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ALC Newsletter No. 073 11/29/07
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By the International Marketing Team at ALC Press
http://www.alc.co.jp/international
Contents:
1) The "Dear Readers" Column: Messages from the International Marketing Team at ALC Press
2) Japan in Numbers #20: 70.8
3) Quiz on Japan #12: "What did married women used to do to show they were married?"
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Dear Readers,
Greetings from Tokyo!
We are currently offering the Special Advertising Package for
ESL Programs, which includes print ad as well as PC and
mobile-phone website ads. Inclusion of your school in ALC's
SIM in Second Life is an added attraction. For detailed information,
please go to:
http://www.alc.co.jp/international/CampusADPackage.html
Should you have any questions about the advertising package,
please e-mail us at <intsales@alc.co.jp>.
Best wishes from the International Marketing Team at ALC Press.
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Japan in Numbers #20: 70.8
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Sometimes, numbers can show us different aspects of the world.
Let's look into a number that might overturn, or confirm, the
impression you have of Japan!
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Today's number is ... 70.8 [ percentage of cellphone users ]
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We mentioned the high percentage of cellphone users in Japan in
ALC Newsletter No. 17 issued on August 3, 2005. In the more than
two years that have passed since then, cellphone has become an
essential item in our daily life. To understand how important the cell
phone has become in Japan, let's take a look at the Trend Survey of
Telecommunications of December 2006, issued by the Ministry of
Internal Affairs and Communications.
The percentage of cellphone users is 70.8 percent, and surpasses
the 55.6 percent of PC users. More than 90 percent of people in
their 20's, 30's and 40's use cellphones. The elderly also show a
high percentage ─ about 50 percent of people in their 60's and 30
percent in their 70's use cellphones. But what do people do with
their cellphones? ─ The answer is look at the "Internet." More and
more people, especially the younger generation, are tending to
access the Internet from their cellphones rather than their PC's.
And now a new cultural phenomenon, the "cellphone novel" has
sprung up in the cellphone Internet world. The cellphone novel is
a type of novel that anybody can write and submit to a special site.
The writers usually don't have professional writing techniques, and
the stories tend to be inspired by each writer's daily life. As a result,
the episodes seem familiar to the readers, most of whom are
teenage girls.
Some of the cellphone novels have been so popular that they have
been issued as books or made into movies. "Koi-zora (Love Sky)" is
the latest cellphone novel hit to become a book and a movie.
The whole story consists of two books, and they have sold nearly
two million copies in total. The movie has been at the top of the box
office charts for three weeks in a row since it was released. With
cellphones becoming more important than ever, we'll probably see
more new aspects of cellphone culture generated in the coming years.
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Quiz on Japan #12:
"What did married women used to do to show they were married?"
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How much do you know about Japan? We'll give you a quiz in each
issue, so try to find the right answer!
［Answer to last week's quiz］
Last week's quiz question was "Who are the "Internet cafe refugees"?
The answer is: (d) People who constantly stay in Internet cafes, because
they don't have anywhere else to live. The term "Internet cafe refugees"
usually refers to people who don't have or can't get a regular job and
constantly use Internet cafes, as if they were their place of residence.
It's now becoming a social
problem, so we'll cover the topic soon in the newsletter!
Quiz for this week: Most people now wear a wedding ring to show that
they're married. But in ancient times in Japan, what did married women
do to show that they were married?
(a) Shave off their eyebrows
(b) Let their toenails grow long
(c) Paint their teeth black
(d) Paint the edge of their bangs red
Check out the correct answer in the next issue!
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Thank you for reading!
*Back issues of the ALC Newsletter are available at:
http://www.alc.co.jp/international/Newsletter.html
*If you wish to be removed from this newsletter or change the e-mail
address to which it is sent, please let us know by e-mailing us at:
intl-mag@alc.co.jp
Publisher: ALC Press, Inc.
2-54-12 Eifuku, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 168-8611 Japan
Writers: The International Marketing Team at ALC Press / Ayako Ishimoto
Editor: The International Marketing Team at ALC Press
Copyright (c) 2007 ALC Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
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