Fukuoka's pop culture site draws global viewersA Web site run by the Fukuoka Prefectural Government showcasing music, comics, fashion and other artifacts of pop culture from Japan and Asia is drawing attention as it goes multilingual and expands in scope.
Asianbeat.com is published in Japanese and four other languages. A rare cultural foray by a local government, the site has had visitors from at least 150 countries, according to prefectural officials.
Although it is separate from the government's home page, a dozen staff, including government employees and translators, are responsible for running the site, which was set up in September 2005 after Fukuoka officials took note of everything from the many visitors to the prefecture from China and South Korea to concerts held by Japanese musicians there.
The number of page visits climbed sharply in 2009 after a Thai-language section was added. The site is also published in Japanese, English, Korean, and Chinese, using both simplified and traditional characters.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100105a6.htmlIt's crap, but thought it was cool that the Fukuoka Prefectural Government was doing it..