Andrea Hoffmann

Japanese people seem to be constantly on their mobile phones. However, they are using their handsets more for text messaging and surfing these days than for talking. Until a few years ago, school kids exchanged little pieces of paper with messages on them in the classroom; today they exchange "invisible" and silent mobile e-mail, keying the messages in without even looking at the keypad. Owning a cell phone has become an important lifestyle choice for most Japanese consumers. More than 50% of Japan's population own cell phones, adding up to 64.7-million total subscribers - which exceeds the number of fixed phone lines in Japan. Among these wireless consumers, more than 43 million have handsets with built-in Internet capabilities (Web and e-mail). NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile telecommunications carrier in Japan, clearly leads the market with 38-million subscribers a... (more)