Departments
Intermediate Japanese - Free Online Course
November 19, 2006
Clay Boutwell of TheJapanesePage.com and TheJapanShop.com
If you are looking for a hard-to-find Japanese language product, then the TheJapanShop.com should be one of your first stops. Here you will find just about everything that a Japanese-language student might want--from the latest copy of Shonen Jump magazine, to electronic dictionaries from Japan.
Located in Lake City, Florida, The Japan Shop has been operated by Clay and Yumi Boutwell since 2000. It has become one of the most popular Japan-related sites on the internet. Clay and Yumi are constantly on the lookout for innovative Japanese language products; and you will find something new just about every time you visit their online storefront.
The Boutwells' Japan-related business plans actually began in 1999, with TheJapanesePage.com--a tutorial site for Japanese language students. The Japanese Page.com continues to serve Japanese language students with online lessons, forums, and more.
I spoke with Clay Boutwell not long ago about the Japan Shop, his own background in Japan studies, and the future of the Japanese language field:
J123: Clay, how did you first become interested in Japan and the Japanese
language? How did this interest affect your initial career choices?
Clay Boutwell: It was the language that interested me more than the culture. I was very
interested in languages during my college years. This led me to volunteer at a local language school for teaching English as a second language. There I met several Japanese who quickly became my friends. Through their encouragement, I poured all my energy into studying Japanese and decided I would live in Japan. That was that. I was a typical idealistic twenty-something. But, it worked.
Wanting to learn Japanese and live in Japan, I applied for and was accepted into the JET programme. Thanks to that opportunity I was able to go to Japan and essentially spend three years studying Japanese. (I actually did a lot of work, but had PLENTY of free to time to study!)
J123: How did the ideas for the Japan Shop and the Japanese Page take shape? When did your businesses really start to take off?
Clay Boutwell: I started www.TheJapanesePage.com on a free hosting site in 1999 mainly to reinforce what I was learning. I was particularly interested in collecting unusual or 'fun' words and phrases. This became the 'How to Wow' section of the site. It grew from there, but it wasn't really popular until I added the forums a few years ago. I am constantly amazed how many really smart and talented people visit the forums every day. They are a bunch of great people who make the site what it is today.
On the store front, my parents came to visit us in Japan in 2000. My father seeing the website said, "That's great son. Now you have to figure a way to make a living off this." Up until that moment I had never thought of using Japanese and/or the Internet as a means to earn a living. I honestly believe we wouldn't be doing what we are doing had he not said that.
The Japan Shop started as a section on theJapanesePage.com and with a single product - our Hiragana Pack which took us almost a year to produce. We added electronic dictionaries, books and gave it its own domain name - www.thejapanshop.com. I finally quit my 'day job' in 2004 and went full-time with The Japan Shop.
It is honestly the ideal situation for us. I always dreamed of owning a bookstore and with my primary interest in Japanese, I couldn't hope for anything better. Of course the best thing is being able to drink coffee at 2 o'clock in the afternoon in my pajamas while going through the newest Japanese textbook.
J123: In addition to the JapanShop's wide selection of books, what other
features do the JapanShop and the JapanesePage offer for Japanese language students?
Clay Boutwell: As for the store, we also sell electronic dictionaries, Japanese gift items,
magazines and a few Japanese related DVDs. Our focus will always be on Japanese language learning resources which of course includes your fine books!
I have plans to expand into other areas including adding a number of free multimedia resources. We have a start with our free download section on the store and various features throughout thejapanesepage.com. But if all goes well, we will see much more in the near future.
TheJapanesePage.com's greatest strength is its forums with all the great
regulars there. We also have a chat room which is regularly used for
classroom type meetings as well as casual chatting.
