世論 What Japan Thinks

With the Olympics over for another four years and with Japan getting a reasonable haul of medals, Macromill performed a survey into post-Olympic views.

Demographics

Over the 25th and 26th of August 2008 516 members of the Macromill Monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female in each age group; 24.8% were in their twenties, 25.2% in their thirties, 25.2% in their forties, and 24.8% in their fifties.

I didn’t watch much of the Olympics, but for me the most moving moments were Usian Bolt winning his two individual medals; celebrating the 100 metres win 10 metres before the finish line, then pulling out all the stops on the 200 metres to win by the proverbial mile.

Also, just today I read that Kosuke Kitajima, the double-double gold medal swimmer, was voted best beerist for knocking back a pint or two in celebration!

Research results

Q1: Did you watch the Olymics? (Sample size=516)

	All	Male N=258	Female N=258
Yes	75.0%	73.6%	76.4%
No	25.0%	26.4%	23.6%

By age, only 68.8% of people in their fifties watched the Olympics.

Q2: Which sports did you watch? Results only doesn’t count. (Sample size=387, multiple answer, top twenty reported)

Rank		Percentage
1	Swimming	84.8%
2	Judo	76.2%
3	Softball	72.1%
4	Track and field	67.7%
5	Baseball	67.2%
6	Gymnastics	53.5%
7	Wrestling	51.7%
8	Table tennis	49.9%
9	Badminton	45.2%
10	Synchronised swimming	42.1%
11	Volleyball	41.6%
12	Marathon	38.5%
13	Football	35.9%
14	Weightlifting	22.2%
15	Rhythmic gymnastics	17.1%
16	Fencing	14.7%
17	Trampoline	12.1%
18	Diving	8.8%
19	Basketball	5.4%
20	Beach volleyball	4.9%

Q3: How did you enjoy the Olympics? (Sample size=516, multiple answer)

Watched live television broadcasts at home	78.1%
Watched news programs	72.1%
Watched digest programs	65.1%
Checked internet news, information	56.2%
Read ordinary newspaper	54.7%
Read sports newspaper	11.0%
Recorded television at watched later at home	10.9%
Watched television broadcast at sports bar, public viewing, etc	8.1%
Read magazine	4.8%
Watched in person in China	0.2%
Other	0.6%
Didn’t do any of the above	5.0%

Q4: Which athletes, teams do you think were successful? (Sample size=516, multiple answer, top thirty reported)

Rank		Percentage
1	Kosuke Kitajima (swimming)	88.4%
2	Softball team	71.2%
3	Yukiko Ueno (softball)	62.0%
4	Saori Yoshida (wrestling)	60.6%
5	Kaori Icho (wrestling)	58.8%
6	Chiharu Icho (wrestling)	54.9%
7	Kyoko Hamaguchi (wrestling)	51.2%
8	Masato Uchishiba (Judo)	50.6%
9	Satoko Suetsuna and Miyuki Maeda (badminton)	50.2%
10	Kohei Uchimura (gymnastics)	48.6%
11	Ayumi Tanimoto (judo)	47.3%
12	Men’s 400 metre athletics relay team	45.1%
13	Yuki Ota (fencing)	43.9%
14	Men’s 400 metre medley relay swimming team	40.0%
15	Men’s gymnastic team	37.1%
16	Nobuharu Asahara (athletics)	36.5%
17	Satoshi Ishii (judo)	35.3%
18	Ryoko Tani (judo)	34.9%
19	Women’s football team (Nadeshiko Japan)	34.7%
20	Maki Tsukada (judo)	33.9%
21	Masae Ueno (judo)	33.1%
22	Reiko Nakamura (swimming)	30.6%
23	Takeshi Matsuda (swimming)	29.6%
24	Ai Fukuhara (table tennis)	29.2%
25	Saho Harada and Emiko Suzuki (synchronised swimming pair)	26.5%
26	Naoki Tsukahara (athletics)	21.4%
27	Misato Nakamura (judo)	20.0%
28	Homare Sawa (women’s football)	18.2%
29	Ayumi Karino (softball)	18.0%
30	Shinji Takahira (athletics)	17.8%

Q5: Which scenes involving Japanese sportspeople were emotional for you? (Sample size=490, multiple answer, top twenty reported)

Rank		Percentage
1	Kosuke Kitajima winning two gold medals in swimming	71.6%
2	Softball team winning the gold medal	70.2%
3	Kosuke Kitajima winning the 100 metres breaststroke in world record time. Crying in the interview	54.3%
4	Japan getting the bronze in the men’s 400 metres. All four hugging after the race	44.3%
5	Ayumi Tanimoto winning the women’s 63 kg judo gold by ippon. Hugging her coach and crying tears of joy	34.1%
6	Women’s badminton pair Satoko Suetsuna and Miyuki Maeda beating number one ranked China and getting 4th place	32.2%
7	Masato Uchishiba winning the men’s 66 kg judo gold and shouting out his son’s name	30.0%
8=	Kaori Icho winning her second consecutive gold medal in the women’s 63 kg wrestling	28.6%
8=	Yuki Ota winning Japan’s first silver medal in fencing	28.6%
10	Saori Yoshida winning the women’s 55 kg wrestling gold and doing a back-flip	26.3%
11	Kyoko Hamaguchi winning her second consecutive silver medal in wrestling and smiling from ear to ear	24.3%
12	Kohei Uchimura winning silver in individual gymnastics, even though he made two mistakes	23.7%
13	Woman’s football team, Nadeshiko Japan, losing in the third place playoff to Germany, but fighting all the way to the final whistle	23.1%
14	Interview with the Icho sisters after they got gold and silver in wrestling	18.8%
15	Masae Ueno winning the women’s 70 kg judo gold by ippon for her second consecutive Olympic gold	18.4%
16	Chiharu Icho winning silver in women’s 63 kg wrestling	17.1%
17	Synchronised swimming pair Saho Harada and Emiko Suzuki beating China to bronze	15.5%
18=	Takeshi Matsuda winning bronze in men’s 200 metre breaststroke and celebrating with a “guts pose”	15.1%
18=	Ryoko Tani losing on points to get bronze. Fifth consecutive Olympic medal	15.1%
20	Men’s gymnastic team getting silver	14.5%

Q6: From the following statements select the answer closest to your own feelings. (Sample size=490)

Q6A: The Japanese athletes’ performances were moving.

	All	Male N=247	Female N=243
Think so	42.9%	35.2%	50.6%
Think so a little	43.9%	47.0%	40.7%
Don’t really think so	10.8%	14.6%	7.0%
Don’t think so at all	2.4%	3.2%	1.6%

Q6B: The Japanese athletes’ display was not embarrassing for me as a Japanese person.

	All	Male N=247	Female N=243
Think so	25.7%	20.2%	31.3%
Think so a little	52.2%	50.6%	53.9%
Don’t really think so	18.0%	22.7%	13.2%
Don’t think so at all	4.1%	6.5%	1.6%

Q6C: I’m satisfied with the amount of medals Japan won.

	All	Male N=247	Female N=243
Think so	19.8%	15.8%	23.9%
Think so a little	41.4%	41.3%	41.6%
Don’t really think so	30.6%	30.4%	30.9%
Don’t think so at all	8.2%	12.6%	3.7%

Q6D: The Japanese athletes performed to expectations.

	All	Male N=247	Female N=243
Think so	11.8%	10.9%	12.8%
Think so a little	48.0%	44.9%	51.0%
Don’t really think so	33.5%	35.2%	31.7%
Don’t think so at all	6.7%	8.9%	4.5%