世論 What Japan Thinks

Following on from the recent survey on what presents other than chocolates men plan to buy, this time goo Ranking looks at what sweet item the women would like for White Day. The situation for men buying these sweets is co-workers purchasing them in return for the giri, obligatory, chocolates they got from their female colleagues on Valentine’s Day. So, without any further ado, let’s look at the list.
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Just in case you’re still wondering what to buy for White Day on the 14th of March this year, goo Rankings were good enough to publish a list of the top 20 things Japanese men want to give their women, excluding (or alongside) chocolates.

The fieldwork was conducted between the 18th and 20th of January this year. No further demographics are available. Note that this is what men want to buy, not necessarily what women want to receive!
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Just as a bit of fun, here’s a pair of silly surveys from goo Ranking, one from women and one from men on what’s the biggest turn-offs when being invited back for coffee. The fieldwork was conducted over three days in the middle of January, but no further demographic information is available.

Note that due to differences in social mores, and of course the ready availability of alternatives, visiting one’s girlfriend’s or boyfriend’s flat comes much later in a relationship than compared to the West, I believe.

Number 14 for women, not putting eggs in the fridge, seems rather out of place! It’s also interesting to see how what women look for in a man’s home differs from what men look for in a woman’s place.
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With today being official Day of the Cat – 22nd of the 2nd month, pronounced, with a suitable cat accent, にゃん・にゃん・にゃん, nyan, nyan, nyan, the Japanese for “Meow, meow, meow”, let’s look at a recent goo Ranking into cats’ cute actions. The survey was conducted between the 18th and 20th of January.

I’m disappointed that purring comes in a miserable 8th, and sleeping in laps is nowhere.
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After the rather heavy and depressing survey on public order in Japan, let’s change the tone completely with another light-hearted and lightweight survey from goo Ranking. This time they asked both men and women what things they would be most prepared to stand in a lengthly queue for. The votes were gathered between the 18th and 20th of January, but no further demographic information is available. As usual, the score for each item is the percentage of the top votes that it received.
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Not having learnt their lesson from the recent natto scandal, another television station broadcast information about the newest wonder food tonight, with even my wife, who has had her confidence greatly shaken by the Aruaru Daijiten fiasco, immediately reached for her mobile phone to add it to our shopping list for tomorrow.

This miracle food is the humble enoki mushroom (can’t stand them myself, though!), and to enjoy the full benefits of its astonishing power, take one plastic pack of said fungus, rip it open, stick your nose in and inhale deeply, and in an instant you will be overwhelmed by…

…the smell of strawberries. Yes, Trivia no Izumi’s back, with other stunning revelations such as a top-class Yabusama – horseback archer – found a Kyotei speedboat the most pleasing modern ride to shoot arrows from, beating off competition from other modes of transport such as a roller coaster and an escalator.

goo Rankings published another one of their silly yet slightly unsettling polls recently, when they looked at what things are impossible to do now that they are an adult. The original Japanese version is phrased to have a suggestion of regret, I feel. The survey was conducted between the 18th and 20th of December last year.

I can’t really imagine the thought processes that are required to make hopping in the bath with their parents the second most notable thing that adults cannot do.
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DIMSDRIVE Ranking recently published as part of their 106th ranking survey what award people would like to win. 5,086 people were asked what they thought over five days at the start of December 2006. Note that some of the awards are made-up.

For some reason Japan sticks “-ist” on the end of many of these awards, such as the Best Jeanist mentioned in the headline. Perhaps if Alfred Nobel had been born Japanese, rather than lend his name to those prizes, he might very well have named them “Best Brainist”. Or perhaps not.

In sort-of related news, Tokyo Times covers the recent Best Pearl Dresser award in its own inimitable style.
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In one of these strange and totally unscientific surveys that goo Rankings rather often conducts, we find out who the Japanese consider to be a model international couple. That is “model” as in “role model”, not “fashion model”. There is no demographic or other information for this poll, except that it was conducted over three days towards the end of November.

I believe the gist of the original Japanese question is after which international couple’s example would they like to model their relationship. One wonders about the thought processes that went on in the selection of two other-kind-of-model brides.

You may also note that all bar one seems to be a marriage with a white foreigner.

UPDATE: Following feedback from Roy, I’ve promoted (demoted?) Kumiko Goto to just “model”.
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The above phrase may often be heard throughout Western homes a couple of days into the New Year as everyone has had their fill of left-over turkey, but what about in Japan? goo Ranking decided to find out what people fancied eating when they got fed up with お節, osechi, the traditional Japanese New Year cuisine. As usual, there’s no demographic information, and the survey was unseasonably carried out at the end of November.

This site described the posh shop-bought osechi, but most often it is home-made, and in our case consists of miso soup with mizuna and mochi. I fortunately managed to break the monotony with a 10-pack of Mister Donuts (twice!), but I could fair go a pizza myself!
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