<div class="gmail_quote">----------------- PBXL: DON'T BUY A PBX! ------------------<br>
<br>
Check out our NEW web site! <a href="http://www.pbxl.jp" target="_blank">http://www.pbxl.jp</a><br>
<br>
PBXL brings your telephone system, telecom carrier, and<br>
Internet connectivity together under one roof.<br>
Outsource your telecom management for a worry-free<br>
office environment!<br>
<br>
Join us at our monthly seminar at Cisco Headquarters:<br>
<a href="http://en.pbxl.jp/seminars.php" target="_blank">http://en.pbxl.jp/seminars.php</a><br>
<br>
Contact us today!<br>
03-4550-2557<br>
<a href="mailto:info@pbxl.jp">info@pbxl.jp</a><br>
<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
J@pan Inc Newsletter<br>
The 'JIN' J@pan Inc Newsletter<br>
A weekly opinion piece on social, economic and political trends in Japan.<br>
Issue No. 510 Tuesday June 16, 2009, Tokyo<br>
<br>
Well that’s it. Trent Reznor has had enough. He has quit Twitter. It<br>
seems that things got a little too real for him… or for his fans, more<br>
to the point. And so, after some nasty too-ing and fro-ing with those <br>fans, the singer of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails (NIN) decided to<br>
pull the plug on his over-600,000 followers on the micro blogging<br>
site.<br>
<br>
A lot of people might be asking “Yeah? Who cares?” at this point but<br>
Reznor’s departure from Twitter is interesting for two reasons.<br>
Firstly, Reznor is one of the more Web-savvy, forward thinking<br>
members of the music industry out there. It should be noted that<br>
Reznor was one of the first major artists to take advantage of<br>
changing distribution and promotional systems with the Nine Inch Nails<br>
release of "Ghosts I IV." The instrumental album was released on the<br>
band’s Website in various forms from the free download of a 9-track<br>
version to a $300 limited edition set. The album was released via<br>
their Website and Amazon.com after the band’s contract with its<br>
recording company ended. In one week NIN made $1.6 million in<br>
merchandising and album sales.<br>
<br>
NIN’s web presence has been strong for a long time and Reznor himself <br>has been a prolific “tweeter” with, as mentioned before, over 600,000 followers.<br>
But it seems that some fans didn’t like what they found. This brings<br>
me to my second point – how real is “too real”? In Japan, celebrities<br>
are marketed as everyone’s friend – we see tarento on TV<br>
variety shows where they are chatting away and making jokes at length.<br>
In the US there has always been a distance kept between the idol and<br>
the idol worshiper. Until now. And this is what caused problems for<br>
Reznor. It seems, among other things, a big problem was that Reznor<br>
was, well, in love.<br>
<br>
Here are some of the tweets that infuriated angsty fans:<br>
<br>
Reznor: “Now that I’m in love and gone all soft on you, can anyone<br>
recommend any romantic comedies? Got a weird urge.”<br>
<br>
And<br>
<br>
Reznor: “I am missing someone. Boo hoo.”<br>
<br>
And<br>
<br>
Reznor: “Wait – I’m in love and getting married! I’d give you all free<br>
tickets if I could. (hugs)”<br>
<br>
You have to remember that this is from the author of albums with<br>
titles such as “Pretty Hate Machine”, “Broken” and “The Downward<br>
Spiral.”<br>
<br>
Reznor was using Twitter the way it was intended - and that was just to<br>
be himself. But when a whole career has been spent creating and<br>
marketing a nihilistic industrial rock god, public announcements of <br>
urges to watch romantic comedies and wanting to give “hugs,” aren’t<br>
going to go down too well with some members of the fanbase. There were<br>
proclamations of “selling out,” “going soft” and worlds being turned<br>
“upside down.”<br>
<br>
And so, in the end, Reznor got sick of it all and pulled the plug on<br>
his Twitter.<br>
<br>
For celebrities, Twitter is a marketing tool. Everyone has got one<br>
these days <a href="http://www.celebritytweet.com/">from MC Hammer to Barack Obama</a>. But the idea of celebrity<br>
Tweets is that they strip back the layers and present these idols<br>
simply as people. But of course the allure of celebrities is often<br>
that they are untouchable. Millions of dollars are spent creating<br>
fantasies that take ordinary people out of their ordinary lives and<br>
when people are brought back to reality it can be a turn.<br>
<br>
I’m happy for Reznor, it’s not 1992 anymore and it would be a real<br>
downer if he was stuck there – for him and all his fans. Although<br>
professing your love for Meg Ryan flicks isn’t about to gain me your<br>
attention, being a real person is. In Internet land, people are<br>
becoming more and more connected, but when it comes to <br>marketing, is the fantasy still essential?<br>
<br>
Michael Condon<br>
Editor-in-chief<br>
----------------- Web Hosting in Japan --------------------<br>
<br>
Ever wanted to host your website in Japan but the cost<br>
put you off?<br>
<br>
With shared hosting accounts from 210 yen per month,<br>
Tsukaeru.net makes it easy to utilize Japan's world renowned<br>
super-fast backbone for prices comparable to the US. Tsukaeru<br>
also has a range of VPS (virtual private server) packages<br>
available. Known for its reliability backed by 10 years<br>
experience in the Japanese market, Tsukaeru.net is ranked<br>
No. 1 for VPS sign ups.<br>
<br>
Become a Tsukaeru.net affiliate and start earning.<br>
Earn as much as 50% of sales price for a single effortless<br>
introduction! Don't miss out on this great offer.<br>
Its free to register and there are no minimal sales requirements.<br>
<br>
See <a href="http://www.tsukaeru.net/en/?pid=220" target="_blank">http://www.tsukaeru.net/en/?pid=220</a><br>
<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
------------------ ICA Event - June 18 --------------------<br>
<br>
Speaker: Jonathan Coopersmith<br>
- Assoc. Prof. (History) at Texas A&M<br>
<br>
Title: Driving Tech Innovation: How Pornography helped<br>
develop the Internet and lessons for the Internet Economy<br>
<br>
Details: Complete event details at <a href="http://www.icajapan.jp/" target="_blank">http://www.icajapan.jp/</a><br>
(RSVP Required)<br>
<br>
Date: Thursday, June 18, 2009<br>
Time: 6:30 doors open, buffet dinner included and cash bar<br>
Cost: 4,000 yen (members), 6,000 yen (non-members)<br>
Open to all - venue is The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan<br>
<a href="http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map" target="_blank">http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map</a><br>
<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
For the first time, serial entrepreneur Terrie Lloyd brings<br>
his extremely popular business seminars to Okayama and to Kobe.<br>
The Okayama seminar, entitled 'Innovative Business Leaders<br>
Seminar', will be held on Saturday July 25 at the Kurashiki<br>
Chamber of Commerce.<br>
<br>
On Sunday July 26, Terrie will hold his Enrepreneurs Handbook<br>
Seminar at the Kobe International House.<br>
From JR Sannomiya Station it's just a short 5 min walk<br>
down Flower Road.<br>
<br>
For registration send mail to <a href="mailto:seminar@japaninc.com">seminar@japaninc.com</a><br>
For more information please go to:<br>
<a href="http://www.japaninc.com/seminars-july" target="_blank">http://www.japaninc.com/seminars-july</a><br>
<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
</div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Editor-in-chief<br>Media Division<br>J@pan Inc. Communications, K.K.<br><br>Business ・瘢雹 People ・瘢雹 Technology<br><br>Japan Inc. Communications, K.K.<br>10F Minami-Aoyama First Building,<br>
7-8-1 Minami Aoyama,<br>Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062<br>Tel: 03-4550-2929 (general)<br>Tel: 03-4550-2855 (direct)<br>Fax: 03-4550-2859<br>Email: <a href="mailto:michael@japaninc.com">michael@japaninc.com</a><br><br>English <a href="http://www.japaninc.com">www.japaninc.com</a><br>
日本語 <a href="http://www.japaninc.com/jp">www.japaninc.com/jp</a><br><br>***********************************************<br>The information in this Internet email is confidential and may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or other action taken on it is prohibited. If you have received this E-mail message in error, please notify the sender immediately by telephone. Please also delete the message from your computer. Thank you.<br>