Internet research company Ishare reported [J] that new phone call “manner” emerging, especially among young women in Japan. 40.7% of female and 19.9% male answered that they ask if they can call others by cellphone e-mail. (n=556)
So, those people make an appointment for telephone call by e-mail. The reasons they do that are;
- to assure that the other end is not working
- because the receiver’s job is the job distracted by phone call
- because the other has a baby at home
- when calling late night, when most people are sleeping
- to confirm that the receiver is not on train
- because the other side may not be able to ignore phone ring (and ought to take it even when it is not a good timing for them)
The reason for train one, in most settings in Japan, talking over cellphone on train is either prohibited, or voluntary ban requested.
There are also other reasons than caring the other end;
- the other person does not like telephone
- want the other take his/her call for sure
- as it is the manner
- because it is recent trend
Not only on trains, but also on sidewalks, there are not many Japanese making cellphone call if you compare it with other countries like U.S.
General atmosphere let people refrain from talking loud publicly might be boosted by handy cellphone e-mail environment. And that made Japanese feature phones and carriers plans be more e-mail oriented, like flat-rate e-mail programs, emoji and decome(decoration mail) support.
