The JETRO-approved ska band you mentioned in your piece about SxSW is set to star in a Hollywood movie.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200705020089.html
So now the pinnacle of "Japan Cool" could be 6 high school girls rehashing all those US bands from 10 years ago rehashing all those Jamaican bands from 40 years ago.
The scene is pretty hopeless for any innovative music getting widespread exposure through the regular channels.

Not to say they're trolls (just agent provocateurs), but what happened to Momus and Dzima? Are the culture wars over?

Aw, cheer up, marxy.

marxy, I think you resent some of the ghosts here a bit too much. Though you've recently attracted some real clever apples, I think it's been a net loss for the community.
I thought it might work out nicely. That clast would be the classroom, and here the barroom. Sadly, it's turned into two classrooms... one with that stoned teacher.

The in depth discussions of 60's rebellions and the seibu tobu rivalry are interesting in their own way, but for the broader community here, I think we enjoyed our swastikas. (maybe I speak only for myself).

"I think it's been a net loss for the community."

To not have "them"?

I think there is a difference between debate and troll-debate, and for some reason, opposing parties could never wean themselves off of the latter type.

"That clast would be the classroom, and here the barroom."

Hmm... I do agree that clast has sucked a tiny bit of the air out of this site (and seriously, writing for two blogs takes more time than writing for one), but I think the main problem may be less about "this site" and more that the players are all sort of tired of having the same old debates. Discussion about new topics is fine, but our passion has naturally faded a bit.

"The in depth discussions of 60's rebellions and the seibu tobu rivalry are interesting in their own way"

Since I write about whatever I want to write about, it's always going to get more niche and obscure rather than more accessible. At least for this particular medium.

I've always found the 60's rebellion stories and tales of Japanese fascists much more fascinating than "who has more pictures in this month's Can Cam" entries, (you can save those for Clast as far as I'm concerned) but I'm always impressed with the breadth of topics covered here. Keep being that stoned teacher...just use some Visine so the other faculty don't know.

guess if China and India are seen as greater economic threats then surely Japan's soft power must be growing, no? I mean, it's not like they're still relying on chequebook diplomacy, is it? And we can hardly ignore the way Japan's leadership in the six-nation talks, growing moral authority in Asia and smooth relations with their neighbours speaks to their growing influence, can we?

In all seriousness, I guess one could point to the SDF presence in Iraq and the widely promoted constitutional reform as steps towards taking a mature role on the global stage (though how mature that role could ever be is questionable if constitutional reform happens despite the citizenry's overwhelming opposition), but this seems to be nothing more than a calculated ploy to get more respect. If they really wanted to measure Japan's soft power maybe they should have asked how many Asian countries oppose Japan's quest for a permanent Security Council seat, and why.

Business Week are so out of touch. Don't they know all the kids are into Go Hiromi these days?

http://www.sanspo.com/geino/top/gt200705/gt2007051711.html

I wonder if Go Hiromi's production company has anything to do with why he was picked...

Being a big proponent of constructive criticism, please consider the following concerning your website:

1. New topics of conversation. Less Yakuza, Corrupt Music Industry, Uyoku, Sex-industry, etc. You've.talked.these.ideas.into.ground.period.

If you want to do Social Activism, for better or worse, you'll need to do better than Debito's Kerr-approved website. In fact, you'll probably need to actually do something, besides talk about the ideas.

2. New topics of conversation. Less “BAPE”, “Shibuya Kei”, “1990s”, “Bubble Economy”, etc. It’s good you championed these ideas, but again, eventually people get tired of hearing the same track, on the same EP.

3. Simple formula here: You're an academic. Why not more genuinely academic posts?

Best of luck with your new direction.

fwiw, that story template has been around a lot longer than 10 years. in the 80s it would have referenced shonen knife and the blue hearts or something (both big in u.s. college radio).

> A "troll" -- someone who comes onto an online community looking to pick fights -- has two victory conditions: Either everyone ends up talking about him, or no one talks at all.

>Jeez, we've never had someone like that here before!

would this still hold if it was , say , an anti-semitic community ??

I see, we are damned to troll-like saviors because of our original sin.

why not a more commited answer to a reasonable question ?

Because the idea embedded in the question supposes that "trolls" have the right to oppose indefensible ideas (like anti-semitism) and I reject the parallel of this site to WhiteNationOnline.com.

thanks.
i'm not too sure about this troll-like saviours and saviour-like troll as it applies here but fair enough.

briefly put my personal oppinion is that the so-called trolls here have shown a fair bit of understanding, sympathy even identification with your very own viewpoint yet it was you who treated them as a sort of autocrat but it seems to be all of the past now.

My beef is not with you.