ACTTJ - Strap(s) on phones
Hey all you silly cell phone strap lovers, who ya gonna call? Ghost Busters!
From ghost detectors to shiitake mushrooms, ultraviolet ray meters to jewels, mobile phone straps are among Japan's most successful consumer products but the trinkets used on them are getting sillier than ever, according to Shukan Asahi (9/1).
There are, according to the Telecommunications Carriers Association, about 93.25 million mobile phones being used in the Japanese market now, making the handheld devices almost a national obsession considering the population is only 126 million.
And a large chunk of users in this country choose to decorate their mobile phones with straps attached to a small loop near the antenna.
"Mobile phone straps first become popular in about 1997. Now, about 70 percent of all mobile phone users across Japan are said to decorate their phones with a strap. They've been popular and unpopular at various times since they first appeared, but I think it's fair to say that they are well and truly part of our lives now," says Atsushi Higuchi, operator of a store in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, that stocks over 10,000 different varieties of mobile phone-related merchandise.
Mobile phone straps were originally created to help their owners remember they were carrying around a mobile phone. Now, however, they've gradually become recognized more for their decorative value.
"The best selling straps at the moment are the ones with silly themes. Customers' tastes tend to differ when it comes to the more sophisticated products, so there are no real stand-outs," Higuchi tells Shukan Asahi.
Ghost Detector mobile phone straps are current hot-sellers, promising to detect any abnormal energy source in the air and shifting into "barrier mode" to protect users from any savage spirits it picks up.
Also making waves are shiitake mushroom mobile straps using authentic 40- to 60-year-old delicacies too small to be sent to pricey ryotei restaurants, but just right to hang off the end of a mobile phone.
"We use shiitake mushrooms of the exact same quality that we would send to ryotei restaurants," Akira Matsumoto, mushroom farmer and developer of the shiitake straps, tells Shukan Asahi. "You can pull them out anywhere and not feel ashamed. These are shiitake mushrooms you can be proud of."
Other popular straps include handmade glass baubles modeled on similar jewelry worn in Mesopotamia in 2500 BC and beads that act as a UV ray checker to let people know to take care when it's sunny.
Surprisingly, buying lots of these straps, especially the pricey ones, are older Japanese.
"Everybody thinks of young people when it comes to mobile phone straps, but rather than schoolkids or people in their 20s, most purchases are made by those with a bit more money, say from their late 30s on. People in their late 20s to early 30s tend not to use straps. Maybe it's because they grew up during the long recession, but they seem to be a bit more practical when it comes to their money," mobile phone merchandiser Higuchi tells Shukan Asahi. "I think mobile phone straps are a sign of the times. During the World Cup, we sold loads of soccer-related straps. Now, we're selling heaps of (Prime Minister Junichiro) Koizumi-related items (because he's going to quit next month). I think we're seeing a growing number of stylish people who like to have a bit of fun while showing that they're also up with what's going on around the world."
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