Why doesn't Japan lead the world in this market?

[hermes]

This message is intended for those living and working in Japan, such as fellow 'Canuck'.

When I was working in Japan in 1991 and passed through on several occasions after that also, I was amazed how cutting edge Japan was for electronics. Even in Calcutta (Dover Lane Music Festival - highly recommended) I met an Indian man with a truly digital SONY 'camcorder' the size of a golf ball. In my field as a documentary film maker (video) a lot of products were available in Japan either years before in the west or they never appeared at all. Yet due to language and other considerations (such as a weekend of hotel rooms and meals in Tokyo cost me my 'life savings'!) I just bought at B&H in New York area.

I don't see any indication that Japan (or for that matter Korea) leads the ereader market globally. Is this an accurate assessment or not? This impression could just be because I am out of date with business realties and am general am out of touch with reality at all.

[lestatar]

Heya...I have traveled pretty extensively in Asia and have hit Japan a few times. Indeed, it does kinda seem surprising.

Still, from my man-on-the-street observations, it really is not so much that the Japanese [and Asian people in general] don't like to read. More, I think, in large part because this part of the world has enjoyed such superior cell phone gear for so long - people have been using smartphones for ages here due to cell network infrastructure superiority versus the USA. So long in fact, that now most Asians use their smartphones for pretty much everything, including ereading. Dedicated devices like ereaders might actually seem a bit superfluous to people around these parts.

Dunno.

Still, I recall reading some stuff here about Sony perhaps making a big localized push into the ereader/ebook market in Japan/Asia so who knows?

And also I think for Americans at least, the ubiquitous nature of giant brick and mortar bookstore chains like B&N and Borders and of course the enormously influential digital presence of the American company Amazon, combined with relatively crappy cell phones/cell infrastructure [leading to slower widespread adoption of smartphones] might have something to do with why dedicated ereader devices are more "popular" in the West.

Again, who knows?

Interesting question though

[AJ Starr]

deleted

[AJ Starr]

With all these "polls" and questions, it sounds like Hermes is about to write an article about ebooks and is gathering data.

Points for coming to the right place for info, but it might be better to let us in on the purpose of all these threads.

[banjobama]

Many people in Japan use their cell phones for reading books/manga... maybe this diminishes the need for a separate ebook reader? I'm not sure. They did have the Sony Libre, but during my 2.5 years in Japan I never saw an ebook reader of any kind, unless it belonged to an American on the navy base.

[OtterBooks]

because e-ink readers aren't ideal for manga. at least not at this time.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Wow it's a good thing I've arrived to save this thread from uninformed replies!
Japanese people read-a ton. It's not so apparent now that cell phones have become ubiquitous but you will see a lot of people reading books on the train during their 90 min commute to work. If you go to any bookstore in Japan you'll see people standing in front of the shelves reading books from cover to cover-and they don't get chased away by the sales staff. Books in Japan are almost all the same standard physical size (small) probably so that they're easy to read on the go. If you buy a book in a bookstore they will insert it in a nifty brown paper sleeve which protects the book from damage and perhaps hides the title of what you're reading.
As for why the Japanese aren't leading the ebook world I'm not really sure about that but if I had to guess would say that corporations have a huge amount of power here. Japanese TVs cost far more in Japan than they do in America, you can't rent videogames and when you stay at a hotel you have to pay per person and not for the actual room. The entertainment industry seems to have a lot more teeth with regards to copyright protection than anywhere else. Just look on You Tube. It's not difficult to find j-pop music videos which have been removed due to copyright protection. It's the same with the book industry. Book publishers in the US seem to wish that the ebook would just diasappear and it's no different in Japan except for the fact that the book publishers here can actually make it happen. I'm not sure who's at fault here but I tend to blame the Japanese for not having a spine. Sometimes I want to yell, "Stop letting them $&@* you like this, an American would never stand for something like this!". But what do I know-perhaps they really don't have any other options. I try to boycott when I see a terrible deal but they don't seem to have a problem buying a Harry Potter novel broken up into two parts for double the price when the English version is just one book foe the normal price.

[lestatar]

^ nice info I have only visited Japan for business and only then for short periods of time. Your slice of life perspective is invaluable. Thanks!

Indeed, the overall mindset is very different in Japan, greatly impacting how the average person looks at things [same things in so much of the world]. S Korea is kinda similar too in the regard of how much power corporations/keiretsus [sp].

[speakingtohe]

I don't see any indication that Japan (or for that matter Korea) leads the ereader market globally. Is this an accurate assessment or not? This impression could just be because I am out of date with business realties and am general am out of touch with reality at all.

Not sure what you mean by this.
Sales?
Research and development?
Use by consumers?

Putting Japanese and Koreans together as one group does suggest a tinge of detachment from reality. Kind of like saying Australians are culturally similiar to the French or the Germans.

Helen

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Not sure what you mean by this.
Sales?
Research and development?
Use by consumers?

Putting Japanese and Koreans together as one group does suggest a tinge of detachment from reality. Kind of like saying Australians are culturally similiar to the French or the Germans.

Helen

I can see one reason for putting Japanese and Koreans together the way the OP did: even though the countries are dissimilar socially, they are the two most advanced countries on the globe when it comes to personal and portable electronics.

When you phrase the question that way (why are ereaders less common in the two most technologically advanced countries on Earth?), it makes complete sense to include both countries.

It is also true that both countries have had much a more advanced cell phone infrastructure than the US in particular for a very long time - and if that commonality does have anything to do with the lack of ereaders, then the linkage makes sense again.

[Namekuseijin]

they have the tech and devices, but not the stores.

the irony about mangas is that it is the one comic book format ideally suited for e-ink: the absolute majority are published in B&W...

[speakingtohe]

I can see one reason for putting Japanese and Koreans together the way the OP did: even though the countries are dissimilar socially, they are the two most advanced countries on the globe when it comes to personal and portable electronics.

Interesting. Japan usually makes it high on most lists and Korea is rarely mentioned. Could you cite a few references?

Helen

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Interesting. Japan usually makes it high on most lists and Korea is rarely mentioned. Could you cite a few references?

Helen

Having the world's largest technology company is a pretty big reference. Korea is right on up there next to Japan. Possibly surpassing in some areas.

[lestatar]

^ Yes. Look up LG, Samsung and Hyundai to start.

The heavy penetration into government and the attendant relationship of giant corporate entities with government is quite similar in both Japan and Korea. Singapore not far behind as well.

[speakingtohe]

Yes. Look up LG, Samsung and Hyundai to start.

I am familiar with these companies, have bought numerous products from LG and Samsung.
I just have never thought of them as being leading edge, state of the art or even big into developing new tech. Probably they have been first in the field with quite a few things, but I am afraid I have missed it.

Helen