MOBILE PHONES

IT IS INDISPUTABLE THAT MOBILE PHONES ARE A FACT OF LIFE. PEOPLE CAN BE SEEN AND HEARD USING THEM AT ALMOST ANY TIME IN ALMOST ANY PLACE. IN FACT, IT SOMETIMES SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE HOW WE ONCE GOT ON WITHOUT THEM. YET, IN JAPAN, ONE OF THE COUNTRIES WHICH GAVE THE WORLD THE MOBILE PHONE, PEOPLE ARE NOW BEGINNING TO REALISE THAT THIS NOISY INVENTION COULD BE A THREAT TO THEIR ANCIENT CULTURAL VALUES. JAPANESE PEOPLE ARE GENERALLY NOT TOLERANT OF LOUD NOISES. DRIVERS DO NOT HOOT IN ANGER. CAR ALARMS ARE SILENT. PEOPLE DO NOT SHOUT IN PUBLIC AND STRANGERS RARELY TALK TO ONE ANOTHER. SOCIAL HARMONY IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND JAPANESE SOCIETY EXPECTS MOBILE PHONES USERS TO MANTAIN THAT SOCIAL HARMONY.

INSTRUCTION MANUALS IN JAPAN ADVISE MOBILE PHONE USERS TO PUT THE PHONE ON VIBRATE OR MESSAGE MODE WHILE TRAVELLING ON A TRAIN. IN TOKYO THE USE OF MOBILE PHONE IS PROHIBITED ON CITY BUSES AND THE UNDERGROUND. IF A CUSTOMER'S PHONE RINGS IN SOMRE RESTAURANTS, THE WAITER WILL POLITELY ASK THEM TO TAKE THEIR CALL IN A SPECIAL ROOM FOR PHONE CONVERSATIONS. IN OTHER RESTAURANTS OR BARS, THERE ARE SIGNS ASKING COSTUMERS TO TURN OFF THEIR MOBILE PHONES.

IN SPITE OF THIS,PEOPLE ARE UNWILLING TO SWITCH OFF THEIR PHONES. SO WILL THE MOBILE PHONE DESTROY TRADITIONAL VALUES WHICH HAVE LASTED OF YEARS? PERHAPS NOT. HELP HAS COME FROM A VERY UNUSUAL SOURCE-- THE MOBILE PHONES COMPANIES THEMSELVES. THEY HAVE LAUNCHED A COMPAIGN AIMED AT THE MORALS OF MOBILE PHONES USERES. THEY HAVE PUT UP ADEVRETS WITH MESSAGES LIKE:"EVERYBODY ON THE TRAIN CAN HEAR WHAT YOU WOULDN'T TELL YOUR MOTHER". SO WILL THIS COMPAIGN MAKE JAPANESE PEOPLE RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO USE THEIR MOBILES IN PUBLIC PLACES? THAT STILL REMAINS TO BE SEEN.