Japanese Cybercultures

This is the first book to analyse the different applications and uses of the Internet in Japan. It looks at the development of the Internet in Japan, the online dynamics of Japanese language use, and Net use by specific subcultures. Japan is rightly regarded as one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, yet the development and deployment of Internet technology in Japan has taken a different trajectory compared with Western nations. This is the first book to look at the specific dynamics of Japanese Internet use. It examines the crucial questions: * how the Japanese are using the Internet: from the prevalence of access via portable devices, to the fashion culture of mobile phones * how Japan's "cute culture" has colonized cyberspace * the role of the Internet in different musical subcultures * how different men's and women's groups have embraced technology to highlight problems of harassment and bullying * the social, cultural and political impacts of the Internet on Japanese society * how marginalized groups in Japanese society - gay men, those living with AIDS, members of new religious groups and Japan's hereditary sub-caste, the Burakumin - are challenging the mainstream by using the Internet. Examined from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives, using a broad range of case-studies, this is an exciting and genuinely cutting-edge book which breaks new ground in Japanese studies and will be of value to anyone interested in Japanese culture, the Internet and cyberculture.