Comment by Ken Worsley

October 16, 2007 @ 12:47 am

Congrats Debito!

Wow, “How to submit information on illegal foreigners when government offices are closed.”

Damn, what service…when you really can’t wait until Monday. The best part is that they cannot offer any real services on off hours. Hey, what do you want?

Were you on a boat at around 7:00? I think that’s a boat engine in the background. When I finally get up to Sapporo, we’re getting some boat drinks.

Comment by Arudou Debito

October 16, 2007 @ 10:47 am

Apologies for the sound quality (I know, I’ve said that to you offlist enough, but hell, here too). That whirring sound is the sound of my fan inside my Powerbook G4. Dunno why it gets picked up like that. Hope that gets resolved when I get a new mic. Hope everyone enjoys the podcast–the first one is predictably creaky. Debito in Sapporo

Comment by Turner

October 16, 2007 @ 7:32 pm

I smell a blog hierarchy forming…

Comment by Arudou Debito

October 17, 2007 @ 9:00 am

I listened to the podcast myself. It was embarrassing enough for me to stop by Yodobashi and pick up a real mic and learn about bells and whistles. I rerecorded the entire Newsleter afresh last night before bed and sent to TPR, and hope it’s not too much trouble to just reupload afresh the document for those who haven’t listened yet. I even finish the podcast with an excerpt of a Duran Duran track, on my continuing mission to show the world that they aren’t quite as ignorable as all that. Unfortunately, the fan on my Mac still can be heard revving up in the recording. Design flaw. Rats. Debito

Comment by DeOrio

October 17, 2007 @ 12:01 pm

Yes! Duran Duran! Woooooo! Rock on!

OK, you won me over. I’ll never miss an episode now. (I’m serious. The Duran Duran thing is a good idea.)

Comment by DeOrio

October 17, 2007 @ 3:09 pm

Turner, who’s at the top?

Comment by JS

October 17, 2007 @ 3:42 pm

DeOrio: How is it even a question as to who’s on top?

http://japundit.com/

Comment by Turner

October 18, 2007 @ 5:25 pm

My money’s on Debito, TPR, Ampontan, and Japan Probe; Danny Choo gets his own category.

Comment by JS

October 18, 2007 @ 8:09 pm

Turner - Ampontan? You mean for shits and giggles, right?

Comment by Andy V

October 19, 2007 @ 12:38 am

Japan Probe goes in the Danny Choo category - entertainment.

Traffic goes, I’m guessing Danny Choo, Japan Probe, Japundit.

Other category would be serious content (traffic order) - Debito, TPR, Japan Economy News, Observing Japan. This category has power beyond traffic. Maybe Danny Choo too.

Ampontan would be a different category. JS is right. Maybe entertainment.

Comment by Turner

October 19, 2007 @ 12:42 am

Yeah, mainly just to see if you were listening

Comment by Ken Worsley

October 19, 2007 @ 1:23 am

JS, you’re not supposed to say that out loud.

PS: Danny Choo is not a blog. It’s a well-done online business.

Comment by JS

October 19, 2007 @ 4:57 am

I smell a blog hierarchy forming…

What does a blog hierarchy smell like anyway?

Andy, you forgot Mutant Frog.

Ken, I can say whatever I want out loud.

Comment by Ken Y-N

October 19, 2007 @ 6:17 am

Ken, good point about Danny Choo - I suppose you’ve noticed too that recently a number of his posts have been rather SEOd with two-word titles and clumsy repitition of the keywords in the blog posts.

Comment by Ken Worsley

October 19, 2007 @ 1:31 pm

Ken…No, I haven’t noticed. I’ve seen it once, a few months ago, but I’m not into that kind of stuff. I just saw a site where lots of stuff is for sale.

Comment by DeOrio

October 19, 2007 @ 3:04 pm

Mutant Frog might need its own category, too. Although I’d put it in with TPR and give Observing Japan, Shisaku, GlobalTalk 21, and Liberal Japan their own category.

I took a look at Danny Choo, because of this thread, for maybe the second time ever. Certainly no shortage of stuff for sale (including most of the space on the site.) More power to him, he’s doing it well, it seems.

Now, in this hierarchy, do we have power over Debito b/c we’re distributing his podcast, or does he have power over us b/c we’re distributing his podcast?

On a separate note, I hope people have been listening to Debito’s podcast and I especially hope everyone who possibly can will join us on Saturday night at Big Ys Cafe in Yokohama. It’s for a good cause.

Comment by Ken Y-N

October 19, 2007 @ 4:12 pm

I don’t read Danny myself either, but I notice his feed at the footer of Japan Probe. He’s definitely got a very nice set up (20,000 plus visitors per day, I think, and good traffic affiliate ideas) and no shortage of soft pr0n on display that surely must bring in the money. Not my cup of tea in the slightest, however.

He’s just popped ahead of me for “Japanese Emoticons”, which is my top keyword, if we exclude some broken MSN Live searches. I’ll have to investigate his backlinks tonight to see why it’s there…

Oh, and can I get my own category too please?

Comment by DeOrio

October 19, 2007 @ 4:30 pm

Yes, Ken, of course you can. You’re always going to be high up in the hierarchy.
I’d actually divide into three categories: Those I read because I want to, those I read once in a while by chance, and those I avoid. What Japan Thinks, of course, is in the first category.

Comment by Turner

October 19, 2007 @ 5:11 pm

And naturally, I remain at the forefront of whatever my specialty is in Japan.

Comment by DeOrio

October 19, 2007 @ 10:10 pm

True enough. Yours is the only running-photography-rumination Japan blog of which I’m aware.

Comment by JS

October 20, 2007 @ 4:45 am

DeOrio: I nominate Ampontan for being the best at being one guy who writes a blog and has like 15 different people who regularly comment, who are obviously all just him, leaving comments on his own blog and stroking his own ego. He’s really good at that! Are you?

Comment by DeOrio

October 20, 2007 @ 2:10 pm

Sadly, I am relatively lowly-skilled. I am only one person, one mere blogger. Maybe I should get an alter-ego, you think people would see through Oiroed? Oiroed could tell me what a genius I was and would never, ever bog me down in arguments over things I hadn’t said. He could even helpfully elucidate points I’d made.

What happens if the alter ego makes a really insightful point, though? Wouldn’t the egomaniac want everyone to know it was him? But if he told everyone, that would destroy his ego. Tough racket.

I have no idea who Ampontan’s commenters are, though. I don’t read Ampontan much. Let’s give the guy a break, OK?

Comment by Ken Worsley

October 20, 2007 @ 3:50 pm

JS, enough already. No one cares.