From: davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Internet access in Japan
Date: 11 Sep 92 00:31:20 GMT
Organization: Aegis Society, Kyoto Japan

lkress@reed.edu (Lucien Kress) writes:

>I have a friend in Japan with a Mac and a modem.  How can he get
>access to internet email cheaply?  I will be deeply grateful if
>you can help me.

This is a pretty common question so I've made up a little FAQ.
Here's the current version:

---- Internet Mail in Japan 92/09/11 -------------------------------

1) Join CompuServe in the U.S. and access it via TYMPAS (TYMNET) for
~ 70 yen/minute. Some people also call direct at 110+ yen/minute
(depending on time of day) with high speed modems and claim they
it's better for large file transfers than TYMPAS which is only 2400
BPS. CompuServe can also be accessed via FENICS and instead of
CompuServe you might consider any host outside Japan you can get to
via X.25 Public Data Network. 

2) Join Aegis in Kyoto for a UNIX host + BBS-like front end. 20,000
yen/year, no charge for network mail within Japan, 20 yen/K to other
addresses. Access via direct dial-up or TYMPAS (TYMNET Personal
Account System). Send mail to me, I'm sysadmin. 

3) Join TWICS in Tokyo for a VAX/VMS-host with PARTI/CAUCUS and an
AUS USENET newsreader. 15,000 yen deposit/signup + 3,000 yen/month,
mail inside Japan at no extra charge, charges for mail outside of
Japan free for the first 24K/month and 45 yen/K afterwards. TWICS is
well connected to other systems via DASNET at varying additional
charges. Access via direct dial-up, TYMPAS, DDX. Send mail to
burress@twics.co.jp for details. 

4) Set up your own UUCP host and join Juice. 5,000 yen to join plus
1,000 yen/month, mail within Japan OK, not sure about international
but most probably via KDDlabs' Inet Club which is 30 yen/K.  Access
via direct dial-up. Send mail to juice-admin@juice.co.jp for details. 

For international netmail, you will need to subscribe to KDD's
InetClub. Charges are ~2,000 yen/month and up according to how many
people are at your site, plus 30 yen/K. Also, you may need to call
their site in Saitama directly, unless you want to route through
somebody else, thereby making them subsidize your traffic. Contact
konish@kddlabs.co.jp for details. 
----- cut here -------------------------------------- cut here -----

Hope that helps,

Dave

--
Dave McLane 
BITNET/JUNET: davidg@aegis.or.jp
Nagaokakyoshi, Kyoto Japan Tel: +81-75-951-1168 Fax: +81-75-957-1087

-==================


jefu@haas.berkeley.edu (Jeffrey Shapard) writes:

>This is a follow-up to Dave McLane's informative response.

This is a follow-up to Jeffrey Shapards's informative additions, Hi Jefu :-)

 
>re: option 1 -- CompuServe

>For that matter, any host site outside Japan that you can
>get to via X.25 Public Data Network is part of this option.
>This is most appropriate if you already have an account
>there. For example, I believe The Web is in Toronto, and
>that is a well-connected public access site, and a part of
>the APC Network, including folks like Peacenet/IGC in the
>US and Pegasus in Oz.

Yes, this is so. I guess I should add this to my list of
possibilities. 

>re: option 2 -- TWICS

>The 15,000 signup/deposit is 5000 yen signup with the 10,000
>yen deposit going towards your 3000 yen/mo subscription and
>value-added service charges. I believe that TWICS is planning
>to waive the deposit for folks who pay by credit card. TWICS
>also offers special deals for people who live outside Japan.

Right, 15,000 up in front, 3,000/month.

>TWICS subscribes directly to the KDD Labs InetClub, which is
>a long-distance call out to Saitama. Therefore, the 45 yen
>per 1K charge to cover that overhead. TWICS does not route
>intl netmail through other sites in Japan.

FYI, Aegis is permitted to send/receive mail with BITNET nodes no
matter where they are, mail to other addresses outside of Japan go
via a direct link to the U.S. Aegis only polls twice a day (once at
00:00 JST which is 10:00 EST, and once at 07:00 JST which is 15:00
EST). This is satisfactory to Aegis members who don't need to get
mail faster than that, and enjoy paying only 20 yen/K.

[* other details of concerning TWICS omitted *]
 
As for the rest of the details of TWIC's connectivity, I didn't
think they were appropriate for a first time post just as I don't
think listing the BITNET listservs that are ported to local
newsgroups on Aegis is appropriate.

>re: option 4 -- joining Juicenet and KDD Labs InetClub

>For intl netmail, you need to subscribe to InetClub via
>KDD Labs, and charges vary according to how many people
>are at your site. You also need to call their site
>directly, unless you want to route through somebody else,
>thereby making them subsidize your traffic, and they are
>in Saitama. Long-distance phone tariffs within Japan are
>not cheap, to put it mildly.

Yes, somebody could join KDD Labs InetClub individually.  Due to the
Long-distance phone charges, the monthly KDDlabs fee, and the
KDDlabs charge of 20 yen/K. If I remember right, the site charge is
90,000 yen for signup and goes down from there.  Monthly fixed fee
for one person is something like 2,500 yen(?) I don't know is this
is a real-world option, but I'll include it next time. 

>The real question is: What do you need in an email and
>communications service? There is a wide variety of systems
>with active local populations, but only a few that also
>offer wider connectivity. And those vary in terms of how
>active the local community is on those sites.

Yes, I agree. Each of the above options is beneficial to somebody
depending on what they want and some people use more than one. 

In terms of local community, I would say that TWICS has the stronger
sense of local community.  and this makes sense as PARTI, at least,
uses a "Well-connected BeeJima" island metaphor. 

In contrast, the public, local community on Aegis is almost zero.
However, in terms of mail between members it's active, and in terms
of network mail, I would say it's very active, averaging something
like 400K/month/member. This is in keeping with the Aegis metaphor
as an 'aegis' was the shield of Zeus (the supreme diety of the
ancient Greeks) and that of this daughter Athena (the goddess of
wisdom, fertility, the useful arts, and prudent warfare). I think of
Aegis as floating in the "radiant void of virtual space" where local
isn't separated from non-local. 

But this is drifting from the original subject, if somebody really
wants local community, I would suggest joining a BBS. Once upon a
time I had a list of BBS in Japan (almost all were in Tokyo) and
there were about 30 which supported English. 

No offense to anybody's system, but I only have the numbers of a
few:

The First Amendment: 03-5702-6996
           Tokyo PC: 03-5411-4393
              Tenet: 03-3335-2919
            P&A BBS: 0425-46-9143 
                JIX: 06-351-6074
          SOFTWORKS: 0727-66-4410

As far as I know everything is N81.

Dial 'em up and enjoy :-)

Dave

--
Dave McLane 
JUNET: davidg@aegis.or.jp (ONLY within Japan: post otherwise)
Nagaokakyoshi, Kyoto Japan Tel: +81-75-951-1168 Fax: +81-75-957-1087