# Japanese internet software of the 2000s When I was researching feed formats for [ITSB](https://tilde.town/~lucidiot/itsb/), I found a Wikpedia article about [Hina-Di](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hina-Di), a weird format that I had never heard about before and that only seems to have ever been used in Japan. I tried to understand how it came to exist, what sites provide it, what software consume it, and how it disappeared as RSS took over. That got me down a rabbit hole that I am trying to map out here. ## Syndication Where modern syndication formats are more directed at sharing *new* items, with each item being a blog post for example, the syndication formats and software I found appear to focus more on when an entire website was last updated. * [docinfo](https://web.archive.org/web/20040726230104/http://docinfo.jin.gr.jp/) — *KB for Document-Information-relevant Agents*. Seems to be a bulletin board. * [DIXS](http://web.archive.org/web/20020810171521/http://docinfo.jin.gr.jp/kb.cgi?b=general&c=e&id=resources) (Document Information Xfer Systems), contains a lot of links * [DIRP/0.2.1](http://web.archive.org/web/19990908234743/http://docinfo.jin.gr.jp/kb.cgi?b=general&c=e&id=11) * Looks very similar to HINA 2.x * [DIRP/0.3](http://web.archive.org/web/20020810170234/http://docinfo.jin.gr.jp/kb.cgi?b=general&c=e&id=22) * [**DI in English!**](https://web.archive.org/web/20040815011621/http://www.inac.co.jp/~maki/xml/di/) * [NaHi](https://web.archive.org/web/20040831233128/http://www.jin.gr.jp/~nahi/) * Creator of the bulletin board software behind docinfo, KINOBOARDS * KINOFINGER looks like a DIRP client? ([source](http://web.archive.org/web/20001015230813/http://docinfo.jin.gr.jp:80/kb.cgi?b=general&c=e&id=3)) * [Explanation of DIRP](http://web.archive.org/web/20020803204837/http://www.jin.gr.jp/~nahi/links.html#tech), DITP, DIDA, DICA, DIUA, DITA, with diagram * masshy * [Asahina-Antenna](https://web.archive.org/web/20110820182107if_/http://masshy.fastwave.gr.jp/hina/release/) * `hina.pl` is described as a DICA and `hinadc.pl` as DIDA * [An instance that still runs](https://www.e-hdk.com/hina/) on v1.914-4a, with [a sample Hina v1 file](https://www.e-hdk.com/hina/hina.txt). Author can be [contacted](https://www.e-hdk.com/contact.html) on Twitter, Skype, or by mail. * [An instance that still runs](http://www.ki.rim.or.jp/~fukumitu/hina/) on v2.199 * [Good sample file](http://web.archive.org/web/20010302171358im_/http://masshy.fastwave.gr.jp/hina/hina.cgi) from v2.901 * [Asahina-Antenna mailing list](https://web.archive.org/web/20140205081353/http://ml.fastwave.gr.jp/hina/) * [All messages](https://web.archive.org/web/20070217085810/http://ml.fastwave.gr.jp/hina/log/), [by thread](https://web.archive.org/web/20070217085904/http://ml.fastwave.gr.jp/hina/log/threads.html) * [kohgushi](https://web.archive.org/web/20110819130657/http://kohgushi.fastwave.gr.jp/) * [Hina-Di 2 format](https://web.archive.org/web/20110819130054/http://kohgushi.fastwave.gr.jp/hina-doc/) * Already analyzed on [my wiki](https://envs.net/~lucidiot/hina/) * Supports relaying reports from other antennas! * [Sample file](http://web.archive.org/web/20020726092024/http://www.dive-in.to/antenna/natsumican.di) generated by a diary system * :question: What do versions 0.x or 1.x look like? * [This file](http://web.archive.org/web/20020726034151im_/http://www.dive-in.to/antenna/hina.txt) and [this file](http://web.archive.org/web/20000928212726im_/http://masshy.fastwave.gr.jp/hina/hina.txt) might be samples. * [An example](https://web.archive.org/web/20051216121516/http://white.niu.ne.jp/misx/yapw.cgi/%CE%E3%A1%A7hina.di%A4%F2MIS%B7%C1%BC%B0%A4%CB?time=1021360805) with some extension headers: `X-First-Modified-Detected`, `X-WDB-Title`, `X-WDB-Author-Name`. * yatagawa * [CATS](http://web.archive.org/web/19991013231258/http://www.teu.ac.jp/nsit/%7Eyatagawa/cats/): Collecting Article Timestamp System * [Specification](http://web.archive.org/web/19990506031553/http://www.teu.ac.jp/nsit/%7Eyatagawa/cats/spec.html) * [Internal format](http://web.archive.org/web/20001020071125/http://www.teu.ac.jp/nsit/~yatagawa/cats/format.html) * [Sample LIRS file](http://web.archive.org/web/20001001071713im_/http://www.teu.ac.jp/nsit/~yatagawa/cats/compat-lirs.txt) * [Sample HINA file](http://web.archive.org/web/20001023065648im_/http://www.teu.ac.jp/nsit/~yatagawa/cats/compat-hina.txt) * [Sample DI file](http://web.archive.org/web/20051231122735/http://www.teu.ac.jp/nsit/~yatagawa/cats/compat-di.txt) * [MICAN](http://web.archive.org/web/19991010003615/http://www.haun.org/~konishi/mican/mican.html) 2.0 * [NATSU-MICAN](http://web.archive.org/web/20020802085415/http://amano.haun.org/natsumican.html) 3.1b * [An instance running v3.0](http://web.archive.org/web/20020810201400/http://www.dive-in.to/antenna/), looks like an aggregator? * [An instance that still works on 3.0a](http://www.h14m.org/hoshino/) * Restored by its creator [on their current website](http://www.harmonicom.jp/natsu/) * Implements [Last-modified Information Relaying Specification](http://www.harmonicom.jp/natsu/natsu2.3/docs/LIRS.html) (LIRS) * Analyzed on [my wiki](https://envs.net/~lucidiot/lirs/) * [frozenmican](http://web.archive.org/web/20060215233521im_/https://ruby.ntn.org/fm/) 0.6 * [tamatebako](http://web.archive.org/web/20041011021951im_/https://www.wakaba.toyonaka.osaka.jp/~ikemo/soft/tama/) 1.1.66 * moved to [OSDN](https://osdn.net/projects/tama/), includes [LIRS support](https://osdn.net/cvs/view/tama/tama/lib/antenna/lirs-antenna.rb?revision=1.1.1.1&view=markup) and [Hina-Di support](https://osdn.net/cvs/view/tama/tama/lib/antenna/hinadi-antenna.rb?revision=1.2&view=markup) ([parser](https://osdn.net/cvs/view/tama/tama/lib/util/hinadi_parser.rb?revision=1.1.1.1&view=markup)) * [GORRY](https://gorry.haun.org) ([Twitter](https://twitter.com/gorry5)) * [WWW-Dancing-Bee](https://gorry.haun.org/wdb/) ([old URL](http://web.archive.org/web/20090425073432/https://na01.shonan.ne.jp/~gorry/wdb/)) * [Instance](https://gorry.haun.org/hina/) hosted by its developer and still running * [Another instance](http://monopoly-antenna.info/) still running, on v1.15, [with LIRS output](https://gorry.haun.org/hina/sdb.lirs.gz) * Seems to support RSS fetching, and relays it to the Japanese antenna formats * Outputs [HINA](http://web.archive.org/web/20091206190808im_/http://na01.shonan.ne.jp/~gorry/hina/hina.txt), [HINA-DI](http://web.archive.org/web/20091206190805im_/http://na01.shonan.ne.jp/~gorry/hina/hina.di), [LIRS](https://gorry.haun.org/hina/sdb.lirs.gz) and [its own file format](http://web.archive.org/web/20091206190813im_/http://na01.shonan.ne.jp/~gorry/hina/sdb.wdb)! * WhoDIL, another antenna * [Sample file](http://web.archive.org/web/19991008020258im_/http://sharl.haun.org/d/wl.txt), like the unknown Hina 0.x or 1.x files but without the HINA HTML comments * [How it works](http://web.archive.org/web/20061118020912/http://sharl.haun.org/d/wl-how.html) * [HTDCP](http://web.archive.org/web/20061110154245/http://aeneis.haun.org/janus/d/htdcp.html), HyperText Date Collecting Protocol * [Implementation notes](https://web.archive.org/web/20031004131609/http://docinfo.jin.gr.jp/kb.cgi?b=general&c=e&id=141) and discussion on the bulletin board * [MISX](https://web.archive.org/web/20031226001755/http://white.d51.net/misx/) (MetaInfoSnapshotExchange) * [metainfo](http://web.archive.org/web/20040904152407/http://metainfo.haun.org:80/) * [metainfo mailing list](http://web.archive.org/web/20040901112749im_/http://metainfo.haun.org/~janus/ml/) — instructions to subscribe only, there does not seem to be any archives. * [Guserver](http://web.archive.org/web/20040905164216/http://metainfo.haun.org/~arctanx/) * :question: Just what is that thing? I probably need to make sense of [that page](http://web.archive.org/web/20070630150542/http://wore.haun.org/wore_antenna/wore_antenna_sys01.html). * [Wore antenna](http://web.archive.org/web/20061014024328/http://wore.haun.org/wore_antenna/), an implementation of Guserver that lets people select which websites they want to follow and get personalized lists * This seems to show that antennas may be so focused on aggregating that they do not usually allow selecting your own websites to follow, like if you only had the public timeline on the Fediverse. * This domain is noted as being an RDF namespace in [Ontology-based Infrastructure for Intelligent Applications](https://publikationen.sulb.uni-saarland.de/bitstream/20.500.11880/25814/1/EberhartProfDrWolfgangWahlster.pdf), page 97. * [Homepage of the RDF Crawler](http://web.archive.org/web/20030210114610/http://www.i-u.de:80/schools/eberhart/rdf/) * The database dumps of the December 2001 and August 2002 crawls the paper made have not been archived. * Andreas Eberhart, the paper's author, worked for the International University in Germany (IU). The IU closed down by the end of 2009, its website was [shut down](http://web.archive.org/web/20110609061946/http://i-u.de/) in June 2011 and [the domain expired](http://web.archive.org/web/20220819034957/http://i-u.de/) on 2022-08-19. * The RDF survey was also [published separately](http://web.archive.org/web/20040921174124/http://www.i-u.de/schools/eberhart/rdf/rdf-survey.pdf), got [translated to Japanese](https://s-web.sfc.keio.ac.jp/intap-public/data/TR/rdf-survey.pdf) and published as part of a [report on the Semantic Web](https://s-web.sfc.keio.ac.jp/intap-public/data/14-semanticweb-report_r.pdf) by the [Semantic Web Committee](https://s-web.sfc.keio.ac.jp/intap-mirror/e/s-web/index.html). * [A list of Linux antenna software](http://linux.softwaresearch.jp/new/class.php?451) * Hatena Antenna (Japanese digg) [supports HINA, HINA-DI and LIRS](https://a.hatena.ne.jp/gates_29/source) ## Nikki (diaries) * [Hyper NIKKI System Project](https://h14m.osdn.jp/) (HNS) * [A whole bunch of interesting links](https://h14m.osdn.jp/link-j.html) * Mentions *Electric Diary Interchange* * Related to [Electronic Data Interchange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_data_interchange) * Confusion over *Electric* or *Electronic* ([source](http://web.archive.org/web/20020715105358/http://www.dive-in.to/~osakana/diary/?20001125#25-2-1)) * Might just be the act of linking to someone else's diary in your own to reply to it ([source](http://web.archive.org/web/20010425100000/http://www.dive-in.to/~t-hermes/diary/?20001124#25-2-2)) * [TomSoft Diary System](http://web.archive.org/web/20060808183125/http://tds.dive-in.to/) (TDS) * [Still packaged for NetBSD](http://tracker.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/current/pkgsrc/misc/tds/index.html) * [Isoternet](http://web.archive.org/web/20030526051430im_/http://www.isoternet.org/) * Seems to be named like so because the kanji for Internet and Isoternet are very similar * Fake association created in 1998 by an assistant professor at the university of Tokyo, who was very active on the `japan.*` Usenet groups, and [who passed away](https://it.srad.jp/story/12/02/15/1740220/) in 2012 due to cancer * [A Japanese wiki page about it](https://www.wdic.org/w/WDIC/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%82%A4%E3%82%BD%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%8D%E3%83%83%E3%83%88%E5%8D%94%E4%BC%9A) * *Isoternationalization* (I19N) * [Research committee](http://web.archive.org/web/20030526051430im_/http://www.isoternet.org/bukai/index.html) * Used to have sub-committees, including one dedicated to EDI * All sub-committees have disappeared due to inactivity and due to power outages causing loss of data, and have not been archived by the Wayback Machine * Translation from the [about page](http://web.archive.org/web/20030401203730im_/http://www.isoternet.org/about/index.html): > [Isoternet] is "international", so "if you can't speak English, you won't be able to enjoy it". This might be the rationale behind this website; try to make the internet more accessible to the Japanese. But it might also just be this other part… > You can see naughty images that you can't find in books in Japan ## Glossary This does not contain authoritative definitions; this is just an attempt to help me understand some of the underlying concepts that I spot in this mess. Antenna : An aggregator of webpages. It retrieves them to find out if they are still available, or to report when they were last modified. A primitive way to syndicate. Some antennas support some sort of *federation* by relaying the reports of other antennas DI : Document Information; metadata about a webpage. The most important metadata are the URL and the *Last-modified*. Often retrieved solely through an HTTP HEAD request. : Sometimes, DI is used to refer to Hina-Di, or the Hina 2.x syndication format. Diary : In this project, designates an online diary, a form of blog that is structured around dates and is sometimes close to microblogging. DICA : Document Information Collect Agent. Retrieves the DI from the webpages, often using a HTTP HEAD request. DIDA : Document Information Distribute Agent. Uses DIRP to collect DI from DITAs, then serves them to DIUAs over HTTP. DIRP : Document Information Read Protocol, or Document Information Relay Protocol. Used by DIDAs to talk to DITAs. DITA : Document Information Transfer Agent. transfers reports from DICAs to DIDAs and other DITAs. DITP : Document Information Transfer Protocol. Used to transfer data between two DITAs. DIUA : Document Information User Agent. Could just be your web browser. Used to access DI served by a DIDA over HTTP. Last-modified (LM) : Timestamp, usually expressed as an RFC 822 date like in HTTP or MIME, of when a page appears to have been edited the most recently. Instead of saying "modification date" or something more common, people may say LM or Last-modified directly. It is often, but not always, from the actual HTTP `Last-Modified` header. Nikki : Japanese word for *diary*. A reference well known to anime or manga-enjoying westerners would be [Mirai Nikki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Diary), where *Mirai* means *future*. ## TODO * Use the LIRS samples to check my English LIRS specification * Use the HINA 1.x samples to guess at the HINA 1.x format * Use the HINA 2.x samples to check my English Hina-Di specification * Document the WDB format in English * Document the CATS format in English * Learn more about DIRP, maybe also document it * Try to contact the owners of any antennas that are still running * What do they know on the history of HINA, Document Information, DIRP, LIRS, Isoternet, EDI, WDB, …? * Why not RSS? What drove the late adoption of RSS? * Are diaries still common in Japan? * Do they have any websites they can recommend me? * Do they have any current contact information for other people that may help me?