Commentary: Teen Girls Text-Message in Elaborate "Girl Talk" Code

From Japan.com: The abbreviated language of cell phone messaging has gone beyond smileys among Japanese teenage girls. They're now using something of a secret language called "gyaru-moji," with words replaced by symbols and special characters. ("Gyaru" means gal in English; "moji" means letter or text.) Japan.com writer Arjen van Blokland describes it as "a mixture of Japanese syllables, numbers, mathematical symbols and Greek characters" that "resembles hieroglyphics." The trend doesn't seem to have any time-saving advantages -- typing standard Japanese on a cell phone is twice as fast. The language was first introduced a year ago, and businesses have caught on, with Web sites creating conversion tools from regular Japanese to the girls' code.  Camera phones, van Blokland adds, are making life a bit easier for these trendsetters: many now simply write a message on paper, snap a picture of it and send the photo to friends.
 -- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Chevonne Ching
<Go to story>

01.28.04
Foreign Ministry Warns Japanese Reporters in Iraq Are Vulnerable to Terrorist Attacks

From The Japan Times: Possible terrorist attacks remain a threat to journalists covering the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force in southern Iraq, according to a warning issued Jan. 26 by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Japan Times reports sources said the government had information that lodgings in Samawah used by wire service Kyodo News could be a target. Kyodo News did not comment on whether it had received specifics on a possible target of its lodgings, but the agency relocated its staff from Samawah to Baghdad as a precaution.  There are still dozens of Japanese journalists in Samawah covering the efforts of Japanese forces to rebuild the city. During a news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said a recommendation for the withdrawal of reporters had already been issued.
 -- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Sunny Yu
<Go to story>

01.27.04
New Online Services for Passports, Tax Returns, Visas

From The Japan Times: Apply for a passport, send tax returns, and make an appointment for a visa interview -- three more things Japanese can do on the Web. To take advantage of the government's online service for tax returns and passports, users must hold special cards that store personal information. (Such cards are used in Juki Net, Japan's national registry system.) One catch to the service: Passports still must be picked up in person. The tax returns service will begin at tax offices in Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi and Mie prefectures in February; other offices will carry it in June. In March residents of Okayama Prefecture will be the first to go online for passport applications. The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo will allow visa applicants to make interview appointments on its Web site starting Feb. 1.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Zhen Wang
<Go to story>

01.23.04
"Unusual" Antiwar Ad Appears in The Asahi Shimbun

Via Japan Today: Readers of The Asahi Shimbun's Jan. 15 morning edition woke up to a full-page ad protesting Japan's dispatch of troops to Iraq. Japan Today calls the ad "unusual -- for Japan." The paper reports that weekly magazine Shukan Shincho wondered if "the Asahi Shimbun -- well known for its left-leaning views -- was itself behind the running of the ad." According to Shukan Shincho, Sumio Inoue, once a member of a former anti-Vietnam War group, said he collected over $283,000 in donations to place the ad. In addition to the headline, which translated to "We shall not cooperate with war," the advertisement lists names of those who are against sending troops to Iraq, arranged to form the Japanese characters for "Don't kill."  
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
<Go to story>

01.22.04
Fired NTV Producer Faces Ratings Manipulation Lawsuit

From Mainichi Daily News: A former producer at the Nippon Television Network is being sued by Japan's only ratings company, Video Research Ltd., for allegedly bribing viewers in order to boost the ratings of his programs. The lawsuit, filed today, demands over $860,000 from Masafumi Ando for "(damaging) the public's trust in us," the lawsuit said. Ando is accused of offering ratings monitors cash or gift certificates if they agreed to watch his programs, shown between March 2000 and October 2003. Video Research Ltd. excluded the network from the suit after concluding NTV itself was not involved.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
(Link expired)

Newspaper Circulation Declines for Fourth Straight Year

From Pressnet: In its January NSK News Bulletin, The Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association (Nihon Shinbun Kyokai) said that the daily circulation of morning and evening Japanese newspapers in October 2003 fell by 0.6 percent from the previous year, marking the fourth straight year of decline. Evening edition circulation was hit the hardest, falling 3.1 percent. The association said it is committed to encouraging young people to read newspapers. In 2003, NSK's Circulation Committee deemed April 6 "Newspaper Reading Day" and the one-week period around the date as "Springtime Newspaper Week" to promote campaigns that target young readers.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
<Go to story>

01.20.04
Paying Taxes Through Cell Phones, ATMs

From The Japan Times: The Japanese government has launched an electronic payment service for taxes and other government fees. Pay-easy, which began Monday, will allow people to make payments through Internet banking via computers or cell phones, as well as through bank ATMs. Before Pay-easy, payments had to be made in person at financial institutions or through government revenue stamps.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
<Go to story>

01.17.04
Media Decry Government Restrictions on Coverage of Troops in Iraq

From South China Morning Post via Asia Media: In a move that many criticized as reminiscent of World War II media censorship, the Japan Defense Agency asked the media to refrain from reporting information that would "influence the security" of the Self-Defense Forces recently dispatched to Iraq, including showing restraint in reporting the timing of deployments. Despite the Defense Agency's request, media outlets insisted they would follow their own judgment on the coverage of Japan's first deployment of troops to a combat zone since World War II.

Public broadcaster NHK announced it would continue to make timely news reports, saying "it is the role of news organizations to answer the public's right to know." The defense agency warned the media not to "obstruct the completion of our mission," or they could lose interviews from the government. The decision to send troops to Iraq was made Dec. 9 after months of consideration. Ever since, the Japanese media have reported every detail, down to descriptions of the troops' desert camp.
-- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
<Go to story>

01.15.04
Toshiba Introduces News-reading Robot

From The Asahi Shimbun: The trial version of a robot that searches for the latest news online and reads it to its user was unveiled at a mid-January convention in Tokyo. Toshiba's ApriAlpha responds to spoken requests for the latest news, then searches the Web with specially equipped software. ApriAlpha was first introduced in April as a multifunctional home robot. Hideki Ogawa, chief researcher at Toshiba's Humancentric Laboratory, said the voice technology will allow those who are unfamiliar with keyboards to access information online. The company is shooting for a consumer version by 2006.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
(Link expired)

01.15.04
Mainichi Site Merges With MSN

From Mainichi Daily News: After a year of planning, Mainichi's Web site Mainichi Interactive and Microsoft Japan's MSN News have merged. MSN-Mainichi Interactive will launch April 5. The general manager of Mainichi's media department said the newspaper was looking for a partner to help make its Web site profitable. The site is described as "a combination of MSNBC and ESPN -- only in Japanese," according to a Mainichi story on the merger. MSN was attracted to Mainichi's "timely" news and editorial content, while Microsoft's international reach, Web technologies, and ad sales capabilities were a draw for the newspaper. The name was decided upon after months of debate over the order of the companies' names for the new site, although its URL is the reverse.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
<Go to story>

01.13.04
Department Store and Credit Card Company to Accept E-Wallets

From The Yomiuri Shimbun: A department store chain and Japan's largest credit card company are banding together to offer customers the option of purchasing items using their cell phones starting in the fall. Takashimaya Co. and credit card company JCB will offer the service based on new NTT DoCoMo mobile phones with e-wallets, which are scheduled for release this summer. The new phones will be equipped with cards that allow shoppers to pay instantly via wireless communication between the phone and cash register. Payments will be collected by JCB after customers settle their cell phone bills. The move reflects a growing trend in offering customers payment services using cell phones. Recently, 27 companies, including major credit card firms, All Nippon Airways and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, have conducted demonstrations of similar services that will lessen the need for customers to carry cash or credit cards.
 -- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Timothy Yamamura
(Link expired)

01.13.04
Commentary: Predictions for 2004's Lifestyle-Changing Internet Technologies

Via Nikkei Electronics Asia Online: While the Internet is transforming the lives of Japanese people, various infrastructure obstacles remain, according to this site's look at the Internet in Japan in 2004. Broadband, for example, is difficult to expand to existing apartment buildings because of the complexity of laying broadband lines to individual units. Among the possible hot trends of 2004: home surveillance through video-enabled mobile phones. The article also cites government efforts to make Japan a leading IT nation by 2005 based on an IT-centered social infrastructure. Japanese now can use the Internet to track beef distribution, a response to concerns about mad cow disease. Many government agencies now allow people to fill out forms over the Net, and an online tax-filing system will soon be underway.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Zhen Wang
(Link expired)

01.11.04
Commentary: Many Young People Struggle to Interact Without Cell Phones

Via The Japan Times: More Japanese youths of the keitai generation are becoming dysfunctional without their cell phones, fueling "Keitai Syndrome," according to Mark Schreiber in his column Tokyo Confidential. While there are some 800,000 public pay phones nationwide, it's estimated that there are 100 times as many cell phones, adds Yoshihiro Sato, professor of contemporary sociology at Musashino University. Sato points out that for young cell phone users, communicating through phone or e-mail has become so common that it affects the way they interact with others in person. "People are moving toward a state where they think 'I don't mind exchanging mails, but personal meetings and holding conversations are a strain,'" he said. Sato said this tendency isn't much different from "hikikomori," or a long-term withdrawal from society that has been emerging among many young Japanese.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
<Go to story>

01.10.04
NTT DoCoMo to Offer Message Board for Contacting Victims of Natural Disasters

From The Yomiuri Shimbun: NTT DoCoMo will begin a service enabling customers to contact their loved ones when a natural catastrophe strikes. The cell phone company, Japan's largest, is scheduled to offer its users a free message board service starting Jan. 17 so they can let others know they are safe in the event of an earthquake or flood. The kickoff falls on the ninth anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that devastated the city of Kobe. The message board will be set up within 30 minutes of a disaster. Users within the affected area will be able to access the board via their cell phone Internet service, or i-mode, and leave messages under 100 characters. The message board will be viewable throughout the country for anyone with Internet access, including PC users and customers of other cell phone companies.
 -- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Timothy Yamamura
(Link expired)

01.08.04
Smaller, Lighter E-books to Debut in Japan

Via The Christian Science Monitor: Sony and Matsushita Electric Corp. (Panasonic) plan to sell electronic books the size of DVD cases early this year in Japan. A spokesman for E Ink, a U.S. electronic ink company, said Japan is a good market in which to push e-books because Japanese spend hours commuting on trains. Reporter Lori Valigra notes that e-books from the 1990s were known for being "hefty, expensive and not interchangeable among publishers." The new versions will be lighter, user-friendly and eventually less expensive, she adds. The e-book will open like a paper book and be readable under sunlight. Sony and Matsushita e-books will be produced first in black and white; color versions will arrive in a few years.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Shellie Branco
(Link expired)

01.06.04
Unabashed Book Review Site Increasing in Popularity

From The Daily Yomiuri: A literary criticism site whose authors decry online book review "blurbs or soundbites with little substance, written for the purpose of selling books," is finding ever-increasing popularity in Japan. Launched in November 2002, Japan Review Net was founded by Paul Scalise and Yuki Allyson Honjo and offers reviews of books about Japan as well as interviews with authors and respected Japanese scholars. The two founders believe literary criticism as an art form has been disappearing. The site received 4,000 hits per day on average by the end of 2003, but Scalise and Honjo have no interest in turning it into a business. They say doing so would prevent them from criticizing the books in an "even-handed, informative and entertaining way." While many Web sites offering book reviews are often linked to e-booksellers, Scalise said they try to judge a book on its own merits.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Zhen Wang
(Link expired)

01.01.04
NTV Tops Ratings for 10th Year in a Row

From Mainichi Daily News: Nippon Television Network was ranked Japan's top TV network in 2003 for the 10th successive year despite staging a news segment in November and suffering a veteran producer's viewer ratings bribery scandal in October. NTV beat the other major commercial broadcasters, Fuji Television, TV Asahi, Tokyo Broadcasting System and TV Tokyo. NTV led in the "golden and prime-time viewing hours" (from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.), as well as all hours outside prime time. An NTV spokesman said this year they "intend to take a serious approach to program production and provide high-quality shows."
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
<Go to article>