MacDirectory in Japan
Photography and text by Ric Getter

A young high school student boards the subway train at the Karasuma-Oike Station in central Kyoto. She pulls the narrow, pink cell phone out of her uniform pocket, holds it in her palm and begins tapping the keypad with her thumb.

A tiny Hello Kitty dangles from the phone's color-coordinated lanyard. She could be checking the weather report or browsing movie schedules on the web, but the range of expressions that cross her face as she works the keys suggest that she is probably reading her email. It might be the latest gossip from her girlfriends, or a note from someone special.

Even though it's the middle of the evening and the car isn't particularly crowded, there are at least three other people reading or writing on their phones. If they are not there already, cell phones are rapidly becoming Japan's most popular tool for accessing e-mail and the web.