Phones in Japan

Before I came to Japan, I used to pester my sister who had been here with the question of what exactly did Japanese people do during their looong commutes (around 1 hour each way!). It’s perhaps the biggest free time chunk of one of the biggest economies in the world, so it intrigued me and it still does.

Well, they read Japanese books (usually quite compact because of kanji’s density) or the newspaper (carefully folding it halves or quarters), play Nintendo DS or Sony PSP, listen to music, sleep… But mostly, they use their ketais. Not to talk, no one ever talks on the train (despite the alleged perfect reception), but to text, watch TV, check train routes, surf the Japanese mobile web…

8 of the 10 persons in the front row in this picture are using their phone (!). And the guy in the mask whipped it up a bit after I took this picture.