世論 What Japan Thinks

With Japan being in the middle of the ceder pollen season, the most common pollen allergen, this survey from goo Research into hayfever, reported on by japan.internet.com, is quite timely.

Demographics

Between the 12th and 14th of March 2012 1,086 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.9% of the sample were male, 16.5% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 16.2% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

I get a runny nose, and this year also quite itchy eyes, so I’ve long ago ran to the Ear Nose and Throat quack (he’s good, I recommend him) and got pills, nasal spray and eye drops. The nose spray has long since run out, but the non-drowsy pills are just managing to keep the worst symptoms away, touch any wood except ceder.
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goo Research recently looked at telecommuting, a survey that was reported upon by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

Between the 14th and 17th of February 2012 1,083 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.9% of the sample were male, 16.5% in their teens, 18.3% in their twenties, 21.7% in their thirties, 16.3% in their forties, 15.2% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

I should really do it more myself as we have a system that management is keen to promote, but I’ve only tried it for two or three days a couple of years ago. I’m keen to lose the commute, but my main problem is focus!
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With hay fever season almost upon us, this seems like quite a good time to take a look at a recent survey from iShare into blocked noses.

Demographics

Over the 7th and 8th of February 2012 1,086 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.6% of the sample were male, 33.5% in their twenties, 33.3% in their thirties, and 33.1% in their forties.

I get a badly-stuffed nose for about a month thanks to hay fever, and for a few days here and there throughout the year for probably mildly-allergic reactions to unidentified agents. My pet hates about a blocked nose are blowing so hard I get a nosebleed or at the other extreme not blowing enough and dripping snot onto desks and tables. Furthermore, on bad days all the phlegm going down my throat upsets my stomach.
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A recent survey from goo Research, reported on by japan.internet.com, into internet foodstuff delivery services, implying in Japanese ingredients more than finished product, I think, or in other words, general groceries as in the headline.

Demographics

Between the 6th and 8th of February 2012 1,108 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.1% of the sample were male, 16.2% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 16.6% in their forties, 15.5% in their fifties, and 12.2% aged sixty or older.

It must be because I live in a posh block of flats as there’s definitely more than just 4.5% of the residents who regularly get home delivery from the Co-op. The wife occasionally shops for food online, but I don’t think a bag of rice once a month really counts as home delivery groceries.
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[part 1][part 2][part 3]

The Cabinet Office Japan recently released the results of a survey they conducted into citizens’ lifestyles. I translated a survey on the same topic in 2009, 2007, and 2005, if you wish to cross-reference.

Demographics

Between the 13th of October and the 6th of November 2011 10,000 members of the public who were randomly selected from resident registers were approached for interview. Of that number, 6,212 people actually took part in the survey, conducted by means of face-to-face interviews. 53.9% of the sample were female, 8.7% in their twenties, 13.9% in their thirties, 17.2% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, 21.7% in their sixties, 16.5% in their seventies, and 6.1% aged eighty or older. Furthermore 71.7% of the sample were married, 13.0% divorced or widowed, 15.1% unmarried, and 0.2% did not answer. Additionally, 77.9% had children, including those that were adults or not living with them. Although 34.5% said they used the internet from a computer almost every day and 39.0% used the internet from mobile devices almost every day, there was also 45.2% and 42.8% who never used it at all from computers and from mobile devices respectively.

In Q18 it is interesting that 28.0% say that they now pay attention in the safety aspect of food. Looking at the detailed breakdown by age, sex and area where people live, we can see that…
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[part 1][part 2][part 3]

The Cabinet Office Japan recently released the results of a survey they conducted into citizens’ lifestyles. I translated a survey on the same topic in 2009, 2007, and 2005, if you wish to cross-reference.

Demographics

Between the 13th of October and the 6th of November 2011 10,000 members of the public who were randomly selected from resident registers were approached for interview. Of that number, 6,212 people actually took part in the survey, conducted by means of face-to-face interviews. 53.9% of the sample were female, 8.7% in their twenties, 13.9% in their thirties, 17.2% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, 21.7% in their sixties, 16.5% in their seventies, and 6.1% aged eighty or older. Furthermore 71.7% of the sample were married, 13.0% divorced or widowed, 15.1% unmarried, and 0.2% did not answer. Additionally, 77.9% had children, including those that were adults or not living with them. Although 34.5% said they used the internet from a computer almost every day and 39.0% used the internet from mobile devices almost every day, there was also 45.2% and 42.8% who never used it at all from computers and from mobile devices respectively.

Having said in part one that people seem more satisfied than I would have thought, there is definite pessimism when it comes to the future, a feeling that I share, as do other foreigners.
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[part 1][part 2][part 3]

The Cabinet Office Japan recently released the results of a survey they conducted into citizens’ lifestyles. I translated a survey on the same topic in 2007, and 2005, if you wish to cross-reference.

Demographics

Between the 13th of October and the 6th of November 2011 10,000 members of the public who were randomly selected from resident registers were approached for interview. Of that number, 6,212 people actually took part in the survey, conducted by means of face-to-face interviews. 53.9% of the sample were female, 8.7% in their twenties, 13.9% in their thirties, 17.2% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, 21.7% in their sixties, 16.5% in their seventies, and 6.1% aged eighty or older. Furthermore 71.7% of the sample were married, 13.0% divorced or widowed, 15.1% unmarried, and 0.2% did not answer. Additionally, 77.9% had children, including those that were adults or not living with them. Although 34.5% said they used the internet from a computer almost every day and 39.0% used the internet from mobile devices almost every day, there was also 45.2% and 42.8% who never used it at all from computers and from mobile devices respectively.

There seems a high level of general satisfaction with their current lifestyles, which goes against the typical foreigner’s (or perhaps I hang out in the wrong neighbourhood?) perception of the miserable wage slave slogging his life away on pointless work. Perhaps the true answer is a mix of the two images; or perhaps it is my bias, the average worker is accepting of his lot.
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With the winter drawing in, and with the continued threat of power cuts – the Kansai area power supplier has asked for voluntary 10% cuts, and now imports of Iranian crude are threatened – people are thinking how best to heat their homes, so this survey from goo Research, reported on by japan.internet.com, looked at saving electricity in winter.

Research results

Between the 5th and 11th of December 2011 1,050 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the sample were male, 15.9% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 21.1% in their thirties, 16.8% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, and 12.3% aged sixty or older.

I saw some back-of-the-envelope calculations that showed that per thermal unit, heat from paraffin (kerosene) was half the price of electricity in Japan, but I don’t know where gas stands in the equation. Problems, though, with liquid fuel include the smell, higher risk of fire, and of carbon monoxide poisoning from ill-maintained devices. Furthermore, with liquid fuel, and free-standing gas heaters, it is recommended to air the room once an hour, so much of the heat tends to escape. On the other hand, electric heaters dry the air badly. We have underfloor heating in the living room and dining room, but I’m not convinced of its usefulness except when sleeping on the floor!
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With the recent nuclear accident and scare about caesium in drinking water, many people in Tokyo and other parts of the north have switched to bottled water or other alternatives to the tap. To find out exactly what was going on, iShare took a look at home use drinking water.

Demographics

Over the 8th and 9th of November 2011 1,166 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 60.2% of the sample were male, 9.9% in their twenties, 29.2% in their thirties, 37.1% in their forties, and 23.8% in their fifties.

Our flat came with a built-in reverse osmosis (I presume that’s what it is, anyway!) drinking water filter, which we use only for drinking directly or filling the kettle. We just have a feeling that town water is just not that safe drunk directly, perhaps influenced by our previous flat where there was regularly black flakes coming through the old pipes, and we used a non-osmosis-based plugged into the mains purifier.
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iShare recently took a look at stress and skin diseases.

Demographics

Between the 14th and 17th of October 2011 3,272 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 72.8% of the sample were male, 1.3% in their teens, 8.9% in their twenties, 24.3% in their thirties, 33.2% in their forties, 25.7% in their fifties, and 6.5% in their sixties.

One reason for this survey was that November 12th was “Skin Day”; one way of reading 1112 is いいひふ, ii hifu, or good skin in English.

In the list of diseases in Q2 you might notice the absence of psoriasis, according to my local quack and his big book of diseases the most common reason for people in the west to visit the dermatologist. In white people the rate is about 2 in 100, but in oriental people it is closer to 2 in 10,000, thus it is well below the radar in Japan.

I used to get rough skin from stress, but I don’t these days. However, my ears go red some evenings for no discernable reason, so I tend to assume it might just be stress.
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