Japanese set the blogs on 'sleazy Australian' writer
Justin Norrie, Tokyo July 5, 2008

NOT so long ago Ryann Connell, an Australian journalist based in Japan, pointed out happily that he was doing his "dream job".

Since accepting police protection from incensed Japanese last week, the chief editor of the Mainichi Daily News English website has been more circumspect.

In the past month the 39-year-old, originally from Melbourne, has become one of the most reviled figures in Japan, where thousands of posters have flooded chat sites to decry the "sleazy Australian journalist" who they feel has deliberately besmirched Japan's image around the world.