Taking Japan as the key site for global platformization, Marc Steinberg delves into that nation's unique technological and managerial trajectory, in the process systematically examining every facet of the elusive word platform. Steinberg also charts the rise of social gaming giants GREE and Mobage, chat tools KakaoTalk, WeChat, and LINE, and video streaming site Niconico Video, as well as the development of platform theory in Japan, as part of a wider transformation of managerial theory to account for platforms as mediators of cultural life.