世論 What Japan Thinks

goo Research, in a survey reported on by japan.internet.com, looked at mobile phones, with this report focusing on the usage of the address books within mobile phones.

Demographics

Between the 19th and 24th of August 2009 1,070 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.1% of the sample were male, 16.7% in their teens, 17.9% in their twenties, 21.4% in their thirties, 16.0% in their forties, 15.9% in their fifties, and 12.1% aged sixty or older.

I haven’t backed up my mobile’s phone book for at least a year, I think, but then again I have so few entries that last year’s backup is probably still valid!

I was suprised to see that only about 5% use the shortcut dial feature, less than those typing numbers in directly. As far as I know most mobile phones have a feature where if you type in the address book index (one or two digits are OK, I think) then press the dial button it dials that entry, which is handy for me as my wife is registered in slot one.
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Here’s a rather interesting survey from goo Research and Keio University’s SFC Research Centre into information sources for the personal learning process.

Demographics

Between the 15th and 18th of May 2009 1,050 members of the goo Research consumer monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.4% of the sample were female, 20.3% in their teens, 19.7% in their twenties, 19.6% in their thirties, 20.2% in their forties, and 20.2% aged fifty or older.

As a resident of Japan, one problem I have in the office with officially-sponsored learning is that it is all in Japanese! However, one great way to avoid these language problems at a low cost is provided by the company that Koichi at Tofugu works with as a tutor. The people at eduFire offer low-cost online training in a million and one topics (well, currently at least 27 major ones with lots of sub-topics) through the internet using Skype. One of Koichi’s specialities is Japanese language courses, and from what I’ve seen of his stuff, I can heartily recommend him and have confidence that the rest of the services offered will also be well worth the money. The tutors there are all available for realtime interaction, all just a mouse click away.

It’s not free, but just $29 (2,600 yen or so) gets you a one month unlimited access SuperPass for not just Japanese lessons, but lots of other courses like marketing, Confucius Philosophy, or indeed English, stuff that could cost you hundreds of thousands of yen through traditional routes. For a cheap preview, they also offer one week for one dollar, so you can give it a go with minimal risk. This is cheaper that the free lessons I’ve seen at my regional international centre, once you factor in travelling expenses, as you’re in the classroom right now!

Career stagnation is a problem that many face, so in these tough economic times $29 per month to improve your CV/resume is a cheap way to help yourself out!

Disclosure: What Japan Thinks receives a commission from eduFire for completed sign-ups.
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I decided to give the FAIL keyword a miss on the headline this time for a survey from goo Ranking looking at one’s partner’s stingy behaviour that leaves you cold, for both men looking at women’s stinginess and women looking at men’s stinginess.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 24th of July 2009 1,026 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 48.2% of the sample were male, 8.0% in their teens, 14.6% in their twenties, 28.8% in their thirties, 26.0% in their forties, 12.5% in their fifties, and 10.1% 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.

Even when we were dating, I suppose I was guilty of just about all the penny-pinchings listed by the women below! I do remember the first time we stayed overnight in a hotel, when it came to paying the bill I expected her to pay half – maybe it’s differences in perception, but not going Dutch by default when dating is always a bit strange to me.
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One nice thing (from a shopping, not environmental point of view) in Japan is that many department stores give you a nice simple paper bag with handles for your purchases; not the cheap thin brown paper supermarket bags as seen in the US, but a decent reusable one. Brand stores and posh cake shops also give away better quality paper bags, so to see what happens when they get taken home, iShare looked at reuse of paper bags.

Demographics

Between the 8th and 11th of August 2009 586 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.7% of the sample were male, 34.3% in their twenties, 31.1% in their thirties, and 34.6% in their forties.

We have a huge amount of paper bags stocked up, probably a few hundred, although we do reuse about one per month for either just as a container when taking things to the monther-in-law, or as a posh wrapper for a cheap souvenir to friends.

Interestingly, there’s a second-hand handbag and other branded item shop that regularly advertises in a local free paper that offers a few hundred yen per Gucci or Chanel paper bag that you might want to bring along.
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I’ve never had any external memory die or get lost, but this recent survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com showed that between one in five and one in six Japanese had suffered such problems with external memory.

Demographics

Between the 12th and 14 of August 2009 1,085 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.8% of the sample were male, 16.8% in their teens, 16.6% in their twenties, 21.1% in their thirties, 17.7% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, and 12.2% aged sixty or older.

Due to the lack of a suitable graph, I’ve instead used a picture from yoppy on flickr.
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MyVoice recently took a look at how Japanese use hotels and other lodgings, in particular what criteria they use for selecting them.

Demographics

Over the first five days of August 2009 13,801 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 2% in their teens, 16% in their twenties, 33% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 20% aged fifty or older.

The last hotel I stayed in was the Westin Awaji, which is a very nice hotel in a great location. One of the criteria we used was me having a point card, and another was being a western-style managed hotel, as the previous night we’d stayed in a Japanese-managed hotel. One big difference was that the Westin had a whole non-smoking floor, the other one had just half a dozen rooms at the far end of one corridor that still had a lingering hint of tobacco clinging to the walls. However, the Westin was disappointing for food, especially the breakfast was not the full buffet one expects from their chains.
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First there was happoshu, a most foul fizzy alcohol drink, then there was third sector beer brewed from non-traditional ingredients like corn, peas, and old socks. Now there is new genre fourth sector beers, which seem to be going back to being based on the traditional barley, but with lower sugar, carbohydrates, purine, and taste content. This new genre of brews were the subject of a survey from MyVoice.

Demographics

Over the first five days of August 2009 13,517 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 15% were in their twenties, 34% in their thirties, 30% in their forties, and 21% aged fifty or older.

I recently had some Style Free, I think it was, a zero carbohydrates drink with just 35 or so calories a can, which was surprisingly pleasant, and without the heavy sugary aftertaste of many other canned beers. It seems to be a happoshu rather than a new genre beer, but let’s ignore that and continue with my description. The morning after was better as well, without an overnight festering of sugars in my mouth. I recommend you give them a try – they are cheap and with dozens of different brands, there’s lots of scope for finding one that suits your palate.

Oh, and a quick shout-out to Gaijin Tonic, where you might or might not find reviews of some of the fine products listed below.
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japan.internet.com recently reported on a very interesting survey conducted by goo Research into mobile devices, their very first in a new series of monthly surveys.

Demographics

Between the 3rd and 6th of August 2009 1,087 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a computer internet-based questionnaire. 52.4% of the sample were male, 17.3% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 21.3% in their thirties, 15.9% in their forties, and 27.3% in their fifties.

You’ll notice that as well as netbooks there are also UMPCs, or Ultra-Mobile Personal Computers and MIDs, Mobile Internet Devices. A survey from earlier this year contained an explanation of the differences between netbooks and UMPCs, and MIDs seem to be the halfway house between a smartphone and a netbook or UMPC. Oh, and a PND appears to be a Personal Navigation Device, or a GPS-based route-mapping device.

I also think that Q1 should have included the iPod Touch.

I don’t carry anything other than a dumb phone, but I want to buy a netbook some time… I used to be interested in getting a Japan manufacturer-built Android-based mobile, but I’m going off the idea a bit.
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One traditional form of finding a member of the opposite sex is the group dating party thing, or the 合コン, go-kon in Japanese, where a group of usually three of four guys and girls go out and things may or may not develop. goo Ranking took a look at what sort of activities from fellow guys at go-kons irritate them. Hopefully there will later be the femal equivalent survey.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 24th of July 2009 1,026 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 48.2% of the sample were male, 8.0% in their teens, 14.6% in their twenties, 28.8% in their thirties, 26.0% in their forties, 12.5% in their fifties, and 10.1% 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’ve been to a go-kon exactly once, organised by a colleague from the guys side and a female friend of his from another division of the company. Six of us went out for a meal, and absolutely nothing happened, mostly because the other five were just as socially inept as me.

Note that as suggested by answer 15, people in relationships, even some married people, go along to these parties for innocent reasons such as making up the numbers.
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Here’s a nice survey from iShare looking at hangovers.

Demographics

Between the 28th and 31st of July 551 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.4% of the sample were male, 38.7% in their twenties, 27.2% in their thirties, and 34.1% in their forties.

I’ve heard a number of people say good things about Ukon no Chikara and other tumeric-based hangover avoidance techniques, but I’ve not tried it myself.

The Japanese for hangover is 二日酔い, futsukayoi, literally “two days drunk”, which I think is a great expression! I’ve never had a three days drunk experience, but I’m surprised that only less than half the drinkers have had a “never again!” experience.
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