, also known as 2ch, Channel 2, and sometimes retrospectively as 2ch.net, was an anonymous Japanese textboard founded in 1999 by Hiroyuki Nishimura. Described in 2007 as "Japan's most popular online community", the site had a level of influence comparable to that of traditional mass media such as television, radio, and magazines. At the time, the site drew an annual revenue of around (about US$1 million), and was the largest of its kind in the world, with around ten million visitors and 2.5 million posts made per day.
The site was hosted and had its domain registration provided by Jim Watkins, based in San Francisco, California. In 2009, ownership of the site was transferred to Singapore-based Packet Monster Inc., under which Nishimura remained in control. In February 2014, Watkins seized the 2ch.net domain, taking full control over the website and assuming the role of site administrator. This has resulted in two textboards claiming to be the legitimate 2channel: 2ch.sc, owned by Nishimura through Packet Monster Inc., and , established in 2017 by redirect from the original domain and owned by Watkins through Philippines-based Loki Technology Inc.
2channel and its successors are more controversial than other social media in Japan; they are extremely popular among Japan's extreme right-wing, known as the netto-uyoku, who post xenophobic comments, often targeting Korean and Chinese people. Defamation is of particular concern; by August 2008, Nishimura had received more than one hundred lawsuits for defamatory comments left on the website. Announcements of crimes also have drawn scrutiny of 2channel and its successors. In 2012, 2channel was accused by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police of allowing its platform to be used by amphetamine dealers, although no charges were filed.
In September 2007, 2channel claimed over 2.4 million posts per day. As of July 2020, 5channel claimed 1,031 boards receiving around 2.7 million posts per day on weekends, with no growth since March 2016. Meanwhile, 2ch.sc claimed 826 boards receiving around 5,700 posts daily.
History
Predecessors Textboards like 2channel were rooted in two earlier technologies: dial-in bulletin boards, known in Japan as , and Usenet. 2channel has two predecessors: Ayashii World created in 1996 by Shiba Masayuki, and , created in 1997. Ayashii World was the first large anonymous web bulletin board in Japan, while Amezou originated the more familiar "textboard" concept wherein threads are displayed chronologically, with new comments bumping old threads to the top, rather than in a branching tree. Ayashii World closed in 1998, leading most of its former users to go to Amezou; Nishimura advertised 2channel in a post on Amezou in May 1999, calling it "Amezou's second channel". From June, Amezou became increasingly unable to handle the load on its servers, until its host shut it down after threats against Amezou's anonymous owner which contained his dox were posted on it.
Early history
2channel was founded on May 30, 1999, in a college apartment in Conway, Arkansas on the campus of University of Central Arkansas by Hiroyuki Nishimura. Success came quickly; many of Amezou's users began using it as soon as it opened. When compared with other bulletin boards, 2channel's technology wasn't much different; what led to its success was instead its being an "outlet for unfettered expression"; by being hosted in the United States, 2channel was able to bypass more restrictive Japanese censorship rules, while still being accessible from Japan. The site also enjoyed greater immunity from legal action within Japan due to the location of its servers. By 2002, Google said that the most searched word in Japan was "2channel". By 2004, 2channel was already the largest internet forum in Japan.
The name "2channel" is a reference to VHF channel 2, the default setting for the RF modulators used in earlier-generation game consoles (such as Nintendo's Family Computer) when connecting to Japanese television sets. Where Amezou was originally meant to be "channel one", 2channel was meant to be "channel two". The site's iconic jar logo is a reference to deprecatory remarks some former users of Ayashii World would make about 2channel early on in the site's history, likening it to a . Nishimura took this nickname and adopted it as the site's logo by 2002.
Jim Watkins, an ex-US army non-commissioned officer (sergeant first class), domain name registrar, and dedicated hosting service provider, hosted 2channel since at least 2004 through various corporate identities, including Big-server.com Inc., Pacific Internet Exchange LLC and N. T. Technology Inc. Before 2channel, Watkins' company primarily specialized in using servers and domains in the United States to serve uncensored pornographic content to users in Japan.
Ownership transfer and government scrutiny On 2 January 2009, Nishimura claimed to have transferred ownership of 2channel to Packet Monster Inc., a company based in Chinatown, Singapore, and to no longer be involved in the site's management. However, Nishimura was charged with violating Japanese narcotic control laws anyway on 20 December 2012. Alt URL As part of their case, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) claimed Nishimura remained involved in 2channel's operations, alleging Packet Monster Inc. is a . The main thrust of the complaint was that Nishimura allegedly did not delete posts seeking to purchase illicit amphetamine from other 2channel users online; the , an agency of the MPD, alleged that in 2011 97% of its 5,223 deletion requests did not result in deletion. On 19 March 2013, the Public Prosecutors Office decided not to prosecute the case.
In August 2013, the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau declared in a tax audit that Nishimura had failed to declare worth of website revenue which should have been taxed between 2009 and 2012, years in which he financially benefited from Packet Monster Inc.; Nishimura settled the matter by paying the owed tax, . (To view the archive, JavaScript must be disabled in your browser. Alternate convenience link)
Personal information leak In August 2013, a hacker using the name the personal details (including names, addresses, and phone numbers) and credit card numbers of thousands of 2channel users who had used 2channel's paid services into the public domain, exposing the anonymous profiles of various high level personas such as politicians and writers, including an attorney involved in 2channel cases, , and a staff member of AKB48. More than 74,000 users had their personal information exposed by the leak.
The paid service involved in the leak was known as the , or . Its main utility was that it allowed users to read old threads; if a thread on 2channel received 1,000 posts, it would become part of the by a process of of such threads, after which time a thread was no longer freely accessible. 2channel charged per year for the service, which was typically paid by credit card; logs of these payments were the source of the data leak.
At the time of the leak, Watkins apologized on behalf of N. T. Technology, Inc., saying he was the victim of a "cyber attack" and that "some data [of my] customers was compromised."
Domain seizure and split
On 19 February 2014, Jim Watkins, as chairman of N.T. Technology, Inc., 2channel's domain registrar, seized 2channel's domain. He took full control over the website, relieved Nishimura of all power, and assumed the role of website administrator. Watkins made the kako rogu free to all users shortly after assuming control.
Watkins claimed that Nishimura had failed to pay him money owed which led to the seizure as a way to cover Nishimura's debts, while Nishimura claimed that he had in fact paid everything owed and that the domain transfer was an illegal domain hijacking. In response, Nishimura created his own clone of 2channel at , scraping the contents of the entire 2channel website and updating 2ch.sc as new posts appeared on 2ch.net. In a Q&A session on 4chan shortly after becoming the site's owner, Nishimura claimed that 2channel was stolen by Watkins.
Nishimura has attempted to repossess the domain both through WIPO's Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy and through the Japanese court system. Through the Japan Patent Office, Nishimura owns the trademark "2channel", though the WIPO refused to intervene on his behalf on account of that, suggesting the parties go to court instead as it was not, in its view, a case of "cybersquatting" but rather a "business dispute".
Ron Watkins, Jim's son, in 2016 registered the trademark "5channel" in Japan. On 1 October 2017, 2ch.net began redirecting to 5ch.net, a domain owned by Loki Technology, Inc. The chairman of Loki Technology Inc. is also Jim Watkins;—via The Manila Times. his wife, Liziel, is the treasurer and majority shareholder. According to a press release, the name was changed to 5channel to avoid potential legal issues due to Nishimura's ownership of the "2channel" trademark. On March 5, 2026, 5ch.net was permanently suspended by the domain registrar Epik for content related to animal abuse. The website was moved to 5ch.io.
Culture
Due to its large number of boards, the types of information exchanged on 2channel are very diverse. There are boards for topics as diverse as sports, sex, celebrity gossip, computer programming and ongoing earthquakes; even some academic research has gotten its start on 2channel.
Anonymous posting One of the most distinctive features of 2channel is its use of anonymous posting. Nishimura explained his reasons for preferring anonymity online to USC Annenberg's Japan Media Review thus:
If there is a user ID attached to a user, a discussion tends to become a criticizing game. On the other hand, under the anonymous system, even though your opinion/information is criticized, you don't know with whom to be upset. Also with a user ID, those who participate in the site for a long time tend to have authority, and it becomes difficult for a user to disagree with them. Under a perfectly anonymous system, you can say, "it's boring," if it is actually boring. All information is treated equally; only an accurate argument will work.
However, a frequent criticism directed toward anonymous textboards like 2channel, most notably by Kazuhiko Nishi, is that their anonymous nature make them mere .「"2ちゃんねる"には欠陥がある!」西和彦アスキー特別顧問——"2ちゃんねる西スレッドオフ会"開催（アスキー、2001.08、ウェブアーカイブ）("2channel is flawed!" Kazuhiko Nishi, Special Advisor to ASCII - "2channel held Nishi Kick-off Party" (originally published on ASCII dated August 2001; archived on WebArchive.)) 2channel's anonymity is a departure from most English language internet forums which require some form of registration, usually coupled with email verification for further identification of an individual; its anonymity in part inspired the creation of 4chan. On 2channel, a name field is available, but it is seldom used. However, as open proxies such as the Tor network are banned from posting on 2channel, the administrators have some degree of ability to help law enforcement unmask users if necessary.
Revenue While 2channel and its successors are commercial, 2channel was moderated by volunteers. 2channel relied on advertisements from "obscure" companies. In 2007, it had an annual revenue of around . Between 2009 and 2012, in ad profits were transferred to Nishimura's Singaporean shell company.
As early as 2004, companies such as Dentsu were data mining the website for their clients, keeping them informed of how they were being portrayed by 2channel users; by 2006, 75% of the content Dentsu analyzed on behalf of its customers was posted to 2channel.
2channel also received revenue from subscription services like the aforementioned maru. For its part, 5channel has a subscription service, , that allows people outside Japan to post on it; this service also hides ads from its subscribers.
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