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Other News

  • Micro News

Meta Launches Personal AI Agent “Muse” in Japan

Starting October 23 (Japan time), Meta launched its personal AI agent, “Muse” in Japan. Japan is the first market outside North America, where the service was initially launched in September this year, to gain access to Muse.

Muse is described by Meta as the world’s first personal AI agent designed to be easily accessible to everyone. With an emphasis on safety and privacy, Muse goes beyond simply answering questions: it proactively helps users achieve their goals and can take action to carry out tasks on their behalf.

▶ Meta (October 26)

meta logo mockup
  • Micro News

Yahoo! Shopping products can now be tagged in YouTube videos
LINE Yahoo announced on September 25 that Yahoo! Shopping has joined the YouTube Shopping affiliate program (MarkeZine, September 25). Eligible YouTube creators can tag Yahoo! Shopping products in videos and Shorts. Viewers tap the tag and land on the product page. Stores pay a base rate of 2–4% by category and can add a special rate of their own. YouTube says shopping-video watch time in Japan grew more than 50% year on year (internal data, April 2026).

For foreign brands in Japan, this puts Yahoo! Shopping on the same creator shelf as Amazon and Rakuten. Creators choose the store with the higher rate. Set a special rate on your hero SKUs before Q4.

▶ MarkeZine (September 25)

Yahoo_Shopping_Products_tagged_in_YouTube_video
  • Micro News

Survey: 52.3% of Japanese respondents search with generative AI
52.3% of 9,278 respondents aged 15–69 use generative AI, including Google AI Mode, for search (AdverTimes, September 9; fielded August 7–10). The figure was 21.3% in May 2025. 58.7% say an AI recommendation led to a purchase. One survey, one vendor, but the direction is consistent with earlier waves.

For foreign brands in Japan, the AI answer is becoming a purchase touchpoint. Check how ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI Mode describe your products in Japanese before Q4.

▶ AdverTimes (September 9, 2026)

Japanese Consumers Search on Generative Engines
  • Micro News

OpenAI added product carousels to ChatGPT ads, showing several items in a single ad slot.
The format arrived three months after OpenAI let retailers bulk-create product-feed campaigns.

OpenAI’s system decides whether a query returns a single-product ad or a carousel — the advertiser does not choose. For brands in Japan, that moves the work upstream to the product feed. Japanese product names, prices, and stock status decide what appears. Audit the feed before year-end trading.

▶ DIGIDAY Japan, August 17, 2026.

ChatGPT Carousel mock-up