Although I mostly pick the silly surveys from goo Ranking, they do occasionally cover serious subjects, with this recent one on expectations for Japan in the future, specifically what people think politicians should be putting some effort into.
Demographics
Over the 21st and 22nd of November 2007 1,101 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.7% of the sample was female, 6.2% in their teens, 15.4% in their twenties, 30.2% in their thirties, 27.1% in their forties, 11.0% in their fifties, and 10.3% aged sixty or older. Note that the score reported is the relative number of votes each choice got, not the percentage of the sample that chose each option.
Although the title of the survey page from goo Ranking specifically includes the word politics, number 5 is rather non-political, or if it is meant to be political, Singapore springs to mind as a country that regulates the manners of the citizens, which may not be a very good example to follow. On the other hand, a lot of existing legislation gets ignored as penalties are either minor or non-existant, so perhaps this is a call for more enforcement of smoking in non-smoking zones, switching off mobiles when required, etc?
I think that addressing issues regarding worker abuse (and self-abuse) where unpaid overtime is the norm, by giving some teeth to unions; indeed I’d like to see unions being penalised for not bothering to stand up against unpaid overtime! What would you like to see from the politicians? Read the rest of this entry »
あけましておめでとうございます！ Here’s to another year of surveys from the interesting, weird, wonderful but sometimes downright boring world of Japanese surveys. Let’s kick off the New Year (I really am writintranslating this at about 1 am on New Year’s Day) with goo Rankings looking at what people didn’t quite manage to do last year but will try again to do this year.
Demographics
Over the 21st and 22nd of November 2007 1,101 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.7% of the sample was female, 6.2% in their teens, 15.4% in their twenties, 30.2% in their thirties, 27.1% in their forties, 11.0% in their fifties, and 10.3% aged sixty or older.
Over the 21st and 22nd of November 2007 1,101 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.7% of the sample was female, 6.2% in their teens, 15.4% in their twenties, 30.2% in their thirties, 27.1% in their forties, 11.0% in their fifties, and 10.3% aged sixty or older.
For me, it has to be ordering the New Year postcards. What gives you that end of year sense? Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve managed to find demographics for these ranking surveys! Between the 21st and 22nd of November 2007 1,101 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 49.3% were male, 6.2% in their teens, 15.4% in their twenties, 30.2% in their thirties, 27.1% in their forties, 11.0% in their fifties, and 10.3% aged sixty or older.
Of course, the other survey I’d love to see is what people thought their spouses had spent far too much cash on this year! Read the rest of this entry »
The Kanji Kentei (Japanese kanji test) parent organisation in Tokyo, in conjunction with Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, has announced the results of an open public poll for the one kanji that best represents the year.
90,816 people voted by internet, postcard and by attending the temple in person, and the top kanji chosen by them was 偽, nise, gi, meaning imitation, deception, or bogus. This year has been full of such stories; it started off with fake health benefits from natto, and continued with one scandal after another, from construction companies faking earthquake resistance to beef-free beef croquettes. This leads us to the number two choice, 食, shoku, food, where in addition to the ironically-named Meat Hope beef mentioned before, trusted souvenir brands Akafuku and Shiroi Koibito amongst others got caught reusing ingredients that had passed their expiry dates. To round out the bad news, third was 嘘, uso, lies, which claimed the life of one politician this year.
These pessimistic characters are a marked contrast from the last two years; 2006 was 命, inochi, life, and 2005 was 愛, ai, love.
With the 忘年会, bounenkai, end-of-year party season upon us and many of us perhaps having headed to our first one tonight flush with our winter bonuses, let’s take a quick look with goo Ranking at what male actions make women run a mile at drinking parties. The fieldwork for the survey was conducted over the 24th and 25th of October 2007 amongst female members of the goo Research monitor group. Note that the vast majority of activities here would result in the guy being slapped with a sexual harrassment suit in the West, and probably also in Japan, although the law is not as frequently invoked here.
Number 8 is perhaps a bit strange and culturally specific, and although thankfully I’ve not witnessed it myself, apparently after a quantity of alcohol Japanese men sometimes do remove their shirts or more. May these be the only undies you whip off for a young lady in the pub!
Personally, I have only been to number 5, Daimonji (far too many people!) and number 27, the Japan Formula 1 Grand Prix. Which Japanese festivals would you recommend to tourists?
I’m having trouble interpreting the results of this rather interesting survey from goo Ranking on to people in which occupation would you most like to say thanks to and hand them an energy drink. The survey was conducted over the 24th and 25th of October 2007, so it was well after Shinzo Abe disappeared from his job of running the country, so it cannot be a sympathy vote for him. However, is it thanks for the present incumbent, Yasuo Fukuda, who at age 71 should be tending his garden rather than trying to run the country, or is it just a general feeling that the top politicians need all the support they can get? Read the rest of this entry »
This week’s Silly Sunday is on silly rules and customs in the office, another ranking survey from goo Ranking. The fieldwork was conducted over the 24th and 25th of October 2007, but no demographic information was given, nor was there a breakdown by sex, sadly.
At my workplace, I wish they’d quit doing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 15, and 27.
For those of you who haven’t worked in Japan, perhaps a few of these options need to be explained. Number 6 and number 9 usually feature together (we actually have lunchtime meetings at my workplace); everyone gathers together, one person (rotated every day) reads the company precepts, then everyone repeats after him or her. Next, the person whose turn it is tells a story perhaps related to work, perhaps not. Other companies may also have pep talks from the boss. Actually, I do think that morning meetings are to some degree useful; ours are relatively painless, barring the company motto reading, of course, and the singing of the company song, which thankfully is not compulsory!
Number 12 is interesting – every Friday after lunch we have to vacuum the office and empty the rubbish bins. I did once ask why we did that but all I got in reply was a blank state wondering why I would question such a thing. Indeed, we even had a suggestion from someone as part of our company-wide stinginess initiative that we should also clean the corridors to save paying cleaners’ wages, an idea demonstrating blissful unawareness of the hourly rate of a cleaner versus that of an engineer.
Oh, and you don’t want to get me started on the complexity of my employer’s internal systems… Read the rest of this entry »
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