With the analogue switch-off now only 21 months away (24th July 2011), the number ready for the change has now passed the halfway mark, according to the 11th regular survey into digital terrestrial television from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com.
Research results
Between the 5th and 10th of October 2009 1,092 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.7% of the sample were male, 16.6% in their teens, 18.2% in their twenties, 21.2% in their thirties, 15.9% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, and 12.3% aged sixty or older.
With 13% of the population still to decide, I’ve been seeing a few adverts for a converter box, and the one below from J:Com trying to persude presumably not just the microscopic percentage of foreigners who might be in the situation of being TV-less in two years.
Although when I lived in Ayr I used to go to their racecourse, I’ve felt absolutely zero interesting in racecourses in Japan, the subject of a recent survey from iShare.
Demographics
Between the 21st and 26th of August 2009 545 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private online questionnaire. 52.3% of the sample were male, 34.1% in their twenties, 33.0% in their thirties, and 32.8% in their forties.
The horses is one of the few things that one in Japan can legally gamble on. Rather than lots of small betting shops like there is in the UK, instead there are massive gambling halls where everyone gathers to (presumably, as I’ve never been inside) watch satellite broadcasts of the races and bet.
A few months ago I published a survey into home consoles that was rightly criticised for not having information on home much machines were actually played. Hopefully this recent survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com into consumer games machines, their first in a regular series, will go some way to answering these complaints.
Demographics
Between the 27th and 31st of August 2009 1,045 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.8% of the sample were male, 16.6% in their teens, 18.5% in their twenties, 21.4% in their thirties, 16.4% in their forties, and 27.2% aged fifty or older.
I have a Nintendo DS at home, but it’s the wife’s and it’s gathering dust. I’d take it to play on the train, but it’s pink… Perhaps I can find a suitably macho jacket for it that can hide the real colour?
In addition to the questions below, people were asked what game they had bought most recently. Top by a mile was Dragon Quest 9 for the DS, with many of the earlier games in the series also featuring. The games were equally popular with both male and female purchasers. Second was Monster Hunter 3 from the Wii, then Wii Sports. Read the rest of this entry »
Between the 19th and 24th of August 2009 591 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.0% of the sample were male, 35.2% in their twenties, 31.3% in their thirties, and 33.5% in their forties.
Since we got our hard disk DVD recorder the amount of recorded television has increased, but my watching has decreased! At least blank DVDs are reasonably-priced and don’t take up quite as much space as the millions of VHS tapes lying around the house… Read the rest of this entry »
There’s a lot of interesting data in this short survey from Marsh Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com into recording television programs, although I’d like to have seen a larger sample size and a more detailed look at some of the data.
Demographics
Between the 27h and 30th of August 2009 300 members of the Marsh monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, 2.0% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% aged sixty or older.
The more detailed information I’d like (perhaps I’ll get it some time from goo Research’s regular digital TV survey?) is to see if people are currently buying either DVD or Blu-Ray recorders for their digital terrestrial decoders or for their recording capabilities, as it can be seen in Q1SQ2 that the recorders based around the dead HD DVD format are just as popular for time-shifting as Blu-Ray devices. With the analog switch-off less than two years away (24th July 2011), many of the almost one-in-three still using tape are going to find themselves in some trouble, I suspect.
I watch more real-time television – I use the weekends to catch up on stuff I’ve missed. Read the rest of this entry »
Maids versus butlers would be a good title for a video game I suspect, but here it is just two related surveys from iShare, one on maids and the other on butlers.
Demographics
For the maid survey, between the 10th and 17th of August 2009 618 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.6% of the sample were male, 34.3% in their twenties, 30.4% in their thirties, and 35.3% in their forties.
For the butler survey, between the 11th and 18th of August 2009 587 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.7% of the sample were male, 33.6% in their twenties, 32.0% in their thirties, and 34.4% in their forties.
I’ll report the two surveys interleaved as the questions are similar in each. First will be the maid question which I will suffix with an M, so we get Q1M, for instance, then the butler question with a B, as in Q1B, etc.
Both maid cafes and butler cafes exist in Japan, as do female butler cafes, and no doubt male maid ones do too, but I’m not really in the mood for searching. Incidentally, I’ve recently twice seen on my train back from work a guy looking like a very ordinary otaku type except for a cheap maid dress, trying to hide his stubble behind some foundation, so perhaps he works at some low-end seedy male maid joint? Read the rest of this entry »
goo Ranking recently conducted their 10th regular survey into digital terrestrial television, a survey reported on by japan.internet.com.
Demographics
Betwen the 17th and 22nd of July 2009 1,079 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the sample were male, 16.6% in their teens, 17.8% in their twenties, 21.0% in their thirties, 16.5% in their forties, 15.9% in their fifties, and 1.1% aged sixty or older.
I don’t believe that having the greatest reason for dissatisfaction being DRM, Digital Rights Management, is in itself a condemnation of copy control on digital broadcasts, as I would guess that the vast majority of people are either (or both) unaware of the presence of DRM or never do any activities that run into these restrictions.
Note that analogue broadcasts stop on the 24th of July 2011. One thing that has struck me as odd is that there is very little advertising for converter boxes in Japan; a few thousand yen gives a new lease of life to any television. When visiting my parents back in the UK last year they had a cheap box that produced a very acceptable picture on their 15 year old telly. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the top two complaints I hear from other foreigners in Japan is the rather high 1,800 yen (US$19 or UK¤12 or so) per seat, but this survey from RealWorld RealResearch and reported on by japan.internet.com into movies found few taking advantage of discounts.
Demographics
Over the 25th and 26th of June 2009 1,017 members of the RealWorld RealResearch (I never tire of typing the company’s name!) monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 57.9% of the sample were male, 11.5% in their teens, 12.9% in their twenties, 26.5% in their thirties, 15.9% in their forties, 12.3% in their fifties, and 20.8% aged sixty or above.
When I say most people pay full price, the full price is not necessarily 1,800 yen. The first of the month is usually 1,000 yen, one day a week is Ladies’ Day with 1,000 yen for females, and late shows (from 9 pm usually) are often discounted by 300 or 500 yen. However, I usually buy advance tickets; these are normally 1,300 yen, and if you buy from the cinema or convenience stores they often come with a free gift. The third party ticket shops mentioned below usually stock unsold advance tickets or cheap daytime passes, but I find them not worth the bother.
If you go to Toho group cinemas frequently, I also strongly recommend the Toho Cine Mileage card; their credit card version is free, and for every six movies you see you get one free! Read the rest of this entry »
Looking at this survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com into mobile phones, with this particular report focusing on video content, I find it quite surprising that downloaded content is almost as popular as the free over-the-air television broadcasts, and that content converted to mobile format is also not that uncommon.
Demographics
Between the 3rd and 7th of July 2009 1,065 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.4% of the sample were male, 16.5% in their teens, 18.2% in their twenties, 20.9% in their thirties, 16.3% in their forties, 15.6% in their fifties, and 12.4% aged sixty or older.
It is very curious that 16.3% do not have a mobile phone – the usual percentage is around 5%. Has goo Research recently changed the demographic balance of their monitor panel?
My biggest surprise was from Q2SQ2, in that just 15% said they watched while commuting, and even less at other times on the move. I have heard that it is seen as a little embarrassing to be watching TV on the train for some people, but I’d like to see a more detailed survey on that. Indeed, it has been quite a while since I’ve translated a survey on in-train activities. Read the rest of this entry »
Following on from yesterday’s look at Neon Genesis Evangelion, lets look today with iShare again at big mech anime, or cartoons of giant robots knocking lumps out of each other for those not familiar with the technical terms.
Demographics
Between the 11th and 16th of June 2009 600 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.7% of the sample were male, 35.8% in their twenties, 29.5% in their thirties, and 34.7% in their forties.
I’m not sure what Atom Boy is doing in Q1SQ2, and if he is included, why not Doraemon too?
A Gundam robot in Tokyo is one of the capital’s attempts to sway the Olympic committee into picking Japan for 2016. Here’s a video of it in action:
Although when I lived in Ayr I used to go to 
A few months ago I published a survey into 
Having looked earlier at 
There’s a lot of interesting data in this short survey from Marsh Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com into 
Maids versus butlers would be a good title for a video game I suspect, but here it is just two related surveys from iShare, one on 
goo Ranking recently conducted their 10th regular survey into 
One of the top two complaints I hear from other foreigners in Japan is the rather high 1,800 yen (US$19 or UK¤12 or so) per seat, but this survey from RealWorld RealResearch and reported on by japan.internet.com into 
Looking at this survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com into 
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