The e-Japan Strategy formulated in 2000 considers the establishment of an e-government or e-local governments to be one of its major projects. Among the themes related to the establishment of e-local governments, the implementation of a new-type local portal sites has begun to attract all related parties; local governments, private sectors and third sectors as site operators, and local residents as site users. On the local portal site, administrative information released by local government is provided together with business information from local private sectors. Local governments are able to cut the operational cost of their official web site by outsourcing its operation, and outsourced operators are able to attract more viewers by enriched site contents and thus earn more advertisement revenue. Moreover, users will have easier accesses to their target information, as all relevant information is found on the same portal. Therefore, this seemingly making-every-stakeholders-happy policy will become popular among local governments in the near future; in fact, some advanced local governments have already started to implement such a local portal site. However, there are several issues to be considered: apart from expectations of local governments and web operators, it is not yet clear which organization is supported as operator of their portal site, or how they would evaluate the method that provides administrative information and business information on the same web site. Furthermore, the economic advantages of this method have not yet been determined. The purpose of this research is to examine two of the issues mentioned above: residents' preference for site operators and contents provided by applying conjoint analysis. The research was conducted using a questionnaire which was administered to the residents of Itami City, Hyogo. The survey results indicated that the residents placed the highest value on the combined provision of customized administrative information and business information. The most cost-effective way at the moment is to re-design the traditional official web sites of local governments, aiming to enhance the residents' convenience by customizing the information by users' demographic attributes. Results also indicated that the residents preferred their local government to operate the site. We believe that these study results provide basic but valuable suggestions for the gradual establishment of true e-local governments.

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This paper investigates the meaning of 'media' and 'communication' from the viewpoint of both socio-informatics and the sociology of education. In order to connect both fields, I will consider the role and potential of learning activities in the age of pervasive Information and Communication Technology (ICT). As a first step in this multidisciplinary challenge, I will compare the usage of keywords in the both fields, and specify issues arising when we create knowledge in the context of the modern educational system in Japan. The paper will give a brief overview of the background of the problems found in Japan's modern education system, highlighting the social effects of the so-called meritocracy ideology. It will then shed light on new possibilities for ICT as a resource for learning by drawing on research based on the idea of 'social capital' as popularized in the work of Robert D. Putnam. The paper will also present a multidisciplinary comparison of 'media' and 'communication' as keyword that helps deepen our understanding of spontaneous learning activities, and then highlights a counter-perspective to the recent research on ICT covered in the previous section. Drawing on fieldwork data, the paper will explore ICT-driven changes to learning practices in Japanese society. In conclusion, it will reconsider learning activities in the context of recent ICT developments. By this token this will enable us to reinforce the imperative of a deeper exploration into the meaning of 'media' and 'communication' in contemporary society.

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Despite Korea's high economic growth, its traditional interpersonal relationships continue to play a significant role, especially in terms of cultural kinship among urban immigrants. Reflecting the current unique character of Korea's social structure, online communities have rapidly developed, populated by existing alumni associations and hometown-rooted associations. Related case studies show that the spread of online communities has influenced the evolvement of alumni associations and interpersonal relations of urban immigrants into the extensive alumni's network, vocational cooperation network, and old-hometowners' network.

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In this paper we present the problems in developing the learning environment of Japanese as a foreign language in a small European country with its own language, and suggest a method of improvement. The Republic of Slovenia, an EU member state with a population of approximately 2 million, geographically and culturally distant from Japan, is taken as an example. Not only is the number of Japanologists in Slovenia quite small, the small number of potential purchasers results in higher prices for books, leading to difficulties in publishing Japanese language related materials. In this paper, construction of a learning support environment based on an information system incorporating Web 2.0 elements is proposed as the means of improvement: centralizing the existing resources on a single, academically credible website based on the Slovene language and focused on Japanese language learning, and inviting participation from not only Slovene students and scholars, but also Japanese students willing to support foreign students in learning the Japanese language.

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This paper reports the progress and result of the experiments of EDCM (Evaluation and Discussion by Community Members) approach with a new set of staged criteria which aims to improve communication within a regional community. Based on the concept which the author wrote in the previous paper, the experiments of the approach took places in Sapporo City and Fujisawa City. The execution and the discussion of the experiment gave the chance that participants became aware of new human resource networks, reconsidered the media for regional community and the level of their commitment to regional community. These are learning opportunities to improve the participants' capability to observe the present situation of the regional community and to provide motivation for collaboration. Also the results showed a more unified public and private partnerships is required in order to share the meaning and impact of the media in regional community. This experiments in spite of early stages of our study, it can be a contribution to creating a new channel for the regional community and bridging human relationships.

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In this paper, we discuss the infosphere from the viewpoint of an observer. The infosphere, as proposed by Luciano Floridi, is a core concept that integrates separated micro-level information ethics into an integrated information ethics (IE). The goal of IE is to decrease the entropy of the infosphere. When applying IE to actual situations, it is necessary to clarify by whom and from where it is observed because entropy itself is defined and measured from the observer's viewpoint. The theory of Fundamental Informatics (FI) insists that not only human beings but also other living creatures can become observers of the infosphere. On the other hand, a machine cannot be an observer by itself, although it can constitute part of an observer when it is embedded in a complex man-machine system. The informatic turn, which enables this extended notion of an observer, provides criticism on Floridi's infosphere.

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In this study, a three-wave panel study was conducted to examine how different media tools such as newspapers, books or magazines, TV or video programs, video games, and telephones influence children's information literacy. A total of 539 junior high school students participated in the study. A structural equation modeling analysis of the obtained data indicated that there were some positive short-term effects, which became visible within half a year, wherein the use of newspapers, books or magazines, and the radio promoted abilities related to information collection. Regarding the long-term effects that became visible within a year, however, the study showed that the use of video games had negative effects on the abilities to collect, express, and communicate information. An examination of the long-term effects of information literacy-related abilities on the use of media tools distinctly showed that children with higher skill levels read newspapers more often but read comic books or used video games less frequently.

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In this study, we analyze existing IT support methods and senior citizens' support needs through a local IT promotion project, e-namokun. We then propose a remote IT support method, e-RemoSupp, to help senior users improve their IT ability and efficiently solve computer- and Internet-related problems under the support of IT volunteer groups by using remote control technology. Starting with a short introduction to the project and early research, we examine e-RemoSupp through a four-month experiment, and then discuss its social issues, technical issues, and essential elements in implementing a successful remote support in cooperation with IT volunteers.

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Over the past few decades, the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) as a beneficial tool in the lives of people with disabilities has been brought to public attention. It has been proposed that "people with disabilities achieve fuller social participation, especially in terms of economic self-reliance, with ICT use." Japan's welfare policy, introduced recently, compels disabled people to use ICT in order to gain and conduct their employment. Economic self-reliance is regarded as a prerequisite for the social participation of people with disabilities, and obtaining employment is the consequential and implicit goal. Acquisition of ICT usages has been seen as the key that will help disabled people to achieve social participation. This paper intends to present the results of an investigation that was conducted into the effects of ICT on disabled people's social participation. This investigation was based upon a log analysis of the online mailing list (ML) as well as fieldwork conducted in the offline arena. This fieldwork in the offline arena revealed that there were many social barriers that could not be overcome through ICT use, even by those with consummate ICT skills. In contrast, we observed that an "online community" allowed each member of the disabled working community to communicate his or her living situation, a communication that broke down barriers and encouraged social participation. These results led us to the conclusion that ICT is not the "highway" to the "promised land" of social participation; instead the evidence suggests that ICTs can instigate a "pathway" to an actual community of disabled people.

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