世論 What Japan Thinks

That’s the question posed by goo Ranking for this Sunday’s silly survey, a look at what Japanese men would want to do once if they were female. Actually, although the above survey title is a relatively literal translation, a better one would be something like what would men like to experience once as a woman.

Demographics

Between the 24th and 26th of September 2008 1,044 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.8% of the sample were female, although in this case it was of course the other 49.4% males only who answered, 5.8% in their teens, 12.7% in their twenties, 32.3% in their thirties, 27.6% in their forties, 12.3% in their fifties, and 9.3% 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.

Answer 18 is a cracker! Here, foreigner most likely implies westerners, I strongly suspect.

I’m sure not being female doesn’t stop people doing 4, 5, 9, 14, and 15, of course. Interestingly, none of the men here seem to be wanting to seek the answers for mysterious female behaviour.

Sadly, the matching female question has not been posted yet, but I’ll be sure to publish it once it does.
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This Sunday I have a pair of loosely-connected surveys, the first on what would you forgive you partner for doing, for both men forgiving women and women forgiving men. Next up is perhaps why one would forgive one’s other half, namely what aspects of him or her do they like, again both what men like about their women and what women like about their men.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 28th of July 2008 1,072 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 5.7% in their teens, 14.4% in their twenties, 31,0% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, 10.5% in their fifties, and 10.4% 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 find it interesting that for people’s other half qualities like “considerate”, “courteous” or “well-mannered” do not appear on the list.
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The ways of the opposite sex are baffling to many of us, so this little bit of frivolity from goo Ranking looked at what people can’t figure out about the opposite sex, for both men being baffled by women and women being baffled by men

Demographics

Between the 19th and 21st of August 2008 1,028 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.0% of the sample were female, 5.7% in their teens, 11.2% in their twenties, 30.4% in their thirties, 30.6% in their forties, 14.7% in their fifties, and 7.3% 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’ll have to nod in agreement with just about all the women’s behaviours! Number 4 is most irritating for me, and number 6 is just inexplicable!

For the men’s number one, women obviously don’t know that about half the men in my office gob into the urinal. I have no clue why either. Talking of men liking Gundam, Japan Today had a strange quote from a comedian regarding Gundam and pr0n!
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Next in an occasional series of goo Ranking-supplied silliness on views of home life is what people can’t help checking out when visiting a friend’s room, for both checking women and checking men.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 28th of July 2008 1,072 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 5.7% in their teens, 14.4% in their twenties, 31,0% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, 10.5% in their fifties, and 10.4% 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.

Coincidentally, recently I got an email from a reader asking for links to other surveys on this sort of topic, so here goes: scary home life of friends of the opposite sex and why your room turns women or men off.
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With five candidates standing for leader of the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan, it should be quite a battle for…what am I saying, Taro Aso is a shoo-in. As to what policies he might enact, goo Ranking asked members of the goo Research monitor group what matters of policy they would like to see realised.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 28th of July 2008 1,072 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 5.7% in their teens, 14.4% in their twenties, 31,0% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, 10.5% in their fifties, and 10.4% 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 they are mostly reasonably sensible, but also very inward-looking. I’m surprised there wasn’t anything about North Korea, however, and disappointed but not surprised that taxing ciggies did not appear.
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Here’s a quick ranking survery from goo Ranking to squeeze in as my entry to the September 2008 Japan Blog Matsuri on poorly-understood job titles in Japan. As the theme of this month’s Matsuri is language, I’ll list the original Japanese too. I’ll bet many of my readers will be stumped by some of the translations too!

Demographics

Between the 25th and 28th of July 2008 1,072 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 5.7% in their teens, 14.4% in their twenties, 31,0% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, 10.5% in their fifties, and 10.4% 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.
It’s interesting that most of the confusing job titles are English ones. Number 7, Vice-President, refers not to people like Dick Cheney, but to something I notice in start-ups, where everyone in at the founding and/or with substantial shareholdings gets an honorary vice-presidentship for their troubles. I’m not sure what number 14 is doing on the list – an orchestra conductor is a 指揮者, shikisha – do they mean bus conductor?

I used to have an unofficial job title of Transcontinental Code Monkey (I might even still have the T-shirt somewhere), but that’s another story.

Oh, and for the Blog Matsuri I though this or this would have been much more appropriate, but the translation defeated me!
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This week’s Silly Sunday looks at love in Japanese high schools, in particular people’s personal memories from there, for both men and women.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 15th of July 2008 1,064 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.9% of the sample were female, 10.3% in their teens and 89.7% in their twenties. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.
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If you’ve recently fallen out of love, my sympathies and please stop reading now! Otherwise, enjoy with me today’s Silly Sunday with goo Ranking where we look at what people do when their hearts get broken, for both boys and men and girls and women, as the sample was restricted to the under thirties.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 15th of July 2008 1,064 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.9% of the sample were female, 10.3% in their teens and 89.7% in their twenties. 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’m not sure if the “do nothing” option means to fall into a catatonic state or to just shrug your shoulders and get on with life, although I would like to believe that it is the first of the two!

Photo from нσвσ on flickr. Just in case you can’t read, the kanji is “heart”.
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Here’s a pair of surveys that were too short to be separate articles and not quite silly enough for Sundays, so I’ll just post them now as the results have a few talking points in them. As usual, goo Ranking conducted the surveys, one on what cost-saving measures people wish their employer would introduce, and what secret struggles people are engaged in at work.

Demographics

For the first survey, between the 23rd and 25th of June 2008 1,014 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.1% of the sample were male, 6.5% in their teens, 14.5% in their twenties, 31.0% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, 11.1% in their fifties, and 8.8% aged sixty or older. For the second survey, between the 25th and 28th of July 2008 1,072 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 5.7% in their teens, 14.4% in their twenties, 31,0% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, 10.5% in their fifties, and 10.4% 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.

My company doesn’t pay overtime; to be precise, there is a fixed amount of overtime built into one’s salary, 18 hours per month, I think. However, if I work past 10 pm (I only ever do that when I have teleconferences from home) they pay a measely time-and-a-quarter. The telephone meetings usually last under an hour, so I would never, ever, dream of claiming the scheduled two hours.

Back to cost-saving; it would have to be business trips for my team, followed by changing the budgeting system so that the team doesn’t lose its budget if it doesn’t spend all its allocation by the end of the year, leading to a lot of pointless purchasing in the weeks leading up to then.

My secret battle is… ahh, it’s secret, as there’s a chance he reads this blog. The other one is timing using all the hot water in the kettle by lunchtime so my colleague cannot make a cup of coffee during the lunch break and disturb my peace and quiet by SLURPING ALL THE *!%$ING TIME!!1!1!111!
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A rather spicy title for a rather bland survey, I’m afraid! I could only find something borderline silly for today, a survey by goo Ranking into what people didn’t do before they were fully-fledged members of society. In Japan this normally means once someone finishes full-time education and with an additional implication of entering full-time employment.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 28th of July 2008 1,072 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 5.7% in their teens, 14.4% in their twenties, 31,0% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, 10.5% in their fifties, and 10.4% 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 only managed about six myself before I started working, with going abroad being one notable one I didn’t do until I was twenty-four, with a business trip to New Orleans being my first overseas experience.

5=, using a taxi ticket, is for people working past the last train home, allowing them to charge the fare to the company. 12, the formal receipt, is for claiming back expenses. Don’t be too surprised at number 8, as there are a lot of older people in the survey who finished school before computers became widespread there.
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