Smartphone hysteria

I have noticed during past visits in Japan the extreme use of smartphone devices among people. It goes to the extreme as I have run into a few people in the streets keeping their faces glued to their phones.

How does the government or society react to this? I cant be the only one being run into by occupied teenage girls.

I thought the smartphone hysteria was worldwide. In whatever country I traveled recently, almost everybody there was attached to their phones.

As for using the smartphone while walking, it is considered bad and dangerous behavior, and especially railway companies are campaigning against it.

You probably haven't noticed that this behavior is not exclusive to Japan anymore. I was reading about pedestrian walks with lanes for cell phone use in some country in Southeast Asia.