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"FORTUNE &amp;#8212; Despite Japan\u2019s \u201Cdefault-setting-for-the future\u201D status, coined by Sci-fi writer William Gibson, time on this rocky archipelago appears to be headed backwards. Kerosene is replacing nuclear energy; deflation, not inflation, is still rife; and, publishers are clinging energetically to print when, in neighboring South Korea, it seems to have been abandoned altogether.\nWhy have Japanese consumers not fallen in love with digital reading? &amp;#8220;So far the Japanese have failed to be moved by e-readers from home or abroad, mostly owing to a paucity of content,&amp;#8221; says editor and publisher of Japan&amp;#8217;s E-book 2.0 magazine Hiroki Kamata. Sony \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSNE\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t, for instance, has been in the market for more than seven years but has sold only 500,000 e-readers in Japan.\u00A0Other manufacturers&amp;#8217; tablets have begun to sell here, but overall the category is still way behind e-reader take-up in the U.S. or Europe. Tablet sales have tripled since 2011, with market research firm IDC estimating tablet sales in Japan to be 3.6 million units.\nJapanese consumers still seem dead set against adopting e-books, showing less interest in them than even the print-worshipping French. According to an R.R. Bowker study, 72% of Japanese consumers said they had not tried e-books and did not want to try them. That compares with 66% of French respondents polled. Overall adoption rates in Japan remain the lowest in the developed world. Only 8% of Japanese readers have downloaded and paid for an e-book compared with 20% in the U.S.\nMORE:\u00A0Bill Gurley: The sage of Silicon Valley\nTokyo based e-publisher Robin Birtle notes that Japan is at least five years behind the West in terms of digitization. He says Japanese tastes may simply be different. \u201CThe Japanese do like to have something physical,\u201D he says.\u00A0That might explain why although Japan has some of the fastest Internet connections in the world and on-demand services, packaged, physical media such as DVDs still remains popular.\nJapan has also been slow in getting the machinery of Japanese e-books whirring. There are just 40,000 titles available in most digital bookstores. &amp;#8220;Publishers are indifferent to, or even hate, digital things. Mainly because of excessive commitment to traditional print book distribution,\u201D explains Kamata.\u00A0Japanese publishers are said to fear losing their long-held privilege of dictating prices. Amazon&amp;#8217;s \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAMZN\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t arrival &amp;#8212; its first Japanese Kindle arrived late last year &amp;#8212; notwithstanding, the publishing revolution appears stalled. Aya Murota, an analyst for the Tokyo office of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, says it is difficult for Japan to change. \u201CJapanese publishing companies are very traditional. Many of them are reluctant to change their whole business structure,\u201D she says.\nMuch as elsewhere in the world, the battle over Japanese books is shaping up along conventional lines. Amazon is feeling pressure from Google \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGOOG\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t and Apple \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAAPL\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t, both of which are poised to open e-bookstores for Japanese readers. The launch of Kobo e-reader, which is owned by Japanese company Rakuten, last July was marred by software issues.\nMORE:\u00A0Apple iWatch leaks: Why now?\nCompetition may emerge from an unexpected corner. \u201CWhether or not a significant third player emerges is an interesting question. Apple are always a threat, and Microsoft&amp;#8217;s \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMSFT\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t investment in Barnes and Noble\u00A0\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBKS\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t may be enough to underwrite overseas expansion beyond Europe,\u201D explains Birtle. \u201DThe company to watch, though, is NTT Docomo \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDCM\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t &amp;#8212; Japan&amp;#8217;s leading mobile network provider.\u201D Recently the telecom giant announced it would be going head to head with Amazon in March with its own tablet the &amp;#8220;dtab&amp;#8221; &amp;#8211; priced lower than the Japanese Kindle.\nSo, so far it&amp;#8217;s tablets galore for the Japanese market. But with such meagre offerings in the way of content from the Japanese publishers, it will take more than shiny new gadgets to lure Japan\u2019s avid readers away from their paper."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://fortune.com/2013/02/11/why-japanese-readers-dont-like-e-books/>