Twitter Teams Up With Japan's Mixi To Fight Off Facebook

Twitter is digging its heels in against an encroaching Facebook in one of its biggest market, Japan. At a joint press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday, Twitter and Japan’s largest social network, mixi, announced a strategic partnership.

Twitter has always had a close relationship with Japan. Japanese was the first language that Twitter was translated into outside of English, and Japanese users are among the most prominent on the network. And earlier this year, Twitter chose Japan for the location of its first international country manager.