世論 What Japan Thinks

This rather a bit too short to be really useful report published on japan.internet.com regarding goo Research’s fourth regular electronic money survey revealed that the Osaifu Keitai feature in most phones go unused.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 23rd of October 2008 1,093 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed an internet-based questionnaire. 52.6% of the sample were male, 16.5% were in their teens, 18.2% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 16.1% in their forties, and 27.7% aged fifty or older.

Note that in Q2 Osaifu Keitai (literally Mobile Wallet) is a trademarked service of docomo, the main promoter of electronic cash, but now most phones from the three big operators come with the FeliCa chip inside, ready to work with most electronic cash providers.
Read the rest of this entry »

Today, 3rd November, is Culture Day in Japan, so I present some modern otaku culture for your enjoyment. This is a survey from iShare on the awareness of Hatsune Miku. If you are not aware who she is, keep reading, or search for her on the internet, or just visit this fan site.

Demographics

Over the 6th and 7th of October 2008 540 members of the free email forwarding service CLUB BBQ completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.2% of the sample were male, and 19.8% in their twenties, and 80.2% in their thirties. Why there was such a narrow age band, I don’t know.

Hatsune Miku picture grabbed from Mika-tan’s blog via Danny Choo.
Read the rest of this entry »

Just a quick note that Danny Choo recently posted on cooking habits of Japanese men as reported on by Macromill via the Nikkei Shimbun.

I may translate this survey in full in the near future as I do find the reported 50% who cook every week quite a bit higher than what I would expect, so I want to see how the figures were derived.

This ranking survey from goo Ranking may very well make you laugh out loud as yes indeed, the number one action that people get up to when no-one’s around is what you are thinking it is! Both women and men were separately reported.

Demographics

Between the 24th and 26th of September 2008 1,044 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.6% of the sample were male, 5.8% in their teens, 12.7% in their twenties, 32.3% in their thirties, 27.6% in their forties, 12.3% in their fifties, and 9.3% 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.

My wife would probably claim that I don’t bother waiting for no-one to be around before doing most of these actions!

Read the rest of this entry »

With everyone spending so long in trains every day, and there being only so much email you can write, mobile phone applets are an alternative diversion that almost all Japanese phones support. This recent survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com looked at this topic of mobile phone applets.

Demographics

Between the 16th and 20th of October 2008 1,076 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.9% of the sample were male, 15.9% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 16.8% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

When I get a new phone I tend to play the built-in applets to death, then get bored and give up, so I haven’t actually used any for over a year. Every time I see the ads I quite fancy signing up for Pakurosu, but since it is 315 yen per month, I always resist the temptation!
Read the rest of this entry »

Autumn is probably my favourite season in Japan, but sadly that was not one of the questions posed in this survey from MyVoice, their second look at the taste of Autumn.

Demographics

Over the first five days of October 14,652 members of the MyVoice internet community successfully completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 2% in their teens, 14% in their twenties, 38% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 17% aged fifty or older.

My Autumn foods would have to be the horrendously expensive matsutake mushrooms, although given the price of high quality ones I usually end up eating merely the prepacked off-cuts that come in rice topping kits. I do like chestnuts too, usually eaten with pasta or in chestnut flavour Kit-Kats, which have an almost coffee-like flavour and are well worth hunting down.
Read the rest of this entry »

Sadly, the title of this post was not one of the answers in this quickie from goo Ranking, looking at filling in the blank in the slogan “No ____ No Life”. The slogan for Tower Records in Japan is “NO MUSIC, NO LIFE”, the inspiration for this survey.

Demographics

Between the 24th and 26th of September 2008 1,044 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.6% of the sample were male, 5.8% in their teens, 12.7% in their twenties, 32.3% in their thirties, 27.6% in their forties, 12.3% in their fifties, and 9.3% 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.

This is just about the easiest survey post I’ve ever made as all the slogans were already in English!
Read the rest of this entry »

Trains always have a certain charm for me, and the shinkansen (bullet train) more than most, but sometimes I feel there are things missing, with no wireless LAN even on the newest models being the most obvious omission. This survey from goo Ranking looked at what the Japanese felt they’d like to see on the shinkansen and other express trains.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 28th of July 2008 1,072 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 5.7% in their teens, 14.4% in their twenties, 31,0% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, 10.5% in their fifties, and 10.4% 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.

The one thing I felt missing from express trains (not that I wanted to use it myself) is the opportunity to order special lunch boxes from stations you pass through. These eki-ben, as they are known, are rather popular for some reason I have never been able to understand.

With many of the answers it is not specified if people want the facilities to use or to avoid, although I suspect the latter for most of them!
Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t think I’ve ever bought used clothing, not even as a student, although if I were to buy in Japan it would most likely be a used kimono (see Q8). The other markets that I would have guessed would have been popular would be high-end branded items or evening dresses, but this recent survey from DIMSDRIVE Research into used clothes found otherwise. Note that the survey is not just clothes, but also accessories like shoes, bags and belts.

Demographics

Between the 3rd and 18th of September 2008 10,099 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.1% of the sample were female, 0.9% in their teens, 13.9% in their twenties, 34.5% in their thirties, 30.5% in their forties, 14.8% in their fifties, and 5.4% aged sixty or older.

My clothes budget is on a needs basis only, with my last purchase being a few pairs of socks at the start of the year.

I’m not aware of a similar chain to Oxfam in Japan that will kit out students for pennies, although if any of my readers can enlighten me…

For reference, I translated a similar survey from MyVoice on used items in general earlier this month.
Read the rest of this entry »

With the Olympics over for another four years and the South Africa World Cup still two years away, this is a good time to take a look with MyVoice at sports, their third look at the subject. Incidentally, if you want to find out more about sports in Japan, be sure to check out this month’s Japan Blog Matsuri on sport in Japan!

Demographics

Over the first five days of October 2008 14,560 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 1% in their teens, 15% in their twenties, 37% in their thirties, 30% in their forties, and 17% aged fifty or older.

I don’t have time to watch sport on the television, especially with wall-to-wall baseball, in which I have zero interest, and even if I had the time, the wife owns the remote control…

I used to be a big Formula 1 fan, having attended Suzuka thrice, but even though last month I came across the start of the Japan Grand Prix live on television, both Hamilton and Coulthard piled up on the first lap and the Fuji circuit was totally unfamiliar to me, so I gave up and did the hoovering instead.
Read the rest of this entry »