Adult-only activities in Japan
A rather spicy title for a rather bland survey, I’m afraid! I could only find something borderline silly for today, a survey by goo Ranking into what people didn’t do before they were fully-fledged members of society. In Japan this normally means once someone finishes full-time education and with an additional implication of entering full-time employment.
Demographics
Between the 25th and 28th of July 2008 1,072 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 5.7% in their teens, 14.4% in their twenties, 31,0% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, 10.5% in their fifties, and 10.4% 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 only managed about six myself before I started working, with going abroad being one notable one I didn’t do until I was twenty-four, with a business trip to New Orleans being my first overseas experience.
5=, using a taxi ticket, is for people working past the last train home, allowing them to charge the fare to the company. 12, the formal receipt, is for claiming back expenses. Don’t be too surprised at number 8, as there are a lot of older people in the survey who finished school before computers became widespread there.
Research results
Q: What didn’t you do before you were a fully-fledged member of society? (Sample size=1,072)
Rank Score 1 Used a credit card 100 2 Got a loan 83.3 3 Flew business class 81.7 4 Went abroad 80.1 5= Used a taxi ticket 74.9 5= Lived by myself 74.9 7 Flew on a plane 69.9 8 Used a computer 65.7 9 Ate at a posh restaurant 64.3 10 Got invited to a wedding 53.4 11 Used a system diary (Filofax, etc) 51.0 12 Got a formal receipt 48.2 13 Spent a long time with someone from a different generation 41.4 14 Drank at home by myself 40.6 15 Participated in a go-con (dating party) 39.4 16 Subscribed to a newspaper 35.3 17 Carried a point card, member’s card 35.3 18 Wore a suit 33.7 19 Wore make-up 30.9 20 Dated someone 29.9 21 Ate standing at a fast food restaurant 23.5 22 Drunk alcohol 23.3 23 Made friends with someone from a different prefecture 18.7 24 Wore leather shoes 17.1 25 Sent a present to my family 16.1 26 Bought a train, bus season ticket 15.7 27 Slept riding a train 13.1 28 Had someone use polite language when talking to me 11.8 29 Rode a boat 9.6 30 Used polite language 8.4
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Damon said,
August 25, 2008 @ 12:27
Could you do a poll about what japanese people think about Marines stationed in Japan? Do they have a possitive or negative inpact on the community. How can they improve their reputation? Should they stay in the Japan or should they leave?
Thanks. I plan on getting stationed there and if there is anything I can do to make Marines stand out in a supportive way I would like to know.
jason black said,
August 26, 2008 @ 03:57
Hi Damon,
The best way to make marines in Japan stand out in a supportive way is to remain in the US.
Not breaking traffic laws or gang raping the locals would also greatly improve their reputation.
Hope this advice helps.
Ray said,
August 26, 2008 @ 17:25
Flew Business class? that means I’m not an adult yet.
Garrett said,
August 28, 2008 @ 21:09
Damon,
Ken Y-N doesn’t do the surveys, he just translates them.
As for the Marines, you can probably guess from Jason Black’s comment that the US military in general and the USMC in particular suffer from image problems in many parts of Japan (although not as universally bad as their reputation among other Westerners in Japan is.)
If you’re a Marine stationed in Japan, chances are you’ll be in Okinawa, where the USMC is particularly unpopular. While Marines in Okinawa have a substantially lower crime rate than the locals, the locals either don’t know or don’t care. Every rape accusation, every assault, every drunken brawl, every act of mere rudeness, it stands to reason, makes this worse.
Okinawa gets kind of screwed by Japan and has been screwed by the US - people’s frustration is understandable in context.
Keep that in mind, remember that you what you know and believe about the USMC is probably substantially different from what non-Marines see, know, and believe, and try to always be more humble and polite than you think is really necessary and you’ll make a start. If you and other like-minded Marines can spread that to the rest of the Corps, you’ll be public relations miracle workers.
That survey makes me realize that there are very few new things I’ve done since I started working. I’m going to go get a Filofax right now.