世論 What Japan Thinks

DIMSDRIVE performed a survey regarding the use of massage parlours amongst 5,954 members of their internet survey group. 2,441 men and 3,513 women of all ages participated in the survey. I’ve been once for a massage myself, at Queensway which was rather nice, but because they also do reflexology, I don’t want to spend any more money supporting quackery. Note that this survey is not about that kind of massage.

Q: Have you been to a massage parlour? (N=5,954)

Yes	47.7%
No	52.3%

Studying the age breakdown, for men only those in their forties had a majority who had been; for women only a quarter of the teenagers had been, but all other age groups (bar between 50 and 59 years old, by 0.2%) a small majority had been.

Now for those 3,112 who have been, various questions were asked.

Q: How frequently do you go?

More than once a week	3.8%
Two or three times a month	8.6%
Once a month	11.0%
Once every two or three months	15.2%
Once every six months	13.3%
Once a year	6.8%
Less than that	16.2%
No particular frequency of visits	25.1%

Q: On average, how long is each visit?

Up to 15 minutes	4.9%
Up to 20 minutes	8.3%
Up to 30 minutes	30.5%
Up to 45 minutes	15.7%
Up to 60 minutes	29.4%
Longer than 60 minutes	5.3%
No particular fixed length of time	5.9%

Q: Which body part do you usually get massaged? (Multiple answer)

Shoulders	57.9%
Lumbar regions	44.6%
Spine	42.7%
Neck	42.5%
Feet	33.31%
All body	31.8%
Soles of feet	24.5%
Arms or hands	13.7%
Head	10.3%
Other	0.9%

Q: Who do you often go with? (Multiple answer)

By myself	77.7%
Family	14.6%
Friends	13.5%
Lover	3.6%
Colleagues	2.4%
Other	0.0%

Q: Where are the parlours you often go to situated? (Multiple answer)

Near home	35.2%
Near station	30.2%
Near work	15.6%
In shopping centre	14.7%
In department store	6.1%
Inside station	5.5%
Others	16.3%

Q: Around what time do you often visit? (Multiple answer)

Weekday morning	11.6%
Weekday lunchtime	13.2%
Weekday afternoon or evening	29.4%
Weekday night	22.3%
Weekend morning	8.7%
Weekend lunchtime	13.3%
Weekend afternoon or evening	24.5%
Weekend night	5.0%
Other	4.1%

Next, the styles of massage the people have had performed on various parts of the body was investigated. The highlights were British style was most popular for soles of the feet (reflexology quackery is popular), and Thai style was the most popular for the whole body.

Q: Do you have a favourite massage parlour? (Sample size=3,112)

Yes	60.2%
No	39.8%

SQ: If answered yes to previous question, how did you find that favourite parlour? (Sample size=1,240, multiple answer)

Just came across it	41.0%
Friends or family introduced it	36.6%
Word of mouth	20.8%
Free newspaper	12.0%
Internet	9.4%
Magazine	6.8%
Television	2.0%
Other	3.1%

SQ: If answered yes to previous question, why do you like it? (Sample size=1,240, multiple answer)

Good technique	58.8%
Easy access	51.9%
Responsive staff	46.0%
Reasonable price	40.2%
Clean shop	33.2%
Good service	28.4%
Takes reservations	13.8%
Private rooms	13.1%
Long or late opening hours	12.8%
Same sex masseurs	11.0%
Other	3.2%

Q: For those who have never used a massage parlour, do you want to? (Sample size=2,842)

Want to	56.6%
Don’t want to	17.1%
Don’t know	26.3%

Women, by almost half as much again than men want to visit a parlour.

Q: For those who have never used a massage parlour, if a parlour has what sort of features would you want to try to visit? (Sample size not mentioned, perhaps 2,842 * 56.6%=1,609, multiple answer)

Reasonable price	92.5%
Clean shop	76.7%
Easy access	71.3%
Same sex masseurs	38.5%
Private rooms	37.7%
Various styles of massage available	32.0%
Long or late opening hours	27.2%
Health consultations given	26.8%
Can go with friends or family	14.6%
Cafe or restaurant facilities	14.0%
Takes reservations	13.9%
Creche facilites	12.6%
Popular with locals	9.6%
Introduced by TV or magazines	8.9%
Children’s massage available	4.2%
Home visiting service	3.7%
Others	2.1%
Don’t know	0.2%