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2ch: Japanese Web Forum As Social Vent

News for nerds writes "This NY times article (reg blah blah) sheds the light on Japan's largest Internet bulletin board - 2ch. About 5.4 million people come to this "Channel 2" each month, many of them several times a day (just like you nerds making beowulf cluster of alphabets all the day!). Founded in 1999, "ni-channeru," as it is called there, has become part of Japan's everyday culture as no other Web site has. While you can also find useful info such as dinner recipes there, it's almost like Battle Royale came into life as a web site, filled with verbal and physical violence backed by pseudo anonymity."

21 of 275 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds Like... by Nerd+With+Nalgene · · Score: 5, Funny

    A nerd-less version of Slashdot.

    --


    "as if nothing were solid...and that would be the end of the world, not fire and brimstone, but goo."--Rand
    1. Re:Sounds Like... by irokitt · · Score: 4, Funny

      So what happens when everybody on this board starts hitting Slashdot's servers...

      --
      If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
    2. Re:Sounds Like... by metlin · · Score: 4, Funny

      In Soviet Russia.... ;-)

    3. Re:Sounds Like... by Himajin2000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Erm, I'll try again

      http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/forumdisplay.ph p?f=101122457.

      Incidently, because of the "2ch effect" it is considered bad manners to post links there without disabling them first (usually by chopping off the first "h").

    4. Re:Sounds Like... by JM+Apocalypse · · Score: 5, Funny

      I love the translations by babelfish ... and the poll!

      Englishify slashdot.jp

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      - - - - - - -
      Orppf urp mf y.ppcxn. yflcbi otcnnov C am yflcbi yr n.apb Ekrpatv (Dvorak -> Qwerty)
    5. Re:Sounds Like... by MidnightBrewer · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, I live in Japan. The population is primarily made up of nerds.

      --
      "Give a man fire, and he'll be warm for a day; set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life
    6. Re:Sounds Like... by revmoo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah no kidding, why can't slashdot US have such interesting topics as "You participate! Fire truck + ambulance = it goes out, the rescuing car". I might not even complain about dupes then :)

      --
      I would expect such blatant racism on Fark, but on Slashdot? Mods please ban this asshole.
  2. We have that in America (and rest of world) too... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's called USENET

    http://groups.google.com for you kids out there.

  3. Tried to read it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    But buggered if I know how they communicate in a language made almost entirely of rectangles.

    1. Re:Tried to read it by yintercept · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's all in the subtle positioning of the rectangles.

      The large number of people who don't have oriental language sets installed on their browser is a bit sad. Occasionally, companies and programmers have bouts of interest in localization. Such efforts often fall through.

      Regardless, the Internet is a great place to learn language skills. Personally, I think all web designers should chose a second language and trying muddling their way through web sites written in a different language to understand the challenges of different cultures.

  4. Re:4chan.org by megaversal · · Score: 4, Funny

    Except 4chan is geared toward porn...

    (I only know because I visit!)

    --
    Sig!
  5. moderation? by moxruby · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It seems generally true that as a website becomes popular, a certain group of dickheads (usually males in the 12-16 age group) turn up with the goal of ruining it for everyone.

    Slashdot deals with this in a unique way by allowing the users to do the police work. This is (imo) vastly superior to having overzealous super-moderators cruising around laying down the law.

    2ch sounds like it's an order of magnitude larger than slashdot. Can any japanese users of 2ch shed light on how they deal with the "fuckwit factor"?

    1. Re:moderation? by metlin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It seems generally true that as a website becomes popular, a certain group of dickheads (usually males in the 12-16 age group) turn up with the goal of ruining it for everyone.

      Not really. The point is, they have their own world, just like the rest of the community.

      Think of it as the equivalent of graffiti - sure, it ruins walls and what not, but hey it's a creative outlet and a means of expressing themselves. And better this than anything else.

      And more importantly, it's called Freedom of Speech - and I really like the way Slashdot handles this.

      The point is, almost everyone feel like trolling at some point of time or the other, or atleast on some topic or the other. And when you do, you inevitably fall into the so-called fuckwit category that you mentioned.

      And quite honestly, I take offence at your choice of words - fuckwit factor? What is that supposed to mean?

      It's a forum, and people can discuss just about anything that pleases them - and on a place like Slashdot, you are given the choice of seeing what you like. Despite everything, I would not like anyone messing with the posts, no matter how shitty they are.

      There are times when I read at -1 (and quite honestly, enjoyed the trolls) and there are times when I read at +3.

      There is no one-size fits all.

      And that's one of the many reasons I like Slashdot (well, Kuro5hin is better in some respects when it comes to tolerating trolls, but I digress). Your fuckwit tolerance level changes, and you have the choice of choosing how tolerant you are.

      And finally, to answer your question - RTFA. They do not.

  6. Registration Free Link by karmatic · · Score: 4, Informative

    Reg Free Link here .

    They are making this harder to do...

  7. Wikipeda article by Kusunose · · Score: 5, Informative

    2ch

  8. Context & Japanese Social Habits by Fedhax · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For those of us that are on a continent that ends with "America" or lives in Europe, this idea may not seem new or even novel. For us, dealing with Trolls and Frames are just annoying necessary evils for communicating in a broad, public forum. We deal with it ( Ignore, Moderate, Meta-moderate, etc ), and keep moving forward.

    Now, to say that Japan, and its society, resembles nothing like Western cultures is a massive understatement. In that culture, being able to speak your mind, in a raw form, can be dangerous to your reputation which affects your career, finances, and relationships, and the last thing a Japanese person wants is to be alienated from the Group. The issues of Tatemae and Honne cover this social restraint of tactful to the group and honest in private, among other aspects of Japanese life.

    Basically, this public, anonymous forum gives Japanese people the ability ( It is still a novelty to most of them, I would imagine ) to act "normal": Polite, Helpful, Insight, Confrontational, Insulting, Argumentative, etc. These free-flowing interactions are just not acceptable in a Japanese public setting. In the end, if you know the context of the culture ( I have a little insight into it, but I am sure other /. with more experience in Japan than I can pick up where I leave off. ), this bulletin board is a very big deal.

  9. Battle Royale by Siener · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I must say, this article does not seem much more than an excuse to get Battle Royale mentioned on slashdot's front page. For those of you not in the know, it's a Japanese movie about a class of 9th graders who have to kill each other in a government organised game show.

    Unfortunately for all the American slashdotters, it has never been released in the US (not even on VHS or DVD), and probably will never be. There have been many debates on why exactly this is. I know only one thing, if I were the distributor, I would want to keep it out of the US. The profits will not be worth the moral outrage it will cause.

    Bottom line is that it is a great movie, and if you have the chance, you should watch it.

  10. The big deal by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The big deal about this board is that Japanese people very rarely vent angrily in public life. In fact, IMHO they generally don't say a heck of a lot at all.

    Anyway, considering I work in pretty much an all Japanese office, *occasionally* there will be personal misunderstandings. Back home we'd probably have an argument to clear the air to find out where people stand, so something can be done about it. Over here, for the sake of personal feelings, you can't tell incompetant workers outright that they are doing a shitty job, or somesuch.

    Over here, personal disagreements just get sat on and when people have disputes, rather than talk about it to fix it, they just never end up talking to that person again. Or if they do talk, it's under the cover of being insincerely "nice". This is just so the peace is not disturbed.

    I guess this is what happens when you adhere to the "If you haven't got anything nice to say, say nothing" approach. You never get to the bottom of anything, and you never find out what other people are really thinking.

    It means that Japan is a very safe society (nobody really verbally or physically attacks anyone here).... but all these negative emotions get pent up.

    Anyway, one day I noticed that some Japanese co-workers were ignoring me for some reason (which was completely out of character). I tried to ask what the matter was, but they said nothing.
    Later on I googlesearched my name and found a messageboard post with my name mentioned. It turned out that one of those workers was venting about something I said at work, under a nickname on some private message-board.

    Needless to say, this pissed me off... but that's the Japanese for you. They'll never tell you anything to your face, even each other, but 2ch can tell you everything.

    --
    READY.
    PRINT ""+-0
    1. Re:The big deal by miu · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Over here, personal disagreements just get sat on and when people have disputes, rather than talk about it to fix it, they just never end up talking to that person again. Or if they do talk, it's under the cover of being insincerely "nice". This is just so the peace is not disturbed.

      And this is different from American corporate culture how?

      People gossip, form alliances, backstab, bully, and snub here in the US too. A showdown or heart to heart to resolve differences is actually fairly rare in any office, it's more likely that a person will silently become your enemy and never show it until they have a chance to screw you over.

      Sure the Japanese are different, but so is every other country. I think too much credence is still given to the "inscrutable oriental" image.

      --

      [Set Cain on fire and steal his lute.]
    2. Re:The big deal by nikster · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Sure the Japanese are different, but so is every other country.

      dude, you have not worked in germany.

      the way criticism is delivered differs substantially.

      america uses the hamburger tactic: criticism (the meat) is wrapped in sweet talk and encouragement (the bun). in germany, it's just the meat. in japan, just bun.

      if you do something good in america, they will make you think you just achieved the greatest thing in the world, whereas in germany you get a dry "not bad" and that will be the end of it.

      when there is a successful project, there will be own-shoulder-padding to no end in america whereas in germany they will focus on what hasn't worked and could be done better.

      to americans, the germans just seem blunt to the point of being insulting... and to germans, the americans seem to be on prozac...

      from what i have seen in aisa is that - for example - they will never say "no" to a higher-up, whereas in germany and america it's expected (at least in my industry) and managers rely on that as valuable feedback. e.g. in asia you will not point out problems that you see with your boss' suggestion. even if you know you can't possibly do it you will keep silent and try your best...

  11. quentin tarantino certainly saw battle royale by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Informative
    and he liked it so much that he cast Chiaki Kuriyama from Battle Royale as Gogo Yubari in Kill Bill Vol. 1

    and she's also basically the same character in both movies

    tarantino is on record saying he loves Kinji Fukasaku, and both kill bill movies were really nothing more than tarantino's tribute to the film makers and films he's always loved (and well done, i might add)

    here's more:

    TM: The scene where Go Go Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama) stabs a guy who approaches her for sex...was this from Battle Royale (Kinji Fukasaku, 2000, Japan)?

    QT: I went out to dinner with Kinji Fuaksaku and Kenta (Kinji's son) and I was going "man, I love this movie! It is just so fantastic!" And I said, "I love the scene where the girls are shooting are shooting each other." And then Kenta starts laughing. So I ask, "why are you laughing?" He goes, "the author of the original Battle Royale novel would be very happy to hear that you liked that scene." And I go "why?" And he says, "well, because it's from Reservoir Dogs!" Even when I was watching it I was thinking "God, these 14 year old girls are shooting each other just like in Reservoir Dogs!" And Kenta said, "he took that from Reservoir Dogs, so he'll be very proud that you like that!"
    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it