Glossary

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Terms associated with Japanese feature phones.

General[edit | edit source]

  • Keitai: Japanese for "mobile phone." In this context, it is used to refer to Japanese feature phones released during the early 2000s to early 2010s.
    • Keitai games is a shorthand for "Japanese feature phone games." It allows us to differentiate them from "feature phone games," which encompasses Western games and Japanese games.
  • JME (Java Micro Edition): the Java platform, but stripped down to work on a cell phone. I-mode, Yahoo Keitai, and pre-2005 EZweb games run on variations of this platform.
  • BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless): a mobile platform developed by Qualcomm. Post-2005 EZweb games run on this platform.
  • Kisekae: Japanese for "makeover" or "dress-up". In this context, it refers to the customization of the phone's UI (menu, standby screens, etc.)
    • Machiuke: A standby wallpaper which can show other content like the time, news and more.
    • Chaku Uta: A tune which plays during a standby screen.

i-mode[edit | edit source]

Main article: I-mode

  • The the world's first mobile internet service, created in 1999 by NTT DoCoMo.
    • The i-mode website, which hosted storefronts for i-mode keitai games, shut down on November 30, 2021, including the payment services, making the games impossible to purchase. The i-mode service as a whole will shut down on March 23, 2026.
  • I-αppli: applications developed for i-mode devices.
    • DoJa (DoCoMo Java): application environment for i-appli. It is a custom profile of JME. It went up to version DoJa 5.1.
    • Star: a successor to the DoJa application environment. It isn't backwards-compatible with DoJa, but the Star runtime includes a compatibility mode to run DoJa applications. It went up to version Star 2.0.
  • FOMA: this was the name of the 3G services provided by DoCoMo, which coincided with the popular spread of i-mode keitai games.
  • mova: this was the name of the 1~2G services provided by DoCoMo. Some models support i-appli since around 2001.
  • MFi (Melody Format for i-mode): audio format used in DoCoMo phones. Its file extension is .mld.
    • This format can be played through PSMPlayer.
  • Chara-den: avatar on video call screen.
  • Kisekae-Tool, also known as VividUI: a comprehensive skin feature that includes a standby screen, menu, and various icons available.
  • Machi-Chara: avatar on the standby screen and menu.
  • Decomail, also known as Decome: Custom emoji used for messaging.

EZweb[edit | edit source]

Main article: EZweb

  • A mobile internet service created by au (subsidiary of KDDI) in 2001.
    • The EZweb service shut down on March 31, 2022.
  • EZ-appli: applications developed for EZweb devices. They come in two different kinds:
    • EZ-appli (J): From 2001 to 2005, EZ-appli ran on J2ME.
    • EZ-appli (B): From 2005 onwards, EZ-appli applications suddenly switched to BREW. The vast majority of EZweb keitai games run on BREW.
  • SMAF (Synthetic music Mobile Application Format): audio format developed by Yamaha, used in au and SoftBank phones. Its file extension is .mmf.
    • This format can be played using Yamaha MidRadio or MCP-MA7.

Yahoo! Keitai (FKA J-SKY, Vodafone Live!)[edit | edit source]

Main article: Yahoo! Keitai

  • Originally called J-SKY, a mobile internet service created by J-PHONE. In 2003, British telecom company Vodafone bought a majority stock in J-SKY and renamed the service to Vodafone Live! In 2006, SoftBank bought all of Vodafone's Japanese telecom operations, changing the name to Yahoo! Keitai. The service shut down on.
    • Due to these name changes and the service's two-word name, these games are often colloquially referred to as SoftBank games.
  • J-SKY Appli: applications developed for J-SKY devices. The official name is Java™ Appli.
  • V-Appli: applications developed for Vodafone live! devices.
  • S!Appli: applications developed for Yahoo! Keitai devices (under their SoftBank naming iteration).
    • S!Appli run on MIDP J2ME with some custom API, making them closer to base JME than DoJa.
  • SMAF (Synthetic music Mobile Application Format): audio format developed by Yamaha, used in au and SoftBank phones. Its file extension is .mmf.
    • This format can be played using Yamaha MidRadio or MCP-MA7.

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