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Nico Nico Douga – Japan’s answer to YouTube
Though YouTube remains the most popular video sharing site for most of the world, Japan has given birth to its own version of the streaming media sharing genre called Nico Nico Douga (translated literally as “Smiling Videos”). What makes this site stand out is the way it simulates a real-time conversation between users, as their comments are overlaid and synched with on-screen video footage of the user’s choice. The site proved immensely popular with Japanese audiences as a recipient of the Good Design Award in 2007 and ranked in at #6 on the list of Japan’s top web sites as of April 2008. The site has received some bad press, however, due to it being frequently trafficked by Akihabara-going otaku types, though the videos on the site are as diverse as what one would find on YouTube. According to the traffic ranking website Alexa.com, the site’s popularity transcended Japanese borders and spread into other parts of Asia. Take a look at the following breakdown of the top four access rates by country in 2008:
Japan – 82.1%, China – 4.8%, Taiwan – 3.4%, Hong Kong – 3.3%
