Tokyo a la Mode. Web Magazine for Japanese Fashion and Urban Culture

Keitai Denwa

By Bobby / Jul 14, 2007
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*I don’t have a gadgets category, so I going to put cool stuff here in Living Spaces.  Gomen! -b

fanfun model by Toshiba

Even with the hyped launch of the Apple iPhone, the US is still far, far behind the phones and mobile services that can be found in Japan and other parts of Asia.  These phones are so cool, they do everything but transform into little robots that breakdance on your table—but just wait a few years, you never know.

Cell phones in Japan are called keitai denwa or “keitai” for short.  In a short time span, the technology has created a new mobile society that is changing personal communications, business and popular culture.

So we know that cell phones come with games, messaging, a music player and cameras for pictures and video.  But in Japan, they also have video phones to see the person (and up to four people!) you’re talking with and GPS locators that are used as a child safety feature, or to check up on a significant other!

Here are some other features:

Internet access:
i-mode, provided by NTT DoCoMo, is one of the services that enables high-speed access to the Internet through a cell phone.  In Japan, mobile internet access is more common than having a computer at home for e-mail and shopping on the net.  Since it’s launch in 1999, i-mode has built up a whopping 46 million subscribers.  On a recent trip to Japan I was running late to the airport.  My friend looked up the train schedule on her keitai and found the best route for me to take and I was able to get to Narita in time. 

e-commerce:
A QR code is a funny looking square bar code that can be found on advertisements in magazines, billboards and products.  Just take a picture of the QR code with the keitai and it will direct you to a web page so that you can make a purchase or find more information on the product or service.

e-wallet:
A new service allows your keitai to be used as a debit card.  When shopping at a convenience store or even a vending machine, just wave your keitai in front of a reader to complete the purchase.  Coming soon, Japanese keitais will be used as a credit card.

transportation:
Don’t hassle with buying a train ticket ever again.  A quick wave of the keitai is all you need to gain access to the train station.  Keitai tech is also being used as a boarding pass at the airport.  A videophone alcohol check system has been created for bus and delivery companies to monitor drivers in the field.  Drivers blow into a breathalyzer connected to a handset that transmits the blood alcohol level to the head office.  A person can’t cheat because the videophone confirms the driver’s identity.

keitai etiquette:
It is not polite to speak on your keitai on the trains and subways and there is plenty of signage to remind you of that.  That’s why you’ll see many people text messaging on the trains in Japan.

education:
A keitai equipped with the G Mobile Dictionary can help with reading hard kanji (Chinese characters used in the Japanese language).  Just hold the camera over the character and the phone will tell you how to read it and its meaning.

Aquos model by Sharp

television:
A new service called 1seg allows users to watch regular television on the keitai anywhere in Japan!

advanced sensors:
On some new phones, just shake the handset twice to gain direct access to e-mail.

If you are interested in more information on Japan’s new mobile society.  Check out this book: Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life

cell phone CMs!!!
this one features the QR code

this one features the kid’s locater feature

here’s one with the movie feature

and here’s the 1seg tv feature

And just in case you couldn’t get enough, a video report on KDDI Designing Studio—a keitai superstore—in Harajuku