世論 What Japan Thinks

Having looked earlier in the week at how people use their PCs in the morning, this time we look with RealWorld RealResearch and japan.internet.com at web site viewing habits at home.

Demographics

Over the 27th and 28th of October 2009 1,012 members of the RealWorld RealResearch monitor group successfully completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 64.0% of the sample were male, 6.0% in their teens, 9.5% in their twenties, 10.3% in their thirties, 40.9% in their forties, 18.5% in their fifties, and 14.8% aged sixty or older. That does seem a bit of curiously top-heavy demographic.

When I start up my PC the first thing I do is launch my mail clients (yes, I run two clients to keep my blogging world separate from my family) and my browser, hit the mail check buttons then minimise the mail clients, so end up viewing the browser first, which starts up with the Opera speed dial page, technically, I suppose, a blank page.

I don’t bookmark many sites, but my wife has hundreds of the things which slow down Internet Explorer something rotten, taking over 10 seconds to open a page. I should teach her about sub-folders for bookmarks, but I really haven’t got the energy.
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I was going to make this a detailed post tonight, but Mari at Watashi to Tokyo beat me to it with the list of top 10 hit items of 2009.

I’ve had a bit of a cold (not influenza!) this weekend, which is why I went silent for three days, and I’ll skip a fuller post today too.

Here’s an interesting little survey from iBridge Research Plus as reported on by japan.internet.com into the internet and habits.

Demographics

On the 26th of October 2009 exactly 300 members of the iBridge monitor group who were either in employment or students completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 76.0% of the sample were male, 9.0% were in their twenties, 31.7% in their thirties, 38.0% in their forties, 17.0% in their fifties, and 4.3% in their sixties.

I don’t switch on my home PC before leaving for work as (a) I don’t have time, and (b) if I did, I’d keep fiddling with it and be even later. However, just last week I have started enacting my latest cunning plan that may (or may not) see me firing up a PC on the train to work.

Oh, and today I was pleased to see that this doctor has an open wireless point in his office, although I don’t know if he is actually aware he is providing it…
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This recent survey from iShare into hair colouring is working under the presumption that all of its sample has black hair, given that there is no question about one’s natural colour.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 30th of September 2009 562 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.5% of the sample were male, 35.9% in their twenties, 30.2% in their thirties, and 33.8% in their forties.

Earlier this year I had a more detailed look at hair colouring.

Despite being 100% Japanese, my wife is actually naturally dark brown rather than black, which used to get her into trouble at school as many schools forbid hair dying, along with make-up, etc. She used to work somewhere where she got a light brown dye not because it was in vogue or the like, but actually was a very important part of the corporate image!
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For those of you coming to this thread with a dirty mind, please review the lack of a possessive apostrophe for “girls” and realise that this is merely a survey from iShare looking at purchasing underwear as gifts for not just Japanese women, but men too.

Demographics

Between the 30th of September and 5th of October 2009 562 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.2% of the sample were male, 34.5% in their twenties, 33.3% in their thirties, and 32.2% in their forties.

I’ve peeked at Japanese knickers, once before, as it were.

My wife buys all my boxers, usually Hello Kitty and friends. Last time I had a health check at the office that required stripping down I realised I’d decided to wear my bright orange Snoopy Halloween ones that day!
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That’s the top four fast food places in Japan, specifically Makudo, Mosu, Misudo and Kenta – McDonalds, Mos Burger, Mister Donut and KFC – according to MyVoice’s sixth look at fast food. I translated their fifth survey on fast food two years ago.

Demographics

Over the first five days of September 2009 14,023 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 2% in their teens, 14% in their twenties, 34% in their thirties, 30% in their forties, and 20% aged fifty or older.

If you’re a burger fan, note that the Japan Blog Matsuri is doing hamburgers this month.

I’m a big Mister Donut fan, as they have a lot of convenient shops, a good point card system, unlimited refills of hot black coffee or hot au lait, you can stay as long for as you can put up with the US DJ and his muzak, and oh, rather nice doughnuts. I’m quite partial to their chocolate and salty caramel one, and their standard menu items, Pon De Ring Black Sugar and Pon De Tofu Kinako (sweet soy flour), are always a good choice.

The bit about wifi refers to a current campaign at McDonalds where those with Nintendo DSes can connect to an in-shop LAN and download some free games.
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Here are some interesting figures from Point On Research, reported on by japan.internet.com, into the matter of the degree of dependence on mobile phones

Demographics

On the 13th of October 2009 800 mobile phone users completed a mobile phone-internet based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, 25.0% in their teens, 25.0% in their twenties, 25.0% in their thirties, and 25.0% in their forties.

One thing that’s not clear from the using it in the toilet bit is if it is one’s home toilet, a public toilet, or a toilet at work, as hiding in the toilets at the office to send furtive email is quite popular at my place of work, for instance.
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Call me old-fashioned or square, but I am glad that in Japan even minor body modifications such as simple ear studs are not that popular, as this recent survey from iShare into piercing confirms.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 10th of September 2009 516 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.2% of the sample were male, 33.9% in their twenties, 30.0% in their thirties, and 36.0% in their forties.

I’d like to know if the difference in Q2 of 24% to 8% is due to gender-based rules or due to the men and women in this survey working in different industries. Looking at my own employer’s rules, I cannot find a direct ban on piercings, but there are notes about gaudy earrings (and loud hair, etc) which suggest that anything more than a simple stud for guys would earn one a visit to the personel department.

I do occasionally see people with lip rings (yuk!), but I usually suspect they are just fake clip-ons, not real.
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Today is Health and Fitness Day in Japan, but as I don’t have any interesting sports-related surveys to hand, instead I’ll present a look by goo Research, in conjunction with President magazine, at married couples’ lifestyles.

Demographics

At some undefined point in time 3,208 married members of the goo Research monitor group aged between 40 and 69 completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample consisted of 1,602 husbands and 1,606 wives.

My wife does various internet-based questionnaires herself, and recently she showed me one user-generated poll asking a question to the effect of “What would you think if your spouse came up behind you and gave you a hug?” The most popular answers includes yelling, starting an argument, worrying that some bad news was coming, etc. Being happy about your spouse’s expression of love came very low down the list!
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My wife’s especially bad, and it’s rubbed off on me now, for cleaning out the shampoo, shoe shine clothes, laundry bags and all other freebies in a hotel room, so I was keen to see this survey from iShare on hotel amenities to see what the average Japanese thinks about such activity.

Demographics

Between the 14th and 17th of September 2009 506 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.1% of the sample were male, 36.4% in their twenties, 28.1% in their thirties, and 35.6% in their forties.

In case you’re wondering what Fremantle is doing in the headline, it’s a word that’s stuck in my brain ever since I read The Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams back when I was in school. I’d be interested to know if any of my readers know the word.
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