世論 What Japan Thinks

Having looked a few months ago at water servers (or water coolers), this time DIMSDRIVE Research looked at domestic water servers and disasters.

Demographics

Over the 22nd and 23rd of August 2011 500 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group who (a) lived in one of Tohoku, Kanto, Koshinetsu, Aichi Prefecture and Shizuoka Prefecture, and (b) had purchased or rented a home water dispenser. 58.2% of the sample were female, 1.6% in their teens, 12.6% in their twenties, 30.2% in their thirties, 25.2% in their forties, 21.2% in their fifties, and 9.2% aged sixty or older.

The survey size here is quite small, but because there was the pre-selection of those with water servers (perhaps there was a follow-up with those from the first survey?) the margin of error should not be too large.
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With it looking like we have managed to survive the summer without a single power cut in Japan, it may be a good time to look at a survey from goo Research conducted in July on saving electricity.

Demographics

Between the 4th and 7th of July 2011 1,080 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.2% of the sample were male, 19.5% in their teens, 20.3% in their twenties, 19.9% in their thirties, 20.2% in their forties, and 20.1% aged fifty or older.

The survey title in the original Japanese is usually translated (as I did above) as “saving electricity”, but as a pedant I’d like to point out that you cannot really save electricity, but instead just cut down on the usage. We tried to cut down this summer by using less air conditioning and relying on a simple fan a bit more, but quite frankly I see little difference in our monthly bills.

At work we have various changes, but the stupidest one was to unplug the rechargers for our company mobile phones during peak hours. However, the company phones have hopeless batteries, so if you forgot to plug back in before a long weekend, for example, you could come back to a dead phone that has returned to factory settings. On top of that, it just takes one person to bang their head on the underside of the desk and you’ll have the Health and Safety people all over you. This activity lasted exactly two days in our team.
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Continuing the surveys into nuclear power, this one from Central Research Services looks at the earthquake and power companies.

Demographics

First, 3,954 people over the age of twenty were selected at random from voters polls, but the samples were weighted by size of each of the electricity generating companies’ customer base. These 3,954 were approached for face-to-face interviews between the 13th and 22nd of May 2011, and 1,308 people, or 33.1%, actually completed the survey. 54.1% of the sample were female, 11.4% in their twenties, 18.7% in their thirties, 15.7% in their forties, 16.8% in their fifties, 18.3% in their sixties, and 19.7% aged seventy or older.

I’m surprised that the level of trust just manages to pass the average point even now, especially in the earthquake-affected area, and given the much lower safety rating of nuclear power generation. Perhaps they have been very quick to repair powerlines and restore services to affected areas?
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Actually, this survey would be more accurately headlined “Nuclear power last year and 9 years hence” as it was conducted last September, well before everything went all pear-shaped in Fukushima. The official title for this survey from Central Research Service Inc was the environment and energy problems.

Demographics

At some point in September 2010, 3,000 people over the age of twenty selected at random from the Kansai prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama and Shiga and 1,500 people from Fukui prefecture (where all Kansai’s nuclear reactors are situated) were sent a survey by post. 1,082 people from Kansai (36%) and 569 (38%) from Fukui returned the completed survey. A breakdown by age and sex was not reported.

I’ve previously reported on a similar survey by the same company into nuclear power in Kansai, which may serve as a useful cross-reference.
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Since the Fukushima Dai-ichi meltdown, one of the problems occuring has been the worries about radioactive particles in the tap water (I’d argue that the worries exceed the actual danger), so it was interesting to see this survey from iShare into drinking water for infants.

Demographics

On the 13th of June 2011 576 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 63.9% of the sample were female, 11.8% in their twenties, 80.6% in their thirties, and 7.6% in their forties. All of the sample lived in Tokyo prefecture and had bought mineral water for infants.

The one or two times I’ve been in Tokyo, however, I don’t think I’ve actually drunk the water, so I cannot say how nice or otherwise it is.

In Q7SQ, I never knew there was a recommended water for formula milk! Soft water is apparently the correct answer, and most of the water in Japan is soft. Q10 and Q10SQ shows just over three in four women with infants worry about Fukushima fallout in their water – do is that a larger or smaller percentage than you would imagine?

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Since the Fukushima Dai-ichi meltdown, one of the problems occuring has been the worries about radioactive particles in the tap water (I’d argue that the worries exceed the actual danger), so it was interesting to see this survey from iShare into drinking water for infants.

Demographics

On the 13th of June 2011 576 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 63.9% of the sample were female, 11.8% in their twenties, 80.6% in their thirties, and 7.6% in their forties. All of the sample lived in Tokyo prefecture and had bought mineral water for infants.

For Q2, people were asked why they had stocked up on water since the earthquake, some of the more common answers were that they wanted to have a supply if the tap water became contaminated, they don’t want their children to drink tap water, they stocked up just in case, and domestic water is safer than imported brands. That final option does seem a bit odd to me.
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goo Research recently reported on a survey conducted in association with President magazine, and looking at feeling worries and joy, with this excerpt below focusing more on the worry side of the equation…

Demographics

Over an unspecified period of time 2,168 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All of the sample were in work, and the implication is that it was full-time work. The sample consisted of people between the ages of 20 and 59, but no further demographic breakdown was presented.

I’m afraid I’d probably have to put myself in to the “not really” or “not at all” categories for the questions below!
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goo Research published another interesting look at earthquake-related changes in society, this time support for the disaster-hit areas and changes in values.

Demographics

Between the 22nd and 27th of April 2011 1,000 members of the goo Research monitor panel from all areas of Japan except those directly affected by the earthquake and tsunami completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, and 20.0% of the sample were 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.

In Q3, probably the thing I’ve most become aware of is who supplies information, in particular the dreadful job much of the foreign English-language press made of reporting on Fukushima specifically.
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iShare’s latest look at earthquake-related issues was on how people obtained information relating to the earthquake/a>, finding, fortunately, that most people relied on official sources, not bonkers bloggers.

Demographics

On the 15th of April 2011 1,193 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.3% of the sample were male, 8.9% in their twenties, 45.7% in their thirties, and 45.4% in their forties.

I too used television news as my main source, and after about a month of wall-to-wall news, I, like the majority in Q2SQ, felt a lack of information on switching back to normal programming. What was your own most important news source?
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iShare’s latest look at issues surrounding the earthquake on March 11th was at usage of web services in times of emergency.

Demographics

On the 15th of April 2011 1,193 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 42.3% of the sample were male, 8.9% in their twenties, 45.7% in their thirties, and 45.4% in their forties.

I confirmed my safety first via email to my parents, then by blog. Although I didn’t directly post to any social web service, my blog posts automatically end up on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn so I suppose technically I did use such a web service as asked by Q1 and Q1SQ.

The last time there was a disaster was the derailment of the JR train at Amagasaki, on the line I used then, but that time my parents confirmed my safety via a post I made that got published on the BBC news web site.
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