Ever since the Internet showed up, our lives have been greatly enriched by companies offering amazing services, like YouTube or Skype or Facebook or Twitter. These companies have become popular here in Japan, too, and it’s largely taken for granted that the really good web-related ideas will all come from America and Europe, not from inside Japan itself. Oh, Japan certainly has its share of unique sites, such as Pixiv for art sharing, Mixi for social networking and Nico Video for watching Miku Hatsune sing about leeks for hour on end. Don’t expect these services to change the world, though: almost without exception, these sites are difficult to use from outside Japan, requiring you to navigate through Japanese-language registration pages in order to access the content. Which is why online fashion community Poupeegirl, where girls create a virtual avatar then buy cute dresses for her, is a breath of fresh air, since they’re happy to have users from around the world.
The Poupeegirl online fashion community is a rarity in Japan, happy to have visitors from the outside world.
