Hiroyuki Nishimura
Template:Use dmy dates Template:Expand Japanese Template:Short description Template:Infobox person
Template:Nihongo is a Japanese internet entrepreneur. He founded the message board 2channel,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and is an administrator of 4chan.<ref name="AdelsteinDB" /><ref name="NYT-nishimura-4chan" /> He is also a self-help author and TV personality.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp He is often known by his given name, Template:Nihongo,<ref>Katayama, Lisa. "Meet Hiroyuki Nishimura, the Bad Boy of the Japanese Internet." Wired. 19 May 2008. Link Template:Webarchive. Retrieved on 31 January 2009.</ref><ref name="AdelsteinDB" /> which he uses, rendered intentionally in lowercase,<ref group="note">Or in hiragana, in Japanese</ref> both as a pen name<ref group="biblio" name="1percent" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and as a username.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Nishimura4chanQA2" />
Until February 2013, he was a director of, and advisor to, Niwango, operator of the video-sharing service niconico.<ref name=":1" />
Christopher Poole, the founder of 4chan, formally announced on 21 September 2015, that he had sold the website to Nishimura.<ref name="forbes2015" /> After a dispute with 2channel's hosting provider, Nishimura no longer administrates 2channel, but instead operates a competitor to it, 2ch.sc.<ref name="ITmedia20140401" />
CareerEdit
Nishimura was born in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, but raised in Tokyo.<ref group="biblio" name=":0" /><ref group="note" name=":0" /> He founded Tokyo Access LP in 1998.<ref group="biblio" name="2chindepth" /><ref group="note">From the "about the author" section of the description of the book on Amazon.co.jp: 1998年、中央大学在学中に合資会社東京アクセスを設立。[In 1998, while enrolled at Chuo University, he established the limited partnership Tokyo Access.]</ref> In May 1999, he opened 2channel while he was studying at the University of Central Arkansas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In June 2001, he founded Irregulars and Partners KK with Ichirō Yamamoto, which was involved in 2channel's management,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but later left.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
He graduated with a degree in psychology from Chuo University in 2000.<ref group="biblio" name=":0" /><ref group="note" name=":0" /><ref name="gree_career">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In January 2007, Nishimura was an advisor to Skip-Up KK,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> CEO of Tokyo Plus KK,<ref name=":2" /> co-founder of Template:Nihongo KK,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and a director of Niwango, the company that launched Nico Nico Douga.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He left his role at Niwango in February 2013.<ref name=":1" />
2channelEdit
During 2008, 2ch generated an annual revenue upwards of ¥100 million for Nishimura.<ref name="2chrevenue" /> The site was also run by 300 "volunteer administrators" who received no pay. Nishimura justified this with the comment, "I don't think that's all that different from some dude who opens a convenience store in front of a train station. They can make a million yen a day."<ref name="2chrevenue" />
In August 2013, an accidental leak placed the credit card details of thousands of 2channel users into the public domain,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and this event resulted in a series of lawsuits against the website. Around the same time, the anti-matome movement took place throughout 2channel, a controversial community development involving users protesting against Template:Nihongo which specialize in summarizing 2channel threads, which were taking away site traffic.<ref name="AkimotoJT2014" />
On 19 February 2014, Jim Watkins, as chairman of N.T. Technology, Inc., 2channel's domain registrar, seized 2channel's domain.<ref name="AkimotoJT2014" /> He took full control over the website, relieved Nishimura of all power, and assumed the role of website administrator.<ref name="AkimotoJT2014" /> Watkins claimed that Nishimura had failed to pay him money owed which led to the seizure as a way to cover Nishimura's debts,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while Nishimura claimed that he had in fact paid everything owed and that the domain transfer was an illegal domain hijacking.<ref name="ITmedia20140401" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In response, Nishimura created his own clone of 2channel at Template:Interlanguage link,<ref name="ITmedia20140401" /> 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.<ref name="Nishimura4chanQA2" />
In October 2017, Watkins renamed 2channel to 5channel and transferred it to Loki Technology Inc. to avoid legal complications.<ref>Template:Cite court—via The Manila Times.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
4chanEdit
On 21 September 2015, he bought the website 4chan from Christopher Poole.<ref name="forbes2015" /><ref name="AdelsteinDB" /> The amount paid has not been disclosed, but The New York Times has reported that the sale was made possible with funds provided by three Japanese investors.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="NYT-nishimura-4chan" />
Users on 4chan refer to him commonly as 'hiro' but also by the ethnic slur "gook moot", or the nickname "Jackie 4chan", "Hiroshima Nagasaki," or simply "hiroshimoot".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
LawsuitsEdit
As defendantEdit
Nishimura has lost a number of libel lawsuits which have led to him being assessed a considerable amount in penalties.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2008, he told Wired he has no intention of paying, saying, "If the verdict mandates deleting things, I'll do it," but, "I just haven't complied with demands to pay money. Would a cell phone carrier feel responsible when somebody receives a threatening phone call?"<ref name="2chrevenue" />
As plaintiffEdit
Nishimura has filed a number of lawsuits against Jim Watkins in connection with his allegation that 2channel was illegally seized. He has attempted to repossess the domain both through WIPO's Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy<ref name="WIPO2016" /> and through the Japanese court system.<ref>Template:Cite court</ref> Through the Japan Patent Office, Nishimura owns the trademark "2channel",<ref>Template:Cite court</ref> 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".<ref name="WIPO2016" />
Personal lifeEdit
Nishimura is married. As of May 2019, he lives in Paris, to which he moved in 2015.<ref name=":2" />
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Further readingEdit
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