世論 What Japan Thinks

In particular, this survey from DIMSDRIVE Research looked at leggings.

Demographics

Between the 6th and 20th of August 2010 4,756 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.7% of the sample were female, 0.4% were in their teens, 9.0% in their twenties, 32.0% in their thirties, 33.5% in their forties, 17.9% in their fifties, and 7.2% aged sixty or older. Furthermore 63.1% of the sample were married.

I’m not a particular fan of leggings myself, in particular the ones with loops to secure them around the sole of the foot. It just annoys me for some unknown reason, just like too many shoulder straps do too. There’s also just far too many people wearing them this summer.

The word Trencker appears to be German for leggings, or at least appears to be a German word imported into Japanese to be used to label leggings. Searching the web, they now seem to be putting xylitol into leggings – yes, that silver birch extract that you usually find in sugarless chewing gum!
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With the ongoing threats of mass blackouts this summer due in no small part to the power requirements of air conditioners, one solution people seem to be looking at is battery-powered fans, the particular focus of a report on japan.internet.com of a survey by goo Research into saving electricity, the second time this survey has been conducted.

Demographics

Between the 17th and 21st of June 2011 1,063 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the sample were male, 16/6% in their teens, 18.2% in their twenties, 20.9% in their thirties, 16.5% in their forties, 15.9% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

Many of the electrical stores are sold out of mains-powered fans – I picked up mine about a month ago while there were still lots to choose from – so perhaps battery-powered ones are the only thing left in stock, going some way to explaining the larger than I might expect headline figure. Note that the fans being talked about are large free-standing fans, not these minature toy ones.
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Since the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake Disaster on March 11th, even people outside the immediate disaster area have felt aftershocks in their daily life. This survey from iShare looked at how one’s lifestyle has changed post-earthquake.

Demographics

Over the 9th and 10th of June 2011 1,223 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.3% of the sample were male, 9.3% in their twenties, 45.5% in their thirties, and 45.1% in their forties. All of the sample lived in either Tokyo, Osaka, or Aichi (Nagoya area) prefecture.

I don’t think I’ve really done anything special since the earthquake, bar buying a new fan, but that was more due to the general high price of electricity bills than due to any specific awareness of reducing power consumption as requested by the local electricity board.
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As it was Fathers Day last Sunday this survey from iShare looked at images of modern-day fathers.

Demographics

Between the 30th of May and the 1st of June 2011 1,343 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-base questionnaire. All of the sample was married, 50.1% of the sample were female, 3.4% in their twenties, 41.7% in their thirties, and 54.9% in their forties.

This survey looked at a new word to me, イケダン, ikedan. The word is a combination of イケる, ikeru, hip or trendy (with a hint of being attractive to the opposite sex) and だんな, danna, husband. It’s a play on イケメン, ikemen, cool guy with a hint of availability.

There’s an ikedan web site, which has the five mottos of an ikedan, namely “Be elegant”, “Live strong”, “Don’t forget to be gentle”, “No excuses”, and “Do things in moderation”. This survey listed the characteristics as “Keeping family important while working hard”, “Don’t hesitate to lend the wife a hand even when busy”, “look cool on the outside too”, and “Not skimping on fashion”, taken from Ikedan Japan web site, which is some kind of Nissan promotion.

Doesn’t look like my style; I’d rather aspire to be a choi-waru oyaji myself!
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Here’s a great survey from goo Research into used, rental, and repaired goods and services.

Demographics

Between the 28th of April and the 5th of May 2011 1,074 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.2% of the sample were female, 20.1% in their twenties, 20.2% in their thirties, 20.1% in their forties, 19.6% in their fifties, and 19.9% aged sixty or older.

My wife won’t go near anything second-hand, and as for repairing in Japan, I feel unless I have a direct contact with a decent engineer, the average call-out charges or repair costs compare unfavourably with the cost of just buying a replacement item. We’ve had stuff repaired under guarantee – the last time was when our washing machine croaked and they gave us a brand-new latest model upgrade for nothing – but it feels like too much hassle to get older stuff looked at.
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Today’s fun from goo Ranking is a look at what kinds of lessons people might expect to have a romantic encounter, for both women encountering men and men encountering women.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 22nd of April 2011 1,110 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 60.5% of the sample were female, 10.8% in their teens, 16.2% in their twenties, 27.4% in their thirties, 26.4% in their forties, 9.3% in their fifties, and 9.9% aged sixty or older.

Women put English conversation fourth, although I wonder if they are hoping to meet another student or the teacher?
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With the very real threat of brown-outs, if not complete black-outs in not just the Tokyo area but Nagoya too, saving electricity is a commonly-heard term, with the government setting a 15% cut as a target, people are looking to even cut down electricity use of their home computers, the subject of a recent survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

Between the 9th and 13th of May 2011 1,088 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.3% of the sample were male, 16.1% in their teens, 18.2% in their twenties, 21.4% in their thirties, 16.2% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, and 12.3% aged sixty or older.

I do just all of the PC power-saving activites except for turning off my router, as it is built-in and hidden in a box in the back of a cupboard.

Talking of power-saving, at work we’ve been asked to ensure our computers are set to go into standby mode after 30 minutes of inactivity, and I saw that Panasonic are releasing a power management utility for their Let’s Note portable computer range that will force a plugged-in computer to switch to battery power at predefined times, to reduce the load over peak hours.
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Following up on onigiri and drinking, we now have DIMSDRIVE looking at snacking in another survey conducted last year but only reported on this month.

Demographics

Between the 22nd of July and the 5th of August 2010 6,720 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.5% of the sample were male, 0.7% in their teens, 10.1% in their twenties. 30.2% in their thirties, 33.1% in their forties, 17.4% in their fifties, and 8.5% sixty or older.

I must admit to being one of the ones who snack just about every day; chocolate at work and whatever sweeties or crisps we have lying around the house at weekends, although my excuse is that I don’t eat a full lunch at work, and at home we fill up at breakfast and dinner, so again the snacks play the role of a rather unhealthy lunch.
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A survey by goo Research into mobile phones in bed revealed some rather interesting habits about what goes on between the sheets.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 25th of March 2011 1,818 businesspeople who were members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 912 of the sample were male, 447 were in their twenties, 440 in their thirties, 453 in their forties, and 468 in their fifties. Furthermore, 1584 owned ordinary mobile phones, 107 had Android-based ones, 108 iPhones, and 19 other smartphones.

I am in the up to five hours category, although it’s been more “up to” than “five hours” recently as my wife has got addicted to a Japanese version of Farmville. I never use my mobile in bed, however, as I’m far too tired, and anyway I’ve had my fill of the internet via my desktop before bedtime.
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DIMSDRIVE Research recently reported on a survey from last August into drinking alcohol.

Demographics

Between the 19th of August and 2nd of September 2010 7.069 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.6% of the sample were male, 9.9% in their twenties, 29.8% in their thirties, 32.5% in their forties, 18.1% in their fifties, and 9.7% aged sixty or older.

Normally, I fall into the once every two or three month category, although when I have a business trip overseas I may occassionally have an extra shandy or two; I’m most likely off to Munich next month, so I might force myself to sample a litre or five of the local brew…

Here’s Tokyo Metro telling you to get beered up at home, not in the platform:

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