Korea's "PC bang" craze hits Japan

Korea's "PC bang" craze is drifting to Japan

By CNN's Kristie Lu Stout

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- The Japanese prefer to access information on-the-go with their mobile phones, but that might be changing thanks to a northern neighbor -- South Korea.

Korea has over 25,000 Net cafes or "PC bangs." Each of them posts up to 70 percent occupancy every day until 2am in the morning.

In the last few months, Korea's Net craze has migrated to Japan, a country better known for its wireless infrastructure than its broadband sprawl.

Japan's high-speed test drive

"Broadband is not yet spread out in Japan," says Koichi Ichikawa, a marketing manager who oversees the Yahoo! Café in Tokyo.

"So we use optic fiber, ADSL, cable television and also the newest PCs to provide those to the customers for free so they can have an experience with new broadband technology."

Yahoo!'s first Internet café in the world is located in Tokyo's chic Harajuku district. Offering free Internet access, the café draws in over 400 surfers a day.

But Yahoo! is not the only one with the PC bang bug. There's also Necca, a café run by a unit of Korea's Samsung group.

"The name Necca is actually short for Network Culture Communication Area," says Necca CEO Hitoshi Kusuoka.

"It's a place where you can give end users an experience with broadband, online games and chat."

For 500 yen an hour, surfers at Necca can enjoy computer games and international calls. The café has over 100 PCs, each wired for fast speeds.

Marketing base in Japan

For Samsung, Necca is its de facto marketing base in Japan -- a testing ground to see when Japan's narrowband audience is ready for an upgrade.

But simply copying the Korean model may not be enough to make it in Japan, where there's a wide array of entertainment options.

So operators acknowledge they have to stay competitive to keep the customers surfing. Necca plans to offer free computer classes as it opens 10 more cafes by next year.