世論 What Japan Thinks

There’s no shortage of free papers around town, even though it wasn’t until 2002 that the first one appeared in Japan. These free sheets were the focus of this recent survey from iBridge Research Plus, as reported by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

On the 14th of September 2009 300 members of the iBridge Research Plus monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.7% of the sample were female, 12.0% in their twenties, 30.3% in their thirties, 29.3% in their forties, 22.0% in their fifties, and 6.3% in their sixties.

I’m not sure exactly what that 2002 date for the launch of free papers means, as when I came to Japan in 1998 there was already three or four free weekly or monthly freesheets and magazines targetted at the foreign market; indeed I met my wife through a free paper advertisement.

Research results

Q1: Do you know what a free paper is? (Sample size=300)

Yes (to SQ1)	92.0%
No	8.0%

Q1SQ1: Have you ever obtained a free paper? (Sample size=276)

Yes (to SQ2, SQ3)	87.3%
No	12.7%

Q1SQ2: What sort of information has been in the free papers that you have read? (Sample size=241, multiple answer)

	Votes	Percentage
Restaurant, pub, other food and drink	207	85.9%
Town information (what’s on, etc)	178	73.9%
Job vacancies	116	48.1%
Homes, accommodation	48	19.9%
Newspaper, information	40	16.6%
Music, cinema	36	14.9%
Mail-order shopping	29	12.0%
Beauty	28	11.6%
Car, motorbicycle	12	5.0%
Sports	7	2.9%
School	6	2.5%
Foreigner-oriented	1	0.4%
Other	3	1.2%

Q1SQ3: Did you find the information in these free papers useful? (Sample size=241)

Yes	68.0%
No	28.2%
Never read one	3.7%

Putting Q1, Q1SQ1, and Q1SQ3 together, we get:

Q1+SQ1+SQ3: Did you find the information in these free papers useful? (Sample size=241)

Yes	54.7%
No	22.7%
Never read one	3.0%
Never obtained one	11.7%
Don’t know what it is	8.0%