世論 What Japan Thinks

[part 1] [part 2]

Last weekend goo Research, in conjunction with Yomiuri Weekly, released the results of a survey into what people thought the coming year may bring. For a week spanning the end of November and the start of December 11,648 members of goo’s online monitor group successfully completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.2% of the respondents were male, 5.9% in their teens, 18.9% in their twenties, 29.9% in their thirties, 21.5% in their forties, 11.9% in their fifties and 11.8% aged sixty or older.

Q7 is interesting in that the more negative effects of the flood of retiring baby boomers seem to be more in people’s mind than the positive benefits.

Note that there was an extra question in the survey regarding people’s favourite female “announcers” (Japanese uses that English word, but their role is more like an MC or an MC’s assistant, or even just a TV personality), but I find the obsession slightly – I can’t really think of a suitable word, but their role seems to be to smile prettily, be demure, then get married off to a sports personality once they approach their television sell-by date. Therefore, I’ll skip that question.

Q7: What effect do you think the high number of “baby boomers” retiring this year will have? (Sample size=11,648, multiple answer)

Old folk-targeted services will become popular	72.0%
Handing down of techniques will slow down, and Japan will lose its lead in innovation	52.9%
There will be a labour shortage due to the huge numbers retiring	40.0%
Youth employment will increase due to the huge numbers retiring	36.0%
Technical progress will slow down, and product safety incidents, etc, will increase	33.7%
Volunteer activities will become popular	16.8%
Migrations from the cities to the countryside will increase, invigorating regional economies	16.2%
Retro-hobbies will become popular	15.5%
Society will become less stuffy and be re-energised	12.1%
NEETs and freeters will decrease	11.3%
Other	6.6%

Q8: How will the number of divorces change after the change in the divorce law this spring allowing ex-wives to get half their husband’s pension? (Sample size=11,648)

Increase	75.3%
Stay the same	23.9%
Decrease	0.9%

Q9: Do you think children’s education level will increase or decrease? (Sample size=11,648)

Increase	5.2%
Stay the same	21.8%
Decrease	72.9%

Q10: Who will be the most successful Japanese sportsperson in 2007? (Sample size=11,648, free answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Ichiro (Baseball, Seattle Mariners)	4,352	37.4%
Daisuke Matsuzaka (Baseball, Boston Red Sox)	4,167	35.8%
Hideki Matsui (Baseball, New York Yankees)	1,899	16.3%
Kenji Jojima (Baseball, Seattle Mariners)	483	4.1%
Kei Igawa (Baseball, New York Yankees)	250	2.1%
Tadahito Iguchi (Baseball, Chicago White Sox)	112	1.0%

All the rest gathered less than 100 votes each. There were one or two non-male non-baseball players on the list, I think!

Q11: Who will be the most successful female talent in 2007? (Sample size=11,648, free answer)

Masami Nagazawa	265
Kumi Koda	235
Yukie Nakama	170
Yuko Takeuchi	137
Aoi Miyazaki	84
Erika Sawajiri	77
Ayaka	76
Juri Ueno	69
Yui Aragaki	67
Satomi Ishihara	54
Harisenbon	43
Mirai Shida	42
Yuka Fujihara	39
Haruka Ayase	29
Saki Aibu	27
Yu Aoi	25
Nankai Candies’ Shizu-chan	24
Ayumi Hamasaki	24
Ebi-chan, Yuri Ebihara	21

Q12: Who will be the most successful male talent (or group) in 2007? (Sample size=11,648, free answer)

SMAP	1375
KAT-TUN	386
Sanma Akashiya	280
Monta Mino	213
Bakusho Mondai	174
Takuya Kimura	165
WaT	146
Taka and Toshi	136
Tsuyoshi Shinjo	133
Shinsuke Shimada	119
Oriental Radio	112
Beat Takeshi (Kitano)	106
Takanori Jinnai	104
Cream Stew	101
Sakurazuka Yakkun	98
Kazuya Kamenashi (KAT-TUN)	88
Downtown	86
TOKIO	71
Hiroshi Tamaki	71
Kobukuro	64

[part 1] [part 2]