Latest posts by Chris Salzberg from December, 2007
Japan: Web visionary Umeda Mochio
While famous in Japan as a web visionary, Silicon Valley resident Umeda Mochio, president of Muse Associates, co-founder of Pacifica Fund and board member of the Japanese bookmarking and diary service Hatena, is little-known overseas. His recent book "Web Shinkaron" ("Theory of Web Evolution") sold 370,000 copies and become a national besteller in Japan. Umeda was recently interviewed by the Japanese magazine Central Review (Chuo koron), portions of which are introduced and translated in this post.
Japan: Three easy steps to a regulated Internet
Government moves in Japan to regulate web content, filter mobile phone access for users under the age of 18, and revise file transfer-related copyright legislation are outlined in a report posted at gyaku.
Japan: Learning from the failure of Second Life
Second Life in Japan is virtually dead. While three-dimensional environments such as "meet me" and Hatena World have seen their popularity rise, the most famous virtual environment in the world has seen its virtual space depopulate in Japan. What lessons can be learned from the burst of the Second Life bubble? One blogger offers his thoughts.
Japan: Economics of the “Illegal” Download
Following on recent moves by the government to regulate the Internet, plans for regulation in other areas of online communication have been moving ahead apace in Japan. Among these is the plan to revise article 30 of Japan's Copyright Law to make it illegal for individuals to download copyrighted material for personal use, something which up until now had been considered legal. Blogger and economist Ikeda Nobuo delves into the economics of the "illegal download", strongly criticizing the proposed revision.
Japan: The Mixi Social Network
At Asiajin, shunichi arai writes about Mixi, Japan's largest and most popular social networking service.
Japan: Final Report on Internet Regulation
The idea that a country boasting one of the world's most active net cultures would attempt to regulate online content within its borders may appear to some as infeasible. But plans unveiled earlier this year by the Japanese government aim to do exactly this, targeting a broad range of content that includes blogs and personal homepages.
Japan: English-language Blog about Japan IT, Asiajin
Akimoto at Akky Blog writes about his new English-language blog [ja] entitled Asiajin. While there are many great online services in Japan, he explains that almost none of them make it abroad due to barriers of language and community. Asiajin will try to remedy this situation by reporting about IT...
Japan: Flaming and the secrets we hide
The phenomenon of flaming (enjo) is widespread in Japan, particularly on anonymous posting forums such as 2-channel. One Japanese blogger picked up the topic of flaming last week and asked: are the things that people are attacked for so viciously online really so out-of-the-ordinary?
Japan: Interview with Kristopher Tate
Robert Sanzalone at Blognation Japan interviews Kristopher Tate, the 20-year-old founder ofthe startup Zooomr, about the future of the web industry in Japan.
Japan: Washington Post on the Japanese Blogosphere
An article in the Washington Post describes Japanese bloggers as the “humble giants of the web”, a characterization which blogger Adamu at Mutant Frog Travelogue blasts for its inaccuracies and stereotypes. He writes: “this dichotomy of Japan as meek navel gazers and Americans as gung-ho self-branding showoffs is totally false”,...
Japan: Regulating the Internet
Japundit reports on news that the Japanese government is taking steps to adapt new laws in an attempt to regulate the Internet.
Japan: In the shadows of influence
A scandal that had been brewing for months came to a head last week when former Vice Defense Minster Moriya Takemasa and his wife Sachiko were arrested by authorities in Tokyo, suspected of having received millions of yen in bribes from former defense equipment trader Miyazaki Motonobu of Yamada Corporation. Many bloggers were surprised, and some dug deeper into the problem of behind-the-scenes maneuvering in Japanese politics.
Japan: The Terabutadon Incident
Blogger Kikko writes about the Terabutadon (テラ豚丼) incident in which two employees of Yoshinoya, Japan's largest beef bowl restaurant chain, shot a video of themselves piling pork over a rice bowl to create a giant “butadon”. The video became a sensation and the two employees were fired (for reasons not...
Japan: Mutant Frog on Sasagawa
Adamu at Mutant Frog Travelogue writes about Ryoichi Sasakawa, the (now deceased) Japanese right-wing philanthropist and war profiteer once quoted as claiming to be “the world's wealthiest fascist”.
Japan: KakikoTV for Non-Japanese
Serkan at Tokyotronic translates from Japanese to English instructions for using a new service, KakikoTV, which allows users to modify videos and photos online. The service also allows for the integration of a range of visual and sound effects, as well as comments and subtitles.
