LINE Was Built After an Earthquake. Thailand Runs on It.

LINE launched in Japan on June 23, 2011 — about three months after the Great East Japan Earthquake. The company says it grew out of days spent unable to reach family and friends. But a Nikkei reporter's book calls "LINE was born from the earthquake" a legend, and says the seeds were planted earlier. As of March 31, 2026, LY Corporation says about 54 million people use LINE in Thailand every month. (LINE Thailand has recently quoted 56 million; the companies' figures use different dates and definitions.) So what really happened — and why does a chat app matter so much there? This is a story, not investment advice. We don't say whether to buy or sell anything. Company figures are attributed to the company. Status note (Oct 22, 2026): at the time of recording, no completion of the US$130M LY capital increase in LINE MAN Wongnai had been reported. ⏱ Chapters 0:00 An office that started to shake 0:26 A quiet deadline 0:59 The big picture 1:26 March 2011: the company's story vs the book 2:10 The project ranked last 2:52 October 2011: stickers 3:17 Thailand 4:06 The app inside the app: LINE MAN 4:48 Lesson one: everyone is already there 5:40 Lesson two: tone of voice 6:41 Your turn Key sources (full list in our research notes) • LY Corporation — LINE company history (June 23, 2011 launch; stickers and free calls, Oct 2011): https://www.lycorp.co.jp/en/company/h... • ITmedia/Nlab — LY interview on LINE's origin (May 20, 2024): https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/cont/artic... • Bunshun Online — excerpt of Takashi Sugimoto's book "Net Koboki" (Jan 28, 2023): https://bunshun.jp/articles/-/60132 • Bunshun Online — interview with former LINE CEO Ryo Morikawa (Feb 5, 2017): https://bunshun.jp/articles/-/1165 • LY Corporation — LINE users by country, as of March 31, 2026: https://www.lycorp.co.jp/en/company/g... • The Bridge — LINE press conference, Aug 21, 2013 (registered users by country; sticker sales): https://thebridge.jp/en/2013/08/line-... • The Nation — "Why Thais love their stickering" (July 9, 2019): https://www.nationthailand.com/busine... • LY Story — "How LINE Has Become Thailand's Everyday Life" (Dec 5, 2025): https://www.lycorp.co.jp/en/story/202... • DataReportal — Digital 2026: Thailand (Nov 8, 2025): https://datareportal.com/reports/digi... • SoftBank Group — Update of Disclosed Matters on the LINE MAN capital increase (Aug 28, 2026): https://group.softbank/en/news/press/... • SoftBank Corp. — same notice (Aug 28, 2026): https://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/news/... • LY Story — LINE MAN Wongnai CEO interview (June 2, 2026): https://www.lycorp.co.jp/en/story/202... • KrASIA — "Thailand's Line Man pushes beyond food delivery, eyes 2027 IPO" (June 4, 2026): https://kr-asia.com/thailands-line-ma... • Katz & Shapiro (1985), "Network Externalities, Competition, and Compatibility," American Economic Review: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1814809 • Derks, Bos & von Grumbkow (2008), "Emoticons and Online Message Interpretation," Social Science Computer Review: https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439307311611 The psychology lessons in this video are our own interpretation, not proven facts about LINE's users. Katz and Shapiro's paper is a theoretical model, and the emoticon study used 105 secondary-school students and text smileys, not stickers. Narrated by Ledger, the Why It Happened mascot. What's one LINE group — or chat group — you could never leave? Tell us in the comments. #LINE #LINEApp #Thailand #BusinessStory #BusinessHistory #Psychology #Storytelling #Asia #BusinessCaseStudy #NetworkEffect #Stickers #TechHistory #Japan #LINEMAN #Naver