世論 What Japan Thinks

Although the survey is biased towards heavy users of mobiles, this recent survey from Point On Research into mobile wallpaper found a quite high percentage of people willing to pay for dynamic wallpaper.

Demographics

On the 23rd of April 2010 800 heavy users of mobile phones complted a private mobile phone-based survey. The sample was 50:50 male and female, 25.0% in their teens, 25.0% in their twenties, 25.0% in their thirties, and 25.0% in their forties. The exact definition of “heavy user” is not given, but I would imagine as a start it is people who max out their all-you-can-use data plans.

Note that Q1 indicates a bias away from SoftBank and toward au mostly – the usual split is around 45:30:20:5.

Funnily enough, today I saw an ad on my mobile phone and wanted to download a free Sento-kun 3D animated wallpaper, but my ancient phone cannot support it!

Note that wallpaper can function as both a backdrop and an animated screensaver, which explains to some extent the significant amount of Flash.
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It is the tradition that the wife manages the family budget, and that the husband merely gets a pocket money allowance, but this recent survey from iShare looked at the current situation regarding money management.

Demographics

Between the 1st and 5th of April 2010 1,275 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.3% of the sample were male, 31.1% were in their twenties, 33.5% in their thirties, and 35.2% in their forties.

I was watching a program on general money-related advice a couple of days ago, and they said that actually not giving the husband an allowance is better, or if there is an allowance, make it a percentage of salary (including bonus!) as an incentive. To illustrate the point, they interviewed a few people on the street and the guys with allowances were asked what they did when their pocket money ran out. The answers broadcast included buying stuff with credit card instead (presumably the wife didn’t check receipts) or borrowing money from their parents!
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Oops, I forgot to post this last night!

A recent survey conducted by goo Research into computers was reported on by japan.internet.com, where they chose to focus on PLC-related questions. PLC is Power Line Communication, using existing electrical circuits as network cabling.

Demographics

Between the 13th and 16th of April 2010 1,088 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.3% of the sample were male, 16.1% in their teens, 17.9% in their twenties, 21.1% in their thirties, 16.2% in their forties, 16.5% in their fifties, and 12.1% aged sixty or older.

The total awareness from Q1 is 39.0%, yet last year it was 48.5%, and 51.7% two years ago. Similarly, the usage rate dropped from 2.8% to 1.4% over the space of the last year.

It’s supposed to be a good and cheap way to network and more secure than wireless, although interference when other electrical devices switch on and off is the biggest drawback.
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With one of the hottest topics in Japan being Prime Minister Hayoyama’s repeated dithering over the Futenma base in Okinawa, and with a frequently-appearing theme being the desire of Okinawa to be a nation again, I thought I should look up some data to see what the situation really is. The best I managed to find was a survey entitled “Okinawa Identity”, one which took place in 2005, 2006 and 2007. I couldn’t find the original report, but this blog post extracts some key points from a newspaper column on said survey.

Demographics

On the 3rd and 4th of November 2007 2,000 people were telephoned, with 1,201 choosing to reply. How the numbers were chosen was not reported, not was any further demographic information.
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Even though one large English conversation school went bust last week, learning English still seems to have a high cachet attached to it, if this recent survey from goo Ranking into what people think cool guys study. There is a hint of a follow-up survey into what cute girls are into, so I’ll be sure to translate that later.

Demographics

Between the 23rd and 25th of March 2010 1,128 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.5% of the sample were female, 15.1% in their teens, 16.9% in their twenties, 28.8% in their thirties, 21.1% in their forties, 9.4% in their fifties, and 8.7% 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 must say I have zero idea why people answered the way they did. I can maybe agree up to number 7, but then we get bread-making and interior design! Wedding planning and meteorology bamboozle me even further. Finally, it’s interesting that about the most macho activity is karate – I’m wondering if the survey question was actually “What do you think herbivore boys would be studying?”
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Today’s silliness is from goo Ranking as usual, this time looking at what surprises people have when encountering after many a year female friends from middle school. The surprises for both men and women were ranked. I’ll be sure to report on the old school male friends whenever it appears.

Demographics

Between the 23rd and 25th of March 2010 1,128 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.5% of the sample were female, 15.1% in their teens, 16.9% in their twenties, 28.8% in their thirties, 21.1% in their forties, 9.4% in their fifties, and 8.7% 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 don’t think I’ve ever really had a surprise from meeting old school friends of either sex, but I suppose I don’t really make much attempt to keep in contact, whereas in Japan keeping track of your ex-classmates appears to be the norm.
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Not discounts for mobile phones, but discount coupons accessed through mobile phones was the topic of this recent survey from Point On Research and reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

On the 13th of April 2010 800 heavy users of mobile phones completed a mobile phone-based questionnaire. The sample was 50:50 male and female, 25.0% in their teens, 25.0% in their twenties, 25.0% in their thirties, and 25.0% in their forties.

I’m not a heavy user of my mobile phone, so my excuse for not using them, that the packet charges are more than the savings, does not apply to the heavy users who are probably all on unlimited use. Most of my coupons come from the computer-based internet or free papers.
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Here’s a short but curiously interesting survey from iShare, looking at artistic talent, in particular being able to perform such a talent in front of others.

Demographics

Between the 2nd and 7th of April 2010 497 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.9% of the sample were male, 32.2% in their twenties, 32.2% in their thirties, and 35.6% in their forties.

I have no artistic talents, and am quite envious of those who have them. I’d like to learn to sing, and the wife keeps semi-suggesting it, but I’m totally and utterly tone deaf!
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This short report on a survey from Marsh Inc by japan.internet.com into home computer environment, but in particular on computer problems, found over two-thirds tried to fix problems themselves first.

Demographics

Between the 14th and 16 of April 2010 300 members of the Marsh monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, 1.3% in their teens, 18.7% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% aged sixty or older.

I have Windows Update set to download automatically, as I usually want to check to see what’s getting updated, and I can delay the update until I finish a session, to prevent the reboot reminder getting in the way. At work we are supposed to switch it off; I’d like to say it’s because it gives the IT department a chance to test out stuff, but I suspect it’s more for a dubious reason like preventing overload of the local network.
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With the launch of the Xperia at the end of last month (March 2010) and heavy advertising on primetime television, it’s perhaps not a surprise that according to goo Research’s 51st mobile phone upgrade needs survey, as reported by japan.internet.com, that the Xperia is as popular as it is.

Demographics

Between the 9th and 14th of April 2010 1,000 mobile phone users from the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.0% of the sample were male, 1.0% in their teens, 11.5% in their twenties, 3.2% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, and 24.2% aged fifty or older.

I’ve had a play with the Xperia at a special shop they’ve opened in Osaka, and it’s quite fun to use, and the display font is much better than I imagined it would be. I quite fancy it myself, but I cannot really justify the 5,400 yen per month unlimited data plan (plus another 1,500 yen in basic service fees), with of course 40,000 yen for the handset on top.
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