Japan's New Literary Genre: Cell Phone Novels

Well, not yet. But with the prevalence of cell phone novels in Japan these days, it seems like it already is. It all started when web site Maho no i-rando thought of bring a new spin to Japanese teens writing novels in their blogs. Cell phone novels consist of aggregated short blurbs uploaded via cell phone to web sites where people can get them for free. Last year, it was such a hit that the number 5 bestseller of 2007 in Japan was a hardbound copy of a cell phone novel by 21-year-old Rin (the girl on the pic). The success of cell phone novels could be attributed to the manga genre (comic book) since their plots are of the same nature. Tapping away in one's cell phone though means each update for the novel would be short and primarily consisting of dialogues. Cell phone novels are usually written in first person POV to give readers the illusion of reading a diary.