世論 What Japan Thinks

[part 1][part 2]

Macromill Inc continued their annual tradition of publishing a survey looking at people who are turning 20 and will be attending a Coming of Age ceremony, traditionally held today, January 14th 2013, in their 2013 new adults survey. For reference, I previously translated the 2010 survey.

Demographics

Over the 20th and 21st of December 2012 500 members of the Macromill monitor group who will eligible to attend a Coming of Age ceremony in 2013 completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, and were all aged either 19 or 20.

The second half of the survey, fortunately, is a bit brighter. 35.4% interested to some degree in foreign employment is quite a bit higher than I would have imagined, although the cynic might say that figure is inflated by those who see a dark future for Japan in Q1, so wish to get out while the going is good…

A surprise for me is that there is a significant difference between the sexes regarding mobile phones; the women seem to have been quicker to switch to smartphones, although I wonder how much is tied in with their much higher SNS usage, as mobiles make Twitter, LINE etc more pleasurable to use.

Research results

Q12: How interested are you in studying abroad? (Sample size=500)

	All	Male N=250	Female N=250
Very interested	18.4%	17.2%	19.6%
Somewhat interested	24.4%	20.4%	28.4%
Not really interested	25.8%	28.0%	23.6%
Not at all interested	31.4%	34.4%	28.4%

Q13: How interested are you in foreign travel? (Sample size=500)

	All	Male N=250	Female N=250
Very interested	37.2%	30.8%	43.6%
Somewhat interested	27.6%	28.0%	27.2%
Not really interested	15.0%	16.4%	13.6%
Not at all interested	20.2%	24.8%	15.6%

Q14: How interested are you in mastering a foreign language? (Sample size=500)

	All	Male N=250	Female N=250
Very interested	30.2%	28.4%	32.0%
Somewhat interested	32.4%	30.4%	34.4%
Not really interested	18.6%	19.6%	17.6%
Not at all interested	18.8%	21.6%	16.0%

Q15: How interested are you in working overseas in the future? (Sample size=500)

	All	Male N=250	Female N=250
Very interested	13.4%	14.4%	12.4%
Somewhat interested	22.0%	22.4%	21.6%
Not really interested	29.4%	27.6%	31.2%
Not at all interested	35.2%	35.6%	34.8%

Q16: Where would you like to study overseas? (Sample size=those interested in studying overseas, multiple answer, top 5)

Rank		Percentage
1	USA	60.7%
2	UK	43.0%
3	Canada	42.5%
4	Australia	27.6%
5	Germany	27.1%

Q17: Where would you like to travel overseas to? (Sample size=those interested in travelling overseas, multiple answer, top 5)

Rank		Percentage
1	France	60.5%
2	USA	59.6%
3	Italy	59.0%
4	UK	56.2%
5	Germany	52.5%

Q18: Where would you like to work overseas? (Sample size=those interested in working overseas, multiple answer, top 5)

Rank		Percentage
1	USA	52.5%
2	UK	28.2%
3	Germany	23.2%
4	France	19.2%
5	Canada	16.4%

Q19: Which of the following digital devices do you have and use? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=250	Female N=250
Laptop, netbook	80.8%	84.0%	77.6%
Feature (non-smart) mobile phone	42.0%	48.0%	36.0%
Android smartphone	37.6%	34.8%	40.4%
Desktop computer	30.4%	35.6%	25.2%
iPhone	25.0%	23.2%	26.8%
Tablet	8.0%	10.4%	5.6%
Non-Android, non-iPhone smartphone	2.4%	1.6%	3.2%
Electronic book reader	1.2%	1.6%	0.8%
None of these	0.2%	0.0%	0.4%

Q20: Which of the following SNS do you currently use? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=250	Female N=250
Twitter	57.4%	49.2%	65.6%
LINE	54.6%	42.8%	66.4%
Facebook	48.8%	42.0%	55.6%
mixi	35.4%	30.0%	40.8%
Mobage SNS functions	11.8%	12.4%	11.2%
Google+	10.2%	12.0%	8.4%
GREE SNS functions	9.8%	6.8%	12.8%
Ameba Pigg	8.6%	5.6%	11.6%
Myspace	1.6%	1.6%	1.6%
LinkedIn	1.4%	2.0%	0.8%
Other SNS	0.8%	0.4%	1.2%
Don’t use any SNS	17.4%	25.2%	9.6%

Q21: What do you think are the great things about turning 20 years old? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=250	Female N=250
Can drink alcohol	49.8%	44.4%	55.2%
Can vote	35.4%	41.2%	29.6%
Can be looked upon as an adult	23.4%	24.8%	22.0%
Can attend a Coming of Age ceremony	17.8%	15.2%	20.4%
Can get a credit card without parents’ permission	14.0%	14.0%	14.0%
Can get married without parents’ permission	5.6%	4.8%	6.4%
Can gamble on horses, etc	5.0%	7.2%	2.8%
Can smoke	4.2%	4.8%	3.6%
Other	2.0%	0.4%	3.6%
Nothing in particular	28.0%	28.0%	28.0%

[part 1][part 2]