The modern-day social media landscape in Japan has evolved into a more international vibe. Home-grown Japanese social media apps have long since taken a backseat to dominant global platforms like TikTok and Instagram. However, if done correctly, the apps of yesteryear can still deliver impressive ROI for your marketing campaign.
In This Article
In this article, we’ll spotlight two Japanese social media apps in particular – Ameblo and MIXI – and how you can unlock their hidden value for successful marketing in Japan.
Ameblo – The Hybrid Japanese Social Media App Built on Blogging
Ameblo has been around for over 20 years, having launched in 2004 as a straightforward, free blogging platform. Shortly thereafter, Ameblo’s popularity and engagement began to skyrocket as it became the premier place for many Japanese actors and other public figures to connect with their fans.
Ameblo User Demographics
- Audience: Japanese women ages 30-50
- Interests: Fashion, beauty, parenting, food
- Monthly Metrics as of 2025: ~75 million active users, +250 million visits
By adding a companion mobile app and integrating features for cross-promoting content with Instagram and Twitter/X, Ameblo has managed to retain a loyal user base that looks to stay put for the foreseeable future.
How to Leverage Ameblo for Social Media Marketing
While not the first name you think of when it comes to social media in Japan, Ameblo has managed to remain relevant within the changing landscape, now finding itself very social-adjacent. Evidence of this is found in Ameblo adapting ‘like’ and ‘follow’ features, among others.
Thanks to its popularity being driven early on by celebrities, Ameblo is a very personality-centric platform. What this means for strategy is that Ameblo is an effective influencer marketing platform for brands targeting mature female audiences.
You can collaborate with Ameblo influencers with large, deeply engaged followings by presenting your products and services in a variety of formats:
- Product reviews: Offer free products to influencers who cover topics related to your brand in exchange for exposure to their audience. While this may nudge influencers to be favorable to your brand, its effect on their audiences may not be as sustained as other approaches.
- Experiential content: Invest in true ambassadorship with influencers over a longer period to educate their followers on your brand story with detailed information and demonstration of your offerings. For products related to lifestyle, health and wellness, have influencers document their experience with your brand over the course of weeks, or even months. The trust and relationship built between your brand and influencers will eventually convey to the audience. Leveraging that trust is a great way to fast-track the customer journey from awareness to conversion.
These are only a couple methods of effective marketing on Ameblo. At Info Cubic Japan, we work with influencers across various platforms, and can provide the right match for your brand, along with winning strategies. Get in touch with us to see what we can do for you.
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MIXI – The Social Haven for Japanese Millennials, Primed for a Comeback
Launching around the same time as Ameblo, MIXI was Japan’s first true social media platform, and quickly gained popularity. MIXI was reflective of Japanese culture at the time, favoring community-based interactions that were invite-only to build trust among users.
Only a few years later, as the country began to broaden its horizons internationally, internet culture in Japan also globalized. MIXI quietly faded into the background, as users turned more towards Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Being slow to adapt to the rapidly changing social media scene, MIXI pivoted, rebranding itself as a mobile gaming company in 2013, effectively abandoning its social media roots…until recently.
MIXI 2 – A Second Chance to Make a First Impression
In the years since the first iteration of the MIXI platform, social media around the world has become more contentious, and less of the global community it promised to be. Couple that with the fatigue that Japan is experiencing from overtourism, and you’ll find Japanese netizens are looking to return to a simpler time.
In 2024, MIXI announced and launched MIXI 2 with a focus on mental well-being, in an effort to counteract the attention economy of mainstream social media. In a few short months since its release, the mobile app has signed on nearly 1.5 million users, signaling a desire for its unique position among both fans of the old platform and new, younger users.
MIXI 2 User Demographics
- Audience: Gender-balanced, ages 20-40
- Interests: Travel, gaming, wellness, music
- User totals as of 2025: 1.43 million
Like its predecessor, MIXI 2 is currently invite-only with a community focus, asserting an ‘anti-algorithm’ stance to foster genuine interactions. User base growth is expected to jump significantly with removal of the invite-only feature.
How to Advertise on MIXI 2
Since MIXI 2 is still a relatively new Japanese social media app, its focus is strengthening its tight-knit community. As such, display ads, sponsored posts and influencer collaborations to feature your products and services are not currently available.
However, MIXI 2’s emphasis on authentic engagement is the perfect opportunity to build a more organic following around your brand. Here’s how you can do it:
- Genuine participation: Hire an agency who can access MIXI 2 to join or build communities related to your products or services. Foster authentic relationships and offer true value to your potential customers.
- Event sponsorships: MIXI 2 allows users to organize online events for its interest-based communities, truly leaning into the aim for close connections. This is an opportunity for your agency to pursue collaborations on your behalf to sponsor these events and increase visibility.
As MIXI 2 matures, gains new features and increases user totals, more marketing opportunities are expected to become available.
Finding Value in Every Social Media Platform with Info Cubic Japan
While social media in Japan is currently dominated by global platforms, more Japanese netizens are opting to go local. That number only continues to grow with the desire for more homegrown options.
At Info Cubic Japan, we’ve executed social media marketing strategies across Meta, LINE, TikTok and more with great success. However, our experience has also revealed untapped potential among niche Japanese social media apps like Ameblo, and soon with MIXI2.
Through organic social media and KOL/influencer marketing, you can extract real value from these platforms, and tap into a user base largely overlooked by most other foreign and domestic brands. Let Info Cubic Japan guide the way.
