Japanese as language of blogging

THINK the most common language in the blogosphere is either English or Chinese?

Think again. Based on Technorati’s The State of the Live Web, April 2007, which was cited in this Global Voices Online post, Japanese is the number one language for bloggers.

Here’s an excerpt from the Global Voices post:

It will likely come as quite a surprise to the English-speaking world that the number one language of bloggers worldwide, in terms of number of posts, is not the “language of international communication”, as English is typically regarded. Nor, before the Chinese chime in, is it the language of the most populous state on the globe. According to the 2006 fourth quarter results of the State of the Live Web report issued quarterly by Technorati, a blog search engine which at last count tracks over 70 million weblogs, in terms of blog posts by language, English and Chinese in fact rank second and third, at 36% and 8%, respectively.

Edging out English for first place this quarter was Japanese, with over one-third of all blog posts — 37% — written in this language. This is not, in fact, the first time that Japanese has been rated as the number one blogging language by Technorati; back in November 2005, in an earlier State of the Live Web report, Japanese was also took top place with 31%, although the total was much more evenly split with English and Chinese at that time.

Judging by the reaction of bloggers themselves, it would seem that the Japanese are as surprised as anyone else at the results of the report.

Meanwhile, here’s an excerpt from an editorial published on The Japan Times Online:

“Blog,” of course, is a term that can apply to anything from company home pages to serious muckraking to photos of a new pet kitten. There is seemingly a blog for every human experience. Most blogs have gone up in the past two years, with thousands of new ones added everyday. Blogging even serves as a plot device in films and TV dramas. Yet, why are Japanese in particular so interested in expressing their opinions online?

Of course, Japan has a highly literate population with a fascination for new gizmos and techie games of all kinds. Digital cameras, easy-to-use software and teensy keyboards, in short, all the tools and techniques for blogging, are now part of tech-loving daily life. Yet, what does it say about Japanese culture and life that so many people express their thoughts, record their activities and find friends by blogging?

Freedom and anonymity are surely a large part of the appeal. Workers can complain about bosses, wives about husbands, citizens about politicians and otaku about anime characters. In a culture of polite language, proper body gestures and strict intonation, blogs “speak” with amazing casualness and candor. In a high-pressure society, blowing off steam is healthy.

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