世論 What Japan Thinks

goo Ranking published quite an entertaining pair of surveys, looking at what casual words from female friends hurt men and what casual words from male friends hurt women.

Demographics

Over the 4th and 5th of April 2013 1,101 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.6% of the sample were male, 23.3% in their teens, 25.2% in their twenties, 25.5% in their thirties, and 26.1% in their forties; there was no-one older than 49 in this sample. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Number 3 I get quite a bit, but I put it down to either my bad Japanese or funny accent… To be honest, I’ve probably heard most of the list at one time or another…
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Between the 26th of April and 9th of May 2013 5,198 members of @Nifty answered a number of questions about udon, Japanese wheat-based noodles. Here are some of the highlights.

First, when asked how much they loved it, 2% said it was to die for, 32% loved it, 43% liked it, 18% had no particular preferences, just 4% didn’t really like it, a rounded 0% hated it, and no-one would die rather than eat it! I’m in the like category.

Next, regarding whether it was better hot or cold, 44% chose hot, 24% had no preference, 6% preferred it cold, 25% liked it hot in winter and cold in summer, and 1% disliked it either way.

Regarding when they liked to eat it, women had more preferences than me in almost every category; just under a half of both sexes chose at lunchtime, 27% anf 34% of women in cold weather, 24% of men and 35% when their didn’t want to spend time or effort eating anything else, and so on down. The two times that men prefered it more than women was any time (24% versus 22%) and after drinking, 7% versus 2%!

Now, an interesting question; there are two main variants of broth that udon is served with; Kanto dashi from the Tokyo region, and Kansai dashi from the Osaka area. Kansai dashi is an almost clear broth subtly flavoured with kombu seaweed, Kanto dashi is basically 90% soy sauce, or at least that’s how it tastes to me! The results of this question were split by the regions of Japan; 25% to 30% of those in East Japan prefered Kanto dashi, versus under 5% in the West. Tokai, which is the Nagoya area was in no-man’s land, with about 18% siding with Kanto. About 35% in East Japan liked both styles equally, whilst under 10% in the West did. Kyushu, however, had about 18% sitting on the fence. Interestingly, even in Kanto itself more prefered Kansai dashi (about 33%), and a few percent more in other eastern and northern areas were also so inclined. In Kansai, over 90% supported the home team, and about 80% in parts further west.

When asked what flavouring accents they liked, sliced green onions was tops with 90%, chili-based spices was second at about 66%, then bonita fish flakes at 28% or so. Yuzu, citrus peel, was just under 20% despite being my favourite.

Ahh, I’ve got all hungry now!

A survey looking at actual smartphone usage was recently published by PR Times and reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

Over the 25th and 26th of March 2013 520 smartphone users completed an internet-based survey. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, and 20:20:20:20:20 people in the age bands teens, twenties, thirties, forties and fifties.

As I am not on an unlimited packet deal, I mostly just game on my smartphone, with the occasional SNS access when I am in a station with Wi-Fi!
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It’s been quite a while since the last time I translated a DIMSDRIVE survey, so I’m quite happy to present this one from them on deodorising sprays, which you should note excludes personal hygene-related products!

Demographics

Between the 9th and 15th of April 2013 7,089 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 58.4% of the sample were male, 0.4% in their teens, 4.4% in their twenties, 18.6% in their thirties, 30.6% in their forties, 25.7% in their fifties, and 20.3% aged sixty or older.

My wife uses a lot of them every day! When we hang our quilts out to air, we use one which is supposed to prevent pollen sticking to the covers, so I suppose that’s OK, but just about every fabric surface in the house also gets sprayed with various potions that don’t seem to do much except make the floor a little sticky! It also seems a cop-out on the housework; shall I do some detailed cleaning, or shall I just squirt something over everything that doesn’t move?
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Men’s hair, of course, in this Day Research by Research Panel into if you had to choose one which do you prefer on men; thinning hair, white hair, or long hair? 16,821 women from the Research Panel monitor group answered.

The top choice was white with 69.7%, 26.2% for long, and just 4.2% for thinning. Sadly I fall into the last category only. 46.7% of teenage girls selected long hair, dropping to 34.6% for those in their twenties, and from thirty upwards it was in the twenties range. However, even amongst teenage girls, white hair was the top preference. This photo might be one reason thinning hair is not popular…

A recent survey from goo Research, reported on by japan.internet.com, was the seventh regular video usage survey.

Demographics

Between the 17th and 19th of April 2013 1,079 momembers of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private mobile phone and smartphone-based questionnaire. 57.7% of the sample were female, 3.2% in their teens, 20.3% in their twenties, 37.1% in their thirties, 26.5% in their forties, and 12.9% aged fifty or older.

I watch mobile video occasionally, mostly streaming cat videos from YouTube…
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This quicky from Anicom Animal Insurance looked at a cat’s effect on family life. This survey was released on the 29th of September 2012, which is apparently Maneki Neko (Beckoning Cat) Day. 653 cat owners answered the survey between the 12th and 17th of September 2012. This seems like a good excuse for a beckoning kitty – click on the picture to read a bit more about Beckoning Cats!

When asked if they thought their pet cats were Maneki Neko, 82.%% said yes, 4.1% no, and 13.4% couldn’t say. When asked what exactly people thought their cats brought in, 76.9% said healing power, 71.5% happy times, 56.7% laughs, 28.5% family (eh?), 23.8% careful cleaning (perhaps they thought they copied with the hoover their cat’s careful grooming?) 14.2% health, 11.8% sound sleep, 11.7% good luck, 11.3% work, 9.4% friends, 8.2% hobbies, and 7.4% financial good fortune.

PR Times printed a press release from Kanro, a sweets maker, who conducted a survey into love charms, as part of a promotion of a new product they have, “Magical Pure”, a pureed gummy (Jelly Baby) type of thing, with a special promotional site featuring Perfume that quite badly killed my browser!

Demographics

Over the 25th and 26th of April 2013 242 young women aged between 20 and 39 completed an internet survey, but how they were selected is not described.

Being far too rational, I have zero belief in any of this nonsense, and not even when I was a teenager did I indulge, although admittedly it was probably because I wasn’t really interested in all that sort of thing while I was at school.

Anyway, enough about me, on with the survey!
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goo Ranking looked at what arbitrary actions by friends makes one think “I’ll not be inviting them round again…”.

Demographics

Over the 6th and 7th of March 2013 1,083 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.7% of the sample were female, 11.6% in their teens, 15.0% in their twenties, 24.9% in their thirties, 24.7% in their forties, 12.7% in their fifties, and 11.1% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Not suprisingly to me, least unwelcome were people who did the cleaning – in my book, that would guarantee being invited back!
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Since it’s Mother’s Day here in Japan at least, I present a timely survey from goo Ranking into when people think “Thanks Mum!”.

Demographics

Over the 4th and 5th of April 2013 1,101 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.6% of the sample were male, 23.3% in their teens, 25.2% in their twenties, 25.5% in their thirties, and 26.1% in their forties; there was no-one older than 49 in this sample. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Above is a Mothers Day gift catalogue from a convenience store in Japan, themed around Rilakkuma.

My mother doesn’t believe in Mother’s Day, thinking it just a cynical excuse by card and chocolate makers to sell us more stuff.
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