When Japan was hit by the mega-earthquake on March 11, 2011, people struggled to get in touch with their families and friends to see if they were safe, as use of voice networks was restricted and email exchanges were delayed.
That was what prompted the birth of the Line messaging app — to provide a simple communication tool that could be a hotline in an emergency. The service kicked off on June 23 that year.
A decade on, Line has morphed into a piece of communications infrastructure in the country with 86 million active users in Japan, while a government survey showed 87% of respondents use the app for communication. The app has even expanded its services to e-commerce, finance and health care, dominating the domestic market.