世論 What Japan Thinks

Here’s an interesting look with Marsh Inc, reported on by japan.internet.com, into hands-free mobile phone equipment.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 9th of October 2009 300 members of the Marsh monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.0% of the sample were female, 2.7% in their teens, 17.3% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% aged sixty or older.

Considering that Bluetooth is not standard on even high-end phones, and given that talking isn’t really that popular in Japan anyway, one rarely sees the earpiece kit on pedestrians (certainly not in the Osaka area, although it might be a bit more popular in Tokyo) so I suspect the devices are just as rare in cars.

The article also notes that the fine for using a mobile phone while driving is 5,000 yen for a bicycle, 6,000 yen for a car or motorbike, and 7,000 yen for a large vehicle. This goes up to 50,000 yen if you cause an accident, etc. The basic fine seems a bit low considering I got done for 15,000 yen for parking for under 10 minutes in a back-street just last month.

Research results

Q1: Do you think using a mobile phone when driving is dangerous or not? (Sample size=300)

Dangerous	97.3%
Not dangerous	2.7%

From the sample 222 drove cars. They were asked the following.

Q2: From the first of November 2004 talking on a mobile phone, looking at the screen, etc was outlawed. Do you when driving respect this law? (Sample size=222)

Always respect the law	35.6%
Basically respect the law	55.4%
Don’t really respect the law	8.1%
Don’t respect the law at all	0.9%

From the sample 294 had mobile phones. They were asked the following.

Q3: Do you think hands-free kit will become popular? (Sample size=294)

Yes	9.5%
Perhaps yes	45.9%
Perhaps not	39.8%
Not at all	4.8%