About '.日本'
This page provides information on the status of '.日本' (pronounced as dot-nippon), proposed new internationalized country code top-level domain for Japan(IDN ccTLD).
▼What is '.日本'?
Every country or territory has its own Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) defined as in ISO-3166-1 alpha-2. The ccTLD for Japan is '.jp'. After ICANN declared to introduce IDN ccTLDs in November 2009, every country or territory can have its own ccTLD in the language-native script it uses, in addition to 2 ASCII character string such as 'jp'. For the Japanese IDN ccTLD, '.日本' using two Kanji characters is planned.
To use such IDN ccTLDs, an entity acting as the registry operator for TLDs must file an application for approval with ICANN.
This application has to be issued with an official written endorsement by the government of the relevant country or territory.
▼Timeline
| November 2008 | The Information and Communications Council in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications began studying of '.日本'. |
|---|---|
| July 2009 | The Information and Communications Council submitted a study report entitled, "Internet Policy in the 21st Century (Information and Communications Council Consultation No.3, 2001), Proposal for the Introduction of Top Level Domain Names" http://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000032869.pdf |
| September 2009 | In response to the study report, the Japan Internet Domain Name Council (JIDNC) was established as the private entity responsible for selecting the registry operator for '.日本'. |
| November 2009 | ICANN began accepting IDN ccTLD applications. |
| January 2010 | The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications requested JIDNC to select the registry operator for '.日本'. |
| June 2010 | The JIDNCl published its selection criteria and policies for call for proposal (CFP) policies, and began accepting applications. http://jidnc.jp/?p=533 |
| August 2010 | Japan Registry Services (JPRS) submitted an application in response to the CFP for a '.日本' registry operator. http://jprs.co.jp/topics/2010/100817.html |
| October 2010 | The Japan Internet Domain Name Council selected JPRS as a candidate registry operator for the '.日本' TLD. http://jprs.co.jp/topics/2010/101012.html The JIDNC reported on the results of its selection of the '.日本' registry operator to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. | June 2011 | The JIDNC requested Japan Network Information Center(JPNIC) to ensure that the interests of the public of '.日本' should maintain based on the scheme for the Agreement for the Management and Administration of the .JP Top level domain. |
▼Future processes
JPRS will be authorized to submit the IDN ccTLD application to ICANN when the Japanese government approves JPRS as the '.日本' registry operator following the selection by JIDNC by issuance of an official written endorsement.
In case JPRS receives such endorsement, JPRS will reconsider the service specification as the Internet environment has changed a lot, such as the emerging of big number of new gTLDs and IDN ccTLDs, after our '.日本' application was submitted.
▼'.日本' services mentioned in JPRS's application
While the ICANN's investigation of IDN ccTLDs continued to progress toward their introduction, JPRS has been independently studying the ideal conditions for the '.日本' IDN ccTLD since 2008.
From the results of its study, JPRS proposed the following '.日本' service plan in the application it filed in response to the open recruitment for the '.日本' registry operator by the Japan Internet Domain Name Council:
- '.日本' and '.jp' domain name registrants must be the same, and the '.日本' service must be provided as a '.jp' supplementary service.
'example.日本' can be registered only by the registrant of 'example.jp'.
JPRS proposed this service policy because such complete matching with .jp domain names is likely to prevent any confusion and unnecessary cost by the general public.