One of the biggest changes that Dorothy and I noticed in Japan since our last visit nine years ago is the proliferation of cell phones, or as they're called in Japan "keitai denwas." But then again this change should not be that surprising - even here at home cell phones and their use have changed considerably. We only got cell phones seven years ago before the birth of our first child so that I would be reachable any where, any time.
My first memory of cell phones were objects that we called "car phones." There were a few people in my office where I worked 15 years ago who had them. They were usually grey, brick-shaped phones that were powered through the cigarette lighter in cars or could be operated on their own. Somewhere in the past 10 years the term "cell phone" has become the generic term for these phones. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones
In Japan, these phones are called "keitai denwas" or more simply "keitais." The word keitai means portable with the kanji characters for keitai coming from KEI meaning "carry" and TAI meaning "belt." http://www.cjvlang.com/Writing/writsys/signs/keitai.html
This literal translation of keitai would be a better description of cell phones here in the U.S. than in Japan. It's much more common to see cell phones carried on the belt here than in Japan. Most of my male relatives in Japan seemed to carry their phones in a pocket. Other observations include:
1. Not as many variations on the shape of the phone (many seemed to look like my Mom's Cingular Erickson phone).
2. High quality digital cameras and the storing of photos on their phones seemed to be more common.
3. Many of the phones were decorated with tags like we have on key chains.
4. Much more text messaging, perhaps even more text messaging than phone calls. I think text messaging is less expensive than making a call and perhaps much of what can be communicated can be done so through short messages. Another reason for the popularity is its outgrowth from the popularity of pagers in Japan from the mid-80s to the mid-90s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cell_phone_culture#Teenagers_and_keitai
5. Cell phone usage in cars is not allowed. There are also signs in may establishments that request phones to be placed on "manner mode." Trains have signs requesting phones to be turned off near senior priority seats because of the risk of cell phone radio waves interfering with pacemakers and other medical devices. Why isn't this more of an issue here in the U.S.?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cell_phone_culture#Negative_aspects
No comments:
Post a Comment