世論 What Japan Thinks

MyVoice recently surveyed its internet monitor community to see what they were currently learning. At the start of June 13,584 people completed the private internet-based questionnaire. 54% of the sample was female, 3% was in their teens, 22% in their twenties, 39% in their thirties, 24% in their forties, and 12% in their fifties. Note that “studying” covers practicing too.

I’m currently studying Japanese (obviously!), both translation and kanji; if I had any free time I’d join a Go school and do a correspondence course in ペン字, penji, which is the art of writing longhand (or cursive, or joined-up handwriting) in a neat manner. With the roman alphabet, you only have two or three strokes per character, but for kanji with up to 20 or so strokes for even common characters, methods of writing quickly but legibly are very important. My current handwriting, is a horribly unbalanced child-like scrawl. And my Japanese writing isn’t any better – I wish that statement was actually a joke!

Q1: Currently, about how frequently do you spend time studying? (Sample size=13,584)

Almost every day	1.0%
Three or four times a week	2.3%
Twice a week	3.7%
Once a week	7.6%
Twice or thrice a month	3.9%
Once a month or less	2.8%
Currently not studying anything	78.6%

Q2: What sort of things are you currently studying? (Sample size=those studying, multiple answer)

English	15.2%
Gym	13.8%
Tennis, golf, scuba diving or other sports	11.8%
Yoga or Pilates	10.2%
Cooking	7.5%
Calligraphy, tea ceremony, or kimono dressing	7.5%
Dance or ballet	6.6%
Culture, education	6.6%
Computer-related	6.0%
Musical instrument other than piano	5.5%
Foreign language other than English	4.8%
Ikebana or flower arranging	4.7%
Piano	4.0%
Business other than bookkeeping	3.8%
Pottery or painting	2.9%
Boxing or other fighting techniques	2.3%
Bookkeeping	1.9%
Aromatherapy	1.0%
Poetry composition	0.5%
Make-up or nail art	0.4%
Other	17.9%
No answer	0.3%

That all adds up to just over two hobbies per person. I’m not really sure what “Gym” covers, though. Perhaps it refers to just having membership of a sports club and using the facilities?

Q3: About how long have you been continually engaged in your current learning? (Sample size=those studying)

Five years or more	28.9%
From three to five years	14.5%
From one to three years	23.9%
From six months to one year	11.6%
From three to six months	7.1%
Less than three months	13.3%
No answer	0.6%

Q4: About how much per month do you spend on your current learning activities? (Sample size=those studying)

Over 50,000 yen	2.8%
30,000 to 49,999 yen	5.0%
20,000 to 29,999 yen	8.3%
10,000 to 19,999 yen	24.6%
5,000 to 9,999 yen	28.9%
3,000 to 4,999 yen	14.8%
Up to 2,999 yen	15.1%
No answer	0.6%

Q5: What objective did you have when you started studying your current activities? (Sample size=those studying, multiple answer)

Just as a hobby	44.5%
To enrich myprivate life	33.9%
To relieve stress or change my mood	33.5%
For health	30.8%
To raise my skills	22.6%
For diet or beauty	17.2%
To widen my circle of friends	15.2%
To obtain qualifications	12.0%
To enhance my career	9.8%
To find work or change jobs	6.7%
To fill spare time	5.5%
Other	5.7%
No particular reason	0.2%
No answer	0.1%

Q6: Compared with a year ago, how has your studying frequency changed? (Sample size=those studying)

Increased	17.1%
Increased a little	19.8%
Not changed	48.9%
Decreased a little	9.4%
Decreased	4.1%
No answer	0.6%