"God, I am so sick of English speakers who think that they are representative of (or even the majority of) foreigners in Japan." That has nothing to do with this. JapanSoc is an English language website, and its admins are English language speakers. If LongCountDown allowed submissions in any language, the site would be a confusing mess and the primary audience - English speakers- would be driven away. It would also be impossible for the admin to judge if stories were appropriate or inappropriate.

It is so amazing... I can't understand why do you say that, why do you do that about my blog. It is a blog like the others, and, on it, we speak french. I can't see what is the problem. The fans of Japan must speak English?

It was worth watching.

I do not like damn bike people! Although, it is normal for people to ride bikes a lot here. I just deal with it in a silent way.

The market is moving! I better plan an early morning trip to see this amazing part of Tokyo culture.

Well, actually it is kind of cool to see a French blog on Japansoc. I mean people from all parts of the earth come to Japan and have amazing stories ti share society. People from all over the world speak different languages. It could also bring in more users if non-English blog pops up from time to time. All I am saying is for y'all to give it a chance just for a little while and see of it works. In the end, I will respect the final decision of the admin on this issue.

Everyone's favorite gangsters are being the people`s champion. The only problem with this is that when people cannot pay the load shark the monthly payments all hell is gonna loose. Though it all the Japanese market is much more healthy than what the US is dealing with currently. Things have went to shit in the US very fast. The Japanese market is prepared for the hard time ahead.

God, I am so sick of English speakers who think that they are representative of (or even the majority of) foreigners in Japan. Fine, go ahead and lock out other languages if you want, but it'll certainly make this place less interesting/cool. But at least have the stones to put up a real rule about it, and don't equate somebody's French blog with the hate speech and spam that the rule that you posted was obviously meant to address. I've been reading your blogs etc. since you started JapanSoc; I never expected you to be as exclusionary as you are. It seems uncharacteristic.

There is nothing wrong with a little gonzo action. Even in Tokyo.

Look, it's common sense. The site is in English, the readers all use English. That's why I'm writing this in English as opposed to Arabic. This is rightfully buried as "inappropriate" because the Terms of Service state, "you agree that you will not: ... (c.) submit links or bookmarks that are unlawful, obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, violate any law, or is otherwise inappropriate;" "otherwise inappropriate".

That's not entirely fair -- I soc'ed it because it was an interesting blog about Japanese music. Once again, if the rules are "english blogs only", that's fine, but at least say so somewhere.

That's because someone, unfortunately, is soc'ing everything just to get points.

Are stories on JapanSoc required to be in English? I wasn't aware of that. In any case, a site about japanese music seems to be on-topic...

Riding against traffic is my biggest pet peeve. Now that I'm on a motorcycle it's not as bad, but back in my moped days, I was required by law to keep to the left-most 1 meter of the road, which is exactly where I would come to a head-on collision with all of the people riding against traffic.

What is the problem? It's a site like the others... If you don't like it, I can't nothing for you...

After cycling (responsibly) in Tokyo for the past 14 months, I can say that the greatest threat to a cyclist's safety on the road is, another person on a bicycle (I don't use the word cyclist on purpose). Cars are relatively well-behaved and respectful of cyclists in Tokyo. What has almost caused most of my accidents though are people on bicycles (almost always mama-cheris) riding against traffic. Twice, and at the same intersection near Shinjuku station east side, someone riding against traffic around a blind corner almost caused a head-on collision. The only reason I avoided it the second time was because I had the experience of someone doing it before at the same spot so I was anticipating it. If I hadn't been, it likely would have been a fairly harsh head on collision. For car driver's, the most important thing for you to do is ALWAYS look out your window before opening your door. Thanks.

It only takes about five minutes to write a post, so it's pretty easy. And I'm only posting what I add to my own SRS anyway. I encourage anyone with time on their hands, and some Japanese source materials to start a blog. Some ideas include: signs ads maps ticket stubs, receipts names on people's letter boxes menus pizza boxes slogans on food forms pamphlets tissue packs things you hear people say on the train games clothing tags etc. Have at it.

The "Japanese Sign Blog" links to the "Small Print" blog which is similar but might be more challenging for higher level students. http://gochuui.blogspot.com/

How in the world did this submission - something that isn't even in English and clearly doesn't belong on this site - get two socs?

Might be pretty boring for that blogger to write those posts, but it does look like a nice studying exercise.

me too please! xxmelyssaxx@yahoo.com

I saw these guys live in Kagawa prefecture at last year's Monster Bash. They put on an insane show. My favorite was the classic "I My Me Mine." Of course, the video with Strong Machine 2 is pretty sweet too. Ha ha.

The "regular" Japanese channels are still there but they can't be accessed by people in Japan. There's some sort of regional block.

Yes, it may be a nice building, but it is blocking my view of the venerable Nomura Building, so I am prejudiced against it.

tokyo is awesome! I love that black skyscraper!