Japanese Emerge Into the World Wide Web It is no secret that when it comes to technology, the United States and Japan have been constantly at war. Now that Japan is entering the age of he Internet, this competition is becoming fiercer than ever. The Internet market is beginning to restructure Japan’s economy, and a “ restructured Japan is going to be an immensely powerful competitor in all sorts of markets.” (Rohwer 115) The pricing and availability of Internet access, is one area in which Japan is beginning to excel, soon they will be able to undercut their American competitor in both ways. The sheer amount of products available on the Japanese Internet is growing by leaps and bounds everyday, and the American market will have to catch up, or drop out.Today Japan is gearing itself up for total participation in the Internet market. It’s Internet companies are becoming bigger they have ever been, and even bigger than many American Internet companies. The newest ones are those making all the profit there is to be made in the world of e-commerce. Internet mogul Heroshi Mikitani has recently created a virtual shopping mall called Rakuten . It is comprised of , “ about 2000 stores… and is adding new ones at a rate of 200 a month.” (115) The most shocking thing about the growth of this fairly new company is the fact that it hasn’t even hit he public market yet. It’s opening is scheduled for April.Even though this Internet market is relatively new, more so in Japan, the stocks for these Internet companies are soaring to heights no one could have predicted. NTT Docomo, a Japanese communications company put out a handset that would allow cellular phone users to connect to the Internet. Today, their stocks have risen 300%. This increase is even unexciting when posted next to those of Softbank whose stock rose four times that much with an astounding 1250% increase. Yahoo Japan is...
