びびなび 25th Anniversary

Vivinavi, established on May 3rd, 2000,
marks 25th anniversary thanks to you.

We would like to express the debit of gratitude to
all users and advertisers who are using Vivinavi.

Since approximately 2018. we have started focusing on the promotion in Japan,
basing in the city of Kisarazu, Chiba prefecture.
We also made agreements with the cities of Kisarazu, Kimitsu, Sodegaura, Futtsu, and Kamogawa.

We hope to expand the circle of local community in Japan and other countries through sharing daily-life information
and kindly ask for your continued support.

びびなびの創立 25 周年、誠におめでとうございます。

米国に居住される多くの邦人・日系人の皆様の信頼を得る情報ウェブサイトとして、２５年間にわたり、同ウェブサイトを運営してこられたびびなびの皆様の並々ならぬ御尽力や御苦労に対し、日本国総領事館を代表し、改めて敬意と感謝を表します。

びびなびは、各地域での交流を促す、インターネットによるコミュニケーションサービスや、地域活性のためのイベント開催などといった地域に密着したサービスを提供されており、当地にお住まいの皆様の心のよりどころとも言えるメディアです。当地での日本文化交流事業や日系企業への支援活動、エンターテインメント情報や日本食文化の紹介に加え、当館が行う事業の広報と当地の日本人・日系人団体に関わる情報の配信などにご協力頂き、利用者の皆様と日本を繋ぐ重要なパイプ役を担って頂いています。また、在留邦人同士の交流や実際の暮らしに役立つ情報が網羅されている点で、びびなびはとても心強い存在です。

びびなびスタッフの皆様の当館への温かいご支援に感謝申し上げると共に、びびなびが当地で生活される多邦人や日系人の皆様に今後も益々利用され、発展されることを心より祈念致します。

在ロサンゼルス日本国総領事

曽根 健孝

A college student in LA has started "Vivinavi" in 1999.
Let's review 25th history of Vivinavi together.

  • Studied abroad from Kisarazu to the U.S. While in college, he placed many flyers of selling PC on the bulletin boards but later found out that all of them were torn off by competitors.
    He decided to build a local website for everyone to exchange information freely.

  • Established Vivid Navigation, Inc. in Pasadena, California. Started running Your Community Classifieds "Vivinavi." (Then, 19 cities worldwide.)
    He locked himself in his room and spent many days writing computer codes.

  • Visitors to the website increased by word of mouth from local international students.
    Switched a rental server to an own server.

  • Held "New Year Badminton Tournament" in LA with the sponsorship of Yonex Corporation U.S.A. He cried with joy to welcome more than 200 participants.

  • "Vivinavi Hawaii" was introduced by a major Japanese television channel. He experienced the server outage from high traffic for the first time.

  • Ten years passed since the establishment. Steady efforts and local collaboration made Vivinavi a big part of information infrastructure in LA.
    Expanded the services to 90 cities worldwide.

  • Missed hometown. Secretly participated in the Kisarazu Minato fireworks festival as a sponsor.

  • Established an office in Kisarazu when Covid-19 was spread around the world. Historical paper-based media got in the way of increasing Vivinavi visitors in Chiba.

  • Started publishing free paper to draw people to the website.
    A small number of employees handed out them to 30,000 houses and he damaged his lower back.
    The original design of the front page attracted attention, which cheered his spirits.

  • "Notifications from Municipality" message board has been released to share important disaster and public information.

  • Distribution area of free paper has been spread to Ichihara, Tateyama, and Kamogawa.
    Local organizations like Mystery solving club "Tanuki no Happa" and Orca Kamogawa FC collaborated with Vivinavi to strengthen the ties in the community.

  • Started publishing "City Walk (Machiaruki)" in Hawaii. Distributed the free paper at Hawaii-related facilities, travel and wedding agencies in Japan and magazine racks and Japanese grocery stores in Hawaii.

  • Vivinavi 25th anniversary. We will continue to work basing the offices in Los Angeles, Hawaii, and Kisarazu, Chiba.
    Currently planning special events! Stay tuned!