Kentaro Tohyama is proud of his new iPhone. He stood in line overnight to get it when the device became available in Japan for the first time. But the 29-year-old computer engineer isn't about to part with his made-in-Japan cellphone either.
That kind of cautious response to last Friday’s arrival of Apple Inc’s phone appears common in Japan.
The iPhone was welcomed here with long lines of gadget fans. But it’s also being seen as shockingly alien to this nation’s quirky and closed mobile world, somewhat like the 19th century “black ships” of US Commodore Matthew Perry that forced an isolationist Japan to open to the West.
Japan’s cloistered mobile system has its own icons for e-mail and other unique tools. That means many people, even iPhone fans like Tohyama, are likely to stick to their old-style phones lest they be left out of familiar communication circles.
“I don’t want my friends to think I’m this uncool, cold-hearted person,” Tohyama said.
For example, young people in Japan take for granted the ability to share phone numbers, e-mail addresses and other contact information by beaming it from one phone to another over infrared connections. Being without those instantaneous exchanges would be the death knell on the Japanese dating circuit.
While the iPhone has Bluetooth wireless links, it has no infrared connection.
The iPhone lacks other technology long available on Japanese cellphones, such as digital TV broadcasts, a built-in camcorder, voice recognition and an “electronic wallet” function.
Japanese customers also might struggle with the fact that using the iPhone requires both hands. The Japanese style of texting relies mainly on a thumb — so much so that experienced users are dubbed oyayubi zoku or “thumb tribe.”
Also missing from Steve Jobs’ much-praised design: a hole in the handset for hanging trinkets. Westerners may scoff at them as childish, but having them is a common social practice in Japan.
For all these reasons, analysts say it’s unclear whether the iPhone will catch on with the masses in Japan or end up a fad with the computer-savvy niche.
Sales so far in Japan are hard to discern. Apple said it sold 1 million iPhones in the first three days its newest model was on the market, but the company offered no regional breakdown.
Softbank Corp, the Japanese carrier of the iPhone, said it sold out of the devices on the first day. But it did not reveal how many had been available. One clue comes from GfK Marketing Services Japan Ltd, which said Softbank sold half of all mobile phones in Japan that day, up from a typical 19 percent.
Many Japanese buyers were curious about the iPhone’s sleek design. And some acknowledged that the device might show the Japanese market some new tricks.
Tohyama’s eyes were opened by the iPhone’s quick access to the Internet. Some Japanese cellphones show Web pages, but access on even the latest models is slower than on the iPhone. Most Japanese phones don’t present as colorful a picture as the iPhone does.
Other new iPhone owners had more basic concerns.
“I wish the battery life were better,” said Shunji Hagii, 37.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique