Edit: Journal has been edited to keep anonymity for all parties. I am a lazy English typer and I WILL NOT BE LAZY AGAIN I PROMISE! From now on anonymity will be keep as much as possible in all languages as was my intention from the beginning. Im sorry for my error.

Here's the first infojournal for my goal of Bridging the Gap! A personal project of mine to bring the world together in the only ways I know how and defining the differences as well as similarities. This journal will revolve around FAQ for the term English speakers call "Kemono," and I'll use examples to literate the differences of things.

What does Kemono mean?

• Kemono means something along the lines of "Anthro" in Japanese. And for the English Speakers it has become the blanket term for the art style that is "Eastern Style Furry." Though I choose to accept and encourage Kemono as a blanket term for English Speakers because it is easy to type and say (as well as most popular), Kemono can also be used to describe how people use their Furry characters.

What makes someone Kemono rather than Furry?

• Kemono, in its blanket term is used to describe how Furries are drawn. This question however can describe how Furries are 'used.' For Western Furries, they hold to a particular 'fursona,' a character (or several characters) they personify as themselves. Kemono is more like, having a bunch of characters, but none of them being your 'fursona.' Or having a character that acts more like your 'mascot' but is NOT a personification of yourself.

What makes Kemono style different than Furry?

• Oh boy, this has always been hard to explain. Ask 14 people what a Furry is and they'll get 14 different answers, the same applies to what makes Kemono style... "Kemono." I think the biggest difference is how the Anthro Animailia faces and bodies are drawn. I can't exactly explain the difference in the face/heads, most recognize Kemono from its cutesy short muzzle (practically manga human) faces, but its style ranges just as wide as those in the Western Furry society. The bodies anatomy tends to be purposefully exaggerated for Kemono while Western Furries tend to push hard for accurate anatomy (this doesn’t mean Kemono doesn’t incorporate accurate anatomy either). It’s kind of like an American thrown into a Japanese city, all the faces are going to look the same at first to that American, but as they get to know the people and endure longer exposure they begin to recognize everyone as looking different (and vice versa for a Japanese person thrown into the same situation). That's how the art styles of Kemono and Furry are. To Eastern furries, Western Furry art looks all the same, and vice versa. But it’s not, both styles vary incredibly you just have to look deeper.

For better understanding, maybe thinking of it in a Scientific Classification way might help, so I created an Artistic Classification instead, and you’ll see I used some of its terminology briefly above.
For simplicity let’s just use: Order Family Genus and Species

• The Order being Anthro, short for Anthropomorphic/Anthropomorphizing.
• The Family being Animalia, because we are drawing Anthro Animals.
• The Genus being how the Anthro Animalia are DRAWN, in which case we’ll be dealing with two styles Furry and Kemono.
• The Species being how the Anthro Animalia are USED, in which case we have one of two choices Furry and Kemono. (remember that the species is always NOT capitalized)

This is where we go back to the "Artistic classification" thing:

• Let's say you draw Anthro Animalia in Kemono style, but have a fursona, this would make you an "Anthro Animalia Kemono furry". (Or Kemono furry)
• If you draw Anthro Animalia in Kemono style but do not have a fursona(s) or just use 1 or more as a mascot, then you are an "Anthro Animalia Kemono kemono." (Or Kemono kemono)
• If you draw Anthro Animalia in Furry style, but do not have a fursona, then you could be called an “Anthro Animalia Furry kemono.” (Or Furry kemono)
• If you draw Anthro Animalia, in Furry style, and have one or more characters as your fursona, then you could be called an "Anthro Animalia Furry furry." (Or Furry furry)

Now what about the misconceptions surrounding Kemono?

• You will find many "elitists" who think that only Eastern/Asian people can draw Kemono and call their art Kemono. THIS IS NOT TRUE! Anyone can draw in Kemono style no matter where they are from.
• Others say that Kemono artists are elitists and will not talk to you. THIS IS NOT TRUE! Sure, language barrier can sometimes factor in, but if a Kemono artist ventures onto a predominately English speaking site, obviously they don't mind the English speaking company and probably have a web-based translator on hand OR are even learning English.
• Kemono artists are afraid of certain nationalities. Okay, I see where you got that one, it's no secret certain nationalities have scared off Kemono artists in the past into absolute secrecy and abandonment of the web entirely. There's been, at least, 10 well known cases of that and I know 40 personally. And believe me word has gotten around about those instances and have made non-English speaking Kemono artists wary of certain nationalities. The downfall there was that the non-japanese/chinese speakers were simply excited and curious because Eastern Kemono Artists that venture onto English sites are few, they got a bombardment of innocently excited people trying to contact them all at once. What usually drove them off was that they couldn't actually speak English and were using translators. Some couldn't handle the pressure, and others translations kind of got taken.... the wrong way... and imagine the shit storms that created. It was just better to leave. Poor guys, and I mean that for all sides, being innocently excited is not a crime.
• Asian Kemono Artists do not believe US/UK/EU/FR that draw Kemono Style can be considered Kemono. THIS IS NOT TRUE. That's just another elitist crap.
• All Kemono artists are insanely popular. Hahaha. No. I've seen a couple on English based sites that are insanely popular... with English speakers... but their art is overshadowed on other sites. They shine on English sites because Kemono artists are few, and most of their popularity comes from those English based sites. They thrive on that lack of competition whereas on sites predominately inhabited by non-English speakers where Kemono makes up a large portion of art submitted. Those "popular" artists you see are actually far under the rug.

I hope this was very helpful for you all! This was all about the Japanese word for Anthro Animalia. Next journal will be short as it describes the elusive terminology for Furry in Korea and China and I'll reveal how its different/similar and whether it fits into the "Artistic Classfication" here.