Japan Not Friending Facebook

Despite Facebook's immense popularity in the U.S., the social networking site is not seeing much traction in Japan, writes the

Facebook has less than 2 million users in Japan, which is less than 2% of the country's population. “Facebook does face a challenge in Japan,” said Shigenori Suzuki, a Tokyo-based analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings. “There are powerful rivals, and then there's the question of Japanese Web culture.” Many in the country are worried about privacy issues, as the country's population doesn't want to give their real names. This is something Facebook insists on. Maiko Ueda, 26, who uses Mixi, which is a Japanese competitor to Facebook, is afraid of showing herself online. On Mixi, she logs in at least once a day to read other users' “diaries,” which are like status updates on Facebook. She's also posted pictures of her American shorthair cat, but not her real name or what she looks like. “I don't want to give it my real name,” Ms. Ueda said. “What if strangers find out who you are? Or someone from your company?” “I think there has to be an event, a celebrity signing up for Facebook, or something else that teaches Japanese users that identifying themselves online isn't scary and can be useful,” said Toshihiko Michibata, a Japanese e-commerce and social media consultant.