世論 What Japan Thinks

I have an irrational dislike of seeing people using toothpicks, the subject of a survey from iShare.

Demographics

Between the 27th of January and 1st of February 2010 500 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.7% of the sample were male, 30.2% in their twenties, 34.5% in their thirties, and 35.3% in their forties.

I have once used a toothpick in a restaurant, but it didn’t feel right. Old guys wondering around chewing the end of a toothpick in particular irritates me. Oh, and on a flight to the USA this week the American woman in the seat beside me spend a lot of time picking the remains of her beef or chicken out of her teeth.

Note that many (most?) restaurants in Japan have toothpicks at the table.

Research results

Q1: Have you ever used a toothpick to dislodge bits of food from your teeth? (Sample size=550)

	All	Male N=301	Female N=249
Yes (to SQ1)	76.5%	76.4%	76.7%
No	23.5%	23.6%	23.3%

Q1SQ1: Have you ever used a toothpick in a restaurant? (Sample size=421)

	All	Male N=230	Female N=191
Yes (to SQ2)	86.9%	94.3%	78.0%
No (to SQ3)	13.1%	5.7%	22.0%

Q1SQ2: Where do you mostly pick the food out of your teeth when you use a restaurant toothpick? (Sample size=366)

	All	Male N=217	Female N=149
At my seat	85.8%	93.5%	74.5%
In the toilet	10.7%	4.1%	20.1%
Somewhere other than the restaurant	3.6%	2.3%	5.4%

Q1SQ3: Do you use the toothpick packaged along with disposable chopsticks received from a convenience store, etc? (Sample size=421)

	All	Male N=230	Female N=191
Always use	9.7%	15.7%	2.6%
Sometimes use	58.0%	59.1%	56.5%
Never use	32.3%	25.2%	40.8%

Q1SQ4: Do you have toothpicks at home for picking your teeth? (Sample size=421)

	All	Male N=230	Female N=191
Yes (to SQ5)	74.8%	72.6%	77.5%
Currently don’t, but have had (to SQ5)	9.0%	8.7%	9.4%
Never had	16.2%	18.7%	13.1%

Q1SQ5: Do you take toothpicks from home in case you need to pick your teeth while out? (Sample size=353)

	All	Male N=187	Female N=166
Always take	5.1%	5.3%	4.8%
Have taken	10.8%	8.6%	13.3%
Never taken	84.1%	86.1%	81.9%

Q2: Do you have tools other than toothpicks for dislodging bits of food from your teeth? (Sample size=550)

	All	Male N=301	Female N=249
Yes	28.0%	23.3%	33.7%
No	72.0%	76.7%	66.3%