Motoko’s weblog

Google Japan has changed the top page layout by adding tabs and links to some of their popular tools and pages. Click to see the image: Google Japan new top page Google has been religiously keeping its simple top page with big Google logo and the search box, and Google is still keeping the same top page in all of the other countries and markets. So why Google Japan decided to make the changes?

The new Google Japan’s top page has 4 tabs below the search box. Each tab has several links with icon to some of their popular pages and tools such as Gmail, YouTube, Image search, Blog search and Calender. According to Google, the change was made in response to many feed backs from the users complaining the difficulty of finding tools and pages within Google. (Like Google.com, there were links to these tools and pages on the left top corner of the page, but not visible enough for Japanese users, I guess…) Continue Reading »

Yes, it’s true. I’m not joking here. According to the survey I just saw, more than 40% of people participated in the survey (16000 people) bring a cell phone to a bath when they soak in the tub. (In Japan, people soak in tub pretty much every day.)

Many of them said that they e-mail/text in a tub, and also listen to the music with cell phone. Though not many said that they browse web sites at this time, I’m sure it will catch up especially since many of them are already checking e-mails. All they need is to receive some e-mails from friends about some interesting sites. They may soon searching a product they just saw on TV commercials before they came to take a Continue Reading »

I just came back from a little short of 3 weeks Japan trip. Everywhere I went, it seemed that Internet has become more and more a part of Japanese people’s lives. The search box was still very popular in ads. The QR code seemed to completely took over the bar-code as it was used on food packages, on appliance labels, etc. I even saw it on business cards!

The Internet penetration rate in Japan is very high (70%). However, especially in a country side and for older generations, it can still be a little intimidating. To help these people using Internet, I saw places like City Hall, Legal Affairs Bureau and Tax Agency set up several PCs in the office for people to file paper works online with the assistance of office staffs. Continue Reading »