世論 What Japan Thinks

Here’s an interesting survey from goo Ranking, looking at what people use as their own barometer of an improving economy.

Demographics

Between the 6th and 8th of August 2013 the survey was conducted, but goo Ranking have still not got round to adding the page that contains the further demographic information. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

As I work for a company that is a bit, err, under the weather, shall we say, I suppose any barometer I have would be rather pessimistic one, so I shall not share. However, for the second number 3, our employee trips got cancelled last year, not that I personally miss them, but that’s another story!
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japan.internet.com reported on a subject that I know more about than I can tell you, that of smartphone-ready home appliances, in a survey conducted by goo Research.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 25th of September 2013 1,082 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private intenet-based questionnaire. 53.7% of the sample were male, 13.7% in their teens, 15.8% in their twenties, 21.7% in their thirties, 17.1% in their forties, 14.6% in their fifties, and 17.1% aged sixty or older.

Here’s a demo from last year’s CEATEC (Japan’s biggest consumer electronics show) where Sharp showed off their take on a Roomba.

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I recently found a survey from a new-to-this-blog company, Computer Planning Research Co., Ltd, looking at fortune telling.

Demographics

Over the 30th and 31st of August 2013 500 members of the Computer Planning Research Co., Ltd monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, and in each age group from twenties to sixties there was 50 male and 50 female respondents. Furthermore all resided within the Kanto area, namely Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma.

I find it quite disappointing that Q2 (see graph) did not have an answer “Both are equally nonsense!”

Given that there are only four blood types but 12 star signs, wouldn’t chance suggest that blood type should be thrice as accurate? Would anyone like to posit an argument as to why we see the results we do?
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goo Ranking’s entertainment for today is a look at what happenings on LINE irritate people. LINE is a chat program used by almost two-thirds of the sample in a recent survey, but I am still LINE-free.

Demographics

Between the 6th and 8th of August 2013 the survey was conducted, but goo Ranking have still not got round to adding the page that contains the further demographic information. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Here’s some chicken soup-flavoured Pocky; at least that’s what the LINE tie-up image seems to be suggesting to me:

You will of course notice that answers one and two are basically mutually exclusive! Looking at the split between male and female, men were more itchy about not getting replies, whereas women found being asked to reply more irritating, but just 10 points or less separated the pairs for both men and women.
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japan.internet.com recently published a report on a goo Research survey into IT device security, their fourth regular survey into this topic.

Demographics

Between the 13th and 24th of September 2013 1,046 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.5% of the sample were male, 13.5% in their teens, 15.4% in their twenties, 21.9% in their thirties, 16.9% in their forties, and 32.3% aged fifty or older.

I’m quite happy using the free Microsoft Security Essentials, myself. However, I’ve just moved to Linux, the Crunchbang distribution; in fact this is my very first survey typed through the Notepad-equivalent editor GEdit, to which I’ve added a self-written macro that builds the tables you see below. I might upload it to GitHub sometime soon…
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goo Research took a look at 3D printer awareness and found that although the technology was well-known, few people had physically interacted with one.

Demographics

Between the 5th and 8th of September 2013 1,083 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.7% of the sample were male, 13.7% in their teens, 15.6% in their twenties, 21.4% in their thirties, 17.4% in their forties, 14.8% in their fifties, and 17.2% aged sixty or older.

There has been talk of getting a 3D printer in the office for no particular reason other than perhaps inspiration to knock up something or other. However, just today I heard a colleague mention he has used one, but merely to produce a small box with a cable cut-out to hold an Arduino board.

For your entertainment, here are three collections of epic 3D printer fails.
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A popular buzzword these days is 終活, shuukatsu, or basically End of Life Activities, specifically activities relating to tying up loose ends, such as funeral and burial arrangements, before one shuffles off one’s mortal coil, or gets too doo-lally to do so. This survey was conducted by SBI Holdings, a financial company spun off from the SoftBank group.

Demographics

Over the 6th and 7th of September 2013 550 people completed an internet-based questionnaire. All of the sample were aged sixty or older, and there was a 50:50 male and female split.

The survey also had questions on Respect for the Aged Day (16th of September this year) and, more interestingly, on priority seats on the train or bus, and how people feel being offered one.

These End of Life activities are often talked about on television, but mostly with respect to people organising their own funerals and buying cheap plots that they don’t want to burden their children with, but I very rarely hear mention of writing a will. Looking at Q1SQ, writing a will should be first done on reaching adulthood, or at least on getting married – but no, I haven’t. Buying your grave can wait until post-retirement, however.
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Following on from a previous sleep fail ranking, this time we have a look with goo Ranking about which times people feel they have failed by falling asleep.

Demographics

Between the 6th and 8th of August 2013 the survey was conducted, but goo Ranking have still not got round to adding the page that contains the further demographic information. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Here’s someone passed out on the pavement:

Given that falling asleep on the train is compulsory for commuters, I feel that number 1 should be read with an imagined trailing clause “…and then I missed an important stop” or the like. My usual sleep fail is, however, falling asleep at the theatre…
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\goo Research published a detailed report on a survey they conducted into Apple’s iPhone, with a particular focus on the largest carrier in Japan, Docomo, and their plan to carry the new iPhone5s and iPhone5c, their first foray into Apple phones.

Demographics

Between the 13th and 17th of September 2013 1,765 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.6% of the sample were female, 7.5% in their teens, 12.5% in their twenties, 15.9% in their thirties, 14.8% in their forties, 14.4% in their fifties, and 34.9% aged sixty or older. The percentages in each age band and both sexes reflected the results of the 2010 Census.

Again, I am quite stunned by the positive view of the general public here of the iPhone. In Q3Q3, note that in the top eight answers, only one answer is perhaps related to the quality of Android, whereas the top three in Q3Q1 seem to relate directly to the iPhone’s qualities.
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The Cabinet Office of Japan recengtly conducted a survey looking at care robots.

Demographics

Between the 1st and 11th of August 2013 3,000 members of the public with Japanese nationality were randomly selected. 1,842 of them (61.4%) chose to answer the questionnaire at face-to-face interviews. Further demographic breakdown was not provided.

Before you get the idea of robo-nurses into your head, as can be seen in the preamble to Q4 it is more just technology to assist the carer and the cared-for rather than the science-fiction image of autonomous androids tending to their human wards.
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