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

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.

1995-04

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 a so-called "ikkou keijiban" script (一行掲示板; single-line bulletin board), and in addition to Ayashii, many other UG-style bulletin boards also utilize these. 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

AyashiiWorld@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

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

1997-11-06

AyashiiWorld@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

AyashiiWorld@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 single-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. It was confirmed to exist until the fall of 1999. The administrator is THANATOS (Gyukushuu no Rena (逆襲のレナ), administrator of akane.com).

Translator's note: According to an archive of Ayashii World Touhoku Shisha's information page, a previous URL was http://cgi.shutdown.server.ne.jp/strangetouhoku/bbs.cgi

1998-02

The unorthadox net idol MICHIKO appears. Later, she will make her Ayashii World debut.

Translator's note: Mainichi Shimbun (毎日新聞) did a small interview with MICHIKO on May 7, 1999.

1998-02-14

Bou S (某Ｓ) (Utada Raper (宇多田レイパー)) launches the literature site Salon Web on the web.

1998-02-21

AyashiiWorld@Prohos (あやしいわーるど＠プロホス) is launched. Shiba says "I shit my pants" (うんこを漏らした).

The URL was http://free.prohosting.com/~_strange/cgi-bin/bbs.cgi, but there are no archives of it on archive.org to my knowledge. However, there is a manual archive of the reply screen to an individual post containing a poem about Shiba.

1998-02-25

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

1998-02-27

Alice appears on NHK as a commentator on the PonPonNet incident.

Translator's note: There are screencaps of Alice's appearance on NHK, as well as an audio recording.

1998-03

Alice - a central member of Guess Who - releases the "nuclear weapon against bulletin boards" Perlduke and tests it on Ayashii World. Although Alice apologizes to Shiba, Alice receives a strong backlash from Ayashii residents. Alice receives retaliation in various forms, such as "neck cracking" (首カクカク) photo edits from when Alice appeared on NHK, and Alice's personal information (address, name, family details, etc.) being exposed on the Ayashii bulletin board.

After May 1998, Shiba intensified his efforts to stop the slander, but with many participants jumping on the bandwagon, the confrontation only worsened. This was the peak of the Alice trolling (アリス煽り) within Ayashii World, but when it was discovered that Shiba himself was involved with the group, Alice was furious. According to one theory, Alice even threatened to file a civil lawsuit against Shiba.

Only the parties involved know the truth, but circumstancial evidence suggests that this is the root cause of the subsequent closure of Ayashii World.

1998-03

Black Box, a site that was representative of the online PO Box service heyday, has shut down. It was already revived once, but the era of PO Box services is in decline.

Translator's note: I believe the URL was http://k2racing.com/blackbox/list.cgi, but there are no archives of it to my knowledge.

1998-03-03

AyashiiWorld@Xtel is deleted.

1998-03-03

AyashiiWorld@yclub is deleted.

1998-03-03

AyashiiWorld@SakuraHyper (あやしいわーるど＠さくらハイパー) is launched. It becomes the de facto "main" board.

1998-03-12

In an effort to dissuade Aniki (アニキ; big brother) from persistently promoting homosexual websites, a warning message is placed at the bottom of the posting section stating that "using the name Aniki will cause your browser to crash" (アニキという投稿者名を使用するとブラウザがクラッシュ).

1998-03-20

AyashiiWorld@SakuraHyper is deleted.

1998-03-21

AyashiiWorld@Shibuya-kei is launched. The background color is #007f7f, and it becomes the de facto "main" board.

The URL was possibly http://shibuya.hypermart.net/cgi-bin/support.cgi, but I'm unaware of any archives.

1998-03-21

The Ayashii World FAQ bulletin board (あやしいわーるど FAQ 掲示板) is launched. This would be the origin of Remix. The administrator is Miyagawa Namaire (宮川生入).

1998-03-22

The image uploader Oniku (おにく; meat) is launched. A number of dangerous images are uploaded, including Alice's "neck cracking", edited photos of the Imperial family, and pedophilic images. The site will be subsequently deleted, and relocated more than 20 times.

On September 4th, 1998, it will move to garden.millto and be renamed Oniku Garden (おにくガーデン). At its peak, it will receive 8,000 hits in one day. It is managed by the Kaiga Tenjijou Unei Iinkai (絵画展示場運営委員会; Art Exhibition Hall Management Committee).

Translator's note: I believe the URL for Oniku Garden was http://garden.millto.net/‾oniku/cgi-bin/upload/upload.cgi, but it was not archived while it was still live.

1998-03-24

The customer information of people who requested catalogs from Toyota Motor Corporation is leaked, and the contents are posted to @Shibuya-kei.

1998-04-01

AyashiiScape-sha (ぁゃιぃスケープ社; AyashiiScape Company) begins reading logs. This is the origin of the Ayashii-type plugin (あやしい系プラグイン).

Translator's note: "AyashiiScape" is a pun based on "Netscape", the once-popular web browser. This user(s?) would create daily reports on the latest happenings in and around Ayashii World and other news, formatted using text art to look like a web browser.

In addition to the link above, you can find various archived AyashiiScape logs on the archived AyashiiScape website.

1998-04-07

Cobra (コブラ) posts his recollections about the roots of "gikohahaha" (ギコハハハ), which originated from his own posts.

1998-04-08

The bulletin board gains a reply function and username search function. These are the so-called ■ ★ buttons.

1998-04-10

Irojiro Ginbuchi Megane Houkei...ryaku...Doutei Ishuu Himanji (色白銀縁眼鏡包茎…略…童貞異臭肥満児; Pale-skinned, silver-rim bespectacled, phimosis-having...abbreviated...virgin, stinky, obese child) begins the relay novel Abura Nikki (油日記; Oil Diary).

It became the source material for the contents of Boku no Nikki (僕の日記; My Diary) on Zetsubou no Sekai (絶望の世界; World of Despair), which is only known to those in the know.

1998-04-23

AyashiiWorld@Shibuya-kei is deleted.

1998-04-23

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

The URL was possibly http://www.toheart.pos.to/strangeworld/, but I'm unaware of any archives.

1998-04-24

AyashiiWorld@Ikebukuro (あやしいわーるど＠池袋) is launched. It becomes the de facto "main" board.

The URL was possibly http://ikebukuro.hypermart.net/cgi-bin/support.cgi, but I'm unaware of any archives.

1998-04-27

AyashiiWorld@Ikebukuro is deleted.

1998-05-08

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

1998-05-10

AyashiiWorld@Taihi-youHiKounin (あやしいわーるど＠退避用非公認; StrangeWorld@UnofficialRefugeSite) is launched. The administrator is sunaf.

There's no true "main" board during this period, so users are moving around from one free server to another.

I believe the URL for sunaf's unofficial refuge site was: http://www2f.meshnet.or.jp/~sunaf/strangeworld/support.cgi

1998-05-10

AyashiiWorld@DouteiBoy (あやしいわーるど＠童貞ボーイ; StrangeWorld@VirginBoy) is launched in (what remains of) the former Idol Collage Dojo (アイコラ道場) site.

1998-05-13

Abunai Keijiban (アブナイ掲示板; Dangerous bulletin board) has moved to hypermart (date of launch unknown). The administrator is Sasagawa (笹川) (AKA Dasee (だせえ)).

1998-05-14

The account for AyashiiWorld@Prohos was changed from "freextel" to "_strange". Log reading has become significantly easier due to a log saving feature.

Translator's note: The URL changed from http://free.prohosting.com/~freextel/cgi-bin/minibbs.cgi to http://free.prohosting.com/~_strange/cgi-bin/bbs.cgi

1998-05-20

AyashiiScape (ぁゃιぃスケープ), Ayashii World's leading portal site, has launched.

1998-05-24

Ayashii World Main Bulletin Board (あやしいわーるどメイン掲示板) is launched on Webdesign. It's at this time that the background color is changed to the current #004040. Initially, there is a flood of criticism towards the blackboard-like color.

The primary topics are now current events, and it's said that "if you look at Ayashii World, you can get information about what's going on in the world right now" (even if it's fake news. Hehe).

Additionally, the population has increased dramatically after moving to a stable server. Around this time, the size of logs are beginning to exceed 1MB, partly because Ayashii World is being featured in magazines and other media. Ayashii is becoming more like a chat room as a result. Many so-called newbies, ordinary people, and trolls are also flooding into the site.

This was the URL for Ayashii World Main Bulletin Board: http://webdesigncgi.server.ne.jp/strangeworld/

1998-05-27

Oshieru-kun R (教える君Ｒ; Teacher-kun R) leaks the confidential "NEC PC bug list" (ＮＥＣパソコンのバグ一覧).

1998-05-29

Nami tteba, Kareshi Boshuu-chuuna no (奈美ってば、彼氏募集中なの; Nami is looking for a boyfriend) (commonly known as Namiteba (なみてば)) is launched. It will later be managed by Osamu (治).

Translator's note: Osamu's Namiteba still exists as of 2024-06-03, and there is an archive of its former location circa 1999-05-08. It appears to be related to Namikare.

1998-06-04

Ayashii World Cup Soccer (あやしいわーるどかっぷさっかー) is launched. The founder is not in fact Shiba; Shiba will take over the management of the site on 1998-07-11. Later it will move to AyashiiSoccer@Nishigaoka (ぁゃιぃさっかー＠西ヶ丘), managed by Arikui (アリクイ).

1998-06-16

The log-reading plugin Macrosoft Ayashii Explorer (Macrosoft ぁゃιぃ Explorer) by Koguma no Miisha (小熊のミーシャ) has begun.

Translator's note: Similar to how "AyashiiScape" is a play on "Netscape", "Macrosoft Ayashii Explorer" is a play on "Microsoft Internet Explorer", which by this point had become the dominant web browser.

1998-06-26

Ayashii World News (あやしいわーるどニュース) has launched. Later, it will move to @JijiSeikei (＠時事政経; current affairs, politics and economics), which is managed by Seto (せと).

1998-07-07

Iki 0 (粋０) has launched, and it will become famous for the activities of Dounga (Kusare Chuubou) (怒ゥン我（腐れ厨房）). The administrator is mett.

1998-07-11

AyashiiWorld@Prohos is deleted.

1998-07-12

Hajimete no Ayashii World (はじめてのあやしいわーるど; My First Ayashii World) is launched. It will later be moved to @Famille (＠ふぁみーる), which is managed by Kuzuha (くずは).

Translator's note: One of the early locations of Hajimete no Ayashii World was: http://www2.marinet.or.jp/~purple/cgi-bin/cgi-bin/.work/bbs2.cgi. Hajimete no Ayashii World would remain on @Famille for over 20 years (albeit mostly filled with spam) before some form of server error took it out of action in early 2024.

1998-07-15

AyashiiWorld@Ariake (あやしいわーるど＠有明) is launched by Yoshida Tansha (吉田単車). It is the first Ayashii doujin-type specialty board.

Translator's note: AyashiiWorld@Ariake still exists as of 2024-06-03.

1998-08-17

Due to the server becoming unstable due to prolonged vandalism and heavy load attacks, Shiba creates AyashiiWorld@ZanteiMain (あやしいわーるど＠暫定メイン; StrangeWorld@TemporaryMain).

1998-08-20

Due to the end of the World Cup in France, Ayashii World Cup Soccer is reorganized and renamed to Ayashii World Sports (あやしいわーるどスポーツ), which covers sports topics in general.

1998-08-21

Arikui launches AyashiiSoccer@Zantou (ぁゃιぃさっかー＠残党) as a direct successor to Soccer (さっかー). He will later rename it to AyashiiSoccer@Nishigaoka (ぁゃιぃさっかー＠西ヶ丘) and move it to a new location. He frequently moves it to hypermart as a base. Arikui also manages @Pinsaro (＠ぴんさろ) for sex-related topics.

1998-08-25

NATUBON ＆ DrLog creates Ayashii World Funsai Sengen (あやしいわーるど粉砕宣言; Declaration to Crush Strange World). Shiba does not take him seriously.

Translator's note: On ORJP's website, there is more information about this.

1998-08-25

Kohan no Yado (湖畔の宿; Lakeside Inn) is launched, managed by gs. Later, it gets denounced by nameless users with intense jealousy as being a place where fixed handle users cozy up with each other. Editor's note: See here.

Translator's note: To the best of my knowledge, Kohan no Yado was some kind of private bulletin board community that span off from Ayashii World FAQ, and primarily featured "fixed handle" users (users with persistent names).

1998-08-27

ORJP posts his soon-to-be-famous quote, "Doushite mazu YAHOO toka goo de shirabenainda? Shitsurei janai ka?" (どうして まずＹＡＨＯＯとかｇｏｏで調べないんだ？失礼じゃないか？; "Why don't you search on Yahoo or Goo first? Aren't you being rude?"). It was a big hit thanks to the increasing number of newbies constantly asking "teach me".

1998-09-03

Shiba suddenly announces the closure of Ayashii World. Editor's note: For more details, see here.

On the PR Office page, Shiba states, "みんなと仲良くしたいのに、アングラ同士の潰し合いとかしちゃってくだらないなあと思って" ("I want to get along with everyone, but I think it's silly that us underground people are trying to destroy each other"), suggesting that the closure is due to conflicts on the Internet. Since he left the link collection and other things up, it seems possible that the site will be revived at some point.

1998-09-03

With the closure of Main Bulletin Board, sunaf's Taihi-youHiKounin (退避用非公認; UnofficialRefugeSite) becomes the de facto "main" board.

1998-09-04

Seto's Ayashii World News Shucchoujo (あやしいわーるどニュース出張所; Strange World News Sub-branch) is created, initially as a fall-back. It will later be renamed to @JijiSeijiKeijiSenmonKeijiban (＠時事政治経済専門掲示板; @CurrentAffiarsPoliticsEconomySpecialtyBulletinBoard). On 1998-10-12, past logs will start being distributed by email.

1998-09-05

Mizuiro hypermart (みずいろhypermart) is launched, predecessor to the eventual Team MIZUIRO. It will operate with the theme of bulletin board script development and modification until its closure on 1999-05-27. Team MIZUIRO will form on 1999-06-04.

A Team MIZUIRO farewell party page exists dated 2001-07-07, presumably created when Team MIZUIRO shut down. Their work lives on at AyashiiWorld@JoshiAna + Team MIZUIRO (あやしいわーるど＠じょしあな + Team MIZUIRO), where their Ayashii-type bulletin board script has continued to be worked on as recently as 2022-07-22.

1998-09-06

Amezou Keijiban (あめぞう掲示板; Amezou Bulletin Board) shifts from a script where posts are stacked chronologically to a threaded script (the prototype of 2channel).

With Shiba's withdrawal from Ayashii World, Ayashii World refugees scatter far and wide. Some users are going to UnofficialRefuge, while others are going to Amezou (considered the most promising major UG bulletin board at the time).

Ayashii's culture will also spread; things like Omae mona (おまえもな), Gikohahaha (ギコハハハ), and text art (文字絵; moji e) are believed to become passed on to 2channel via Amezou.

Translator's note: Amezou no Rekishi (あめぞうの歴史; The History of Amezou) contains many manual archives of Amezou, including how it appeared when Ayashii World refugees showed up on 1998-09-06.

1998-09-06

AyashiiWorld@Osamu (あやしいわーるど＠治) is launched. The administrator is Osamu. Namiteba is also launched around this time.

Using Shiba's withdrawal as an opportunity, Osamu changes the board's name to AyashiiWorld@Meiso (あやしいわーるど＠メイソ), and shows a desire for it to become the next "main" board. However, due to repeated accounts of vandalism going ignored and unattended, their account will get deleted.

On 1998-12-9, Osamu will be forced to drop the "Ayashii" moniker and rename the board to KyoukoNoHaru@Meiso (虚構の春＠メイソ; FicticiousSpring@Meiso), and it will move to its current location from 1999-01-25 onwards. It will go on to boast the longest history of all currently-operating Ayashii-type general boards.

osamu japanish ring will be launched on 1999-01-10 as a parody of vlad's Hack Japonaise Ring, but will later go on hiatus. The Namiteba Tsuushin (なみてば通信) mailing list will be launched from 2003-10-7 onwards.

Translator's note: "Meiso" (メイソ) is an intentional misspelling of "Main" (メイン). Swapping ン (n) and ソ (so) for comedic effect was common on the early Japanese web, e.g. インターネット (Internet) becoming イソターネット (Isoternet).

1998-09-07

Mangabouzu (マンガボウズ) launches Ayashii Shinbun (あやしい新聞), a log reading service for @Taihi-youHiKounin.

1998-09-08

LONG WALK is launched, which contains nearly all links related to Ayashii World.

1998-09-18

The YunaSoft incident occurs, in which a third party poses as Serial Keijiban (シリアル掲示板) and phishes users by saying "email me and I'll give you serial numbers". He then publishes the real names and other personal information of the newbies who go to his site and email him.

This combined with the WinGroove shareware - which formats hard drives when an unauthorized serial is entered - brings the conflict between shareware developers and the warez scene further to the surface.

Inidentally, YunaSoft is managed and operated by Tanai, who is legendary for his many sagas.

1998-09-20

Shiba officially announces his withdrawal from Ayashii World and its demise. Editor's note: See here.

On the PR Office page, Shiba says "あやしいわーるど の名前で掲示板をやりたい人は どうぞご自由に" ("Those who wish to operate a bulletin board under the name of Ayashii World are free to do so").

One theory is that Shiba has done everything he needed to do and just wanted to do something new. In fact, Shiba later started a site called Magmania (マグマニア), which could be considered a precursor to the "blog" subculture of the future.

Shiba fundamentalists may consider the history of Ayashii World to have ended on this day.

1998-09-21

Taihi-youHiKounin is closed following Shiba's declaration of Ayashii's demise. A last supper is held.

AyashiiWorld@YuuYuuKurabu (あやしいわーるど＠悠遊倶楽部) is created as a temporary site, but it is soon closed.

1998-09-22

AyashiiWorld@HiruNoBu (あやしいわーるど＠昼の部; StrangeWorld@Daytime) is launched by Denki Maker (電機メーカー; electrical manufacturer).

In response to requests from users that evening, AyashiiWorld@YoruNoBu (あやしいわーるど＠夜の部; StrangeWorld@Nighttime) is also launched.

Translator's note: The URL for @HiruNoBu was http://www3.wisnet.ne.jp/~maker/cgi-bin/embbs.cgi and the URL for @YoruNoBu was http://maker.area.ne.jp/cgi-bin/embbs.cgi.

There was also a @YoruNoBu/@HiruNoBu Kansatsu Nikki (＠夜の部・昼の部 観察日記; @Nighttime/Daytime Observation Diary) which logged various observations and logs from these boards.

1998-09-22

Networker Kenkyuushitsu (Networker Kenkyuujo) (ネットワーカー研究室(ネットワーカー研究所); Networker Lab (Networker Research Laboratory)) is reopened. The administrator is nspixp2.

1998-09-24

AyashiiWorld@Mushoku (あやしいわーるど＠無職; StrangeWorld@Unemployed) is launched. The background color is #333333, and the administrator is ●.

Described as "the pinnacle of Ayashii" (あやしいの極北), he also runs a successor to the FAQ bulletin board, a PO Box, an uploader, and more.

1998-09-25

Someone's account is hacked(?) and the precursor to AyashiiWorld@Famille (あやしいわーるど＠ふぁみーる) is launched. The account is quickly lost and the board will move to a new location the next day. The circumstances behind all of this are very mysterious.

At the same time, Hajimete no Ayashii World (はじめてのあやしいわーるど; My First Ayashii World) and @O-sa-mu-～Aratame☆ (＠おーさーむー～改め☆) are also launched. Kuzuha - the administrator - will later become very popular for continuing to hold on to the "Ayashii" moniker despite pressure from Alice, though this is only one of the smaller boards.

1998-09-29

Shiba starts Magmania as a personal site, unrelated to Ayashii.

The site is in the vein of the original personal news sites, introducing interesting daily articles from magazines alongside Shiba's comments. On the bulletin board attached to the site, Shiba repeatedly emphasizes to the influx of Ayashii refugees that it is a personal site with no relation to Ayashii.

However, Alice claims defamation and copyright infringement against an article in Hacker Japan (ハッカージャパン) magazine, for which Shiba was involved as a writer. The situation escalates to the point where Shiba officially admits his wrongdoing and apologizes after communications between the parties took place over the phone and bulletin board.

Based on circumstancial evidence, it seems that Shiba requests others to cease operating bulletin boards under the "Ayashii World" moniker as part of an agreement.

In the end, Magmania will close on 1998-12-08 - the day after the request was made - and Shiba will disappear from the web for a long time. Editor's note: See here.

1998-10

The PO Box site Haikyo (廃墟; Ruins) is launched, and the administrator is Poltergeist (ポルターガイスト). Dazein (ダーザイン) is from here.

Translator's note: There's an archive of a later iteration of Haikyo, as well as a page dedicated to Haikyo on museum.scenecritique.com.

1998-10-16

The Kousotsu shineba? (高卒死ねば？; "Should high school graduates die?") site is launched by Mamy Ishida (マミー石田). They invent the bulletin board term "Dokyun" (ドキュン; very stupid, rough, low-class person; later commonly written as "DQN").

Translator's note: By "high school graduates", they mean people who leave education after high school and don't go on to college/university. There is a complete archive of the site on museum.scenecritique.com.

1998-10-27

AyashiiWorld@Joshiana (あやしいわーるど＠じょしあな; StrangeWorld@FemaleAnnouncers) is launched. The administrator is Urabe (うらべ).

Urabe's bulletin board script will later be inherited by Team MIZUIRO who will continue to develop it.

1998-11-24

@Bekkan (＠別館; @Annex) is launched. This will be the prototype of @Tensai (＠転載; @Reprint). By the end of the year, it will appear to have been dleted. The administrator is Mana.

1998-11-26

Later, crazy people seem to start posting "neko koroshi" (猫殺し; cat killer) content on @HiruNoBu. It is unrelated to Neomugicha (ネオむぎ茶) AKA "Cat Killer" (キャットキラー), who later committed the Nishi-Tetsu busjacking incident (西鉄バスジャック事件).

1998-12-05

An interview with Shiba is published in Kawakami Ichirou's book, Cyberspace kara no Kougeki (サイバースペースからの攻撃; Attacks from Cyberspace). The interviewers were Kawakami Ichirou and Aki Tomoo (安芸智夫).

After the book is published, Alice begins vandalizing Kawakami's bulletin board.

1998-12-07

Shiba requests that bulletin boards cease operating under the "Ayashii World" moniker.

Originally, Shiba had said "you can use the Ayashii moniker freely", so there's a lot of circumstancial evidence that suggests that the request is due to pressure from Alice (although Alice himself denies it). This is why Alice will have a bad reputation among long-time REBIRTH users who resist the request to protect the "Ayashii" name, though this would fade over time with later generations of users.

While most boards are compelled to drop the "Ayashii" name, @Famille and @Nishigaoka continue to use the name, despite various tangible and intangible pressures such as board vandalism.

1998-12-30

@YoruNoBu/@HiruNoBu Kansatsu Nikki (＠夜の部・昼の部 観察日記; @Nighttime/Daytime Observation Diary) is launched by Machino (まちの). As of 2004-10, has it been deleted?

1999

1999-01-24

1999-01-24

1999-01-31

1999-02-04

1999-02-06

1999-02-07

1999-02-09

1999-02-11

1999-02-12

1999-02-12

1999-03-09

1999-03-24

1999-04

1999-04-09

1999-04-10

1999-04-17

1999-04-20

1999-05-01

1999-05-04

1999-05-11

1999-05

1999-05-20

1999-05-26

1999-05-30

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2000

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2001

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2002

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2003

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2004

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2005

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2006

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