single character hiragana / katakana questions

[IDNguy]

Does anyone think a single character Hiragana / Katakana Japanese .com would have any real value. Are they simply good for branding value?

Am I correct in believing there are only a few hundred hiragana and katakana combined as opposed to tens of thousands of kanji?

Any idea what single character katakana and hiragana .com's are worth?

Also, how prevalent is the use of katakana and hiragana keyboards in Japan?

[touchring]

I would treat them as collectables, you know, those 2 digit and 3 digits? People collect them for fun, even if not used.

And collectables always appreciate if they are rare.

[Rubber Duck]

I doubt you will find these available for new reg.

There are more single characters in many Asian Languages than in Latin because the letters are constanant and letter combined. There are not tens of thousands of Kanji. I think there are 1800 or so in current use.

I believe Hirigana is more valuable than Katakana. They actually mirror one another but for some odd reason they only write foreign words in Katakana.
There are essentially 66 single character Hirigana.

They are used, in as much as even Kanji is typed in Hirigana or even Katakana before conversion. Unlike the Chinese the use of Latin for inputting is limited. Basically everything in Japan is typed in Hirigana.

They get substantial traffic but like all single characters, it does not convert well.

Their potential for Branding, however, is inestimable. I think you could resonably equate them to good LL.com, in terms of market position, because there are 10 times as many LL.com. OK, the Japanese Market is never going to be as valuable as the English Market, so probably won't be worth quite as much as some of the best LL.com.

If you are looking to acquire then PM me. Obviously, prices would reflect current demand.

Does anyone think a single character Hiragana / Katakana Japanese .com would have any real value. Are they simply good for branding value?

Am I correct in believing there are only a few hundred hiragana and katakana combined as opposed to tens of thousands of kanji?

Any idea what single character katakana and hiragana .com's are worth?

Also, how prevalent is the use of katakana and hiragana keyboards in Japan?

[burnsinternet]

Have any sold here in the past? Just wondering if the .nets have any value.

Mine are not great, but feel free to comment. I was going to post in appraisal section, but wanted to keep this thread together.

ヾ.net
ョ.net
る.net
ヽ.net
ら.net
テ.net

[rhys]

Have any sold here in the past?

Yep. Pretty sure I bought one or two off the duck last year.

I doubt you will find these available for new reg.

There are more single characters in many Asian Languages than in Latin because the letters are constanant and letter combined. There are not tens of thousands of Kanji. I think there are 1800 or so in current use.

I believe Hirigana is more valuable than Katakana. They actually mirror one another but for some odd reason they only write foreign words in Katakana.
There are essentially 66 single character Hirigana.

.

Good post, RD. Actually there are many many thousand more kanji than that but only about 2000 or so are necessary to read the newspaper.

The primary purpose of Katakana is to write foreign words so, I guess, it isn't so strange that only foreign words are written in Katakana. No?

[Rubber Duck]

Stand corrected.

Well it just seems a bit odd to me that a different Alphabet is required to do foreign words. I guess it is bit like us writing them all in Capitals by convention?

What it does seem to mean is that a lot of high tech products are written in Katakana.

[blastfromthepast]

OK, the Japanese Market is never going to be as valuable as the English Market...

I'd think the opposite.

[rhys]

Stand corrected.

Well it just seems a bit odd to me that a different Alphabet is required to do foreign words. I guess it is bit like us writing them all in Capitals by convention?

What it does seem to mean is that a lot of high tech products are written in Katakana.

I'm sure there is probably an interesting explanation for it somewhere. To me it seems that we use Katakana to neutralize foreign words and make them safe for adoption into Japanese. Because they have their own distinct script (katakana), we can always isolate and identify foreign words used in Japanese. It can't ever be allowed to "blend in" with what is really Japanese. At the same time, forcing foreign sounds into the limited set of sounds in Japanese, enables Japanese to understand how to pronounce the word.

[burnsinternet]

Some are still available. Freshly registered:

xn--bm3a.net (質.net) 14 bids, second is ¥80
xn--3jy.net (環.net) 4 bids, second is ¥35
xn--mbk.net (ら.net) 3 bids, second is ¥37
xn--obk.net (る.net) 2 bids, second is ¥9
xn--w8y.net (研.net) 1 bid ¥39
xn--oqq.net (低.net) 1 bid ¥11
xn--liv.net (映.net) 1 bid ¥9

[Rubber Duck]

Most of those are Kanji rather than Kana.

Some are still available. Freshly registered:

xn--bm3a.net (質.net) 14 bids, second is ¥80
xn--3jy.net (環.net) 4 bids, second is ¥35
xn--mbk.net (ら.net) 3 bids, second is ¥37
xn--obk.net (る.net) 2 bids, second is ¥9
xn--w8y.net (研.net) 1 bid ¥39
xn--oqq.net (低.net) 1 bid ¥11
xn--liv.net (映.net) 1 bid ¥9

[burnsinternet]

Granted. But I think I regged the last of anything worthwhile hiragana or katakana in the last 48 hours.

xn--mbk.net (ら.net) 3 bids, second is ¥37
xn--obk.net (る.net) 2 bids, second is ¥9

And some that were worthless, too. :p

I think mine are all 'long term hold' registrations, eh?

[Rubber Duck]

Granted. But I think I regged the last of anything worthwhile hiragana or katakana in the last 48 hours.

xn--mbk.net (ら.net) 3 bids, second is ¥37
xn--obk.net (る.net) 2 bids, second is ¥9

And some that were worthless, too. :p

I think mine are all 'long term hold' registrations, eh?

These must have dropped recently. I have checked out all the Kana several times over the years.

[burnsinternet]

No, all newly created 2007-01-12 (several hours ago), I think.

That's OK, you sold off dot coms and you still have many, I believe. I have no Japanese as good as yours. But I am still not too bad with a pick and shovel.