ARBETSRAPPORTER Kulturgeografiska institutionen

Nr. 711 ___________________________________________________________________________

Japanese Mobile Phone Usage in Sweden - Technological and Social Prerequisites

Susanne Fredriksson & Ida Hillerdal

Uppsala, januari 2010

ISSN 0283-622X

ABSTRACT Japan is an advanced country when it comes to mobile phone technology. This thesis firstly investigates the mobile phone usage in Japan. Secondly it describes the prerequisites for implementation of some distinguished Japanese mobile phone functions in Sweden. This is done from a social as well as a technological aspect.

The Japanese mobile phone usage is investigated on three levels; governmental, industrial and consumer. The governmental level is characterised by an ICT policy which strives to make the technology ubiquitous. On the industrial level we have found that dominant design is of great importance for the supply of mobile phones, furthermore that the operators have a strong position on the mobile phone market compared to the manufactures. Finally, on the consumer level the thesis shows that the culture of the country affects the usage of the mobile phones with the concept of kawaii as an example.

The results regarding the possibility to make use of the Japanese mobile phone usage in Sweden relates to six functions. These are mobile phone Internet and e-mail, mobile phone TV, QR-code, wallet phone, GPS and mobile phone novels. The thesis shows that the prerequisites for these functions to be of use in Sweden are both social and technological. Authors: Susanne Fredriksson and Ida Hillerdal Year: 2009 Advisor: Jakob Nobuoka Title: Japanese Mobile Phone Usage in Sweden - Technological and Social Prerequisites Level: C

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Aim ................................................................................................................................... 11.2 Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 21.3 Delimitations .................................................................................................................... 21.4 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 2

2. THEORY ................................................................................................................................ 82.1 Definition of terms ............................................................................................................ 82.2 The social shaping of technology ..................................................................................... 8

3. THE PREREQUISITES FOR THE JAPANESE MOBILE PHONE USAGE .................... 113.1 Governmental Strategies to Regain the Japanese Wonder ............................................. 113.2 The Relative Strength Forming the Industrial Conditions .............................................. 143.3 A Hierarchic Society Constituting the Consumer Behaviour ......................................... 18

4. DISTINGUISHED MOBILE PHONE JAPAN – UBIQUITOUS IN YOUR POCKET ..... 234.1 Mobile Phone Internet and E-mail .................................................................................. 234.2 Mobile Phone TV ........................................................................................................... 254.3 QR-code .......................................................................................................................... 264.4 Wallet Phone ................................................................................................................... 274.5 GPS ................................................................................................................................. 294.6 Mobile Phone Novels ..................................................................................................... 30

5. JAPANESE MOBILE PHONE USAGE IN SWEDEN - TECHNOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL PREREQUISITES .................................................................................................... 32

5.1 Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 325.2 Further Research ............................................................................................................. 33

6. REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 34APPENDIX 1 ........................................................................................................................... 37

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1. INTRODUCTION As we exit Akihabara metro station we are immediately surrounded by innumerable electronic stores. The list of gadgets, that suddenly seems essential for our existence, grows at an alarming rate as we walk the streets of Tokyo’s “Electric town”. Our trip to Japan confirmed our thoughts of Japan as a ground breaker when it comes to many areas of technology. In several aspects, for example the technology of infrastructure and consumer electronics, we find Japan a lot more advanced than Sweden. However, there are also areas where we consider Sweden well ahead of Japan, such as technology connected to accessibility and environmental issues. The possibility for Sweden to make use of Japan’s competences and experiences in the telecom industry is what caught our interest in the subject.

It is interesting to compare Sweden with Japan since the two countries are similar in some aspects and diverse in other. Both Sweden and Finland have been in the lead for many years when it comes to mobile phones with Ericsson and Nokia as frontiers. The position of these companies is no longer as prominent as they used to be, as manufacturers from several other countries have entered the market. Japan is known as a pioneering country of technology. An example that supports this is that Japan has the highest number of domestic patent applications in the world, more than 333 000, which can be compared to number two and three, United States and China which has 241 000 and 153 000 respectively (2007). Sweden is far behind with just above 2500 patent applications.1 Sweden and Japan are quite similar in size but Japan has almost 14 times more inhabitants than Sweden which makes Japan’s population density a lot higher. The countries are wealthy with well developed welfare systems and IT-infrastructure but Japan has a higher GDP in total, even though the GDP per capita is higher in Sweden.2

Previous research in the area mainly focuses on the uniqueness of the Japanese mobile phone usage. Comparisons between Japanese and Swedish mobile phone technology exists, although there are few, or no, social aspects considered. This thesis will have a socio-technical view point, which we consider will fill a research gap.

Both Japan and Sweden are interesting countries from a cultural perspective with different traditions and customs which reflects on the usage of mobile phones. The Japanese mobile phone success, and the possibility to make us of it in Sweden, is what we will focus on in this undergraduate thesis in Social and Economic Geography at Uppsala University.

1.1 Aim The aim of the thesis is to establish the prerequisites for mobile phone usage in Japan and how Sweden can make use of this. The research is conducted from a technological and social point of view and is carried out in two steps. The first step is to study the prerequisites for mobile phone usage in Japan on three levels, governmental, industrial and consumer. We will also investigate how these levels have influence on each other. The second part is composed of a discussion of distinguished mobile phone functions, and the usage of them, in Japan along with the prerequisites for Sweden to make use of Japanese mobile phone culture and technology.

1 World Bank, www.worldbank.org, 24-09-2009. 2 Nationalencyclopedin, Japan, 24-09-2009.

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1.2 Research Questions • What are the prerequisites for the Japanese mobile phone usage on governmental,

industrial and consumer level? • How can the Japanese mobile phone usage be applied on Sweden?

1.3 Delimitations The scope of this study is the private usage of mobile phones in Japan. The line between mobile phones and personal computers is thin but we have decided to limit our thesis down to the usage of mobile phones only, in order to make the research area more explicit. We have also chosen to study private mobile phone usage rather than the usage of company mobile phones since our interest lay in what people chose to do with their mobile phones in their spare time rather than how employers expects people to use mobile phones.

There are other countries that might have been interesting to include in this discussion where for example Korea is comparable to Japan in level of mobile phone success. However, in order to limit our area of study the focus was set to two countries, Japan and Sweden.

The second research question investigates how the Japanese mobile phone usage can be applied on Sweden. When using the word Sweden we include all parts of the Swedish mobile phone market, that is, mobile phone infrastructure, operators, consumers as well as social factors such as demand and habits.

1.4 Methodology The following section describes our outlay for the thesis. Chapter 2 starts with a definition of some important concepts followed by a description of a theoretical discussion serving as a frame for the analysis.

To give the investigation structure, we have defined three levels in order to discuss the first research question, which is of a descriptive character. The levels are governmental, industrial and consumer. This is done in chapter 3. On the governmental level there are phenomena such as IT infrastructure and policies from the government. The industrial level includes the layout and structure of the Japanese mobile phone market and the mobile phones. Finally on the consumer level, we will look into aspects such as cultural conditions which form society, personal usage of the mobile phone as well as awareness and interest in the technology field. Our opinion is that the levels might form each other, which will be investigated in the thesis. Figure 1 illustrates the three levels analysed in the first research question.

Figure 1: The three levels which will be investigated in the first research question.

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To be able to discuss the possibility for Sweden to make use of the Japanese mobile phone success, we decided to focus on some functions that we consider distinguished for the Japanese mobile phone market. This method was chosen since we consider it an explicit way of showing what is unique about the Japanese complex mobile phone market. A disadvantage with this method is that some aspects that are not related to specific functions might be lost. However, we consider it a suitable method to answer our second research question.

In order to do this we have used our Swedish perspective, which is formed by the fact that we are Swedish citizens attending a technological education in Sweden. This has helped us in analysing the Japanese conditions and the possibility to transfer the usage to the Swedish market. Furthermore, several of our interview respondents have knowledge of Japan as well as Sweden as they are Swedish citizens living in Japan. In addition, they come in contact with Japanese and Swedish conditions and the relationship between the two in their work on a daily basis. This is further discussed in a following section called Interviews. Figure 2 illustrates the approach which will be used to answer the second research question. It is of a more analysing character and will be discussed in chapter 4.

Figure 2: The approach which will be used to answer the second research question. The Japanese mobile phone market is investigated on three levels; Governmental, Industrial and Consumer which leads to a selection of some distinguished mobile phone functions. Finally, it is discussed whether the usage of these functions can be applied on Swedish conditions.

In chapter 5 follows a concluding discussion where we explicitly answer the research questions in connection to the theoretical discussion in chapter 2. This leads to our suggestions of further research.

The content of the thesis is based on a field trip to Japan along with interviews, written and statistical material. Here follows a description of what impact this has had on the shaping of the thesis.

Field Trip and Observations A two week field trip to Tokyo and Kyoto was conducted in late summer 2009. We had never been to Japan before but an extensive research on Japanese culture in general and Japanese technology in particular was done before the trip. Our aim with the field trip was to get an impression on how the telecom industry is present in Japan and reflect on how this differs from Sweden. This was done by interviews, which are further discussed below, but also by observing the Japanese society with our own eyes.

According to Robin A. Kearns there are three purposes for observation. These are counting, complementing and contextualising. The first concept, counting, involves gathering quantitative information about a phenomenon, for example to count the number of pedestrians

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in order to establish a pattern or the daily rhythm or activity of a neighbourhood.3

Secondly, according to Kearns, complementary evidence is achieved through observation. This is done in order to gather more information before, during or after other, the more structured data collection. The aim with this kind of observation is to complement the information received during the more structured interviews.

Our observations were made in various situations for example riding the metro during peak hours, visiting cafes and restaurants, walking through business districts and studying mobile phone stores and warehouses. All these occasions allowed us to get an apprehension of some parts of the daily life of the Japanese, for example in commuting situations.

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Finally, contextualising means that the role of the observer includes more participation in order to gain a deeper understanding.

As we received information during interviews about the Japanese society, we were then able to perceive more of the situations we observed. Explanations about which mobile phone functions were common and how they looked allowed us to observe them more thorough, for example in stores and while riding the metro.

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A certain limitation in the gathering of information was our lack of knowledge in the Japanese language, although in most cases speaking English was good enough.

Here, meetings and conversations with Japanese people contributed. This gave us a deeper insight in daily life in Japan and we were able to ask about situations that we did not understand.

It is important to keep some kind of record of what information that is gathered during the observation and these should preferable be detailed, for example how the information was gathered, what the role of the participant was etc.6

Two weeks is not long enough to get a complete picture of the Japanese society, though it provides a limited view. To remember what is unique about a location is sometimes hard as you soon get familiar with the unknown. Therefore our documentation, along with discussions between the two of us, has been important to recall relevant observations.

Our impressions and experiences were documented by diaries, photos and video recordings. We also collected various brochures and printed information material from telecom stores. All observations were made from our Swedish perspective, along with other international experiences, which has enabled us to reflect about what is typical Japanese.

It can be problematic that we write about what is typically Japanese based only on two big cities. We understand that the situation differs a lot between a life in the city and a life on the country side. However, Japan is a country where the main part of the population lives in big cities and that is where our main focus lies. Furthermore, the Japanese companies which we have studied are nationally present, which means that they mostly have the same supply of products and services in all parts of Japan.

3 Hay, Ian (2005). Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography, Second Edition, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, p. 193. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 Flowerdew, Robin. and Martin, David (2005). Methods in Human Geography A guide for students doing a research project, Second edition, Essex: Pearson Education Limited, p. 180.

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Interviews Our main source of information is based on interviews with persons with relevant knowledge in the area. All of the interviews were done in Japan. The advantage of doing interviews is that the respondents get to tell their own story in their own way as opposed to questionnaires where the respondent has to form their answers after an already existing structure. What is more, the respondent has a chance to bring up questions which he or she finds important and which the interviewer has overlooked.7 The interview provides information of the respondent’s knowledge and feelings on the subject.8 Opinions differ between people with different background for example class, ethnicity and age and an interview is a good method for reliving the diversity between such groups.9 The selections of respondents were done with the aim to find people with different kinds of knowledge covering all three levels illustrated in figure 1. In total eight interviews were done. We chose respondents with knowledge about both Japan and Sweden, to some extent, with the aim to obtain their experiences on the differences and similarities between the countries. Some of the respondents were Japanese and some were Swedish. The group consisted of the president of a design and technology company with a journalist background, employees at an international technology company, a science and technology councillor at the Swedish Ministry of Growth Analysis, an employee at the Swedish Trade Council who had grown up and attended school in both Sweden and Japan, the president of an international telecom company and a Japanese student. Finally, two complementary interviews were done via e-mail with a Swedish journalist living in Tokyo and a Swedish former exchange student in Tokyo. Some of our informants were found through the snowball method. The Snowball method as a way of finding respondents for interviews means that one contact can lead to another and in this way new informants can be reached. The advantages of the method are that it helps gaining trust from the interviewees as well as finding respondents with specific knowledge.10

The extent of their knowledge diversified, where some of the respondents had more knowledge about Japan, other had more knowledge about Sweden and some knew a lot about both countries. The answers of the interview respondents reflect their knowledge and experiences, which was our aim. We have tried to verify all facts from different kinds of sources, oral as well as written. When it comes to choosing the interview respondents it is of great importance to reflect over the relation between the interviewer and the respondent and especially the power relationship. Either the interviewer or the respondent will most likely be in a power position.

The other informants were found through acquaintances and networks.

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7 Flowerdew, Robin. and Martin, David (2005). Methods in Human Geography A guide for students doing a research project, Second edition, Essex: Pearson Education Limited, p. 111.

This was experienced with a couple of our informants where we found that they sometimes avoided answering our questions. Instead they directed the content of the interview towards subjects which they found more interesting. Another example of avoidance was questions concerning sensitive material in relation to the secrecy policies of the

8 Kitchin, Rob. and Tate, Nicholas J (2000). Conducting Research into Human Geography, Essex: Pearson Education Limited, p. 213. 9 Hay, Ian (2005), p. 80. 10 Ibid, p. 117. 11 Flowerdew, Robin. and Martin, David (2005), p. 113.

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respondent’s employment. In order to make the respondents speak more freely we have chosen not to mention them by name or company name in the thesis.

Moreover, it is of great importance not to come to the conclusion that the public opinion has been found after a series of interviews. Interviews can rather be used to prove that the public opinion has not been found, for example that the opinion is not shared by all groups.12 This was experienced inter alia by the fact that some of the respondents’ answers diverged when asked the same question. The interview questions were mainly written during our stay in Japan and were developed over time.13 Our knowledge in the relevant area increased for every interview and observation we made, which meant that our questions had to be modified and evolved. We met our respondents at cafés, restaurants and offices. The interviews were recorded in all cases but one, and later transcribed word-by-word. Important allusions and gestures which were not captured in the recordings were added to the transcribed material. Notes were taken during all interviews and were summarised shortly afterwards. Recording an interview has the advantage that the interviewer can put his or her focus on the interview instead of being preoccupied with note-taking which provides for a better flow in the interview. A disadvantage with audio recording is that the informant might feel uncomfortable being taped. A combination between audio recording and note-taking is preferable due to the fact that gestures and other visuals motions are not registered and technical breakdown can occur.14 Approvals from the respondents were gained before the recording began. The recording equipment was small and discrete and therefore did not draw too much attention during the interviews. Information gained from interviews is difficult to make use of if it is not transcribed into text and it is preferable to write down not only what is said, but also comments about gestures etc. The transcription should be performed as soon as possible after the interview. Transcribing is very time consuming but it has the advantage that the material can be analyzed while being worked through.15

Written material

We have found the transcriptions of the material very useful and it has been used along with the notes taken.

During the work of the thesis, we have studied several articles and books, related to our field of research. We have decided to use some of them in our theoretical chapter as we consider them contributing with a theoretical socio-technical perspective of technology usage. The process of selecting the material has involved studies of literature, recommendations from informants and researchers in the area along with our previous knowledge.

As a supplement to the empirical material that was gathered in Japan some written material has been used. This has mainly been found on web pages, academic papers and books in the field. It is important to remember that the content of the web pages as well as brochures from companies always present a certain amount of marketing. However, we have only used material of an objective character such as their model lineup, what functions a certain model includes along with historical and technological facts.

12 Hay, Ian (2005), p. 80. 13 See Appendix 1 for a list of interview themes. 14 Hay, Ian (2005), p. 95-96. 15 Ibid, p. 96-97.

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We have also used information from the Japanese technology consultant company Eurotechnology. The company provides information concerning the Japanese mobile phone market and technology. The source was recommended by several interview respondents.

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2. THEORY In order to help the reader into a context we hereby present some different perspectives on technology. These perspectives will later be discussed and analysed in the concluding discussion. Technology is a broad area and we do not claim to give the reader the full perspective of the subject, but a framework for our angle: the usage of the mobile phone technology in Japan. Here, two different perspective of technology will be discussed; development of technology and social dimensions of technology. We commence by defining terms which we consider essential for this thesis.

2.1 Definition of terms There are some concepts used in this thesis that might have different meaning in different contexts. Here follows a discussion which clarifies what we mean and aim with the concepts.

When using the word mobile phone we aim at the handset used for wireless communications network through radio waves or satellite communication. The communication includes mobile voice communication, text messaging, picture transmission, data transmission, satellite navigation and camera. There are many synonym words to mobile phone, for example cell phone, hand phone etc but in this thesis we will be using the word mobile phone exclusively.

A computer is a machine for automatic calculation and handling of data according to instructions. We will use the word in the concept of personal use, which is a machine intended for writing, accessing Internet, storage of data etc. A computer cannot access wireless Internet without a modem or a wifi network. A portable computer is referred to as a laptop.

By functions and applications (in the thesis used as synonyms) we mean software and hardware included in the mobile phone by the manufacturer for example text messaging, camera, Internet, e-mail client etc.

In the thesis the term accessories is referred to as an independent part of the mobile phone such as detachable decorations, Bluetooth headphones, chargers etc.

ICT (Information and communication technology) is an umbrella term for the formerly separate technologies computer technology and communication technologies. According to Peter Dicken computer technologies have traditionally handled the processing of information while communication technologies concerning the transmission of information. The term ICT technically includes technologies deriving from prior digitalisation, although in this thesis when referring to ICT the denotation is digital systems.16

2.2 The social shaping of technology

The mobile phone technology can be analysed from different perspectives. In this section we will start by presenting the technology from an innovation and development perspective with the means of theories such as the Kondratiev waves, dominant design and complementary goods. Then theories concerning the social perspective of technology will be presented in form of concepts such as the cultural dimension of the way in which we perceive goods, domesticating technology and the centre-periphery perspective.

16 Dicken, Peter (2003). Global Shift Reshaping the Global Economic Map in the 21st Century, Fourth edition, London, Thousand Oaks and New Dehli: SAGE Publications Ltd, p. 89.

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Development of the Technology Peter Dicken describes the Kondratiev waves theory, which consists of a series of long waves describing the economic growth since the 18th century. In the 1980s the fifth wave, information and communication, started and that is the wave that we are in today. The Kondratiev waves also have specific geography, that is, some countries in particular have the leadership for each technology era. In the fourth Kondratiev wave, Fordist mass production, Japan and Sweden along with other industrialised countries took the lead. In the fifth wave Japan took a more prominent position. This cycle is primarily associated with information technology, which is based upon the nowadays intertwined technologies: communication technology and computer technology.17

A common innovation theory is that of dominant design. When a new product enters the market there are a lot of varieties in the design until consumers and manufacturers adjust to a dominant design. Dominant design means that one product design dominates the market, mostly with more than 50 percent. Once the dominant design is established the industry focuses on improvement of the existing design and ceases to manufacture alternatives. The advantage of choosing a dominant design is that the more a technology is used, the more value comes into it and the more profitable it becomes. The earnings can be an incitement for further research and development of the product and hence further improvement. What is more, the more users there are of a certain product, the more valuable it becomes for the individual user. Examples of this are railways and telephones, which with more users increase the value of inventing complementary goods, that is complementary products and services which enhance the value of the product itself. The more complementary goods there are, the more users it attracts, which leads to an ascending spiral. Another factor that contributes to dominant design can be governmental regulation. Companies which success in getting their product established as a dominant design often gain benefits a long way ahead, whereas companies which fail in adjusting to the dominant design are rather often excluded from the market.

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The Social dimension of Technology

Ana M. Goy-Yamamoto argues that even though culture is a term hard to define, there is a need to study cultural features in order to understand the patterns of consumption. Goy-Yamamoto further suggests that as products and marketing variables varies from country to country, so are the cultural dimensions, and this affects the way in which we perceive goods and services.19

Merete Lie and Knut H. Sørensen discuss how technology affects people’s life. They claim that technology can be seen as a catalyst of change and when it happens, both technology and everyday life is affected.

This is fundamental for the discussion which will be carried out in this thesis.

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17 Dicken, Peter (2003), p. 87-89.

Furthermore they argue that the user becomes

18 Schilling, Melissa A. (2008). Strategic Management of Technological Innovation, Second Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, p. 65-71. 19 Goy-Yamamoto, Ana M (2004). “Japanese youth consumption: A cultural and a social (r)evolution crossing borders” Asia Europe Journal, No 2, p.273. 20 Lie, Merete and Sörensen, Knut H (1996). Making technology our own? Domesticating technology into everyday life, Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, p. 3.

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consumed by technical artefacts by using them, react to them and become occupied by their abilities.21 The process in which the technology is mixed into people’s life is called domestication by the researcher Roger Silverstone. He argues that it is a process of making products our own, that there is an influence in two directions, on the product and on the user.22 Margrete Aune states that domestication is a continuing and dynamic process.23 According to her, “Domestication covers both the process where technology is adapted to everyday life and the process that involves everyday life’s adaptation to the technology”.24 Furthermore, she argues for two perspectives of development of technology in a social perspective. Aune claims that one theory supports a centre-periphery perspective. This means that the success of a product is a result of the strategies of the actor in the centre, which is the scientist or designer. By convincing the periphery, which could be other researchers, potentially interested parties or users, that their products “works” or are “true”, the success of the product is decided. This way of thinking puts the user in a remote part of the process. Aune advocates the opposite approach, a periphery-centre perspective. She claims that the focus should be of the periphery. The cultural resources of the user affect the domestication of the technology. This could both be practical and a more emotional adaption.25

We consider these theoretical concepts central in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the subject. They will be used as a framework for our socio-technical discussion. The concepts will be used continuously in the thesis when discussing the Japanese mobile phone market.

21 Lie, Merete and Sörensen, Knut H (1996), p. 8. 22 Silverstone, Roger (1994). Television and Everyday Life, London and New York: Routledge, p. 174-177. 23 Aune, Margrete (1996). “The Computer in Everyday Life Patterns of Domestication of a New Technology” in Merete Lie et. al (eds), Making technology our own? Domesticating technology into everyday life, Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, p. 118. 24 Ibid, p. 93. 25 Ibid, p.92-93.

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3. THE PREREQUISITES FOR THE JAPANESE MOBILE PHONE USAGE This chapter answers the first research question of the thesis concerning the prerequisites for the Japanese mobile phone usage. It describes important prerequisites for mobile phone usage on the governmental, industrial and consumer level. As an introduction we will describe some fundamental facts about Japan which makes the country unique and therefore indirect has formed the prerequisites for mobile phone usage. This will be followed by the governmental policies in the field of ICT, the mobile phone market from an industrial stand point and finally, the consumer behaviour from a cultural view point.

Japan is a country of islands in East Asia with a land area of about 380 000 km2 and 126 million inhabitants in 2009, which makes it a country with high population density.26 These are conditions which J.P. Shim argues are putting Japan in a leading position when it comes to mobile phone usage. He argues that Japan is a privileged country for mobile phone usage due to a large population on a small land area which makes the proximity to base transceiver stations small and thus exceptional reception and voice quality.27

Confucianism characterise the Japanese society with duty and obligation as essential values. Moreover, the country has a monsoon climate with cold and windy winters and almost tropical summers, where tropical hurricanes can occur during late summer.

We believe that Shim’s arguments are compatible with the theory of Japan as a leader in the fifth Kondratiev wave of information and technology.

28 The area is also a seismic active, which means that earth quakes of various sizes occur very often. However, the society is built up with the hurricanes and earth quakes in mind, which affects house constructions, nuclear power plant security and more.29

3.1 Governmental Strategies to Regain the Japanese Wonder

Japan is an empire although nowadays the emperor is only a symbol for the state. The constitution was formed in 1947 with considerable influence from America as a consequence of the outcome of the Second World War. The popularly elected parliament is called Diet and consists of the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors.30 Japan managed to rebuild the country after the Second World War by focusing on growth industries such as production of cameras and protected these from international competition. People spoke about the Japanese wonder as the country experienced a fast economic growth. However, during the nineties Japan experienced a long economic recession which has affected the country and the industry in many ways.31

26 Nationalencyklopedin, Japan, www.ne.se, 10-12-2009 and Svenska Dagbladet, Allt färre japaner, 03-10-2010, Stockholm, p. 18.

Liberal Democratic Party, LDP, which is a conservative party, has

27 Shim, J.P., (2005). “Why Japan and Korea Are Leading in the Mobile Business Industry” Decision Line, Vol. 36, No. 3. 28 Nationalencyklopedin, Japan, www.ne.se, 10-12-2009. 29 Field trip 2009 and Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009 30 Nationalencyklopedin, Japan, www.ne.se, 20-11-2009 and Moberg, Pia and Cederholm, Karin, (2009). Etikett och kommunikation i Japan, Uppsala: Uppsala Publishing House. p. 216-217. 31 Nationalencyklopedin, Japan, www.ne.se, 20-11-2009 and Hague, Rod, Harrop, Martin and Breslin, Shaun (2000). Styrelseskick och politik (English title: Comparative Government and Politics. An introduction), Nora: Nya Doxa, p 462-463.

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dominated the politic for the last 50 years.32 In the election 2009 the Democratic Party Japan, DPJ, won which seems to be a consequence of the Japanese people’s wish for a change in the society.33

In 1987 Richard Boyd stated that Japan was an industrial success and suggested that this was due to the close association between the industry and the government.

34 This is also expressed by Rod Hague et al, who state that bureaucracy played an important role in the reconstruction of Japan after the Second World War. There are close connections and collaborations between the government, the bureaucracy and the financial institutions which forms the governing elite.35 Boyd claims that the industry-government relationship is held on a private level which is beneficial for both parts since it prevents external parts such as labour unions and opposition parties from participating and intervening in the decision making.36

Governmental IT Policy

We think that this might be a contributing factor to Japan as an outstanding technology country. However, the economic crisis in the nineties showed that it was not sufficient any longer and therefore the government has set up a number of policies in order to maintain a leading position.

In 1996 Japan presented a new IT strategy with the intent to make the IT in Japan ubiquitous, that is, everywhere present. The ubiquitous network is also known as u-Japan. A ubiquitous network is an information and communication network to enable universal and safe communication between individuals as well as devices such as computers and mobile phones. Another aim with the new IT strategy was to attain growth in economy and social areas with means of the technology success. The reform has been specified with some staging posts.37 In August 2006 MIC (Ministry of Information and Communications) assembled the Next Generation Broadband Strategy 2010 which for example includes implementing broadband in all regions in Japan as well as improving the reception for mobile phones nationwide.38 2010 is also the year when a mobile communication system with a 100 times faster data transmission than today should be available.39 What is more MIC has accepted the Telecommunications Accessibility Guidelines in order to improve accessibility for elderly and disabled.40

32 Nationalencyklopedin, Japan, www.ne.se, 20-11-2009 and Moberg, Pia and Cederholm, Karin, (2009), p. 216-217.

To make this possible the government, universities and industries are requested to cooperate and make use of competences in mobile communication technology. The new

33 Sveriges Radio, www.sr.se, 20-11-2009. 34 Boyd, Richard (1987). “Government-Industry Relations in Japan: Access, Communication, and Competitive Collaboration” in Stephen Wilks et al. (eds), Comparing Government-Industry Relations: Western Europe, the United States and Japan, London: Clarendon Press. p. 61-62. 35 Hague, Rod, Harrop, Martin and Breslin, Shaun (2000), p. 462-463. 36 Boyd, Richard (1987), p. 65. 37 Göthenberg, Andreas (2007). ”Tillväxtpolitisk utblick”, Aktuellt om tillväxtpolitik, nr 2. Tokyo: Institutet för tillväxtpolitiska studier. 38 White Paper (2008). Information and Communication in Japan, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan, chapter 3, p. 51-52. 39 ”Today” refers to 2007 when the report “Tillväxtpolitisk utblick” was written. 40 White Paper (2008), chapter 3, p. 60.

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system will attain international standardisation and technology will be developed to secure the 10 billion ubiquitous terminals. By 2011 all radio and TV transmissions will be digital.41 According to two interview respondents, the transition to digital TV and environmental issues are the most prioritised IT strategies 2009.42

Japan is facing an ageing population due to a decline in birth rate which will also lead to a declining population which will have negative impact on the economic growth of the country if no actions are taken.

43 MIC concludes that an increase of ICT capital, such as computers, and progress of ubiquitous networks improves the economic growth and will therefore help solving social problems caused by the ageing population. The ICT industry is the largest among all industries in Japan at the same time as it has had a reduction in prices compared with other industries.44

An important part to realise the IT strategy is research and development in the area. 4.6 trillion yen

45 was spent on research by the information and communication industry in the fiscal year 2006, which can be compared to the 18.5 trillion yen46 spent in total on science and technology research funds in Japan during the same year.47 Japan is putting research and development efforts into space communication technology, remote sensing technology, next generation advanced network infrastructure, ubiquitous platform technology, information security technology, high speed, large capacity satellite communication technology and integration between robots and ubiquitous networks.48

A strategy to improve Japan’s position internationally has been formed by MIC as a way of maintaining the position as world leader in the ICT area. To improve the productivity by ICT a common infrastructure for ICT has been set up.

49 What is more, only Japanese companies with high market shares on the domestic market tend to also take their business abroad. Moreover the ICT patent applications are distinctively smaller than patent applications in general (10 percent to 16.6 percent respectively).50

Actions are also taken when it comes to the security issue of ICT. The security work includes preventing young people from accessing harmful information on the Internet as well as securing the ICT system in general. Procedures for filtering for mobile phones were made in April 2008. One step by MIC in achieving a higher security has been to demand mobile phone operators to get parents approval of filtering services for the mobile phone for their children. Another is to ask for improved filtering services from the mobile phone operators. Measures are also taken against harmful e-mails and phishing. Another way to improve ICT security has been to enhance protection of personal information in telecommunication.

51

41 Göthenberg, Andreas (2007).

MIC

42 Interview: Employees, International Technology Company, Tokyo, 26-08-2009. 43 Interview: Science and Technology Councillor, Science and Technology Office, Embassy of Sweden, Tokyo, 28-08-2009. 44 White Paper (2008), chapter 1. 45 Equals approximately SEK 400 billion 27-01-2010. 46 Equals approximately SEK 1 600 billion 27-01-2010. 47 White Paper (2008), chapter 2, p. 46. 48 Ibid, chapter 3, p. 64. 49 Ibid, chapter 3, p. 51-52. 50 Ibid, chapter 1. 51 Ibid, chapter 3, p. 58-59.

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is also endorsing ICT in disaster prevention by securing communication in case of a disaster. This is done by putting up a robust and independent network.52

A conclusion that we draw from this is that the mobile phone industry has benefited from the ubiquitous policies since the mobile phone by definition is ubiquitous and therefore suitable in an ubiquitous society.

3.2 The Relative Strength Forming the Industrial Conditions There are three major mobile phone operators in Japan: NTT DoCoMo (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation DoCoMo), KDDI and SoftBank.53 There are also some smaller operators, for example EMOBILE and Willcom.54

NTT DoCoMo is Japan’s major telephone operator.

55 The company was privatised in 1985, until then the company had a monopoly and total control of the market. NTT DoCoMo was established in 1992 when the mobile phone communication business was taken over from NTT.56 NTT still owns 44 percent of the shares of NTT DoCoMo and the government of Japan is the largest shareholder of NTT.57 NTT DoCoMo has approximately 50 percent of the mobile phone market in Japan with 55 million subscriptions.58

KDDI was formed in October 2000 when three companies (DDI Corporation, KDD Corporation and IDO Corporation) where merged and formed a new company.

59 KDDI provides mobile phones and mobile network services under the brand au. au has approximately 31 million subscriptions, approximately 28 percent of the market.60

SoftBank Corporation was established in September 1981 and was registered at the Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section in 1998.

61 SoftBank group is involved in many areas such as Fixed-line Telecommunication, Broadband infrastructure. The SoftBank Mobile Corporation was founded in 1986 and has changed name and structure a few times since then. In 1999 the company’s name was J-Phone and in 2001 it became an affiliate of Vodafone Group and the company name changed to Vodaphone in 2003. Finally in 2006 the company and brand name where changed to SoftBank.62 Today SoftBank is the only Japanese distributor of Apple’s iPhone and the operator has approximately 21 million subscriptions, approximately 19 percent of the market.63

The smaller operator EMOBILE has almost 2 million subscriptions (2 percent of the market) and finally, the operator Willcom has 4,3 millions subscriptions, however, they only provide PHS(Personal Handy Phone)-subscriptions.

64

52 White Paper (2008), chapter 3, chapter 3, p. 61.

PHS is a separate mobile phone

53 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009. 54 Eurotechnology, FAQ: Who is NTT-DoCoMo, www.eurotechnology.com, 10-12-2009. 55 Ibid. 56 Ito, Mizuko, Okabe, Daisuke and Matsuda, Misa (2006). Personal, Portable, Pedestrian Mobile Phones in Japanese Life, Cambridge: The MIT Press, p. 62. 57 Eurotechnology, FAQ: Who is NTT-DoCoMo? www.eurotechnology.com, 10-12-2009. 58 Telecommunications Carriers Association, Press Release, www.tca.or.jp, 10-12-2009. 59 KDDI, History, www.kddi.com, 10-11-2009. 60 Telecommunications Carriers Association, Press Release, www.tca.or.jp, 10-12-2009. 61 SoftBank, FAQ about Softbank, www.softbank.co.jp, 10-11-2009. 62 SoftBank, Corporate history, www.softbankmobile.co.jp, 10-11-2009. 63 Telecommunications Carriers Association, Press Release, www.tca.or.jp, 10-12-2009. 64 Ibid.

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technology not discussed in this thesis. When discussing Japanese mobile phone operators in this thesis the focus will be on the three largest operators (figure 3).

Figure 3: Number of subscriptions by Operators (percentage of the market). Numbers by October 2009. Source: Telecommunications Carriers Association.65

According to one of the interview respondents the operators have a strong position on the mobile phone market compared to the manufactures. As NTT DoCoMo is the largest operator they have a lot of power which for example can be seen at the handsets. The manufacturers are not allowed by NTT DoCoMo to have their names at the mobile phones, instead they are marked with a combination of letters and numbers.

66 Consumers are not always aware of the manufacturer of their mobile phone. One interview respondent answered “SoftBank” to the question “What kind of mobile phone do you have?”.67

KDDI and SoftBank do allow the manufactures to have their names on the handsets.

68 This can be seen when browsing the web pages of the operators or looking into advertising material. At the webpage of SoftBank it is possible to search by brand when looking at handsets, KDDI displays the brand name in their catalogue and on the handsets but NTT DoCoMo does not mention the brand at all with exception of Blackberry and Google. However, it is only Blackberry that can have their name on the phone when sold by NTT DoCoMo.69 There is one case where the situation is the opposite: the iPhone from Apple, sold by SoftBank. According to one interview respondent, Apple would never allow SoftBank to have their logotype on the mobile phone.70

This strong position of the operators also affects the technology of the mobile phones. It is possible for the operators to make demands to the manufactures about what kind of technology they want on the new models, how it should look and what the price should be. The manufactures are in an inferior position according to one interview respondent.

71

65 Telecommunications Carriers Association, Press Release, www.tca.or.jp, 10-12-2009.

Another interview respondent means that the focus of many of the domestic manufactures have been to design for NTT DoCoMo and KDDI and this is the reason for them having difficulties selling

66 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009. 67 Interview: Japanese Student, Tokyo, 02-09-2009. 68 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009. 69 SoftBank, www.softbank.co.jp, 22-11-2009 and brochures from KDDI and NTT DoCoMo August 2009. 70 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009. 71 Ibid.

NTT DoCoMo

KDDI

SoftBank

EMOBILE

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their mobile phones internationally. According to him, the manufactures have now realised that they must look outside of Japan in order to expand but this is really hard due to lack of distribution net and brand awareness with the manufactures.72

There are several technologies that enable the usage of mobile phones. Europe and Asia have used GSM (Global System for Communications) but Japan chose to use another technology called PDC (Personal Digital Cellular).

73 Both these systems are known under the name 2G, or second generation mobile phone, technology.74 However, when 3G, or third generation mobile phone, technology was introduced in 2001 all operators except KDDI choose the technology called W-CDMA. KDDI choose the CDMA standard used in the USA called CDMA2000 instead.75 NTT DoCoMo stopped accepting applications for the 2G network in November 2008.76

It could be that because of the access to a large domestic market, mobile phone companies in Japan have not had any interest in taking their business overseas so far. Furthermore, it is possible that the PDC-technology acted as barrier for Japanese manufactures to export their products. In order to sell outside Japan they would have had to equip the mobile phones with for example the GSM-technology. Today Japan uses the same technology as other countries and this barrier does not exist any longer. The operators do not sell the same mobile phone models. According to the webpage of the manufacturer Sharp, they have 43 models available, where the operator NTT DoCoMo has 13 mobile phones, SoftBank 21 mobile phones and KDDI 9 mobile phones.

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72 Interview: President, International Telecom Company, Tokyo, 01-09-2009. 73 Sony Ericsson, Nät och relaterad teknik, www.sonyericsson.com 28-10-2009 and NTTDoCoMo, Glossary of Terms 1999, www.nttdocomo.co.jp, 28-10-2009 and NTT DoCoMo, Glossary of Terms 2001, www.nttdocomo.co.jp, 28-10-2009. 74 NTT DoCoMo, Glossary 2G, www.nttdocomo.com, 22-11-2009. 75 Interview: President, International Telecom Company, Tokyo, 01-09-2009 and NTT DoCoMo, Glossary 3G, www.nttdocomo.com, 22-11-2009 and Fasol, Gerhard (2009). Mobile 2.0, Eurotechnology: Korea Communications Conference 2009. 76 Datamonitor (2008). “NTT DoCoMo, Inc.” Company Profile. 77 Sharp, Model lineup, www.sharp.co.jp, 22-11-2009.

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The design of the handset supply in Japan looks rather uniform. Most mobile phones are of the same size and have a quite large screen that either comes out as a clamshell or can be slid open.78 There are many colours available, one example is the Sharp phone sold by SoftBank, 830SH which is available in 15 different colours (figure 4).79 According to one interview respondent “there is an enormous selection and at the same time no selection as the mobile phones are quite uniform”. Furthermore, he means that they do not put much focus on usability in the design of mobile phones.80 It is common to deliver the mobile phone with a user manual of hundreds of pages and the design of the user interface is not prioritised.81 However, two of the interview respondents think that this will change in the future, partly because of the introduction of iPhone in Japan. It might lead to a larger focus on usability for the Japanese mobile phone manufacturers.82 The iPhone is different from the domestic Japanese mobile phones, an example is the touch screen and no physical buttons.83

Figure 4: The SoftBank 830SH mobile phone comes in 15 different colours. Source: SoftBank.84

Although the mobile phones require a certain design, for example a big screen to enable functions such as watching TV and reading novels, we think that a wider variety in design is possible. One interview respondent said that the manufacturers release several similar models, however, each one equipped with a new, unique function. He claims that this shows their unwillingness to take risks. To release an entire new model would be unthinkable, instead they try out what is appreciated by the customers in this way.

85 The opinion that technology sometimes is released as a test is shared by another interview respondent. However, he claims that this is not due to an unwillingness to take risks. According to him this is a misunderstanding coming from the opinion that Japanese people in the eyes of westerns, does not easily work according to their own initiatives. One example of this could be that it might be hard to order something from a Japanese coffee shop that is not specified on the menu.86

78 Field trip 2009.

79 Sharp, Model description 830SH, www.sharp.co.jp, 22-11-2009. 80 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009. 81 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009 and Science and Technology Councillor, Science and Technology Office, Embassy of Sweden, Tokyo, 28-08-2009. 82 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009 and Science and Technology Councillor, Science and Technology Office, Embassy of Sweden, Tokyo, 28-08-2009. 83 Field trip 2009. 84 SoftBank, 830SH, www.softbank.jp, 12-12-2009. 85 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009. 86 Interview: President, International Telecom Company, Tokyo, 01-09-2009.

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Our opinion is that the supply on the Japanese mobile phone market is formed by the theory of dominant design. What we do see is that the industry focuses on improvement of the existing design and there seems to be little intentions to create alternatives. If this is caused by an unwillingness to take risks among the companies is hard to say.

As we have seen, the mobile phone operators in Japan are in a power position compared to the manufacturers or possibly in a close cooperation. The operators having the upper hand have both positive and negative effects on the mobile phone market. The fact that the manufacturers have to make a unique model for each operator forces the manufacturers into a technology divertissement but the dominant design paradigm hinders any larger development. The introduction of iPhone on the Japanese mobile market may have several consequences as it lies outside the dominant design and focus on user-friendliness. Although, according to one interview respondent the iPhone has not been a success in Japan.87 This might be due to fact that popular functions such as wallet phone and watching TV cannot be used on the iPhone.88

3.3 A Hierarchic Society Constituting the Consumer Behaviour

The Japanese society is pervaded with the Confucianism way of thinking, which brings a hierarchic society where a rational way of thinking and loyalty are crucial values.89 Trust and harmony are two other qualities of great importance in Japanese culture. An expression of negative emotions is considered as lack of self control as well as rude.90 Boyd argues that the fact that the lack of natural resources, the high population density and risk of natural disasters has made the Japanese population good at handling unfavourable conditions. This in turn has led to a wish for group belonging and interdependence which has made liability and responsibility important values in the Japanese society.91 Japan as a country, on the other hand, has distanced itself from other countries, an explanation might be that it consists of islands and has been isolated from other cultures. The Japanese have chosen what they like from other cultures and have adjusted it to their own society.92 This is what Ana M. Goy-Yamamoto calls the japanization of western culture. She argues that the Japanese society filter the western influences and transform them into something more Japanese. An example of this is Japanese pop music which she argues has its own peculiar sound distinguishable from the hits found in New York and London.93

A concept that plays a central role in Japanese youth culture is kawaii, which is a Japanese word meaning cute or pretty in English.

94

87 Interview: Employee Swedish Trade Council, Tokyo, 28-08-2009.

Kawaii dominated Japanese popular culture in the 1980’s and still plays a key role. The expression is widely debated and both Goy-Yamamoto and Sharon Kinsella argues that the kawaii culture has a further meaning as a desire of no responsibility, an expression of vulnerability and resistance of leaving childhood

88 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009. 89 Moberg, Pia and Cederholm, Karin (2009), 12-12-2009, p. 28. 90 Ibid, p. 60. 91 Boyd, Richard (1987), p. 63. 92 Moberg, Pia and Cederholm, Karin, (2009), p. 219. 93 Goy-Yamamoto, Ana M (2004), p. 280. 94 Interview: Employee, Swedish Trade Council, Tokyo, 28-08-2009.

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for adulthood.95 We observed the culture of kawaii in clothes, music, accessories and not in the least in accessories and decorations for the mobile phone during our field trip.96 We do not take a stand in the question of whether kawaii expresses any deeper meaning or not, nevertheless the fact that there is a big difference when it comes to the equality between the genders in Japan cannot be doubted. It makes itself clear on the labour market where a woman can almost never assert herself to a man with equal education and the possibility to go on maternity leave is more problematic than in Sweden.97 Combining a career with marriage and children is close to impossible for a Japanese woman, when a woman gets married she generally gives up her job to stay home and take care of her husband and children. The equality issue makes itself known in home electronics as well. Artefacts like the bath tub and refrigerator, which are used by men as well as women, are very advanced while washing machines, vacuum cleaners and dishwashers, traditionally used by women only, are not so advanced.98 The Japanese are in general interested in new gadgets and keen to apply new technology in an outstanding way.99 This make itself known in society in a variety of ways, for example the very advanced electronic toilets and bath tubs.100 The influence from the Japanese culture makes itself known in the technology field through the very advanced rice boilers and electric kettles, which has its origin in the Japanese food culture where rice as well as tea are fundamental.101 Refrigerators are another example where Japan distinguishes itself. A Japanese refrigerator often has four zones, the refrigerator, the freezer, an ice compartment and a zero degree compartment to store the raw fish in.102

Another distinctive phenomenon in Japanese society is that people spend a lot of time out of their homes. A lot of time is generally spent on commuting, almost 40 minutes per day, which is the second most among the OECD countries and twice as much as in Sweden where the average is 20 minutes per day.

103 Young people in Japan do not spend so much of their spare time at home.104 A lot of Japanese people do not have a computer of their own at home and the mobile phone therefore became the gateway to Internet.105 The use of the personal computer is not so common in Japan and rather than using laptops in places such as cafés the Japanese use their mobile phones instead.106 Young Japanese spend a lot of time in school, which is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15. The compulsory school consists of six years of elementary school, shogakko, and three years in Junior High School, chugakkou. 96 percent of the children continue to Senior High School, koutougakkou.107

95 Goy-Yamamoto, Ana M (2004), p. 274. and Kinsella, Sharon (1997). “Japanization of European Youth” in Carlo Branzgalia (ed), NightWave97, Milan: Costa & Nolan.

The competition is

96 Field trip 2009. 97 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009 and Nationalencyklopedin, www.ne.se, 09-10-2009 and Field trip 2009. 98 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009. 99 Interview: President, International Telecom Company, Tokyo, 01-09-2009. 100 Field trip 2009. 101 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009. 102 Ibid. 103 OECD, Family Database, www.oecd.org, 09-10-2009. 104 Interview: Japanese Student, Tokyo, 02-09-2009. 105 Interview: Swedish Journalist, Tokyo, 11-09-2009. 106 Interview: President, International Telecom Company, Tokyo, 01-09-2009. 107 Nationalencyklopedin, Japan,www.ne.se, 07-10-2009.

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high which put a lot of pressure on the pupils. The competition has also led to cram schools, juku, which most children in Japan attend to in the evenings. Most of them are also members of a club where they do sports, play an instrument or something similar.108

Usage of the Mobile Phone

There are some restrictions of when and how to use mobile phones in Japan. Some of these rules are explicit, while others are of a more unwritten kind and connected to social rules of the society. In Japan passengers are requested to set their mobile phone on silent mode and also to refrain from making calls while riding the metro. Passengers are also requested to turn their mobile phones off when near courtesy or priority seating. These are seats reserved for elderly, pregnant women and disabled.109 The rules about silent mode and refraining from making calls are strictly followed, however we observed mobile phone usage at priority seats during our field trip.110

The interviews with people living in Japan showed that using SMS is not very common. One of the interview respondents, Swedish but living in Japan, declared that he had never sent or received SMS during his time in Japan and his opinion was that SMS is not very commonly used in Japan.

111 Another interview respondent, Japanese, said that she sent SMS to people whom she knows have the same operator. She used SoftBank and according to her, sending SMS within that operator was free.112 A third respondent, Japanese, said that she was not sure that sending SMS within SoftBank was free any longer but that was the case before.113 According to Eurotechnology, SMS is a function that the operators have included to fulfil the 3G standard requirements. Furthermore they state that it is rarely used by Japanese consumers.114 One interview respondent preferred to use e-mail instead of SMS as the receiver could use both a mobile phone and a computer to read the message. She took her parents as an example: her mother sends e-mails to her father when he is at work. He can then read the e-mails on his computer as he is not allowed to use his mobile phone while at work.115

The Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo was first with the technology called i-mode in 1999 which made it possible to access the Internet from the mobile phone. About 38 percent of Japan’s population uses i-mode every day to access Internet, send e-mails etc.

116 i-mode is limited since it only offers Internet services converted especially for the service itself.117

108 Japan Guide, www.educationjapan.org, 09-10-2009 and Interview: Employee, Swedish Trade Council, Tokyo, 28-08-2009.

The competitors of NTT DoCoMo offer their own mobile Internet services, KDDI has something

109 Tokyo Metro, Subway Manners, www.tokyometro.jp, 13-12-2009 and Ito, Mizuko, Okabe, Daisuke and Matsuda, Misa (2006), p. 205. 110 Field trip 2009. 111 Interview: Science and Technology Councillor, Science and Technology Office, Embassy of Sweden, Tokyo, 28-08-2009. 112 Interview: Employees, International Technology Company, Tokyo, 26-08-2009. 113 Interview: Japanese Student, Tokyo, 02-09-2009. 114 Eurotechnology, FAQ, www.eurotechnology.com, 13-12-2009. 115 Interview: Employees, International Technology Company, Tokyo, 26-08-2009. 116 Eurotechnology, FAQ i-mode, www.eurotechnology.com, 13-12-2009. 117 Interview: Swedish Journalist, Tokyo, 11-09-2009.

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called EZ-web and Softbank calls their service Yahoo!keitai.118 i-mode, EZ-web and Yahoo!keitai have the same pricing systems which means that the customer pay a monthly sum and a sum per package.119

Subscribers using the NTT DoCoMo can access i-mode from their mobile phone. They need to connect to a portal and from there they can go further. One of the interview respondents, Swedish but living in Japan, uses a mobile phone from NTT DoCoMo and i-mode. His impression of using i-mode is that it feels a little bit locked in to use.

120 Another respondent, also Swedish but living in Japan, has the same impression, his opinion is that it is more fun to use the Internet from an ordinary computer than with i-mode.121

Shim argues that the fact that Asians live a hectic life style in general is also reflected in the mobile phone consumption. According to Shim, people in Asian culture do everything in a rapid speed which leads the Japanese youngsters to acquire a new mobile phone every 6-12 months. Furthermore, he argues that parents in Japan put their children’s education first. The phenomenon to put their children’s needs in focus is also reflected in their compliance not only to pay the bill for their children’s phone calls, but also for expensive handsets with the newest applications. The combination of a high number of subscriptions and services has led to success for the Japanese mobile service suppliers.

122

Figure 5: The SoftBank 831SH KT Hello Kitty mobile phone with "cute" battery functions and peek filters. Source: SoftBank.123

An example of when culture affects the mobile phone industry is the kawaii culture. This can be seen on the handsets as well as the applications. Some of the phones are designed in order to attract the kawaii buyers. An example of this can be seen at the 831SH KT-model sold by SoftBank (figure 5). The mobile phone is not directed primarily to children but to young kawaii adults. It is designed with the figure Hello Kitty which is seen not only on the mobile phone but also on battery and reception indicators. One interesting function is the peek

118 Telecommunications Carriers Association, Press Release, www.tca.or.jp, 10-12-2009. 119 NTT DoCoMo, www.nttdocomo.com, 15-11-2009 and SoftBank, www.softbankmobile.co.jp, 15-11-2009 and KDDI, www.kddi.com, 15-11-2009. 120 Interview: Science and Technology Councillor, Science and Technology Office, Embassy of Sweden, Tokyo, 28-08-2009. 121 Interview: Swedish Journalist, Tokyo, 11-09-2009. 122 Shim, J.P. (2005). 123 SoftBank, 831SH KT, mb.softbank.jp, 10-12-2009.

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blocking filter that prevents peeking from above, below, left, and right. However, on this particular model the user can choose patterns and colours and the filter is promoted with the quote: “...you can protect your privacy with cute, colourful filters”.124 We think that, by using the word “cute” when promoting a technical filter, this is an example of kawaii culture. This is what Silverstone refers to as domestication and making the products our own.125 The technology should reflect the users’ personality, in this case kawaii. Another example of this is the usage of mobile phone jewellery and straps, frequently used in Japan.126

Furthermore, the effect from the culture, here illustrated by kawaii, can also be seen in the light of Aune’s periphery-centre theory. According to her, the periphery (the users) affects the centre (the manufacturers), rather than the opposite. The kawaii lifestyle shapes the mobile phones.

These can be seen as means to express a kawaii lifestyle.

124 SoftBank, 831SH KT, mb.softbank.jp, 10-12-2009. 125 Silverstone, Roger (1994), p.174-177. 126 Field trip 2009.

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4. DISTINGUISHED MOBILE PHONE JAPAN – UBIQUITOUS IN YOUR POCKET Several of the interview respondents referred to functions of the mobile phones in Japan that are unique or are being used in a way unique for Japan. We have selected six functions which we consider distinguished for Japan. By distinguished we mean that these functions form the Japanese mobile phone culture. The functions are mobile phone Internet, mobile phone TV, QR-code, wallet phone, GPS (Global Positioning Service) and mobile phone novels. By discussing these functions we will answer the second research question, how Sweden can make use of Japanese mobile phone usage. In this section we will elucidate the distinguished functions, discuss how the Japanese culture has formed them and vice versa and additionally, investigate the prerequisites for them to be implemented in Sweden. All of these functions are examples of complementary goods which enhance the experience of the mobile phone as a product and service.

Some of the distinguished functions exist in both Japan and Sweden, although there is a difference in at what time they were introduced in each country respectively. One of the main differences is the mobile Internet, which was introduced at the Japanese market with i-mode in 1999, the same time as Sweden started to use WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). 1999 was also the year for the introduction of mobile e-mail in Japan, a function that did not arrive in Europe until 2005/2006. Sweden on the other hand got SMS (Short Message Service) already in 1995, whereas Japan did not get it until 1997. Other functions that were introduced earlier in Japanese mobile phones are cameras (Japan 2000, Europe 2002) and full songs for mobile phones (Japan 2002, Europe 2004). Examples of functions that have not yet been introduced in Sweden at all are mobile phone TV (Japan 2005) and wallet phones (Japan 2005).127 In 2001 Japan became the first country in the world where it was possible to buy a mobile phone with GPS.128

4.1 Mobile Phone Internet and E-mail

Nowadays, GPS is found in a lot of Swedish mobile phones as well. Since the mobile phone market is constantly changing, some functions that did not exist in Sweden when we started to write the thesis has now been introduced on the Swedish mobile phone market as well. An example of this is the QR-code. However, this does not change the fact that most functions are introduced a lot earlier in Japan.

We find that mobile phone Internet forms the whole Japanese mobile phone culture and vice versa. By mobile phone Internet we include e-mail as well as accessing web sites. The high usage of mobile phone Internet is to a large extent due to the fact that it was spread earlier than the spreading of broadband. The ubiquitous policy is another explaining factor for the success of mobile phone Internet. As the mobile phone can be considered as a definition of “everywhere present”, which is the meaning of ubiquitous, the mobile phone Internet plays an essential part of an ubiquitous society. What is more, NTT DoCoMo’s early introduction of i-mode as a way of accessing Internet has had an important role in the success of mobile phone Internet. Explanation factors can also be found in cultural dimensions. Since people in Japan spend a lot of their time away from home, the mobile phone becomes more important than a

127 Fasol, Gerhard (2009). Mobile 2.0, Eurotechnology: Korea Communications Conference 2009. 128 Eurotechnology, Location based mobile services in Japan, www.eurotechnology.com, 10-11-2009.

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computer. This might change now that the computers become more portable, although the user patterns might already be well-entrenched, that is hard or too late to change. Another explanation factor might be that the mobile phone is frequently used at the metro, where a computer is unsuitable due to the unwritten rules of not taking up to much space.129

Furthermore, we have found that when it comes to sending text messages mobile phone e-mailing is far more common than the SMS function. The main reason for this is probably the fact that the e-mail function was introduced earlier than SMS in Japan. The SMS function failes in competition with the e-mail function since the latter provides a wider selection of services. An e-mail has the benefit of no limitation in number of characters, it can be used for sending pictures. Another advantage with e-mail was brought up by one of our interview respondents, namely the fact that e-mails can be read and written on a computer as well as on a mobile phone, that is a message sent from a mobile phone can be read on a computer. This is of importance because of the strict rules concerning mobile phone usage in some work places. We think this proves that e-mail is more ubiquitous than SMS. SMS has some advantages though. Some operators provide a free SMS service within the same operator, that is, sending an SMS from a Softbank mobile phone to another Softbank mobile phone is free.

The usage of a mobile phone is also more discrete than a computer, another explanation supporting the concept of these rules.

130 A problem with this might be that the user is not always aware of what operator the receiver uses, which was confirmed by one of the interview respondents.131

Mobile phone Internet is a function also included in mobile phones in Sweden, although the technology development has diverged. About the same time as i-mode was introduced in Japan, WAP was introduced in Sweden. Both technologies are limited in their way of accessing Internet compared to an ordinary web browser, although i-mode has some advantages compared to WAP. One example is the access time which is longer with WAP and another explanation is the supply of services.

132

We do not think that the concept of i-mode is suitable in Sweden since Swedes have already got used to accessing Internet on a computer. As several of our interviewees stated, i-mode can make a Swedish user feel incarcerated. Using WAP for accessing Internet in Sweden is not very common any longer. Instead the 3G-technology, which allows faster accessing time than WAP, is used and this has the consequence that the difference is not as vast as in 1999 when i-mode was introduced in Japan. We have also found that laptops are more frequently used in Sweden than Japan and Swedes can therefore access Internet from the computer in connection with the a 3G-modem. The use of e-mails on mobile phones is not nearly as common in Sweden, although it does exist. The problem is that not all mobile phones used in Sweden today are compatible with the technology and therefore the number of users is not big enough for the technology to replace SMS. Most mobile phones sold today does include the technology, however it can be difficult to configure. Furthermore, Japan has

129 Field trip 2009. 130 Interview: Employees, International Technology Company, Tokyo, 26-08-2009. 131 Interview: Japanese Student, Tokyo, 02-09-2009. 132 Wikström, Daniel (2005). Varför är mobilt Internet en succé i Japan men inte i Sverige?, Göteborg University. School of Business, Economics and Law, p.35-38.

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a number of services connected to the e-mail function, one example is Decorated mails (Decomail), which are mobile phone e-mails decorated with pictures, coloured backgrounds, moving words, and other animations.133 This function does not exist in Sweden as far as we know and we are also sceptic whether there is a demand in Sweden. The usage of Decomail is closely related to the concept of kawaii which is not present in Sweden. One interview respondent said that she usually does not use Decomail which have the consequence that people thinks she is angry when she writes. Others say that she has a manly way of writing, when she is not using Decomail.134 Once again, Silverstone’s theory of domestication is present, as the use or none use of a technology influence how a person is perceived by others.135

4.2 Mobile Phone TV

Our opinion is that the kawaii culture affects the society and since kawaii is not present in Sweden, we do not think that there will be a demand for Decomail in Sweden.

Mobile phone TV allows people in Japan to watch news, TV shows, information etc.136 There is even a special service designed for the mobile phone TV called Lunch box TV, which is broadcasted on weekdays between 12:00 and 13:00, for office workers to be able to assimilate the latest news.137 This means that people can watch regular TV wherever they are, at all times, on a handset.138 Accordingly, the mobile phones are equipped with a digital TV receiver, that is it is not the streaming technique that is being used. It is possible to turn on subtitles when watching TV and some people use headphones while riding the metro.139

Mobile phone TV has probably become popular in Japan due to the fact that people there spend very little time at home and thus mobile phone TV becomes a substitute for home entertainment. An interesting detail with the application is that it is possible to get the programs subtitled which is good from two different aspects. Some milieus are very noisy and therefore it is impossible to hear the sound from the TV. On the contrary, other milieus are extremely quiet and it is therefore disturbing if someone does not have the mobile phone on silent mode. Obviously headphones can be used for the same purpose, although in the very loud milieus the background noise will drown out the sound from TV, even with head phones.

Mobile phone TV does not exist in the same way in Sweden as in Japan. Watching TV on a Swedish mobile phone is possible, although not very common. The difference lies in the technology. In Sweden streaming, that is watching through an Internet connection, is used in order to watch TV on a mobile phone, whereas in Japan the mobile phone is equipped with a digital TV receiver. This means that once the mobile phone in Japan is purchased, no additional charges are added when watching TV.140

133 Ratnadeep Suri, Venkata, Sawhney, Harmeet (2007), The internet and its wireless extensions in Japan: the portentous interface between chaos and order, Bloomington: Department of Telecommunications, Indiana University and Interview: Japanese Student, Tokyo, 02-09-2009.

Naturally, Swedish mobile phones could be equipped with the same technology. However, we do not think that the demand in Sweden

134 Interview: Japanese Student, Tokyo, 02-09-2009. 135 Silverstone, Roger (1994), p.174-177. 136 Eurotechnology, OneSeg: Mobile digital TV in Japan, www.eurotechnology.com, 10-12-2009. 137 Fasol, Gerhard (2009). 138 Eurotechnology, OneSeg: Mobile digital TV in Japan, www.eurotechnology.com, 10-12-2009. 139 Interview: Employees, International Technology Company, Tokyo, 26-08-2009 and Field trip 2009. 140 Interview: Employees, International Technology Company, Tokyo, 26-08-2009.

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would be as big as in Japan since Swedes spends more time at home, less time commuting, and therefore can watch TV at home. The usage of laptops is more common in Sweden and we also think that Swedes has a less strict attitude towards private surfing on the work computer. The rules concerning private mobile phone usage at work is, according to us, not as common in Sweden. Therefore, the need to watch TV during lunch breaks or while commuting will not be as great in Sweden. The same argument applies for the usage of mobile phone Internet as mentioned above. Finally, it has become more common to watch short videos from youtube.com or TV programs accessed from the web pages of the TV channels in Sweden. This means that the user gets more control over when and what to watch than with an ordinary TV broadcast. The streaming technology is very good today and therefore we do not think that there is a need for digital TV in the mobile phones in Sweden. There is no or very little demand.

4.3 QR-code QR (Quick response) code is a two dimensional barcode (figure 6), though it has a lot more capacity than a traditional barcode.141 QR-code was created by the Japanese company Denso Wave. Although there is a variety of two dimensional barcodes, QR-code distinguishes itself by the fact that Denso Wave has claimed that they will not exercise their patent rights. This is probably the reason why it has become so widely spread.142 QR-code makes it easy to access mobile data service.143 In addition to a camera the mobile phone needs specific software to be able to scan the barcode. Our experience of Sweden is that it is not many users that have the possibility to read QR-codes with their mobile phones, whereas it seems to be very common on mobile phones in Japan. By scanning a QR-code with the mobile phone camera the user can get discount coupons, marketing adverts etc. directly in to the mobile phone. So instead of memorizing an address to a webpage that is seen on an advertising pillar and later log on to the webpage, the user can just scan the QR-code and get instant information in the mobile phone.144

Figure 6: Example of a QR-code. Source: Eurotechnology.145

It is common to use the service “traffic information in Tokyo”, a lot of people use this function every day.

146

141 Eurotechnology, QR-codes and codes for mobile phones, www.eurotechnology.com, 10-12-2009.

It is accessed from the mobile phone and displays information about all trains, buses etc. One interview respondent said that she used this service in connection with QR-code. When she is at the bus station she uses the mobile phone to read the QR-code

142 Linux, Free software and 2-D barcodes, www.linux.com, 09-12-2009. 143 Eurotechnology, QR-codes and codes for mobile phones, www.eurotechnology.com, 10-12-2009. 144 Interview: Employees, International Technology Company, Tokyo, 26-08-2009 and Interview: Employee, Swedish Trade Council, Tokyo, 28-08-2009. 145 Eurotechnology, QR-codes and codes for mobile phones, www.eurotechnology.com, 10-12-2009. 146 Interview Exchange student 2009-11-22.

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displayed at the station. Then she gets real time information about where the bus is. Another interview respondent thinks it is too complicated to use this function in connection with QR-code. She tried a few times but did not manage to scan the code and she therefore types in the stations manually in order to get information about buses and trains instead.147

We think that the QR-code is a step in the direction of paperless advertising. It also provides more personal advertising since it is a tool for companies to reach specific target groups. These are benefits which are already reality in Japan and which would serve well in Sweden as well, which makes us believe in an extension of the usage of QR-code in Sweden. The traffic information is an example of a service that might even be of greater importance in Sweden since public transportation does not have the same punctuality and reliability as in Japan.

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4.4 Wallet Phone

But, as the theory of dominant design declares, for the application to be spread it is necessary with a high demand among the users and therefore it is essential for the technique to be implemented in more mobile phones. The ubiquitous way of thinking makes itself known once again through the QR-code. It enables information to be spread and personalised in the whole society.

Wallet phone is a mobile phone equipped with a contactless IC (Integrated Circuit) which makes it possible to use for almost all functions that a traditional wallet has. This includes bank cards, credit cards, house keys, company access control IDs, electronic cash, train tickets etc.149 The wallet phone was introduced by NTT DoCoMo and the technology on which it is based, a smart card chip called FeliCa, was invented by Sony. KDDI as well as Softbank soon included the FeliCa IC into their mobile phones too in order to be able to sell wallet phones. The FeliCa chip and the surrounding infrastructure have been on the market in contactless smart cards since 1995 and has been widely used in Japan ever since. The wallet phone can be loaded with money through the mobile phone itself by transferring money from a regular credit card, or by putting money in machines located in, for example, convenience stores.150

The wallet phone has probably become a success in Japan due to the already existing infrastructure which made it easy to implement on mobile phones as well. All that had to be done was for the manufacturers to include a smart card chip into the mobile phone. The uniqueness lies in the fact that the majority of the actors have united to use the same technology so that the same wallet phone can be used for many different purposes. Another contributing factor of the success of the wallet phone is the size of the population which brings more users to the system and thereby increases the profit. An example of this is the metro gates where the wallet phone can be used as a method of payment and which has a lot of travellers every day. We have previously presented MIC’s strategy to increase ICT capital and thereby improve the economic growth despite the problem with the ageing population. An interpretation that we make of this is that ICT could work as a substitute for manpower which is exemplified by the usage of wallet phones on metro gates and vending machines. The gates

The wallet phone can be used at places such as train stations, vending machines, kiosks etc.

147 Interview: Employees, International Technology Company, Tokyo, 26-08-2009. 148 Field trip 2009. 149 Eurotechnology, Mobile FeliCa wallet phones, www.eurotechnology.com, 10-12-2009. 150 IEEE Spectrum, Here Comes The Wallet Phone, spectrum.ieee.org, 09-12-2009.

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at the metros are still manned, but the system probably involves less manpower and therefore serves as an example that supports the ICT strategy.

Wallet phones do not exist in Sweden. There is a possibility to make payments for bus and train fares with the SMS function, however this is not the same as a wallet phone. We do not think it would be possible to implement this function in Sweden since we do not have the required infrastructure and it would probably not pay off to invest in. To implement the technique in Sweden would require the mobile phones to be equipped with the IC technology but also an investment in infrastructure throughout Sweden, where the big costs would lie. The contactless smart cards can be compared to the Cash card151 which was a similar function, but terminated since Sweden turned out to be a too small market for the card to be profitable.152

On the other hand, there could be a demand for such a function in Sweden today as we are going towards a cashless society. Our opinion is that the key for a successful implementation in Sweden lies in providing a better service and functionality than the now existing credit cards.

151 Cash card was a system for enabling the use of a card instead of cash. It was introduced in Sweden 1997 and was closed down in 2004 due low usage and high costs. 152 Thodenius, Björn (ed.), Uttagsautomater: Transkript av ett vittnesseminarium vid Tekniska museet, kth.diva-portal.org, 12-11-2009.

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4.5 GPS GPS is a satellite navigation system for determination of position, in this case the position of the mobile phone. Since 2007 all 3G phones sold in Japan must be equipped with GPS and emergency location information. The Japanese market offers a large variety of location based services for mobile phones.153

One possible use in Japan is called imadoco and allows the user to get frequent information about the whereabouts of a person through the mobile phone (figure 7). This service is provided by NTT DoCoMo and uses the GPS to send an e-mail and a map with a position. It can be used to send information regularly, for example every hour but also when the object leaves a specified area. It is also possible to make this search function with the help of base stations that the mobile phone is connected to. Imadoco is intended to use for parents who wants to know the whereabouts of their children.

154

Figure 7: The left picture shows the search function of imadoco, the right picture shows the search result. Source: NTT DoCoMo155

The presence of this function in Japan might be due to the fact that children in Japan spend a lot of time away from home during the day. Most of them are attending two different schools every day, the compulsory school in daytime and the cram school, juku, in the evenings. With help from the GPS function the parents can see whether their children are actually passing the gates of the metro at their school or not. Since this means that the parents can keep track of their children and still being in their workplace, or having somebody else watching the children, this is another example of how ICT can be used to facilitate everyday life. It is also another component in the ubiquitous society.

The GPS technology is already implemented in a lot of mobile phones in Sweden. However, the technology is not nearly as widely spread as in Japan. The GPS can, among other things, be used for keeping tracks on children in Sweden, just as in Japan. However, the mobile phones play a more important role as transceiver and receiver in Japan, whereas in Sweden other components are used to a further extent, often a special GPS transceiver attached to a jacket.156

153 Eurotechnology, Location based mobile services in Japan,www.eurotechnology.com, 10-11-2009.

154 NTT DoCoMo, Imadoco Search, www.nttdocomo.co.jp, 09-12-2009. 155 Ibid. 156 Ny Teknik, Ny dosa ska hålla koll på barnen, www.nyteknik.se, 09-12-2009.

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The usage of this function is however questioned in Sweden. In 2008 the ombudsman for children in Sweden (Barnombudsmannen), Lena Nyberg, expressed a concern that it might be a violation of the integrity of the child and also that it can be used as a way to punish or control the child.157

Another function made possible by GPS is Google Maps which allows the user to easily find his or her way around the country. One of the interview respondents frequently uses this function as he visits unknown parts of Tokyo.

We do not know if this is subject to discussion in Japan, however the Japanese society is composed differently from the Swedish. The Confucianism influence the relationship between adults and children in Japan and the society is more hierarchic. It is possible that this together with the popularity of cram schools contributes to the success of imadoko in Japan and since neither is present in Sweden the incitement for the function might not be as large. The Swedish discussion about integrity might also be contributing. There are no technical obstacles, rather social barriers.

158 We think that such a function becomes very important in a big city such as Tokyo, especially when entering or exiting the metro stations. There are often a large number of exits, where we during our field trip experienced the difficultness of finding our destination when using the wrong exit. This was also confirmed by one of our interview respondents, living in Tokyo, who also found the GPS very useful when going to districts he was unfamiliar with.159

4.6 Mobile Phone Novels

However, this function is also used and popular in Sweden. The biggest difference is that mobile phones sold in Sweden do not have to include a GPS in the mobile phones.

A mobile phone novel is often written on a mobile phone and then each chapter is uploaded to a web page where it becomes available for others. The users then download the chapters and read them at their mobile phones. One of the most popular sites for mobile phone novels is called Maho i-land (Magic Island) and had around one million titles in December 2008. It is common that the readers interact with the writers by commenting or making suggestions about how the story should continue.160 It is often women in their twenties that write the novels and the length of the chapters are adapted to be possible to read while commuting. The books are extremely popular and some are later published in book form. In Japan, five out of ten bestselling fiction works in 2007 began as mobile phone novels.161

One explanation factor to why the mobile phone novels became popular might be the fact that the mobile phone was already a big part of Japanese daily life, for example during time spent commuting. Furthermore, our opinion is that this is an example where the culture of mobile phones gives rise to new mobile phone cultures. The book itself has always been portable but with the mobile phone there is a possibility to also write a book no matter where you are. The mobile phone novel contributes to the domestication of the mobile phone in

157 Ny Teknik, Så får du koll på dina barn, www.nyteknik.se, 09-12-2009. 158 Interview: President, Design and Technology Company, Tokyo, 24-08-2009. 159 Ibid. 160 The New Yorker, I ♥ Novels. Young women develop a genre for the cellular age, www.newyorker.com, 09-12-2009 and The Japan Times online, Cellphone bards hit bestseller lists, search.japantimes.co.jp, 09-12-2009. 161 The Japan Times online, Cellphone bards hit bestseller lists, search.japantimes.co.jp, 09-12-2009.

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Japan according to us. The function is a clear example of how people’s lives are adjusted to the technology and how people and the object affect each other.

Mobile phone novels do not exist in Sweden but has the prerequisites to be implemented on Swedish mobile phones. It is easier to use with a large screen, which is more common in Japan than Sweden, although it is getting more and more common in Sweden. However, the Japanese language has the benefit of being more compact as a sign represents each word. A word might also have several meanings and the language can be read either from right to left or top-down.162

We think that there could be a use for the function in Sweden, although it would have to compete with the audio book, which is already popular. Furthermore, Japanese spend more time commuting every day than Swedes which is an incitement for mobile phone novels in Japan.

162 Nationalencyklopedin, Japanska, www.ne.se, 09-12-2009.

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5. JAPANESE MOBILE PHONE USAGE IN SWEDEN - TECHNOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL PREREQUISITES The study has led us to some conclusions concerning the mobile phone usage in Japan and if we can make use of it in Sweden. Below follows a concluding discussion which will answer our research questions, along with some thoughts of further research in the field.

5.1 Conclusions The result of the thesis implies that there are a number of contributing facts to why Japan is a prominent country in the field of mobile phone usage. The outcome has also been a number of functions which might be possible to implement in Sweden in order to develop the mobile phone market. Our first research question, what are the prerequisites for the Japanese mobile phone usage on governmental, industrial and consumer level? is of a descriptive character.

We have found explanations on three levels; governmental, industrial and consumer. The central part of the discussion on the governmental level is the ICT policy of the Japanese government and the ubiquitous theory which serves, not only as a foundation but also as an incentive for the Japanese mobile phone market. The fact that the mobile phone is portable and has become a multi tool device along with the fact that the meaning of ubiquitous is “everywhere present” has lead us to the conclusion that the desire ubiquitous society has resulted in a more widely spread mobile phone usage, at the same time as the mobile phone enables a ubiquitous society. The ICT policies can be regarded as tool for the government to maintain the leading position in the IT society. This is an example of what contributes to Japan’s leading position in the fifth Kondratiev wave.

A vital part of the discussion on the industrial level is the relative strength between operators and the manufacturers along with the large domestic market. The selection of mobile phones on the Japanese market are characterised by the theory of dominant design as they are quite uniform. However, with the introduction of iPhone on the market it is possible that this will change since the iPhone diverge in design as well as the simplified usability.

Our research has shown that the cultural features affect the usage of mobile phones. An example is the rules regarding not disturbing others with the usage of mobile phones on the metro. The concept of kawaii is another cultural feature which has great influence on the mobile phone usage in terms of design and the usage of certain functions. Our conclusion is that the culture and usage affect the products which make it an example of the periphery-centre theory advocated by Aune.

The second research question of the thesis is of a more analysing character, how can the Japanese mobile phone usage be applied on Sweden? We have chosen to answer this through six specific functions. Our opinion is that the prerequisites for these functions to be implemented in Sweden can be observed from two angles; technological and social.

The first function, mobile phone Internet and e-mail, has both technical and social prerequisites to be expanded in Sweden. To a large extent it already exists although through a different technological platform. In contrast, the mobile phone TV lacks both technical and social prerequisites to be implemented in Sweden due to different cultures. QR-code, on the other hand, is what we consider has the most prerequisites from both a technological and social perspective. Since this is partly implemented in Sweden already, we advocate a further expansion. Due to large costs in building an infrastructure, wallet phone lacks technological

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prerequisites. There are no, or very little, social constraints on the other hand. GPS is used in Sweden already, however some fields of application differ, for example the aspect of keeping control of children. There is a social constraint due to the difference in cultures. The mobile phone novels have possibly both technological and social prerequisites. The difference in the Japanese and Swedish language affects the technological prerequisites. Socially, there is a difference in the time spent commuting, for example.

All these functions can be considered as complementary goods for the mobile phone, which enhance the value of the mobile phone. Furthermore, these functions are examples of how Silverstone’s concept of domestication has impact on the society.163 The mobile phone is affected by people, and people are affected by the mobile phone. Since we found the amount of technological and social prerequisites both important, we agree with Goy-Yamamoto in that cultural dimensions affects the way in which way we perceive goods and services.164

5.2 Further Research

However, this thesis has shown that the technological aspects are just as important.

The ICT policies and the theory of a ubiquitous society were introduced in the nineties. A lot has happened since then, some is discussed in this thesis. However, it might be interesting to do a deeper follow up of the outcome.

The introduction of iPhone on the, so far, homogeny Japanese mobile phone market has caught our interest. However, it has not been the main focus in our thesis. The impact this will have on the Japanese market can serve as a further subject for research. Another aspect, not at all discussed here, is the mobile phone technology PHS which has over four million users in Japan. There could be many interesting features to analyse in connection with this technology, not to mention what will happen now that NTT DoCoMo is no longer providing the service.

Something else which caught our interest is the power relationship between operators and manufacturers. A subject for research could be to more thorough investigate what impact this has on the mobile phone industry, national and international.

When it comes to the six functions, which we find distinguished for the Japanese mobile phone usage, a deeper study would be interesting. Also, there could be additional functions of which there could be of interest to analyse.

163 Silverstone, Roger (1994). 164 Goy-Yamamoto, Ana M (2004).

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APPENDIX 1 Themes Discussed in Interviews

• Japan as a country • The technological success of Japan • Areas characterising the Japanese mobile phone market • Uniqueness of the Japanese mobile phones, technical aspects • Differences in mobile phone usage between Japan and Sweden