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MIXI, Japan’s MySpace +
With the big names in Social sites being Myspace and Facebook here in the USA, you may be wondering what does everyone in Japan use. While many Japanese are starting to venture onto Myspace, since they have a global version in many different languages (including Japanese), the majority of people use MIXI as their social network of choice.
WhatJapanThinks.com posted an article on Japan’s SNS (Social Networking Service) usage, and an overwhelming 90.3% of the people polled used MIXI. The other 10% were scattered between GREE, Myspace, and a few others. If you have gone ahead and chosen not to finish reading my article, and clicked on the MIXI link, you may have noticed 2 things that have stopped you in your tracks.
- The site is invite only.
- It’s in 日本語!
The first one is a very interesting. With the whole premise of social networking sites being social, why would they be an invite only community. WhatJapanThinks.com also has another article that states nearly 2/3 of everyone on MIXI has never invited someone else to join. I find that so weird. But then again I hear that it many places in Japan, its common to not see foreigners. Peter over at JList.com always talks about how he is usually the only foreigner around during his day. So the fact that MIXI is invite only doesn’t really surprise me. Plus, in some abstract way I guess you could say that everyone on MIXI is connected to each other somehow.
I was lucky enough to be invited by a friend when I first found out about MIXI from a co-worker that used to live in Misawa. The main reason I joined MIXI was to help me with learning Japanese. One of the biggest hurdles in learning any foreign language is having someone to practice with. What I found out after joining MIXI was that there are a lot of Japanese looking for English speakers to practice their English on. So its a mutual relationship. Plus, I have even made a few friends on MIXI that live here in the Tampa Bay area.
So, if you are interested in checking out MIXI for yourself, just email me or leave a comment, and I will send you an invite. If you use FireFox, you may want to check out the plugin Rikaichan. It allows you to put your mouse over Kanji and see a translation of it. The plugin has a large dictionary and works really well for navigating MIXI.
One last interesting big about MIXI: When MIXI went public on the Tokyo Stock Market, Kenji Kasahara founder of MIXI, became a USD billionare! Yea, MIXI is that huge.
April 8th, 2008 UPDATE
After doing a bit of research into a few people that I invited not being able to get past MIXI asking for a mobile number, it seems as though if you use a disposable email account (Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, etc), MIXI requires you to use a Japanese mobile phone number upon registering. So if you do want an invite from anyone, you must use your real ISP email, or a less used service so MIXI thinks its a real address.
April 21st, 200 UPDATE
Seems its more or less official now. You have to have a mobile phone address thats Japanese in order to sign up for MIXI. Sorry everyone. Sad day for those wanting to learn Japanese. I will keep everyone updated here and with a new post if things do decide to change.
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xorsyst on 
Nurple on 
My MIXI Profile
hi..im very interested in joining MIXI. could you send me an invitation?..thank u very much!!!
Invite sent, enjoy MIXI!
[...] now that you are educated from my last post on how huge MIXI is, just a bit of quick news about the service. The CTO Batara Eto announced that [...]
heyas!
i’d like an invite, since im planning on going to japan this next year.
thanks in advance :)
can u send me an invite please. :D
Done. and done. Enjoy
I was wondering if I could be sent an invite? I would appreciate it and Thanks!
Hello! I really want to learn Japanese and I would like to teach English in return so, can you please send me an invitation?
thanks
Enjoy MIXI Judiel and tade. Invites sent.
I have been looking for a site like this to help my Japanese. Could you please send me an invite
hi there, i m trying to subscribe to mixi, a friend sent me an invite but i don t know how to finalize my subscription ! I got a mail from mixi, went on the link and then i received a message on my phone but my pre paid card don t allow me to go on the mobile internet… What else do I have to do ? Thank you in advance for your answer.
oh wow, you may have clicked the wrong link. theres no phone setup for the account, however MIXI can be used on a mobile phone (if you live in japan)
thank you for your fast answer ! in fact in the mail of confirmation i received they put that sentence :
様ã®ä»®ç™»éŒ²ã‚’å—ã‘付ã‘ã¾ã—ãŸã€‚以下ã®URLをクリックã—ã¦ç™»éŒ²ã‚’
完了ã•ã›ã¦ãã ã•ã„。
※登録を完了ã™ã‚‹ã«ã¯æºå¸¯é›»è©±ã«ã¦å—ä¿¡ã•ã‚ŒãŸãƒ¡ãƒ¼ãƒ«ã‚‚ã”確èªã„ãŸã ãèªè¨¼æ‰‹ç¶šãã‚’è¡Œã£ã¦ä¸‹ã•ã„。
What i understand is that i have to validate the link sent on my phone… From the link in the mail when i validate it i have that information :
xxx ã®æ“作を完了ã—ã¾ã—ãŸã€‚
xxx@softbank.ne.jp ã®ç¢ºèªå¾…ã¡ã§ã™ã€‚
xxx@softbank.ne.jp ã®ç¢ºèªå¾Œã€ç™»éŒ²ãŒå®Œäº†ã—ã¾ã™ã€‚
So I cannot go further T.T
No one had that problem amoung the people you invited ?
I don’t think you’re going to be able to go any further. Check your email, I have sent you an invite. See if that helps. Don’t have to have a keitai to be a member of MIXI.
Hi can i have a invite to miki, i’m going on a exchange to japan next year and living their, i speak a japanese and would love to join. Anywho your choice, my emails maurakltz@hotmail.com thanks :)
if you do thank you so much.
Maire, you’ve got mail.
hey, can you send me an invite? i plan on moving to japan after i graduate in about a year, i know the basic structure of japanese but don’t know how to type or read japanese, i would love a tutor too! lol probably shouldn’t have put that there, hope this reply doesn’t get deleted!
sorry, forgot to post my email address….
chs_rbn@yahoo.com
You have got mail Chase.
someone invite me please!! slooie@gmail.com
You have mail slooie.
Can I please get a Mixi invite? Live in Japan want to improve my Japanese, thanks alot!
You’ve got mail Cam.
Please….can anyone send me a mixi invite! My email is luv_tsuchan@yahoo.com. Thanks!!!
I’m actually on Mixi on the moment (on this other account )but never thought about using the Rikaichan plugin (had un-installed it) before. Thanks for the tip!
You have mail Joan.
Yea I love Rikaichan, it really does help when learning Kanji too. If I see a word often, its easier to remember.
Hi There, thanks so much with the invite, however i face a problem, they keep asking me to put the mobile address which i dont have since i’m not staying at japan. Is there anyway that i can pass the screening?
Someone else had this problem earlier, and I did a bit of research on it. Seems as of March of last year if you use a disposable email address (such as yahoo, hotmail, etc) it requires you to put in a mobile phone number. The only way around this is to use a more “permanent” address. Or a Gmail account seems to work too.
Please send me an invitation for mixi.
Thanks in advance for your efforts;-)!
No problem. Check your Gmail Sankar.
Seems that not even Gmail works now.
No way!
There’s no way to register a new account without a Japanese keitai email address! I tried Gamil too and does not work.
「尊王攘夷ã€ã¿ãŸã„ã？
I would be very grateful if you could send me a MIXI invite.
Many Thanks.
Jessica
Hi I am going to visit japan this year and would love a mixi account please
Hi, I currently live in Japan and would like to practice my japanese on Mixi. Could you give me an invite?
please send me a mixi invite! :D
hey could you send me an invite too please. my email is:
YouReAllIce@Netscape.net
thanks
Can I also have a mixi invite?
Last time I had a problem registering with mobile phone before since I used hotmail account registering and my internet was somehow restricted and I couldn’t find the way out.
Thanks a lot!
Hi, I am learning Jap right now, and would like to use my Jap on Mixi. Can you send me an invite? Thanks a lot ^^
I have invited those who didn’t have disposable email addresses above. Could you please let us know by leaving a comment if it asks you to enter your keitai (mobile phone) number. I have recently heard that you HAVE to have a mobile phone number upon registration. Thanks.
@jessica: Sent.
@james: We have tried and a Yahoo account wont work unless you have a Japanese mobile phone #
@diane: Sent. However you said you live in Japan. You must use your mobile phone # during registration.
@WMO: Gmail accounts don’t work either without a Japanese mobile phone address.
@jason: Sent: please tell us if it doesn’t work.
@fgifriday: We discovered that GMail accounts don’t work either. Sorry.
@jenn: Sent
Hmmm..Ithey still require the mobile phone registration…can you kindly send another invite to this new email address? I’ll see if they accept this one..thanks in advance^^
Sent. Appreciate your reply.
At this point you might be finding me annoying, but can you send an invite to this email? Last one that I will try…thanks in advance ^^
It’s np. Sent.
Nihon ni sunde imasu ga nihongo wa muzukashii! Would you invite me to Mixi? Onegai shimasu.
Sore o ageru, demo nihon no keitai denwa wo motte imasu ka?
Hi, I recently received an invitation for Mixi, but it asked for a portable email. Is there any way to get past it? =(
can you send me the invite to this e-mail instead. Thank you very much.
@jennifer: Without a Japanese mobile phone number, I do not think so. Its a recent change MIXI implemented. We are still testing it but so far it’s not looking good for Americans and anyone else not in Japan.
@fgifriday: Sent. Do you have a keitai number, or are you just trying to see if a .jp email address works without the keitai?
Aww, okay thanks for the info.
Keep us updated. =)
The only email i have on an obscure email provider is psyducky@hellokitty.com
Yeah. How awesome is that that hello kitty provides email? ._.
Oh wait will that be our log-in email? Cause i dont want my hello kitty email as my login.
By the way, can anyone tell me an email that’s worked for them?
Yes, I have a Softbank mobile phone and I am figuring out how to input the è£½é€ ç•ªå· Since there is no field for me to input and I don’t even know what it is.
Maybe it’s about setting in Softbank mobile handset, but now I still can’t figure out what I should do..
Anyway, to answer your question, it seems like in any case including .jp, the keitai number is necessary.
Thanks for updating us FGI. Seems MIXI only wants Japanese on their social network. I see their reason (for advertisers, making sure its not wasted ads seen). However for those looking to interact with the Japanese culture from abroad, it’s one less way to do it.
not sure if u could send me the invite, would give it a try since i had a yahoo account in in japan yrs ago, fudeli1980@yahoo.com.jp
I can’t figure out what bit I need to copy and paste into the registration box. I did find an English guide for this, but it seems I forgot to bookmark it:( Could you help?
Hello
Can you give me one mixi invite ? I would like to practice my japanese language
admin at navin.be
Thanks
@freddy: Without a Japanese mobile phone #, it wont work. We just discovered this change.
@Jessica: More than likely its asking you to put your Japanese mobile phone # in the box. The guide is probaly out-dated as this is a very recent change with MIXI. It was probaly Gaijin Woman’s guide, http://gaijinwomen.com/how-to-use-mixi/
@navin: I can send an invite, but without a Japanese mobile phone number, you wont be able to log in.
I seriously wish MIXI would not block non Japanese!
Well I found my guide but the box I was trying to complete wasn’t there. the text says:
※ã”指定ã®æºå¸¯ãƒ¡ãƒ¼ãƒ«ã‚¢ãƒ‰ãƒ¬ã‚¹å®›ã¦ã«ã‚‚仮登録確èªãƒ¡ãƒ¼ãƒ«ãŒé…ä¿¡ã•ã‚Œã¾ã™ã®ã§ã€
ãŠé–“é•ã„ã®ãªã„よã†ã«æ£ã—ãã”入力ãã ã•ã„。
※æºå¸¯å´ã§ãƒ‰ãƒ¡ã‚¤ãƒ³æŒ‡å®šå—ä¿¡ã‚’è¨å®šã•ã‚Œã¦ã„ã‚‹æ–¹ã¯ã€Œmixi.jpã€ã‚’å—ä¿¡ã§ãるよã†ã«æŒ‡å®šã—ã¦ãã ã•ã„。
I’ve tried an online translation but it makes no sense…something about sea urchins, lol.
Will my mobile phone email address work if it is from AT&T?
If so, can you please try sending me an invite and I will let you know if it worked?
Thank you!
The same thing about the mobile address did happen to me whit a gmail address. Is it certain that if you use another kind of mail adress to be invited it will work? What kind of mail services could work? Thanks.
Hi there,
I am currently studying Japanese at a college in Sydney and I am desperate to learn more via mixi. Apart from living in the country - and I certainly don’t have those finances - interacting on mixi would be such an awesome way for me to learn more. Can you please invite me to join mixi?!
thanks for posting this up; much appreciated indeed.
@jessica: thats the message asking for the keitai, mobile phone, address. usually an @docomo.jp or @softbank.jp etc Any one of the Japanese phone categories.
@Will: I think it’s a preset certain known addresses, but I have sent you an invite.
@kurara: so far, it seems no matter what email you use, it asks for a keitai address.
@daniel: Seems so far without a Japanese mobile phone address, you can’t register.
It seems that some people are saying it might be an IP address issue, as in anyone who tries to go through the registration process from an outside-Japan IP will receive that message irrespective of their email address.
I’d like to try something; would you please send me an invite? If it works, we’ll know for sure if that’s it. Thanks!
@T: Sent. Are you trying a .jp proxy? Hope it works. Ganbatte!
Yeah, I did try that; it didn’t work out so hot. It seems set with the registration form, not a variable. That’s really sad. Maybe it’ll change again eventually… we can hope.
Hi,
I am absolutely dying to get onto Mixi. If you have a spare invite, I would love to get on.
Chris
BTW: I am Japan based so I do have that keitai number.
@Chris: Sent.
yeah, ive gotten like 5 invites to different e-mails, and all of my invites have required a mobile address. this sux. i guess ill js have to wait till i move there in 3 frickin years to get mine, haha! oh well. thanks anyway, and i definitely will be checking back to see if they ever decide to change. thanks again!
You may want to check out http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/04/22/myspace-gaining-marketshare-in-japan/ there are a few other alternatives, and Myspace is gaining ground in Japan. I have a few friends on MIXI that have asked if I also have a myspace profile. Goto Myspace, and click on their international versions. They have a 日本 one.
Hey, don’t know if I’m too late or not but i just stumbled across Mixi and would like to join. Could you send me an invitation??
Hi XORSYST, do you think you can send me a mixi invite? ãŠé¡˜ã„ã—ã¾ã™
Hello, don’t you mind sending me an invite?
I made a japanese mail account on Nifty, and a friend is lending me her mobile phone number, so it should work - except if they REALLY block non japanese IP, even with a keitai number…
Have a nice day.
Hey man! I like this site. I think it’s awesome. ^_^ Anything supporting the edification of the English-speaking nation in Japanese matters is alright with me! lol Hey! Send me an invite to MIXI please. My email is rhythmofemotion@hotmail.com. If you’re tired of sending invites out just look at it this way with mine: Just one more and I’m through! lol
hi! just’ve been serching about the ways to register at mixi and saw this post =) will you be so kind to send me an invite too?
What are those non disposable account?
Can you try inviting me using this email:
hyde88laruku@mail.goo.ne.jp
Cheers
Please invite me; jagged79@gmail.com
hello!
i have a japanese email account and i was wondering if you could sent me a mixi invite?
aemmea/@/mail.goo.ne.jp
thank you so much!
invite me to mixi i want to learn nihongo
hi..can u invite me to mixi..? thx before..
hello,
i heard somewhere that this email might work.
i’d like to try it out.
could you please invite me with it please?
thank you!
aya.520@nifmail.jp
hi! I do have a japanese mobile phone, so can you please send me an invite?
arting_hl@hotmail.com
thanks so much!!
hi .. ^^
mixi it`s so interesting …
can u give me invitation to join mixi ?? ^^
thank u before ….