The iPad launches officially in Japan on May 28, but like lots of countries around the world, jet setters and government members already have them before local stores do.
Apple’s new device hasn’t been declared street legal by Japan’s communication authorities yet so, much like in Israel whose iPad “ban” got supermodel Bar Rafaeli into trouble, until it’s been officially cleared for use, elites who have them must pretend not to use them.
Case in point: Japan’s telecoms minister, Kazuhiro Haraguchi, “borrowed” an iPad from Marc Benioff, customer service exec at Salesforce.com, while visiting the US in May. Haraguchi however, clarified via Twitter that “I’m not illegally using the iPad in Japan.”
So he’s “borrowed” an iPad. But isn’t using it? Or isn’t doing anything illegal by using it? The issue, as the Wall Street Journal explains it, is a niggling one, at best:
Under Japan’s Radio Act, every wireless communication device has to carry a logo to prove that it’s up to snuff. The logo is usually printed on a label attached to the device, but it’s also fine if the device can show the logo on its display. The iPads currently sold in the U.S. meet Japanese standards, but the fact that they are missing this Japan-specific logo, either on its body or display, technically outlaws using the device on Wi-Fi in Japan, says the telecoms ministry.
So much ado about a compliance sticker, but there’s some justice in the fact that while they can obtain must-have tech like the iPad before the plebes at least they can’t flaunt it while the rest of us wait or draw blood on eBay.
