Hi, My name is Tori Johnson (a.k.a The Chemist) and this is DailyJ. It is currently a blog in transition as I search for new meaning and ways to add value to the Japan-related web community.

Click on “The Interviews” tab above for interviews I conducted with over 20 Japan-related webmasters.

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Rethinking.

Lurking.

It seems to me that a sustained and useful Japan-related web community requires soul searching.

I know that for myself, for me to be a useful and long-term contributor, I have to do soul searching. I have to know what really drives and motivates me; what will really sustain my enthusiasm for this activity.

For me it is about Japan and it is about the web. But it is also bigger/more than just Japan and more than just the web.

It is about people, passion, mission.

So I have been rethinking and reformulating in the shadows. It’s not quite time yet; the ideas aren’t solid yet.

But the questions are firm and universal.

Why Japan?

Why are we interested in Japan? What exactly is the nature of our interest in Japan? (ex: living there, want to live there, etc.) How can we satisfy that interest?

Why the web?

Why do we blog? Why do we build websites? Why do we write, podcast, videocast?

and perhaps even…

Why a community?

Why the need to organise? Why the need/desire to connect with others? How does the community benefit the whole?

Instead I have been digging deeper into the soul searching I started at the end of last year. And I have been tapping into what my passions truly are which I think will ultimately do me and any project I choose to work on more good than just doing something for the sake of [fill in the blank].

But I have been actively working on small constant improvements to the j-web community toolbar.

Here is the latest addition:

1) Furigana Generator!

Working on a document and want to add furigana on top of all or some of the kanji?

Furigana Generator can help. I’ve put a link to it on the toolbar under the “tools” menu.

http://mosquito.dyndns.tv/~spock/furi/

I also added a link under “japan links” to http://tokyo-vr.com/

Tokyo VR is website with neat virtual reality style panoramic shots of places in Tokyo. They are interactive so you can pan around and zoom in. The Tokyo Undergroad shots are rather interesting.

Diddlefinger.com - I was think of adding this but I don’t know if it will be useful. It is a google maps mashup where you can search google maps japan in English.

I’d really like to make this toolbar more useful. I am definitely not satisfied yet…

As part of my commitment to make the community japanese language toolbar a force for enhancing collaboration on the Japan-related web I’ve just added a cool new feature:

Floating JapanSoc Widgets! (see screenshot below)

JapanSoc floating widget

“Why should I care?” you say?

Well, if you are a Jsoc’er you can use this handy tool to keep up with the latest Top and Upcoming stories on JapanSoc, without being on JapanSoc.

So let’s say you are “busy” watching Youtube videos but you also want to see if there is anything new on JapanSoc - now you can!

“Give me the widget already!”

First you have to have the japanese language toolbar. Once you have that, on the toolbar go to “japan links” and find the new “JapanSoc” section. In that section click on either “top stories popup” or “upcoming stories popup”

The popup can be resized using the resize thingy (what do you call those?) on the bottom right.

I hope it will be of use to you.

As always, let me know what you think! I’m all ears.

Have a great day,

DailyJ

This included turning my back on Swicki and using Google instead.

I really did not want to do that but I had to bite the bullet…

It’s not that I don’t love Google, I do. But I saw something unique in Swicki and their “social search.” I still believe that voting and searching ought to be together, especially in vertical search (like Japan-related search) where there can be a community built around searching.

The Swicki people were always very helpful and friendly but unfortunately the platform let me down too many times.

I’ll probably post more about possibilities for nipponster in the future. But for now that is all. Any thoughts you want to share are VERY welcome.

Thanks all

The purpose of this page is to put the creative direction of the toolbar into the hands of the users. It is now more than ever your toolbar!

The goal of this project is also to encourage a “open-source” style of collaboration on Japan-related web projects. (Thanks Nick)

As always I’d looove to hear your feedback!

Have a great day,

DailyJ

Going once, going twice, gone!

Jamaipanese.com snatched up Gaijinbook.com

And I decided to keep Japanopedia.

I have one more Japan-related domain name that I might be willing to part with if you have a good plan for it. “Japandigger.com”

Email me if you are interested.

Going forward it will be important for me to focus my time and resources on the areas where I am already providing value (and can provide future value). And I plan to cut everything that doesn’t.

So, here are the domains available (all registered at godaddy):

Japanopedia.org - A Japan encyclopedia project was the original vision. Maybe you can make it work or come up with a better idea for it. Ganbare!

Japanopedia.com - was registered to protect the japanopedia name (which was probably pointless)

gaijinbook.com - I had so many ideas for this site. The first website I ever made was thegaijinbook.com in 2003 with the help of a friend. It was supposed to be a site where foreigners (mostly foreign exchange students) in Japan could post articles talking about their experiences. We even played with the idea of turning some of the experiences into a book (which could be done easily now with lulu) and giving all the published submitters a percentage of sales. But the idea didn’t take off (my vanity would like to think it was ahead of its time) and I moved on to other website projects. We forgot to renew the name and lost it. I always liked the name though and ended up buying gaijinbook.com (which was better anyway). I didn’t have a clear idea for it at first but finally planned to turn into a social networking site for foreigners. Probably not a great idea. I don’t know.

Anyway, maybe you can take it and do something awesome with it.

I’ve never sold or given away a domain before so I am not sure exactly how it works on godaddy although I know you can do it and supposedly it isn’t hard.

SO, if you are interested, just email me about the domain you want and we can figure out how to make the transfer from there.

eaglelandgrace Att gmail

Being away from the action is never fun and I am glad to have found some inspiration and time to make some updates and post them.

I am always lurking and seeing things here and there though.
So much is going on lately on the J-web and I am anxious to talk about it and find out about it from the people involved.

But to start I thought I’d better make good on my word and finish working out some suggestions Nick (whom I cannot thank enough) sent me for the Nipponster Toolbar.

So here they are (thank Nick):

The radio&tv section has been cleaned up a bit

I put a link to BillWest’s JapanBlogger.net for the “Blogs, Podcasts and Videos” section of the “Japan Links”

And I added to the “Japan Links -> Forums and Communities” section also, including a link to the JapanSoc community blog

Now you can also have the largest RSS feed of Japan blogs on the planet right on your browser with the Japan Blog Big RSS feed

And, best of all, I’ve included Tofugu’s “Top 10 Japanese Language Resources” to the Japan Links section. It is a great list for learning Japanese and now each of the 10 a available right from your browser.

I am excited about the new toolbar updates and I am hoping to roll out more soon. Especially ones that will make the Tofugu resources even easier to use.

So, if you haven’t taken it for a spin yet be sure to try out the Nipponster toolbar today.

Well, that’s all from me, what is happening on your side of the J-web?

Improving the Nipponster Toolbar (based on suggestions. Thanks Nick!). More on that later.