Japanese ad uses samurai and ninjas to stop smartphone use while walking

Japan's mobile phone culture has always been a few steps ahead of the west, with the early emergence of emoji being the most famous example.

Now Japan's leading cell phone carrier, NTT Docomo, has used the tropes of the country's popular martial arts films to promote a tech culture correction we could likely see in the U.S. sometime soon: getting users to stop walking while using their smartphones.

The spot, titled "Samurai Smartphone Parade" (see video above), uses visuals common to feudal Japan, back when maintaining respect and courtesy in public could be a matter of life and death. Almost immediately the commercial shows legions of smartphone users carelessly walking while staring zombie-like into their smartphones, ultimately running into each other, suffering fatal accidents and even being taken out by ninjas.

Although mostly humorous in tone, the spot also cites some startling Japan statistics: 66% percent of people of have bumped into another person while using a smartphone and 3.6% of people have fallen from a train platform when texting while walking.

The commercial ends with a serious warning, advising users to "Please look forward when you are walking. Using a smartphone while walking is dangerous."

Docomo's warning to Japanese users is something U.S. smartphone makers might try emulating. A 2013 study by Ohio State University delved into the problem, suggesting that as far back as 2010 up to 2 million injuries in the U.S. may have been related to mobile phone use while walking.

The distracted walking situation has gotten so bad in Japan that commuter train company JR East recently began posting bold warnings against walking while looking at your smartphone on station walls and even on toilet paper.

In the case of the train station warning, the signs indicate that most of Japan's major carriers, including Docomo, Softbank and KDDI are supporting the pedestrian warnings.

Now that the U.S. is as steeped in mobile phone culture as Japan, and the stateside injuries are piling up, it may be time for U.S. carriers to join forces to craft a similarly aggressive campaign.