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The garakei, an endangered speciesJapan is among the top 15 countries in the world for internet penetration. As of 2013, about 85% of the Japanese population had access to the internet via a computer or mobile device.

Mobile devices also have very high penetration in Japan. In 2015, there were about 159 million mobile/cellphone subscriptions in Japan, outnumbering the population by an almost incredible 23 million!

However, unlike in neighboring South Korea, for example, where 88% of the population owned a smartphone in 2015, or even China where 58% owned one, only about 40% of the Japanese population owned a smartphone. The remaining 60% (about 95 million phones) were cellphones.

The most popular kind of cellphone in Japan is the featurephone, smarter than the old original Nokia-style brick, but dumber than a smartphone. However, featurephones in Japan come with an array of features and specifications geared to Japanese infrastructure that don't work overseas. For example, years ago, before I got an iPhone, my featurephone provided by au (the mobile provider owned by KDDI, the second biggest carrier in Japan) came with a very convenient built-in Suica function. To go through a railway station turnstile, or pay for a bottle of water at a convenience store or vending machine, I simply swiped my phone instead of a plastic card, and topped up my Suica online.
The Galapagos Islands, the inspiration for the term galakeiFeaturephones with these kinds of Japan-only f...