The History of Ayashii World
(up to 2006-09-28)

This is an English translation of Ayashii World no Rekishi(あやしいわーるどの歴史; The History of Ayashii World), enhanced with extra links, archives, and more.

Work on this translation began on 2021-10-07.

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Guide

Highlighted text
Important events.
Editor's notes
Notes written by the original Japanese author(s).
Translator's notes
Notes written by me, the translator.
Person
Indicates that the name refers to a person.
日本語
Untranslated Japanese text.
Italicised text
Names of sites, services, companies, groups, etc.

Contents

  1. 1995
  2. 1996
    1. Ayashii World arrives on the Internet
    2. Ayashii World leaves Digital Eden and moves to Kenjinkai
  3. 1997
    1. Sakakibara suspect's name is leaked and Ayashii World@K&T goes offline
    2. Ayashii World@Xtel is launched and forms the present day Ayashii archetype
    3. Nazo Keijiban is launched to segregate annoying users
  4. 1998
  5. 1999
  6. 2000
  7. 2001
  8. 2002
  9. 2003
  10. 2004
  11. 2005
  12. 2006
  13. Sources

1995

1995-03-20

The so-called Tokyo subway sarin attack (地下鉄サリン事件; Chikatetsu Sarin Jiken) committed by Aum Shinrikyo (オウム真理教) occurs.

Shiba (しば) establishes a music-oriented PATIO (a forum-like service provided by NIFTY-Serve) named musicaholic, which covers his personal music interests (UK Rock, Techno).

1995 (summer/autumn)

Shiba is impressed by Kasumigaseki (霞ヶ関), a game based on the Tokyo subway sarin attack and a pioneer in the genre of Fukinshin games (不謹慎ゲーム; unscrupulous games), and he starts a NIFTY Home Party (a simple anonymous BBS service) named Ayashii World (あやしいワールド; Strange World). It closes soon afterwards.

After a brief period of inactivity, and as the drastic shift from the earlier forms of PC communications (パソコン通信; pasocon tsushin) to the Internet occurs, Shiba begins to look at the possibilities that lie in pedophilic images. He wonders if pedophilic images, which are strictly regulated in other countries, could be an underground culture that is unique to Japan.

1995-08-15

Kowloon Kurosawa (クーロン黒沢) launches the grassroots BBS Tokyo Isoternet (東京イソターネット). Later, he starts Kokuchi-kun (告知君; Notice-kun), a BBS where the content is called Kaibunshou Hozonkan (怪文書保存館; The Archive of Anonymous Defamation Documents). This would have a great influence on future log archival sites.

1996

1996-04

Aisuta (あいすた) launches Atarashii Kaze (新しい風; New Wind). In June 1996, the name is changed to Ayashii World (あやしいわーるど; Strange World), but it is said to be very unpopular because whenever anything mildly risky is posted, it is swiftly deleted.

Aisuta eventually resigns from his managerial role, and asks if anyone wants to use the board's name as they wish. There's a theory out there that says Shiba inherits the Ayashii World name this way, but the truth is completely unknown. Editor's note: there are no records of this available besides memories of hearsay.

1996-04-29

Pedo Koushaku (ペド侯爵), also known as Marquis de Pedo, launches Nihon Lolicon Graphics (日本ロリコングラフィックス; Japan Lolicon Graphics), which has a strong influence on Shiba.

1996-05-02

Web Urawaza Rescue (Web裏技レスキュー; Web Tricks Rescue, later known as CGI Rescue) begins distributing his MiniBBS bulletin board script, also known as KaniBBS (簡易BBS; SimpleBBS).

1996-06-01

Kawakami Ichirou (河上イチロー) launches Der Angriff (The Attack). It functions as a counter to existing media.

Translator's note: Der Angriff was the name of a newspaper operated by the Nazi party in Nazi Germany.

1996-08-06

Vladimir launches the Japanese version of InfoVlad (previously only available in English). On 1997-08-17, the HACK JAPONAISE RING webring is launched on InfoVlad.

1996-08-21

Shiba notices that Pedo Koushaku's bulletin board makes use of a free and anonymous rental service. By using PostOne's free email forwarding service, Tripod's free web hosting, and Digital Eden's free bulletin board service, Ayashii World (あやしいわーるど; Strange World) finally makes its way onto the Internet. This is where the history of Ayashii World as an anonymous bulletin board begins.

Since Digital Eden's security is nonexistent, Ayashii World is immediately christened with bulletin board trolls, and so it is off to a turbulant start (it appears that Tanai (棚井) is among the attackers *laughs*). The main topics of discussion are pedoneta (ペドネタ; pedophilia-related stories/material) and mainstream subculture trends, which reflects Shiba's intentions. Photographs of Shiba participating in offline events are released publicly, and there seems to be an idyllic atmosphere.

Translator's note: The URL for Ayashii World's Digital Eden room is known, but unfortunately the service closed several days before the earliest archive available was created. However, the page displaying Ayashii World as being listed on Digital Eden is available.

1996-09

On Ayashii World's bulletin board, Asada Takuya (あさだたくや) conceives the idea of a truly liberty-oriented newsgroup on Netnews (see: Usenet) in response to the feudalistic and hard-headed administration found on the fj.* heirarchy (fj stands for From Japan). As a result, many Ayashii regulars of this time participate in the newly-formed japan.* hierarchy.

Tanai, in addition to spreading mp3 files around the world (as the creator of YunaSoft MP3 Encoder), is also the founder of japan.fetish.lolita. Following this:

  1. japan.binaries.pictures.lolita is created.
  2. japan.fetish.lolita is abolished.
  3. japan.binaries.pictures.lolita is abolished.
  4. japan.binaries.pictures.erotica.lolita is created.

...which brings us to the present day. Due to conflicts with distributors over restrictions on erotic material, Tanai pulls out of the project halfway through, but he later becomes a leading figure in the proliferation of pedophilic images on japan.*.

Translator's note: Archived posts regarding Tanai.

1996-11-03

Ueno Haruki no HoMePaGe (うえのはるきのほめぱげ; Ueno Haruki's Homepage) is launched, which gives birth to the legendary delusional character DD no Tetsu-san (DDの哲さん).

1996-11-30

Chikadou Iriguchi (地下道入口; Underpass Entrance), Japan's first fully-fledged UG (underground) site created in 1995-05, is closed. In the aftermath, Chikadou refugees pour into Ayashii World, and hacking/cracking-related topics take the center stage. Incidentally, a site that pays homage to Chikadou Iriguchi named Gesuidou Iriguchi (下水道入口; Sewer Entrance) is launched.

Translator's note: The only archives of Chikadou Iriguchi that exist were made after the site's closure, leaving only the final message from the admin.

1996-12-23

With Digital Eden's free service coming to an end, Ayashii World moves to Kenjinkai (県人会) which is run by Tome (とめ). It uses the so-called Ikkou Keijiban script (一行掲示板; One-row Bulletin Board), and in addition to Ayashii, many other UG-style bulletin boards also utilize it. Among them is Guess Who Keijiban (ゲスッ掲示板; Guess Who Bulletin Board), which will be created in 1997-02.

Incidentally, by the time of Digital Eden's end, Ayashii World's hit counter has exceeded 400,000 hits.

Translator's note: None of the URLs for Kenjinkai's sites were archived as far as I'm aware, but they were said to be as follows:

  • www.kenjin.com
  • skyport.com/keinjin/

1996-12-26

Shiba seperates AyashiiWorld@Kenjinkai (あやしいわーるど@県人会) into 97 for general topics, and 2000 for technical topics.

On 2000 in particular, some of the regulars who will later go on to become members of Guess Who (ゲスッ) are openly discussing raiding other bulletin boards. Kenjinkai gets flooded with complaints and is forced to shut down temporarily.

It could be said that Ayashii World 2000 founded the notorious bulletin board destruction group Guess Who, but Shiba himself consistently declares that he opposes bulletin board trolling.

1997

1997-01-27

Legendary hacker KKC makes a post to his bulletin board, Hackerz BBS, that continues to get passed down to this day. He writes "あまりに簡単すぎる英語で書きました。You is a big fool man. Hahahaha." ("I wrote it in extremely simple English. You is a big fool man. Hahahaha.")

Translator's note: A manual archive of KKC's post and the posts surrounding it is available. (mirror)

1997-02-20

Idol Neta World (アイドルネタわーるど; Idol Material World) is launched. It's commonly referred to as AiNeta (あいねた).

1997-03

The members of 2000 who instigated the bulletin board trolling move to the aforementioned Guess Who Keijiban (ゲスッ掲示板; Guess Who Bulletin Board), and thus the infamous bulletin board destruction group Guess Who (ゲスッ) is formed.

Upon accepting a trolling request, they will use any means possible to render the target bulletin board unusable. They famously post Aum Song (オウムソング; songs produced by the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult) on the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' (農水省; nousuishou) bulletin board, as well as attack the bulletin boards of Soka Gakkai (創価学会; a Japanese Buddhist religious movement) and Fuji TV (フジテレビ; Fuji Terebi).

According to Alice (アリス・リデル; Alice Liddel, a famous member of Guess Who), over 900 bulletin boards were rendered unusable by 1998-05. At a later date, Alice becomes hostile towards Ayashii World.

Translator's note: Archived posts regarding Guess Who and Alice.

1997-03-25

AyashiiWorld@jcat (あやしいわーるど@jcat) is launched.

1997-03-26

Kenjinkai's service comes to an end. There's a theory that says that Ayashii World is the cause, but Shiba refutes it.

1997-03-31

AyashiiWorld@K&T (あやしいわーるど@K&T) is launched. Longer posts are now possible.

Translator's note: The URL for K&T's service was said to be as follows, but there are no archives of the site to the best of my knowledge: http://www13.pair.com/ktsoft/

1997-04-01

AyashiiWorld@jcat is closed.

1997-04-17

Diary site 17-sai Mizuka no Sonzai ~Kokoro no Kagami~ (17歳 みずかの存在 ~心の鏡~; 17-year-old Mizuka's Existence ~Mirror of the Heart~) is launched. She becomes a forerunning net idol (ネットアイドル).

1997-05-01

Mr.K Ikari no Homepage (Mr.K 怒りのホームページ; Mr.K's Angry Homepage), the headquarters of criticism/blasting-oriented bulletin boards, is launched.

1997-05-27

In the Suma ward of Kobe, a series of elementary school murders known as the Sakakibara case (酒鬼薔薇事件; Sakakibara jiken; also known as the Kobe child murders) occurs.

1997-06-29

The alleged real name of the suspect in the Sakakibara case is posted to Ayashii World 2000 (K&T). As a result, the bulletin board falls into chaos and goes offline.

1997-07-02

Hando! (反動!; Reaction!) is launched in response to all the online uproar regarding the Sakakibara case. Mana (まな) is the administrator.

Translator's note: Mana is also known as Tsubasa Shibahime (芝姫つばさ), and his real name is Kenji Ando (安藤健二).

1997-07-05

Similarly to Ayashii World 2000 (K&T), the alleged real name of the suspect gets posted to AyashiiWorld@Hihihi (あやしいわーるど@ひひひ), and the board gets deleted. The administrator of this bulletin board is unknown.

Translator's note: A site containing screenshots of AyashiiWorld@Hihihi and several other bulletin boards that were shut down around the time of the Sakikibara case uproar is available.

1997-07-05

Ayashii World@interactia (あやしいわーるど@interactia) is launched.

1997-07-07

UGTOP, an influential hacker group in Japan's UG (underground) world, is formed. It is organized by Hideharu Ishikawa (石川英治), a man who will later go on to become chairman of ARTEMIS Inc. (株式会社アルテミス). Many members of UGTOP regularly use Ayashii World as their hangout, as well as ROOtZerO of the hacker group DEFCON ZERO. At this time, the mental image that Ayashii conjures up in the minds of those who have heard of it is probably a den of super hackers.

1997-07-20

Uganiku no Homepage (ウガニクのホームページ; Uganiku's Homepage), famous for its Onanii Nikki (オナニー日記; Masturbation Diary), is launched.

1997-08-01

Ougonsekai! Ougontaiken! (黄金世界!黄金体験!; Golden World! Golden Experience!), which hosts the PO Box site Yuganda Unmei (歪んだ運命) (nicknamed YugaUn (ゆがうん)), is launched.

1997-08-05

Amezou (あめぞう) launches his bulletin board link collection site (a pioneer among those that would popularize underground culture).

Translator's note: The original URL was http://home.onestop.net/amezo/index.htm, and there is a manual archive available demonstrating how it looked.

1997-08-10

Teacup, a MiniBBS-based bulletin board rental service, is launched.

1997-08

Licentious Notice Board (commonly known as LNB), a staple among image-attachment bulletin boards, is launched. In addition to being home to many creators of collages (コラ; composite images; photoshops (usually pornographic)), the site is blessed with abundant material and high-quality residents, and is a great bulletin board of this era. However, once the original LNB managed by fujinami closes, it will rapidly lose momentum due to the userbase splitting into various factions and spreading out to many different places.

Many popular attachment boards will derive from LNB, such as Yuumeijin Talk (有名人トーク; Celebrity Talk) and Rutika no Kobeya (るてぃかの小部屋; Rutika's Little Room). Many LNB refugees (such as TAK) will also pour into Ayashii.

Translator's note: The original URL for fujinami's LNB was http://cgi.osk.3web.ne.jp/~fujinami/NoticeBoard.cgi, but there is no archive available as far as I'm aware. You can find this link listed on the archive of Amezou's link site circa 1997, with the following description:

There's lots of idol collages

There was also a later location for Yuumeijin Talk.

1997-08-24

Creta-jin no Keijiban 2 (クレタ人の掲示板2; Creta People's Bulletin Board 2), which dominates the UG world, is launched. CR3T4N is the administrator.

Translator's note: There are no archives available to the best of my knowledge, but the original URLs were as follows:

  • Creta-jin no Keijiban (クレタ人の掲示板)
    • http://www.infovlad.net/teleconference/minibbs1/minibbs1.cgi
  • Creta-jin no Keijiban 2 (クレタ人の掲示板2)
    • http://www.ask.or.jp/~wisteria/cgi-bin2/minibbs.cgi
  • Creta-jin no Keijiban 3 (クレタ人の掲示板3)
    • http://www.noah.co.jp/~softwind/cgi-bin/board.cgi?ID=261
  • Creta-jin no Keijiban 4 (クレタ人の掲示板4)
    • http://www.noah.co.jp/~softwind/cgi-bin/board.cgi?ID=288
  • Creta-jin no Keijiban 5 (クレタ人の掲示板5)
    • http://www.noah.co.jp/~softwind/cgi-bin/board.cgi?ID=290

1997-09-04

After getting the blame for a vandalism attack on another bulletin board that took their server down for two days, AyashiiWorld@MuryouRental (あやしいわーるど@無料レンタル; StrangeWorld@FreeRental) is removed.

Translator's note: There are no archives available to the best of my knowledge, but the original URL was: http://www.bl.mmtr.or.jp/~simo/cgi-bin/bbs/strangeworld.cgi

1997-09-08

AyashiiWorld@Xtel (あやしいわーるど@Xtel) is launched. It's a Korean server, but one of the key features is that the server allows the use of CGI scripts, so from now on it will be standard practice to manually set up bulletin boards on servers that allow CGI. This is when the archetype of the present-day Ayashii World is formed.

MiniBBS is used as the base bulletin script, with customizations by Shiba. The background color is #007f7f; prior to this, the script and background colors were dependent on the specification of the rental server. @Eden was #ffffee, @K&T was #333333, @MuryouRental was #ffffff, etc.

Translator's note: There are no archives of @Xtel available to the best of my knowledge, but the original URL was: http://free.xtel.com/~strange/cgi-bin/minibbs.cgi

The original author of this document stated that @Eden had a background color of #ffffff like @MuryouRental, but the many archives of other Digital Eden rooms show the background color to be #ffffee.

1997-10-03

The UG link collection site Cult Bookmark (カルトブックマーク) has launched.

Translator's note: Cult Bookmark is still online as of November 2021, but all the links have been removed.

1997-10-11

Yui Chat (ゆいちゃっと) begins distributing their Yui Post (ゆいぽすと) script, which will go on to become the archetypal PO Box script.

1997-10-17

On IBJ Cafe (イビジェカフェ), the long-running soccer bulletin board Soccer Cafe (サッカーカフェ) is launched.

Translator's note: Available archives show that Soccer Cafe actually opened on 1996-09-20.

1997-10-21

Ayashii World@Soldigit (あやしいわーるど@Soldigit) is launched. The background color is #507f90

1997-11-06

Ayashii World@Soldigit is deleted.

1997-11-14

Nazo Keijiban (なぞ掲示板; Mystery Bulletin Board) is launched as a place to segregate annoying people who cause flamewars and other problems.

1997-11-28

Ayashii World@Sakura (あやしいわーるど@さくら) is launched.

1997-11-30

An early version of Tanai's No Anime No Life, which mainly focuses on anime and seiyuu material, is launched.

Translator's note: The popular internet catchphrase "No X, No Life" is thought to have derived from a song by Japanese singer Cocco's debut EP titled Sing a Song ~No Music, No Life~, released on 1997-05-21.

1997 (second half)

Shiba's personal music website, musicaholic, is launched on the Internet

1998

1998-01

The one-row reply site Namida Kareru made Naku Hou ga Ii kamo (涙枯れるまで泣くほうがいいかも; Maybe It's Better to Cry Until The Tears Die) (commonly known as Namikare (なみかれ)) is launched.

Unlike in future, there's no concept of users sticking to a single site at this time. There seems to be a good relationship between Ayashii, LNB, Amezou, and Namikare as many users flow between the sites.

Translator's note: There are no archives of the very first Namikare site available to the best of my knowledge, but according to an archived Namikare info page the original URL for the first Namikare site was as follows:

  • Namida Kareru made Naku Hou ga Ii 1 (涙枯れるまで泣くほうがいい1)
    • http://210.154.14.45/~otasuke/cgi-bin/ansq/ansq.cgi

1998-01-18

In an incident known as the PonPonNet jiken (ポンポンネット事件; PonPonNet incident), an ISP named PonPonNet had their servers illegally broken into due to their poor-quality management system. The personal information of their customers was extracted and posted publicly online.

A first-year high school student who goes by the name HighwayBLOOD claimed responsibility for the crime on Ayashii World, and has now been arrested. From time to time, progress updates were posted on the bulletin board of Alice's website, Guess Who Memorial (ゲスッメモリアル).

Translator's note: There's a manual archive of Alice's Guess Who Memorial site, which also hosts logs containing HighwayBLOOD's posts and surrounding discussions.

There's also another site containing the logs, which has been online since the event occurred and was even posted inside the logs themselves.

1998-01-25

Ayashii World Touhoku Shisha (あやしいわーるど東北支社; Strange World Tohoku Branch Office) is launched. In addition to the bulletin board, the site also hosts a link collection and Tohoku siteseeing information. [UNFINISHED]

[insert many entries here]

1998-03-21

[UNFINISHED] http://shibuya.hypermart.net/cgi-bin/support.cgi

[insert many entries here]

1998-04-24

[UNFINISHED] http://ikebukuro.hypermart.net/cgi-bin/support.cgi

http://www.echna.ne.jp/~docile/strange/minibbs.cgi?

http://free.prohosting.com/~freextel/cgi-bin/minibbs.cgi?

[insert many entries here]

1998-05-10

[UNFINISHED] sunaf's unofficial evacuation: http://www2f.meshnet.or.jp/~sunaf/strangeworld/support.cgi

1998-05-13

1998-05-14

[UNFINISHED] http://free.prohosting.com/~_strange/cgi-bin/bbs.cgi

1998-05-20

1998-05-24

[UNFINISHED] http://webdesigncgi.server.ne.jp/strangeworld/

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

Sources