Contact Us

To contact us directly, please send an email to the following address:  admin(at)misawa-forums.com. Replace (at) with the @ symbol.

What We Are

Misawa Community Forums exists as a public service entity.  It is an on-line public community where visitors may view and exchange information.  The basic code (software) for the site is provided under the General Public License by the phpBB Group.   In order to access the site, visitors must register with a valid email address and provide their real name (only visible to site Admins).  Site content is conceived, created, and maintained by the public at large.  The site was not created by, nor is it operated by, any branch of the U.S. Government or DoD.

Use / Access Agreement

Upon registration, users are presented with and must accept current and very detailed policies governing use and access.  In part, these policies prohibit posting certain types of information and declare privacy policies as well—including acknowledgement that limited personal information is retained by the site insofar as it is required for operation and security.  Users are warned that accessing the site via organizationally-owned computers and/or using workplace email addresses may violate local policies.

History

In 2000, Misawa Community Forums began as a simple website where a family of American travelers began documenting their visits and tours around Misawa Japan -- a very remote and very enchanting part of northern Japan (Honshu).   Internet-based travel logs (or “travel blogs” as they are so-called today) had begun to capture the interest of the world and “Misawa Japan Tour” (as it was named then) became extremely popular. 

Stateside Americans began to flock to the site with interest, while inbound Americans inundated the site with thousands of “who”, “what”, “where”, and “how-to” questions. The owners of Misawa Japan Tour soon became overwhelmed with inquires; they simply could not keep up with the site’s traffic. 

In 2005, Misawa Japan Tour was “retired” from public accessibility as the family’s tour had long since ended.  Part of the old site called “Misawa Talk” was salvaged, converted, and then upgraded to more modern software.  In its place Misawa Community Forms was established. 

To this day Misawa Community Forums continues to be the most popular and most comprehensive discussion forum (also called “discussion board”) available to the Misawa community. The site is open to all users, including the local Japanese community.