Dr. Tucker, our club adviser, had an article written about his latest Japan trip in the ECU faculty and staff newspaper!

Way to go Dr. T!

From xkcdFrom Tech Crunch by Serkan Toto - Sized at an estimated $5.6 billion in 2007, Japan boasts one of the biggest online advertising markets in the world – a huge potential just waiting to be tapped by foreign social networks. The world’s two largest social networks, MySpace and Facebook, barely register in Japan. As the Google Trends for Websites chart above shows, local social network Mixi is outpacing both in Japan. On Alexa, Mixi is ranked the No. 6 most popular site in Japan, compared to No. 95 for MySpace (Facebook doesn’t even make it into the top 100). MySpace and Facebook are trying - but why are they failing?

Complacency and failure to adopt to cultural differences

Social networks have become integrative elements of modern American youth culture over the last years, shaping social patterns and changing the ways that people communicate. When taken abroad, these services have to deal with a large number of cross-cultural peculiarities by their very nature.

Societal and cultural gaps are particularly evident in the case of Japan. Market entry in this country with a “What works in the US must also work over there”-attitude is going awry for both Facebook and MySpace. It’s not a stereotype that communication tends to be nonverbal in Japan. The society generally puts more emphasis on the community rather than on the individual. Also, security plays a major role in many aspects of Japanese life.

These cultural distinctions largely explain why social networks from abroad have a hard time winning over Japan’s 90 million web users. Mixi, the country’s biggest social network, positioned itself as a tool for communicating at a distance through diaries and communities to meet like-minded members. It doesn’t primarily exist to make new friends (poking is restricted) or as a platform for public self-presentation.

Read the rest of the story at Tech Crunch

LIFE (Japanese Drama)Hey everyone!
Upon review of the Fall 2008 ballots, I realized that I miss counted some of the votes. I recounted the votes correctly and there was a tie between two shows:
Nodame Cantabile and LIFE with a total count of 59 points for each show.
Since Nodame Cantabile was the only true comedy choice among the shows that were picked I made a presidential decision and picked Nodame Cantabile over LIFE.
So these are the shows for Fall 2008:

Anime: Black Lagoon and Basilisk
Live Action: Liar Game and Nodame Cantabile

Please know that I didn’t pick Nodame because I like it better or like LIFE less. I picked Nodame because I didn’t want to have a semester of Japan League without any comedy shows.
If you have any questions or concerns please email me.
Thank you guys for a great year!
-Ashley Oles
Japan League President

Friends of Anime Unite!From Something Awful - This is an emergency newsletter, but before I begin with the unpleasantness, I must tell you that our meeting held on July 17 was a huge success! While we haven’t yet solidified the recruitment process and accompanying multiple-choice quiz and essay questions, we got the word out and had several hundred walk-in visitors who could have potentially asked us questions, or even joined the club!. Steven: Great idea to hold the meeting in the lobby of a hotel! Though next time, let’s make arrangements with the hotel staff so we can stay longer than 25 minutes or so.

Now, onto business: A great terror has befallen our peaceful high school anime club. Our High Chancellor of Manga, Lieutenant of Giant Mech Suits, Female Android Specialist, Master Sergeant of Cosplay, and Designated Keeper of All Original Copies, Greg, has forcibly lost possession of approximately 85% of the club’s anime holdings. Friends of Anime– this is a call to arms!

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the modest Greg must currently reside with his mother and new bullshit stepdad, Jeff, for approximately the next 3 to 4 years. Greg’s mother has no opinion of anime, but his stepfather does not approve. On the evening of July 20, whilst out amongst the local Hogwarts elite, Greg’s room was invaded by a certain stepfather’s bulldog, which found the stock of anime and destroyed a great deal of it. The humble collection of mainly VHS tapes was inside a wicker storage box and placed under Greg’s bed, yet suspiciously, the bullshit stepdog was able to find and chew up many titles. My friends, this was no accident.

Read the rest of the story at Something Awful, it’s hysterical!