crossed the one million user mark.

(13) Now, Namco Bandai also owns the bragging rights of having 10 million registered users on social games on the Japanese market. The company announced it has reached the milestone on January 12.

(14) A porn games platform, with no distinct brand name, was launched by DMM, a large online video distribution site that’s mostly known as a premier destination for porn. DMM is owned by Hokuto Corporation, a major producer of adult video content.

(15) After opening pre-registration back in December, Konami has launched BE-BOP-HIGHSCHOOL for Mobage on feature phones. In another news, DeNA partner Namco Bandai launched One Piece Grand Collection, a social game based on the super-popular manga and anime, on Mobage. Within four days, it gets 4 million registered users on Mobage.

(16) Yano, the Tokyo-based market research firm, expects Japan’s social gaming industry to balloon to US$4.4 billion in 2012. Yano says that the growth will be fueled mainly by the rapid adoption of smartphones in Japan.

(17) A new restaurant concept opened up in Tokyo for the rapidly increasing number of health conscious Japanese public. Run by health device manufacturer Tanita Corp. the replica Japanese office style canteen space, Tanita Shokudo, acts not only as a healthy food outlet but a place where diners can receive free nutritional and dietary advice whilst eating.

(18) What happens when a car manufacturer puts its technological innovation to use in the mobile market? The answer is the world’s first “self healing” iPhone case from Nissan.

(19) A new kids web community has been launched that aims to provide a place that encourages global communication between Japanese and international children in order learn about the environment and each others’ cultures. Miracle Miracle is a collaboration project from non-profit organization Japan For Sustainability (JFS) and NIPPONKOA Insurance company, described as “A Place for Global Kids to Create the Future”.

We thank nordicfactory for the flag image.

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