I left Japan in 2008. Phones had had cameras long enough that the makers had to add the can’t-turn-it-off shutter sound because so many chikan were taking upskirt photos on public transport.
Less salaciously, there was also panic about people taking pictures of magazine articles in bookstores and then not buying the magazine. Not sure anyone really would have tried to read an article on those tiny screens, though.
I left Japan in 2008. Phones had had cameras long enough that the makers had to add the can’t-turn-it-off shutter sound because so many chikan were taking upskirt photos on public transport.
Less salaciously, there was also panic about people taking pictures of magazine articles in bookstores and then not buying the magazine. Not sure anyone really would have tried to read an article on those tiny screens, though.
Phones with cameras =/= Smartphones.
Not sure what you were trying to say with your comment, nothing you wrote is relevant to Smartphones not existing in the early 00s.