26th August, 2008

CORAL VASS

Japan

I survived six months in Tokyo without a keitai (mobile phone). But with the pressure from my friends to be able to “contact me” at anytime and the convenience of making a call if I needed, I eventually succumbed and got one, braving the bemusing array of plans and new phone options coming out seemingly every month.

PICTURE: Charles M (www.sxc.hu) "Mobile phones have become so ubiquitous that they are redefining relationship and communication within Japan. To be without a mobile phone, as I found, is to be seen as anitsocial, and leaving it at home is a new taboo."

Everywhere you look in Tokyo, if not the rest of Japan, someone has his or her keitai on: searching the internet, sending an SMS or email, or playing games. Most of the Japanese population own mobile phones, equipped, of course, with enhancements such as video and camera capabilities - features which are common in most phones these days.

What is less common is the range of uses that mobiles phones are put to - Japanese mobile phones have the capability of being used as debit or credit cards and can be swiped through most checkout lines to buy everything from mascara to jet planes. Advertising leaflets we get in the mail come equipped with special barcodes that can be scanned using the phone’s camera to gain instant access to their website. The keitai allows you to watch movies and/or television and connect to the internet, with one of the most popular services allowing users to check train schedules and plan trips on public transport.

The keitai, however, has become more than just a mobile phone in modern Japan. The number of users in Japan and the distinct ways in which the Japanese use their mobile phones has led to the development of a mobile phone culture, or "keitai culture." The keitai is a fashion statement; a statement of individuality. Young Japanese will spend hours customising their mobile phones, downloading favourite tunes, attaching straps and other novelty ornaments and putting on stickers. In some ways, the keitai has become a part of who they are.

Mobile phones have become so ubiquitous that they are redefining relationship and communication within Japan. To be without a mobile phone, as I found, is to be seen as anitsocial, and leaving it at home is a new taboo. One of the startling things I’ve noticed is that train rides are completely silent. Nobody talks at all on the train. In particular, talking on a mobile phone while riding a bus or train is frowned upon - the train system even has signs imploring passengers to switch their devices to “manner mode” (no ringing) and not to talk - a response to what was seen as ‘unbecoming’ behaviour, as phones gained popularity in the late 90s. This, combined with the low per-message price and ample allowed length per message (10,000 characters per message), has made texting and emailing from mobile phones extremely popular among people of all ages. Instead of talking, everyone has their head down, madly texting away, writing emails, or otherwise engaging with their tiny screen.

Japan has created such amazing keitai technology; people can do almost anything with their phones. It sometimes seems though that the keitai has become the most popular and convenient way to communicate with each other, in lieu of actually seeing them. Texting and emailing on the phone is replacing everyday voice communications. While the keitai empowers the user to be available anywhere or anytime, the disadvantages of little privacy and lack of control limits one’s freedom. According to a 2002 report in The Japan Times, critics have even suggested that mobile communications has created "digitally dependent keitai addicts...kids who can only communicate via cutesy pictograms and substance less shorthand". Others have suggested that relationships in general have become weaker in the past few years. The reason given is that interaction is primarily through the keitai instead of face-to-face contact.

Japan has, for sometime, been the global leader in new technologies. But with any new technology comes a price to pay. I wonder just how high the price Japanese society will need to pay? Only time will tell!

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