Information Research Weblog

The trip to Japan ended some time ago - 4th April, to be precise - but my time has been occupied with getting the latest issue of the journal out (see http://InformationR.net/ir/10-3/infres103.html if you haven't seen it yet) and various other things that built up.

I was amused by a very gung-ho article on technology in Japan that appeared while I was there. It gave the impression that technology was king, that everyone was using mobiles for all kinds of purposes, etc., etc.

In fact, I saw fewer people on the street in Tokyo using mobile phones than I do in Sheffield. I was travelling around with a group of four or five Japanese colleagues and I think that only once did I see anyone using a mobile. On a couple of 'bullet train' trips, only one person in the same compartment left to use his mobile on receipt of a call.

As for Internet connection; only one of the four hotels I was in had Internet connection to the rooms - the other three didn't have it at all. I was told of only three Internet cafes in the Ginza area of Tokyo and their paucity was explained to me as being the result of the high telecomms costs.

However, I wasn't there for the technology, and found the visit fascinating, partly because of discovering more about the nature of LIS education and research in the country, partly for the nature of society itself, and partly because of the mixture of ancient and modern in the cities.

If you get an opportunity to go - take it!