世論 What Japan Thinks

Thank Goodness It’s Friday is, or at least was, called Hana No Kinyoubi (花の金曜日), Flower Friday, and may be shortened to just Hana-Kin (花金). The term came into use in the 1980s, but now has mostly falled into disuse. The TGIF feeling was the topic of this recent survey from iShare.

Demographics

Between the 29th of October and the 4th of November 2009 574 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.7% of the sample were male, 31.5% in their twenties, 33.8% in their thirties, and 34.7% in their forties.

Back when I worked in Scotland, the TGIF feeling usually started on the Friday morning, resulting in a lunchtime visit to the pub, although these days the anticipation is of merely a lie in on Saturday morning! Just last month I started Saturday morning Japanese lessons, so now I don’t even have the lie in to look forward too!

Research results

Q1: Do you know the term “Flower Friday”? (Sample size=574)

	All	Male N=297	Female N=277
Yes	85.7%	82.2%	89.5%
No	14.3%	17.8%	10.5%

Q2: Is Saturday currently a holiday for you? (Sample size=574)

	All	Male N=297	Female N=277
Yes, always (to SQs)	41.1%	42.1%	40.1%
Yes, sometimes (to SQs)	27.5%	27.9%	27.1%
No, always have another day off (to SQs)	9.8%	12.8%	6.5%
Not currently working	21.6%	17.2%	26.4%

Q2SQ1: Are you busier at work on the day before a holiday? (Sample size=450)

	All	Male N=246	Female N=204
Yes, often	19.6%	15.0%	25.0%
Yes, sometimes	37.6%	39.4%	35.3%
No, not really	32.7%	35.0%	29.9%
No, not at all	10.2%	10.6%	9.8%

Q2SQ2: Do you feel happier in the evening of the day before a holiday? (Sample size=450)

,td>6.4%

	All	Male N=246	Female N=204
Yes, often	53.8%	48.4%	60.3%
Yes, sometimes	28.4%	26.8%	30.4%
No, not really	13.1%	18.7%
No, not at all	4.7%	6.1%	2.9%

Q3: Do you feel happier as Friday evening gets close? (Sample size=574)

	All	Male N=297	Female N=277
Yes, often	29.4%	26.6%	32.5%
Yes, sometimes	28.2%	27.6%	28.9%
No, not really	25.8%	29.0%	22.4%
No, not at all	16.6%	16.8%	16.2%

Q4: Have you ever wanted to make private plans for Friday evenings? (Sample size=574)

	All	Male N=297	Female N=277
Yes, often	18.6%	18.9%	18.4%
Yes, sometimes	32.2%	29.0%	35.7%
No, not really	29.4%	30.6%	28.2%
No, not at all	19.7%	21.5%	17.7%