A quick note/reminder: Yahoo Japan is not exactly the Yahoo most Americans know.  Yahoo only owns 33 percent of the organization, while Softbank controls a 41 percent stake.  And Yahoo Japan’s also on a different path in other respects, as it’s arranged to make use of Google’s search tech, for example.

Anyway, an official statement announced today, "Ooyala and Yahoo! Japan will collaborate on a broad-scale initiative to optimize business results for Japanese broadcasters, publishers, advertisers and content creators.  Yahoo! Japan will standardize on Ooyala technology across all of its properties for initiatives such as cross-platform video delivery, subscription and advertising services."

Then the statement continued, "With Ooyala, Yahoo! Japan will deliver rich video experiences on connected PCs, smart phones, tablets and televisions in the Japanese market.  Additionally, Yahoo! Japan will both sell Ooyala video technology and provide support for thousands of media publishers and brand marketers that use Ooyala."

This deal is set to last for at least two years.  Unfortunately, no financial details were disclosed.

Ooyala was founded in 2007, and its other customers (of which there are over 500) include the Grammy Awards, the Telegraph, and Time Inc.

As for what ooyala does, well . . .  One source indicates that the goal of an ooyala founder, Bismarck Lepe, might be to irritate Google.  “Even more curious is Lepe’s reported disdain for Google, predicting that more will leave the company to follow the dreams that Google rejected,” writes Mashable’s Kristen Nicole.

She then asks, “Isn’t that the case with most former Google employees?”  Of course, as WebProNews noted last week, this practice could lead to some difficulties.

In any event, ooyala isn’t talking about its difficulties, its successes, or much of anything.  It claims to be “focused on delivering a high-quality, interactive, video-viewing experience,” but the site, such as it is, is unwilling to share any further details.  This has led to a bit of frustration in some corners.

“The startup has raised funding but is in stealth mode so is not saying who or how much nor what the hell they are doing other than video,” states an alarm:clock article.

But in “a couple of months,” an open beta should become available from ooyala, and we should all find out what these ex-Googlers are up to.  Until then, let’s just hope a sort of civil war doesn’t break out in Mountain View.