Toujin No Negoto　★　唐人の寝言

Is it just me or are the Japanese years ahead of everyone else. I mean sure, there are some pretty cool phones to be bought here aswell, but these guys are just taking it to a new level.

When does a phone stop being a phone? I mean, sure. A phone is used for communication. But some of these things are really all in one. Some phones include features like internet (like real, useful internet), video calling, mp3 player, widescreen television (!), GPS, radio, pedometer, dictionary and as far as game devices. Some games are especially made for cellphones (for example Final Fantasy VII - Crisis Core).

Most phones have a fairly decent still-digital camera, of around 2MP.

Email takes precendence over traditional SMS. Emails can usually send up to 10,000 characters, a vast improvement over the mere 160 of New Zealand. Included in these characters can be kanji, hiragana, katakana, English characters, all sorts of symbols and emoticons.

Some phones can be used as credit cards. Just place your phone on the train station ticket booth, and automatically the cost will be deducted from your your phone like a debit card.

It can honestly be said that mobile phones are a very important part of the Japanese lifestyle. In a fast-pace world, easy communication becomes very important. The movie 着信有り chakushin ari played on the phone's importance in Japanese society, turning it into their worst enemy. It was a stupid movie, but it proves how engrained into Japanese culture the cellphone has become.

That said, a new subculture has developed around the cellphone. For example, talking on a cellphone while riding in a bus or train is seen as rude. Even so, some abnoxious people will do it. Even a ringtone can really annoy some people.

You will see these wierd looking barcodes all over the place too. Some Japanese cellphones can be used to scan these barcodes, which will then redirect the user to a website or add a contact to their address book.

It seems that Japanese people are crazy about attaching things to their phones. I must profess, I have one such strap on my phone, but some just go overboard.