Regardless of the language, a search on the Internet these days will likely bring up a reference to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to.

"Most of the people who are working in Wikipedia are doing it because it's fun. There's also the commitment to sharing knowledge and sharing information with others of all kinds," said Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, currently on his first visit to Japan.

Wales, 40, is here for a month to meet the Japanese Wikipedia community and to get some ideas from them as well as to promote several projects being done by his for-profit Wikia Inc., including a search engine that will go online toward year's end.