Reading is a big part of daily life in Japan as train, subway, and bus commuting are the standard modes of transportation between work and home. If you live in a large city and commute during the rush hours, 7~9 am & 5~67pm, the transit vehicles are too crowded for a person to unfold a newspaper so pocketbooks and magazines, which fit easily in a briefcase or purse, are common with commuters.

Recently, over the past five years, short stories have been published on the internet with the intended audience being cell phone users. The chapter lengths are based upon a calculation of average reading speed meshed in with average commuter time and illustrations are designed to be displayed on the QVGA screen.

Something the article touched on and I found intriguing was the freedom to read a magazine at a store without a clerk or sign stating "you read, you buy". At any time during the day or night, it is common to see people at the magazine rack in convenient stores reading. Pass the store again 30 minutes later and the same person/people will still be there.