Pan-Pacific Bricks

[Dunechaser]

A few months ago, Bruce demonstrated how easy it is to create a LEGO blog, and I created my own. It's been fairly focused on my own personal interests -- my own creations and whatever catches my eye on Brickshelf.

One thing I've started doing beyond that, though, is to pay a bit more attention to what's going on across the Pacific, in Japan. I read and write Japanese, so I regularly visit Japanese blogs to catch up on what's going on with LEGO over there, post comments, and so on. Bruce's recent "Blogsplosion" post on VignetteBricks reminded me that there are even more Japanese blogs out there.

I thought it might be interesting to create a separate blog that focuses on the Japanese LEGO "scene." I haven't finished adding all the links and haven't settled on a permanent name yet, but here's the URL:

http://JapaneseLEGO.Blogspot.com

I'd really appreciate feedback before I announce my new blog more widely. Is there interest in finding out what the Japanese bloggers are saying? Are you interested in learning about differences between Japanese and English-speaking AFOL culture? Let me know what your interests are as well.

Thanks in advance!

[Recluce]

Wow, those are some awesome creations! I know there are some great Asian builders over there, and I am certainly interested in seeing more of their work and being able to read about their thoughts and design theories. I have seen some stuff from overseas, but not too much, and almost always just pictures without explanation. I fully support this blog bridging the continents and languages. Bravo!

[Bruce N H]

Hey Duney,

This is a great idea! There is quite a bit of communication across the Atlantic Ocean, as prominent members of 1000Steine, Eurobricks, LowLUG, etc are prominent members of Lugnet, Classic-Castle, etc, and various prominent European AFOLs have attended Brickfest, etc. Not to mention the fact that most Europeans learn English (sadly, the American school system doesn't reciprocate), so communication is relatively easy. The Pacific is a different matter altogether. There are a few Japanese posters on Lugnet (see below), but not many. Plus the language barrier is much greater - Even though I don't speak Italian, say, I can still navigate my way around itlug.org because the forms of the words are familiar, and I'll recognize similar-sounding words (okay, bad example, they have an English language version, but you get the idea). Japanese sites, OTOH, are completely foreign to me and I just click around at random, hoping to find pictures.

One thing I would suggest would be to double-post - do each post in both English and Japanese. That would help make this a two-way street of communication both ways, which would be very cool. I see from your original blog that it is possible to post Japanese script on Blogger. This is common in some international journals in chemistry (my field), where articles are posted in both English and some other language - or at the very least if the article is in, say, German, there might be an accompanying abstract in English.

Another feature of blogger that would be cool to implement is that you can add multiple posters to a blog (like Nate and Dale on Unique Brique Techniques). For instance, don't the Yrizarry brothers speak Japanese? Or even better, if you could add a Japanese correspondent to the blog, as they might be more attuned to happenings in Japanese AFOL-dom. For instance, I know that Kotaro Ono (Earl-O) occasionally posts to Lugnet (welcome@rr.iij4[SayNoToSpam]u.or.jp), as do Tosiaki Nisiyori (Tony) (tm960084@yahoo.co.%spamcake%jp) and Ayumi Hayase (Ayucow) (ayucow@mvd.biglobe.STOPSPAMne.jp) (I assume that Bacalogue is his blog). Maybe one of these would be interested in participating in an English/Japanese blog exchange? Having a Japanese member of the blog would help raise the profile of your blog among Japanese AFOLs, as those guys I listed above seem to be involved in things like the LMO and other Japanese events, and that would further help increase communication across the pacific.

Also, does Jake have an Asian counterpart? I know that Jan Beyer is the "European Jake" (or our 1000steine, LowLUG, etc brethren probably call Jake the "American Jan"). Is there an "Asian Jake/Jan"? Or even better a "Japanese Jake/Jan"?

Finally, pay attention to lugnet.build.mecha. Those guys seem to know a lot about the mecha builders in Japan.

Bruce

[ottoatm]

I just want to add my praise for you blog here... this is a really great idea - and your blog is providing a true service for us in showcasing Japanese LEGO, and whats more, sharing their thoughts, inspirations and amazing building techniques!!


>Bookmarked<

[Dunechaser]

Thanks for the interest, Recluce and ottoatm!

And Bruce, dude! Fantastic ideas. I'm going to contact the Bros. Y to see if they're interested in contributing, and I'll see if Ayumi (Ayucow) might be interested as well -- we've corresponded a couple times via e-mail.

Keep the ideas coming, everybody!

[Sir Nelson]

Yokoso JLB!!

It's a very good idea, Dunechaser. Let me know if we can help.

(And thanks for the good laugh, Bruce! At least I have a new avatar!)

[Dunechaser]

Thanks for welcoming my new blog, Nelson. ("Yokoso" means "welcome" in Japanese.) I got your e-mail and I'll reply with some further thoughts a bit later. Like the new avatar. I think I'll switch to Kintaro now that Halloween is long over.

[Dunechaser]

Hey all, I'm bumping this because Sir Nelson has been kind enough to suggest a great name for this blog -- "Pan-Pacific Bricks."

Also, if any of you have questions about anything LEGO+Japanese-related (like a MOC by a Japanese builder on Brickshelf that doesn't make sense to you), feel free to shoot me an e-mail at the address in my C-C profile. I'll try to use your input as much as possible for my blog posts.

[ottoatm]

Hmm... Pan-Pacific Bricks is a great name, I like the sound.

I wonder if there is a LEGO building prescence (besides me) in any of the mandarin-speaking areas of Asia? I've only seen this URL to suggest so, but I talk about a potentially huge building community. In the future, perhaps PPB could end up expanding to connect even more communities between Asia and the West.

As it is, this is a great start, and I really enjoy visiting your BLOG. I do believe that the biggest, most creative community of builders right now must be in Japan, so I'm glad to see things are coming along well, with a catchy new name to boot.

[Dunechaser]

Thanks ottoatm!

I wonder if there is a LEGO building prescence (besides me) in any of the mandarin-speaking areas of Asia? I've only seen this URL to suggest so, but I talk about a potentially huge building community. In the future, perhaps PPB could end up expanding to connect even more communities between Asia and the West.

I've been wondering the same thing. Do you read and write Chinese? (Traditional, I assume, since you're in Taiwan.) If you do find a Chinese LEGO community in Taiwan or online, I think it would be fantastic to expand PPB to include stuff about the non-Japanese building community. That's one reason I really like this new name.

Keep me posted!

[ottoatm]

I've been wondering the same thing. Do you read and write Chinese? (Traditional, I assume, since you're in Taiwan.) If you do find a Chinese LEGO community in Taiwan or online, I think it would be fantastic to expand PPB to include stuff about the non-Japanese building community. That's one reason I really like this new name.

Yep, I think the name is perfect for the possibility of a further opening community in the east... I speak chinese (not perfectly) but I can't really read or write well. That's why I'm in Taiwan at the moment. I looked around to see if I could do a "good enough job", but I think it would take me forever to transcribe one web page, or write one e-mail.

I will keep "an eye out" - there are a lot of things similiar to LEGO in that they are hobby conventions going on over here (manga, movies, etc).

[Dunechaser]

Behold the Photoshop magic in my new header graphic:

http://japaneselego.blogspot.com/

I don't have Photoshop, and I refuse to learn the GIMP, so my friend Sky did some hand-waving near his PowerMac G5, and this is what magically appeared in my inbox! Woo hoo!

I chose a Cowboy and a Samurai to represent the Wild West and Ninjas themes -- two themes that are truly "pan-Pacific." (And ottoatm, there's plenty of room for a minifig from the Orient Expedition theme as well. )

[Recluce]

Looking good! I like the heading, though I'd maybe go for a more interesting font style, or perhaps just another color. It blends in too much, and should instead stand out.

I also think that the cowboy there looks like Jackie Chan in that one movie....

[ottoatm]

Just wanted to say that I managed to visit your blog again for the first time in awhile - I was glad to see the updates. When I saw that title "Jojo's Tank", I thought at first that it was Jojo from CC.

Either way, there's a lot of good reading/stuff there... nice pics too.

[Dunechaser]

Just wanted to say that I managed to visit your blog again for the first time in awhile - I was glad to see the updates. When I saw that title "Jojo's Tank", I thought at first that it was Jojo from CC.

Either way, there's a lot of good reading/stuff there... nice pics too.

Thank you! I don't update PPB as often as I update my other blog, but it's been really fun. I was afraid at first there wouldn't be enough material (and sometimes there isn't -- thus my own Japanese historical figs now and then), but builders like Mumu, Sugegasa, and Izzo have provided a wealth of uniquely Japanese MOCs.

I'd still like to expand the reach of PPB to encompass more Asian countries, highlighting MOCs by builders like tiger0207, but I don't read Chinese...

Thanks again!