Japanese Cybercultures

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.