JaneXeno, written based on Jane, one of the most popular 2ch browser platform used by the Japanese, is designed to be used on non-Japanese based Windows, such as English. Luckily for us without access to a Japanese computer, there is one Unicode 2ch browser we can use. However, 2ch browsers programs are mostly written for Japanese computers and many of the Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox add-ons have ceased development. There are numerous 2ch browsers available, as stand alone programs as well as internet browser add-ons. Such program arranges 2ch’s directories, boards, and threads into an easy to navigate format, just like the file explorer in your computer’s operating system. What you see here on her monitor is a dedicated 2ch browser. Wait, that’s 2ch? It looks nothing like what you just showed me above. As a joke, someone has photoshopped her monitor to display 2ch instead of a word processor.
![sites like reddit imageboard sites like reddit imageboard](https://cms.qz.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/cuck1.png)
It’s a screen shot of Kanatomo showing us her speed typing. Or you can stay with me here to see what I’m about to teach you, and read 2ch like a boss.ĭo you remember the featured image of this article? No? Let me show you again: You could also continue to scroll down the page to find excerpts from the latest few threads that has been replied to, but that’s practically useless. You could, like an idiot (I once was), try to make out all the thread titles from this collage of links and then click on them one by one and waste your life away. Now you see why 2ch seems like such an impossible place for westerners, even those with Japanese knowledge, to navigate. Scroll down to find all the threads in this sub-board. Basically a list of rules and guidelines. This is what you will see once you enter Ookami’s main page. We will only be focusing on Ookami because the other two H!P sub-boards sees so little action in comparison, while the general female idol sub-board is for every other female idols and idol groups not related to Hello! Project. There are also two other H!P sub-boards on 2ch, モ娘(羊) (Hitsuji “Sheep” or Ai no Tane) and モ娘(鳩) (Hato “Pigeon” or Zurui Onna), as well as a general female idol sub-board 女性アイドル, all under the 芸能 (entertainment) sub-heading. モ娘(狼) (Ookami) is located almost at the bottom of the directory, under the sub-heading 雑談系2 (Miscellaneous chat 2). Following is a screenshot of their front page. Although I did mentioned that 2ch is like a Japanese reddit, it is not laid out quite as nicely as its English counterpart. Hold your hourses! Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
#SITES LIKE REDDIT IMAGEBOARD HOW TO#
While I can not teach you how to understand Japanese, I will at least show you how to navigate your way into Japanese message boards. Other than the fact that Ookami users speaks their mind about H!P, the Western fan community knows little to nothing about what actually happens on this boards. Many of the latest H!P news and gossips originate from this place. If you guessed there is a Hello! Project sub-board, you are absolutely correct! Maybe you have heard of people talk about the Ookami or “Wolf” board, that’s the name of the H!P board on 2ch ( Ookami is Japanese for Wolf).
![sites like reddit imageboard sites like reddit imageboard](https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/the-donald-reddit.jpg)
2ch, like reddit, it is divided into many sub-boards. So why am I telling you about a Japanese message board. I’m not going to get too much into the history of 2ch here, but if you are interested to know more, Wikipedia is a good place to start your reading from. Simply put, it’s like a Japanese version of reddit where you don’t have to register to use (not a perfect analogy, since 2ch began in 1999, and not until 2005 did reddit start). Western fans tends to gather on the few major English websites such as Hello! Online and Jplop, while Japanese fans mostly socialize on the anonymous board 2ch (pronounced “knee chan”, short for 2channel “knee chan nee ru”). Even with the advent of fast and easy to use social media platform like Twitter, Instagram, and tumblr, forums and BBS boards continues to a play a major role for latest news and general discussion in the idol fans sphere. As a Hello! Project fan, you are very aware of all the forums and discussion boards on the internet, in a variety of different languages.