Thanks! I've been meaning to make an updated post about the Candy Japan stuff too, but not much has really changed. Still sending candy envelopes each month, mostly to those people who originally subscribed through HN plus some random people who find it through Google. Trend is slight decline though.
Hm. Are you familiar with Danny Choo[1]? I talked to him briefly about some work a while back; very nice, down to earth guy, and he's absolutely huge with Japanophiles. If you can either trade work or get him interested in your service, a little promotion from him would go a very, very long way.
So far in my experience, cold-contacting bloggers doesn't really work. Also, it makes me feel like a pest to try it. Perhaps if I got an introduction or met them at an event I might have better luck.
Dream it! Just don't necessarily expect much and at least you'll know you've tried. I dropped him an email about some work he was advertising and didn't hear back for something like six months, but he did get back. If you put together something brief, professional, and interesting, it could be worth a shot, and it'll only take an hour or so of your time.
Since you're actually in-country, you also have a big advantage: He makes all sorts of appearances; if you can coordinate a trip to match something he's doing, you could always just stop in with a business card and say hi.
Not to say anything would definitely come of it, of course... but it seems like a pretty good upside with a fairly minimal investment. Could be worthwhile.
