Per an article on Galley Cat – reading is on the rise in Japan among 10-20 year old girls (normally one of the least likely groups to actually read) due to a new format: the cell phone novel.
Yes, really. Short novels are being written in 70 word installments available for download on cell phones, which of course every girl in that age group has. And apparently these things are selling in the millions. I’m guessing the installments come as text messages, but I could be wrong.
I must be getting old. I can’t imagine reading a book that way.
Stumble It!
Multimedia and Internet cell phone services are very, very common in Japan. Lots of people watch TV and movies and surf the net whenever they take buses or trains (or simply anywhere). Those books are in some format of ebooks, by the way.
(Sorry about my bad grammer…I’m from Taiwan, not Japan.)