FaceBook CEO Japan visit; meets PM, renews Dentsu contract, meets with developers and signals new deals: http://bit.ly/HsoEBM

So Mark swung thru Tokyo following his adventures in China and made some new friends. Plenty of digital ink on the photo-opp. with Prime Minister Noda – interesting to see they confirmed another year with Dentsu [.PDF] – and note via TIA even Masayoshi Son is getting into the game. Obviously a deal with Yahoo! would be huge.. certainly easy guess that is entirely possible as well.. all good.

However, there’s (almost) always more to these things than meets the mainstream media eye. We had dinner last night with insidery person, in a way off-the-grid izakaya, and nearly choked on the yakitori when his ‘most confidential’ tip slipped under the noise of some seriously happy salari-men blowing off steam on a Friday night. If it’s true, and really have no reason to doubt, that will be Freakin Huge!

Not clear when this will be official, although likely soon as the Nikkei folks would love a scoop like that, but.. sadly will have to leave it there for now. We’ll circle back here in a week, or month, with a wink. Meanwhile.. suggest you listen ‘very carefully’ to what he says in the quick pep-talk below to Mobile Hack Tokyo developers gathered in Roppongi Hills the other night!

Related posts:

1. Facebook Does Deal with Dentsu
2. DeNA Signs Carrier Deals in China
3. FaceBook Using QR Codes for Japan
4. India, Japan to Sign Telecom Deals
5. NEC and Wind River JV Mobile Linux

Some sage advise when entering new turf; Stop, Look and Listen.. it’s also good to secure a local guide. Japan is the cradle of mobile civilization – we have been dedicated to this space since 2001 – trust our archives here offer some useful material.

Domestic activities continue to set the pace, and sharp players are looking at global markets. We have hard-earned industry expertise and trusted network of contacts with access to advanced intell. and potential deal flow. Need a lift.. Ok, buckle-up!