Kentaro Tohyama is proud of his new iPhone. He stood overnight in line to get it when the device became available in Japan for the first time. But the 29-year-old computer engineer isn't about to part with his made-in-Japan cell phone either.
That kind of cautious response to the July 11 arrival of Apple Inc.'s phone appears common.
The iPhone was welcomed here with long lines of gadget fans. But it's also being seen as shockingly alien to this nation's quirky and closed mobile world, somewhat like the 19th century "black ships" of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry that forced an isolationist Japan to open to the West.