世論 What Japan Thinks

MyVoice decided to do a totally unseasonal poll last month, surveying 14,676 people from their community by means of a private internet poll about enjoying autumn. 54% of the sample was female, 4% in their teens, 21% in their twenties, 38% in their thirties, 25% in their forties, and 12% in their fifties.

This survey mentions a book and film called “秋の夜長”, aki no yonaga, “The Long Autumn Nights”, but I have an awful feeling I am falling into a linguistic or cultural hole, as WWWJDIC has an example sentence “秋の夜長は読書にまさるものはありません。” translated as ”
There is no use feeling sorry about it.” I might literally translate that as “There’s nothing like reading ‘The Long Autumn Nights’”, but there seems to be no such book or film on Amazon. Perhaps the true meaning is just to spend the long nights lost in a book or a video? Oh well, I’m here to try to improve my Japanese, so I might as well make my mistakes in public.

UPDATE: It seems that “The Long Autumn Nights” is just an expression, but the Japanese love of putting things into quotation marks was throwing me!

Q1: How did you enjoy autumn last year? (Sample size=14,676, multiple answer)

Travel	41.7%
Spend the long autumn nights watching videos or DVDs, etc	38.9%
Spend the long autumn nights reading	34.2%
Went for a picnic, camping or hillwalking, etc	21.2%
Watched sports at home or at a friend’s home	10.6%
Watched sports live	8.7%
Celebrated Respect for the Aged day	6.3%
Attended a Halloween event	5.6%
Other	8.8%
Nothing in particular	21.6%

For Q2 to Q6, the sample size is the percentage who selected that activity in Q1.

Q2: What is indispensable when watching DVD or videos or reading a book in the long autumn nights? (Multiple answer)

Coffee, tea or other soft drink	61.9%
Sweets	41.6%
Alcohol	25.0%
Table or sofa in room	24.5%
Nibbles	23.1%
Friends or family	18.9%
Lighting or ambience in room	13.9%
Music	13.1%
Food	6.2%
Other	2.9%
Nothing in particular	9.4%
No answer	0.7%

Q3: What is indispensable when watching sports at home? (Multiple answer)

Television	77.3%
Alcohol	44.9%
Coffee, tea or other soft drink	43.5%
Friends or family	41.1%
Nibbles	40.5%
Sweets	38.9%
Meal	20.8%
Speakers or sound system	9.7%
Supporter goods	8.7%
Other	2.7%
Nothing in particular	2.2%
No answer	2.3%

Q4: What is indispensable when having an outing in the autumn? (Multiple answer)

Friends or family	69.5%
Car	68.7%
Lunch box	58.2%
Still or video camera	53.6%
Coffee, tea or other soft drink	45.6%
Sweets or fruit	41.6%
Picnic blanket	37.6%
Tour	30.7%
Map	25.5%
Alcohol	22.6%
Outdoor cooking equipment or foodstuff	21.0%
Train	18.0%
Boat	1.8%
Other	3.2%
Nothing in particular	0.6%
No answer	2.6%

Q5: What sort of presents did you give or receive on Respect for the Aged Day? (Multiple answer)

Clothes	30.2%
Something other than a present	23.9%
Flowers	23.5%
Sweets	21.3%
Health products	13.1%
Greetings card or children or grandchildren’s photos	12.6%
Shoes, bag or belt, etc	10.8%
Other foodstuff	10.7%
Alcohol	9.8%
Fashion accessory	6.2%
Stationery, etc	4.8%
Gift token	4.6%
Electrical goods	3.2%
Beauty-related goods	2.3%
Furniture, etc	2.0%
Book, CD, DVD, video, etc	1.9%
Other	5.1%
Nothing in particular	1.2%
No answer	1.5%

Q6: What is indispensable for Halloween? (Multiple answer)

Pumpkin or pumpkin-related items	60.7%
Family or friends	60.0%
Sweets	57.1%
Fancy dress	47.7%
Party goods	30.4%
Food	23.9%
Coffee, tea or other soft drink	23.4%
Alcohol	17.4%
Other	6.0%
Nothing in particular	1.6%
No answer	3.1%

Q7: From the answers you gave in Q1, what left the biggest impression on you? (Sample size=14,676)

Travel	25.4%
Excursions	10.9%
Watching DVD or video	10.6%
Reading a book	9.3%
Watching sports live	3.7%
Halloween event	2.8%
Watching sports at home	1.9%
Celebrating Respect for the Aged Day	1.1%
Other	3.1%
Nothing in particular	31.2%