Hi everyone!

I am the owner and instigator of the Nihon Watch: Your Japan Mag-Blog project. The blog’s still empty but if you want to take a look at it, then have a go.

The Theme of the Blog

The blog’s theme is “How outsiders (non-Japanese who live in or outside Japan or Japanese who were raised outside the country) who have a predilection for the Japanese culture see the country as”

The Mechanics of the Blog

The blog tackles SEVEN different topics (more in the future) which are related to the many different Japanese subcultures. Each topic is allotted its own day and its own blogger. Which brings us to the purpose of this post…

The Purpose of This Post

My friend, Nikki Hiiragizawa, and I are looking for bloggers to help us out.

1. The number one requirement is you have to have REAL passion for the topic you’re applying for. The reason for this is we’re looking for a team who’d stick with the project for a long time. If you don’t know your topic that well, how can you blog about it once a week for the next few months, what more, the next few years?

2. We’re looking for those who can write decently in the English language. You don’t have to be a literary genius, but Engrish doesn’t float our boat, if you know what I mean.

3. We need people who can work with a team. You’re not going to go solo flight. The blog will be a team effort.

4. Because of the blog’s theme, we’re looking for people who are NON-Japanese living in or outside Japan OR Japanese but have been raised abroad.

5. We need people who can commit to ONE blog post per week or FOUR per month. It doesn’t have to be a novel. The minimum word count is 100 words. Each post should ALWAYS be accompanied by a picture.

With regards to copyright: Nihon Watch only asks for content exclusivity for the first three months from the date you posted. After three months, you can post your content anywhere you want to. ^_^

Here are the topics for the blog

1. J-pop & J-rock music and artists

Blogger 1: MitsuiSelphie
Blogger 2: Looking
Blogger 3 (optional): Looking

We’re looking for someone who’s well-versed in both Jpop and Jrock. If you’re only a pundit of one of the genres listed, send me an application anyways. We might just hire two bloggers for this: one for Jpop and one for Jrock if ever the situation calls for it.

2. Trivia/Ordinary Japan (everyday stuff in Japan and history)

Blogger 1: MitsuiSelphie
Blogger 2: Position filled!
Blogger 3: Looking

we’re looking for someone who knows trivia stuff about and history of Japan. Do you know Japan’s counterpart for MacDonald’s? How about how the Japanese address system works? Just like the category above, if you’re only a pundit of one of the genres listed, send me an application anyways. We might just hire two bloggers for this.

3. J-urban music, culture, and fashion

Blogger 1: MitsuiSelphie
Blogger 2: Joshiro

4. Fashion and Out of the box topics

Blogger 1: MitsuiSelphie
Blogger 2: Looking
Blogger 3 (optional): Looking

Do you know the difference between a gal and a ganguro gal? Do you know the difference between the fashion preferences of people in Ginza and Akiba? Be our fashion guru!

Do you know of any weird Japanese inventions? Do you know Haado Gei???!!!! Then you have to blog about out of the box (anything and everything unconventional) topics with us.

Just like some of the categories above, if you’re only a pundit of one of the genres listed, send me an application anyways. We might just hire two bloggers for this.

5. Anime (including topics about seiyuu and animation studios)

Blogger 1: MitsuiSelphie
Blogger 2: Nikki Hiiragizawa
Blogger 3: Looking

If you know that there’s more to anime than Naruto and Bleach, you might be a good fit. We’re not only looking for those interested in anime though. We need someone who’s keeping abreast with news about anime, seiyuu, and animation studios.

6. Manga (including news about manga-ka and publishers)

Blogger 1: MitsuiSelphie
Blogger 2: Looking

We’re looking for someone who’s keeping tab on what’s hot and new in the manga industry for shounen, shoujo, yaoi and yuri (yes, for EVERYTHING). If you know the terms Ribon, Jump, BeBeautiful, Inoue Takehiko, CLAMP, and Yamato Nase, then you might be a good fit.

7. dramas, movies, musicals, and celebrities

Blogger 1: Nikki Hiiragizawa

The floor is reserved for Nikki. LOL.

8. Japan correspondent

This one’s optional. We’re looking for a non-Japanese (or a Japanese who’s been raised abroad) who’s currently living in Japan to blog about the current happenings from the country itself. We’re expecting a LOT of pictures from our Japan correspondent if we’re lucky enough to find one.

9. Direct/Indirect Sources/Researchers

We know that not everyone has the gift of writing well. However, if you feel that you can be a direct or indirect informant on certain subjects above, please do tell us. For example, you read the Oricon site regularly and know of the news about the artists, or you are regularly informed of news about anime/manga releases or seiyuus, then you can be a contributor/informant. You’ll be a part of the overall research team. Your name will not appear with the author though; it’ll appear below the article as a footnote.

To Apply

To apply, please email me the following:

1. The topic you’re applying for
2. Why you think you’re an expert in the topic
3. A link to or an attachment of an existent blog post/fan fic/story/anything which could demonstrate your writing abilities.

Send your applications to mitsuiselphie[@]nihonwatch.com with the subject “Nihon Watch Application: [insert your topic here]“

Don’t mind this, this is a test post. ahahaha

try

Hi guys! I’m happy to say the Kiriban contest ended approximately six hours ago. And…I can’t believe this, but there was a GLITCH with my sitemeter. And believe it or not, I got TWO people sending me screenshots with the exact same “29,000″ sitemeter display. And here, Chris was thinking what I would have done if the winner didn’t email me. Hehe~

What does this mean? Well, it only means we have to work harder, isn’t in? I decided to have one winner and one runner-up. The prize would most likely be divided between the two, but preference (with regards to number of DNs to be written) would of course be given to the real winner.

Without further ado, I give you DOPAMINE’S very first Kiriban contest winners:

Grand Prize: Lilo
Runner-up: VoiDreamer

Now that our Kiriban contest has officially ended, I can finally announce that this month’s DN theme is Halloween. Which means you’ll be getting Halloween-ish DNs from some (not all) of our writers. That’s it and see you next update!

Hi guys, just wanted to remind you, our Kiriban contest is ending as soon as we hit 29,000 page views. Only less than 500 views left! Don’t forget to take a screenshot before you close or reload the page or you lose your chance! The winner gets to request a tenipuri Dream Novel! The rest of the details are in the prior update.

Please don’t forget to join our Livejournal community at dopaminefics@LJ.

Lastly, I will be putting up PayPal donation links here to help pay for our host (which I will be paying for next week or so). Don’t feel obligated to donate something, it’s only for those who have a little extra wishing to help me out ^_^

A page for donors will be upped soon containing the pseudonyms/names and links to web sites of everyone who donates. Please see donation link below. Don’t forget to put your name and web site on the PayPal note so I’d know ne?

PS: Endless Dreamers is updating today, go and take a look.

PPS: I will NOT accept any donations from any member of Team DOPAMINE. You guys already do enough by helping me keep the site alive. I wuv you all. ^_^