世論 What Japan Thinks

Demographics

Between the 21st and 23th of May 2008 1,072 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. Exactly 50% of the sample were male, 5.7% in their teens, 12.9% in their twenties, 31.8% in their thirties, 27.5% in their forties, 11.3% in their fifties, and 10.8% 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.

I’m pleased that there are no mentions of foreigners in this survey, but I covered surprising foreigner behaviour a couple of weeks back.

Number 2 is perhaps a little hard to explain to non-Japanese speakers; there’s a lot of “family restaurant Japanese”, young people working part-time in restaurants (or supermarkets, etc) who haven’t quite learnt the correct polite way of asking for things, with “I’ve taken it from 10,000 yen” being one example when you hand over a 10,000 yen note to pay your bill. It’s probably similar to getting annoyed at the “10 items or less” sign in British supermarkets!

I can relate to number 12, especially when I see fake Hello Kitty or other characters on cheap knock-off goods. Number 15′s translation doesn’t feel quite right, but I do feel uncomfortable when wifey is talking to friends and refers to me as shujin, master. Last week in the train I saw a guy with a manicure, nail gloss and a few gems stuck onto a nail, but pretty grubby worker’s hands and rough clothes. Kiddy beer is not quite right either!

Photo is from dlisbona on flickr.

Ranking results

Q: What sort of thing do you just feel uncomfortable about? (Sample size=1,072)

Rank		Score
1	Clothes on a pet	100
2	Hearing “I’ve taken it from xxx yen” at the checkout	89.2
3	Suit plus rucksack	73.3
4	Elementary school kid with a schedule book	69.6
5	Foreign buzzword-littered businessman’s conversation	68.2
6	Long-running animation after changing the voice actors	57.9
7	Cheap clothes and brand handbag	48.0
8	Zero calorie but sweet food, drink	44.8
9	Men with over-attentive eyebrow care	44.6
10	Company name after a merger	41.0
11	The way female staff at clothes shops call out “Irasshaimase!” (Please come in)	40.5
12	Brand name on cheap-looking items	40.3
13	Miso soup and curry	39.3
14	Big television in a studio flat	38.1
15	Spouse calling me “partner”	37.3
16	Okonomiyaki, takoyaki with rice	34.7
17	Udon noodles referred to as Inaniwa-style, Sanuki-style	34.4
18	Young salaryman with a pop star haircut	33.7
19	TV live-action drama version of a popular manga comic	23.9
20	Minor change to a stage name, company name	22.9