This month, we look at some of the big trends in Japan. (In case you missed it, here are the previous entries, on South Korea, Australia and Indonesia) #NoFilter
1. The Japanese Community
In Japan, people from late teens to thirties are embracing Instagram in their own unique way. From pet lovers to foodies, fashionistas, architecture buffs, the diverse Japanese Instagram community is a highly engaged one that has doubled its size over the past year.
The community is active on-ground, forming offline-to-online friendships through self-organised events. In June, the Instagrammers Japan community (@IGersJP) organised a week-long photo exhibition in Tokyo featuring the works of 1,500 local Instagrammers. This follows on from a huge community moment, ““#MeetMeJapan”, the first nationwide InstaMeet across all 47 prefectures in Japan with the aim of showcasing Japan’s beauty and culture to the world.
2. From online to print
Japanese publishers are taking interest in the influence of Instagrammers who have gained popularity based on their shared perspective of the world, particularly on topics about food, pets and kids. This has led to publishing deals for photobooks based on their Instagram moments with breakfast enthusiast Kei Yamazaki (@keiyamazaki), Maru (@marutaro) the most popular Japanese dog and adorable Yu, a toddler boy and Mu, his bulldog (@ayasakai).
3. A new way to promote travel
The visual nature of Instagram combined with the receptive environment of a community sharing things they love, creates a natural opportunity for the travel vertical and destination brands. In Japan, more prefectures and destination spots are turning to Instagram to attract both domestic and international visitors. This includes the most famous temple in Kyoto, Kiyomizu temple (@ feel_kiyomizudera), and Shirakawago (@shirakawa_go), a village that offers the world a glimpse into their seasonal views. The recent addition of Places Search with Instagram 7.0 makes it easier to discover places around the world and discover what’s happening right now.
4. LOLs
We highlighted in our previous trend piece about local comedians and how humour resonates well with the Instagram community in Indonesian. A similar trend is emerging in Japan where Japanese comedians use Instagram to capture a new mobile-first audience with their humorous take on the world. Naomi Watanabe (@ watanabenaomi703) is one of the most popular female comedians on Instagram with 1.6 million followers. She combines strings of words and phases as a form of comedic punctuation, a format of hashtagging the conversation that is increasingly used by Japanese celebrities on Instagram.
5. Pet stars
One of the most popular lifestyle verticals in Japan is pets. The Japanese love their pets and even maintain their own pet accounts for their rabbits (@prettyjohnjohn), cats (@ryotukoro), parakeets (@kotorinai), dogs (@hacth427) and more. Maru (@marutaro), the most famous dog in Japanese Instagram community is now the ambassador of Iwate Prefecture's tourism campaign. Not surprising since Maru’s photo received the most likes globally during the Worldwide InstaMeet held in March this year.
6. Instagram Ads
Ads on Instagram was launched in Japan in May 2015, making it the eighth market worldwide. The launch saw three exclusive brand partners, Chikin Ramen from Nissin (@chikinramen_hiyoko), Lancome (@lancomejapan) and Tsuchiya Kaban (@tsuchiya_kaban).
7. Engagement with sports fans
Sports stars and teams such as Nippon Ham (@fighters_official), the Japanese professional baseball team and the Japan Football Association (@japanfootballassociation) are using Instagram to share game highlights and locker room moments with the players. What’s key is the ability to engage directly with their fan base and rally support during game season. Nippon Ham called on their fans to share selfie photos using the hashtag #伝説を作る準備はできた, which was reposted on the digital Instawall during a recent baseball match.
8. Reach a global audience through visual storytelling
Japanese Kabuki actor Takatoshi Horikoshi, who succeeds the stage name Ebizo Ichikawa XI (@ebizoichikawa.ebizoichikawa) is from one of the most prestigious houses of Kabuki actors in Japan. Ebizo is always looking for ways to open up the centuries-old Japanese performing arts to the global community. By sharing images of the characters he acts, and the selfies taken moments before or after his daily performances on Instagram, Ebizo aims to convey the true essence of Kabuki. Ebizo admits that it’s not always easy to connect with an international audience, especially given the language barriers. However, he believes that the more images he can share from his daily life, the more he can educate.
Ebizo offered a look inside the world of Kabuki during a week-long takeover on Instagram Japan (@instagramjapan). His story was documented by a French Instagrammer (@aurelieko) living in Tokyo.
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