By Ken Y-N ( March 31, 2009 at 00:14)
· Filed under Hardware, Lifestyle, Polls
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The one thing that isn’t a dishwasher in Japan is the average husband (a suspiciously-optimistic figure of one in four wash them) and it’s the third most hated job for wives, so with that in mind, this survey from MyVoice looked at how dishwashers are used in Japan.
Demographics
Over the first five days of March 2009 15,395 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 2% in their teens, 15% in their twenties, 36% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 18% aged fifty or older.
We once bought a counter-top dishwasher, but it was too slow and not reliable at cleaning, so we only ever used it half a dozen times. We tried to palm it off to the parents-in-law, but they were similarly unimpressed and sent it back! It’s now gathering dust (and rust, no doubt) in the back of our trunk room.
I do the evening washing up all the time, so if we actually had a dishwasher I’d be seen to be not pulling my weight with the housework, therefore no dishwasher actually helps maintain domestic harmony! I do actually enjoy (well, not actively dislike) doing them, which does help.
Research results
Q1: At home, about how often do the dishes, etc, get washed? (Sample size=15,395)
| After every meal |
38.3% |
| Twice a day |
28.1% |
| Once a day |
16.5% |
| Several times a week |
6.5% |
| Once a week |
2.1% |
| Less than that |
3.4% |
| Don’t wash dishes |
5.1% |
Q2: At home, what type of dishwasher do you have? If more than one type, choose the one you use the most. (Sample size=15,395)
| |
This survey
March 2009 |
Last survey
Sept 2004 |
| Counter-top type |
12.8% |
12.1% |
| Built-in type |
16.1% |
9.8% |
| Don’t have one |
71.1% |
78.1% |
Q3: At home, about how often does dishwasher get used? (Sample size=dishwasher owners)
| After every meal |
7.4% |
| Twice a day |
26.9% |
| Once a day |
31.3% |
| Several times a week |
11.5% |
| Once a week |
4.3% |
| Less than that |
9.8% |
| Don’t use dishwasher |
8.5% |
| No answer |
0.4% |
Q4: What kinds of items do you wash in the dishwasher? (Sample size=dishwasher users, multiple answer)
| Dinner plates |
95.3% |
| Side plates |
92.4% |
| Tea beakers, rice bowls |
87.8% |
| Glassware |
79.7% |
| Pasta, curry dishes |
79.3% |
| Chopsticks |
79.2% |
| Coffee cups, tea cups, mugs |
77.4% |
| Japanese-style teacups |
74.9% |
| Soup bowls |
69.8% |
| Bowls |
66.7% |
| Cutlery |
65.9% |
| Long dishes (for fish, etc) |
60.6% |
| Large bowls |
59.6% |
| Cooking chopsticks, ladles, spatulas, etc |
55.2% |
| Kitchen knives |
43.9% |
| Tupperware |
31.5% |
| Chopping boards |
29.8% |
| Food preparation plastic bowls |
29.4% |
| Metal sieves |
26.1% |
| Pots and pans |
17.6% |
| Frying pans |
12.6% |
| Grill trays |
9.9% |
| Bamboo sieves |
4.1% |
| Three-legged teapot stands |
4.0% |
| Milk jugs |
2.2% |
| Other |
3.5% |
| Nothing in particular |
1.4% |
| No answer |
0.5% |
Q5: What inconveniences or problems do you have regarding dishwashers? If you don’t use one, answer why you don’t, or why you don’t want to use. (Sample size=15,395, multiple answer)
| |
Dishwasher users |
Non dishwasher users |
| Place to put it |
19.1% |
65.8% |
| Cost to install |
12.0% |
51.0% |
| Difficult to insert large or odd-shaped items |
52.5% |
22.4% |
| Not very effective washing small loads |
30.4% |
24.5% |
| Expensive to buy special washing powder |
22.2% |
23.3% |
| There’s items that it cannot wash |
34.8% |
16.7% |
| Takes effort to do the needed pre-washing |
1.0% |
2.0% |
| Water and power running costs |
15.3% |
22.9% |
| Can’t wash a lot of items all in one go |
32.7% |
15.0% |
| Difficult to clean the insides of the dishwasher |
21.7% |
16.2% |
| Handwashing produces better results |
15.8% |
16.1% |
| Takes time to wash |
24.5% |
8.2% |
| Noisy |
23.9% |
8.3% |
| Difficult to get the items in and out |
14.1% |
4.5% |
| Coloured items can lose their colour |
10.1% |
4.8% |
| Drainage blockages, etc are unhygenic |
3.5% |
5.5% |
| Dishes can get broken |
6.8% |
3.6% |
| Other |
2.6% |
2.2% |
| Nothing in particular |
9.9% |
15.2% |
Q6: In the future would you want to use, or want to continue using a dishwasher? (Sample size=15,395)
| Definitely want to use |
21.2% |
| Perhaps want to use |
23.8% |
| Can’t say either way |
25.3% |
| Don’t really want to use |
17.8% |
| Don’t want to use at all |
11.9% |
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We have a dishwasher and use it, though the utility is pretty marginal. What I don’t get is why Japanese dishwashers suck so badly. It’s not like building a good dishwasher is a lost art or anything. The dishwashers I used back in Sweden – even a countertop machine smaller than our current one – were all easier to fill and use, could take more dishes in the same space and made a much better job of actually cleaning the dishes.
I was at the local hardware store looking for a part for my dishwasher, and I drew a blank on what it was called in Japanese. So I said something like… “I’m looking for a part for my… uh, I don’t know the word, but if you put dirty dishes in it they come out clean.”
The guy’s guess was “a sink?”. I’m surprised he didn’t come up with “your wife?”…
The small size of being a small dish washer can be useless even to light user of their kitchen.
This is in that one can just wash up their dishes on his or her own in about the same time as dish washer.
Moreover the inside of the dish washer has to be removed and the grimes inside there has to be cleaned off.
First, the grime on dishes was washed and cleaned by the dish washer, and then, second, the grime on the inside of dish washer has to be cleaned up by hands.
This means that the work of washing of dishes is doubled.
Since it is just few dishes, the time of using the kitchen top dish washer will not make much of a big diffference from washing of dishes with hands.
By washing of dishes with hands, the cleanliness of the dishes can be seen and also can be felt by hands.