Joe wrote:

> On Mon, 2 Apr 2001, Asuka Murase - Julia Touga - Houki You - 
Kaori Miki - Tadori Midorikawa - Neora Seishuku - Kimi Nee wrote:

(wow long name.... when I first got found the message in my 
mailbox, I wondered who it was ^_^;)

(SNIP---chopped a few lines to make it short)

> This is something I've always wondered about.  How does one 
find out about anime and seiyuu in a place like Chile?  Sure, 
everyone in the world can learn a lot from Hitoshi's site, but 
there has to be some initial exposure to drive you to it.  I 
guess it's the University... do a lot of people study Japanese 
there?

I thought some universities and colleges has some kind of 
unofficial "animation club" type of organizations?

> If you can read and write a little bit of Japanese, the Amazon 
Japan site at http://www.amazon.co.jp is a great way to order 
books and magazines.  263 matches on the word "seiyuu" alone, 
with matches for just about every one of the favorite seiyuu you 
list below.

http://www.alc.co.jp

If your PC can handle Japanese fonts, this site is quite useful 
as a dictionary Japanese<->English

also, if your PC can handle Japanese fonts, try the URL 
below.It's a data base site... (this one is REALLY words only. 
Hitoshi's DB is a bit more managa generation user-friendly, 
since it's got more pictures on it ^_^;)

http://sdb.noppo.com/



> Regardless of your financial situation, if you are truly a BIG 
fan of seiyuu and want to learn more, you must study Japanese.

Formal Japanese classes are helpful, but if you want to take a 
short cut, conversation classes would be helpful as well.

Just watching hours of Japanese stuff might also help...
(didn't do me much good when I watched hours of French stuff, 
though... my accent is horrile too ;_;

> That's the one problem with Japanese sites...they are almost 
entirely text.  But maybe that's why surfing the net via cell 
phones is more popular (and useful) here than elsewhere in the 
world...

Japanese telecommunicaiton network weren't as "well built" for 
internet compared to the US... North America has free local 
calls, making the internet an economical tool to gather info. On 
the other hand, Japanese local calls aren't free. (recently, 
they started those "all you can call" to a pre-registered number 
stuff on analog lines ISDN, ADSL, etc.... but fast lines such as 
the ADSL and fiber optic lines are limited to metropolis area.)

Cel phone netsurfing is not "perfect" yet in Japan. chtml is 
used, etc... but the problem is, J-phone, NTT Docomo, and other 
companies each have DIFFERENT standards with their phone.
(Our company had to develop some tools to make a universal chtml 
translation program to put up contents on the net...)

To make things worse, the packet price for the Cel phone 
downloading (programs) is a rip-off... (but thanks to the I-
appli, this problem might be solved....?)

....but you know, not many people buy stuff on the Cel phones... 
(tough for E-commerce comapnies...)

> > Besides, i have read that a lot of you live in Japan... Is 
that true???? How is the life there?? It must be WONDERFUL!!! I 
have read that you go to events, take the pictures and you can't 
imagine how many time i have dreamed those things....

But before you can go to events, you have to clear a few 
things... like take a day off from work/school, stand in line to 
buy a ticket for an event (or go there really early to get a 
good seat).... or buy multiple copies of the same CD to get a 
ticket, etc... ^_^;;;
 
> Oh geez...this is like looking at myself in a timewarp mirror 
seven or eight years ago! (^_^;)

gee... were seiyuu that big then...?
I can't remember...
I knew anime and games were big then...
(still is big)

Have "seiyu" have become more like idols these days...?
(ie: people get hooked immediately, and they chill out as soon 
as that idol retire, or the fan gets "too old")

but gamers will always be gamers, and the managa generation will 
always be the manga generation...
(that why we got more adult contents manga cranked out ^_^;)

> With luck, I found a job in Tokyo and moved to Japan in summer 
of 1996. For about a year and a half I traveled the country, 
actually getting to speak with Aya several times (she almost 
became a fan of me at one point), later moving on to Toyoshima 
Machiko.  A series of events in late February 1998 led to my 
giving up the seiyuu otaku lifestyle, and today, wife, child, 
and job assure that I never have time to return to that 
lifestyle again.

...why did Joe give up seiyuu otaku lifestyle...?
Did he quit otaku and his "series of events" start, or did 
these "series of events" start first, which made him quit otaku?

(remains a mystery to me even till this day.... heck, Joe 
commuting long hours to work is also a mystery to me as well, 
when he was only a few mins away from work in his old place... I 
basically "live" in the office during the busy times of the 
year ;_;)

> All in all it was a blast, and I'm happy and grateful to have 
had the opportunity to do all that.  But you have to realize 
that it is not a way of life you can maintain for very long.  

...but...but...but... Hitoshi is still continueing.. (as far as 
I know, he was like that ever since I was a high school student 
^_^;;; long long time ago... when web browsers were still Mosaic 
or that text based Lynx... ^_^;;;)

> Anything more than a couple of years of hard core fandom and 
you lose your grip on reality, and your ability to enjoy 
a "normal" life.  It is a very high stress, high maintenance 
lifestyle, and your body and mind can only hold out for so long 
like that before something gives way.

Don't worry. A broken down otaku life is better then the old 
Japanese style "be a slave to your company and not have a life 
at all"... get paid very little too ^_^;
You'll need some strong "tranquilizer" (like otaku-izm, or some 
kind of hobby or sports) to keep yourself "sane" ^_^;

> > Okis... My last words will go to Hitoshi Doi... Doi-sama, 
you're are the greatest webmaster in the world, I LOVE your web 
page and i admire you A LOT because you are a very generous 
person. 

(I wish he was even more generous to his server... put in more 
HDD ^_^;;) LOL

Oh yeah... Hitoshi, ADSL lines are even cheaper now... (24 hours 
too) I don't know how much you use the connection at home, but 
ADSL lines are quite fast. Don't go for the Yuse Co.'s fiber 
lines. Their back bone is SLOW ;_;

> All I'll say about this is to appeal to your sense of 
journalism, and don't judge Japan based on what you read about 
Hitoshi and his web site, or what you know about anime or 
seiyuu. If you stay long in Japan, you will see that there are 
good things and bad things about Japan, just like any other 
country.  As a Chilean, you might see more of the bad things 
than others.  It is a country of talented seiyuu, warm friendly 
people, and an interesting culture.

If you stay long in Japan, before yo notice anything, you'll 
notice the high costs of living and the extreemly expensive 
social security tax... to make things worse, if you live 
downtown, local tax is also high... ;_;
Yes, your wallet will hurt you before anything hurts your 
feelings ^_^;;; LOL

> It is also a culture that prides work over family, 

I thought that was "prides company over family"....?
(a bit different)

> abuses old people in nursing homes,

...but....but....but... some of them are powerful grand-ma's... 
they run onto the train, cutting infront of me, and takes away 
my seat... (I waited 3 trains to get that seat this morning, and 
get it snatched away the last min. by some grand-ma who got off 
the Odakyu line 30 seconds ago... gee, she can run... ^_^;)

> and exploits hundred of naive young girls to work as 
underpaid "talent".

No, no no. You got it wrong. You're the one who's over-paid. To 
most of us, it's "standard salary"....
If you work for a "avarage Japanese company" you have to be a 
full time worker to maintain a "standard life" (low standard, 
compared to those who are used to North American lifestyle, 
etc.)... if you are a part time (even idols and TV/radio 
announcers, etc.) you can't make a living by itself. 

> And no matter how good your Japanese becomes, no matter how 
much Japanese culture you absorb, no matter who you meet or who 
you marry or what relationships you cultivate, you will always, 
always, be the Outsider to the Japanese people.

Don't worry, just live in Shibuya-ku. You got some high school 
girls who's hair is blond, or their skin darker then "average", 
etc.... you won't stand out too much ^_^; (kidding..)
...local tax is high though. ;_;

> Japan is a million different things to a million different 
people, that changes every day, but is never quite what you want 
or expect it to be.  Accept that, and you are well on your way 
to discovering much about Japan and yourself.

One thing you should remember is, this country's people (well, 
most of them) hates outright conflicts, and most people tends to 
get "hooked on" the same things... (act more as a group)
 
> By all means, come to Japan and experience what it has to 
offer.  But don't be surprised if your experience is not what 
you expect it to be.

Bring lots of cash. Only big places accepts credit cards.
Oh, and good walking shoes... you'll be walking around and 
taking public transportation most of the time.
I hope you like over-crowded trains ^_^;

> And finally, welcome to the ML!  Hopefully your arrival will 
spring more discussion, and take the burden off of Hitoshi to 
provide things to talk about here.  ^_^

South America... gee... har dto find Japanese books there... the 
nearest Kinokuniya would be the US...

(below is the URL to the complete listing, address, phone 
number, etc.) for Kinokuniya outside of Japan... I think you 
need a credit card to place an order... (wonder how much 
shipping would cost...)

http://www.kinokuniya.co.jp/english/html/network4.html

Hope this helped a bit.


-- 
Kenji Shimizu