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The Miyazaki Mailing List
[ Frequently-Asked Questions ]

This page will answer many questions that have been asked on the list and about the list so that you don't have to ask these questions yourself.

If you have a question to ask the mailing list, please first make sure the answer isn't already here.

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Index

Overview

What is this list about?

This mailing list is for discussion of the works, studio, and colleagues of Hayao Miyazaki, a writer, director, and producer of Japanese animated films.

See also Topics of discussion.


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What is its purpose?

This mailing list provides an English-language forum for discussion of topics related to Hayao Miyazaki, a wonderful storyteller and a director of a number of box-office successes in Japan.

This list was created in the United States at Brown University in 1991 to facilitate discussion among fans of Miyazaki's works. Japanese animation fandom, as with many other special-interest communities, began as small, isolated groups of people who got in touch over the Internet and gradually connected with similar groups all over the United States and around the world.

Japanese animation fandom in particular has had the longest Internet presence of all animation fan groups, with rec.arts.anime being the first and oldest running animation-related newsgroup.

At first, subscribers were people with interests in comic books and manga (Japanese comics and graphic novels), especially Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Hayao Miyazaki's epic work, and the small number of films he'd released before 1991: Nausicaä (1984), Castle (1986), Totoro (1988), and Kiki's (1989). Thus the address nausicaa@brownvm.brown.edu for the mailing list. This name has recently changed to nausicaa@listserv.brown.edu due to a recent transfer of the list server to a newer machine.

Over time, as copies of Miyazaki's films became more accessible in the form of fansubs, special screenings, and film festivals, Miyazaki fandom grew, and mailing list subscribers grew beyond Japanese fans, serious comic book collectors, film students, and students of Japanese popular culture. People started joining the list who were following the Viz Comics English translation of the Nausicaä graphic novels, or who had seen one or more of Miyazaki's films, or who had recently been introduced to Japanese animation and were recommended the works of Miyazaki.

Subscribers are quite diverse these days. They include students, teachers, professors, amateur and professional artists, animation art collectors and dealers, film studio employees and executives, game software developers, publishers of books on relevant subjects, members of the press, and professionals in many other industries.


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Why join this list?

People typically join this list to talk about the issues raised by these films and compare their reactions with others. There is a strong sense of community among subscribers, a shared respect for the works of Miyazaki and his colleagues, and an interest in sharing these works with others, far and wide.

People also join this list to talk about the other works by Hayao Miyazaki and his colleagues, such as his epic comic titled Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, which ran (with some interruptions) for 13 years before completion.

Subscribers have joined this list from at least 23 different countries, and provide great insight into the influence of Studio Ghibli's works on people around the world.

Some of these people have seen or read every work by Miyazaki et al., others joined after having seen the film Princess Mononoke, or the other Studio Ghibli films which have toured North America.

If you wish to join, please see How do I subscribe?


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Fans

Fans join this list to stay up to date with, or contribute, exciting news about the release of Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke in North America, and the touring film festival of the remainder of Studio Ghibli's films. Some of these fans operate popular web sites featuring up-to-date news, information, and links to other pages on the subject of Japanese animation.


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Students

Student subscribers are often members of campus anime clubs. After graduation, they often remain active in their local fan communities, and participate in or contribute to the promotion of awareness of Japanese animation, taking whatever opportunities they have to also promote the works of Miyazaki to their friends, family, and coworkers.


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Teachers

Teachers in many schools have accepted suggestions from students to integrate the comic or other films of Studio Ghibli as topics of discussion with the standard course material. For example, there is a college-level class using the comic series Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind as required reading.


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Industry professionals

Art and animation professionals

While it might seem natural for people in the animation industry to subscribe to a mailing list about animation, this list is of particular interest because of the respect animators generally have for the inspirational works of Hayao Miyazaki.

Collectors and dealers

When Ruby Persson landed the exclusive rights to distribute licensed replicas of Studio Ghibli animation cels in North America, where did she go to reach the most fans most quickly? The Miyazaki Mailing List, and by extension, Nausicaa.net.

Film studio employees and executives

How better to keep tabs on fan reaction to the films of Studio Ghibli than to be subscribed to the largest, most influential online gathering of its fans?

Computer game software professionals

Selling computer games nowadays can depend on richly detailed artwork, compelling characters, and inspirational stories to draw consumers in and keep their attention. Miyazaki's name has appeared in the special thanks credits of a number of popular computer games.

Publishers and authors

Whenever a hot topic receives a lot of media attention, publishers are quick to find books to publish to feed the public's thirst for information. For the non-traditional market of foreign animation, what better place to learn about the market for books about Miyazaki's films than from the mailing list devoted to discussion of his works, to which a number of writers on the subject are already subscribed?


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Members of the press

Professional and amateur journalists have been subscribed to the Miyazaki Mailing List to be among the first to know about newsworthy events related to the works of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. The publications and web sites these journalists work for have been spotted quoting information and material which has appeared on the Miyazaki Mailing List and the Nausicaa.net web site.

Subscribers have reported hundreds of sightings of articles and reviews about Princess Mononoke and other Studio Ghibli films in the press. Whether or not their articles or reviews recommended that people watch these films, their articles have not always benefited from the up-to-date and accurate information available on the Miyazaki Mailing List and the Nausicaa.net web site.

We would like to extend an invitation to representatives of the media and entertainment industry to join this mailing list to take advantage of it to improve the quality of their research into the subject of Hayao Miyazaki, his colleagues, studio, and films. We will be the first to admit we don't have all of the answers, but we certainly have the resources and contacts necessary to assist someone with their questions.


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Companies bringing Studio Ghibli's films to North America and the rest of the world, and why we support them

[From a message to the mailing list by the list owner Michael Johnson.]

It's not often that this list hears from professionals in the media and entertainment industries, but I'm glad that it does because this helps give companies a human face in the eyes of fans. It helps the rest of us understand the hard-working people who bring to us the stories we enjoy so much, the movies we love to watch, the soundtracks we love to listen to, the books we love to read, and the merchandise we love to wear or cuddle or display. We want to show the world that we have some wonderful, thought-provoking illustrated literature and film to share with them.

As we have seen on this list since the news about the Disney-Tokuma Deal was announced [in 1996], fan opinion of the chances Studio Ghibli's films have in this country and around the world rose from an all-time low ("Disney has now bought the rights to Ghibli films and will bury them"), to incredibly hopeful, yet guarded, optimism ("Please, Miramax, tell us the Mononoke box office figures are enough to convince you to release all Ghibli films nationwide to *local* theaters"). Part of this improved outlook stems from communication with the representatives of the companies involved in the projects to bring first Kiki's Delivery Service, then the Ghibli festival, then Princess Mononoke, then Castle in the Sky to North America.

Team Ghiblink, which maintains the Nausicaa.net web site, has been very fortunate to have established contact with representatives from these companies for the purpose of bringing you the information you want to know about the fate of these films, and for the purpose of bringing your requests and feedback to their attention. I can tell you that the month between September and October 3rd of [1999] were the busiest and most exciting days of my life, as we received permission to premiere the Miramax trailer of Princess Mononoke on Nausicaa.net and collected feedback about it from fans all over the world.

Do you remember the complaints about the pronunciation of "Miyazake" and "Mononoki" in the trailer? Miramax corrected that and released new trailers! They would never have done so if they'd ignored our feedback.

Do you remember the complaints that there were too few cinemas showing Princess Mononoke on October 29th and November 5th [1999]? Miramax opened a test market in Minnesota to see how well a wide release would be received by the public. They would never have done so if you hadn't helped encourage all of your fan clubs, friends, and families within reach of a limited release theater to go see the film and show their support, despite whatever you might have felt about the trailer, the choice of voice actors, or the company releasing the film.

Do you remember the complaints about the lack of official Studio Ghibli merchandise? Tokuma International and Studio Ghibli went to great lengths to ensure that JSR Direct made T-shirts, posters, keychains, and jewelry for the North American market that met very strict quality requirements. Tokuma and Ghibli also worked very closely with Ruby Persson to guarantee the quality of the limited edition Studio Ghibli cel replicas she is licensed [as] the exclusive distributor for. Stone Bridge Press, as with any publisher, takes risks whenever deciding to publish books on niche topics like Japanese Animation. Helen [McCarthy]'s lovely book [Hayao Miyazaki - Master of Japanese Animation] presents Miyazaki's work with great respect that isn't lost on the reader. Hyperion/Miramax Books published the English translation of the Art Of Mononoke Hime [Princess Mononoke]. And don't forget that Milan Records released the official English soundtrack.

Do you remember the complaints about too little advertising for Princess Mononoke? Miramax isn't dropping the ball. Their choice of famous actors for the voices, their choice of writer for the English script, their use of Team Ghiblink press material for their official press kit, and their question to Team Ghiblink "Can you tell us which celebrities are known to be fans of Miyazaki?" all show that they're doing their level best to encourage support among influential people, and among people who look up to those influential people -- whether those influential people are celebrities with a strong fan following, or are the "Number one Miyazaki resource on the Internet" as some have called us.

We have a lot to thank these people and companies for. We have long wished that we could do more than share n-th generation fansubs with our friends and families. Now that Disney and its subsidiaries have the distribution rights to Studio Ghibli's films, we can. We told them what we wanted, we complained bitterly about their perceived mistakes in making them available to us, and surprisingly enough they had the patience and good grace to listen to us, to take steps to give us what we asked for, and to correct their mistakes.

We owe them our gratitude and our full support.

Thank you all for your support of the Miramax release of Princess Mononoke. ...of the Milan Records release of the official English soundtrack to Princess Mononoke. ...of the Cowboy Booking International's Retrospective of the Legendary Studio Ghibli (the Ghibli film festival touring North America). ...of the Hyperion/Miramax Books publication of the translated Art Of Mononoke Hime book. ...of Helen McCarthy's book Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation, published by Stone Bridge Press. ...of the Buena Vista Home Entertainment video release of Kiki's Delivery Service. ...of the Fox Video release of My Neighbor Totoro, and the limited Troma [Films] theatrical release. ...of the Viz Comics publication of the translated Nausicaä manga. And lastly, thank you all for your support of the Miyazaki Web over the past five years, and this Miyazaki Mailing List for the past eight. We couldn't have helped make Mononoke a success without your help!

All of these things have demonstrated that Miyazaki's and Studio Ghibli's works are commercially viable products in North America. If such success can continue to be demonstrated, releases will continue and will be more likely to spread to other countries around the world.

Let's continue to show our gratitude and full support. Anything less would jeopardize the success of the most promising effort to bring Studio Ghibli's works to North America and the world. Do we want that on our conscience?

I hope that this list can continue to live up to its charter as a Hayao Miyazaki Discussion Group -- one which is seen as a well behaved, productive, and rewarding forum for topics related to director Miyazaki, his colleagues, his studio, and their works, whether the participants are consumers, critics, or professionals. It would be especially nice to see representatives from Tokuma Shoten, Studio Ghibli, Disney, Buena Vista, Miramax, Hyperion, Milan Records, and JSR Direct as participating members of this group in addition to those professional artists, engineers, authors, and publishers who [have already subscribed]. Perhaps even the musicians, voice actors, and film critics we've read so much about would also consider joining us. ^_^

(Invitations such as this one tend to fall on deaf ears when coming from "mere fans," -- I know, I've tried -- so if those of you in the industry have contacts in the companies mentioned above, or with the artists, actors, and critics mentioned above, please consider extending an invitation for them to join this list with your endorsement. If they have misgivings, please let me know so that we can see what we can do about making participation in the list more useful to them. If this means creating new, more specialized, lower-traffic mailing lists or masking their true e-mail addresses, that can easily be arranged. Thank you!)


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The list owners

The list owners can be reached by e-mail at the address nausicaa-request@listserv.brown.edu. They stand ready to assist you with your subscription, but ask that you try your best to use the information provided in these online documents to help you guide yourself to the answers that you seek whenever possible.

Michael S. Johnson
Nausicaa list co-owner - primary owner, moderator, policy, error messages
Rachel Blackman
Nausicaa list co-owner
Theo Hua
Nausicaa list co-owner - subscriptions
Steven Feldman
Nausicaa list founder

Note regarding list ownership

If the primary list owner is unavailable for any reason, the other list owners are empowered to act on his behalf.

Note regarding list policy enforcement

Subscribers are encouraged not only to follow the rules and policies of this mailing list, but to help enforce them. The list owners are often busy with other responsibilities (full-time jobs and other hobbies, for example), and can't be as vigilant as they'd like to be.

If you receive a reasonable request from another subscriber to adhere to the list's policies, please take heed. If there are any complaints about the activities of the list owners or other subscribers, please contact the list owners.


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Where can I find more information about this list?

On the web
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/mailing-list/
Via e-mail (automated response)
Send the message "INFO NAUSICAA" to the e-mail address listserv@listserv.brown.edu.
Via e-mail (list owners)
Send your questions about the Miyazaki Mailing List to the e-mail address nausicaa-request@listserv.brown.edu.

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When was this list created?

This list was created on April 11th, 1991 by Steven Feldman, at that time a student at Brown University. Since then, primary list ownership has been handed down twice: to Mauricio Tavares and later to Michael Johnson.

The Miyazaki Web was created on December 31st, 1994 on TCP.COM, and moved to its own domain, Nausicaa.net, on April 26th, 1997.

See also What is its purpose? for more background information about this mailing list.


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The Mailing List, and how to use it

The mailing list is, as of December 1999 run on the machine listserv.brown.edu, a Unix machine running L-Soft's LISTSERV version 1.8d. A LISTSERV user's guide is available for those who wish to learn more about the list server and its features to take control of their subscriptions.


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Your subscription, and how to control it

If you lost that piece of welcome mail that you received when you subscribed to this list - you remember the one with all of the helpful information about how to send messages to the list and unsubscribe, the one that warned you to keep it somewhere safe because you'd need it some day, right? - then you're in luck: this section will help you with most of that.

Troubleshooting

See also Problems with your subscription.

Documentation

See also The Mailing List, and how to use it for links to list server documentation.

Features and services of this mailing list


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Subscribing: How do I subscribe?

To subscribe: send the message "subscribe nausicaa" to the e-mail address listserv@listserv.brown.edu. Avoid putting any other text in your message, as it might confuse the list server.

Note about our anti-spammer policy

Due to the risk of the list being targeted by spammers, all subscription requests will be delayed by one week before approval. This is to give spammers time to be reported to authorities and have their e-mail addresses deactivated. When we approve the subscription requests one week later, deactivated e-mail addresses immediately bounce mail to the list owners, making it easy for us to cancel those subscriptions.

See also How do I unsubscribe?


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Unsubscribing: How do I unsubscribe?

To unsubscribe: send the message "unsubscribe nausicaa" to the e-mail address listserv@listserv.brown.edu. Avoid putting any other text in your message, as it might confuse the list server.

See also How do I subscribe?


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Posting: How do I send messages to the list?

Before sending your message, please be sure that it abides by the list's rules and policies. Otherwise, if you are not sure, then please consult a list owner to find out if your message is appropriate for the list.

"I would like to send a new message to the list."
Send it to the e-mail address nausicaa@listserv.brown.edu.
"I would like to reply to a message I've received from the list."
Use your e-mail software's reply feature. Note that to reach the list, your e-mail software will need to send your reply to nausicaa@listserv.brown.edu.

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REPRO: How do I (not) receive copies of messages I send to the list?

You can tell the list server to start or stop sending you copies of messages you send to the list. New subscribers default to receiving copies of their own messages. People who subscribed before about 1998 did not default to receiving copies of their own messages to the list.

To start receiving copies of your messages
Send the message "set nausicaa repro" to the e-mail address listserv@listserv.brown.edu. Avoid putting any other text in your message, as it might confuse the list server.
To stop receiving copies of your messages
Send the message "set nausicaa norepro" to the e-mail address listserv@listserv.brown.edu. Avoid putting any other text in your message, as it might confuse the list server.

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Digests: How do I receive daily compilations of messages, instead of individual messages?

You might prefer to periodically receive one large piece of e-mail (a digest) from the mailing list, instead of receiving each individual message sent to the list.

To begin receiving digests
Send the message "set nausicaa digest" to the e-mail address listserv@listserv.brown.edu.
To receive individual messages instead of digests
Send the message "set nausicaa nodigest" to the e-mail address listserv@listserv.brown.edu.

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CONCEAL: How do I conceal the fact that I am a subscriber from other subscribers?

This is the same concept as asking the telephone company to make your number unlisted, so that it doesn't appear in a phone book. You can tell the list server to not list your e-mail address when other subscribers request a list of all of the subscribers.

NOTE: as of 1998, as an anti-spamming precaution, only the list owners may request a list of subscribers from the list server. Naturally, list owners will be able to request a list of all subscribers, including CONCEALed ones, but we will NEVER release this information to anyone without permission from the CONCEALed subscribers.

WARNING: because only subscribers may post messages to the list, posting a message to the mailing list will reveal to everyone else that you are a subscriber. Your message will be recorded in the list's archives, which are publicly available. If you wish anonymity when posting messages to the list, please contact the list owners for assistance.

To conceal yourself from other subscribers
Send the message "set nausicaa conceal" to the e-mail address listserv@listserv.brown.edu. Avoid putting any other text in your message, as it might confuse the list server.
To end concealment
Send the message "set nausicaa noconceal" to the e-mail address listserv@listserv.brown.edu. Avoid putting any other text in your message, as it might confuse the list server.

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Going on vacation: What if I won't be reading my e-mail for several days?

You might wish to temporarily stop receiving messages from the mailing list. This might be due to planned absence from your e-mail, or because you are already subscribed to the list under another address.

To temporarily stop receiving messages
Send the message "set nausicaa nomail" to the e-mail address listserv@listserv.brown.edu.
To start receiving messages again
Send the message "set nausicaa mail" to the e-mail address listserv@listserv.brown.edu.

(Note: this does not affect whether or not mail is delivered to you as individual messages or as digests.)


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Changing your e-mail address: What if I want list mail to be delivered somewhere else?

If for any reason you wish to receive messages from the list at a different address, you have three options.

Use the list server CHANGE command
The list server software gives you the opportunity to update your subscription e-mail address yourself. Here's how:
  1. From your old subscription e-mail address, send the message "change nausicaa newaddr" to the e-mail address listserv@listserv.brown.edu
  2. At your new e-mail address, wait for a message to arrive from the list server (listserv@listserv.brown.edu) requesting you to confirm your new subscription address. Follow its instructions to complete the change of address of your subscription.
Subscribe and unsubscribe
You may subscribe from your new address and unsubscribe from your old address. This sequence (subscribe from new address, unsubscribe from old address) is important if you don't want to risk missing any messages from the list. However, if you don't tell the list owners what is going on, we might not notice that this is a change of address and simply assume that you are a new subscriber and force your new subscription request to be delayed one week as per our anti-spammer policy for all new subscribers.
Contact the list owners
You may contact the list owners with your request to change the e-mail address under which you are subscribed.

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Problems with your subscription

Problems with your subscription can be caused by a number of things. If you're in a hurry, take a look at the Troubleshooting chart for an idea of what could be wrong with your subscription, what caused it, and what you can do about it. If you're really in a hurry, please contact the Problems receiving messages from the list

The list owners occasionally receive error messages about problems delivering mail to subscribers. Sometimes, so many of these error messages arrive that the list owners are forced to take action to avoid drowning in error messages. Most of these list owner actions will affect your subscription, if your subscription is the one that the error messages are reporting about. How they will affect your subscription depends on the problem.

Problems sending messages to the list

Occasionally, some subscribers stray away from the rules of the list. When the list owners become aware of this, they issue warnings or take action to avoid repeated violations of the list's rules.

Troubleshooting your subscription
What happened to my subscription? What errors or problems did the list owners notice about me or my subscription to cause this? What can I do about this?
I didn't receive a copy of my message to the mailing list.
    None.
Send the message "query nausicaa" to listserv@listserv.brown.edu. If LISTSERV tells you that your subscription options include "NOREPRO - You do not receive a copy of your own postings," then this should help. If that also doesn't work, then contact the list owners for assistance.
Nobody responded to my message to the list.
    None.
First read the archives to make sure your message was actually received by the list server and distributed to other subscribers. If you don't see your message in the archives, try the remedy for "I'm not receiving messages from the mailing list anymore." If that doesn't work either, then contact the list owners for assistance.
I'm not receiving messages from the mailing list anymore.
  • "Mailbox full"
  • "User unknown"
  • "Host unknown"
  • "Server unreachable"
  • "Unable to deliver for X days"
  • "We do not relay"
  • etc.
Send the message "query nausicaa" to listserv@listserv.brown.edu. If LISTSERV replies and tells you that you are not a subscriber of the list anymore, you will have to resubscribe. If LISTSERV replies and tells you that you are still subscribed, but that your subscription options now include "NOMAIL" and "NOPOST," contact the list owners to let them know you can send and perhaps receive mail properly again.
I'm not able to post messages to the list anymore. Any of the above errors, or one or more of your messages to the list violated the list's rules of conduct. Same as above.
My messages to the list are held for review by a list owner. One or more of your messages violated the list's rules of conduct. This is most commonly the case if you overquote. See "Quoting," below.

If you have any questions about why your messages are being held, please ask the list owners.

If the list owners notice your messages are not violating any list rules anymore, your messages will eventually not be held for review anymore.

I'm not subscribed to the mailing list anymore.
  • The list server detected that messages could not be delivered to you properly and automatically unsubscribed you.
  • List owners received too many errors of any kind (more than about 10 or 20).
  • You were engaged in irresponsible or abusive behavior, or repeatedly violated the list's rules.
If you have any questions about why you were unsubscribed, please ask the list owners.

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Complaints

About other subscribers

Occasionally, subscribers' behavior on the mailing list can be disrespectful, either of the list's rules, or of each other. If you have complaints about the behavior of other subscribers, please contact the list owners with the details.

Complaints about other subscribers can sometimes result in the cancellation of their subscription. Please try first to negotiate with the other subscriber, if possible, to avoid such a drastic result.

About your own subscription

If you are having problems with your subscription please contact the list owners for technical support.

About the list's rules and policies

The list owners are open to suggestions about the list's rules and policies. You may contact them with your feedback.

About the list owners

There is more than one list owner, so you can reach all of us simultaneously to see if we can discuss it and arrive at a solution.


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Rules and Policies

The rules and policies for this list are based in part on existing guidelines for good behavior online, a.k.a. "netiquette." There are two documents that cover this subject, only the first of which I would recommend that you become familiar with:

Comments and suggestions about these rules are welcome, and should be directed at the list owners, not the mailing list.

Rules list

Consequences of breaking list rules

An exact policy for how to deal with people who break these rules has not yet been set. Current policy is to send the subscriber a warning, or to set hir subscription to REVIEW until the list owners are confident the misbehavior will stop. Suggestions, directed at the list owners, are welcome.


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Topics of discussion

What is on-topic?

As stated in the Overview, this mailing list is for discussion of the films, studio, and colleagues of Hayao Miyazaki, a writer, director, and producer of Japanese animated films.

What is off-topic, and why?
Anything that is not on-topic, especially:
Fan subtitles - legality, quality, and availability
Discussions of fan subtitles quickly become arguments about the legality, relative quality, and availability of fansubs. This topic is too broad in scope to be properly debated on this mailing list. Please take it elsewhere, perhaps to the rec.arts.anime.misc newsgroup.
Dubs vs. subs - the eternal debate
Discussions of dubs vs. subtitles quickly become arguments nobody wins about the quality of the acting, the accuracy of the translations. This topic is too broad in scope to be properly debated on this mailing list. Please take it elsewhere, perhaps to the rec.arts.anime.misc newsgroup.
Letterbox vs. pan and scan - presentation vs. content
Yes, this is another one of those "nobody-wins" arguments. People either disagree about which is better, or if they agree, they usually end up whining about the companies that release the "wrong" version. This topic is too broad in scope to be properly debated on this mailing list. Please take it elsewhere, perhaps to the rec.arts.anime.misc newsgroup.
Where can I talk about off-topic topics?

There is an unmoderated spinoff of the Miyazaki Mailing List called nausicaa-shadow. That list is intended for threads of discussion which become off-topic for the Miyazaki Mailing List. Note that because the shadow list is a separate list, it has different subscribers, so people on either list will never see conversations on the other unless subscribed to both.

How do I (un)subscribe to nausicaa-shadow?
To subscribe
Send the message "subscribe nausicaa-shadow" to listar@nausicaa.net. Avoid putting any other text in your message, as it might confuse the list server.
To unsubscribe
Send the message "unsubscribe nausicaa-shadow" to listar@nausicaa.net. Avoid putting any other text in your message, as it might confuse the list server.

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Quoting

What is overquoting?
Why should I worry about overquoting?

Because it uses up space in the message archives that could otherwise be used to store more messages or more files or more information on the web site.

What can I do to avoid overquoting?
What will happen if I quote too much?
  1. First offense: you will receive a warning.
  2. Second offense: you will be set to REVIEW, which means your messages to the mailing list will first have to be approved by a list owner before being broadcast to the list.
  3. Third offense: your message will be ignored or rejected, and therefore not delivered to the mailing list.

To be taken back off of REVIEW, you must first demonstrate to the list owners that you understand how to control overquoting. This can be achieved by posting a number of consecutive messages that aren't rejected due to overquoting.


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Message format

Text vs. Rich Text (MS-TNEF) vs. HTML
Plain text is fine. This is the lowest common denominator for text communication. Everyone should be guaranteed to receive and read your message without any difficulty.
Please don't use Rich Text Formatting in your messages. This often causes a large file with the formatting information to be attached to your message when it is sent to the list. This can inflate the size of your message and/or be displayed as random characters to a person who reads your message with different e-mail software.
Please do not use HTML e-mail. That is, if your e-mail looks like a web page, please turn off that feature in your e-mail software before you send messages to the mailing list. There are lots of people who don't use the same e-mail software or the same settings you're using, so to them, your message looks like garbage, or is extremely difficult to read between the HTML formatting instructions.
Line length vs. screen width
If you can, please limit the length of each line of text to less than 80 characters. If you are familiar with the term "word wrap" and know how to configure your e-mail software to use 76 columns or less, please do. There are many people out there who still use 80-column terminals, or e-mail software that assumes 80-column wide text. Any lines longer than this will usually be displayed incorrectly or unattractively in these programs.
This is a highly-exaggerated
example
of what a message written 
with 
long lines looks like on a 
terminal
which is narrower than the
sender's.
Looks awful, doesn't it?
       
Signatures and footers
  • Signatures must not be longer than 4 lines, but if you want to post a signature longer than 4 lines, please don't do it more than once per month.
  • Signatures do not need to contain a postal address or telephone/fax numbers - this is an e-mail forum, after all. If we need to telephone you or fax you, we will first ask you for that contact information.

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Attachments

Files
  • Never attach files to messages posted to this list. This includes files your e-mail software might automatically attach for you. Why not? And how do I turn it off?
  • If you wish to quote something that is already available online, quote only one or two paragraphs and then tell us what the URL is so that people can read the whole document later.
  • If you wish to point people to a document that is not yet available online, please first upload it somewhere publicly available online and then tell us what the URL is so that people can download the document if they want to.
Pictures and binary data
Pictures and similar binary content that cannot be represented in the text of a message should be made available for download somewhere so that you can simply quote its URL for other subscribers to download if they are interested.

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FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

What are they?
"FAQ" (pronounced "fack" or "eff ay cue") is an acronym for "Frequently Asked Question." A FAQ (or FAQ list) is also a document that collects frequently asked questions together and answers them.
Why should I avoid asking them on the list?
By their very nature, frequently asked questions are asked many times. So often, in fact, that people have gotten tired of answering them. So how are these questions answered? By collecting the questions together somewhere, accompanied by their answers. Where are these answers? In the case of this mailing list, answers have typically been written up on the web site Nausicaa.net.
How should I avoid asking them on the list?
If your question pertains to Miyazaki, Takahata, their studio Ghibli, and their works, please first look for your answer on the Nausicaa.net web site. Only if you don't find the answer online should you ask the Miyazaki Mailing List.
If your question pertains to your subscription to this mailing list, please first look for your answer in this document. Only if you don't find the answer online should you ask the owners of the mailing list, by sending your question to the list owners.

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Behavior

These points should be self-explanatory.

Be polite to each other.
This should be self-evident.
Please don't use foul language.
There are people of all ages reading this mailing list. Make sure what you write is suitable for reading by all ages.
Be considerate of different cultures and different levels of skill with the English language.
There are people of many nationalities and languages reading this mailing list. Make sure what you write is not offensive to a diverse audience. Please don't pick on foreigners who don't understand English fluently. That said, there is no excuse for a native English speaking person to deliberately abuse spelling and grammar rules.

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Language

Messages must be written in the English language.
The majority of subscribers are native English speakers. The purpose of this list is to provide an English-language forum of discussion. Not only that, but not everyone has e-mail software which can understand text encoded for Asian languages, whereas all e-mail software currently supports English text.
Messages not written in the English language must be accompanied by an English translation.
As with any list conducted in a single language, there will be subscribers who only read that language. Messages written in other languages will not be understood by such people and will in any case unfairly limit discussion to a small subset of subscribers who understand that other language. Despite being a mailing list about Japanese people and works whose original language is Japanese, this list does not have a large number of subscribers who understand the Japanese language.
Messages must use correct spelling and grammar.
Q. iS sTuDlY cApS...and..kewl d00dz sp3ll1n9 oK?!!!1
A. No. Only non-native English speakers have any excuse not to use correct English spelling and grammar, and even then we hope you make a good effort. ^_^

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Archives

Want to know what list traffic is like before subscribing? Trying to find messages on topics that you suspect have already been talked about? Try reading or searching the back issues: the archives of the Miyazaki Mailing List.


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Reading

Via the web

Access to archives of all messages of the mailing list is made available on the web at www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/mail-archive.


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Via e-mail

Instructions for accessing the archives of the mailing list using e-mail are available on the web at www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/mail-archive. You can also send the message "INFO DATABASE" to the address listserv@listserv.brown.edu to receive detailed (but very technical) instructions.


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Via FTP

Instructions for accessing the archives of the mailing list using FTP are available on the web at www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/mail-archive/search-listserv.html.


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Searching

Via the web

Access to archives of all messages of the mailing list is made available on the web at www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/mail-archive. The same tool on that page that lets you read archives will also let you search them.


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Via e-mail

Instructions for searching the archives of the mailing list using e-mail are also available on the web at www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/mail-archive/search-listserv.html. Look for the topic "Using LISTSERV's advanced search features."


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Via FTP

There is no automatic search feature available via FTP. All I can recommend is to follow the FTP instructions to guess roughly when the message might have been posted, download the weekly archive that corresponds to that time interval, and then use a text-search tool to search the archive(s) you've just downloaded. Information about how to access the archives of the mailing list using FTP is available on the web at www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/mail-archive/search-listserv.html.


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