FALL 2005 @ ITP

The Border between KAWAII and COOL culture

Alternatively, "Discussion About Michael Horan". For "Technologies of Persuasion" by Douglas Rushkoff, inspired by "Merchants of Cool".

Exordium >>

"Hey! It's really cute!!! I'm jealous!!!". Unexpectedly, Michael Horan screamed in firmware lab. I was surprised to hear his voice because we were in the middle of a serious discussion how we had to change the code for our project. I turned around and saw tiny little people dancing on a breadboard. Those people were made out of colorful electrical wires by using needle-nosed pliers. I mumbled to myself, "Shoot, IT IS KAWAII". The craftsman was a Korean girl named Jung Ming. So, for me as a Japanese girl, it is understandable that the person sharing Asian KAWAII culture made those KAWAII figures. Yet, how could American Michael Horan find them cute and seriously envy? Look other American students in the firmware lab. Although noticing these wired guys, they just smiled and passed over. Is this because Michael Horan is just an overly self-expressive person or something? I assume this is because he is one of the very few people with a keen sense of both American COOL culture and Japanese KAWAII culture. I can say that since he is wearing Y-3 sneakers and putting tiny-fluffy-kid-goart's stickers on his portable HD at the same time. I would like to explain why I was so astonished by his sensitivity, from the aspect of each culture's "gender" and "age". Oh, by the way, as you may already notice, KAWAII means "cute" in Japanes..... (continued)

Comparison of Participatory Novels & the Possibility of MOO

for Independent Study with Douglas Rushkoff.

Exordium >>

On the Japanese biggest bulletin board (*1), the story of "Densya-Otoko (*2)" started like this,

731 (*3): Today I met a beautiful girl on the train coming back from Akihabara (*4)...

The threadss theme is "for single mem who want to curse" where nerds without girlfriends gather to groan about their adversity. He (aka 731, later named "Densya-Otoko") was one of those participants who rarely posted a comment. The story continues. He saw a drunken man annoyed a girl on the train. Summoning all his courage, he shouted to the man to stop it. It was far from cool since he trembled from first to last and was helped by a businessman in the end. Yet, the girl and others appreciated that he made the first move. After interviewing by a police investigator, the girl and others asked his contact information because they wanted to send a thank-you note. The excitement of those appreciations made him post this story on the BBS. Remember, this is the thread where nerds who rarely have a chance to speak with girls. That kind of man was appreciated by a girl for first time in life. Furthermore, the girl is beautiful. It would be legitimate for him to get so excited. Other participants praised his brave action. Yet nobody knew if the girl really sends him a thank-you note. Since he didn't ask her contact information (Shoot!), there is no way for him to reach her.

A couple days later, the story continued like this,

Densya-Otoko: I've gotten a letter and gift from the girlkjsatiu aslkjteraiouyanlkl!!!!!! ..... (continued)

*1: Japanese biggest bulletin board
Which is 2-channel, opened in May, 1999. There are more than seven million accessors. Although its huge number of accessors, 2-channnel is somewhat closed subculture. Because of its anonymity, some people make offensive comments, some threads become like cults, and some posts closely related to crimes. Yet, for those reasons, 2-channel is a tight community. They use a variety of special terms, have tons of implied rules, and immediately recognize the intelligibility of a comment-poster. The founder of this BBS named Hiroyuki talked cynically, "The comment-posters of 2-channel are losers in the real world. They put comments just for groaning because they don't have courage to oppose the world." Yet it is interesting that those comments have such a huge influence in the social world. Some company change their decision for 2-channel. http://www.2ch.net/

*2: Densya-Otoko
Which can be literally translated as "Train Man". Other participants stated calling him so because his story came from a train. Since then, he refers to himself as "Densha-Otoko".

*3: 731
The number of the post. People sometimes use the first number of the post to identify themselves instead of using their handle-names.

SPRING 2005 @ ITP

The Center of Public Sphere

for "Information Contours" by Marc Librale.

Exordium >>

Is it true that we have more access to information than bourgeois in the eighteenth century? Is it true that we are more educated than those who passionately discussed about politics at coffee shops during that century? And, is it true so that we can make wiser decision than those who surveiled and influenced government system at that time? Before coming to ITP, working for publishing company as a magazine editor, I used the Internet and got most of the information I needed within less than ten seconds. I hardly suspect that we have much more freedom compared to those bourgeois. Blindly, I have believed so because having free access to information means I have more power and more education compared to those ancient people. Yet, reading chapter seven of "Theories of The Information Society" by Frank Webster, I start feeling uncomfortable about this confidence. It is about Jurgen Habermas's 'public sphere' holding information as its center. I am questioning myself what made me believe that I had free access to information. Do I genuinely have untwisted information that nobody censored? Or may I be unconsciously persuaded to believe that I have trustable information under 'manufactured public sphere' asserted by Habermas? ..... (continued)