Cell Phones in Japan

There can be no doubt that the cell phones in Japan are better than any other in the world. And that's common knowledge now. The big news for Americans, I think, is that Apple has finally signed a deal with Softbank to sell the iPhone here in Japan.

This will be pretty interesting to watch over the next 12 months because the last 12 months has had a lot of debate about the success of an iPhone here. No one would argue that Apple won't make a nice buck here, but there is a question as to the "wow" factor of an iPhone in Japan. The only advantage that an iPhone would have here over other cell phones would appear to be that handy little touch screen interface.

In response, DoCoMo, the leading cell phone service in Japan has released lots of PR about its new phones and new services to meet the expectations of the market. One such response can be found here.

The video's a little long but I think it's worth watching as it shows you some of the plans they have for how cell phones will interact with people in the not-too-distant future of Japan. It starts on a small island that looks an awful lot like Okinawa (there's a guy wearing a kariyushi shirt later at the airport later), and that's neat.

But what I'd like to point out is the granpa. Or what an ideal grampa in an ideal future would look like in Japan. He would of course be physically fit and take his grandson to a waterfall. But he would also have two, count 'em: two, girlfriends. One, of course, will be a caucasian blond woman. Now, these won't necessarily be romantic relationships. Part of what is lost on Westerners with the allure of the geisha is that older Japanese men don't want sexual partners in geisha, they want companionship and eye candy for other older Japanese men to envy.

But that's for a later discussion.

Also, a discussion of the role of Okinawa in WWII is going to be necessary in the future. But it's gonna be kind of an emotional bit of writing - because it's a pretty intense story.