世論 What Japan Thinks

A recent survey from DIMSDRIVE Research took a look at women’s excess body hair, and found hairy armpits the biggest concern for them, and ordinary manual shaving the most popular way of getting rid of it.

Demographics

Between the 9th and 24th of June 2010 8,334 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.1% of the sample were male, 0.7% in their teens, 11.0% in their twenties, 31.4% in their thirties, 31.6% in their forties, 16.9% in their fifties, and 8.4% aged sixty or older. Furthermore, 63.2% were married, and of the remaining 3,065, 28.7% had a partner, 63.4% did not, and 7.9% just didn’t want to say.

I don’t think my wife gets too bothered by excess hair; by that I mean that she doesn’t have much in the first place. She’s forever shaving her eyebrows, but that’s for beauty reasons so she can draw them back on with a pencil.

Research results

Q1: How much attention do you pay to your own excess body hair? (Sample size=3,992, female)

Quite a bit	32.4%
A little	38.7%
Not very much	27.1%
None at all	1.8%

Not surprisingly, younger women were more concerned – 89.1% of those in their twenties versus just 17.7% were bothered versus just 17.7% of those aged sixty or older.

Q2: Do you cut, pluck, etc your excess body hair? (Sample size=3,992, female)

Yes (to SQs)	67.2%
No	19.6%
Have had permanent treatment done, so don’t need to now	5.7%
Just not needed (little excess hair)	7.5%

Married women were least likely to trim their excess hair, just three percentage points behind partnerless singles; about 10 percentage point more of those with boyfriends kept their hair under control.

Q2SQ1: In what seasons do you keep which excess hair under control? (Sample size=2,684, multiple answer)

	Spring	Summer	Autumn, winter
Underarm	82.2%	91.4%	72.8%
Eyebrows	72.4%	71.9%	71.8%
Around the mouth	64.2%	63.9%	63.2%
Lower leg	59.6%	73.5%	46.2%
Around the face	59.4%	59.4%	58.6%
Nose hair	38.2%	38.4%	38.0%
Lower arm	37.3%	49.0%	25.9%
Hands, fingers	33.0%	37.1%	30.3%
Upper arms	22.7%	36.9%	14.8%
Feet, toes	21.8%	28.5%	17.7%
Bikini line	21.3%	30.0%	19.9%
Thighs	18.0%	28.5%	13.7%
Delicate zone	14.7%	19.3%	13.8%
Stomach	10.2%	13.7%	9.2%
Chest	9.6%	11.7%	8.6%
Back of neck	8.7%	10.5%	8.0%
Shoulders, back	4.4%	8.5%	3.2%
Other location	1.2%	1.4%	1.2%
Nowhere during that season	1.9%	0.0%	3.7%

Manual shaving was the most popular method for everywhere except the nose, with scissors being the most popular. And since I guess you’re all wanting to know, about 85% used a razor for tidying up downstairs, with plucking (waxing?) being the second most popular method.

Q2SQ2: What are the basic features you look for when selecting excess body hair management goods? (Sample size=2,684, multiple answer)

Easy to use	56.6%
Price	54.4%
Little, no pain	36.1%
Beautiful finish	33.%
Care method (bleaching, removal, etc)	30.2%
Hair doesn’t quickly grow back	12.9%
Design, shape	7.4%
No smell	6.0%
Word of mouth	4.0%
Quick-acting	3.8%
Difficult to dry out	3.0%
Immediate acting	2.5%
Skin whitening, moisturising effect included	1.8%
Cream type	1.6%
Foam type	1.6%
In vogue	1.2%
Includes soy isoflavone	0.9%
Spray type	0.6%
Liquid type	0.5%
Other	0.9%
Don’t use, buy care goods	5.3%
Nothing in particular	11.1%

Q2SQ3: What problems have you had with excess body hair management? (Sample size=2,684, multiple answer)

Grew back quickly	74.4%
Couldn’t manage it tidily	38.8%
After management still had a prickly feeling	38.0%
Got ingrowing hair	34.6%
After management pores got all bumpy	31.1%
Are places that I just cannot reach myself	30.3%
Cut myself shaving	26.3%
Skin got dried out, rough afterwards	26.0%
Skin got itchy afterwards	19.7%
Places got dark afterwards	18.6%
Hair got gradually thicker	17.5%
Takes time to manage	14.4%
Pores widened	11.5%
It hurt	11.2%
Other	0.6%
No particular problems	9.7%

Q2SQ4: At what times do you get bothered by your excess body hair? (Sample size=2,684, multiple answer)

When wearing thin clothes	60.7%
When wearing something sleeveless	59.2%
When wearing clothes that show some leg	54.1%
When wearing a swimsuit	41.5%
When holding onto the overhead strap on trains, busses	38.9%
At the onsen	37.7%
At the swimming pool, gym	33.5%
When I see someone else’s excess body hair	32.0%
When wearing stockings	28.8%
When having sex	27.6%
When my skin is touched	26.5%
When getting changed in front of people, otherwise having to expose skin	26.2%
When a man is close	24.9%
When wearing clothes that expose my back	16.4%
When kissing	14.2%
When I have my hair up	11.7%
When linking arms	10.7%
Other	1.5%
No particular times	3.2%

Q3: Are you bothered by excess female body hair? (Sample size=4,342, male)

Often (to SQ)	16.0%
Sometimes (to SQ)	38.7%
Almost never	28.2%
Never	17.1%

Q3SQ: Excess female body hair in which locations bother you? (Sample size=2,373, multiple answer)

Underarm	71.5%
Lower leg	36.7%
Nose hair	32.3%
Around the mouth	30.7%
Around the face	25.3%
Upper arms	22.7%
Thighs	16.6%
Bikini line	16.5%
Shoulders, back	15.2%
Lower arms	14.5%
Hands, fingers	14.5%
Delicate zone	14.3%
Back of neck	12.8%
Chest	10.6%
Feet, toes	10.4%
Eyebrows	10.4%
Stomach	9.0%
Other location	0.7%

Q4: Have you ever removed excess body hair for the sake of the opposite sex? (Sample size=8,334)

	All	Male N=4,342	Female N=3,992
Yes	13.4%	16.3%	10.3%
No	86.6%	83.7%	89.7%