Josei Jishin & Yahoo Japan! Web Collaboration Gets More Than 12 Million Unique Hits a Month!

There's not a woman in Japan over 18-years-old who has not heard of Josei Jishin. Josei Jishin is Japan's oldest TV, Movie, singer, Idol gossip magazine.

In 2009, Josei Jishin won the prestigious Fuji Sankei award for best magazine in Japan for the 4th time in that magazine's history! (By the way, Josei Jishin is not Fuji Sankei group). It's not only the oldest, it is by far the largest read women's magazine in the country. Josei Jishin started over 50 years ago (last year was the 50th anniversary) and the magazine sells over 400,000 issues a week.




But "only" 400,000 readers is not what Josei Jishin gets. The estimates are that every single weekly issue of Josei Jishin is read by well over 1.5 million Japanese women. You ask, "How is that possible?" Simple. Anywhere in Japan that there is a waiting room; beauty parlors, doctor's offices, banks, department stores and even coffee shops, you will see Josei Jishin there provided by that business as a service to customers.


I reckon the closest example in the United States would be Good Housekeeping magazine. Josei Jishin is the definitive Japanese women's magazine and totally dominates the market.


I often arrange promotional deals with international airlines (and domestic  airlines too) in a co-branding situation with local businesses and for foreign government tourism departments. I have arranged many deals in cooperation with Josei Jishin so I am well aware of what's going on at that magazine.


Since Josei Jishin is so well known and has been around for so long, in some circles, it has an image of being a low-class magazine for lower or middle class housewives. How far from the truth that is!


I have, in the past, heard some people at huge international companies say things like, "Josei Jishin!? We do not want to deal with that women's gossip magazine! We are a premium  high-class company! We want younger women clients and a magazine with a better image."


Actually, I heard this twice last year and could only chuckle. If only people knew the truth....


In spite of being the oldest women's magazine in Japan, and, in some - probably uninformed - circles, having a "dusty" image... Josei Jishin is bucking the magazine trend in this country and growing their business exponentially. Whereas other magazines are having a very hard time getting advertisers and then cutting their paper quality, staff, and magazine size or going bankrupt, Josei Jishin is cracking new ground and rolling in the money with their Internet businesses and online services.


The latest deal was with Yahoo Japan (as if only old women read Josei Jishin!? What does Yahoo Japan know that other companies don't?) Now, on Yahoo Japan, Josei Jishin has inked a deal to provide all the Japanese star and gossip material for Yahoo Japan. This means that when you see a juicy gossip piece about some famous star on Yahoo and you click the link, you are taken directly to the article on Josei Jishin's web page.


December 2010 access number's for this Yahoo Japan / Josei Jishin deal? Are you sitting down?


12,000,000 unique users in the first  month of operations! 12 million unique users a month!!! That is massive! I received this data yesterday along with my friend Tim Williams, the founder of Value Commerce (and one of Japan's top expert's on direct online sales and marketing) directly from the coordinator of the Josei Jishin and Yahoo Japan deal. The information was verified by telephone with Koji Tanabe, the chief editor of Josei Jishin, and one of my dearest, oldest and best friends.


One day in November of 2010, on the Josei Jishin site there was an exclusive video of a famous Japanese actress and her dog. That video received over 650,000 unique hits in one hour and crashed their server! 

Josei Jishin co-promoted event. Notice all the old ladies in the background!

Only people who do not keep up with the Internet and business news doesn't know about this deal... Today, I'm telling you the inside numbers first.


Josei Jishin an old stodgy magazine for old women? Ha! 12 million women unique users on Yahoo Japan / Josei Jishin linked up page would tend to disagree.


While all other magazines are falling by the wayside, Josei Jishin finds a way to exponentially grow their Internet business with powerful partners. Maybe therein lies a good reason why it is the oldest and most read and most popular women's magazine in Japan.


It could also explain why they have survived and thrived for over 50 years.


You think Josei Jishin a magazine for old women? Ha! Think again! Unless you think 12,000,000 unique users per month on a collaboration with Yahoo Japan is a bunch of old spinsters sitting around on their Macbooks.... Somehow, I think not.

In Japan, a Dog's Life is Heaven - and the Wine Flows Freely!

Japanese people loves pets, especially dogs. While it is somewhat rare to see a person walking a large dog, like a St. Bernard, it is extremely common to see a housewife walking their minuscule tiny breeds that are everywhere in Japan.

Tokyo, especially, must be the tiny dog capital of the world. In my neighborhood alone I'd say that about 30% ~ 40% of the families have a small dog. Trust folks, when I say, "Small dog" I do mean a very small dog. Many of these dog breeds are smaller than cats.

Tiny Chihuahuas that look like mice (with brains no larger than a peanut) are quite common. People treat these dogs better than their own children. I've never seen such pampered pooches in my entire life! The Japanese go crazy over these dogs and their spending shows it.

The Japan Times Reports:

The average amount spent annually on pet-related expenses by households with at least two members rose 4.6 percent in 2009 from the previous year to ¥18,323, the highest figure since comparable data become available in 1990, according to a recent government survey. While family spending as a whole is on the decrease, there are no signs of recession in the pet industry, as high-priced pet food and stylish clothing are selling well, pet cosmetics, insurance and various other services are now available and medical costs for pets are rising as they live longer, according to the survey.

The article goes on to break down the money spent:

Since 2005, expenses have been growing for five consecutive years.

By generation, people in their 50s spent the most on their pets, at ¥28,951 (about $347 USD annually at 81 yen to the US dollar) on average in the reporting year, which was about 4.7 times the average of people under 30, showing that the middle-aged and above were the main group supporting the market, having finished raising children.

On the other hand, data on single-person households showed that women aged 35 to 59 spent the most on their pets, at ¥20,752 (about $249 USD annually at 81 yen to the US dollar)

The other thing that is common is that these owners (the dog's "moms") treat the dogs like babies. Many people put their dogs in sweaters and sports clothing when taking them out for a walk. Many ladies do not walk their dogs but put them in baby carriages and push the dogs around like they would a 2-year-old.

These dogs have a newer - and cooler - wardrobe than I do

You might think I am joking, but if you've ever been in Tokyo, you know I do not exaggerate about this.

Some of the ladies in my neighborhood will hug their dogs in their arms as they stand and chat for hours on end on the street corners... Sometimes there will be four or five of them all at once yapping away... The wives, I mean, not the dogs.

I think these dogs don't know that they are dogs. They think they are human.

I usually don't really care about dogs too much but just yesterday, I heard something related to dogs that just made me laugh and made me wonder, "Why didn't I think of that first?"

Recently, I have been working with a very popular online wine service in Japan called iwine.jp. iwine.jp is Japan's online wine superstore. You can order wine online and have it delivered anywhere in Japan. It is very simple to use.

Well, what does that have to do with dogs? Bear with me for a second. This gets funny.

Recently, iwine.jp made a deal with the #1 most popular and widely read women's magazine in Japan, "Josei Jishin." Josei Jishin is a gossip magazine for housewives. It is the oldest women's magazine in Japan and is read by over 1.5 million Japanese ladies a week! It is one of those magazines that you see at every beauty salon, nail salon, doctor's office waiting room, well, you get the picture.

There is not a girl in Japan over 18 who doesn't know Josei Jishin. Of course, there isn't a woman dog owner in this country who doesn't know that magazine too!

Josei Jishin

Anyway, Josei Jishin and iwine.jp have started a wine club together and it includes a fortune telling service. Besides dogs, the women in this country LOVE fortune telling. At the fortune telling part, women will be able to enter their birth date, etc., and get their fortune told by a very famous fortune teller and be recommended different wines to drink if they want, say, romance, beauty, luck, success.

This sounds like a lot of fun and I hear it is the first time in Japan that this sort of thing will be launched.

What does this have to do with dogs? Well, besides wines for luck, fortune and love, women will also be able to find...are you ready for it?... Wines to drink with their dogs! I kid you not.

Laugh now, my friends, but I think Josei Jishin and iwine.jp have a wild but winning combination here...

And, when you realize that the pet industry in Japan is a $14.4 billion dollar industry  you realize that people like iwine.jp and Josei Jishin know what women like.

I'll report more on this as this "pet" project gets going....

But, I must admit, I just can't imagine giving my pooch a $150 dollar a bottle Dom Perignon, but, I wouldn't put it past the lady next door.

See iwine.jp website here.

See Josei Jishin website here.

Thanks to News on Japan