The Brightcove KK team and our partner J-Stream in Japan recently announced that Seiko Watch Corporation is leveraging Brightcove Video Cloud to support the launch of its global video portal, SEIKO TV.  SEIKO TV features a variety of video content, including Seiko Watch's different collections, recent events, major sponsorships and some of the interesting technologies behind Seiko Watches. 

Recent events in Japan leave us sad beyond words.  We are relieved that all of our Brightcove KK colleagues are currently safe and accounted for. But the nuclear radiation crisis continues to escalate and millions of people are experiencing unimaginable suffering, fear, and loss.

People rest in an evacuation centre near Rikuzentakata, northern Japan, March 14, 2011. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters)

As the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games kickoff tonight, we are proud to once again be the online video platform behind gorin.jp, the exclusive online video portal in Japan for coverage of the Vancouver Olympics.

At a press conference in Tokyo earlier today, Brightcove announced the general availability of a fully-localized online video platform for Japan. With today's announcement, Brightcove extends its existing localized player architecture to inlude the full suite of back-end online video platform services, including content management, player design and publishing, delivery, product documentation and customer support.

Brightcove today announced that Tokyo Gas, one of Japan's largest utility companies, has chosen the Brightcove platform for its online video initiatives. The utility giant has five business divisions and 60 subsidiaries that span natural gas and electricity, gas appliances, and real estate.

Today, Brightcove has announced a raft of major new customer wins in Japan including Tokyo Broadcasting System, Sony Music Network, Asahi Breweries Group, Shueisha Publishing, and Orange Page. We are thrilled to see wide-spread adoption of the Brightcove online video platform among such well-known and highly-respected brands in Japan.

We are very happy to announce several exciting developments that promise to accelerate Brightcove's expansion in Japan.

We are very excited to announce the formation of Brightcove KK, a majority-owned subsidiary in Japan. The announcement marks a major milestone for Brightcove as we continue our efforts to build a global, independent company that provides leading software platforms for video on the Internet.

Brightcove KK launches with $4.9 million in new investment from Brightcove and strategic partners that will be critical to the successful expansion of our business in Japan. These partners include: