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...

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...

Nanette Gottlieb's comprehensive study considers the role of language in Japanese society, particularly in relation to the formation of national and personal identities. It covers important questions such as multilingualism, language and nationalism, language and technology, and literacy and reading habits. Written by a leading authority in this field, Gottlieb's work is essential reading for students and scholars wishing to know more about the Japanese language and the society in which it is spoken.

This collection investigates the changing relationship between language and citizenship in Japan today through an examination of key themes relating both to newcomers and to older groups of citizens whose language practices have been shaped by historical forces. Adopting an array of theoretical and methodological approaches ranging from document-based to empirical research and highlighting the increasingly fluid relationship of language to citizenship in a contemporary globalising society, contributors problematise the notion of "one country, one culture, and one language" which has shaped...

This book throws light on ideologies, practices and sociocultural developments currently shaping language use in Japan by departing from the more common investigation of language in private contexts and examining aspects of the language found in a range of significant public spaces, from the material (an international airport, the streets of Tokyo, the JSL classroom in Japan and courtrooms) to the electronic (television dramas, local government web pages and cyberspace). Through its study of the language encountered in such settings, the volume provides a deeper understanding of multifaceted...

Examines the major issues of language planning and policy in Japan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Vietnam, particularly those relating to the selection of official language, script, and written language.