Tomorrow’s Rainbow: 86-year old Japanese nun writes cell phone novel

Posted on October 5th, 2008 by Serkan Toto

Novels and poetry written, bought and read on cell phones are nothing unusual in mobile phone-crazy Japan.

Now it came to light that Jakucho Setouchi, a 86-year old Buddhist nun has written a long-running cell phone novel series (keitai shousetsu in Japanese) without disclosing her real name for several months.

Setouchi is an accomplished writer and currently lives in a Buddhist temple in Iwate prefecture, Northern Japan. She is well-known for her translation of Tale of Genji, said to be the world's first novel (written in the early 11th century).

The digital love story, which is entitled Ashita No Niji, Tomorrow's rainbow, is the first she has written on a cell phone. Setouchi chose "Purple" as an alias and began writing the novel in May this year. The story was distributed to Japanese cell phone users in several chapters and finally came to an end just this month. You can take a look here [JP].

Japanese publisher Mainichi started selling the digital novel in print form last week. The book, which is priced at 1,050 Yen (10 USD/7.30 Euros) and available at Amazon Japan, for example, is 248 pages long in 19x12.6x 2.4cm format.

Author Information  Dr. Serkan Toto is a German based in Tokyo. Like us, he is passionate about introducing Japanese IT to the rest of the world. Full-time, Serkan works as an independent web industry consultant for hedge funds, venture capital companies and start-ups worldwide. He is also a writer for mega tech blog network TechCrunch, covering Japan-related technology and web trends. This is Serkan's website. Follow Serkan on Twitter here.

Tags: Cellular Phone, Japan, News // 7 Comments »

  • http://www.bakaism.net/2008/10/05/scurte-22/ Bakaism – The Baka Theory

    Robot Hatsune Miku pe bicicleta teleghidata. S-a confirmat un al doilea sezon pentru Wolf and Spice. Orez moe in Akihabara. Zvonuri despre un nou sezon Shakugan no Shana. O calugarita de 86 de aniscrie romanepentru telefoanele mobile (keitai shousetsu). Stingatoare de foc pentru bucataria ta, si ce stingatoare… Oishiku Henkan, site-ul care-ti face pozele cu mancare mai apetisante. Tokyo Toy Show 2008.

  • http://www.blogher.com/omg-call-me-1-hm4-japanese-cell-phone-novel BlogHer

    Setouchi has previously won prestigious literary awards, and recently was named one of Vogue Nippon’s Women of the Year 2008. (I love the picture of her on this page in her purple robe among all the other women in modern dress.) Her novel,Tomorrow’s Rainbow, weaves in elements of the classic Japanese novel Tale of Genji, which she famously translated. I wonder if Setouchi, who at first wrote under the pen name “Purple,” added some sense of legitimacy to the genre, which is perceived as trashy, much like

  • http://forkullet.blogspot.com/2008/12/romaner-p-mobiltelefonen.html Forkullede Tanker

    iltelefon. De er ofte skrevet i samråd med læserne, der kommenterer på romanen efterhånden som den bliver til, og dermed er skriveprocessen ofte ret anderledes end hvad vi traditionelt forestiller os. Det er mest amatører der skriver, men ogsåmeget etablerede forfattere har grebet til tastaturet. Således har den 86-årige buddhistiske nonne, Jakucho Setouchi, skrevet kærlighedsromanen Ashita no niji (morgendagens regnbue) på mobiltelefon. Den er senere udgivet som bog. Kan man japansk, kan den læses gratis her.

  • http://marysoderstrom.blogspot.com/2008/12/are-cell-phone-books-way-fiction-is.html Recreating Eden

    article earlier in The New York Times about the literary phenomenon that is sweeping Japan. Millions of copies have been sold of cell phone stories—usually thumbed in by young women—both on line and in print. Even elderly Buddhist nuns are getting in on theact: an 86 year old published one this fall which has been an instant success. Is this the wave of the future? Is it possible we should forget about Kindle and other e-book formats because this is the real direction books are heading? Or maybe we’ve

  • http://omaniblog.blogs.ie/2008/11/22/writing-a-play-on-my-nokia-e51-mobile-phone/ From Bath to Cork with Baby Grace :: Writing a play on my Nokia E51 mobile phone :: November :: 2008

    [...] Tomorrow’s Rainbow: 86-year old Japanese nun writes cell phone novel – so it looks as if I’m simply catching up with the Japanese. [...]

  • http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=526&doc_id=169583 Internet Evolution – Alan Reiter – Web-Enabled Cellphones Enter the Arts

    [...] the business. An 86-year-old Buddhist nun, who is an accomplished writer and translator, has written a cellphone novel that has been published as a paper [...]

  • http://asiajin.com/blog/2009/07/12/keitai-shousetsu-export-china-to-get-100-japanese-cell-phone-novels/ Asiajin » Keitai Shousetsu export: China to get 100 Japanese cell phone novels

    [...] big web trend from Japan that gained traction in China is now poised to become even bigger: Keitai Shousetsu (cell phone novels). These novels, which are not only being read on cell phones but also written on [...]

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