Walt Disney Co. will launch a cellular phone service in Japan targeting young adult women a year after service branded to children and their parents flopped in the U.S.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Burbank-based company said the Disney Mobile service is set to launch March 1 and is a partnership with Softbank Mobile Corp., which is Japan’s third-largest mobile operator.

Disney said the plan will offer content including videogames and ring tones branded to women in their 20s and 30s who are fans of Disney content.

“We believe there’s a big audience out there for the service we’re offering,” Duncan Orrell-Jones, an executive with Disney’s Asian Internet division, said at a news conference.

The cell phone service Disney started in 2006 targeted kids and their parents in the United States through a deal in which Disney leased access to Sprint Nextel Corp.’s network. That service, along with a sports-themed service branded through Disney’s ESPN network, flopped due to lack of interest.

Separately, shares in Disney were also downgraded by Merrill Lynch & Co. due to economic concerns. Disney’s rating was lowered from “buy” to “neutral” by analyst Jessica Reif Cohen.

Shares in Disney closed down 1.4 percent to $28.12 in trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.