Human Beat-Box! Incredible! Amazing Japanese Kid! You Won't Believe Your Eyes or Ears!

Have you ever heard of Beat-Box? It's kid's doing drums and percussions with just their mouths. This guy today is amazing!

This kid's name is Daichi and he is 19 years old. He was a Wildcard entrant to an acapela contest on Fuji TV channel 8 in Tokyo, Japan.

This is amazing!:

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Marketing Japan: Yahoo Japan Starts Long Decline...

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

What did I tell you? When those fools at Yahoo Japan decided to throw in the towel to Google and start using Google's search engine, I said it was the beginning of Yahoo Japan becoming an "also-ran." Now we have Yahoo Japan making excuses, sputtering out "spin"by making statements claiming that they are going to remain "competitive."

Yahoo Japan is following Myspace... You'll see.

From the Japan Times article "Yahoo Japans Vows to Stay Competitive":

Yahoo Japan Corp. will remain competitive with Google Inc. even after adopting Google's Internet search engine and online ad technology, because the two firms will use their own editing and advertising policies, Yahoo Japan President Masahiro Inoue said. "We will operate the search engine under an editing policy that is independent (of Google's) and also have different screening criteria when it comes to advertising," Inoue told reporters, dismissing criticism by Microsoft Corp. that the Yahoo Japan-Google tieup is anticompetitive.

Forget about what Microsoft is saying. Read in between the lines. Microsoft doesn't give a hoot about Yahoo Japan anymore, they are a lost cause, Microsoft only cares about Google's rapidly growing dominant position in Japan. A dominant position that, I might add, has quickly become irresistible.

By the way Microsoft owns Yahoo Inc. (USA) and Yahoo Inc. owns 37% of Yahoo Japan. So Microsoft must be be really steamed about this Japan deal!)

I suggest this for Yahoo Japan's new logo: A long decline.

You can also disregard what Yahoo Japan president Masahiro Inoue says too... This nonsense about remaining competitive due to a difference in Yahoo Japan having an "editing policy" different than Google is just that; nonsense.

A different "editing policy"? Right. When ad revenues are hard to come by, and you have voluntarily become second rate, you are going to start denying people who walk into your doors with money to spend?

Guffaw! 

If Yahoo Japan is going to use Google's search engine, then Google will always at least a one step advantage on Yahoo Japan. If you are an advertiser, why go for the second choice unless you don't have money for the first choice?

This means that Google will get the first tier sponsors and Yahoo Japan will get second tier or less.

When any media stops getting the best advertisers, look at what happens to them, especially in Japan. For evidence of this, one need look no further than the television examples of TV Tokyo or TBS TV. The number one TV station in Japan, Fuji TV has ads for Toyota, Nissan, Canon cameras and copiers, high end household goods like Panasonic refrigerators and HD TVs... TV Tokyo has ads for discount car insurance, pachinko parlors and local businesses like Parrot Cage Emporium.

It's rare to see high end goods advertised on TV Tokyo. 

When Yahoo Japan switches to the competitor's search engine, it's game over for them... Regardless of how they try to spin it.

See original Japan Times article here.

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Keywords: Google, Yahoo Japan, Microsoft, Japan, Tokyo, Panasonic, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Marketing Japan, Mike Rogers, Nissan, Tokyo, Canon, TV Tokyo, Fuji TV, TBS, television, Yahoo Japan President Masahiro Inoue

The German Sprite TV Commercial That Didn't Make it to the USA...

My good friend in the United States, Mark Davis, just sent a link to to me for a TV commercial for the soft drink Sprite. Mark claims that this is an actual German TV commercial that, of course, didn't make it on American TV. There's no way that this could ever make it on Japanese TV either. I wish one of my readers in Germany could confirm this for me.

But before I show you that one, to warm you up, here is definitely a real German TV commercial for Berlitz English schools, making fun of the German Coast Guard. I thought this one was hilarious:

See original video here.

That one is pretty funny, eh? OK. I hope you are ready for this next one! Please! Do not click this link if you do not have an open mind or if you are around children. It is not safe for work!

GERMAN SPRITE SOFT DRINK TV CM - Do not click this at work or around children!

Of course, there is the classic Dutch TV commercial for learning English that now has over 6 million views (this one isn't safe for work or children either!):

The reason why commercials like this do not make it on TV in Japan has nothing to do with government censors. In Japan, there are no government censors at TV and radio stations. Really! The stations censor themselves. That is why on late night Japanese TV you can see full frontal nudity and more. In the late 1980's my favorite two shows were called, "Tissue Time" (I bet you guys can guess what that was all about) and "the Eleven PM Show" (more nudity there)... Forgive me ladies, I was much younger then!

The funniest thing about the "the Eleven PM Show" was that it started at 11:30 at night. Guess they could have used English lessons too!

Thanks to Mark Davis. See Mark's writings at Strike-the-Root here.

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Keywords:
TV, Japan, TV commercials, Mike Rogers, Marketing Japan, Sprite. German TV commercials, German Coast Guard

Three Years on a Japanese Internet Rock

Many bloggers (or U-Streamers, or fans of Twitter, or Pick) sometimes get disappointed because after they upload their first 3 or 4 blogs, for business or pleasure, they see that they have few regular followers, or even worse, few visitors. It can be quite discouraging. So they then quit.

That's the worst thing they could do.

If you are going to create a blog or a U-Stream or do any sort of Social Media, then, before you start, make sure that you have made your mind up to dedicate at least 3 updates a week for a minimum period of three years.

Three years may seem like a very long time, but, in Japan, we have an old saying that goes, "石の上に三年" and translates to: "Three years on top of a rock." (Yes, I know that this is a saying that seems to mean nothing, but remember that the Japanese are very minimalist). The legend behind this proverb is that if you sit upon a large rock for at least three years, it will finally become warm.

OK, let me translate for you; what this saying really means is that if you keep trying, you will succeed.

If you follow the tips of having a focused message in your blog, vlog or other online activities, including Social Networking, then those people interested in your message will find you; and that's just smart marketing... It just takes time.

The other part, besides dedicating to doing your blogging, or whatever for at least three years, is that you must also make the herculean effort to blog at least three times a week. This is critically important if you want to get more attention and higher rankings on a Google search.

If you do this then you will get results. I guarantee it.

One of Japan's top pop star's Koji Kurumatani (left) and George Williams

I gave this exact same advice to George Williams in December of 2009. George was worried - like everyone else - on how he could stay on top of the game and give himself a needed advantage over the competition. I recommended that George start Twitter everyday and also to make his own U-Stream channel. (He did those and he now also does Pick. We are setting up his very own multi-media Internet channel this month. Stay tuned!)

I also made sure that George understood that there was a catch to doing U-Stream and Social Networking; it had to be done with regular consistency. George has taken this advice to heart and his U-Stream channel has taken off. The channel is called GeorgeTV and it is one of the, if not the, most popular U-Stream channels in all of Japan.

Some might say that they need a catchy idea before they can blog, or video blog (vlog), or U-Stream... A catchy idea is great... And some people will not write or vlog until they come up with a catchy idea. This is a mistake. I would suggest that forcing yourself to be consistent will help you to come up catchy ideas. If you use your brain consistently, you will come up with the ideas. More importantly than catchy ideas are persistence.

From doing the U-Streaming consistently, George was able to promote himself and, quite quickly as a matter of fact, build a buzz for himself and the show. So much so that now George regularly has famous Japanese stars wanting to be on his U-Stream show.

Is that cool or what?

A few days ago, George had Koji Kurumatani on as a guest and those programs consistently garnered more than a 1,500 viewers each time.

Not only have the rewards been tangible on the Internet, but it has paid off quite handsomely on antique media as George has gotten many job offers and even a 6-hour television special on Fuji TV! How did he get the Fuji TV show; a show on the most prestigious TV network in all of Japan? Because the station wanted to do a show about music that featured a guy who was a leading expert on the Internet and U-Stream and there was George!

He also appeared on the most popular women's TV show in all of Japan, Ladies 4, and was offered a morning time slot on the oldest and most famous FM radio network in all of Japan; Tokyo FM.

What actually makes me chuckle about all this sort of thing is that I have given the same advice to others that I gave to George. But they just don't do anything. George takes action. That's why George is getting job offers left and right...

George "gets it." He is consistently out in front of the competition and driving ahead with new ideas... So, he gets the nod.

If you want to get ahead of the competition, remember, not only do you need to know about new ideas and technology. You need to use them and do them consistently.

If you don't, then you can be sure your rivals or competition will.

It's not rocket science, it's smart promotion and intelligent advertising and marketing.
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