Residents of Japan may be shocked to learn they are technically violating the country's Radio Law by connecting computers, smartphones and tablets that have been purchased outside of Japan to domestic WiFi sites. Although legislation says such violations are punishable by up to a year ...

The battle for point card supremacy in loyalty programs is hotting up across the country, causing consumers to express concern over privacy issues as a growing number of companies get in on the act. Franchises have been running loyalty programs for more than a decade ...

An online stunt by a student activist who poked fun at the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over its decision to call for a snap election has highlighted the advantage young people have in using social media to push their own political agenda. On ...

Although very few smartphone apps made in Japan have managed to take the world by storm, one that has is CocoPPa. Made by Japanese company United, Inc., the app allows users to customize the design of not only their smartphone wallpaper but also the ...

Manga is a central part of Japanese pop culture, appealing not only to kids but also to salarymen and women on their daily commute. Even former Prime Minister Taro Aso declared his love for the medium. If you think smartphones have replaced these comics as ...

Two widely reported Web stories this year have been related to online-services fraud. One concerns online banking, the other account-hacking on a smartphone messenger service. If you use the online services of Japanese banks, you may have noticed that their websites have become decorated with ...

Social-game apps on smartphones have become a massive market, and every year another new mega-hit game emerges with players in the multimillions. The games themselves are usually free to play, but staggering profits generated by optional in-game purchases have made the makers of these ...

Smartphones are everywhere now, and their diffusion has spread from adults to students in high school, then junior high and now even elementary school. The trend has led to the question: When and how should kids use smartphones? Parents, of course, are battling with this ...

Although it has now been surpassed by the United States, Japan was once the world's largest market for e-books, thanks to the early success of the cellphone-content business. But in today's competitive market, e-book sellers disappear every few months, leaving consumers to wonder whether ...