世論 What Japan Thinks

Following my recent article on the Japanese view of April Fools (which, incidentally, has had rather a lot of hits mainly due to people reading the title as being about a certain Ms April fooling around in Japan), I discovered a survey reported by japan.internet.com, performed in conjuction with JR Tokai Express Research, on what people thought about April Fools. They interviewed 331 people in public or private employment by means of an internet questionnaire. The group was 81.6% male, and the participants were 15.7% in their twenties, 39.9% in their thirties, 36.9% in their forties, 6.9% in their fifties, and just 0.6% aged sixty or older.

Apparently there is an organisation called JIAFA, or the Japan Internet April Fool Association, that has, well, I haven’t read it yet, so I don’t know!

This article finished with a wee opinion bit that said that the reason for the decrease may be either just a loss of interest, or that since news spreads like wildfire on the internet, publishing even just one wee white lie may be becoming dangerous.

Q1: Did you remember about April Fool this year? (Sample size=331)

Forgot it	31.4%
Remembered it (to Q2)	67.1%
Don’t know what April Fool is	1.5%

Q2: What did you do for April Fools Day? (Sample size=222, multiple answer)

Told a little white lie to friends or family, face-to-face or by phone	21
Told a little white lie to friends or family, by PC or mobile email	9
Viewed an April Fool web site (to Q3)	5
Published a little white lie on my blog or personal home page	3
Participated in an April Fool web site	1
Didn’t do anything	187

Q3: How did you learn about the April Fool web site(s) that you viewed? (Sample size=5, multiple answer)

Because they had one last year	3
From a blog or bulletin board	3
From a newspaper or magazine	0
Searched the net	0
From a news web site	0
Saw it on a non-news, blog, bulletin board web site that I regularly visit	0
Friends or family told me about it	0
Other	1