世論 What Japan Thinks

This short report on a survey from Marsh Inc by japan.internet.com into home computer environment, but in particular on computer problems, found over two-thirds tried to fix problems themselves first.

Demographics

Between the 14th and 16 of April 2010 300 members of the Marsh monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, 1.3% in their teens, 18.7% 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.

I have Windows Update set to download automatically, as I usually want to check to see what’s getting updated, and I can delay the update until I finish a session, to prevent the reboot reminder getting in the way. At work we are supposed to switch it off; I’d like to say it’s because it gives the IT department a chance to test out stuff, but I suspect it’s more for a dubious reason like preventing overload of the local network.
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With the launch of the Xperia at the end of last month (March 2010) and heavy advertising on primetime television, it’s perhaps not a surprise that according to goo Research’s 51st mobile phone upgrade needs survey, as reported by japan.internet.com, that the Xperia is as popular as it is.

Demographics

Between the 9th and 14th of April 2010 1,000 mobile phone users from the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.0% of the sample were male, 1.0% in their teens, 11.5% in their twenties, 3.2% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, and 24.2% aged fifty or older.

I’ve had a play with the Xperia at a special shop they’ve opened in Osaka, and it’s quite fun to use, and the display font is much better than I imagined it would be. I quite fancy it myself, but I cannot really justify the 5,400 yen per month unlimited data plan (plus another 1,500 yen in basic service fees), with of course 40,000 yen for the handset on top.
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This recent survey from Media Interative (iResearch), reported on by japan.internet.com, into pirates uncovered quite surprising data on purchased pirate plunder.

Demographics

Over the 13th and 14th of April 2010 1,000 internet users (there was no information on how the sample was chosen) who knew what piracy was completed a survey. 55.3% of the sample were male, 1.0% in their teens, 16.1% in their twetnies, 27.1% in their thirties, 30.9% in their forties, 17.1% in their fifties, and 7.8% in their sixties.

In a previous survey on a similar topic, pirate laser disk featured prominently in the survey, so I wonder if that falls under the definition of “record”, not just implying vinyl. I’ve personally never heard of pirate vinyl!

With the internet these days, actually buying stuff seems such a quaint idea, although I am surprised to see that game software is relatively low, as the barrier to dowmloading and burning a CD or using a hacked ROM card seems rather high.

I presume that fake brand items fall outside the pirate category for this survey, which seems to be concentrating on media.
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iShare recently took a look at socks or no socks at home, and came up with some surprising figures.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 30th of March 2010 499 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.9% of the sample were male, 30.5% in their twenties, 31.9% in their thirties, and 37.7% in their forties.

I never go sockless at home; wearing slippers with no socks just doesn’t feel right, and barefoot is not really an option on wood veneer flooring. Anyway, wifey would probably accuse me of spreading athlete’s foot germs around the house, as we’ve watched television programs (sponsored by the makers of OTC creams for said disease, no doubt) about the hidden dangers of second-hand germs spread through bare feet. I do change my socks as soon as I get home, however.

Some of the reasons given for socks in the summer were worried about dust, people sufferring from cold feet, and feeling relaxed with socks; conversely the sockless people worried about sweatiness, heat in general, and were just bothered by their socks. In the winter, reasons for socklessness included feeling more relaxed with unconstrained feet, just being in the habit of it, and just liking being barefoot.
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goo Ranking took another look at a subject I also translated in 2009, what actions by your partner makes you happy, for both women making men happy and men making women happy.

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.

The guys in this survey must be lying as I would have expected number 14 for them to be way out in the lead!

I also wonder why linking arms is second-top for men, but 15th for women – why don’t they like linking arms?
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japan.internet.com recently reported on a survey conducted by goo Research into digital cameras.

Demographics

Between the 1st and 5th of April 2010 1,084 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.2% of the sample were male, 16.6% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 21.9% in their thirties, 15.3% in their forties, 15.6% in their fifties, and 12.5% aged sixty or older.

I want to buy a digital SLR, but I’m not quite sure how I would get on with it, or whether I get enough opportunities to take photos. I’m always in awe of the skills of the numerous Japan photo bloggers such as Lee at Tokyo Times, Muza-chan, i, cjw (who needs to get a coffee table book deal!), and Danny Choo to name just a few. There’s also a flickr group for photos from Japan that hopefully should be embedded here:

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A recent survey from Marsh Inc, reported on by japan.internet.com, looked at one’s home computer environment and found relatively few left their home PC running 24/7.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 11th of April 2010 300 members of the Marsh online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.0% of the sample were male, 2.0% in their teens, 18.0% 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.

I have two computers at home, a desktop and my netbook, which I use when my wife is on the desktop for her evening email check. Both machines are only ever on during active use; we hit the Sleep button if we’re going to be away from the computer for less than thirty minutes, but otherwise it’s a complete power down. It might have been interesting to see if those who switch off mean unplugging, sleeping, hibernating, or letting them automatically enter sleep or hibernate mode.
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A recent survey (well, a recently-published one) looked at people’s habits regarding eating out alone.

Demographics

Betwen the 16th of September and the 1st of October 2009 (they are slow to report some times!) 9.409 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.8% of the sample were male, 1.1% in their teens, 10.9% in their twenties, 31.9% in their thirties, 31.7% in their forties, 16.3% in their fifties, and 8.1% aged sixty or older.

I would have preferred to have seen people who regularly go out for lunch at work alone for a simple meal eliminated from the survey and a clearer distinction made between a cup of tea and a full meal, but even without that, we can see some interesting trends.

For myself, Mister Donut and Subway are occasionally used for a snack or meal – Mister Donut‘s free refills in particular make the place very condusive to sitting there for hours translatings surveys, although my private life doesn’t often afford me the time. Going upmarket, I can go into Dear Soup except on busy days, as the tables are a bit close together and sitting beside a slurper is an ever-present danger. Nearby my usual Dear Soup is a slightly upmarket but still cheap Italian (Portofina) where the staff know my face, so that’s very easy to enter. Oddly enough, the last time I went there alone another solitary foreigner came and queued up behind me.
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A recent survey from iBridge Research Plus, reported on by japan.internet.com, looked at the online shopping habits of women.

Demographics

On the 5th of April 2010 300 female members of the iBridge monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 12.3% of the sample were in their twenties, 38.0% in their thirties, 19.7% in their forties, 23.0% in their fifties, and 7.0% in their sixties.

As usual, my favourite method, PayPal, doesn’t get a mention, although I suppose Yahoo! Wallet is the closest one gets.
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A recent survey from iShare took a look at two things that affect me too, stress and sleep.

Demographics

Between the 19th and 25th of March 2010 515 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.9% of the sample were male, 30.1% in their twenties, 34.6% in their thirties, and 35.3% in their forties.

My stress is probably somewhere around level 3 or 4, depending on how much of a pain in the backside my boss is being… However, I do suffer from utter exhaustion just about every day, but sleeping in after my alarm is a very, very rare occurance, given how irritatingly loud it is!
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