*******************************************************************************
In Japan there are no GT BBS, but there are some English based BBS.
The following is the list of Hong Kong and Singapore FidoNet BBS
******************************************************************************* [0m
HOST 600 Singapore Area 65-2854136 SINGAPORE
1) Singapore Link 65-2854136 2) Wing Tech Exchange 65-4435681
3) Deckel 65-4668847 4) Net Link 65-7787393
5) Roy's Realm 65-3442977 6) Spacenet 65-7425347
7) Epson BBS 65-5338669 8) My Friend 65-5676750
10) MENUS 65-7722137 11) FEPLAN 65-2249287
12) Powerline 65-2524652 13) ISS High Technology 65-7722517
14) CompuAdd 65-2511274 17) Micron Information 65-4671519
18) OOSH! 65-5651792 19) Tropical Express 65-4439181
20) Inner Circle 65-2841856
===============================================================================
HONG KONG REGION
===============================================================================
1) TAIC OPUS 852-3-789-1267 Kowloon
2) C F C OPUS 852-5-873-2289 HK Island
3) DataWorld Twin Net/1 852-5-41-3631 HK Island
4) Dial-A-Net 852-3-778-7753 Kowloon HK
5) MedInfoNet -Unpublished- Kowloon HK
6) Stand Up Board 852-3-38-0970 Kowloon HK
7) Nice-Net 852-3-69-8647 Kowloon HK
10) CATNet Fido/1 852-5-46-6341 HK Island
12) DbMadNet 852-3-760-7742 Kowloon HK
13) SEANet/2 852-5-77-5621 HK Island
15) Alex's Board 852-0-412-1577 Kowloon HK
16) Cordy's Board 852-0-432-2538 Kowloon HK
17) Satellite Board/3 852-5-806-1048 HK Island
18) Electronic BBS 852-3-311-2816 Kowloon HK
19) ElfNet OPUS 852-3-729-5600 Kowloon HK 20) Ziggy BBS 852-5-819-4042 HK Island
21) Rookie's Board 852-5-50-8602 HK Island
22) Oriental HST 852-5-77-3389 HK Island
23) CompuNet Advanced RB 852-3-88-0580 Kowloon HK
24) Support Board 852-5-29-3353 HK Island
25) Macao InfoXchange 853-57-9266 Macao
26) PC Connection 853-8-4427 Macao
===============================================================================
04/30/90
THE GREATER TOKYO INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS LIST
The 5th Edition (BBSTOK5.DOC)
This edition compiled by: Yoshi Mikami, Fujisawa, Japan
All the known public access bulletin board systems in the Greater Tokyo area
in Japan that cater to English or bilingual English/Japanese speaking people
are listed below:
------------------------------------- --------- -------------------------------
<system name> <phone no.> <v><a><b> <c> <notes: contents, node number>
<sysop> <city, prefecture><bbs prog> <notes continued>[;<hours>]
===================================== ========= ===============================
AMIGA NET N.A. # 12 Write to c/o Mansoh, 26-4 Zo-
Amiga Life Mag. Toshima-ku, Tokyo N.A. shigaya 2-chome, ZIP 171
Asian Express Netwk 03-964-6548 # 24 Eng., Jpnese, Chinese & Korean
Fumio Suzuki Tokyo QuickBBS Int'l FidoNet 3:370/10
ASIJ BBS 0422-33-0381 V 24 At the American School in Japan
Matan Arazi Chofu, Tokyo WWIV (K-12), largest int'l school
AVXIA 03-355-4395 V 24 Free exchange of ideas.
Kaz Shinada Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo QuickBBS Int'l FidoNet 3:730/9
B&B Shimokitazawa 03-419-1138 V D 24 M5 IBM. Model helicopter. TYMPAS. Shuichi Fujita Setagaya-ku, Tokyo Phoenix Net 40/1. Get 8bitNet # here.
Big Blue Skies BBS 0466-24-6090 V 24 M4 Nature and astronomy. IBM.
Yoshi Mikami Fujisawa, Kanagawa Phoenix Net 50/2
Collie Yokohama 045-894-7656 V 24 M5 IBM software.
Maki Ohtoh Sakae-ku, Yokohama Phoenix Net 50/1
The First Amendment 03-813-1169 V 24 IBM & Macintosh. Talk about
The Waszir Tokyo WWIV life in Japan.
IMS-Net 03-408-0479 V 24 International Music Service.
Jun Moriya Minato-ku, Tokyo QuickBBS Int'l FidoNet 3:730/6
INN 045-671-9727 V 24 Inter-school News Network, at
Ed Bracha Yokohama, Kanagawa ProDOS St. Joseph's School/College.
JANET II 03-417-2455 V 96 U Macintosh and Apple software.
Frank Onda Tokyo RedRyder
JANIS II 03-255-8856 V 96 U IBM software. On-line games &
Pete Perkins Akihabara, Tokyo PCBoard news. MRT computer store.
JUG-BBS 03-944-8193 V 12 Japanese Users Group. CP/M and
(Multiple Sysops) Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo N.A. MS-DOS (PC Blue of N.J.)
Kodaira Messenger 0423-45-8923 V 24 Excellent library of IBM soft-
Jack Cook Kodaira, Tokyo Wildcat ware.
MacEvent Network 0473-97-0922 V 24 Macintosh software. One of
Nobuo Hayashi Urayasu, Chiba RedRyder oldest BBS networks in Japan
Media Source II 03-593-1379 V 24 M4 Macintosh and Apple. Bilingual.
Tadashi Mori Minato-ku, Tokyo RedRyder Also -593-0089 (3-1200bps)
Micro Comm Network 0471-85-1088 V 96 M9 MCN. Contact point of FidoNet
Junsei Yamada Abiko, Chiba Fido Japan. Int'l FidoNet 3:730/2
NIS BBS 03-798-2462 # 96 M5 Nishimachi International School
Josh Thayer Minato-ku, Tokyo Phoenix (K-12). W/N & W/E.
P and A 0425-46-9143 96 UM5 IBM software. Parlez-vous
Patrick Hochner Akikawa, Tokyo Wildcat fran ais aussi?The Polyglot 03-464-0537 V 24 IBM & NEC *.DIFs. Translaters
Arturo Perez Tokyo WWIV and copywriters.
St. Mary's BBS 03-709-3463 V 24 M3 St. Mary's Int'l School, K-12.
Joseph Kaye Setagaya-ku, Tokyo Phoenix IBM & Mac. Net 40/2
The Sanko Mall 045-641-3240 # 24 New BBS host program, born in
Art Balfour Yokohama VBBS Yokohama, Japan (Ray Penas)
Snoboard 0482-86-1307 - 24 M4 SNOBOL4, pattern matching lang.
Masao Sekido Kawagoe, Saitama Magpie W/N & W/E
SPL-BBS 045-314-0130 V 24 Software developers. Southern
(Tech. Service) Yokohama, Kanagawa WWIV Pacific, Ltd., SW distributor
The Space Board 045-832-1177 V 12 Astronomy data and notices. Run
Yoshiro Yamada Yokohama, Kanagawa GBBS by Yokohama Science Museum
SurfSide-Net 045-761-9406 - 96 M9V32 IBM & Apple software.
Tatsuyuki Arai Yokohama, Kanagawa Fido Int'l FidoNet 3:730/1
Telecom-Board 0424-89-0384 V D 96 U IBM software, telecom programs. Masa Kawamura Chofu, Tokyo RBBS-PC W/N & W/E
Tokyo PC 03-707-4689 V $ 24 M5 Solidly IBM. Club BBS of Tokyo
Maynard Hogg Tokyo WWIV PC Users Group members.
Urb Network 03-797-4460 # 24 M4 FM "J-Wave". The Mainichi Daily
(Urb Magazine) Minato-ku, Tokyo WWIV News. Call 03-797-6520 M-F.
===================================== ========= ===============================
*** The original list was created by Yukio Iura, Tokyo, in April, 1989 ***
*** The list was significantly enlarged by Yoshi Mikami in Dec., 1989 ***
WHAT'S NEW IN THE BBSdom IN GREATER TOKYO:
1. Effective March, 1990, NTT reduced the telephone charges by approximately
30 percent. The night time rate (11:00pm-8:00am) of local calls, for
example, is now 10 yen per 4 minutes, vs. 10 yen per 3 minutes for the day
time rate (8:00am-11:00pm). KDD also reduced our overseas telephone
charges by about 30 percent.
2. VBBS, a new BBS host program made by Ray Penas, Yokohama, is running on The Sanko Mall, Art Balfour, Sysop. It's a bilingual BBS.
3. T. "Teddy" Matsumoto, Tokyo, donated LHEXE Version 1.50 to public domain
in February, 1990. It unarchives the files in *.LZH storage (archived by
H. "Yoshi" Yoshizaki's LHarc) into memory and executes them. The "Dynabook
generation", who started to carry their notebook PCs such as Dynabook
(Toshiba J3100SS) or On-Line Note (IBM 5499) with limited physical and VRAM
disk space from September 1989, should find it extremely helpful.
LEGEND:
ACCESS <a> is the access information:
= Open access
D = Open access, but validation delay for full access
R = Registration required; Extended access available
$ = Registration & payment required
MAXIMUM LINE SPEED <b> is the line speed code in bits per second:
3 = 300 12 = 1200 24 = 2400
96 = 9600 144 = 14400 192 = 19200MODEMS <c> is the modem code:
Mn= MNP Class n (Microcom, Aiwa, Omron, NEC, Fujitsu, IBM, etc.)
V4= V.42 (Hayes 9600 and 19200 V.42, Aiwa 2400 V.42, Omron 2400 V.42, etc.)
/Should also be able to connect to MNP 1-4 modems/
F = FastComm 9600
U = U.S. Robotics 9600 HST or Dual HST/V.32-MNP5
T = Telebit Trailblazer or Trailblazer Plus
V3= (USR V.32-MNP5, Aiwa 9600 V.32-MNP4, Omron 9600 V.32-MNP5, etc.)
VERIFICATION <v> of systems:
V = Verified
B = Busy
- = No answer
! = No answer; apparently closed. To be deleted in the next revision.
# = New BBS or phone number
TERMINAL PARAMETERS:
All systems are 8-N-1 (i.e., 8 data bits, no parity bit, 1 stop bit),
unless (7-E-1) is seen, then set up for 7 data bits and even parity.
HOURS:
All systems are on 24hrs/day, unless note mentions otherwise. W/D = Weekdays. W/E = Weekends (Saturday, Sunday & Local Holiday)
W/N = Weekday Nights (approximately, 10:00pm to 7:00am)
NOTES:
- 7-bit NetMail was started by Tom Jenning's Fido BBS, using 7-bit data
in the 8-bit frame. EchoMail is used to exchange bulk messages between
two nodes. International NetMail started in January, 1990, on MCN and
other Fido nodes, with Tokyo (Net 730) defined as part of Far East
(Region 57) in Western Pacific (Zone 3) under the control of Sydney,
Australia. 8-bit NetMail is exchanged in Taiwan and Japan only.
- 8-bit NetMail is exchanged by the BBS's shown by Net xx/y of the above
list, at 10:45-11:00pm. It transmits the full 8-bit information (double-
byte Japanese JISCII characters as well as the 256 8-bit single-byte
English ASCII characters) over NetMail, not just the 128 7-bit ASCII
characters as in the Fido or Phoenix NetMail in U.S. The oversight
of Phoenix 1.07 of treating ASCII code 227 (hexadecimal E3, Greek pi)
as end-of-text character in the Message areas (which causes the double-
byte Japanese characters to split into two single-byte characters in two
lines) and masking/unmasking NetMail messages to pass only the 7-bit
information in the 8-bit NetMail (which makes it impossible to send full
8-bit-based Japanese characters in NetMail) was corrected in August, 1988, by the so-called "E3 Patch" by Fumio Matsuura, Shinza City.
Some extremist Sysops in Japan call FidoNet "intolerable" because it denies
the freedom of speech in the languages written in the characters other than
the American English alphabet (ASCII codes 1-128), in a way similar to how
the young Mme. Marie Joliot-Curie was denied to speak her native Polish
language under the Russian occupation of Poland, and because this situation
is extremely harsh against the "double-byte" languages of Chinese, Japanese
and Korean, which are expressed in two sequential characters in ASCII codes
129-256. But, a more accurate statement of this subject would be that the
FidoNet and the FidoNet compatible people networks do have an inherent
ability to handle this new requirement and that they should start allowing
transmission of full 8-bit information. The 8-bit Chinese and Japanese
message transmissions already started in Taiwan and Japan.
The problem stated above was discussed by a group of Japanese Sysops with
the attendees of the RBBS-PC Conference that was held in U.S. in October,
1988, in a well documented paper (BBSML3.ZIP - "Multi-lingual Requiremnts
to the BBS Host Programs Made in U.S."). Unless we manage it carefully,
it will become another explosive issue in the Japan-U.S.-Europe
relationship of the 1990s because the Japanese networks will start throwing
in 8-bit information to the 7-bit based networks in U.S., resulting in chaos everywhere.
To foster international communication, the legend has been changed to the one
similar to that of "THE ATLANTA BULLETIN BOARD LIST Revision #22" (Copyright
(c) 1989 by OAS, Inc., a non-profit organization of the Atlanta area sysops).
A warm welcome to Shuichi Fujita by OAS at their October, 1989, meeting was
much appreciated. The Line Speed codes in the OAS list have been made more
"generic" in this list and a few codes have been added.
SOME TIPS ON BBSING IN JAPAN
Your modem, say, from U.S., supporting Bell 212A at 1200bps and CCITT V.22bis
at 2400bps, would technically work in Japan, because most BBS host modems here
entertain all protocols: Bell 103/CCITT V.21 at 300bps, Bell 212A/CCITT V.22
at 1200bps and CCITT V.22bis at 2400bps. Legally, however, you must use in
Japan, like in any other country of the world, a modem authorized by the
industry-wide organizations of that country (JATE and VCCI), for compliance to
the telecommunications, electro-magnetic interference and other laws. Yes, the
U.S. Robotics 9600 HST modem has its own devotees here; the modems with MNP
(Microcom Networking Protocol) are quite often used; and many Sysop are now
deciding if the new V.42 (2400 bps, MNP4), V42bis (2400 bps, MNP5) and V.32(9600 bps) modems would give any benefits.
Wall outlets for telephone attachment, hitherto mostly hard-wired, are quickly
being converted to the U.S.-type "modular plugs" (RJ11), for easier attachment
of the new, fancier, more expensive telephone sets or modems. (NTT's 3-prong
telephone plugs never became popular.) Conversion kits to the modular plugs
are sold at the local radio shops ("denki-ya" in Japanese) or large retail
stores.
We use 100 Volts/50 Hertz in eastern Japan (in Tokyo) and 100V/60Hz in western
Japan (in Nagoya and Osaka), with the actual boundary being on the Fuji River
that flows a little west of Mt. Fuji. This electric cycle difference should
not bother you because no modern personal computer equipment is made sensitive
to the electric cycle. (Electric shavers and refrigerators are sensitive.)
The 240/120-to-100 stepdown transformers can be bought at the souvenir shops
of the Tokyo City Air Terminal (TCAT) at Hakozaki-cho, or at the transformer
shops of the Akihabara, Tokyo, and Edison Plaza, Yokohama, districts, for
3-6,000 yen. Choose the transformers with right wattage capacity: up to 20W for
recharging the battery of your laptop, 50W for your AC-powered laptop or
Japanese "word processors," and 400-1,000W for your personal computer systems.
We use the U.S.-type 2-flat blade plugs on electric outlet on the wall. The
third round earth pin is used on the plugs in business offices, but rarely usedon the wall outlets in the homes. 3-prong-to-2-prong converter plugs can be
easily bought at the transformer shops if your machine is equipped with the
3-prong pw
Fo information about the BBS's outside of the Greater Tokyo area, contact
in Nagoya City FPUC BBS (Foreign PC User Club) 0563-57-0914 (Toshi Omi, Sysop;
Net 70/1) and in the Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe area MacRadyo 06-765-9680, Aegis BBS
075-954-0118 or Kerry Reuter's BBS (Kansai IBM PC User Group) 0727-66-4410.
They should be able to tell you of more BBS's in their respective areas.
Aside from these BBS's, there are over 700 other BBS's in Japan which are
operated in the Japanese language, according to the BBS Denwacho published
quarterly by Dempa Shimbun-sha (Phone: 03-445-6111) and the BBS directory
included in the "NETWORKER" magazine published quarterly by ASCII Corp., both
available in the local bookstores. Their computer talks are mostly on NEC 9801
and its clone from Epson which are the dominant personal computers here in
homes and in medium-sized and small businesses. Toshiba J3100/DynaBook, Apple
Macintosh as used in the Japanese mode, Fujitsu (FMR and TOWNS), IBM (5550,
PS/55 and JX) and AX machines from various companies are also often discussed.
The Japanese characters on your IBM PC would look like full of the special
characters in positions 129-256 of the 8-bit 256-character ASCII code table.Commercial networks with many access points all over Japan, some of them in
special relationship to the U.S.-based networks, are also available. Contact:
ASCII Net (ASCII 03-486-9661; tied to DELPHI), PC-VAN (NEC 03-454-6909 ; tied
to GEnie), NIFTY-Serve (NIF 03-221-7363; tied to CompuServe), The Space Club
(Space Communications 03-971-8111), JALNET (Japan Air Lines 03-456-7293),
TeleStar (TeleStar 03-357-3800), EYE-NET (Fujimic 03-357-1738), J&P HOTLINE
(Joshin Denki 06-632-2521), MasterNet (MasterNet 03-305-3511), Nikkei MIX
(Nikkei MIX 03-380-6011; tied to BIX), etc. TWICS BeeLINE (contact Jeffrey
Shapard at 03-351-5977 voice) is operated by a non-profit organization with
interest to foster international people communication, using PARTIcipate
conferencing system. (TWICS offers connection to other networks, such as MCI
Mail and Internet, through DASNET in California.) Contact Comnex 03-260-7711
for easier access to DELPHI in U.S. and Chollian in Korea.
Digital network services: DDX-TP (NTT 0120-169163), TYMPAS (NIS 03-262-8844;
also connected to TYMNET in U.S. and U.K. ), Tri-P (Intec 0120-03-3317; also
connected to Telenet in U.S. and U.K), VENUS-P (KDD 03-275-4311) and services
by most large telecommunications/computer companies in Japan (NEC C&C-VAN,
Fujitsu FENICS, IBM NMS/Information Network, etc.). Electronic business mail
services: WorldMail (called "MCI Mail" in U.S., contact NCL Communication
03-851-9705 or NI+C International 03-221-8010), etc. Because of Lotus Express
program which provides easy, economical on-line naviagation, MCI Mail is oftenused here in Japan, too. Please let the author know about EasyLink, DialComm
and other electronic mail services that may be offered here.
Examples of the access points of these nationwide networks are:
CompuServe/NIF: 1200, 03-730-4944, 044-752-5691, 045-313-3718
GEnie/C&C-VAN: 1200, 03-452-0034 (.A3212024,LOGON,GENIE), 045-664-4824
(.A4512009,LOGON,GENIE), 0468-26-0929 (.A4512009,LOGON,GENIE)
Tri-P: 1200/2400, 03-5371-4295, 045-321-6290
TWICS: 1200/2400MNP5, 03-351-8244/7905; DDX-TP 1200, 163-060-361-2065;
TYMPAS 524
TYMPAS: 1200, 03-555-9562; 2400, 03-555-9696; 1200/2400, 045-453-7637
VENUS-P: 1200, 03-343-1201, 003612; 2400, 03-342-2400, 003613; 2400MNP,
03-340-2400 (domestic tolls are included in overseas charges)
When calling Japan from overseas directly over the telephone network, set your
modem with ATS7=60 to allow the modem to wait 60 seconds after dialing for
carrier detect. Otherwise, your Hayes compatible modem at default setting will
disconnect after 30 seconds and display a "No Carrier" message, leaving not
enough time for your modem to detect the carrier signal being transmitted across
the Pacific Ocean over the satellite link from the BBS host modem in Japan."PC-Pursuit" and "Starlink" are the services offered in U.S. by Telenet, a U.S.
Sprint subsidiary, and by TYMNET, a British Telecom subsidiary, respectively,
allowing the Telenet/TYMNET users to call in a local Telenet/TYMNET port and to
"remotely" dial up any BBS in the region where such services are offered.
If you are traveling in Japan and want to use PC-Pursuit, use the Telenet ports
in Japan such as 03-794-6381 in Tokyo or 06-365-9188 in Osaka (1200/2400/MNP5)
or contact Telenet Japan, Inc. (Tomoko Furukawa, 03-794-6602). For Starlink,
call the TYMPAS numbers listed above.
A service similar to PC-Pursuit/Starlink is offered as TYMPAS 777 service by
NIS, a TYMNET affiliate in Japan. As a user, you can call anyone of the
TYMPAS ports in Japan, key in I at the terminal identifier: prompt and USER-ID;
777;PASSWORD at the please log in: prompt and continue to select from the menus
till you reach, for example, B&B Shimokitazawa. You can call B&B Shimokitazawa
through TYMNET ports overseas, such as 312-922-6571 in Chicago, 213-578-7514
in L.A., 212-809-9660 in N.Y.C., 3-735-3623 in Hong Kong, 2-906-3473 in Sydney,
3-820-9088 in Melbourne, etc. You would need to key in O at the terminal
identifier prompt, NISJPN at the please log in: prompt, and USER-ID:777;
PASSWORD at the second please log in: prompt. Travelling other countries in
Asia, you will find the countries like Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand where
telecommunications is still under the governments' tight control and you must
first get a local company's service, such as, in Taiwan, PACNET from DataCommunications Institute (886-2-344-3117) or UDAS from International Telecom-
munications Administration (886-2-344-3770), and then pass through to TYMPAS by
specifying the DTE address of 44082100010.
Continuing to use TYMPAS as an example, you can call CompuServe from a TYMPAS
port in Japan. Set your term program to 7-E-1 and type A for the terminal
identifier and USER-ID;3106001133;PASSWORD for TYMPAS service, and then the
regular CIS/user-id/password sequence for CompuServe. CompuServe, of course,
can be accessed in a variety of ways, such as via NIFTY-Serve or Venus-P.
Yes, TAPCIS (a shareware program) for IBMPC and Navigator (a commercial
program) for Macintosh are used frequently here too, for easier on-line
navigation on CompuServe.
If your are a UNIX or AIX fan and would rather talk about System V, 4.3BSD,
Mach, uucp or OSF/1, rather than the MS-DOS based subjects, my recommendation
for you is to write to:
Yoh Hitomi, juice administration offce
c/o J.M.A. Systems Co., Ltd., Nihon Seimei Minami-Azabu Bldg.
8-12, Minami-Azabu 2-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106
juice (Japan Un*x I* Communication Environment) is a volunteer-operated, UNIX-based, personal communications network in Japan with approximately 30 sites.
You'll meet there the nice people like Norihiro Mita, the UNIX guru. It is
connected through a gateway to JUNET, a Japanese network of about 300 sites
including major universities and corporations, and through another gate way to
USENET in U.S. If your interest by the way is in the academic world,
regardless of MS-DOS or UNIX, there are BITNET nodes in Japan, too. The
contact point of BITNET here is Tokyo Science University (Tokyo Rika Daigaku).
The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications's consultative committee recommeded
in March 1990 to split the giant NTT corporation in 1995 into three entities:
the local access, long distance and mobile communications companies. (The
further split of the local access company, as in the case of AT&T in U.S., was
not in the recommendation.) While the Ministry of Finance (which still holds
the majority of NTT's shares) insists on a delay of the split decision till
1995 because of the recent nosedive of the NTT share price and the national
debate continues, NTT itself is in the midst of their ISDN (Integrated Services
Digital Network) implementation. Their INS (Information Network Service) Net
64 provides two 64K bps data channels and one 16K bps control signal channel
(2B+D) on the existing copper wire and started in the capital cities of Japan's
48 prefectures in 1988. INS Net 1500 use optical fibers to serve 23B+D
channels since 1989 and, if legally allowed, can provide movie channels etc.
that are now typically served by the cable networks or satellite broadcasts.
As of March 1990, there are 200 cities in Japan that are served by both INS Net
64 and Net 1500. By March, 1991, this number will grow to 940, which means all
major cities with population of 100,000. Since my Fujisawa City is as of
December 1989 serviced by INS Net 64, I could convert one of my two phone lines
to ISDN by paying a little over 10,000 yen (or a new line for paying 72,000
yen) and get Net 64 service for the monthly basic fee of 4,600 yen, equivalent
to two tone-dialing lines. (I am told by the local NTT office that I must,
however, wait approximately six months to obtain a DSU from NTT that is
required for ISDN connection. Is it why Carla Hills, the U.S. trade
negotiator, has recently added the DSUs in her list of items for the Japan-U.S.
trade discussions?) NIFTY-Serve since 1988 has demonstrated ISDN connection,
although formal service never materialized. Should I switch to ISDN? Will
ISDN offer a solution to this country where the long distance rates are
believed to be three times as expensive as in U.S.? We'll see!
Alternatives to NTT's long distance service are available since 1988. Call for
further information the "free dial" (toll free) numbers: 0120-11-0077 for DDI
(Daini Denden, Inc.; microwave towers), 0120-0088-82 for Japan Telecom (Nihon
Telecom; optical fibers along JR railroad tracks) and 0120-03-0077 for Teleway
(Nihon Kosoku Tsushin; optical fibers along expressways). Their service areas
are now limited to the Tokyo-Nagoya-Osaka-Sendai corridor, but their chargesare 20-30 percent less expensive and service areas expanding. Prior registra-
tion by mail is required. My experience with JT shows their lines a lot less
susceptible to noise, not requiring me to use MNP error correction.
KDD (Kokusai Denshin Denwa or "International Telegraph and Telephone") has long
had monopoly on Japan's overseas telecommunications. Alternatives to KDD's
overseas service began in October, 1989: instead of KDD's 001- overseas prefix,
use 0041- through ITJ (contact 0120-44-0041 for more information) or 0061-
through IDC (0120-03-0061). Service countries are in December 1989 limited to
U.S., Hong Kong and U.K., but being expanded month by month. Their services do
not require prior registration, and so can be used immediately.
The non-Japanese speaking people have made a great contribution to the BBS
movement in Japan in its short history. Japan's first BBS was run by Steve
Bellamy at a small store in the Sanno Hotel, downtown Tokyo, with his Apple
computer (was it in 1983?). His Kanto Central BBS later at 0473-79-0098,
now out of service, became in 1986-87 the largest personal computer-based BBS
in Japan and also made a big influence to the near-by BBS's such as MacEvent
Network. Asia Pacific BBS at 03-436-2180, sometimes erroneously called APG
BBS, now also out of service, ran on IBMPC/XT and RBBS-PC with Stovy Brown as
Sysop, and in 1986-88 boasted one of the best collections of public domain
software. Tokyo PC's superb, first generation BBS 03-374-2774 was operated1986-88 on RBBS-PC by "The Rabbi" (Alan Duboff). When he left in January 1987,
a multi-node on-line farewell party, the first of this kind, was held for The
Rabbi and his newly-wed wife Satoko, who watched with their lap-top at their
hotel in Tokyo the farewell speeches from Stephen Campbell, then TPC President,
in Tokyo PC, Ed Bracha on INN, and others on the other BBS's in the Greater
Tokyo area. In March 1990, Ray Penas started open test on his "first made-in-
Japan" bilingual BBS host program, VBBS.
FURTHER CONTACT ABOUT THIS LIST
This list is available in Japan at the above BBS's, in U.S. at The OASis BBS,
Decatur, GA, 404-288-0547, the contact BBS of the Online Atlanta Society, and
in other countries of the world.
Contact by BBS: Sysop, Big Blue Skies BBS
0466-24-6090 (or from U.S. 011-81-466-24-6090)
Contact by mail: Yoshi Mikami
8-6, Kataseyama 4-chome
Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa-ken 251
Japan(The author of this edition of the Greater Tokyo International BBS List is
looking for persons who can continue to update it on a quarterly basis.)
End of BBSTOK5.DOC File
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