世論 What Japan Thinks

One of the first things you notice about Japanese mobile phones is that they are often very compact and light. The next thing you notice is that many, many people offset that compactness by loading, if not overloading, their phones with straps of all kinds, from Hello Kitty to Chanel-themed decorations via, well via just about everything under the sun. From young to old, vain pretty boys to sober-suited salarymen, grannies to gals, they all share a common bond of mobile phone straps.

I am no exception to this trend; here’s my phone:

What’s there: Miffy 50th Anniversary Special Edition strap; Kato-chan (some famous comedian, I hear) in a crab suit; Hello Kitty Kobe Airport airplane strap; Hello Kitty Kobe Weather-Cock House strap (her cock has long since fallen off, as it were, although Aeroplane Kitty’s cock is still intact); UK beefeater bear strap; Ghibili’s My Neighbour Totoro (Tonari no Totoro) family of Totoros, and the newest and fattest addition to my zoo, Monokuro Boo cubic piggie with built-in screen-cleaning bum. Notice also that my phone wallpaper is Rilakkuma, or Relax Bear, another cute beastie from the San-X (adult-oriented Sanrio) menagerie, and a creature I do want to buy as a cell phone strap sometime! Note that a lot of San-X character wallpaper and other PC-oriented media can be downloaded for free from their official site. You know you’ve been in Japan too long when you’re not just not embarrassed to have a multitude of mobile phone straps, you’re quite proud to flourish your danglies for all to see. Personally, the only drawback of this cute overload is that two straps have bells attached, so furtive phoning is out of the question!

Strapya Top 10

Let’s look at what’s currently selling well at Strapya - please click on the pictures to visit the product pages:

Rank	Picture	Description	Kawaii/Kakkoii (cute/cool) factor
1		Of course it would have to be Hello Kitty! What can I say of her that hasn’t been said before? Here she is as Rock and Roll Kitty
2		Cool Samurai charms and figures
3		Glow-in-the-dark sand in a small bottle - original!
4		Another strange item, make your own cake strap!
5		Hello Kitty again, this time jewels for decorating your mobile phone or your Nintendo DS
6		Your own personalized strap, with many choices of design from laser-cut metal to wooden tablets
7		Make your own roll sushi with this easy-to-use kit.
8		I’m a huge Ghibli fan, so these Totoro and other character straps are my favourites!
9		Older Sanrio characters from classic Hello Kitty to Seven Silly Dwarves!
10		Still in stock, the 2009 fukubukuro, a lucky bag filled to the brim with assorted straps!

In Japan there is, of course, no shortage of ways to obtain these cell phone straps; as well as the mobile phone shops, many other types of store carry them, and even drinks, both soft drinks and alcoholic ones, often give away a free mascot character strap with purchases of their product. In the West, however, the most convenient way to purchase is from online shops like the aforementioned Strapya, with whom I have had very satisfactory personal dealings. Even if your mobile phone doesn’t have a suitable strap mounting point, they can easily be hung from bags, etc using the loops in zips, for instance.