Japan's governing body for sumo wrestling is looking to improve communication among clubs by giving out Apple's iPad.
The Financial Times reported Tuesday that the
Japan Sumo Association will distribute iPads to Japan's 51 sumo training "stables." The association hopes that sumo wrestlers, who have generally been slow to adopt modern communications technology, will take to the iPad's intuitive interface and larger touch-screen.
“With faxes you can’t be sure if the message was actually received but with e-mail we can prevent that,” the JSA said. “Plus, you can carry them around.”
Many stablemasters do not use computers, relying instead on fax or telephone to communicate. Wrestlers themselves often have trouble typing messages on keypads with their larger hands.
“When they try to send e-mail on mobile phones or PCs they often end up pressing two or three keys at once," according to the daily Nikkan Sports.
The association plans to spend about 3 million yen (over $35,000) on the iPads, which will also be given to several top JSA officials.
In May, the iPad's
launch in Japan saw a "frenzy" of buyers, some of whom camped out for days to buy the device. At the Apple Store in central Tokyo, about 1200 people lined up for the release. The iPad's success in Japan comes on the heels of the success of the iPod and the iPhone among the Japanese public, a market that's notoriously difficult for overseas technology companies to penetrate.
Topics: iPad. Japan,
