• 1001 BYMRBYD Challenge
  • About Zee
  • Book Challenges 2010
  • Rory Gilmore Reading List
  • Zee’s Book Reviews

Wordly Obsessions

~ … the occasional ramblings of a book addict …

Wordly Obsessions

Tag Archives: Cellphone novels

Go Digital | Japan’s ‘Cell Phone’ Literature

24 Tuesday Aug 2010

Posted by mywordlyobsessions in Book News

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Cellphone novels, japan


Kindle, Ipad, Sony Pocket Reader?… E-books are already a thing of the past, as Japan leads the way in the latest digital book craze : Cellphones.

Cellphone, or ‘Mobile Phone’ novels (keitai shousetsu) are the first literary genre to emerge from the cellular age via text messaging. The stories are written chapter by chapter in SMS, and broadcast instantly to its’ readership. The first cellphone novel to be published was ‘Deep Love’ in 2003 by young online writer Yoshi. Since then the popularity of the genre has risen and its most avid readership are teenage High School students.

Cellphone novels are mainly written and read largely by females. Among its’ most successful authors are single mothers and students whose stories have gone on to be published in print and even turned into Manga and anime. ‘Sky of Love’, another immensely popular novel, was made into a film in 2008.

The story that moved 11 million readers to tears, ‘Sky of Love’ is about a girls’ three stormy years in high school. Mika doesn’t know much about love, but one day she begins receiving phone calls from a boy and is gradually drawn to him. When they finally get to meet, everything seems like heaven, but trouble is soon brewing on the horizon. – Yahoo Movies

So, what’s the secret of this hybrid genre? Why is it causing such a stir in the Far East? Will it ever be part of Western culture? To answer the first question one must look at the dynamics of Japanese society. Cellphones are one of the most popular accessories in Japan, and since it is a country that sets the trend in technology for the rest of the world; it is only natural that something like this should emerge here.

There is also the question of reading habits, the whole manga/ anime tradition lends itself very neatly to the idea of ‘txt msg’ novels, as they are mostly image based and very expressive. Images are big in Japan, and I for one was amazed to discover that the Japanese were very keen on their emoticons. The average western cellphone has on average 20 pre-installed emoticons, which is enough to convey how we feel to one another. In Japan the creation of emoticons and smilies is a serious business which rakes in millions of dollars per year. This just goes to show how important cellphones are in Japan. 

Following on with the ‘hybrid’ genre theory, cellphone novels remind me of when I used to write fan-fiction. Although it has now almost disappeared (replaced by ‘Twitterature’ which is totally alien to me – and anyhow, how can a story be told in 140 words??), ‘fan fic’ was as otaku as I got back in the day. It was a great feeling to be a ‘pirate author’ of sorts, writing about my favourite characters especially having the power to re-write some of the stories. There was a real feeling of community as we fellow ‘fan fic’ authors read each others work and supported one another on forums. OK, it was a little illegal, underground and secretive, but that was the whole fun of it! 

I can honestly say that fan fiction was my first foray into writing, as it helped me cut my teeth as an author and taught me some valuable lessons through trial and error. Before that, I was just a static reader. Writing opened up a whole other world, as I realised how hard it was to string a story together. Therefore ‘cellphone novels’ have that plus side to them, where you write something and publish it fearlessly to the world, leaving you wide open to responses. The whole appeal of it is that everyone (regardless of age or background) could get their story to an audience.

 However, one thing I probably don’t agree with is the terrible lack of grammar. I keep thinking, ‘how does someone write without proper punctuation and spelling?’ It’s not a good example, but the limited space of an SMS doesn’t exactly allow for long-winded descriptions either. I’m hoping that maybe when the novels get printed, the publishers sort out these grammar issues.

Hmm… will it ever take on in the West? To be absolutely honest, I don’t know. There are some things so Eastern that it never gets to see the light of day over here. The Japanese have their own quirks that sometimes don’t gel with our tastes. But the published ‘cellphone’ novels are already being sold on Ipad and Kindle, so maybe at least we’ll get to see what all the fuss is about!

So what do you think? Have you written a ‘cellphone novel’? Is it a good or bad in terms of the future of the writing industry?

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Pocket
  • More
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

RSS Links

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

RSS Feed RSS - Comments

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 635 other followers

Blog Stats

  • 335,562 hits

My Visitors

free counters

Recent Posts

Top Posts

  • Book Review | 'Veronika Decides To Die' - Paulo Coelho
  • Famous Quotes | Edgar Allan Poe
  • Book Review | 'Rape: A Love Story' by Joyce Carol Oates
  • 'The Diary of A Young Girl' by Anne Frank
  • Book Review | ‘The Devil and Miss Prym’ – Paulo Coelho
  • Book Review | 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • 10 Things You Should Know About Edgar Allan Poe
  • Book Review | 'The Room' by Hubert Selby Jr.
  • Book Review | 'The Diary of a Nobody' by George Grossmith
  • Quick Review | 'Sputnik Sweetheart' - Haruki Murakami

The best of the best of the best…

Bookish tweets

  • @PrestonSNorton My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix 1 day ago
  • @ChrisEvans My favourite scene 😂😂 That and the line #CSIKFC. HILARIOUS! 1 week ago
  • RT @Epic_Women: If you don`t understand my silence, then you don`t deserve my words. 1 week ago
  • RT @Epic_Women: When you choose to forgive those who have hurt you, you take away their power. 1 week ago
  • RT @om_eye_goodness: last year, i went on a date with a dude and when i told him i was reading Animal Farm again, he laughed obnoxiously fo… 1 week ago
Follow @WordlyObsession

Pinning stuff on boards is fun!

Follow Me on Pinterest

What’s on the Shelf?

Reading Wishlist!!

WP Book Bloggers List

For finding things…

50 books a year 1001 book list angela carter audiobook Benjamin Lebert book challenge book review books che guevara childrens fiction chinua achebe comic books crazy Dr. Gonzo dystopian edgar allan poe fantasy fear and loathing Fiction frankenstein goodreads gothic fiction Grapes of Wrath gustave flaubert Haruki Murakami hubert selby jr humour hunter s thompson ian fleming Indian literature Its monday what are you reading? japan japanese japanese horror story jm coetzee John Steinbeck Jorge Luis Borges kazuo ishiguro kurt vonnegut l. frank baum literary fiction literature liz jensen love story meme midnights children oscar wilde Paul Auster peter ackroyd poetry readalong religion roberto bolano Robert Rankin romance rory gilmore reading list rum diary ryu murakami salman rushdie science fiction short story stephen king sylvia plath teaser tuesday the motorcycle diaries the rapture Tokyo toni morrison Top Ten Tuesday United States ursula le guin virginia woolf war wondrous words wednesday writing

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
%d bloggers like this: