Wednesday, 1 February 2012

Two little holes for the enthusiasts

(source: http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/radiofoundation/imgs/7/7/77657766-s.jpg
http://stat001.ameba.jp/user_images/20090810/07/idlg-g/c0/97/j/o0250035610229996379.jpg)

This is Becky!
If you are a fan of shows in Japan, U'll come across her at least one a day on TV. However, the topic here is not about her though, it's about what she is holding on her hand.

Cellphone, yes!

But don't you see the bunch of dolls and stuffed animals hanging onto the cellphone! The bunch that is 3,4 times bigger than the cellphone itself!

That's so cool, isn't it. I wonder how she could stuff her cellphone into her bag. Does she have a special bag only for her cellphone?
At least she has no trouble finding her cellphone when she needs it!

Even though Becky's cellphone is quite famous for its huge collection of attached straps, Becky is not the only one who adds everything onto her cellphone. A lot of high school girls are pursuing this trend too. Cellphone straps have always been popular in Japan and they are an trendy accessory to make your own cellphone stand out. Therefore on any kind of cellphones (except for Iphone) here, you will probably get 2 small holes to hang the strap. See how Japanese companies try to indulge you with your flashy hobby. Or if you are not interested in straps, seeing two blank holes on your cellphone makes you want to put something into them. For people who already put strap on their cell, you would feel like you want more attached to it. A lot of small, cute little things here in Japan have strap attached to it so that you can put them on your cellphone. It is boring without a strap! And you can totally tell a person's hobby or personality through the things attached to the cellphone.

The gacha gacha for cellphone strap

I personally have 6 straps attached to mine. However after i switched to Iphone, I had trouble finding a place to put my straps on, because Iphone simply DOESNT have strap hole!!!!!

In the J-pop class, teacher and people were talking about strap culture in Japan and an iphone cover with strap hole is only available in Japan. That is true, however, my quest for hunting the cover with strap hole was not that easy.

The number of iphone users compared to the limited number of cover with strap holes made it hard for me to find a nice one. Also the cover came with uninteresting colours, a higher price than ordinary ones and they are made of bad quality plastic. After only 2 weeks of using, I ruined mine.


However, as Iphone is reigning as the most popular smartphone here in Japan (due to its lower payment, compared to other smartphones), I believe, producers will make more diversity of cover with straps in better quality.

Still, Bravo to Japan for always "indulging" us with what we want (but we don't necessarily need). We are always kept in convenience with these kinds of manipulative marketing methods. Keeping people to buy more is the method used everywhere when it comes to business, but here in Japan, things become available in "lightning speed".

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