Demographics

Over the 19th and 20th of September 2013 1,045 members of VL Crew completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was 50:50 male and female, and 20.0% in each of the twenties, thirties, forties, fifties and sixties age groups.

My home toilet has both a heated seat (lovely) and a bum squirter (yuk!). I used it once or twice when we first got it, but quite frankly I couldn’t see the point, and all the water down there melts toilet paper when I try to dry off afterwards.

Research results

Q1: Which of the following functions does your home toilet have? (Sample size=1,045, multiple answer)

Heated toilet seat	73.3%
Warm water bottom washer	67.2%
Deodoriser function	34.8%
Bidet function	33.1%
Bottom dryer	31.5%
Auto flush	12.8%
Sound Princess	2.6%
Other	0.3%
None of the above	25.1%

Q2: Which of the following functions do you use on your home toilet? (Sample size=1,045, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=523	Female N=522
Heated toilet seat	62.7%	61.2%	64.2%
Warm water bottom washer	55.2%	56.0%	54.4%
Deodoriser function	26.3%	26.2%	26.4%
Bidet function	19.7%	0.0%	39.5%
Bottom dryer	10.0%	12.0%	7.9%
Auto flush	8.6%	10.1%	7.1%
Sound Princess	1.4%	1.7%	1.1%
Other	0.3%	0.2%	0.4%
None of the above	30.4%	31.5%	29.3%

Q3: Which of the following functions, items do you use in toilets outside your home? (Sample size=1,045, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=523	Female N=522
Paper towel	41.8%	32.3%	51.3%
Warm water bottom washer	41.4%	53.0%	29.9%
Hand dryer	37.1%	28.7%	45.6%
Toilet seat cover sheet	31.8%	27.2%	36.4%
Toilet seat cleaning liquid	28.3%	23.7%	33.0%
Sound Princess	26.3%	4.2%	48.5%
Deodoriser function	12.9%	15.7%	10.2%
Bidet function	8.2%	0.0%	16.5%
Bottom dryer	7.5%	10.9%	4.0%
Other	0.1%	0.2%	0.0%
None of the above	20.7%	24.1%	17.2%

The following question was for the 59.6% who said they did not use the warm water washer in public toilets.

Q4: Why don’t you use the warm water bottom washing function in public toilets? (Sample size=612, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=246	Female N=366
Not needed	33.5%	42.3%	27.6%
Bothered that other people have used it	29.6%	13.8%	40.2%
Concerned about the cleanliness	28.3%	16.3%	36.3%
Too much bother	11.6%	12.2%	11.2%
Ecological reasons	2.9%	2.4%	3.3%
Don’t know how to use it	2.3%	2.4%	2.2%
Other	0.7%	0.4%	0.8%
Don’t know what the feature is	2.3%	3.3%	1.6%
There’s not many toilets with that feature	13.2%	20.3%	8.5%

Q3: Which of the following items do you have in your home toilet? (Sample size=1,045, multiple answer)

Toilet cleaning items	66.2%
Toilet paper holder	66.1%
Mat	60.7%
Slippers	57.2%
Deodorant spray, etc	56.5%
Towel	47.6%
Toilet seat cover	44.8%
Rubbish bin	35.0%
Toilet lid cover	31.5%
Calendar	30.8%
Clock	19.1%
Decorative objects	18.2%
Artificial flowers	17.7%
Picture	9.6%
Magazine, manga	5.8%
Photo	5.8%
Live flowers	5.5%
Book	2.9%
Other	1.6%
None of the above	4.9%

Q6: How often do you lock your home toilet door? (Sample size=1,045)

Always	18.9%
Often	14.6%
About half the time	5.9%
Rarely	31.4%
Never	29.1%

Q7: How and how often do you wash your hands after using the toilet in the following situations? (Sample size=1,045)

	Always, with soap	Always, sometimes with soap	Always, never with soap	Sometimes	Never
All, home, poo	38.1%	20.2%	34.4%	4.2%	3.1%
Male, home, poo n=523	33.7%	21.8%	35.9%	4.8%	3.8%
Female, home, poo n=522	42.5%	18.6%	33.0%	3.6%	2.3%
All, home, pee	19.3%	21.6%	42.2%	10.8%	6.0%
Male, home, pee n=523	16.4%	21.2%	41.9%	12.6%	7.8%
Female, home, pee n=522	22.2%	22.0%	42.5%	9.0%	4.2%
All, outside, poo	42.8%	24.2%	29.5%	1.8%	1.7%
Male, outside, poo n=523	39.0%	25.4%	30.8%	2.9%	1.9%
Female, outside, poo n=522	46.6%	23.0%	28.2%	0.8%	1.5%
All, outside, pee	28.2%	26.8%	37.7%	4.4%	2.9%
Male, outside, pee n=523	22.0%	27.2%	39.8%	7.1%	4.0%
Female, outside, pee n=522	34.5%	26.4%	35.6%	1.7%	1.7%

Q8: Do you stand or sit for a pee at home? (Sample size=523, male)

	Usually sit	Half and half	Usually stand
All	30.4%	16.3%	53.3%
Twenties N=103	43.7%	17.5%	38.8%
Thirties N=106	37.7%	17.0%	45.3%
Forties N=106	30.2%	14.2%	55.7%
Fifties N=102	19.6%	19.6%	60.8%
Sixties N=106	20.8%	13.2%	66.0%

Demographics

Between the 6th and 12th of December 2013 5,418 members of the @nifty internet service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. No further demographic information was provided.

One reason for translating this is that I’ve just finished sending off my New Years cards (the Japanese equivalent of Christmas cards), a total of 16, I think it was, and my wife is sending another 45.

Research results

Q1 was how many New Year postcards (paper, not virtual) people plan to send this year. The graph was broken down by age ranges, but unfortunately did not feature any numbers on the bars, so I have to guess at the results. For those under thirty years old, thirty cards or under was the most common answer; about 25% plan to send none, a fraction over 20% plan to send one to 10 and another fraction over 20% plan to send 11 to 30. One reason for this could be people living with parents and leaving it all up to them, along with more obvious reasons of using email instead. The older people got, the more they planned to send; for example, about 13% of the over-sixties planned to send 101 to 150 cards.

Q2: Which of the following New Years card problems have you experienced yourself? (Sample size=5,418, multiple answer, top 10)

Rank	Problem	Percentage
1	Got a card from someone I didn’t send one to	61%
2	Should I send a card to someone who didn’t send me one last year?	49%
3	I sent them to more people than I planned and ran out	29%
4	What comment should I write on cards to people I’m not really close to?	27%
5	Even though they were in mourning I went and sent them a card (major breach of etiquette!)	19%
6	I was slow to post them, so should I send them after the 4th of January?	18%
7	Printed too many cards and had lots left over	17%
8	Made too many mistakes writing addresses, etc and ran out of cards	14%
9	Ran out of ink while printing them	12%
10	Noticed a mistake after printing them all out	12%

Q3: When doing the end of year cleaning, Spring cleaning, etc, what sorts of things do you feel you should throw away, but cannot bring yourself to do? (Sample size=5,418, multiple answer)

	Male	Female
Clothes I can no longer fit into	40%	54%
Letters, postcards, New Year cards, etc	38%	46%
Books, magazines I won’t read	39%	33%
Presents, photos, letters, etc I received	26%	35%
VHS, vinyl, MD, tape, etc that I can no longer play back	27%	27%
Broken, about to break electrical goods	28%	22%
Pamphlets, tickets I brought back from holiday	24%	31%
Filled-up notebooks	23%	28%
Papers I received from work (salary slips, etc)	21%	27%
Unused sporting goods	18%	16%
Cuddly toys, dolls	11%	29%
Textbooks, uniforms, etc from my schooldays	15%	15%
Accessories, watches, etc	13%	19%
Unused cosmetics, beauty goods	4%	30%
Other	2%	2%
Nothing in particular	13%	7%

Q4: What are the three things you most enjoy about the new year? (Sample size=5,418, three answers)

	Male	Female
Spending time with family	31%	29%
End of year lottery	29%	19%
Traditional foods (osechi, ozone)	27%	23%
NHK Kohaku Song Contest, Ekiden race, other New Year special programs	26%	26%
Hatsumode, New Year visit to a shrine, temple	26%	19%
Toshikoshi soba, traditional noodle dish	22%	12%
New Year postcards	22%	19%
Christmas	16%	26%
End of year party, New Year party, etc	18%	13%
Illuminations	13%	27%
Sales, fukubukuro lucky bags	11%	19%
Visiting my hometown, the relatives	8%	8%
Travel	7%	9%
The first sunrise of the year	7%	5%
Other	3%	6%
Nothing in particular	17%	15%

Q5: How much is appropriate to give a middle-school child (other than your own child, grandchild) as Otoshidama (new year’s gift of money)? (Sample size=5,418)

Nothing	6%
Less than 500 yen	0%
500 yen	1%
1,000 yen	8%
2,000 yen	10%
3,000 yen	38%
5,000 yen	32%
10,000 yen or more	4%
Other	1%

Q6: When you get bored with Osechi (traditional New Year food) what do you want to eat? (Sample size=5,418, multiple answer)

	Male	Female
Ramen	45%	35%
Sushi	34%	33%
Curry	34%	33%
Soba, udon noodles	31%	16%
Yakiniku grilled beef	24%	25%
Nabe (stew), etc	18%	20%
Pizza	12%	19%
Salad, raw vegetables	11%	20%
Bread	10%	19%
Rice	12%	10%
Hamburger, other fast food	10%	14%
Ice cream, other dessert	9%	18%
Miso soup, other soups	11%	10%
Gyudon beef bowl	6%	3%
Other	2%	4%
Don’t get bored with it, don’t eat it	9%	10%

Q7: What single kanji expresses 2013 for you? (Sample size=5,418)

Rank	Kanji	Meaning	Votes
1	苦	Suffering	246
2	変	Change, strange	211
3	忙	Busy	146
4	偽	Fake	144
5	辛	Tough	142
6	楽	Easy	123
7	新	New	96
8	乱	Disordered	93
9	忍	Endurance	88
10	転	Move	85

Demographics

Over the 27th and 28th of November 2013 830 housewives between the ages of 20 and 69 completed a private internet-based questionnaire. There is no information on how the sample was gathered, but the results were weighted according to the actual demographics of Japan.

As a coincidence, I had this Washoku meal tonight while out:

I’m not sure if the tofu-burger in the middle counts, but the surrounding dishes are certainly Washoku; anti-clockwise from the 5 grain rice we have pickles (yuk, passed them to my wife), seaweed (wakame) and fried tofu miso soup, purple sweet potato salad, konnyaku (double yuk!), hiyakko cold tofu, salad, and gobo (burdock root). Very nice it was too – my review should appear here soon.

Research results

Q1: What are the essential seasonings for Washoku? (Sample size=830, multiple answer)

Rank		Percentage
1	Soy Sauce	98.4%
2	Dashi	88.3%
3	Sugar	86.0%
4	Mirin	84.9%
5	Miso	84.3%
6	Sake	83.2%
7	Salt	71.7%
8	Vinegar	60.4%
9	Mentsuyu	47.0%
10	Ponzu	43.2%

Q2: Which Washoku dishes do you often prepare at home, excluding rice and miso soup? (Sample size=830, multiple answer)

Rank		Percentage
1	Grilled fish	59.8%
2	Meat and potatoes	53.7%
3	Pork fried in soy sauce	51.9%
4	Boiled pumpkin	50.6%
5	Udon noodles	49.5%
6	Boiled daikon radish	49.2%
7	Pork soup	48.5%
8	Fried egg, rolled omelette (dashi maki)	47.2%
9	Oden	45.1%
10	Stir-fried vegetables	44.5%
11	Kinpira gobo	44.4%
12	Boiled greens	42.6%
13	Traditional stew (yose nabe, chanko nabe)	42.4%
14	Rice cooked along with vegetables, etc	41.7%
15	Cold tofu	39.7%
16	Boiled hijiki seaweed	36.2%
17	Boiled dried strips of radish	33.8%
18	Boiled fish	33.1%
19	Chicken stew (chikuzenni)	32.8%
20	Chicken nuggets	32.0%

Q3: Which of the following statements about kinds of cuisine apply to you and your family? (Sample size=830)

	Japanese	Western	Chinese	Ethnic	Other	None in particualr
I usually often cook at home	91.6%	72.1%	52.1%	5.2%	1.1%	1.9%
I want to feed to my family	92.5%	43.4%	33.1%	6.4%	1.0%	3.1%
I want to pass on to the next generation	85.4%	21.0%	13.2%	1.8%	0.3%	12.9%
I want to eat more in the future	64.0%	12.6%	10.3%	7.3%	0.6%	25.8%

Q4: Which of the following kinds of cuisine do your family members like? (Sample size=varied)

	Japanese	Western	Chinese	Ethnic	Other	None in particualr
Elementary school children	52.5%	89.0%	39.8%	1.7%	0.0%	0.8%
Middle school children	58.0%	92.0%	60.0%	2.0%	0.0%	0.0%
High school children	68.0%	92.0%	68.0%	2.0%	2.0%	2.0%
All ages	70.5%	71.2%	46.1%	6.2%	1.0%	2.1%

Q5: What are the good things about Washoku? (Sample size=830, multiple answer)

Rank		Percentage
1	Can eat lots of vegetables	77.0%
2	Good nutritional balance	76.0%
3	Healthy	65.2%
4	In tune with the seasons	57.3%
5	Low calorie	50.0%
6	Can eat lots of fish	49.1%
7	Taste I’m used to	45.3%
8	Taste all the family can eat	44.2%
9	Don’t get bored with it	42.1%
10	Can use seasoning I have at home	41.9%
11	Can eat various ingredients at a single sitting	38.3%
12	Can enjoy the taste of the ingredients	37.0%
13	Japanese-like flavour	34.7%
14	Has food to match occasions	31.3%
15	Is food education for the children	30.2%
16	Each family has their own flavour	28.2%
17	Colourful	25.7%
18	A taste of home	21.5%
19	Trains a finer palate	18.4%
20	Can keep (ie, cook in bulk)	16.2%

Q6: What are the bad things about Washoku? (Sample size=830, multiple answer)

Rank		Percentage
1	Bland	32.9%
2	Long preparation time	26.6%
3	Long cooking time	24.6%
4	A bother to prepare dashi stock	21.8%
5	Needs lots of ingredients	20.6%
6	Children don’t like it	19.0%
7	Not flashy, rich	18.9%
8	Need to use lots of crockery	18.1%
9	No sense of volume	17.5%
10	High proportion of salt	17.2%
11	Difficult to add flavour	17.2%
12	Nothing in particular	16.7%
13	Difficult to plan meals	15.4%
14	Cannot keep the flavour consistent	12.4%
15	Dull colours	8.7%
16	There’s no main dish	8.1%
17	Preparation is difficult	7.8%
18	Takes time to tidy up afterwards	7.2%
19	Got bored of the taste	5.0%
20	Gets boring	4.5%

Q7: Which of these points regarding Washoku apply to your home cooking? (Sample size=830)

	Yes	Mostly	Can’t say	Not really	No
I use in-season vegetables effectively	14.0%	47.1%	28.8%	8.6%	1.6%
I make a balanced meal centred around rice	15.1%	57.4%	21.5%	4.1%	1.9%
I place importance on the arrangement of the food	7.7%	28.6%	37.2%	23.4%	3.1%
I serve dishes in tune with events throughout the year	6.9%	32.8%	38.2%	18.1%	4.0%

Q8: Which of these points regarding Washoku apply to how you would like your home cooking to be in the future? (Sample size=830)

	Yes	Mostly	Can’t say	Not really	No
I will use in-season vegetables effectively	50.8%	41.2%	7.4%	0.0%	0.5%
I will make a balanced meal centred around rice	47.6%	42.4%	8.5%	0.9%	0.6%
I will place importance on the arrangement of the food	34.7%	48.9%	14.8%	0.9%	0.6%
I will serve dishes in tune with events throughout the year	33.7%	45.4%	17.4%	2.5%	1.0%

Demographics

Between the 13th and 15th of November 2013 558 members of the MMD Labo monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All the people were smartphone users, and the demographics say that the sample was aged between 20 and 59 years old, but looking at Q1 I can see that 18 and 19 year olds, and those 60 or older were also questioned. No further demographic information was provided.

Talking of walking with smartphones, Japan Times recently stretched the definition of “news” rather too far with the author of this piece suggesting that negative press about walking with smartphones was a plot by Japan Inc. to spoil the iPhone 5s and 5c launch.

I don’t believe in coincidences. From Sept. 20, NTT Docomo, Softbank and au all began selling Apple’s newest-model iPhones, and I suspect the big difference is that foreign brands are threatening to expand their dominance of the market. So behind this wave of complaints is wounded national pride and concerns that Japanese firms are being nudged out of their own (very lucrative) market.

What a load of nonsense, but sadly reflective of the current editorial bent of newspaper, and also not the worst nonsense they have printed under a “news” headline.

Research results

Q1: Are you addicted to your smartphone? (Sample size=558)

	Yes	Perhaps	Perhaps not	No
All	14.2%	34.4%	34.9%	16.5%
Male	12.5%	31.4%	38.2%	17.9%
Female	15.8%	37.4%	31.7%	15.1%
18-19 years old	18.2%	43.2%	28.4%	10.2%
Twenties	29.5%	35.2%	23.9%	11.4%
Thirties	15.8%	39.5%	33.3%	11.4%
Forties	8.9%	36.6%	38.4%	16.1%
Fifties	5.6%	28.9%	40.0%	25.6%
Sixty or older	6.1%	16.7%	48.5%	28.8%

Q2: Do you use your smartphone while walking? (Sample size=558)

Usually (to SQ1)	21.1%
Sometimes (to SQ2)	36.0%
Rarely (to SQ2)	30.1%
Never (to SQ2)	12.8%

Q2SQ1: Have you had an accident, got injured using your smartphone while walking? (Sample size=118)

Yes	22.9%
No	77.1%

Q2SQ2: Have you had an accident, got injured using your smartphone while walking? (Sample size=487)

Yes	8.8%
No	91.2%

Q3: How much of a nuisance are people who use their smartphones while walking? (Sample size=558)

Always a nuisance	33.2%
Sometimes a nuisance	45.0%
Rarely a nuisance	18.5%
Never a nuisance	3.4%

Demographics

etween the 25th and 28th of September 2013 1,090 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.8% of the sample were male, 13.5% in their teens, 15.4% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 17.3% in their forties, 14.7% in their fifties, and 17.5% aged sixty or older.

Research results

Q1: Do you keep track of the family accounts? (Sample size=1,090)

Yes (to SQ1)	41.4%
No	58.6%

Q1SQ1: How do you keep track of the family accounts? (Sample size=451, multiple answer)

PC Excel spreadsheet, etc	34.1%
Notebook, etc	25.9%
Commercial family budget ledger	25.3%
Smartphone app (to SQ2, SQ3)	16.4%
Feature phone feature	4.0%
Other	5.3%

Q1SQ2: What app do you mostly use to keep track of the family accounts? (Sample size=74)

Kantan Kakeibo (Simple family budget)	32.4%
Zaim	10.8%
ReceReco	6.8%
Kokomane	5.4%
Buta Kore	4.1%
Reshiipi!	2.7%
Dr. Wallet	1.4%
Other	36.5%

Q1SQ3: How often do you update that app’s data? (Sample size=74)

Every time I purchase something	40.5%
Once a day	33.8%
Once every two or three days	13.5%
Once a week	4.1%
Once a fortnight	2.7%
Once a month	2.7%
Less than that	2.7%

japan.internet.com reported on a subject that I know more about than I can tell you, that of smartphone-ready home appliances, in a survey conducted by goo Research.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 25th of September 2013 1,082 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private intenet-based questionnaire. 53.7% of the sample were male, 13.7% in their teens, 15.8% in their twenties, 21.7% in their thirties, 17.1% in their forties, 14.6% in their fifties, and 17.1% aged sixty or older.

Here’s a demo from last year’s CEATEC (Japan’s biggest consumer electronics show) where Sharp showed off their take on a Roomba.

Research results

Q1: Have you heard of smartphone-ready home appliances? (Sample size=1,082)

Yes, and have, had some (to SQs)	4.1%
Yes	22.8%
No	22.0%
Don’t have a smartphone	51.1%

Q1SQ1: Which maker’s smartphone-ready home appliances do you have, have you had? (Sample size=44, multiple answer)

Panasonic	50.0%
Sharp	18.2%
Toshiba	18.2%
Sony	15.9%
Hitachi	11.4%
Mitsubishi	6.8%
NEC	6.8%
Fujitsu	4.5%
Casio	2.3%
Other	13.6%

Q1SQ2: What kinds of smartphone-ready home appliances do you have, have you had? (Sample size=44, multiple answer)

Air conditioner	34.1%
Refrigerator	22.7%
Washer/drier	13.6%
Microwave oven	11.4%
Rice cooker	9.1%
Body thermometer	9.1%
Blood pressure meter	4.5%
Cooking hob	2.3%
Other	25.0%

When asked about the attractions of smartphone-ready appliances, the top answer was the ability to remotely control them. When asked about the demerits, battery usage and electricity bill issues were high up the list. Furthermore, a few people just didn’t see the need for them.

Demographics

Over the 30th and 31st of August 2013 500 members of the Computer Planning Research Co., Ltd monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, and in each age group from twenties to sixties there was 50 male and 50 female respondents. Furthermore all resided within the Kanto area, namely Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma.

I find it quite disappointing that Q2 (see graph) did not have an answer “Both are equally nonsense!”

Given that there are only four blood types but 12 star signs, wouldn’t chance suggest that blood type should be thrice as accurate? Would anyone like to posit an argument as to why we see the results we do?

Research results

Q1: What sources of fortunes do you check? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=250	Female N=250
Television program fortune-telling corner (to SQs)	12.0%%	10.0%	14.0%
Portal site, etc through computer, mobile phone, etc (to SQs)	9.8%	8.8%	10.8%
Magazine fortune-telling column (to SQs)	7.0%	4.4%	9.6%
Fortune-telling book (to SQs)	2.2%	1.2%	3.2%
Specialised fortune-telling web site, app (to SQs)	1.8%	1.2%	2.4%
Face-to-face with fortune-teller (to SQs)	1.2%	0.8%	1.6%
Other (to SQs)	1.0%	0.8%	1.2%
Don’t really check my fortune	77.4%	80.4%	74.4%

Q1SQ1: How often do you check your fortune? (Sample size=113)

	All	Male N=49	Female N=64
Almost every day	34.5%	36.7%	32.8%
Few times a week	32.7%	34.7%	31.3%
Once a week	13.3%	16.3%	10.9%
Few times a month	11.5%	8.2%	14.1%
Once a month	4.4%	2.0%	4.7%
Less than that	3.5%	2.0%	4.7%

Q1SQ2: What kinds of divination do you check, use? (Sample size=113, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=49	Female N=64
Zodiac sign	69.9%	67.3%	71.9%
Drawing lots at temples (Omikuji)	17.7%	16.3%	18.8%
Blood type divination	16.8%	10.2%	21.9%
Western astrology	15.0%	10.2%	18.8%
Chinese Four Pillar astrology	14.2%	12.2%	15.6%
Tarot cards	10.6%	10.2%	10.9%
Numerology	7.1%	4.1%	9.4%
Onmyoudou (nine traditional astrological signs)	7.1%	4.1%	9.4%
Animal fortune-telling	7.1%	8.2%	6.3%
Palm-reading	7.1%	4.1%	9.4%
Feng Shui	6.2%	4.1%	7.8%
Physiognomy	2.7%	0.0%	4.7%
Dream divination	2.7%	0.0%	4.7%
Stick divination (ekisen)	1.8%	2.0%	1.6%
Playing cards	0.9%	0.0%	1.8%
Other	8.8%	6.1%	10.9%

Q1SQ3: What is the most important aspect of fortune telling? (Sample size=113)

	All	Male N=49	Female N=64
Rank (eg, how lucky one’s sign is compared to others)	42.5%	40.8%	43.8%
Health	14.2%	18.4%	10.9%
Love	8.8%	4.1%	12.5%
Money	23.0%	24.5%	21.9%
Lucky item	7.1%	8.2%	6.3%
Lucky colour	2.7%	2.0%	3.1%
Other	1.8%	2.0%	1.6%

Q2: Which is more accurate, star sign or blood type? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=250	Female N=250
Star sign	63.0%	60.4%	65.6%
Blood type	37.0%	39.6%	34.4%

Demographics

Between the 21st and 26th of August 2013 2,000 members of the Research Bank monitor group who were smartphone owners completed a private internet (most likely via smartphone) questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:0 male and female, and 20:20:20:20:20 for the age groups of teens, twenties, thirties, forties and fifty-pluses.

I avoid LINE because I worry about the fact that it slurps your address book up to their servers, and anyway I prefer Google Hangouts, not that I use that much anyway.

Research results

Q1: Do you use LINE? (Sample size=2,000)

	Use it	Downloaded, but not currently using	Not used it	Don’t know it
All	63.3%	4.8%	30.1%	1.9%
Male	57.2%	6.0%	34.6%	2.2%
Male teens	76.5%	4.0%	16.5%	3.0%
Male twenties	61.5%	5.5%	32.5%	0.5%
Male thirties	59.0%	3.0%	36.0%	2.0%
Male forties	47.0%	9.0%	41.5%	2.5%
Male 50+	42.0%	8.5%	46.5%	3.0%
Female	69.3%	3.6%	25.5%	1.6%
Female teens	88.0%	2.5%	9.0%	0.5%
Female twenties	81.5%	3.0%	13.5%	2.0%
Female thirties	72.5%	2.5%	24.0%	1.0%
Female forties	51.5%	5.0%	41.5%	2.0%
Female fifties	53.0%	5.0%	39.5%	2.5%

The 36.7% who didn’t use LINE were asked why, with the most popular reason being they didn’t need it, with about 55% feeling so. Privacy and security concerns came next at around 40% and 35% respectively.

Not suprisingly, text chat was the most feature amongst the users, with 91% using that. Next came 66% using voice calling, 51% using group chat, then 39% visiting the stamp shop, animated icons to liven up chat. Interestingly, just under a quarter of the men but over half the women used this feature.

Regarding the stamp shop, 99% picked up free stamps, 52% free-if-you-friend-a-public-account stamps, and 23% paid-for stamps. Curiously, 31% of men versus just 20% of women paid for stamps. Furthermore, 65% friended public accounts to pick up the free stamps, with 72% of women versus 51% of men taking this route.

When asked what they found inconvenient regarding LINE, 44% chose the poor voice call quality, then 33% that people registered in one’s phonebook can find out information about one.

Demographics

During the month of April 2013 400 male members of the Rakutan Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample consisted of 200 men who self-identified as going bald and 200 who had a full head of hair. Furthermore, 20.0% of each group were in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% in their sixties.

Talking of slapheads, not surprisingly there is a Facebook group for photos of hot bald men. There is also this bald women group too; Google tells me the Arabic means “Shaved head women Salaat”. Coincidentally, the Japanese word “Salatto” means “sleek, smooth”, just like after a shaved head…

Research results

Q1: Why do you use an SNS? (Sample size=400, multiple answer)

	Thinning hair N=200	Full hair N=200
Keep in touch with friends	39.5%	38.5%
Gather information	26.0%	31.0%
Meet women, participate in communities	15.0%	7.0%
News	8.5%	8.0%
Keep in touch with friends overseas, far away	4.0%	10.5%
Share photos	4.0%	2.5%
Other	3.0%	2.5%

Q2: How often do you “Like” friends’ posts on Facebook? (Sample size=400)

	Thinning hair N=200	Full hair N=200
Almost every day	12.0%	10.0%
Once a week or more	35.5%	29.5%
Once a month or so	6.0%	13.0%
Less than that	14.5%	16.5%
Don’t use “Like” button, not on Facebook	32.0%	31.0%

Q3: What do you use for a profile photo on SNS? (Sample size=400)

	Thinning hair N=200	Full hair N=200
Current photo of myself	26.5%	28.5%
Cartoon character	23.0%	28.5%
Scenery	17.5%	19.5%
My child, pet photo	11.0%	9.0%
Photo of me when younger	7.0%	2.0%
Other	15.0%	13.0%

Q4: What topics do you hate coming up on SNS? (Sample size=400, top three answer)

Rank	Thinning hair N=200	Full hair N=200
1	Hair, thinning hair	Other people’s salary
2	Other people’s salary	Body shape
3	Smells	My real offline life

Demographics

At some recent point in time 641 members of the Do House monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.9% of the sample were male, 40.6% were in their twenties or thirties, and 59.4% were in their forties or fifties. All lived in the vicinities of Tokyo, and all were in employment, including part time and casual work.

I have both my own My Bottle and my own My Cup; I fill the thermos with tea from a tea bag, and slowly top up my My Cup from my My Bottle as time goes by. It feels like about a quarter of the people in myoffice bring their My Bottle, but I’ve never asked them what is inside, but for some reason I imagine it must be miso soup, although that doesn’t feature as a distinct option in Q3.

For some reason people drinking out of their thermos irritates me – the unscrewing and clinking as they put the cap back on is not in itself a noise that gets on my nerves, but much like fan usage it just grates for some no particular reason.

Research results

Q1: What kinds of drink containers do you drink from at work? (Sample size=641, multiple answer)

These numbers are read off a graph, so they may not be exact. However, looking at the breakdown by sex and age group, younger men were the biggest can and plastic bottle drinkers (about 60% and 70% respectively), and older women the least likely to drink from them at work.

Q2 is probably the people from Q1 who used one or more My Cup or My Bottle in the office.

Q2: How often do you take your My Bottle, My Cup to the office? (Sample size=348)

Men in their twenties and thirties were the most likely demographic to bring their own drinking utensils every day, and conversely men in their forties and fifties were most likely to store them in the office.

Q3: What do you fill your My Bottle, My Cup with? (Sample size=348, multiple answer)

Q4 is probably the people from Q3 who drink tea or coffee either ready-made, or make themselves, the top three answers in Q3.

Q4: Where do you buy/prepare the drinks you drink at the office? (Sample size=299 and 260)