Tokyo “Meet Me” vs. Second Life

Transcosmos Inc, the maker of online virtual "Tokyo Meet-Me" thinks the Japanese will prefer the:

1. predicatable

2. secure

environment of their alternate world to the

1. free-spirited

2. anything goes

world of the 'Second Life' which was created in San Francisco where, you guessed it, the people are free-spirited and anything goes.Japanese are more well-behaved, more conformist-minded and not prone to the 'kind of place where you can get shot in the back as soon as you log on.'

Japanese, most of them anyway, are indeed well-behaved and conformist by nature….until, you get them out of their culture.

I have quite a few very well-mannered, disciplined students who went overseas and the first thing they did was get something pierced and die their hair red.

Come to think of it, I think they went to school in San Francisco.

As for me, I don't want to get shot in the back either – in real life or in a virtual world.

How about you?