Pick of the blogs: Tokyo Times

By Darren Waters
BBC News entertainment reporter

Blogs and blogging have become buzzwords in the last 18 months, with millions of people setting up their own web logs to record their lives, comment on world events or share news.

There are almost as many different types of blogs as there are bloggers. Some are highly professional while others are simple online diaries. We pick out six of the best.

Please note that some blogs can contain strongly-worded language and highly-personal views.

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Boing Boing The self-styled directory of wonderful things - from technology to popular culture Underground An insightful take on daily use of London's Tube system written by a harassed commuter Tokyo Times A quirky viewpoint on life in Japan's capital city from a UK perspective

360 degrees Tales from the African bush in the middle of rural Zambia written by a British charity worker Dooce Uncensored views on motherhood, marriage and life in Utah from a blog celebrity Zucchini Not all blogs are personal diaries - this one is devoted to food and cooking

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TOKYO TIMES

WHO WRITES IT?

Lee Chapman is an English teacher from Manchester who has been based in Japan for more than seven years.

He admits he arrived in Tokyo feeling "dazed and confused" and started the blog as a way to remember his experiences and to document life in a strange city.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

"A blog seemed a perfect way of recording some of the more unusual aspects of life in Japan," said Mr Chapman.

Culture, events, observations, the ins and outs of Japanese society and a seemingly limitless number of "believe it or not" stories make up the bulk of the blog.

He said: "Tokyo is such a unique place, and I felt that I was beginning to forget some of the things I had seen, heard, and read about."

"For somebody with little or no skills when it comes to web design, a blog is an easy and generally trouble-free way of putting stuff on the web.

"For what I wanted to do - although admittedly the site has evolved somewhat since I started - blogging is the perfect way of going about it.

"Whilst I still get a newspaper everyday and both watch and read more traditional forms of media, it's amazing the diversity and niche markets blogging covers. Whatever your interests, there seems to be someone out there blogging about it."

HOW OFTEN IS IT UPDATED?

Mr Chapman posts new entries every few days and started in December 2003. Readers who want to follow Tokyo Times can use RSS to stay up to date.

BBC News website guide to RSS

IN WHAT STYLE IS IT WRITTEN?

Tokyo Times is written from the perspective of an outsider but Mr Chapman avoids stereotyping the culture he is living in.

The blog is also enlivened by photographs, including many taken by the blogger himself.

SHOW ME AN EXAMPLE POSTING

Out of work 55-year-old Satoshi Nakagawa was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for calling an ambulance to take him home after drinking too much. Nakagawa finally pushed the emergency services too far on June 8 last year after sitting down drunk in the middle of the road and asking a passer-by to call an ambulance; but instead of taking him home as he demanded, the ambulance driver took the barefaced boozer back to the fire station where the vehicle had been dispatched from. An act that so enraged Nakagawa that the resultant fracas resulted in his arrest.

Read the posting in full