It’s…a little different than we were expecting.

The online buzz has been all about Clubhouse, the social media app in which people use live audio chat to meet and exchange ideas. The fervor is only heightened by the fact that it’s an invitation-only system.

Even in Japan, where the name of the app is rendered as “kurabu hausu,” it has quickly become THE online place for discourse and networking. As luck would have it, our very own Takashi Harada has gotten his foot in the virtual door of this highly exclusive meeting place.

He first searched “kurabu hausu” and came to the download page, judging by the huge number of five-star reviews he knew he was in the right place. This must have also been why those sea chanties were trending a while back.

Next, Takashi tried to think of a way to get an invite, but to his surprise the “go to house” option was already unlocked in the app, and before he knew it, he was in!

It was a lot quainter than he expected, but the soothing music and hundreds of crabs were kind of fun to be around. The interface was really simple too. All you have to do is tap on a crab and it will say something.

▼ “Come on, invite me! Pleeeeeaaaase!”

Jeez, he had only joined a moment ago, and already he was being hounded for invites. He was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable with being a part of the in-crowd when suddenly…

▼ “I give thee now a chance to share this world and to rule half of it if thou will now stand beside me.”

It was a Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) quote! Takashi suddenly became relieved, knowing he was clearly among his people in Crabhouse. A lot of these little crustaceans had much to teach him as well.

Sure, a lot of them just said “kani kani kani kani kani kani…” (“kani” is the Japanese word for “crab”) over and over again, but others shared interesting trivia.

▼ “Crab is a general term for crustaceans belonging to the Brachyura infraorder and Decapoda order. That’s difficult and I don’t really get it, but I just know they say there are ten legs.”

▼ “‘Kani’ in English is ‘cancer’ and in German is ‘krebs’… Those meanings are actually a little scary.”

With so much knowledge and open discussion going on in Crabhouse, it’s no wonder the Chinese censors shut it down so quickly.

Also, this is probably common knowledge by now, but Crabhouse is only available on iOS devices. Nevertheless, if you have an iPhone or iPad, be sure to give it a try! Like Takashi, you might have already been invited and not even realized it.

However, if you still can’t get in, whenever acquaintances bring it up in conversation, you can just pretend you’re a user by referring to this article’s detailed explanation of Clubhouse…

Crabhouse…

Whatever. Same difference.

Related: App Store/Crabhouse
Images: SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]