世論 What Japan Thinks

A fun survey today from goo Ranking, a look at what men think women should be able to cope with decreasing. There was no female equivalent, but I’ll try to bring it to you if I see it.

Demographics

The survey was conducted from the 27th to 30th of January 2014, and 1,141 people completed a private web-based questionnaire. 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 question was obviously for the men only.

Here’s some random out-of-focus women shopping:

I cannot really find much to disagree with in this survey! Fortunately my wife doesn’t wear eyelashes and is not a slave to brand goods, but otherwise I think I have to agree with almost all the others, although for 19 the last time we had an overnight stay I actually ended up with more luggage than her!

My own personal answer would be the number of times she asks me to pull out white hairs!
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Sorry for being away for a couple of weeks, but I’ve been busy at work and unable to dedicate enough time to translation here. However, I’m back with goo Ranking looking at forgivably-cute self-centred things one’s girlfriend says.

Demographics

The survey was conducted from the 27th to the 30th of January 2014, and 1,141 people completed a private web-based questionnaire. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample. Only the males in the sample answered this question.

Here’s a Korean guy doing number 4, and also carrying some other strange-looking device…

I’m sure, or at least I’d like to think, that when I was dating my wife I was more forgiving, but right now I’d be hard-pushed to let my wife off with more than a handful of the below, or at least not do any of them without a visible eyeball roll or an audible sigh!
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goo Ranking recently published a survey looking at which bad table manners in other people just cannot stand.

Demographics

The survey was conducted from the 24th to the 27th of December 2013, and 1,076 people completed a private web-based questionnaire. 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 a random foreigner doing a number 10 and perhaps 20 too, as the middle finger looks a bit out of alignment.

Pretty much all of them annoy me to a certain exten; on the other hand, I can also be guilty of 3, 4, both 12s, and 17, although since 17 is a no-no in the west, it’s a difficult habit to break.
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Today’s survey from goo Ranking is a look at what words from a girlfriend would pour cold water on a boyfriend’s thoughts of marriage. For this survey, I have translated in the first person, although the question wording was obviously in the third person. There was no equivalent female survey reported yet.

Demographics

The survey was conducted from the 24th to the 27th of December 2013, and 1,076 people completed a private web-based questionnaire. 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 survey was for men only.

Fortunately, when we were dating my wife never said any of the below, although I’ll refrain from reporting how many she has said since marriage.
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Since today is Valentine’s Day, let’s have a look at a survey from goo Ranking into what gifts received along with a Valentine’s declaration of love men would find rather weighty.

Demographics

The survey was conducted from the 21st to the 23rd of November 2013, and 1,054 people completed a private web-based questionnaire. 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 survey was for men only.

Since Valentine’s Day in Japan is only for women to give presents to men, this question was only answered by men.

For number 6, I’m not aware of a similar Japanese tradition, but I thought the banns was the closest I could come to the intent of the Japanese phrase.
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Today’s survey from goo Ranking looks at Japanese-English, words that are English (or have their roots in English but have taken on distinct Japanese meanings. Specifically, the survey was about Japanese-English words people were unaware that they were Japanese-English only.

Demographics

The survey was conducted from the 21st to the 23rd of November 2013, and 1,054 people completed a private web-based questionnaire. 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 once tried to explain to a Japanese person that “speed up”, “slow down” and “slow up” were perfectly valid, but the Japanese-English “speed down” was nonsense in English!
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goo Ranking decided to figuratively peek behind the curtain in women’s sento, Japanese public baths, to see what sort of things tend to happen in the bathing area.

Demographics

The survey was conducted from the 21st to the 23rd of November 2013, and 1,054 people completed a private web-based questionnaire. 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 question was obviously only for the women in the sample.

Here is a typical sento bathhouse entrance:

Obviously, I’m not qualified to comment on my experiences related to this survey, although I will note that the only positive answer is number seven; I assume that getting chatted to by grannies might or might not be a positive experience, depending on the person.
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Tonight’s goo Ranking is a look at what words or actions by other people in the office annoy the Japanese.

Demographics

The survey was conducted during the 31st of October and the 1st of November 2013, and 1,060 people completed a private web-based questionnaire. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

In the office, I do number 4, the first 6, 19, and the second 20. What annoys me but I cannot say anything about is frequent snorting back in of a runny nose, and people clipping nails; it’s both the sound of metal against metal and the clip noise that sets my teeth on edge.
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goo Ranking’s surveys usually exclude the more saucy possible answers to their surveys, but this one is a rarety, a straight-forward look at signs, actions, or words that indicate that a woman is open to spending the night together.

Demographics

The survey was conducted during the 31st of October and the 1st of November 2013, and 1,060 people completed a private web-based questionnaire. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample. Given the original Japanese answer wording, the answers were not limited to personal experience, although I have chosen to translate as if they were. Note that this survey was for the men in the sample only.

I think for this survey I’ll not tell you about my own experiences…
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This is an annual ranking survey from goo Ranking, looking at what expectations people have for the future Japan. I have translated a number of other years’ surveys, including 2012, 2010 and 2008.

Demographics

The survey was conducted during the 31st of October and the 1st of November 2013, and 1,060 people completed a private web-based questionnaire. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Note that people were selecting options from a list, I believe, so more controversial and political topics would have been filtered out. Nevertheless, despite all the doom and gloom foreign correspondents are writing about Japan’s nationalism, etc, note that number 6 is quite outwards-looking, as is number 21. Indeed, number 21 used a generic term for people, 人々, hitobito, not an exclusive term like “citizen” or “Japanese”.
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