世論 What Japan Thinks

To make up for my short off-line period, here’s an excellent survey from goo Ranking, looking at what over the top urban legends people would want to learn more about.

Demographics

Between the 23rd and 26th of April 2010 1,187 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-base questionnaire. 61.4% of the sample were female, 10.1% in their teens, 17.4% in their twenties, 30.9% in their thirties, 24.9% in their forties, 10.1% in their fifties, and 6.5% 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.

Number 4 is one I’d like to hear about, as I cannot really imagine what might be hidden by the marathon! For number 6, I think I’ve heard somewhere about Paul McCartney having a Japanese nanny. If any of my readers have heard more about the rumours, or if you want me to investigate more myself, please drop me a line!
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With the deadline for the digital terrestrial switchover getting ever closer – only 13 months until the 24th of July 2011 – rates of adoption are creeping up, according to this recent survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com into terrestrial digital television, the 14th time this regular survey has been conducted.

Demographics

Between the 10th and 12th of May 2010 1,084 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the sample were male, 16.3% in their teens, 17.7% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 16.2% in their forties, 15.9% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

Coupled with the Eco Point system for rebates for buying digital televisions due to end in December of this year (it works out at about 20% off a Japanese brand 32″), surely the next couple of surveys will see the figure surpass 80%. I know I’m tempted to buy with my summer bonus.

As a cross-reference, I saw the government recently claiming that 83.8% of households were digital-ready, a figure that differs greatly from the numbers here. If you notice the wording, though, it implies that these households have at least one digital reception device, which would include One Seg mobile phones, but I hardly see them taking pride of place in one’s living room!

In Q2, I cannot really think why three people were satisfied with the copy protection on digital broadcasts. Perhaps the respondents has either worked on the specifications or were in the business of selling hacking software.
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Last year I barely saw any surveys regarding music consumption, but this year there seems to have been a decent number of them, with the latest offering being from goo Research via japan.internet.com looking at how people obtain music.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 14th of May 2010 1,088 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.8% of the sample were male, 17.7% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 21.3% in their thirties, 15.6% in their forties, 15.3% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

The question Q1SQ1 is a bit difficult to interpret, especially the first answer that talks about using a specialised tool – I don’t think many of the commercial services offer free downloads in any significant quantity, so I wonder if the figure includes people unwittingly using P2P software?
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There’s enough people in the office who brush their teeth at lunchtime to block access to the sinks, so I was interested in this recent survey from iShare into brushing teeth in the office to see how widespread such habits were.

Demographics

Between the 10th and 13th of May 2010 498 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.2% of the sample were male, 31.5% in their twenties, 33.1% in their thirties, and 35.3% in their forties.

Some of the top reasons for brushing at work were to protect against decay or bad breath, and people not liking the feeling if they don’t brush. For the non-brushers at work, they said they didn’t have time, it was too much bother, they don’t have a toothbrush at work, there’s nowhere to brush, and they didn’t like brushing in the toilet.

I don’t bother brushing at work for probably most of the reasons listed above; at home I rarely brush, but instead I usually chew gum.
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This week’s silliness from goo Ranking is a look at what features of people of the opposite sex, even if you attended a dating party with them, would rule them out as a potential partner, for both men looking at women and women looking at men. I presume what the ranking is getting as is people who will never get past the “friend” stage to the “partner” level.

Demographics

Between the 23rd and 26th of April 2010 1,187 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-base questionnaire. 61.4% of the sample were female, 10.1% in their teens, 17.4% in their twenties, 30.9% in their thirties, 24.9% in their forties, 10.1% in their fifties, and 6.5% 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.

A dating party is my translation of the Japanese term gokon, a place where usually three to five guys and an equal number of girls go out together and see what happens. The respective male and female organisers are usually known to each other, but for the rest it’s usually a first meeting. The organisers usually bring along work colleagues to the event.
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With Father’s Day on the horizon, iShare took a very detailed look at fathers at home.

Demographics

Over the 6th and 7th of May 2010 450 male members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All were married with children, and with a salary of 3 million yen or more. 80.0% were in their forties, and 20.0% were in their fifties. Note that this is the first survey I can remember from iShare that included anyone in their fifties.

I can’t choose my own programs, but then again there’s not really any alternatives that I have a pressing need to watch rather than whatever mindless entertainment is on the box.

I can’t relate to the Q9SQ questions as my wife doesn’t let me near the remote control for the recorder, and anyway I can usually catch up via YouTube or Japan Probe!
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With Father’s Day on the horizon, iShare took a very detailed look at fathers at home.

Demographics

Over the 6th and 7th of May 2010 450 male members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All were married with children, and with a salary of 3 million yen or more. 80.0% were in their forties, and 20.0% were in their fifties. Note that this is the first survey I can remember from iShare that included anyone in their fifties.

Oyaji is a slighly insulting or self-deprecating term to refer to a middle-aged man, in particular ones with a middle-aged outlook or appearance. Or smell…

It’s perhaps not surprising that over half the participants have some complaint or other about their home life. Personally, I don’t have any complaints of sufficient note to register in Q1, and any lingering feelings I might have are easily dispelled by the relief of getting away from the office!
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I’ve been looking forward to encountering a survey such as this one from iBridge Research Plus, reported on by japan.internet.com, into overseas money transfer, focusing on the seemingly invisible in Japan PayPal.

Demographics

On the 17th of May 2010 300 members of the iBridge monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 13.3% in their twenties, 35.7% in their thirties, 28.0% in their forties, 16.0% in their fifties, and 7.0% in their sixties.

On the first of April this year PayPal banned inter-personal money transfers originating in Japan to be in compliance with the Fund Settlement Act.

I was surprised to see almost a third aware of PayPal, as I thought it was very much a niche product in Japan.
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This survey into electronic book readers by iBridge Research Plus and reported on by japan.internet.com found that the iPad seemed an attractive choice to many electronic book readers.

Demographics

On the 24th of May 2010 300 members of the iBridge monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.7% of the sample were male, 15.3% in their twenties, 30.0% in their thirties, 28.0% in their forties, 19.7% in their fifties, and 7.0% in their sixties.

There must have been a corresponding question to Q1SQ2 for Amazon’s Kindle, as although it wasn’t reported the text implied that many fewer people were interested in reading on a specialised device.

Despite good reviews of Sony’s e-readers, they don’t seem to be on sale in Japan for some reason and their Japanese web site stopped updating at the end of 2008, although if I were to hazard a guess it would be due to the difficulty in making a deal with the rather old-fashioned mindsets that seem to present in Japanese publishing houses.
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Having looked recently at the computer recycle law, here’s a related look with iBridge Research Plus, reported on by japan.internet.com at printer disposal.

Demographics

On the 10th of May 2010 300 members of the iBridge monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.3% of the sample were male, 13.0% in their twenties, 33.3% in their thirties, 29.7% in their forties, 15.3% in their fifties, and 8.7% in their sixties.

In Q1SQ2, note that most local authorities have separate collections for unburnable rubbish and large rubbish. Some places charge for certain kinds of large rubbish, and some places also try to recycle the large rubbish, although I haven’t a clue what happens to the unburnables.

My local authority says that printers can be disposed of for free as large rubbish, although my last place charged 300 yen, so when I had a printer to throw away I dismantled it and chucked it out bit-by-bit…
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