Question about Japanese romanji

[nielsencl]

Hi,

I have one IDN domain that is in Japanese. What I am wondering about is how popular romanji domains are in Japan? When I search at Google.jp I don't see many IDN domains, mostly romanji. Just now on here I saw my first hirigana or katakana domains which I didn't realize existed.

Anyway, the reason that I ask is because I have a great souce for dropped domains and I see a few romanji domains almost every day. I have even bought a few like Bengoshisan.com and Taikoban.com. So is there any market to resell these names?

Also, in anyone would like to partner with me to nelp market these names, please send me a PM and we can talk about it. My wife is Japanese and can help me to find addtional names.

Thank you!

 

[kleszcz]

Unfortunately IDN domain isn't popular at the moment but worth trying.

Generally no chance for endusers market if you're thinking to flip for companies. Probably you'll confused about payment, it's not COD. Seller pushes domain first and receive money after 30-270 days (60 or 90 is common).

 

[nielsencl]

On my last trip to Japan, when my plane was backing out and getting ready to taxi away from the terminal, I watched the ground worker stand and wave good by to the plane as it was leaving.

Thanks for letting me know about the idea of providing the domain and then waiting for payment. If that's true that's not a problem for me since the ethics of Japanese businesses is generally very good.

No comment on Romanji domains? They aren't really IDN domains...

 

[WhoNet]

No comment on Romanji domains? They aren't really IDN domains...

I don't understand what is "Romanji domains" -
can you show me any of it?

thanks

 

[nielsencl]

...a few like Bengoshisan.com and Taikoban.com.

Unlike English that only uses one alphabet, the Japanese language uses Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana, and the Latin ( rōmaji ) alphabets. Romanji is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, and when entering Japanese text into a computer. More...

 

[namethreads.com]

Hi,

I have one IDN domain that is in Japanese. What I am wondering about is how popular romanji domains are in Japan? When I search at Google.jp I don't see many IDN domains, mostly romanji. Just now on here I saw my first hirigana or katakana domains which I didn't realize existed.

Anyway, the reason that I ask is because I have a great souce for dropped domains and I see a few romanji domains almost every day. I have even bought a few like Bengoshisan.com and Taikoban.com. So is there any market to resell these names?

Also, in anyone would like to partner with me to nelp market these names, please send me a PM and we can talk about it. My wife is Japanese and can help me to find addtional names.

Thank you!

Generally there isn;t so much of a secondary market for domains in Japan. Probably it is not worth catching domains such as those you mention.

Bengoshisan.JP is available
TAIKOBAN.JP was registered in September.

Personally, I don't think you will benefit from owning these kinds names. There are tons of available .jp domains. I speak Japanese, if you want to discuss anything drop me a PM.

 

[Fka200]

Generally there isn;t so much of a secondary market for domains in Japan. Probably it is not worth catching domains such as those you mention.

Bengoshisan.JP is available
TAIKOBAN.JP was registered in September.

Personally, I don't think you will benefit from owning these kinds names. There are tons of available .jp domains. I speak Japanese, if you want to discuss anything drop me a PM.

If there are any available IDN.jp/IDN.com/net available that you might feel are worth it but are passing on, feel free to let me know I've stayed away from Japanese just because I couldn't manage to grasp on the culture, but I did manage to pick up a few that I am extremely pleased with.

 

[nielsencl]

Please don't Hijack my thread....!

I am not talking about actual IDN domains or .jp domains. I have one of each and I would love to sell them. One is Kanji for "building or construction" and the other is Bankruptcy.jp.

But this thread is not about either of them. It's about the Japanese use of Roman characters (like these) that are used to form words in Japanese.

Generally there isn;t so much of a secondary market for domains in Japan. Probably it is not worth catching domains such as those you mention.

Bengoshisan.JP is available
TAIKOBAN.JP was registered in September.

My feeling is also that the secondary (end-user, right?) market is not very active, but the same was true here in the US not too long ago. .jp domains cost about $100 while .com is only $8, so where does the better investment potential lie? Based on what I know about Japanese culture (and this seems to be true on many other countries like India) .com is, and will be king for a long time.

But why did you mention the .jp versions of those domains? Are most Japanese sites using .jp or .com and other tlds. When I went to register my wife's first name, I was able to do so, but as a .us. When she tells people her email address, they think they are hearing it incorrectly. Honto? It's pretty funny...

 

[WhoNet]

Unlike English that only uses one alphabet, the Japanese language uses Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana, and the Latin ( rōmaji ) alphabets. Romanji is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, and when entering Japanese text into a computer. More...

Take a look on YAHOO! Japan - http://www.yahoo.co.jp

I've find kanji ( 漢字 ), hiragana ( 平仮名 ) and katakana ( 片仮名 ) and very few Roman numeral and very very few Latin alphabet...

I think that Latin ( rōmaji ) alphabets was not use oftentimes...

 

[namethreads.com]

You can register ascii .jp domains for about 3000yen and idn .jp domains for about 800yen at:

https://www.value-domain.com/
or
muumuu-domain.com/

You will need a Japanese address to register a .jp, but if you do not live in Japan, perhaps your wife could use her parent's address or the address of a friend. (Use your own e-mail, obviously). You won't receive anything in the post anyway.

From what I know, Japanese prefer .jp, since they feel criminal activity and rip offs are fewer with .jp. If the .jp is available, this is a sign that there may not be much demand in Japan for the .com version. (An end-user could just as well register the .jp rather than buying from you, right?)

On the other hand, it is not allowed to register placenames under .jp. I think IDN place names in .com and other gtlds have potential value and I own some

What I know is that all 3 letter .jp are registered out, so if you can get hold of one of these, it might have some value.

 

[nielsencl]

Whonet: How are you searching? Try this search. I took one kanji character from the page (I don't know what it meant) and ALL of the search results have romanji domain names. Most of the domains ARE .co.jp or .jp, but if you look through 4-5 pages of results you also will see some that are .com, .net, and .org.

I have not done much testing, but for the most part it seems that most sites with Japanese content have romanji domains, but maybe .jp is the preferred TLD. But perhaps Yahoo.jp is weighing the results toward .jp domains? Yes, when I do the same search at Google there are more of the other TLDs in the results, and still all romaji domain names...

Martin: Thanks for the tip on the registrar. My domain is at JP-Domains.com and while it's been ok, I really don't want to renew for $100.

==================================
So, I'm still not feeling like I know any more about romanji domains at this point... but from what I have seen they are used and somewhat popular.

 

[Phio]

Hi,
My wife is Japanese and can help me to find addtional names.

Thank you!

If I was you I would ask your wife to help register some fresh IDN.jp's over at jp-domains. I think they are 2 for 30 bucks.


My IDN.jp's are just now beginning to get traffic, and with a good eye and your wife's help -- you will find some gold.

If you are not interested in IDNs, then stick with what you are comfortable with. You know better than anyone what works for you.

 

[kleszcz]

I forgot to mention, I suppose Romanji domain is normal in many JP sites rather than English words.

Again there are some crappy marketplaces and it's completely waste of time. You had better develop your websites.

 

[floatingworld]

[

Martin: Thanks for the tip on the registrar. My domain is at JP-Domains.com and while it's been ok, I really don't want to renew for $100.

I think jp-domains renew at ~ $60 not $100. Someone mentioned earlier in the thread about a residential requirement which is not necessary. Also something about restriction on place names which I have not heard of before.

 

[rhys]

I renew for $12

 

[xmith]

I'm little bit late to the discussion but let me give my contribution.

I had been working on romaji domains - both .jp and .com/.net/etc. As noticed before there is no secondary market for romaji domains. The only chance are those domains with sizeable traffic being dropped. .jp field is less competitive and I could catch some good ones in the past. A good niche, as you might expect, is adult industry.

For IDNs, outsiders believe it is a matter of time for IDN to gain momentum, but that is not an easy question. As noted above, latin alphabet in some ways is part of their alphabet and a good number of people, including myself, question if this will become true someday. Internet combines better with roman alphabet for most of people in Japan.

But make no mistakes. Most good IDN domains are already taken. Investors/speculators are taking position just in case. They don't to be left if this opportunity arrives.

 

[nielsencl]

So it seems there is a market for Romaji domains, but that it's pretty limted to companies and those that develop sites. The feeling I'm getting is that there are not nearly as many people that develop sites as there are in other countries, so of course the market is much more limited. And that the use of romanji domains is also limited, because most of the development that is being done is directed at the Japanese market which will be using kanji or hiragana/katakana.

 

[rhys]

The romaji domains you see so predominant in search results derive from the fact that IDN has been practically impossible to obtain until summer 2005. After that date, people started re-regging IDNs but browser support wasn't really available in measurable quantities until this year. Thus companies and individuals in japan who have websites had no choice but to buy ascii domains in English or Romajii. There are cases where these names can be valuable but by and large most japanese couldn't spell domains in English or Romajii accurately enough thus there is little type-in traffic in most cases. The future most believe will be IDN but it may take a couple of years to arrive. I wouldn't totally discount Romajii but its future is dim at best.