A recent job posting for a digital editor for BBC World Japan sparked interest online, with local Web-watchers noting that the job description called for a Tokyo-based editor with fluent Japanese to head up a team that will publish content from the main BBC News website on "a new, Japanese-language BBC site."

The free service from the British broadcaster is currently in its planning stages and a launch date has yet to be decided. But as part of the BBC's continued expansion in Asia, the idea for the site is firmly in line with the broadcaster's broader digital road map, regionally as well as around the world.

The new BBC World News online service will be an entity independent of the existing BBC World Service, which has Chinese- and Vietnamese-language outlets operating out of London.