世論 What Japan Thinks

japan.internet.com recently reported on a survey into driving and navigation systems, conducted by Micware, a company that not coincidentally makes a oddly-spelt navigation Android app Comcierpass…

Demographics

Between the 17th and 19th of July 2012 600 respondents between the ages of 20 and 59 were chosen by some means to complete a survey. The only further demographic information was that they all drove a car at least once per month.

I’lll be doing one of my three drives a year on Friday, when I go off to visit various graves for Obon. The car I rent from Toyota comes with a navigation system as standard, but the maps are often a year or so out of date, unfortunately. Indeed, one of the graves we’ll be visiting has had a new housing estate built nearby and opened about two years ago, but the maps are not yet updated and every time I almost miss the turn as there is no announcement!
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The huge set of contact lens and glasses chains will make little sense to anyone outside Japan, but in this survey by iShare into shops where one has purchased contact lens the surprising to me result was that just over a quarter last bought lenses online.

Demographics

Between the 1st and 4th of June 2012 1,183 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 66.6% of the sample were female, ages ranged from 16 to 60 years old, and the respondents came from all over Japan, and all had purchased contact lenses for their own use within the last year.

When I first came to Japan I wore contact lenses, but I never replaced them in Japan. Furthermore, I banged my head somewhere and lost a lens, so rather than try to struggle my way through buying contact lenses in Japanese, I just gave up and switched to glasses!

I’m really surprised though at just 28% buying online; I would have thought given that most people choose soft lenses (actually, I don’t have a statistic for that!), and given the reliability of delivery services, placing a regular online order would be the cheapest way to refill one’s prescription. I wonder how the prices compare? Do any of my readers have experience of this?
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This is a survey that would have been quite interesting to see in full, but even this small extract in japan.internet.com from a survey by goo Research into cat people and dog people was rather enjoyable.

Research results

Between the 4th and 6th of June 2012 1,091 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.5% of the sample were male, 15.9% in their teens, 17.8% in their twenties, 21.7% in their thirties, 16.2% in their forties, 16.2% in their fifties, and 12.2% aged sixty or older.

I’m a cat person, for many of the reasons listed below. Dogs are friendly because they see you as their leader, but cats like or dislike you just because they can, so to have cats sit on your lap is a sign of mutual trust, unlike a canine’s genetically-programmed hierarchical response.
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goo Research recently released a wonderfully detailed survey into manga (comics), from which I learnt quite a lot. I hope you enjoy it as much as me.

Demographics

Between the 15th and 17th of May 2012 1,939 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 60.9% of the sample were female, 6.8% between 15 and 19 years old, 16.5% between 20 and 24 years old, 16.6% between 25 and 29 years old, 16.8% between 30 and 34 years old, 16.5% between 35 and 39 years old, and 17.0% between 40 and 44 years old.

I’ve heard a lot about One Piece being an excellent manga, and this survey again seems to back it up. One day I’ll have to try…
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goo Research recently released a wonderfully detailed survey into manga (comics), from which I learnt quite a lot. I hope you enjoy it as much as me.

Demographics

Between the 15th and 17th of May 2012 1,939 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 60.9% of the sample were female, 6.8% between 15 and 19 years old, 16.5% between 20 and 24 years old, 16.6% between 25 and 29 years old, 16.8% between 30 and 34 years old, 16.5% between 35 and 39 years old, and 17.0% between 40 and 44 years old.

I would have to say I’m on the fence about manga. I’ve read a few here and there, mostly of the illustrated essay type, and I’ve enjoyed them all, but I don’t go and hunt them out. I’ve tried reading some of my wife’s ordinary manga books, but the genres don’t appeal to me, and I cannot read them fast enough so it always feels like an unrewarding chore.
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The results of this survey from goo Research into SNS (Social Networking Service) usage as reported by japan.internet.com produces a couple of headscratch-worthy results, the one in the title and that maintaining friendships is more important than deepening them.

Demographics

Between the 8th and 11th of May 2012 1,076 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.8% of the sample were male, 15.9% in their teens, 18.6% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 16.3% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

On second thoughts, perhaps maintaining is more important than deepening or widening from a Japanese perspective? Class reunions, for instance, are a regular feature of many people’s lives here, for all of primary, secondary and tertiary education levels. Perhaps these events are viewed more as an obligation, thus Facebook and mixi provide an easy way to link together and fulfil one’s societal role?

For me, both obtaining and generating information is most important, but that’s more because I am an anti-social git…
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With Japan’s Asian neighbours of Taiwan, China and South Korea making inroads into areas of Japan’s market that Japanese companies used to dominate, this survey from goo Research, performed in conjuction with the Nikkei Shimbun (Japan’s Financial Times), into Chinese, South Korean and Taiwanese makers’ digital devices and home electronics provides some insights into the strengths and weaknesses of these companies.

Demographics

Between the 9th and 13th of March 2012 577 members of the goo Research online monitor group aged over 20 years old and in full-time employment completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 24.8% in their twenties, 25.0% in their thirties, 25.0% in their forties, and 25.3% aged fifty or older.

Before reading this survey, I would have said that computers (Taiwanese), smartphones (Samsung and LG) and televisions (Samsung and LG again) would have been the biggest markets, so I was surprised to see fridges and washing machines ahead of smartphones. Of course, many Japanese-branded fridges and washing machines, etc, are assembled in China!

I’m typing this on an MSI (Taiwan), my main desktop is from Acer (Taiwan), and I also have a room fan from an obscure Chinese firm. Pretty much everything else is Japanese, except for my Braun razor.
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It’s been quite a while since I’ve translated a survey looking at how Japanese spend their early mornings or similar topics, but this survey from goo Research, reported on by japan.internet.com, into this matter revealed suprising results.

Demographics

Over the 2nd and 3rd of April 2012 1,104 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.8% of the sample were male, 16.1% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 16.3% in their forties, 15.9% in their fifties, and 12.1% aged sixty or older.

The weekend waking times are surprising for me on two counts; first, although personally I wake at 5:30 on weekdays, at the weekend I catch up by sleeping in to 11 am to 12 am. Second, when I stayed in the company dormitory, although I was always close to last out on weekdays, leaving at 10 am on weekends I was one of the first people out. Thus, I believed what the average salaried worker would physically need to sleep in on weekends to catch up on weekday sleep depravation.
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It’s a while since I’ve had an iShare survey, so I’m not just pleased to see an update, but also to see a rather interesting topic being surveyed, that of child-rearing and doting fathers, with both the husbands rating themselves and wives rating their husbands.

Demographics

Over the 15th and 16th of March 2012 726 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were female, 33.7% in their twenties, 33.2% in their thirties, and 33.1% in their forties, furthermore, all were married with a pre-school child. The survey was conducted in conjunction with Benesse’s Women’s Mall.

If you want to find out how doting a parent you are, Benesse’s Women’s Mall offer a self-test.

In the survey below, I use the Japanese term イクメン, ikumen, which describes men who proactively take part in child-rearing, and who grow up themselves while enjoying child-rearing.
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goo Research recently took a look at keeping in touch with close friends, with the surprising result in the headline reported in japan.internet.com.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 24th of March 2012 1,082 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.8% of the sample were male, 16.5% in their teens, 17.8% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 16.1% in their forties, 15.6% in their fifties, and 12.3% aged sixty or older.

Knowing what I know about Japan, email and telephone being top are not surprising to me, but I was most taken aback by ordinary post coming in third! Thinking more closely, the mixi, Twitter and Facebook figures correlate to the penetration of these SNS within Japan, but I suspect that the old-fashioned post includes New Year postcards, where even I often exchange annual greetings with ex-colleagues who have moved to other divisions within my employer.
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