Local Friends

My train from Tokyo pulled into New Yokohama in the late afternoon. Exiting, I managed to find a bank of public phones and began an unsuccessful attempt to read the instructions.

Using phones is a basic section of any travel guide. Still, I was confounded by the dialing sequence required. Repeatedly, the box would return my coin without making a connection. As my frustration grew, I heard a voice behind me. “Jim-san?”

I turned to see a man I didn’t recognize. He mentioned the name of Arai-san and pointed. Humbled but relieved, I followed his lead to find the smiling face I knew from many California visits. “Arai-san, good to see you!”

He led us to a nearby restaurant where we began the ritual of eating and drinking. First we discussed ZeitNet and moved to other areas of interest for Inno-Micro. As we lubricated our conversation past the usual business topics, the subject of Tamagochi came up.

“Yes, it is very popular in Japan,” he confirmed.

“Not only in Japan,” I added. The small, egg-shaped device was being distributed in the States as well. An electronic toy, the Tamagochi crossed over to the emotional side, requiring frequent attention to keep it going. Young people were tuning into this sense of nurturing.

“What if these could interact with each other? Have play dates!” I queried.

“One could transfer wirelessly to another,” said Arai-san. “They could both be in one Tamagochi egg!”

“A different kind of play date,” I suggested. “If the visitor misbehaved, you’d need a way to kick him out!” We laughed at this strange form of computerized “dating.” Too weird!

Finishing dinner, we said our goodbyes. Having friends in this strange environment gave me a few anchor points, a bit of stability in the swells of cultural oddity. On the trip back to Tokyo, I thought again about the Tamagochi. I likened it to the Pet Rock phenomenon in the U.S., albeit with electronics and software rather than the mere imagination that drove Rock adopters in the 1970s. Programming offered possibilities.

What if these little eggs had some wireless capability, just short-range stuff? They could be little matchmakers in your pocket. I had always been dismayed by the probability that we passed interesting, compatible people every day — making our way through the transit system, along sidewalks, in elevators and restaurants. That “perfect person” could be within arm’s reach and we’d never know it — an opportunity lost.

The Tamagochi could be programmed with our profile information as well as traits we found interesting in other people. A beacon could be sending this out short-range. As matching interests were met, the Tamagochi could beep or vibrate — or even speak: “Hello, hold up a sec!”

Okay, once again I was getting a little ahead of the game. But who knew where all this could take us? With creativity and intelligent programming, the possibilities were — if not endless — certainly wide open. As we approached the second millennium, a new digital life lay ahead.