Novae discoveries by Japanese amateurs

[stuarts]

I was looking at the alert for Nova V4370 Oph https://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-856 and got wondering about the amount of novae discovered by amateur Japanese observers over the years. Is there a geographical or cultural reason its so successful (or both)? 

There have been a fairly high amount of comet discoveries from Japanese amateurs over the years as well.  

Also I would be interested to know about the techniques they use. I see a DSLR and a fast lens ranging from about 100mm to 200mm seems a common setup, but has anyone come across anything in more detail ? How the images are checked, is it automated or done manually and with what software? Is there a preferred area of sky (Milky Way) that may not be looked at by professionals or other sky surveys ? I don't see many websites or 'how I discovered this nova' type posts I would expect from western amateurs. Or am I not looking in the right place (with google translate) ?