Enjoy Web Surfing at Net Café e Samsung

An Internet Café `Necca`(www.necca.ne.jp) is always crowd of people even during daytime in weekdays. It lies in a large building of Jitose hall in Shibuya downtown of Tokyo, Japan.

There are around 80 PCs in the 100-pyong sized shop. Lots of closely seated young lads and lasses are enjoying Internet surfing or on-line games in the bright and cozy café. There are no Korea related signs in the café, but everyone knows that the company managing the café is e-Samsung affiliated.

Necca is playing the role of missionary spreading `Information Technology (IT) power` Korea. It has some 20,000 members after one and a half year since it opened in December 2000. It is an explosive popularity considering members of domestic PC café average some 3,000 persons in Korea.

As the success of Necca became the topic, PC café is creating boom. E-Samsung has opened 8 shops so far, and will increase the number to 100 by the end of this year. Some 40 Japanese enterprises already proposed to cooperate with each other, and not a few young venture businesspersons came to learn Necca.

Tanaka Masao (25. office worker), who drops in two or three times in a week, said, “speedy Internet surfing here makes me unburdened, while slow Internet lines at home or in the office do not allow network games. Korean IT seems to have advanced in contents like game know-how as well as Infra.” People usually use ordinary telephone lines at Japanese homes as high speed internet network is not so much spread in Japan.

Even without Necca, Japanese recognize Korean IT. A Korean enterprise received an order for IT project of several cities including Nigata, and a Korean company led the `e Silk Road`, which links IT companies in Korea, China, and Japan pivoting Sapporo.

Some 130 Korean companies made inroads into Japan encouraged by favorable attitude toward Korean IT.

As a result, the books introducing Korean IT like `Steal the Know-how of Korean Internet` made best sellers in Japanese bookstores, and people are rushing into the seminars on Korean IT.

Young-Ee Lee yes202@donga.com