世論 What Japan Thinks

Over six days at the end of June DIMSDRIVE Research looked at what people thought about the two key features of the Japanese summer, namely the rainy season and typhoons. 3,198 people from their monitor group completed a private internet-based survey; 53.6% of the sample was female, 2.4% in their teens, 16.6% in their twenties, 34.0% in their thirties, 25.5% in their forties, 12.3% in their fifties and 9.2% in their sixties.

I suppose the overall results of this survey are only notable in their predictability that people dislike bad weather! I too dislike the rainy season, but I’ve been lucky enough to avoid most typhoons; there was one dangerous one two years ago that nearly flooded a river rather too close to my flat, but other than that, back home a good Atlantic gale is much more ferocious than the average, or even the stronger than average typhoons that blow over Japan.

Q1: Do you like the rainy season? (Sample size=3,107, excluding Hokkaido residents)

Really love it	0.6%
Like it a bit	7.6%
Don’t really like it	54.4%
Really hate it	37.4%

Q2: During the rainy season, what problems or worries do you have? (Sample size=3,107, multiple answer)

Mould grows easily	68.3%
Can’t hang washing outside to dry	67.6%
Too much trouble to go outdoors	63.4%
Can’t do things outside	41.2%
Get depressed	34.6%
Food poisoning	34.6%
Difficult to make plans	31.1%
Can’t use bicycle or motorcycle	30.2%
Hair is disheveled	27.4%
Get sick easily	25.2%
Flooding or other water damage	14.2%
Electricity bills are expensive	8.0%
Lose appetite	5.2%
Other	4.0%
Nothing in particular	1.6%

Q3: How does your frequency of going out during holidays change during the rainy season? (Sample size=3,107)

Increases a lot	0.1%
Increases a little	0.7%
Decreases a little	44.0%
Decreases a lot	33.5%
Doesn’t change	21.7%

Q4: How do you spend rainy days off during the rainy season? (Sample size=3,107, multiple answer)

Surf the internet	71.5%
Watch television	63.8%
Potter around the house	57.6%
Watch videos or DVDs	45.4%
Read	40.0%
Clean my room	26.3%
Play games	22.6%
Go shopping	17.2%
Go to the cinema	9.7%
Go to the library	8.3%
Go visit friends	4.4%
Other	4.4%

Q5: During the rainy season, what things do you take care to do? (Sample size=3,107, multiple answer)

Frequently check the weather forecast	58.9%
Dehumidify things carefully	48.4%
Ventilate my room	41.4%
Mould counter-measures	38.1%
Food poisoning counter-measures	31.1%
Carrying an umbrella even if it’s not raining	28.6%
Wash hands or gargle thouroughly	19.5%
Refrain from going outdoors	16.0%
Carry a towel with me	15.6%
Keep water channels clear	14.5%
Don’t set cooler too low	13.7%
Change clothes soon after returning home	10.7%
Insect counter-measures	4.8%
Other	0.8%
Nothing in particular	8.6%

Q6: Do you have a raincoat? (Sample size=3,107)

Yes (to Q6SQ)	41.7%
No	58.3%

Q6SQ: Have you recently used your raincoat? (Sample size=1,297)

Often use it	19.4%
Sometime used it	45.1%
Don’t use it at all	35.5%

Q7: When a typhoon is approaching, do you take steps to prevent damage? (Sample size=3,198)

Yes (to SQ)	45.7%
No	54.3%

Older people were about twice as likely as younger people to take action, and the people who lived in higher-risk areas close to the ocean like Okinawa, Kyushu, or Shikoku were well over twice as likely to be wary as those in relatively safe area of Hokkaido.

Q7SQ: What sort of counter-measures do you take? (Sample size=1,461, multiple answer)

Move things likely to blow away into the house	82.1%
Secure things likely to blow away	58.2%
Stockpile food and drink	28.5%
Prepare emergency goods	15.1%
Clean out drains	11.4%
Decide on meeting places and contact methods with family	9.3%
Reinforce glass (tape up, etc)	7.4%
Move things that might be affected by flooding off the floor, etc	4.3%
Reinforce roof	1.9%
Prepare sandbags	0.9%
Other	2.7%

Q8: If an evacuation order was issued, do you know where to evacuate to? (Sample size=3,198)

Yes	61.4%
No	38.6%

Older people were more likely to know where to run away to, but there was little variation by location.