Japan and the Internet Revolution

Japan and the Internet Revolution challenges the portrait of Japan as a technologically slow-moving nation, lacking in creativity and entrepreneurial spirit.Overcoming the substantial barriers erected by the Japanese government to the introduction of the Internet, promoters and entrepreneurs managed to create a flexible and dynamic Internet society.From a slow start, Japan has emerged as the global leader in the mobile Internet, the host of arguably the strongest nation-specific web-presence in the world, and a country determined to remain near the forefront of the digital revolution.

Ken Coates is Professor of History and Dean, College of Arts and Science, University of Saskatchewan. Carin Holroyd is Associate Professor, Kansai-Gaidai University, Hirakata, Japan.