Re-visiting Hong Kong Paradise

Re-visiting Hong Kong Paradise: A Study of Japanese Net Surfers For a better understanding of changing lifestyles in contemporary Japanese society, we would like to investigate some changes occurring among Japanese net surfers who are interested in Hong Kong society. In this paper, we find the significance of studying a computer-mediated virtual community located in the net would be, on the one hand, a theoretical challenge to understanding the meanings of culture from distant tribes to transnational settings; on the other hand, a means for understanding social relations among middle-class young in some Asian countries that experience borderless lifestyles brought about by globalization. As for the case study, we examine a bulletin board called HonPara that was first welcomed by many Japanese. However, as time passed, after Cheung's study in 1997, there were obvious changes among Japanese subscribers; and, one of them was the establishment of formal associations rather than the maintaining of the virtual community of the net as before. Those who had been active participants in the HonPara gathered for a more specific kind of interest; their networking in a Chinese Tea Association reflected some "minor" interest they used to distinguish themselves from others and shed light on constructing an identity through internalizing a foreign culture.