Gaudy Mobile Phones Edit
Over-Blinged Overseas Technology

What’s hot on the streets of Tokyo right now? Glammed-up mobile phones decorated with colored rhinestones in blingy designs which include faces, pets and wild retro patterns.

Whether you call it over-the-top or a quirky new art form, the Japanese are hell-bent on making this fad omnipresent. Deco-den, short for ‘decorated denwa’ (telephone), has received a considerable amount of Japanese media attention this year and demand for blinged-out phones has spiked.

Start saving now, because this handcraft isn’t cheap; the price for a custom-made decorated phone is around ¥18,000 (US$170).