Sha-Mail

Sha-Mail (写メール) is a kind of mailing service of J-Phone (now Softbank). This term is made from Sha, which is the front part of a Japanese word Shashin meaning photograph, and Mail. Sha-Mail is used to send pictures and/or email through mobile handsets.

The term came into usage after Softbank (then Vodafone) introduced the service in November, 2000.

In current usage, sha-mail refers not only to Softbank, but has come to apply to all the mobile phone carriers, as well as to mail with accompanying picture sent via other hand held devices and PCs. The term has come to mean not only mail with pictures attached, but is also sometimes used to refer to the pictures themselves that have been taken with camera phones and other such devices. It can be abbreviated to sha-me (写メ)