One of the most successful of the ccTLDs and also the most mysterious is Japan’s .jp.
Japan as the second largest economy in the world seems like quite an opportunity. However, you need to know Japan and preferably Japanese before you jump into the game.
I’ve been there many times and the country to me has always come across as one of the most self-contained societies in the world. According to Wikipedia 98.5% of the people there are in the Japanese ethnic group. That’s amazing considering the amount of business that is done there.
However, as the Asian crisis years back proved their economy is anything but self-contained. They are very much a part of the global web.
They have the money and the entrepreneurial spirit to be buyers of names. If only domainers could figure out how to tap the market. Hopefully, these questions can help demystify it a bit.
RL – Let’s start with the basics. Please share your name and title.
Hiro Hotta – My name is Hiro Hotta and I am the Director of Corporate Planning.
RL – Can you please give us a brief history on the origin of jpnic and the Japan Registry service?
Hiro Hotta – Management and administration of .JP top-level domain was carried out by the public organization JPNIC (Japan Network Information Center), with the recognition of the government ministries, as well as with ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which globally coordinates Internet resource related activities.
However, regarding the management and administration of the .JP top-level domain, where environmental changes are drastic and the service is expected to be fair and efficient, it became necessary to transfer these responsibilities to a private company, in order to satisfy the needs of customers and maintain competitiveness and openness.
In light of this, at the 11th General Meeting of JPNIC held in December 2000, it was decided to create a new corporation that would succeed management and administration of the .JP top-level domain. Based on this resolution, Japan Registry Services Co., Ltd. (JPRS) was established.
JPRS succeeded the responsibility upon receiving formal recognition from ICANN. After much study and discussion about the transfer, on November 9, 2001, the Memorandum for the Transfer of Management and Administration of the .JP Top Level Domain was executed.
Operations were transferred on April 1, 2002 upon the formal approval of JPRS as an organization responsible for managing and administering .JP top-level domain through the “JP Domain Name Management and Administration Transfer Agreement” executed between JPRS and JPNIC on January 31, 2002 and the “ccTLD Sponsorship Agreement (.jp)” executed on February 27, 2002 between JPRS and ICANN.
RL - Approximately how many names under .jp are registered including .co.jp and other extensions?
Hiro Hotta – 1,100,000
RL – Which is more popular in Japan? Is .jp more popular than .co.jp? Do you see this changing in the future?
Hiro Hotta – 700,000 .jp and 330,000 .co.jp. .jp is growing steeper than .co.jp
RL – On a recent trip to Japan I didn’t see very many IDN.jp names on advertisements. Do you think the public is aware that these names are possible to own or type in? What are your thoughts on what can be done to promote them?
Hiro Hotta – Your observation is fair. We seldom see IDNs in ad, while some ads on magazines use IDNs. It seems still many people don’t know IDNs. Our sales persons are trying to attach IDNs to famous goods for IDN promotion
RL – Many domainers expect that IDN.IDN names will be the future in Asian countries. After all, why would a Japanese person want to even enter the .jp in their browser if they don’t need to? What are your thoughts?
Hiro Hotta – Maybe there is a difference between China and Japan. Japanese people see a bunch of ASCII letters in their everyday lives. So, I don’t think .IDN can make much difference in its popularity from .jp In addition, search engine is very popular in Japan and people seldom types-in URLs in browser address bar. This makes the difference of TLD extension more obsolete.
RL – Is it correct that if the Japan Registry Service gets .日本 (Japan in Japanese) that this new extension will be regulated by ICANN where .jp is currently independent of the organization? Would .日本 technically be a new gTLD extension by ICANN’s guidelines and not a ccTLD at all?
Hiro Hotta – There may be misunderstanding, here. JPRS has a formal agreement with ICANN regarding .jp. More specifically, JPRS have got a .jp delegation from ICANN based on a formal agreement. Wrt. .日本, it’s going to be a new ccTLD under the framework of “IDN ccTLD Fast Track” being discussed in ICANN arena.
RL – Thanks for explaining that. What’s involved in transferring a .jp name from one owner to another? Do you use the auth code format or is there paperwork required?
Hiro Hotta – We don’t use authcode. A gaining registrar kicks off the transfer scenario by letting JPRS know “owner of domain A wants to move to me.” Then, JPRS asks the losing registrar whether it approves or not. If the losing registrar approves the transfer or keeps silent for a specific while, domain A is transferred. This means, JPRS believes what registrars say – and almost no problems have occurred so far. No paperwork needed in transfer scenario.
RL – Do you publish or support an expiring domains list for people that play the drop market?
Hiro Hotta – No
RL – How long are .jp names expired before you delete them from your system for others to register?
Hiro Hotta – 1 month for .jp and 6 months for .co.jp
© 2010
Interesting interview thanks for taking the time to do it Rick.
It should be recognised that although very likely, currently JPRS have not been awarded .日本 yet, therefore he is being cautious not to promote it, instead solely promoting .jp – but he is right, the .IDN (.日本) may not be that important contrary to what many domainers assumed. He is also spot on re the lack of typing in. There’s a good reason for this, and more detail can be found here (A highly recommended IDN blog)
http://www.idndemystified.com/?p=692
Nice to read the interview. I’m just in the process of renewing some of my .jp names. It was a good reminder of what is important now and what will be important for Japan in the next 5 years. China is fully adopting IDNs, we really don’t know if this will happen in Japan right away, but with the government’s (possible) involvement, they may promote them within the next year or so. No one knows the timing for Japan, but it was good to hear about their current situation.