A study on Japanese mobile phone market and its applications

The prevalence of Internet-capable mobile phones in Japan, since first services were introduced in 1999, is so significant that a new culture or lifestyle is being created. Under these circumstances, various companies and universities have launched many projects utilizing mobile phones. This article discusses current technological trends, the mobile phone market in Japan, and mobile applications in general. Our health monitoring and management system using mobile phones, supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan, is described as an example of such newly enabled applications.