Flashes of Panic

Not enough sleep, not sure if this is coherent.

If you’re Japanese and have a cell phone, which is almost a redundant statement, you have a dangly thingy. I’ve only rarely seen them in America, but everyone has them here (and I’m sure there’s a cute name for them, as well, but I don’t know it.) Look at your cell phone; at one of the corners, there’s a pair of notches which allow for a thin loop of thread to be passed through. That’s where the dangly thingy hangs. You need the dangly thingy to help you fish your tiny and/or light cell phone out of your pocket/purse/backpack; it gives your fingers something to snag. If you’re older, your dangly thingy may just be a short string of beads, or a tasteful medallion or charm. If you’re younger, it could be a stuffed mascot the size of a fist.

My rented Japanese cell phone has been adorned with a stuffed DoCoMoDake, the mascot of NTT DoCoMo, one of Japan’s largest telcos and a sponsor of the championships. It’s supposed to be a mushroom, I guess; it came in a bagful of stuff when I picked up my media credential. (Also included were more useful tools, like the statistics guide.) The phone itself is apparently not on NTT DoCoMo. I’m tempted to leave DoCoMoDake on when I return the phone.

I also caved in and picked up a higher-quality strap for my US phone. It has a red strap that says “Osaka - Kansai” and a small medallion bearing a sponsor logo from Glico, a grocery conglomerate which is apparently another Championships supplier. I can’t find the image on the internet, but it’s all around Osaka; I have a shirt with it as well.

Update: Found the image. The one on my dangly thingy is the same as the billboard; the one on my Mizuno shirt is wearing a Team Japan uniform.