Calling Residents of Japan! Mobile Phones In Japan

[Deleted User]

Hi Everyone

I've been given a assignment to write a report on how mobile usage is different in Japan.

I thought it would be good if I could quote actual residents of Japan.

I would appreciate it if anyone living there could tell me something, I just need it really brief, like a couple of sentences or less.

Thank you very much!
Rish

 

[Shinji01]

Hi, I live half in Japan, half in australia, but have been stuck in Tokyo a lot lately due to work.

I could help...
What exactly did you want to know?

 

[Deleted User]

Hi, I live half in Japan, half in australia, but have been stuck in Tokyo a lot lately due to work.

I could help...
What exactly did you want to know?

That's great!

I'd just like to know what, if any, are the differences in how the people in Japan use their mobile phones. I'm mainly after something more personal from an actual resident, like a personal opinion. What comes to mind when you hear 'mobile in Japan'?

A couple of sentences would be a great help!
Thanks

 

[Shinji01]

Well. To be honest that is a difficult question because you have to know both countries to make any sort of comparison. We don't do anything in our lives thinking, this is very different from what they do in china/Korea/us/Canada etc.
I have no clue how you guys use your phones in the US(?) so I can't say much.

But I do think mobile gaming/SNS sites are huge right now. Gree, and GMO are some of such sites.

Also reading amateur novels and manga is popular.
Many of the amateur novels have gotten so much attention that they have been made into tv drama and movies.

 

[EarlyMon]

I've been a frequent flyer to Japan for work.

Japan has had cell phones much longer than the US, so years ago when few people here had them, you'd see them in common use in morning use by train commuters, for example.

Japan has typically been ahead of the USA in having a wider selection of higher quality phones in many ways, with more personalization. When only black phones were available here, you'd see a variety of colors there. While fans here made a big deal of the iPhone retinal display vs Androids, last year in Japan Sharp offered an Android with the same display resolution. Water-resistant phones are easier to find there.

But the number one difference I have seen - Japanese people are much more polite and respectful of their neighbors in public when using cell phones, unlike Americans.

In a crowded, noisy terminal there, you don't find many people shouting into their phones like idiots. They know that talking in a lower voice, mouth closer to the microphone, yields much better results on the other end than shouting. And in smaller, quieter crowds, they will tend to step or turn away from others to give themselves more privacy and others more peace.

So, the Japanese enjoy a wider variety of phones and much better etiquette in using them than Americans.

Anyway, those are my personal views only.

 

[Deleted User]

Many thanks for both of your time, exactly what I was looking for and you've made my report more interesting to read.

Thanks again, and happy new year!