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I disagree. I can't say that I have ever seen ANY Japanese on any of the other Koi boards I frequent. Here we have a couple at least and then Brian who lives there though he is not ethnic Japanese.
I think much of it is simply a launguage barrier. While I'm sure that many Japanese in the hobby speak English quite competently, I can say from experiance that the threshhold between speaking and actually writing can be quite daunting. Many Japanese who would be quite happy to spend an entire day talking about Koi, would be reluctant if they had to write it down.
I'm sure this makes things a bit tougher for Japanese wishing to participate. I also assume the transition from Hiragana/Katakana/Kanji to the Romanji alphabet is just as big a hurdle as it is for us going in the other direction. I once hear Brian say how the few westerners who spoke Japanese often had trouble reading it... does the flip side apply as well?
B.Scott
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