With week to go, iPhone fans start queuing in Japan

Wouldn't it have to be at least two people to be a queue? Right now it's just one guy hanging out on the sidewalk.

aw love the flip phones :'(

Hope entering of Docomo will lead to unlocking of iPhones legally :-)

Apple fans know what's good.

Can't you just reserve one online then go in and pick it up? Just silly loners looking for attention.

It'll be interesting to see if NTT docomo will offer a protective case for the iPhone 5S that include an NFC radio/antenna subsystem so the phone is compatible with the Osaifu-Keitai mobile payment system developed by NTT docomo.

What a waste of time.

Seriously this will make your life better? You obviously don't have a job!

To be so enthused by a phone is just ridiculous.

Reminds me of junkies desperate for their next fix. Pathetic. Get a life -- preferably one without a mobile crutch.

“Being here gets my adrenaline going,” Is he cold-blooded or something? “I am using up my annual leave to be here” baka

Just from the headline you can hear it, can't you? "Baaaaaaaaaaaa.... b-b-baaaaaaaaaaaaa".

“Being here gets my adrenaline going,” Tamura said. “I am using up my annual leave to be here, but getting the first handset will make it all worth it.”

Moron.

People still craving for iphones? This is not a technology thing, it is a fashion one-upmanship thing. At the 'kindergarten playground' izakaya, this 'child' can boast to the OLs that he spent his annual leave queuing up for this.

He's 44!? What a loser!

Wow, why the hell would you wait in line for a week for anything apple makes?

Must be nice to be a NEET.

worth going to the store and having a look at this loser?

i won't be surprised if he is in the payroll of softbank/apple.

worth going to the store and having a look at this loser?

Yeah, with a bucket of water.

Get a girlfriend pal, they're more fun.

A brief description of IP5s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oprUI6nupfc ...lol

" “I am using up my annual leave to be here, but getting the first handset will make it all worth it.”

L・O・S・E・R

Tamura-kin wouldn't by any chance be single, would he? When the very first iPhone came out, I can somewhat understand the excitement, maybe even some queing. Now? Come on...

Better to use your yuukyu at an onsen - some good food, beautiful scenery, relaxing times. But each to his own, I guess...

Reminds me of the time I drove by one of the electronics outlets in my country a day in December, just to watch the poor people queuing in below zero C weather for days waiting to get a Wii.

wow...anyone camping out to grab the latest blah or see some Celebrity really need to get a life. sad, people are now so obsessed like this freakn zombies! lol. I hate apple company

Look at all that nice equipment. He should use his annual leave to go on a real camping trip outside the city.

Why waiting for something which is much of the same? The moment he turns on his phone he'll experience this moment of deja-vu ....the only exciting moments I ever experienced with an iphone was when I got my 3g after years of horrible phones and the second time was when I jail broke it. After that nothing much happend...except evolution. It turned the iphone into the recent 5, which was and is the final form of its evolution...the new processor of the 5s is just wasted speed....what kind of multi tasking can you do on a 4 inch screen?

How come Samsung never gets so many people queuing for their new stuff?

How come Samsung never gets so many people queuing for their new stuff?

Dunno. Maybe they're in a different line queuing for their welfare checks?

Reminds me of the time I drove by one of the electronics outlets in my country a day in December, just to watch the poor people queuing in below zero C weather for days waiting to get a Wii.

Reminds me of when I waited to get a Wii in Osaka. Went early morning and only waited for about a half-hour before they gave me a reservation ticket. When I went back with my ticket there was an entirely new queue of people waiting including another gaijin who was all excited. Apparently the store didn't bother to tell them they already gave out reservation tickets for all their Wiis!

How come Samsung never gets so many people queuing for their new stuff?

Because people buying Samsung stuff aren't idiots waiting in line for one week.

iLoser

How come Samsung never gets so many people queuing .......

Apple owners have shown a loyalty to a company, bordering on religion, look how many people show up when the pope rides into town, even though his message is still each time the same old one...

Wow, get a life. This is just sad.

Funny how he's waiting a week or more outside to get the 5S, but didn't bother to buy the iPhone 5. He's still using iPhone 4. 5 and 5s, they're practically identical!

The new iPhone still does not beat the Samsung Galaxy S4 or Sony Xperia Z.

I am using up my annual leave to be here

Now this is one man with a high IQ

Every news show will be out to interview this guy....when they pan back to the studio the comments will be 'sugoi ne'....but what they'll really be thinking is 'what an idiot'.

How come Samsung never gets so many people queuing for their new stuff?

Dunno. Maybe they're in a different line queuing for their welfare checks?

How does that even make sense?

Meanwhile his wife and four kids sit at home waiting for their heroic father. I guess this is not the case, but who knows? This is truly a sad story. Won't the impending typhoon spoil his wait? Possibly for a major star's concert ticket, but for a phone? hmm? repeated a thousand times!!

iSheep. Pssh.

Only Apple makes people so loyal. Proof of how good iDevices are. No other brand makes that. Expect the line to grow longer as the release date gets near.

Come on folks, why the stupid loyalty with the iPhones. Those phones have fallen so much behind the curve it's getting ridiculous. Do Japanese iSheeps even realize that Apple is now forcing DoCoMo to sell 40% of its phones as iPhones? This means better phones will not be promoted as well just so that DoCoMo can hit its iPhone targets and commitments to Apple. Wake up people. apple is an arrogant and powerful company like the Heike was back in the day.

lol! @mataka xD

these losers were on TV this morning, sitting in the torrential rain that hit Tokyo, looking thoroughly miserable.

Only iSheep buy technology based solely on brand image. It has NOTHING to do with how "good iDevices are", let alone prove anything in that regard. If ever, it's their marketing department that deserves credit, but definitely not their devices, which are now years behind in terms of technology, let alone innovation.

Only iSheep buy technology based solely on brand image.

True, however we are surround by Louis Vuitton and Chanel and Prada and Burberry... A hell of a lot of sheep (mostly women) go for that.

It has NOTHING to do with how "good iDevices are", let alone prove anything in that regard.

I'd have to disagree. Owners of functional devices tend to go for features that are useful. And brand loyalty is built upon that. A few Samsung gimmicks won't float their boat. They need useful features like a good camera and security.

A few Samsung gimmicks won't float their boat. They need useful features like a good camera and security.

If you're talking about the camera on these phones...one interesting fact to note is that the one on the S4 is 13MP, while the 5S is 8MP.

It's best not to let personal biases get in the way of a good argument.

If you're talking about the camera on these phones...one interesting fact to note is that the one on the S4 is 13MP, while the 5S is 8MP.

More pixels don't mean a better camera. Usually they mean bloated big image files. This is a case of Samsung appealing to the geeks who only look at numbers. The iPhone camera is much better under low light, where it is likely used a lot.

More pixels mean higher resolution, and 8 to 13MP is a huge difference. Sure the iPhone camera is better in low light, but why choose to ignore certain facts? Don't get so emotional over a phone... It's not wise to generalise people with Samsung phones as being 'geeks'.

"I am using up my annual leave to be here, but getting the first handset will make it all worth it."

In an economy where people are barely scraping by on 750~950 yen per hour, benefits are being cut, major companies are shaving off thousands of workers' positions, and the Abe administration is talking about increasing the sales tax in order to cover crippling revenue shortfalls for the government, it kind of galls me that this guy -- or anyone who gets into this queue any sooner than the night before the store opens -- has the luxury of flaunting his obvious excess of time and cash reserves to sit on a sidewalk for a week, sipping tea, while the rest of the rat race stumbles along, all for the frivolous and trivial thrill of being the first to buy a silly phone.

I'd lay odds that he's never once considered using up his annual leave to, say, spend time with his family.