世論 What Japan Thinks

iShare recently conducted a survey that had a nice buzzword in the title, namely Yama (Mountain) Girls, a trend amongst young women to go hillwalking for the fashion as much as for the exercise. However, the headline was the extent of the involvement of the Yama Girls, and it turned out to be a rather ordinary look at mountaineering and hillwalking with a mobile phone instead.

Demographics

Betwen the 15th and 17th of September 2010 1,217 members of the CLUB BBQ who had gone mountaineering or hillwalking with a mobile phone completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 80.5% of the respondents were male, 5.8% in their twenties, 46.8% in their thirties, 34.3% in their forties, and 13.1% in their fifties.

In Q2, note that Mount Takao is within the Tokyo prefecture limits and a mere 599 metres high with a funicular railway, and the 931 metre-high Mount Rokko is within the Kobe city limits and also has two funiculars and a cable car up to the plateau, so they are in quite a different class from the 3776 metres of Mount Fuji!

Research results

Q1: Why do you climb mountains? (Sample size=1,217, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=980	Female N=237
To get back to nature	53.0%	51.8%	57.8%
For recreation	50.6%	51.3%	47.7%
To relax, refresh	41.6%	41.4%	42.2%
For health, so build strength	29.1%	29.1%	29.1%
To enjoy some quality time with friends, family	25.0%	24.7%	26.2%
For the sense of achievement	22.8%	24.1%	17.3%
For the sense of freedom	20.0%	20.7%	17.3%
Because it’s in vogue	0.2%	0.2%	0.0%
Other	6.8%	7.0%	5.9%

Q2: This autumn, which mountain do you most want to climb? (Sample size=1,217)

Japanese name	English name	All	Male N=980	Female N=237
高尾山	Mount Takao	20.5%	19.4%	25.3%
富士山	Mount Fuji	15.3%	17.4%	6.3%
六甲山	Mount Rokko	6.8%	6.3%	8.9%
御嶽山	Mount Ontake	5.0%	4.8%	5.9%
丹沢山	Mount Tanzawa	4.9%	5.3%	3.4%
大台ヶ原	Odaigahara	4.2%	4.6%	2.5%
筑波山	Mount Tsukuba	4.0%	3.7%	5.5%
阿蘇山	Mount Aso	3.8%	3.7%	4.2%
赤城山	Mount Akagi	3.0%	3.3%	1.7%
焼岳	Yakedake	1.8%	1.7%	2.1%
	Other	30.6%	29.8%	34.2%

Q3: Have you ever felt unsafe when mountain climbing? (Sample size=1,217)

	All	Male N=980	Female N=237
Yes (to SQ)	54.7%	53.3%	60.8%
No	45.3%	46.7%	39.2%

Q3SQ: What have you felt unsafe about when mountain climbing? (Sample size=666, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=522	Female N=144
A sudden change in the weather	78.2%	78.0%	79.2%
Whether I’d get lost	55.7%	54.4%	60.4%
Whether I’d run out of strength	43.2%	42.7%	45.1%
Whether I could get off the mountain before nightfall	41.7%	42.3%	39.6%
Whether my equipment was OK for the predicted temperature	39.5%	38.3%	43.8%
How to respond in case of injuries	37.2%	38.7%	31.9%
Few toilets	35.0%	30.7%	50.7%
Whether I’d brought enough water	31.5%	33.0%	26.4%
Couldn’t get a mobile signal	21.5%	21.8%	20.1%
Insect bites	12.3%	12.5%	11.8%
Other	5.0%	5.6%	2.8%

Q4: When mountain climbing, which of the following do you think are useful to bring with you? (Sample size=1,217, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=980	Female N=237
Wet tissue	54.0%	50.4%	68.8%
Plastic bag	52.8%	50.8%	61.2%
Emergency kit	48.6%	48.1%	50.6%
Knife	36.1%	37.2%	31.2%
Ground sheet	34.2%	32.8%	40.1%
Headlight	33.3%	34.6%	27.8%
Pack type water bottle	32.0%	32.6%	30.0%
Sunglasses	24.4%	24.1%	25.7%
Mobile phone recharger	23.1%	24.0%	19.4%
Gas stove	21.9%	23.3%	16.0%
Hands-free umbrella (shoulder-, rucksack-mounted)	19.1%	19.3%	18.6%
Altimeter	14.5%	1.5%	5.9%
Other	4.5%	4.3%	5.5%

Q5: When mountain climbing, which of the following do you think are essential to bring with you? (Sample size=1,217, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=980	Female N=237
Mobile phone	85.0%	85.3%	83.5%
Towel	82.1%	80.9%	86.9%
Food	75.6%	74.4%	80.6%
Camera	72.0%	73.8%	64.6%
Watch	67.5%	68.9%	62.0%
Hat	65.5%	61.9%	80.2%
Trekking shoes	57.5%	57.7%	57.0%
Gloves	57.1%	56.0%	61.6%
Items for keeping out the cold	56.9%	56.0%	60.8%
Map	51.5%	52.8%	46.4%
Torch	46.2%	47.4%	40.9%
Sunscreen	30.6%	24.3%	56.5%
Insect repellant spray	29.2%	27.1%	37.6%
Stick	17.7%	17.2%	19.4%
Other	12.2%	11.3%	15.6%

Q6: Who is your mobile phone carrier? (Sample size=1,217)

	All	Male N=980	Female N=237
docomo	42.2%	42.7%	40.1%
au	28.7%	28.6%	29.1%
Softbank	25.7%	25.4%	27.0%
Other	3.5%	3.4%	3.8%

Q7: When mountain climbing, do you find you cannot get a signal on your mobile? (Sample size=1,217)

	All	Male N=980	Female N=237
Always no signal	5.3%	5.0%	6.3%
Usually no signal	52.1%	54.1%	43.9%
Usually a signal	37.8%	36.5%	43.0%
Always a signal	4.8%	4.4%	6.8%

By carrier, 57% of docomo users usually or always got a signal, whereas 45% of au users did, and just 21% of Softbank users.

Q8: Have you ever used your mobile phone when mountain climbing? (Sample size=1,217)

	All	Male N=980	Female N=237
Yes	49.1%	49.8%	46.0%
No	50.9%	50.2%	54.0%

The most popular feature used up a mountain was email, with 71.2% sending one, then 65.2% making voice calls, 64.8% taking photos, 33.5% checking the time, 26.8% surfing the internet for maps, weather forecasts, etc, and 23.5% using GPS features.