#2 The Japan-related Web: What it is, What it Could be, and Why it Matters
The purpose of this series is to inspire everyone (from reader to webmaster) to greater collaboration, communication and mutual encouragement.
In this series the real inspiration is you. As you contribute your opinions and ideas you will inspire others to contribute as well.
So let us brainstorm together.
Your comments and feedback are greatly valued.
Your ideas and opinions will make this series and the Japan-related web a success.
In this series we will have a discussion.
We will chat about the Japan-related web: what it is, what it could be, and why it matters.
What do you think about that?
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There are some great websites out there about Japan, including some forum-based communities which seem to be thriving. I’d say there are still a lot of undiscovered Japan bloggers who are outside the loop, and I guess that’s the point of this series; How to bring everyone together, making it easier for people to find all this great content. Is that right?
An interesting discussion, i’m keen to participate and see where it goes but i’m not sure what exactly is expected of me?
Hi Nick,
Thanks for commenting! Bringing everyone together is definitely a goal of the series. Personally I feel that if people walk away from this series with a mentality where they wonder: “How can I do something that benefits other foreigners in Japan? (or people interested in Japan) What can I do to help create the kind of community that serves as a support for others?”
If that happens, then the series will have been a success. When I think about that goal, sites like Thomas’s NihonHacks.com come quickly to mind. I think what he is doing is great and I hope that it is what we will see more of on the Japan-related web.
I also think that the forum communities you are talking about provide great support as well.
A few that come to my mind are:
Jref
JapanForum
and JapanGuide
I do think that there are a lot of undiscovered bloggers. And they have great content to share. Unfortunately without a readership they are talking to the wall
Of course not everything bloggers say will be brilliant, but some things will.
Any method we can use to help the “brilliant and undiscovered” become discovered is worth talking about.
And I look forward to hearing your ideas about possible methods!
Hi Neil!
Thanks for commenting.
I am eager to hear what you think as we go along in the series.
I am not sure what you mean by “what is expected of [you]” but that is good feedback probably. I might be confusing people.
I only expect open minds and a good discussion.
Let me twist that into “What is expected of Japan bloggers?”
What should we be blogging about? What do people want to read? It’s always a good rule of thumb to put yourself in the reader’s position. I like to read personal accounts of foreigners experiencing Japan, but I realize the majority of people are more interested in anime, gadgets and idols.
It seems a lot of bloggers (myself included actually) have decided to write about “Japan”, but if you narrow that niche down to something more specific, like Brent has done with Konbini-Life.com, then you can attract people with specific interests to share your articles about those same interests. Then it becomes clear what your readers expect from you and vice-versa.
How about expectations within the Japan bloggers’ community? Perhaps we should be expected to introduce our readers to other bloggers around us. Those blogs should be similar enough that they appeal to our audience, but different enough to complement, instead of compete with, our own blogs. Perhaps the keywords here are “unique” and “complementary”.
Well, there are some thoughts for you guys.
I think this is a great discussion already and I have already learned of some Japanese resources that I didn’t know about. Thanks Tori, Thanks Nick.
That is one goal of Tori’s with this series I think…for people interested in Japan to find the bloggers and the resources that interest them.
Writers are funny birds. They say they don’t mind competition, but they do. I agree with Nick. There are enough readers any more that one doesn’t need to be ‘all things to all people’ but instead should be focused on a niche and then find the readers for that niche or help the readers find them.
I for one, with this series that Tori is writing, am hoping to find who else is writing about Japan, what are they writing, is it of value to me in any way, can I provide value to them in some way, and can some arrangement be made so that people can find the bloggers and resources about Japan that they are interested in more easily?
Is that too much to expect?
I’d like to point out one Japanese resource …it’s just getting going. Japanalyst. It has a sister site Chinalyst that has done a great job of bringing Chinese bloggers together. Maybe the same can happen for Japanese bloggers as well.
@Nick
Those are great points.
Especially, what is expected of Japan-bloggers.
I will be touching on something similar to this later so I don’t want to say too much about it here, but I will say this:
I think that as some of the main producers of Japan-related content online, we as Japan-bloggers have a huge responsibility to create and promote quality content.
Time and again I hear people saying that they were looking for Japan-related info before making the jump and living in Japan. And I think we have the means to provide it so we have the responsibility to provide it too.
I usually don’t state my opinions so forcefully but this is one of the things that I feel really strongly about.
I think that you hit on another great point with Konbini-Life: Niche is big.
There are so many sites talking about Japan but not reaching down into the niches available and going for depth.
This is especially sad when it comes to guides to living in Japan (luckily Thomas is doing with that on NihonHacks now). There are many guides on study abroad sites but from what I have seen they are all pretty much the same, they don’t have depth. They don’t touch on nearly enough information.
And then there are great niche sites like ZB’s A-Z of Japanese Music that just came up in the comments. This blogger Zac has reviewed over 200 Japanese music groups! That is all he does, Japanese music, and he does it well. How do we get him to more people?
Wouldn’t it be great if a bunch of us could get together to just compile a list of the potential niches that might exist in Japan?
How many different things can you think of that ppl heading to Japan might want to know about?
music, electronics, anime….before long there might even be niches within niches.
I read somewhere that fan sites of Harry Potter even has fans….fans of fans….niches of niches.
Where do we start, Tori!?
Woah, a list of niches? I can imagine a huge spider diagram growing out of this. I’m happy to brainstorm but I’d need a whiteboard!
@ Nick and Bill,
I might have your whiteboard…
Well, then…Tori…get it out and let’s have a go.
In my ESL series, I am trying to think/address questions that might come to mind. I have 101 of them, and I am on #61. 101 Questions Needing Answers before going to Japan.
I welcome feedback and questions that I haven’t thought of.
I wrote about it in another comment (http://www.risingsunofnihon.com/2008/01/4_the_japanrelated_web_part_1.html#comment-1000905) but I’ll mention it here too.
http://Japanopedia.org may be a way to brainstorm these things I will set up a section for us to compile niches, etc.
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