Famous US Governor, Chris Christie, Links to My Latest Lew Rockwell Article!...

By Mike Rogers


Famous US Governor from New Jersey, Chris Christie, links to my latest Mike in Tokyo Rogers' Lew Rockwell article (bottom left): http://tiny.cc/gdxwa

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Keywords: New Jersey, Lew Rockwell, Chris Christie, Mike in Tokyo Rogers

Black Fashion Models 2009

The current issue of Italian Vogue looks at how the fashion industry has moved past the rail thin negative size models to the lack of black models in the industry.

In a move that is causing the industry to take a deep look at itself the July issue of Italian Vogue features only black models shot by fashion photographer Steven Meisel. Mr. Meisel is also the photographer behind Madonna’s infamous 1992 book, “Sex”.

black fashion models
black fashion models
black fashion models
black fashion models
black fashion models

Fashion Models 2009

Tao Okamoto. Tao Okamoto, Japanese (1987), mysterious, elegant. She had long hair, now it is short. Very professional, very perfectionist.

models interested in being featured, interviewed or photographed can inquire via e-mail: models (at) asianglam.com - of course replace (at) with @

Fashion Models
Fashion Models
Fashion Models
Fashion Models
Fashion Models

Koji Kamibayashi; Internet & SEO Expert

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

Let me introduce you to Koji Kamibayashi. Koji is quite unique in Japan. And you will be glad you met him today.

There are many people in Japan who claim to be Internet experts or professionals in SEO, but I'd wager that there aren't many who can put proof behind their claims of expertise. One of the few who can is a guy named Koji Kamibayashi. I think it is safe to say that Koji is one of Japan's top five, if not the top, Internet expert in the entire country.

Koji Kamibayashi

Koji Kamibayashi was the founder and president of TV Tokyo Broadband (TXBB); which he started in 2001. Within 4 years, by 2005, TXBB became a company with over $50 million (USD) in revenue and was listed on the Tokyo Stock Market in 2005. This was truly an amazing feat considering the fact that every terrestrial TV station and network in Japan started up a Broadband network only to fail with tens of millions of dollars in losses.  Only Koji's TXBB was successful. See Koji's Wikipedia here.

During his time at TXBB, Koji was also talented enough, and had the foresight, to recognize that, if broadband were to be successful in Japan the ownership of the rights for the content would be critical. This leads to one of Koji's most amusing and fascinating success stories; it was Koji who brought Snoopy to Japan and put him and Woodstock on Junior High and High School girl's bag in the country.

When the people representing Peanuts first approached Koji about a partnership for Peanuts in Japan, they wanted him to take the entire group; Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Lucy, Linus, and the rest; along with the stories. Koji told them, "No!" He told them that he only wanted the dog and the bird. Initially the Peanuts team was insistent on the entire story being taken up, but Koji stuck to his guns. He threw out everything - even the stories - excepting Snoopy and Woodstock and now Snoopy in Japan earns five times the income that Peanuts earn in all of the United States.

Koji remarked, "Sometimes it's not what you keep that's important, it's what you throw away that matters."

Koji also worked the same sort of magic in Japan for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Miffy, and he was the one who resuscitated Sesame Street and brought it back from the dead in this country.

Alas, it couldn't last forever in one of Japan's oldest companies. Anyone who becomes president at a Nikkei related company in Japan can only be president for six years under ancient company rules. This posed a dilemma for Koji when he became president of TXBB in 2001.

"I didn't want to accept the position at that time as I was only 42 years old. Usually people who become president's at a Nikkei related company are in their mid-to-late sixties, so it's OK for them, but I was only 42... What was I to do in 6 years? I tried to ask them to change the rules for me, but they wouldn't... Those rules had been around for decades and this is Japan..." Koji related.

So Koji left the company. But it wasn't all roses then. TV Tokyo is a Nikkei Group company and another rule is that, after you leave, you cannot do any sort of marketing, PR, advertising, entertainment-related business... That doesn't leave a lot for a guy to do who had spent over 25 years of his life in that field.

So, Koji then followed one of his dreams and opened a Chinese restaurant in Sapporo. I've eaten there and it is fantastic!

Now that the restaurant is going well, he visits it once a month to make sure it is doing fine and then spends the rest of his time back in Tokyo with his lovely wife who is a professional Yoga instructor. In Tokyo, Koji is doing what he really loves and that is Internet related work.

"I often get offers from large foreign companies to join in their ranks, but I don't want to work in the confines of a large company anymore. I want to do my own thing and I want to have fun."

If you wish to contact Koji Kamibayashi, his Linkedin profile is here. Of course Koji also Twitters and does Pick and other Social Media.

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Keywords: Koji Kamibayashi, Internet, Japan, Internet expert, Tokyo, Chinese Restaurant, Chinese, SEO, Sapporo, Nikkei Group, TV Tokyo, marketing, TXBB, entertainment, PR, Broadband, Terrestrial TV, Wikipedia, Social Media, Snoopy, Pick, Miffy, Sesame Street, advertising,

Marketing Japan: Internet Promotions? Don't Make Long Sign-ups!...

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers


If you are running any sort of Internet service, business or promotion that requires people to sign up to join, then at least make the sign up as short and as simple as possible.


Survey results of over 10,000 Internet users (done by Nikkei Shimbun) show that if users must click a site or a banner link more than twice, they probably won't do it.

One of my good friend's tells me how he is working on a huge cross-platform Internet promotion that has all the great pieces to a fantastic Internet Social Media Marketing success… This promotion has everything built in! It has a dedicated website using WordPress; publicity integrating old media and print to draw new potential customers to their Internet sites (they definitely need the over-40 crowd in Japan as those are the people with all the money); A Pick and Twitter component and, of course, online video, blogs, blogging, vlogs, and keywords on Google Search and Yahoo! and much more involving a full spectrum of Social Media Marketing for Japan. This is a marketeers dream come true in the year 2010... Except for one tiny problem... My good friend laments that one of the partners is stuck in old fashioned promotional thinking that doesn't fit well a all with the Internet. 

My friend asked me if I could help provide some evidence that he could show to the partner as proof that the partner's ideas were out-dated and if I could help him to convince the partner to drop these ideas.

Well, I don't know if I can help him convince someone who is stuck in old-fashioned thinking, but I gave him some data and wished him well…

That's what gave me the idea for this blog today. If you come up against the same sort of obstacle, then I hope you can refer back to this particular blog for some ammo to help you fight back.

But first, let me give you some background and then tell you what the partner's idea was. 

The promotion was a tie up between three different companies. One company owns powerful old and new media; one company can give away free vacations; the the company can provide the transport to those vacations. All three companies have a need that overlaps and allows them to help each other out and not pay someone like Dentsu or Hakuhodo $180,000 for a promotion like this... If they cooperate, they can arrange a promotion like this through my friend's company for about $9,000!

The media provider can penetrate into millions of homes and is giving that piece of the puzzle up for free as barter (they want more people to use their media). The media partner also has a massive Internet mailing list and gets over 10 million unique users a month! The problem is, instead of just running a contest where all you need to do is sign up, one of the partner's (who needs all the free promotion they can get) wants to add a quiz to the contest that forces people who wish to enter to have to do some Internet searching and research and answer questions - along with filing in personal information on an Internet sign-up form… Not only will the users  have to click through to several pages, this idea takes them off the contest page… Which makes it a very bad idea.

My friend called me and wrote to me asking for advice. Here's what I wrote:

Dear Ken (not his real name),

This is a very bad idea. From past experience and from Internet research, I must strongly recommend against doing this sort of thing in your promotion. 

Let me explain why: 

This kind of promotional idea is very old fashioned (10 or 20 years old) and will result in a contest whereby less than a few dozen people sign up. As you, can suspect, we know this from experience from mass media promotions. 

It is well known that in Internet marketing that (with data research and user surveys of 10's of thousands of Internet users done by Nikkei Research) that people will not, on average, click on a site more than twice. This sort of idea presented by your partner will result in at least 4 clicks. This will cause a huge number of interested people to drop off immediately. 

If the contest is designed so that people sign up just their name and e-mail, you will get tens of thousands of entries and hundreds of people entering several times. Effective promotion is promotion that people think about often, and can enter often.

If people must go to another page and research information and then answer questions, you will get a few dozen entries. No exaggeration.

This idea is ancient; it is like some newspaper promotional ideas for the past. Also, remember that this is a partnership promotion with benefit to all, I can't imagine that the other two partners - especially the vital media partner - would agree to this. If this partner is paying for the promotion, then I doubt that anyone would complain… But this is a barter. This is a critical point.

Think about your own experience on the Internet in the past: When you had to sign up for something, if it was easy, you did it. If it asked too many questions or became troubles-some, you dropped it. I know I do.

This problem is also talked about on page 257 of "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" by Daivd Meerman Scott. It says, "Do not use a sign-up form that requires your prospects to enter lots of data - people will abandon the form." 

Most recently, when my company did a media promotion (on a TV station and radio station) for a week whereby people only had go to the Internet contest page and  enter their name and e-mail, we got over 9,000 entries. In another campaign, when we required them to go to another page and research a question (That campaign was for a world famous automotive parts company) and all people had to do was go to the auto parts maker's homepage and answer a question we got only 14! Fourteen!? Yes, 14. You read right.

Also, once again, I seriously doubt that your media partner, a company that is a trend leader in Internet marketing will agree to this sort of out of date promotion... After all, they are giving you access to millions of people at a barter. I don't think that you or your partner are in a position to demand this sort of thing from them.

Lastly, think of the damage to you client's name when people think, "Oh? I can win! How nice." Then they go to the contest page and see that they have to do a bunch of things to enter; answer questions, provide personal data, click a bunch of times  to enter in a contest where the chances of winning are about 1 in a million? No way.

The average person will think two things about you and your client. They will associate these two things:

1) You and your client's name

2) Troublesome

You can't have that. The Internet is quick… Buzz on the Internet is fast and it is not forgiving if that buzz is bad.

I strongly suggest that you either convince your client to change their mind, or, if they are insistent, find another partner. There isn't a company in the world who isn't interested in the new way of Marketing, marketing in Japan, and the new rules of PR.

Then I signed off.

I wonder if what I wrote and the data I sent will help at all...We'll see.  

But for you, my dear reader,  if you get anything out of this blog, then make it this: Have online contests as often as possible but do not require people to enter too much information. Ideally, just an e-mail address is best.

Notes: Here is an article about a newspaper in the UK who required an Internet sign-up - for contact that is free - and it seriously damaged their readership numbers. See here. http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2010/06/incipient-paywall-costing-newspaper-online-readers.ars

There's many companies out and about that are making these mistakes for you so you don't have to… Just pay attention and learn the lessons from them. Now that's intelligent marketing!


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Keywords: marketing, Pick, Yahoo! Internet, Google, business, intelligent marketing, newspaper, Nikkei Shimbun, marketing Japan, Hakuhodo, new media, service, Facebook, media, japan's, blog, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, vlog, Internet, Social Media Marketing, TV, David Meerman Scott, focused message, Dentsu, product, barter, UK, Social Media Marketing, New Rules of Marketing and PR, TV station, radio station, Twitter, Google Search, blogger, Keywords, advertising, e-mail address, Nikkei Research, Japan, buzz, click, clicks, old media, Internet users, PR, contests, sign-up, sign up, radio, Mixi, marketing Japan, video blog, content, blog, Social Media, Japan, marketing, article, media provider, smart marketing,  Japanese, intelligent

New York Fashion Week 2009 2010

For Spring 2009, Nanette Lepore delivered a collection that radiated sultry femininity with hints of mischievous romance. Capturing the carefree essence of spring was the "anything goes" vibe exuded by each look where there are no restrictions when it comes to mixing patterns, shapes, textures, silhouettes, style, and so on. Ethereal silk dresses with cropped leather coats, sleek stripes paired with flirty florals, statements frocks with statement jewelry and super statement shoes- you get the point. Never one to stray too far from her ultra-femme aesthetic, we saw ruffles galore, lush garden florals, cinched waists, and loads of vibrant colors that can€™t help but make you embrace your inner girly girl.

new york fashion week
new york fashion week
new york fashion week
new york fashion week
new york fashion week

Olympus Fashion Week 2010

Today starts the best week on the planet,Olympus Fashion Week Spring 2007. If only I could be in the mix!!!Tonight at 8:00 pm Baby Phat will roll out their collection. Whether you like her not,Kimora Lee Simmons is hustling chick and eye is inpecable. She know glam,fab, and what divas are made of. Plus, her shows are packed with hip hop gliterrati. I always check www.Style.com every day.This website is good on posting the current days shows online. Also,Fashion Rocks Show is coming on tonight on CBS at 8:00pm. Because I don't have a "friday night social agenda" I'll be front of the tube.

olympus fashion week
olympus fashion week
olympus fashion week
olympus fashion week
olympus fashion week

Men's Fashion 2009 In Italy

The Burberry Prorsum fashion show for Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2009 in Italy. Burberry is such a great brand. The colors for next Spirng/Summer season were too Fall colorish to us, but the bright mustard and soft powder blues really worked well. The dark olive green is a color you don’t expect to see at summertime, but they do make it airy. The grays had a soft touch to them. The hats you can do without.

Men's Fashion
Men's Fashion
Men's Fashion
Men's Fashion
Men's Fashion

Cyndi Lauper Fashion 2009

The 80’s fashion may be coming back, but some things never left. The music of the 80’s has been a permanent fixture on the radio and in the stores, possessing some timeless quality that allows it to stay a constant flow of electric guitars and erratic drum solos. Maybe it’s because some of the bands from the time haven’t left yet, serving as a reminder of ‘the good old days’. That still doesn’t explain why the younger generation is still listening to the same songs their parents did when they have no nostalgic attachment to the music. Be it because their parents have subjected them to it as a child, or some freak alignment of the planets, the music looks like it has taken up residency in our lives.

cyndi lauper fashion
cyndi lauper fashion
cyndi lauper fashion
cyndi lauper fashion
cyndi lauper fashion

Virtual Fashion Models 2008

Our fashion section puts the spotlight on designers, fashion parades and events and feature the best of Second Life models. These pages are constantly updating as we add more feature stories and attend events in Second Life. If you would like your event covered, or would like me to focus on a particular avatar or aspect of an event that I am attending, just ask - IM me! We have a great team of fashion experts & models to help you show off your range of clothes - designers, editors note these models & pictures are available for hire ~ GaiaGirl Pearl xx

virtual fashion model
virtual fashion model
virtual fashion model
virtual fashion model
virtual fashion model

Fashion Boots Style

Sometimes it all seems like a delicate balance between getting noticed and pretending not to care. Unfortunately, it can be spoiled by something as common as a crystal-beaded bodice. So who spoiled the effect of wearing these fashion boots on the picture to the left, you be the judge.

fashion boots
fashion boots
fashion boots
fashion boots
fashion boots

Japanese Pop Culture and Street Fashion

Stella Magazine is about back to school, Japanese fashion and pop culture. Features include “25 Kawaii Shopping Sites,” “Japanese Fashion Subcultures Showdown,” “150 Looks for Style Inspiration,” “Japan’s Best of the Best,” and “Tokyo-Manila Street Fashion” among others.


japanese pop culture and street fashion
japanese pop culture and street fashion
japanese pop culture and street fashion
japanese pop culture and street fashion
japanese pop culture and street fashion

Mike in Tokyo Rogers (me) New Music Videos Japan on U-Stream

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

I remember an old saying that prudish grandmas would say, "Don't jump into the pool until you learn how to swim!" Well how are you going to learn how to swim if you don't get into the pool?

How are you going to learn how to blog, video blog, or do Social Media until you jump into the water?

I do Internet marketing and SEO services in Japan now, but, in my former life, I was a TV and radio producer, director, and caster... When it comes to U-Stream, I am just getting my feet wet.  I've had a YouTube channel for a long time as YouTube is more like traditional TV, but U-Stream is different.

To learn how to do U-Stream well, I've been helping George Williams on his daily show for about 7 months now and started doing my own weekly do a weekly underground new music video show on www.georgewilliams.jp where you can find the weekly Top 5, where I find and play totally new and undiscovered cool artists and play them for you.

As I mentioned many times before, you need to consistently blog or video blog (vlog) at least 3 times a week to be successful on Social Media and using it to do marketing in Japan...

I make the video and, before it airs live, I use Twitter, Pick, Facebook, Mixi and my company web page at Universal Vision to notify people that it is about to air, then, after it is over and recorded, I do the same.  The link is here:

It's all a part of keeping on top of the game for Internet Social Media Marketing. There's no real rule book, it seems to me, the best ideas will come to you from just doing it and thinking up new and creative ways to market your self or your product.

So, instead of just waiting to start because you don't know what to do... Just jump into the pool! You'll learn as you go. The water is great!

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Keywords: video blog, Mixi, Social Media, Facebook, YouTube, Japan, Internet, U-Stream, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Twitter, blog, Mixi, Social Media Marketing, Universal Vision, George Williams, Marketing Japan, vlog, New Music Videos Japan