Surprisingly enjoyable things to do alone

So you go, and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home, and you cry
And you want to die

So sung The Smiths, in what was voted the second-best lyric of all time in Britain a few years back. Interestingly enough, that which caused so much Morrissey-inflicted student angst was voted in a recent survey conducted by goo Ranking as the thing Japanese find most unexpectedly enjoyable for one. Well, almost; a concert could be at a club, but let’s not nit-pick!

Demographics

Between the 21st and 24th of December 2007 1,094 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private online questionnaire. 45.6% of the sample was male, 8.8% were in their teens, 15.6% in their twenties, 29.1% in their thirties, 26.8% in their forties, 10.7% in their fifties, and 9.0% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Don’t ask me why cat’s cradle comes in at number 18 as I only know it as a solo activity. At 19 is “The Game of Life”, which is I believe the most popular or recognisable board game in Japan, much like Monopoly is the representative game in the UK and the USA.

Ranking results

Q: What would be unexpectedly fun to do even on your own? (Sample size=1,094)

Rank   Score
1 Concert 100
2 Karaoke 74.5
3 Go to see a night view 47.9
4 Mountain climbing 44.8
5 Nabe hot pot 43.3
6 Drinking until dawn 42.2
7 Overseas holiday to a resort 41.4
8 Bus tour 38.8
9 Cherry blossom viewing 37.4
10 Yakiniku grilled beef 36.0
11 All you can eat restaurant 33.1
12 Ski, snowboarding 32.9
13 Go to a summer festival, comic convention, other event 31.4
14 Bowling 23.5
15 View fireworks festival 22.7
16 Go to Disneyland 18.1
17 Card game 15.0
18 Cat’s cradle 14.7
19 Game of Life 11.0
20 Go camping 9.3

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  • 2 Comments »

    1. Drew said,

      February 18, 2008 @ 16:52

      Wow, I only know of Cat’s Cradle as a two-person activity. I think it would be difficult to do solo…

    2. 一人暮らし一人旅 - Living Alone,Traveling Alone in Japan « Japan Q&A said,

      February 25, 2008 @ 12:42

      […] reading this post on What Japan Thinks, I realized I’ve done a lot of the things on there by myself. I’ve actually gone to […]

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