世論 What Japan Thinks

Even though one large English conversation school went bust last week, learning English still seems to have a high cachet attached to it, if this recent survey from goo Ranking into what people think cool guys study. There is a hint of a follow-up survey into what cute girls are into, so I’ll be sure to translate that later.

Demographics

Between the 23rd and 25th of March 2010 1,128 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.5% of the sample were female, 15.1% in their teens, 16.9% in their twenties, 28.8% in their thirties, 21.1% in their forties, 9.4% in their fifties, and 8.7% 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 must say I have zero idea why people answered the way they did. I can maybe agree up to number 7, but then we get bread-making and interior design! Wedding planning and meteorology bamboozle me even further. Finally, it’s interesting that about the most macho activity is karate – I’m wondering if the survey question was actually “What do you think herbivore boys would be studying?”

Ranking result

Q: What do you think cool guys would be studying? (Sample size=1,128)

Rank		Score
1	English conversation	100
2	Horse riding	86.5
3	Piano	83.4
4	Diving	75.5
5	Tennis	70.5
6	Violin	65.7
7	Home cooking	57.4
8	Bread-making	49.9
9	Interior designing	47.8
10	Tea ceremony	42.4
11	Ballet	40.3
12	Graphic design	38.0
13	Golf	36.0
14	Ikebana, traditional flower arranging	35.3
15	Architecture	32.6
16	Wedding planning	32.4
17	Certified public accountant	31.0
18	Secretarial studies	30.6
19	Gardening	30.4
20	Programming	28.5
21=	Street dance	28.3
21=	Financial planning	28.3
23	MBA	28.1
24	Karate	24.1
25	Aerobics	20.8
26	Social dance	19.1
27	Pet trimming	18.7
28	Meteorology	14.1
29	Career counselling	12.5
30	Baby sitting	7.3