What are the current top 20 most popular general Japanese based search
engines? They do not all necessarily have to be hosted in Japan but
they should be popular with the local community.

Please provide your answers in English and with the following 
information: colloquial name (if appropriate otherwise the URL only is
fine), the URL, a brief description of the service, a personal note
about the service and any additional information (perhaps why it is
popular, for example).

Dear dadou_01,


The Most Popular Japanese Search Engines are:
        
     
·  Google Japan 

Google's fast and highly relevant search technology has made it an
award-winning search engine. This is the World's most popular search
engine in Japanese, complete with local area listings and sites.

://www.google.co.jp/

                                              
·  Excite Japan

Excite Japan is one of the major search engines used throughout Japan.
It functions as a portal with a search engine and a yahoo-like
directory. The search results of Excite in Japan are provided by
Google and Looksmart. Express Submission can be done through
Looksmart.

http://www.excite.co.jp/


·  Goo 

Goo, the search engine portal site of one of Japan's leading internet
service providers, NTT-X Inc., is powered by FAST. FAST Multimedia    
                   Search is reknown for its speed, freshness and
comprehensive catalog of over 130 million multimedia web objects.

http://www.goo.ne.jp/


·  Kansai Search

What sets Kansai Search apart from other search engines is that it
makes sure the information going into Kansai Search is directly
associated with the Kansai area of Japan.

http://www.kansaiconnect.com/search/


·  Net Plaza 

Net Plaza is an extensive internet portal with a directory of which
the content is provided by Looksmart.

http://search.biglobe.ne.jp/


·  Dragon

It offers translation help for the search. Search by the categories is
pretty powerful.

http://www.dragon.co.jp/


·  ODIN (Open Documentary Information Navigator)  

http://odin.ingrid.org/


·  Titan

http://titan.mcnet.ne.jp/


·  NTT

http://www.ocn.ne.jp/search/


·  Yahoo Japan

The Japanese version of Yahoo!, the World's biggest search engine /
portal site. Includes an 'auction block' for users in Japan only.

http://www.yahoo.co.jp/


·  RCAAU (Retrieval loCation by weighted AssociAtion rUle)

Kyoto University's proprietary search engine.

http://kuamp.kuamp.kyoto-u.ac.jp/labs/infocom/mondou/


·  Lycos Japan 

An Japanese language version of one of the major search engines;
complete with a directory list geared towards users in Japan.

http://www.infoseek.co.jp/Home?pg=Home.html&svp=LYCS


·  Asiaco Japan 
                
Asiaco.com is a high growth company in the internet world. Asiaco.com
searchengine helps users search for specific information they need and
choose the most reliable information from thousands of websites.

http://japan.asiaco.com/


·  MSN 

The Japanese version of the Internet giant, MSN.COM. E-mail, News,
Photo albums, Auctions, Maps and Transit Scheduels / Routes.

http://www.msn.co.jp/home.armx


·  ISize 

A directory based portal site using the Looksmart engine. 

http://www.isize.com/


·  Net Office Nakai

http://www.kyoto-net.com/


·  All About Japan

A directory based portal site dedicated to information about all
Japanese-related topics in Japanese.

http://allabout.co.jp/


·  @nifty

http://www.nifty.com/


·  JOY (Japanese Open Yellow Pages)

A top 60-ranking of search requests made to Google and Amazon. 

http://joyjoy.com/


·  i Net Guide

A directory based portal site with a very limited-but-focused array of
entries. Easy to  use design.

http://www.inetg.com/


Unfortunately, even after scouring the internet, there are no
descriptions on ODIN, Titan, NTT, Net Office Nakai or @nifty
available.





References:

http://www.high-search-engine-ranking.com/List_of_Regional_Search_Engines.htm#Most
Popular Japanese Search Engines
http://www.marketingfuture.com/japan_search_engines/
http://perrin3.com/links/japanese_search_engines.html
http://www.whitelines.nl/html/jp-list.html
://www.google.com/press/pressrel/yahoojapan.html
http://www.fastsearch.com/us/news_events/press_releases/2003/fast_selected_by_nttx_of_japan_to_power_multimedia_search
http://www.japaninc.net/computingjapan/magazine/issues/1996/may96/search.html
http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/eas/eal/internet_resources/display_links.cfm?language=j&Heading=Search%20Engines%20and%20Computing

Just glancing at this question, twenty seems a bit high. I'm
hard-pressed to name 20 search engines in *English* that are "most
popular".

This site might be of use to you in finding information relevant to
this question and other similar questions you've asked:

http://www.searchenginecolossus.com/