世論 What Japan Thinks

Here’s an interesting survey from goo Ranking, looking at what people would like to do, but they haven’t got the courage to commit to it, for both men and women.

Demographics

Over the 22nd and 23rd of February 2010 1,123 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 58.6% of the sample were female, 9.6% in their teens, 22.2% in their twenties, 32.1% in their thirties, 24.9% in their forties, 7.5% in their fifties, and 3.8% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

I can certainly identify with the starting my own business one, although not having a business plan of any coherence doesn’t really help much. My first real one are probably telling off ill-mannered people – I had an old granny push into line in front of me today and I was tempted to growl something in exceptionally rough Kansai dialectic slang, but she’d probably either have had a heart attack or called the store detectives…

I’ve had numerous foreign holidays by myself, but I know from the reactions from many Japanese friends that travel outside a tour group, let alone solo, is seen as something very bold.

Ranking result

Q: What would you want to do, if only you had the courage to do it? (Sample size=465, male)

Rank		Score
1	Start my own business	100
2	Go to karaoke by myself	92.2
3	Go abroad on holiday by myself	81.3
4	Chat someone up	76.5
5	Tell off ill-mannered people	73.5
6	Go by myself to a dodgy pub	69.3
7	Get a radical hairstyle change (skinhead, etc)	57.8
8	Go to dinner at a posh hotel	55.4
9	Go backpacking	50.0
10	Tell the boss what I really think about him/her	50.0
11	Go by myself to a stand-up bar	48.8
12=	Change jobs	46.4
12=	Take up pugilistic arts	46.4
14	Go on a cycling holiday	43.4
15	Fall in love with a much younger woman	43.4
16	Dress up in ladies clothes	39.2
17	Get cosmetic surgery	34.9
18	Dye my hair	34.9
19	Do cosplay	31.3
20	Declare my love	30.7

Q: What would you want to do, if only you had the courage to do it? (Sample size=658, female)

Rank		Score
1	Go to karaoke by myself	100
2	Go abroad on holiday by myself	97.3
3	Go by myself to a dodgy pub	76.4
4	Tell off ill-mannered people	76.0
5	Get cosmetic surgery	63.9
6	Go to dinner at a posh hotel	59.7
7	Go by myself to a stand-up bar	58.6
8	Get a radical hairstyle change (buzz cut, etc)	58.2
9	Start my own business	57.8
10	Do cosplay	50.2
11=	Tell the boss what I really think about him/her	46.8
11=	Wear sexy clothes	46.8
13	Go backpacking	40.3
14	Fall in love with a much younger man	32.7
15	Go on a cycling holiday	30.8
16	Fall in love with a much older man	25.1
17	Declare my love	24.0
18	Change jobs	23.2
19=	Start husband-hunting	21.3
19=	Wear a disguise	21.3