世論 What Japan Thinks

With the ubiquity of computers and cell phones, penmanship skills become less and less used. To see how this affects the average Japanese, japan.internet.com reported on a survey conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into handwriting and character input. This is a survey I’d love to see in full!

Demographics

Over the 21st and 22nd of April 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research online monitor pool completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.8% of the sample was female, 3.6% in their teens, 16.7% in their twenties, 36.1% in their thirties, 28.5% in their forties, 8.8% in their fifties, 5.8% in their sixties, and 0.6% aged seventy or older.

I translated a similar survey on literacy back in June of 2006. This time almost 60% had over 10 years of computer usage, and in total almost 90% had over five years experience, so this sample mostly contained mature users.

I use the computer on the whole to prepare documents, but when being creative, in particular when forming ideas, I use paper to sketch out, as the limitations of a keyboard stunt my inventive processes. Meeting minutes and notes are also always done on paper as I can simultaneously write and listen better than I can type and listen. Also, if I can’t be bothered switching on my computer in the train I’ll just use paper there.

Research results

Q1: When writing, do you write by hand or by computer? (Sample size=330)

Nearly always write by hand	5.2%
Mainly write by hand	7.0%
Round about the same for both	13.3%
Mainly write by computer	12.1%
Nearly always write by computer	60.3%
Never write anything	2.1%

Q2: Do you feel you’ve become unable to write kanji since you started using computers? (Sample size=330)

Feel so strongly	42.7%
Feel so a little	41.8%
Don’t feel so	10.3%
Writable kanji has increased	0.9%
Can’t say either way	4.2%

Q2: Do you feel you’ve become unable to read kanji since you started using computers? (Sample size=330)

Feel so strongly	8.2%
Feel so a little	20.9%
Don’t feel so	50.3%
Readable kanji has increased	16.1%
Can’t say either way	4.5%