WSJ to launch Japanese-language site

TOKYO - Dow Jones has inked a partnership with Japanese financial services provider SBI Holdings to launch a digital, Japanese-language version of The Wall Street Journal at the end of the year.

The joint venture, Wall Street Journal Japan K.K., will include Japanese translations of The Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones publications’ content.

It will also will include video and multimedia capabilities and develop mobile products, each overseen by a newly appointed managing editor charged with driving website content.

According to Dow Jones, the site will be The Wall Street Journal’s second major Asian-language site following Chinese.WSJ.com, which launched in 2002 and claims more than 500,000 registered users. The move further parallel’s Dow Jones’ distribution deal with The Yomiuri Shimbun in February that has allowed the printing of The Wall Street Journal Asia in Japanese.