世論 What Japan Thinks

Having just upgraded my computer, I’m in the satisfied to some degree category, but to see what the Japanese think about home computers, JR Tokai Express Research Inc conducted a survey which was reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

On the 19th and 20th of August 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 58.5% of the sample were male, 2.4% were in their teens, 14.2% in their twenties, 33.0% in their thirties, 23.6% in their forties, 12.4% in their fifties, 9.1% in their sixties, and 5.2% aged seventy or older. Note that due to the survey being conducted online, in Q1 not surprisingly nearly everyone had a home computer.

Ahh, what was right with my old machine! It was old, slow, occasionally needed two or three resets to boot, it was noisy, slow USB ports and temperamental Japanese input to name just the major problems. The new beast that I’ve finally ported stuff over to fixes nearly every one of these complaints, but I’m still getting the hang of Vista and I should have upgraded to 2 gigs of RAM when I bought my Acer Aspire L5100.
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This is a matter that I have pondered about, so it’s interesting to see BlogCh addressing the issue of hot water bum-washing toilet seat usage.

Demographics

Between the 29th and 31st of July 2008 658 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed an internet-based private questionnaire. 51.2% of the sample were male, 13.2% in their twenties, 47.0% in their thirties, 28.6% in their forties, and 11.2% in their teens or fifty or older.

I’ve used the hot water spray twice; once on a toilet with a built-in drier, and once without. Both were rather unpleasant experiences, and the lingering feeling of dampness downstairs was quite disconcerting.

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This is a very straightforward look at a quite straitforward subject, wristwatches. This survey was reported on japan.internet.com and conducted by goo Research.

Demographics

Between the 6th and 11th of August 2008 1,055 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.2% of the sample were male, 14.5% in their teens, 19.7% in their twenties, 21.7% in their thirties, 16.3% in their forties, and 27.8% aged fifty or older.

I just got my watch battery replaced (1,000 yen from Yodobashi Camera, in case you’re wondering, but for some reason I had over 3,000 repair points on my card, so I got it for free) on my analogue-dialled stopwatch-adorned watch that I only wear at weekends, on the outside of my left wrist.
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This survey conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com regarding computer recycling is a particularly relevant survey to me, as I am right now in the middle of copying files from an old PC to a new one via my notebook.

Demographics

On the 7th of August 2008 331 members of the JR Tokai Express Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.1% of the sample were male, 14.2% in their twenties, 41.4% in their thirties, 23.0% in their forties, 12.1% in their fifties, and 9.4% in their sixties.

There has to be a better way to copy around 80GB of data from one computer to the other! I’m just using a network share and the rather nice utility TeraCopy that fixes a few bugs and annoyances in the standard Windows file copying routines. One other problem I have is that I only have one monitor and only one handy network connection so I cannot directly copy from old to new. Hopefully I’ll be up and running by tomorrow.

Regarding disposal of computers, the 資源有効利用促進法, shigenyuukouriyousokushinhou, or Law for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources, to give it its official English translation according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry web site, requires businesses to promote recycling of computers (and air conditioners, microwaves, televisions, washing and drying machines, fridges, and copiers).
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This rather interesting look at electronic item purchasing was conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

Over the 29th and 30th of July 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 60.0% of the sample were female, 2.1% in their teens, 9.4% in their twenties, 46.1% in their thirties, 22.1% in their forties, 10.3% in their fifties,5.2% in their sixties, and 4.8% aged seventy or older.

My last computer was bought at the giant Yodobashi Camera in Umeda Osaka, as my wife suddenly took a fancy to upgrading and I didn’t think she’d like to be dragged down to Den-Den Town to circle the bargain stores looking for the cheapest bargain. Our camera was similarly bought there, but my current mobile phone came from work; although we make the things at the office, staff discount amounts to no more than 5% off the new models, but they don’t copy the settings over from the old phone. Although I got my current phone at around half price (6,000 yen instead of 12,000 yen or so), the general hassle means that next time I’m upgrading as a dealer shop!
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Not surprisingly, according to this survey conducted by goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com on the topic of taking electrical goods to the seaside, very few electrical items survived their salty plunges! Let this survey be a warning for you on your own summer holidays!

Demographics

Between the 15th and 18th of July 2008 1,094 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.8% of the sample were male, 10.0% in their teens, 24.9% in their twenties, 21.7% in their thirties, 19.3% in their forties, and 24.1% aged fifty or older.

I’ve never actually been to the beach in Japan; there’s not actually very much sand around the shores, and any place that does have it is more crowded than a rush-hour train. I was at a beach last week, though; two miles of perfect sand, not many more than two dozen people in total, perfect weather. Not unsurprisingly, this wasn’t in Japan!
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With the iPhone era in Japan now about three weeks old, and with previous surveys showing vast numbers of people willing to sell their own grannies in exchange for an iPhone, this survey from BlogCh into the iPhone, conducted the weekend after the release of the Jesus Phone shows a bit about how the Japanese have reacted.

Demographics

Between the 18th and 22nd of July 2008 433 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 65.8% of the sample were female, 9.9% in their teens, 28.2% in their twenties, 43.2% in their thirties, 15.0% in their forties, and 3.7% aged fifty or older.

The sample size is a bit small, as is the number of purchasers from the sample, so it is a bit difficult to extrapolate the numbers, but I’ll of course keep my eyes peeled for further data in the coming months. However, just 3 people are planning to buy later, which does suggest that the euphoria has passed. Despite being cheaper than first predicted by me, cost scares off more than two in five.

I know at least two of my Japanese readers were more than willing to kick the SoftBank dog out of the way (and perhaps even the SoftBank lady out of bed) to get their hands on an iPhone, but I’ve not seen any English-language reviews of how it performs in Japan. Drop me a line if you know of any, and I’ll link to them from here.
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A few months have passed since Blu-ray emerged as the victor from the next generation high capacity optical disk format wars, so this recent survey from Marsh and reported on by japan.internet.com on digital television program recording also had a look at people’s purchasing plans.

Demographics

Between the 3rd and 8th of July 2008 300 members of the Marsh online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.0% of the sample were female, 20.0% 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.

I went digital a couple of months ago with a Panasonic DiGa (I was going to link to the official US site, but it’s broken…), which is rather nice except for a slightly slow boot-up time; it’s about 30 seconds from power on until it’s ready to go. Mind you, I don’t really use the thing myself, leaving it mostly up to the wife to record. We’ve not filled up the hard disk yet; the super long-play mode gives us 400 hours, so we’re only half-full so far, even though we record two or three programs per day.

Blu-ray is still far too expensive, and as we don’t have a handy video shop (and more than enough movies queued up anyway!) there’s no real appeal.
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I’m not really much of a fan of voice calls in any shape or form, and I do find it difficult to hear properly on a mobile phone, but it seems I am very much in the minority in Japan judging by the results of this survey by JR Tokai Express Research Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com into voice calls.

Demographics

On the 9th of July 2008 331 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor group employed in either the public or private sector completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 77.0% of the sample were male, 8.2% in their twenties, 34.7% in their thirties, 44.1% in their forties, 12.4% in their fifties, and 0.6% in their sixties.

My use of my home phone is limited to once every two weeks when I have a midnight teleconference, and my mobile phone to perhaps once a month when I need to contact my wife more directly than with email.
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With tomorrow (July 11, 2008) being release day in Japan of the 3G iPhone through SoftBank, I thought I’d add to the tsunami of articles by adding this survey from BlogCh that looks at, amongst other things, what people feel is stopping them from buying Softbank’s iPhone.

Demographics

Between the 27th and 30th of June 2008 427 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.1% of the sample were male, 11.5% in their twenties, 49.2% in their thirties, 32.3% in their forties, and 7.0% other ages. The sample was pre-screened with all selected being holders of personal-use mobile phones.

It’s very interesting to note in Q2 that women seem slightly more interested in the iPhone than men, and in the detailed breakdown by current provider (see original survey for details) I think I could detect some envy amongst DoCoMo users!

One ease of use issue I’ve not seen specifically addressed but which is important in Japan is whether you can write email one-handed hanging off a strap in a crowded train. Inability to be thumb-driven in this fashion will be a black mark among reviewers, I suspect.

Commenting on another blog, I just realised that here about 13.3% are investigating purchasing, whereas earlier this month when looking at all the regular new models from DoCoMo, au and SoftBank just 6.7% wanted to buy any one of all the other summer 2008 phones. Incredible!

I also see that Strapya is already decked out with a few 3G iPhone accessories from Japan!