The Japanese OpenNap servers host a wider variety of Japanese videos than any other P2P network. New releases arrive there faster, in greater variety, and stay available longer. Virtually all Japanese rippers release their latest rips to OpenNap first, often in better quality versions than what later becomes available on BitTorrent. The content ranges from 1990's videos only released on VHS all the way up to the very latest releases, web-only videos from the likes of Carribbean.com and Tennen Musume right down to offerings from small amateur sites, scan collections from Graphis, Bejean, Japanese and western TV shows and movies, mp3 albums, you name it. Even though this is the place where all of Japan's biggest collectors gather, it remains little known in the west and China. It may take a little while to get oriented at first, but the network is fast and easy to use, and the effort is well worth it.
The largest public servers in Japan are Magicant, ENDLESS, ONT2ch, INC, Zero and Kujira くじら. They each have different rules, but all servers accept the use of the Utatane client to connect. (Many of them ban WinMX 3.x, but some will accept WinMX 2.6). Utatane is Windows based. (For Mac, try Mameya. For Linux, Xnap or Lopster).
To start, download Utatane 0.253 English.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6U8KW9AG
Unzip, and install the file. Open the Utatane folder under Program Files, and then click on Utatane Manual.chm. This opens an illustrated English help file which shows you how to get set up.
It seems that Utatane is a non-Unicode program, so you may have to change your Regional and Language Options in order to view Japanese. If you are using Windows XP, there are several settings that need to be changed:
To install the fonts, and add the code pages:
Regional and Language Options - Languages tab - tick the box next to "Install files for East Asian languages." You will need to have a Windows XP CD with the "lang" folder on it in order to install.
Regional and Language Options - Languages tab - Click Details under "Text services and input languages" - Advanced tab - tick the box next to "Extend support for advanced text services to all programs"
Regional and Language Options - Advanced tab - set the "Language for non-Unicode programs" to the CJK language you want.
Windows 2000 and Vista have similar settings. After this in Windows Explorer and dialog boxes, back slashes will appear as yen marks, but this is the only change you are likely to notice. Alternatively, you could try the Microsoft Applocale Utility to switch back and forth between languages on the fly (although one user reports that using Applocale seems to disable the sorting function in the search window of Utatane).
The next step is to open up Utatane, right click in the main Servers window, and choose Add. Input server names, addresses, ports and the redirect settings for the top 10 servers or so from here:
http://serverlist.run.buttobi.net/
http://www.st-studio.info/stp2p/server_list.html
If a server has more than one address you can add these to a single heading using the "Add" button in the bottom left-hand corner of the "Add a New Server" dialog. Utatane will automatically switch between the different addresses.
Before you go online, you'll need to open up a port for Utatane on your firewall. In Utatane, click on Setting, then Servers, input a Login Name and Password, set your connection type, and note down the port you are listening on for incoming TCP connections. This should be a high 5 digit number. Some port numbers such as 8844 are blocked by some servers, but if you choose a high enough number, they should let you on. Open your firewall, and then open that same port. For example, if you are using the Windows XP SP2 firewall, click on Start, Settings, Control Panel, Windows Firewall, Exceptions, and then Add Port, ie. the same number as listed in Utatane. If you are using a router, check its manual for how to open ports.
Another thing you need to do is get your collection into presentable shape. Everyone you try to download from is going to be browsing your files, and if they can't find something they want they will just leave you sitting in queue forever. You can share files named in English, but you need to append a short word in brackets at the beginning describing the genre, eg. (Album), (Asia), (AV), (CD), (IV), (movie), (mp3), (Nude), (pic), (PV) or (TV). Product numbers would also help people find things. Japanese collectors usually label files in the order Genre Producer Title Actress Product-code, for example, 【露出】SODクリエイト 芸能人 範田紗々タオル一枚男湯入ってみませんか？スペシャル 範田紗々 STAR-157.avi. It is better not to share incomplete files, single jpgs or files with unmeaningful file names. Some traders make txt file dummies of videos they have saved to DVD-R.
Try to share as much content as possible because some servers and big traders have 200 file and/or 50-100GB minimums. Once you are all organized, add the files to the Share window in Utatane.
Also under Setting, Transfer, set your incoming folder, making sure this is different from your Shared folders. Under Setting, Message, stick in a wav file to alert you when someone has sent you a message (There are wav files you can use in the folders for Windows Live Messenger or ICQ).
Once you are all set up, go back to the Server screen, and click on "Link All." Some of the servers take a while to scan all the files in your Share folders, so they may initially send you error messages saying you don't have enough files. Hang in there though, and eventually five or six of them should let you connect.
Next we are off to the NewSearch screen. Type in a title, actress name or genre, and hit Search. You'll get a long list of files with the user and the server they're on. Once you find a file you want, browse what files he has, and then send him a PM.
こんばんは。
Konban wa.
Good evening.
After you have PMed them, wait a second to see if they send you an auto-response. If you can't read Japanese, copy, and paste it into an online translator such as the one on Google to try to figure out what it says. Often it will tell you if he is offline, or what files he is looking for. Then send him another PM recommending some of your own videos that he might be interested in.
あのー、SOD関係の作品を持っていますよ。交換しませんか。
Anoo, SOD kankei no sakuhin wo motte imasu yo. Koukan shimasen ka.
Um, I have videos from Soft on Demand. Do you want to trade?
Even if you get no response, you can still enter their queue by right clicking on the file, and choosing Download.
Then you go looking for other files. The servers prohibit you from requesting 2 files from the same user, or the same file from 2 different users who are both on the same server. You can however request the same file from a different user on a different server, so pay attention to what servers people are on. It also seems to me that you can only queue up about five files on each server before they start sending you error messages, so try to spread your downloads out among the different servers.
Weekday evenings after 9 o'clock Japanese time are a good time to catch traders at home. The number of users will swing up above 2000 and you will get a lot of responses. Weekends are also good. Some generous users allow random users to download files automatically, but quite a few people will browse your shares first, and add a file to your upload queue at the bottom of the Xfer window as a sign that they want to trade. Click on his file to start him, and then right click on both the upload and download, and choose Auto Complete, so it'll reconnect if broken off. It is quite common to add each other to your Hot list, and allot each other a free upload of one file at a time. Do this by clicking on Hot List, right click on the name of user you are trading with, choosing "Add to Hot List," and then set "Auto User" to 1.
優先ユーザに追加しましたよ。どうぞよろしくお願いします。
Yuusen yuuza ni tsuika shimashita yo. Douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.
I've added you to my Auto-users list. I humbly ask your indulgence.
The etiquette is that you will both stay online until both downloads are finished, but they may ask you just to be sure. If you have to go offline for any reason you may want to reassure them.
一回切れますけど、後で続けましょう。
Ikkai kiremasu kedo, ato de tsuzukemashou.
I'm going offline for a moment, but let's continue after.
If you already have a couple of uploads in progress though, it is a good idea not to go searching for more until those finish because users on T3 especially will complain.
You can also set Utatane to autostart uploads for people you are sitting in the download queue of: Settings - Transfers - Start Counter Queue. On the Queuing dialog, you can set maximum number of uploads for regular and Auto Users, but make sure these numbers are high enough to cover Auto Starts; otherwise you'll just keep timing them out.
If you have technical questions about Utatane's features or OpenNap in general, you could try asking in http://forum.winmxworld.com/ or http://forum.mxpie.info/. Smokerillo of Rillonap used to run a support forum, but I believe it is offline now.
The largest public servers in Japan are Magicant, ENDLESS, ONT2ch, INC, Zero and Kujira くじら. They each have different rules, but all servers accept the use of the Utatane client to connect. (Many of them ban WinMX 3.x, but some will accept WinMX 2.6). Utatane is Windows based. (For Mac, try Mameya. For Linux, Xnap or Lopster).
To start, download Utatane 0.253 English.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6U8KW9AG
Unzip, and install the file. Open the Utatane folder under Program Files, and then click on Utatane Manual.chm. This opens an illustrated English help file which shows you how to get set up.
It seems that Utatane is a non-Unicode program, so you may have to change your Regional and Language Options in order to view Japanese. If you are using Windows XP, there are several settings that need to be changed:
To install the fonts, and add the code pages:
Regional and Language Options - Languages tab - tick the box next to "Install files for East Asian languages." You will need to have a Windows XP CD with the "lang" folder on it in order to install.
Regional and Language Options - Languages tab - Click Details under "Text services and input languages" - Advanced tab - tick the box next to "Extend support for advanced text services to all programs"
Regional and Language Options - Advanced tab - set the "Language for non-Unicode programs" to the CJK language you want.
Windows 2000 and Vista have similar settings. After this in Windows Explorer and dialog boxes, back slashes will appear as yen marks, but this is the only change you are likely to notice. Alternatively, you could try the Microsoft Applocale Utility to switch back and forth between languages on the fly (although one user reports that using Applocale seems to disable the sorting function in the search window of Utatane).
The next step is to open up Utatane, right click in the main Servers window, and choose Add. Input server names, addresses, ports and the redirect settings for the top 10 servers or so from here:
http://serverlist.run.buttobi.net/
http://www.st-studio.info/stp2p/server_list.html
If a server has more than one address you can add these to a single heading using the "Add" button in the bottom left-hand corner of the "Add a New Server" dialog. Utatane will automatically switch between the different addresses.
Before you go online, you'll need to open up a port for Utatane on your firewall. In Utatane, click on Setting, then Servers, input a Login Name and Password, set your connection type, and note down the port you are listening on for incoming TCP connections. This should be a high 5 digit number. Some port numbers such as 8844 are blocked by some servers, but if you choose a high enough number, they should let you on. Open your firewall, and then open that same port. For example, if you are using the Windows XP SP2 firewall, click on Start, Settings, Control Panel, Windows Firewall, Exceptions, and then Add Port, ie. the same number as listed in Utatane. If you are using a router, check its manual for how to open ports.
Another thing you need to do is get your collection into presentable shape. Everyone you try to download from is going to be browsing your files, and if they can't find something they want they will just leave you sitting in queue forever. You can share files named in English, but you need to append a short word in brackets at the beginning describing the genre, eg. (Album), (Asia), (AV), (CD), (IV), (movie), (mp3), (Nude), (pic), (PV) or (TV). Product numbers would also help people find things. Japanese collectors usually label files in the order Genre Producer Title Actress Product-code, for example, 【露出】SODクリエイト 芸能人 範田紗々タオル一枚男湯入ってみませんか？スペシャル 範田紗々 STAR-157.avi. It is better not to share incomplete files, single jpgs or files with unmeaningful file names. Some traders make txt file dummies of videos they have saved to DVD-R.
Try to share as much content as possible because some servers and big traders have 200 file and/or 50-100GB minimums. Once you are all organized, add the files to the Share window in Utatane.
Also under Setting, Transfer, set your incoming folder, making sure this is different from your Shared folders. Under Setting, Message, stick in a wav file to alert you when someone has sent you a message (There are wav files you can use in the folders for Windows Live Messenger or ICQ).
Once you are all set up, go back to the Server screen, and click on "Link All." Some of the servers take a while to scan all the files in your Share folders, so they may initially send you error messages saying you don't have enough files. Hang in there though, and eventually five or six of them should let you connect.
Next we are off to the NewSearch screen. Type in a title, actress name or genre, and hit Search. You'll get a long list of files with the user and the server they're on. Once you find a file you want, browse what files he has, and then send him a PM.
こんばんは。
Konban wa.
Good evening.
After you have PMed them, wait a second to see if they send you an auto-response. If you can't read Japanese, copy, and paste it into an online translator such as the one on Google to try to figure out what it says. Often it will tell you if he is offline, or what files he is looking for. Then send him another PM recommending some of your own videos that he might be interested in.
あのー、SOD関係の作品を持っていますよ。交換しませんか。
Anoo, SOD kankei no sakuhin wo motte imasu yo. Koukan shimasen ka.
Um, I have videos from Soft on Demand. Do you want to trade?
Even if you get no response, you can still enter their queue by right clicking on the file, and choosing Download.
Then you go looking for other files. The servers prohibit you from requesting 2 files from the same user, or the same file from 2 different users who are both on the same server. You can however request the same file from a different user on a different server, so pay attention to what servers people are on. It also seems to me that you can only queue up about five files on each server before they start sending you error messages, so try to spread your downloads out among the different servers.
Weekday evenings after 9 o'clock Japanese time are a good time to catch traders at home. The number of users will swing up above 2000 and you will get a lot of responses. Weekends are also good. Some generous users allow random users to download files automatically, but quite a few people will browse your shares first, and add a file to your upload queue at the bottom of the Xfer window as a sign that they want to trade. Click on his file to start him, and then right click on both the upload and download, and choose Auto Complete, so it'll reconnect if broken off. It is quite common to add each other to your Hot list, and allot each other a free upload of one file at a time. Do this by clicking on Hot List, right click on the name of user you are trading with, choosing "Add to Hot List," and then set "Auto User" to 1.
優先ユーザに追加しましたよ。どうぞよろしくお願いします。
Yuusen yuuza ni tsuika shimashita yo. Douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.
I've added you to my Auto-users list. I humbly ask your indulgence.
The etiquette is that you will both stay online until both downloads are finished, but they may ask you just to be sure. If you have to go offline for any reason you may want to reassure them.
一回切れますけど、後で続けましょう。
Ikkai kiremasu kedo, ato de tsuzukemashou.
I'm going offline for a moment, but let's continue after.
If you already have a couple of uploads in progress though, it is a good idea not to go searching for more until those finish because users on T3 especially will complain.
You can also set Utatane to autostart uploads for people you are sitting in the download queue of: Settings - Transfers - Start Counter Queue. On the Queuing dialog, you can set maximum number of uploads for regular and Auto Users, but make sure these numbers are high enough to cover Auto Starts; otherwise you'll just keep timing them out.
If you have technical questions about Utatane's features or OpenNap in general, you could try asking in http://forum.winmxworld.com/ or http://forum.mxpie.info/. Smokerillo of Rillonap used to run a support forum, but I believe it is offline now.
Last edited:
