Recently, Central Research Services Inc looked at the matter of popular sports
Demographics
Between the 1st and 9th of June 2009 4,000 adult members of the public were randomly selected, and 1,244 of them, or 31.1%, agreed to answer the questionnaire in face-to-face interviews. More specific demographic information was not provided.
I don’t think there’s anything of particular note in the results below, but it’s nice to translate it and keep it as a permanent record for searchers. Read the rest of this entry »
I haven’t translated a survey on video cameras for a while, as perhaps they have been dropping off the radar since more and more still cameras, even SLRs, are coming with video functions, and as mobile phones and even some iPods have such features. So, to redress the balance, here is goo Research, as reported on by japan.internet.com, on video cameras.
Demographics
Over the 8th and 9th of October 2009 1,032 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was 52.6% male, 16.6% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 21.3% in their thirties, 16.1% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, and 12.3% aged sixty or older.
One band I’d never heard of before, exemode, have, as illustrated in the picture above, a Neon Genesis Evangelion-themed camera DV230-EVA02 that in that orange and red colouring looks remarkably cheap and nasty, and the purple, lime green and black DV230-EVA01 is even nastier-looking! At about $100 for the camera, it definitely fits the “cheap” criterion. I strongly suspect that the cameras are Chinese designed and manufactured and then sold with a friendlier brand name, so one can draw one’s own conclusions about the “nasty” factor. Read the rest of this entry »
One thing that I have always considered a bit of a dichotomy in Japan has been the overwhelming anti-nuclear weapon stance of the general public (hmm, I don’t actually have a survey on that, so I hope I’m correct!) versus the seemingly quiet acceptance of nuclear power. This recent survey from Central Research Services Inc looked at the second half of the above statement. The survey was entitled living and the environment, so the below is just one part of the survey.
Demographics
During October 2008 (CRS are always slow to publish their survey results!) 4,500 adults were selected at random, 3,000 from the Kinki (also known as Kansai) area of Japan, namely the prefectures of Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara and Wakayama, and 1,500 from Fukui, a prefecture that hosts all of the nuclear powerstations that generate the electricity for the region. From the 3,000 people selected from Kinki, 1,031, or 34% responded; in Fukui 551 from 1,500 responded, for a response rate of 37%.
The “Is nuclear power needed?” question is a difficult one to decipher, and the text doesn’t suggest any refinement to it. Given that Kinki’s main electricity generator KEPCO (Kansai Electric Power Co) generates 60% of its power from nuclear, it is very much required, so a negative answer is not a realistic position. However, if the question is more slanted towards “Is more needed?” or “Should alternatives be found and existing facilities decommissioned?”, that goes some way to explaining the 20% opposition. Here is an article on Kinki power. Read the rest of this entry »
Between the 20th and 22nd of August 2009 1,077 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 51.1% of the sample were male, 8.4% in their teens, 14.2% in their twenties, 26.7% in their thirties, 28.2% in their forties, 11.1% in their fifties, and 11.2% 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.
This recent survey from iShare into hair colouring is working under the presumption that all of its sample has black hair, given that there is no question about one’s natural colour.
Demographics
Between the 25th and 30th of September 2009 562 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.5% of the sample were male, 35.9% in their twenties, 30.2% in their thirties, and 33.8% in their forties.
Despite being 100% Japanese, my wife is actually naturally dark brown rather than black, which used to get her into trouble at school as many schools forbid hair dying, along with make-up, etc. She used to work somewhere where she got a light brown dye not because it was in vogue or the like, but actually was a very important part of the corporate image! Read the rest of this entry »
With the analogue switch-off now only 21 months away (24th July 2011), the number ready for the change has now passed the halfway mark, according to the 11th regular survey into digital terrestrial television from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com.
Research results
Between the 5th and 10th of October 2009 1,092 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.7% of the sample were male, 16.6% in their teens, 18.2% in their twenties, 21.2% in their thirties, 15.9% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, and 12.3% aged sixty or older.
With 13% of the population still to decide, I’ve been seeing a few adverts for a converter box, and the one below from J:Com trying to persude presumably not just the microscopic percentage of foreigners who might be in the situation of being TV-less in two years.
Between the 30th of September and 5th of October 2009 562 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.2% of the sample were male, 34.5% in their twenties, 33.3% in their thirties, and 32.2% in their forties.
My wife buys all my boxers, usually Hello Kitty and friends. Last time I had a health check at the office that required stripping down I realised I’d decided to wear my bright orange Snoopy Halloween ones that day! Read the rest of this entry »
That’s the top four fast food places in Japan, specifically Makudo, Mosu, Misudo and Kenta – McDonalds, Mos Burger, Mister Donut and KFC – according to MyVoice’s sixth look at fast food. I translated their fifth survey on fast food two years ago.
Demographics
Over the first five days of September 2009 14,023 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 2% in their teens, 14% in their twenties, 34% in their thirties, 30% in their forties, and 20% aged fifty or older.
If you’re a burger fan, note that the Japan Blog Matsuri is doing hamburgers this month.
I’m a big Mister Donut fan, as they have a lot of convenient shops, a good point card system, unlimited refills of hot black coffee or hot au lait, you can stay as long for as you can put up with the US DJ and his muzak, and oh, rather nice doughnuts. I’m quite partial to their chocolate and salty caramel one, and their standard menu items, Pon De Ring Black Sugar and Pon De Tofu Kinako (sweet soy flour), are always a good choice.
The bit about wifi refers to a current campaign at McDonalds where those with Nintendo DSes can connect to an in-shop LAN and download some free games. Read the rest of this entry »
Between the 1st and 18th of October 2009 1,396 private middle and high schools from all over the country were contacted by post, with 220 schools responding, a pretty poor 15.8% response rate. The schools responding were 5.5% middle schools, 59.5% high schools, and 35.5% others, chiefly joint middle and high schools. The responding people were 7.3% school principals, 36.1% head teacher or vice-principals, 8.7% teachers, 1.4% school office staff, 44.3% health-related staff, and 2.3% others.
Also this week vaccination against swine flu has started in Japan, but despite having a national health service where most people pay just 30% of their bills, the vaccine is going to be paid for, at about 4,000 yen a shot, I think. Non-priority cases such as myself are at the end of the queue, so it will be next spring at least before I might be due one, but by that time I think enough people will have caught it (including myself?) making the jab unnecessary. If people start dropping dead in their hundreds this winter I’ll adjust my attitude, but for now I’m not interested.
Between the 7th and 9th of October 2009 300 members of the Marsh monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.0% of the sample were female, 2.7% in their teens, 17.3% 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.
Considering that Bluetooth is not standard on even high-end phones, and given that talking isn’t really that popular in Japan anyway, one rarely sees the earpiece kit on pedestrians (certainly not in the Osaka area, although it might be a bit more popular in Tokyo) so I suspect the devices are just as rare in cars.
The article also notes that the fine for using a mobile phone while driving is 5,000 yen for a bicycle, 6,000 yen for a car or motorbike, and 7,000 yen for a large vehicle. This goes up to 50,000 yen if you cause an accident, etc. The basic fine seems a bit low considering I got done for 15,000 yen for parking for under 10 minutes in a back-street just last month. Read the rest of this entry »
I haven’t translated a survey on video cameras for a while, as perhaps they have been dropping off the radar since more and more still cameras, even SLRs, are coming with video functions, and as mobile phones and 
One thing that I have always considered a bit of a dichotomy in Japan has been the overwhelming anti-nuclear weapon stance of the general public (hmm, I don’t actually have a survey on that, so I hope I’m correct!) versus the seemingly quiet acceptance of nuclear power. This recent survey from Central Research Services Inc looked at the second half of the above statement. The survey was entitled 
This recent survey from iShare into 
For those of you coming to this thread with a dirty mind, please review the lack of a possessive apostrophe for “girls” and realise that this is merely a survey from iShare looking at 
That’s the top four fast food places in Japan, specifically Makudo, Mosu, Misudo and Kenta – McDonalds, Mos Burger, Mister Donut and KFC – according to MyVoice’s sixth look at 
Recently goo Research conducted a survey into 
Here’s an interesting look with Marsh Inc, reported on by japan.internet.com, into 
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