世論 What Japan Thinks

Today I present a statistic rather than a survey for a change, a look by Biglobe’s Twipple service at the top-trending Twitter keywords (not hashtags) for September 2012, as reported by japan.internet.com.

About 1.384 billion Tweets were generated in Japan in September 2012, and these formed the data from which the following top ten was generated. It is also noted that “typhoon” racked up 57.15 million tweets on its peak day, whereas the second-placed “iPhone 5″ managed just 6 million at its peak.
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Following on, in a way, from last week’s look at wanting a boyfriend or girlfriend, this week goo Research published a survey looking at what caused people to start sweating about marriage.

Demographics

From the 5th to the 7th of September 2012 1,006 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.4% of the sample were female, 10.5% in their teens, 13.7% in their twenties, 26.6% in their thirties, 27.6% in their forties, 11.7% in their fifties, and 9.9% 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.

Oh, let’s recycle last week’s image for this week’s survey – having a friend comment on it might be a spur towards being more active in partner-seeking activities!

Note that answer 11 might seem a bit odd, but I suspect it was a female-only answer, as in Japan women do tend to quit their careers when they either get married or have kids.
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goo Ranking recently reported on a survey into what people can’t help nosing about in when they visit a single friend’s flat.

Demographics

From the 5th to the 7th of September 2012 1,006 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.4% of the sample were female, 10.5% in their teens, 13.7% in their twenties, 26.6% in their thirties, 27.6% in their forties, 11.7% in their fifties, and 9.9% 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.

I remember when I invited a friend round to my Japanese flat when I was single, and I’m sure he couldn’t help but notice my empty beer can situation, but fortunately it wasn’t quite approaching this:

Why yes, I do like that picture!
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Or into anyone of any age’s heart, in this survey from goo Ranking looking at what moments make people feel they wanted a lover, despite not normally thinking about the matter. I presume for already happily-married people they recalled their youth.

Demographics

From the 5th to the 7th of September 2012 1,006 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.4% of the sample were female, 10.5% in their teens, 13.7% in their twenties, 26.6% in their thirties, 27.6% in their forties, 11.7% in their fifties, and 9.9% 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.

For me, it was probably number 2 at New Year that was one of the strongest impulses! Seeing this in my living room would do the trick too:

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A recent survey from goo Research, conducted in conjunction with the primary school children-oriented site Kids goo, looked at primary school teachers’ work, and in particular their use of IT, information technology.

Demographics

The sample came from primary school teachers registered with the goo Research online monitor group, and 206 people responded to the survey. Further details, including basic information like when the survey was conducted, was not reported.

Although the sample is quite small, note that it was targeted at elementary school teachers, so the accuracy is perhaps better than a quick look at the numbers would suggest.

I don’t know how computers are used in schools, really, but I do worry that replacing concrete, tangible activities with computer-based ones (if that, indeed, is what is going on) is detrimental to children’s development.

Research results

Q1: What sources do you use for preparing lessons? (Sample size=206, multiple answer)

Books	91.7%
Internet	80.1%
Practical lessons	44.2%
Newspapers	31.6%
Television, video	18.9%
Other	3.9%

Q2: Do you feel a gap between your and your pupils’ computer skills? (Sample size=206)

Pupils are ahead by a wide margin	32.0%
Not much gap, but pupils are more skilled	24.3%
No gap	43.7%

Q3: Which of the following computer skills do you have? (Sample size=206, multiple answer)

Can use mail efficiently	86.9%
Can answer questions from students	77.7%
Can teach them about online morals	62.1%
Can respond to computer problems during lessons	61.2%
Other	1.9%

Q4: Have you ever had a pupil or parent, guardian discuss internet issues with you? (Sample size=206)

	Yes	No
From pupils	26.7%	73.3%
From parents, guardians	15.0%	85.0%

Q5: Do you have worries about pupils’ internet use? (Sample size=206)

Yes	63.1%
No	17.0%
Can’t say	19.9%

Q6: What kinds of web sites might you want to use, let your pupils use? (Sample size=206, multiple answer)

Protects children’s safety	75.7%
Designed for children	73.8%
Information arranged by subject, school grade, etc	70.4%
Can trust the site operators	61.7%
Widely-known, famous	33.0%
Recommended by the Board of Education	22.3%
Other	1.9%

Q7: Have you ever taught a lesson that used iPads, other tablet computers? (Sample size=206)

Yes	7.3%
No	92.7%

One in four seems like a large number to me, but given that this survey into Search Engine Optimisation (SEO from now) was conducted by an SEO provider Detail Cloud Creative (and reported on by japan.internet.com) perhaps there is a bit of favourable bias in the results?

There’s a lot of cowboys out their in the SEO world – I know, I get enough spam from them myself – but there are also some good companies, although I don’t know enough to recommend any. I’ve recently had reason to wander into the world of social media consultants, and there seemed to be quite a community of people who seemed to support each other’s work by Following, Liking and +1-ing each other’s clients while offering the single strategy of posting pithy homilies pasted on top of inoffensive images.
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One aspect where Japan lags far behind many other countries is the availability of Wi-Fi, so to see what people were doing regarding internet access when away from home, goo Research conducted a survey into Wi-Fi, the highlights of which were reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

Over the 18th and 19th of September 2012 1,088 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.6% of the sample were male, 16.4% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 15.8% in their forties, 15.4% in their fifties, and 12.7% aged sixty or older.

The guy above has found the Nintendo hotspot at the Tokyo Pokemon Center!

The number of access points in Japan is steadily increasing, but mostly branded for each of the mobile carriers, so one needs an account to access them, but fortunately the access is usually free with your mobile phone plan. SoftBank in particular are popping up everywhere, so they must be offering nice incentives for shops to install them, and docomo is slowly spreading through the rail network. Just last week the station next to the office got Wi-Fi, but sadly I cannot pick it up from my desk!

I was surprised to see tethering so low down on the list, however. In Q1SQ, “On the move” may include riding on public transport – some long-distance busses and bullet trains, for instance, offer such services.
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goo Ranking looked at quite a fun subject, what excuses people have for not being able to use their days off effectively.

Demographics

From the 3rd to the 6th of August 2012 1,038 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 61.7% of the sample were female, 10.2% in their teens, 15.5% in their twenties, 27.2% in their thirties, 26.4% in their forties, 10.8% in their fifties, and 9.9% 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.

Being married, I’m not allowed to do the above, but instead I have a lot of housework, so I end up doing that and very little else. We sometimes do end up wasting a bit too much time, however, watching saved-up programs of to me dubious entertainment value.
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goo Ranking took a loot at features of girls who mistakenly think they are cute.

Demographics

From the 3rd to the 6th of August 2012 1,038 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 61.7% of the sample were female, 10.2% in their teens, 15.5% in their twenties, 27.2% in their thirties, 26.4% in their forties, 10.8% in their fifties, and 9.9% 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.

Talking of number 3, I never get tired of this animation!

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Macromill recently conducted a survey into one of the big new trends in Japanese skies, that of Low Cost Carriers.

Demographics

Between the 27th of August and the 4th of September 2012 1,000 members of the Macromill monitor group resident in Tokyo or the surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama completed a private internet-based survey. Exactly 50:50 were male and female, and 20:20:20:20:20 in their twenties, thirties, forties, fifties and sixty or over.

I’ve flown one LCC in Asia, Hong Kong Express, from Osaka to Hong Kong, and I must say I was very impressed with the service for the price. A snack and one drink was provided, and there was an in-seat entertainment system. Overall, very close to the traditional full-fare Japanese airlines, and I’d quite happily choose them again.
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