世論 What Japan Thinks

[part 1] [part 2]

Following on from a previous survey that looked at toothbrush habits, this survey addresses another popular stereotype of the Japanese, the wearing of spectacles. DIMSDRIVE Research interviewed 7,851 members of their internet monitor group, 56.9% female, by means of an internet-based questionnaire. The age demographics were 1.5% teenagers, 20.8% in their twenties, 35.6% in their thirties, 25.6% in their forties, 11.7% in their fifties, and 4.8% aged sixty or older.

If you are shopping for glasses in Japan, one thing to watch out for is the chains with fixed-price offers; quite often the frames available are rather limited, and the extras, such as less Coke bottle-like lenses or anti-glare coating soon add up. In fact, my wife got a pair of prismatic lenses with a nice imported frame from a wee private shop cheaper than I got my supposed 7,000 yen set from a big chain – once I added in the test, frames, coating, etc the price quadrupled. And of course, beware of shop owners shooing you away.

Q1: Do you have a pair of glasses (including ones with non-correcting lenses)? (Sample size=7,851)

Yes (to SQ)	82.0%
No	18.0%

As one might expect, in the over 60 age group less than one in twenty doesn’t have glasses.

Q1SQ: Do you have glasses with correcting lenses (including reading glasses) or contact lenses? (Sample size=6,441, glasses owners)

Yes	89.3%
No	10.7%

Combining the two above, we get the following for the whole sample size:

Q1+Q1SQ: Do you have glasses with correcting lenses (including reading glasses) or contact lenses? (Sample size=7,851)

Yes	73.3%
No	26.7%

Q2: About how often do you wear glasses? (Sample size=6,441)

Every day	73.4%
Four to six times a week	5.7%
Twice or thrice a week	6.3%
Once a week	2.6%
Twice or thrice a month	3.3%
Once a month or less	4.4%
Never	4.3%

For each age group, women tend to wear glasses less often than men, so perhaps there is some vanity issue here?

Q3: Please tell me how many pairs of glasses you have. (Sample size=6,441)

One pair	37.0%
Two or three pairs	51.3%
Four to six pairs	9.8%
Seven to ten pairs	1.5%
Eleven to fifteen pairs	0.1%
Sixteen to twenty pairs	0.1%
Twenty-one or more pairs	0.1%

The older one gets, the more one is likely to own more pairs of glasses, as one might expect.

Q4: Where do you buy your glasses? (Sample size=6,441, multiple answer

)

Large optician chain	70.5%
Fixed price optical store	27.9%
Privately owned opticians	13.5%
Department store	5.9%
Accessory shop	2.8%
100 yen shop	2.8%
Discount store	1.8%
Internet	1.5%
Supermarket	1.1%
Other	1.5%
Didn’t buy them myself	0.5%

Q5: How much do use most often pay for a pair of glasses? (Sample size=6,410)

Under 3000 yen	3.8%
Under 5000 yen	5.0%
Under 8000 yen	6.5%
Under 10,000 yen	12.9%
Under 15,000 yen	14.9%
Under 20,000 yen	17.5%
More than 20,000 yen	28.3%
No particular price	11.1%

Q6: What are the important points when you buy a pair of glasses? (Sample size=6,410, multiple answer)

Frame shape	79.0%
Price	71.0%
Face balance	64.7%
Comfort	57.2%
Frame colour	54.8%
Lens thickness	42.2%
Weight	39.0%
Frame material	37.3%
Lens material	28.1%
Size	25.1%
Lens colour	17.4%
Features (shape memory frame, etc)	12.7%
Brand	11.0%
Fashionability	10.2%
Other	1.0%
Nothing in particular	1.5%

[part 1] [part 2]