In a society in which subtlety is prized above all, face-to-face confrontation is avoided, insults can be leveled with verbal nuances and hidden meanings are found everywhere, there is one place where the Japanese go to bare their souls and engage in verbal combat: Channel 2.

News media follow it; big companies meticulously monitor it; the police react to it. Language is raw, and comments are blunt, often cruel and hurled with studied cynicism.

Channel 2 is run by a single person and its contents are shaped entirely by the individual users who post comments.

"Channel 2 has become a brand name in this society and has an influence that cannot be measured by numbers."

Founder Hiroyuki Nishimura, 27, said he was bored with his Web site and did not believe it was worth enough to attract buyers.