To obtain permission to reproduce ordistribute thisdocument contact [email protected] for information about Reprint Services. or permitted. not document is unauthorized This reprinting, is not modifying, distributing, as such copying, use,intended for reproduction or of outside distribution information. this Any of use privileges regarding the and rights all LLC reserves Publishing Pipeline LLC. Publishing, Pipeline of property sole information the All is contained herein 2012, © Not for distribution or reproduction. the cultureand,indeed,evidence ofthatinfluence 1868. More thananything else,insularityhasshaped in 1603, whichendedwiththeMeijiRestoration of isolation establishedby theTokugawa Shogunate two-hundred years ofself-imposed politicalandsocial istheoveras theSeaofJapan,butmoreimportant bymainland neighbors theEastChinaSeaaswell As anislandnation,Japanisseparated from its Infinita, to callit“theGalapagosofmobile.” Shimada, founder andCEOofmarket analysisfirm geographically andculturally—whichprompted Kei the localfauna. ItisJapan’srelative isolation—both how isolationledto someratherunique evolution in himselfobserved Galapagos Islands,whereDarwin Voyagehow Darwin’s oftheBeagletook himto the mentioningtheGalapagos. without first Recall, onevolutionNo discourse would becomplete telephone”—will play“hand carry alargepart. Japanese term for which iskeitai denwa—literally, day. Aday like any other, inwhich hercellphone, the stretch away thechill ofmorningasshebeginsher disable herphone’salarm.Shestrives in vain to Hello Kitty, anditjanglesasYumiko fumblesto charm danglingfrom herkeitai isthelikeness of Yumiko wakes to thealarmonhercellphone.The By DonFujiwara Galapagos Now! ’s KeitaiCulture:

present to How Japanesemobilecarriers? dothey doeskeitai So, whatchallengesoropportunities and areinfluenced by, each of the others. technology ontheother. Thesethreeboth influence, of alove trianglewithcultureononecornerand “social appendage”status.Keitai sitsattheapex Japanese thatthey have taken onsomething ofa So pervasivearecellphonesinthedailylives of have filled roles Westerners typicallyascribe to PCs. king. For over adecade,feature phonesinJapan In theso-named“keitai culture”thehumblecellis ethnography hassprunguparound thecellphone. One notable outgrowth ofJapan’sunique evenpersists to thisday. www.pipelinepub.com Volume 8,Issue8 www.pipelinepub.com. To obtain permission to reproduce ordistribute thisdocument contact [email protected] for information about Reprint Services. or permitted. not document is unauthorized This reprinting, is not modifying, distributing, as such copying, use,intended for reproduction or of outside distribution information. this Any of use privileges regarding the and rights all LLC reserves Publishing Pipeline LLC. Publishing, Pipeline of property sole information the All is contained herein 2012, © Not for distribution or reproduction. shousetsu), serves asperhapsshousetsu), themost dramatic serves bestselling novels inJapanwere adapted from keitai realreal-worldvery implications (in2007, halfofthe The phenomenonofthecellphonenovel, withits devours in100-word downloaded morsels viaSMS. racypregnancyromance, which Yumikoparticularly phone novel—she hadbeenreading.Thisoneisa onthekeitai shousetsu—cell off up wheresheleft such acramped environment asthis.Shethenpicks wondering how shecouldusesomething sobigin she isbusylookingupreviews ontablet devices, night. Standing shoulderto shoulderintherailcar, her attention, like thesoundofcicadasonasummer of times before, itoccupiesonlyaperipheralpart mode.” Having heard theannouncementcountless phones to mode”or“silent manamodo—“manners on theircellphonesandrequests set their riders toadmonishes passengers refrainfrom talking crams Yumiko forward. Arecorded voice pleasantly A collegestudent utters quiet apologiesashe Now, fillthat stationrole asrushhourdemands. staff physically pushcommuters into packed railcars. rail linehireddedicated Oshiya—or“pushers”—to boarding thetrain.Gonearedays whenthe with thetailendofastream ofrushhourcommuters train pullsinatthestation, andYumiko confluences and pays hertrainfareusing cellphone.The Yumiko from avending buysacanofcoffee machine packet ranked slightlyhigher. charges,whileSoftbank significantly higherincellphonecostandinitial KDDIaurankedin callquality and areaofservice, customer satisfaction. ThoughDoCoMoledthepack Nikkei BPfound KDDIedgingoutDoCoMoinoverall has beenclosing.AnAugust survey conducted by between itandcompetitors, thoughconsiderable, ofmobileunitDoCoMo.Thedivide with thespin-off NTT’s former monopolystatus,whichendedin1991 Sprint’s 12 percent. DoCoMo’s predominance owes to the US—Verizon’s 31 percent; AT&T’s 25percent and Compare thiswithmarket sharesofthetop threein at 27 percent, with16 trailedby Softbank percent. Tortoise. KDDI’saubrandcomesinadistantsecond of mobile,thenDoCoMoisitsGiantGalapagos percent ofmarket share.IfJapanistheGalapagos NTT DoCoMoenjoys acommandingleadwith55 in theStates. However, ofJapan’stop threecarriers, features atableauofprominent players, muchlike Japan’smobilelandscape Upon casualobservation, relationship translate to monetization? time, how doeskeitai influencethem?How doesthat relate to andfoster keitai culture,whileatthesame ePayment for vending service machine purchases. system. Launchedby DoCoMoin2004,Cmodeisthe railway fare ontheOsaifu-keitai payment service Card), launchedby DoCoMoandauin2006,isthe Suica (anacronym for SuperUrban Intelligent like electronic identityandloyalty cards. Mobile Services imparted. as themCommerce services with Sony’s MobileFeliCa aswell RFIDsmartcards term whichencompasses thosecellphonesoutfitted introduced Osaifu-keitai—literally “wallet mobile”—a On themCommerce front, in2004,DoCoMo saw mainstreampopularityintheearly2000’s. on theJapanesewords for Mobilegaming numbers. texting whichusedanumericlingo based viapagers, ‘90s, Japanesewere already engaginginaproto- sprang upinEurope inthemid-‘90s,butearly (SMS)first messageservice in Japanfor ages.Short just now gainingmomentumhere,have beenaround things we take for granted, even features thatare hand ininnovating cellphonefeatures; some andkeitai culturehaveJapan’s mobileindustry gone fingerprint and face recognition. familiar, like pedometers andsecurityappsbasedon and musicvideoplayers. Somearenot so calculators digitalaudiorecorders andschedulers, Westerners, like addressbooks,clockfeatures, Many features ofkeitai arenow familiar to oftheTohokuclear corollary earthquake ofMarch. DoCoMo’s gammaradiationsensingphonecover, a prime example ofhow cultureshapestechnology is detect UVlight,bodyfat content, even badbreath.A 10 minutes; others flaunted that specializedsensors covers: chargeinunder oneattainedafullbattery the company offeredupsomefancy one ofthosepunishingJapanesegameshows. Also, the amountoffat burned, presumablyintrainingfor measures acetone levels in one’sbreathto gauge company device which showed asmartphone off show CEATEC 2011 backinSeptember. Notably, the pretty compelling innovations atJapan’smobiletrade keitai triangle.Mostrecently, DoCoMoexhibited some let’s not forget thattechnology isthethird leginthe example ofhow keitai interrelates withculture,but features. features. in handinnovatingcellphone havegonehand keitai culture and Japan’s mobileindustry www.pipelinepub.com. To obtain permission to reproduce ordistribute thisdocument contact [email protected] for information about Reprint Services. or permitted. not document is unauthorized This reprinting, is not modifying, distributing, as such copying, use,intended for reproduction or of outside distribution information. this Any of use privileges regarding the and rights all LLC reserves Publishing Pipeline LLC. Publishing, Pipeline of property sole information the All is contained herein 2012, © Not for distribution or reproduction. people internationally. But,what’s reallyimportant Japanese subscribeto i-mode,asdosome5million million. AsofOctober ofthisyear, over 51 million customers and,another 10 year that,served after launch,i-modehadattractedmonths after amillion the largerglobalscheme.Butbackthen…six seems to beheadingtheway ofthedinosaurin running“real”browser of , tailored for thei-modeplatform, andwiththeadvent web. However, itcouldonlybrowse sites specifically whichallowedinternet to service users browse the 1999.called “i-mode”inFebruary i-modeisamobile consequence—was it DoCoMo’slaunchofaservice writing—with itsfar-reaching andreallyunforeseeable However, mostsignificant to thescopeofthis network innot onlyJapan,butalsotheworld. back in2001; thiswas commercial thefirst launchedits3GnetworkAlso, recall,DoCoMofirst the middleandplacedatop asteaming bedoframen. chicken andtheegg.Ahardboiled egg.Sliceddown culture islessFrankenstein andmonster thanitis Zen inthattherelationshipbetween technology and considering thecomplexity ofculture—islikely more exalting inallhisfervor, “It’salive!” Therealityofit— alternatively, withtheimageofViktor Frankenstein primordial souptheoriesontheoriginoflife or, somehow breathedlife into keitai resonates with with orwithouti-mode.Thisnotion thatDoCoMo application, keitai would likely have arisenanyway, whole culturalmovement directlyto asingle,simple Romantic asitmay beto attribute thecreationofa strong casefor it,too. culture, andwiththosenumbers,they make apretty as thespark thewholeofkeitai thattouched off here isthatsome,DoCoMoincluded,pointto i-mode www.pipelinepub.com.