THE TOKYO BLOG REVOLUTION
The World is Shrinking as Foreigners in Japan Share Their Private Diaries with the Internet Community

The Internet is a breeding ground for new cutting-edge trends that constantly reshape the world's culture in many subtle ways. The latest paradigm shift comes in the form of something called a weblog, or "blog."

There are many conflicting views of exactly what qualifies as a blog, but most agree that in simple terms blogs are online journals with dated entries. Blogging has swept the Internet and changed the way many are thinking about our emerging global society. Salam Pax, also known as "The Baghdad Blogger," has become a virtual superstar for his very personal dispatches from the front lines of war torn Iraq. Increasingly, blogging is opening up the world allowing us all to see deeply into societies that were previously only viewable via mainstream media channels.

The same holds true for the often mysterious land known as Japan. Located on the opposite side of the planet from the United States, Japan is not only America's closest non-English speaking partner nation, but it is the second largest economy on the planet. Nevertheless, the country remains cloaked in exotic myth, foolish stereotypes, and sometimes accurate futuristic hyperbole. Cutting through this shifting veneer of culture clash has been difficult for most Westerners who visit (see Bill Murray's "Lost In Translation"), or attempt to interpret the culture via non-fiction books.

But now a new breed of foreigner has entered Japanese culture-the blogger. Sometimes bitter from culture shock, or positively fascinated by the stark "otherness" of Japan, these bloggers are now freely describing discreet cultural mores, customs, and faux pas all occurring in the wildly inventive land of Japan.

Because dozens of foreigners are beginning to blog from Japan, the entire world is getting an education on what it means to live in one of the world's oldest cultures while experiencing the newest technology available in any country bar none.

Iowa native and IT professional Harvey Beasley has taken to blogging with a passion that pours through the computer monitor. "I started my blog after spending a year in Japan, landing a job, and learning to speak the language," says Beasley. "The reason I started JapanNewbie.com was to share my experiences with others who are interested, and also to provide a forum for sharing information. I think I have learned just as much from my visitors as they have learned from me. The blog has been a great help in getting me connected with other really successful people in Japan. It's also a great place to hang out during slow work days."

Regularly blogging from his G3 iBook® on Panther Mac® OS X 10.3, Beasley tells of one anecdote that typifies the utility of keeping a blog as a Westerner in Japan. "Recently I told my Japanese friends that I went to 'Mother Farm,' or Mother bokujyo, as it is called in Japanese. And most of them either had no idea what I was talking about, or had only gone there as [an] elementary school field trip. It's not exactly the most exciting place in the world. I figured I must have been the only gaikokujin (foreigner) in Tokyo who had visited the spot! I said so on my blog, and immediately got two responses from people who have said they had been also... Small world."

While most blogs tend to lean towards being a bit mean and snarky, well-known blogger, and hardcore Mac fan, Gen Kanai (www.kanai.net/weblog) runs a blog that is both friendly and consistently interesting. Kanai's take on blogging is a bit different from most. "I have a hunch that the Japanese will take blogging and change it slightly for their own culture vs. adopting it exactly as it is done elsewhere," says Kanai. "For instance, I can imagine many more anonymous weblogs/diaries here in Japan than in the US."

Game designer and California native Greg Tavares (www.greggman.com) landed in Japan in search of adventure and now regularly posts his anecdotes on his blog. "Seeing the example of a friend that spoke Japanese and how he was able to talk to the big name Japanese game companies like Sega, Sony, and NintendoÉI decided to study Japanese and that eventually led to me deciding to come to Japan to study for real."

The landscape of web writers blogging from Japan and about Japan only increases with every month. Blogs like F-kedGaijin.com, Easterwood.org, and Tokyonyc.com (written by yours truly), all take readers on a trip through the ever-changing kaleidoscope jungle of Japanese pop culture far more effectively than any movie or book ever could. Looking to the future of Japan's blog revolution, Kanai says, "The trend to take photographs with a digital camera and upload them to the Internet and one's own website (mobile weblogging, or 'moblogging') has really taken hold in Japan as it is the nation with the largest amount of camera-equipped phones. Future trends will include geo-location via GPS and more ubiquitous communication."