Cellular novellas
March 25th, 2008 by DavezillaJapan has always been years ahead of the US in the wireless category. Their phones, networks and technologies make ours look woefully Third World in comparison. From QR codes to phones with breathalyzers in them, the Japanese take their keitai denwa (portable telephones) seriously.
Schoolgirls in Japan even have their own distinctive shorthand for texting called gyaru-moji (”gal characters”). They’ve also pioneered an interesting consumer journalism movement: the cell phone novel. Yes, young women are typing furiously on their ketai during their daily commutes. One such aspiring novelist, a young woman named Rin, wrote a 142 page novel called, “If You” that sold over 400,000 copies and was the 5th best selling novel of 2007.
Literary journals, such as the esteemed literary review Bungaku-kai, believe the movement may be killing Japanese literature. Misspellings, icons, in-jokes and codes make the novels unreadable to older readers.
Tags: cell phones, culture, innovation, millenials
