June 21, 2007
Tea Cup Communication Establishes Japan Resort Island in SecondLife
- Tea Cup Communication Ltd.
Tokyo – June 21, 2007 – Tea Cup Communication, the company that operates the GMO Internet Group integrated Internet community, teacup believes that the “next generation communities” of the virtual world SecondLife are a natural progression from the blogs and bulletin boards we already. We have now launched Japan Resort establishing a foothold for developing business inside SecondLife.
SecondLife is a 3D virtual online world operated US company Linden Lab. We believe that the next generation communities found inside the SecondLife world are a form of communication and self expression similar to online chatting, bulletin boards and blogs.
In April this year we created and began operating Japan Resort putting to use the community-building expertise we have gained operating bulletin board and blog services. Japan Resort is a virtual island in SecondLife with a “resort” concept.
Thanks to our community-building know how the island has already grown to become one of the most popular sites in SecondLife with top ranking traffic*1.
Future Tea Cup Communication Activity inside SecondLife
1. Use the ability Japan Resort has to attract guests to sell partitions of land*2. Land is essential for creative activity inside SecondLife. We intend to develop not only Japan Resort but the surrounding islands under a single concept aimed at the Japanese community. We will be offering land packages for sale (pricing and scheduled to be confirmed)
2. Provide middleware for convenient automatic setting of objects.
3. Development of a multi-faceted business inside SecondLife that includes promotion activities and consultation services for small and medium businesses.
4. Tie-up with event company planned.
Japan Resort
Like Japan, the Japan Resort is an island surrounded by the ocean. On the island there are bars, DJ booths, dance floors and surfing. It is a community where Japanese people and fans of Japan can gather and relax in a resort type space.
Japan Resort
Like Japan, the Japan Resort is an island surrounded by the ocean. On the island there are bars, DJ booths, dance floors and surfing. It is a community where Japanese people and fans of Japan can gather and relax in a resort type space.
While the resort targets Japanese people, no individual access restrictions have been set and it is a borderless community. The resort has attracted many women; the current ratio of men to women is 4:6. Currently about half of Japanese users come from a creative background, however we aim to create a community that everyone can enjoy and we plan to set up easy-to-follow guidelines for newcomers to the world.
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Tea Cup Communication and SecondLife
SecondLife, operated by US company Linden Lab, has over 5.8 million users worldwide.*3 Members use highly precise 3D avatars and the shared visual experiences create a sense of more “real” communication. It is currently considered a next generation communication tool.
Tea Cup Communication is creating a futuristic community inside the virtual 3D world. We aim to provide a convenient service aimed at the Japanese market using Tea Cup Communication’s community-building knowledge to create the next generation of infrastructure for information transmission, self expression and various forms of communication.
teacup members
We will be offering Japan Resort brand services as a new tool to teacup members of existing services, the rental blog service teacup blog AutoPage and rental bulletin board service, teacup bulletin board.
Related Links (All links are to Japanese language sites unless otherwise indicated)
Teacup: http://www.teacup.com/
Tea Cup Communication
Tea Cup Communication operates the portal site teacup and provides Internet tools for individuals including rental bulletin boards, rental chat rooms, rental blogs and online stores. There are currently around 2.4 million teacup members. The comprehensive Internet community is one of the largest in Japan boasting around 7.8 million unique users4* per month (NetRatings 5/2007) and 18.8 million page views*5 per day (NetRatings 5/2006).
Media Inquiries
GMO Internet Inc. Group PR Team
E-mail: [email protected]
*1. When conducting a “Place” search for “Japan” or “Resort (May, 2005)
*2. A land package is the transfer of land ownership rights and the payment of monthly land use fees. Land ownership rights are the rights to partial use of the Linden Lab servers; land use fees cover server and program maintenance.
*3. According to Mizuho Corporate Bank (05.24.2007)
*4. Unique user: the number of users that access a website within a specified period of time.
*5. Page Views: A method of measuring the number of times a website is accessed.
The GMO Internet Group
The GMO Internet Group is a leading force in the Internet industry offering one of the most comprehensive ranges of Internet services in Japan. We hold top domestic market shares in domain registration, web hosting and payment processing and we provide a host of other services including e-commerce solutions, Internet advertising and online securities trading to individual and corporate customers. Striving to redefine the industry and foster a vibrant Internet culture, the GMO Internet Group is continuously working to inspire enthusiasm in our customers and put smiles on their faces.
Tea Cup Communication Ltd.
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Company Name
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Address
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Meisei Building, 8-9 Sakuragaokacho, Shibuya ku, Tokyo, JAPAN
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CEO
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Tomoyuki Ishikawa
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Business Description
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■Design and management of Internet communication services
■Internet Advertising
■Planning, design, implementation and operation of Internet information systems and communication networks.
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Capital
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￥71,000,000
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GMO Internet Inc.
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Company Name
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(TSE First Section Code: 9449)
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Address
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Cerulean Tower, 26-1 Sakuragaokacho, Shibuya ku, Tokyo, JAPAN
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CEO
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Masatoshi Kumagai
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Business Description
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■Internet Use Support (Infrastructure)
■Internet Advertising Support (Media)
■Internet Finance
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Capital
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￥7,148,290,000
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