世論 What Japan Thinks

Alternatively subtitled “Over half of single Japanese sleep with their dogs”, but that sort of headline has got me into trouble before! When Yahoo! Japan Value Insight took a look at dog ownership, they found out that and many other interesting facts.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 27th of June 2010 560 members of the Yahoo! monitor group living in Tokyo or the three surrounding prefectures with only one dog completed a private internet-based questionnaire. There were 100 of both men and women who were married with children, 68 men and 100 women married with no children, and 92 men and 100 women unmarried and living alone. The ages of each sub-group ranged from 20 to 59 years old. There was also another 100 of both men and women unmarried but living at home, but their answers were not reported.

I’m a cat person myself with a mild dog phobia, so I cannot but be amazed at the stupidity of the owners. On the other hand if it were felines, I would fully accept the results as a balanced representation of the respect humans have for their cat masters!

Photo from Chi (in Japan) on flickr.

Research results

Q1: About how much per month do you spend on your pet? Average out irregular events like grooming, trimming, pet hotel, etc. (Sample size=560, multiple answer)

	Married with children N=200	Married, no children N=168	Unmarried, living alone N=192
Total	15,016 yen	16,303 yen	16,060 yen
Pet food, snacks, drinks, etc	4,892 yen	4,602 yen	5,002 yen
Bed, mat, toilet, etc	1,921 yen	1,624 yen	1,951 yen
Clothes, collar, lead, toys, etc	1,134 yen	1,063 yen	1,289 yen
Education, training, obedience, etc	408 yen	145 yen	296 yen
Insurance, vet fees, nursing care	3,768 yen	4,707 yen	4,439 yen
Grooming, trimming, etc	1,545 yen	1,990 yen	1,517 yen
Pet hotel	580 yen	746 yen	654 yen
Travel	768 yen	1,425 yen	912 yen

Q2: About how long per week do you spend on the following? (Sample size=560, multiple answer)

	Married with children N=200	Married, no children N=168	Unmarried, living alone N=192
Total	9.5 hours	10.7 hours	10.8 hours
Walkies	4.6 hours	5.0 hours	4.3 hours
Playing, training, obedience at home	3.4 hours	4.3 hours	4.6 hours
Brushing, other care	1.5 hours	1.4 hours	1.9 hours

Q3: About how long per week would you want to spend on the following? (Sample size=560, multiple answer)

	Married with children N=200	Married, no children N=168	Unmarried, living alone N=192
Total	13.3 hours	13.8 hours	15.6 hours
Walkies	6.0 hours	6.0 hours	6.0 hours
Playing, training, obedience at home	4.9 hours	5.7 hours	7.0 hours
Brushing, other care	2.3 hours	2.2 hours	2.6 hours

Q4: Which of the following statements do you agree with? (Sample size=560, multiple answer)

	Married with children N=200	Married, no children N=168	Unmarried, living alone N=192
I choose a home with facilities for dogs	56.0%	54.8%	69.8%
I live in an area with parks, dog runs close at hand	53.5%	59.5%	66.7%
I try to get home early for my dog	63.5%	75.0%	77.1%
Regardless of how unwell I might feel I always take the dog for walkies	50.5%	51.2%	56.3%
Spending time with my dog is more important that going to the pub, other socialising	42.5%	64.9%	66.7%
I’m most happy when playing with my dog	63.5%	77.4%	75.0%
I feel like a doting parent and spoil my dog	51.0%	68.5%	65.1%
I never fail to celebrate my dog’s birthday	41.5%	62.5%	60.4%
I sleep with my dog	38.0%	49.4%	54.2%
I bath with my dog	24.0%	19.0%	37.5%
I buy lots of toys for my dog	30.0%	36.9%	44.8%
I keep up with the trends in dog clothes, accessories	25.5%	20.8%	31.8%
I choose a dog lover as a boyfriend, husband	58.5%	70.8%	77.1%
I’ve got lots of friends I met through my dog	42.0%	50.0%	49.5%
I regularly buy dog magazines	25.0%	22.6%	32.8%
I have or participate in a doggie blog, SNS community, web site, etc	22.0%	29.8%	37.5%
I take lots of photos, videos of my dog	50.5%	53.0%	62.5%
I organise my dog photos, videos into albums	48.0%	51.8%	54.7%
My mobile phone wallpaper is my dog’s photo	43.5%	58.3%	51.6%
I’ve got photos of my dog on display everywhere	32.0%	44.1%	45.3%
I use my dog’s photo in New Year postcards	32.0%	44.0%	35.9%
I submit my dog photos, videos to magazines, television programs, etc	19.5%	18.5%	28.6%
My dog is registered with an animal model agency	14.0%	11.9%	19.3%
If my dog gets sick, injured my top priority is to get him to the vets	81.5%	92.3%	87.0%
I take my dog for regular health checks	68.0%	80.4%	75.5%
I put the air conditioning on when I leave my dog at home	48.5%	63.7%	62.5%
I have pet insurance	30.0%	26.2%	37.0%
I give my dog supplements	26.5%	34.5%	38.5%
When I leave my dog at home I watch him via a web camera	15.5%	10.7%	22.4%
If I have to put my dog into boarding kennels, I spare little expense to choose the best	56.5%	67.9%	70.3%
When going on trips I choose hotels that welcome dogs	44.0%	54.2%	50.5%
When going shopping I choose shops that welcome dogs	27.0%	33.9%	41.1%
When going to cafe, restaurant I choose places that welcome dogs	26.5%	34.5%	47.4%