世論 What Japan Thinks

Having just upgraded my computer, I’m in the satisfied to some degree category, but to see what the Japanese think about home computers, JR Tokai Express Research Inc conducted a survey which was reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

On the 19th and 20th of August 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 58.5% of the sample were male, 2.4% were in their teens, 14.2% in their twenties, 33.0% in their thirties, 23.6% in their forties, 12.4% in their fifties, 9.1% in their sixties, and 5.2% aged seventy or older. Note that due to the survey being conducted online, in Q1 not surprisingly nearly everyone had a home computer.

Ahh, what was right with my old machine! It was old, slow, occasionally needed two or three resets to boot, it was noisy, slow USB ports and temperamental Japanese input to name just the major problems. The new beast that I’ve finally ported stuff over to fixes nearly every one of these complaints, but I’m still getting the hang of Vista and I should have upgraded to 2 gigs of RAM when I bought my Acer Aspire L5100.
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With another recent survey on earthquake preparedness (untranslated by me) showing over two in three rather worried about The Big One hitting, this survey on earthquake early warnings presents a look at a different aspect of the same topic. The survey was conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc and published on the japan.internet.com web site.

Demographics

On the 18th of August 2008 331 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 84.3% of the sample were male (it said the survey was conducted with just internet users, but that’s an even heavier bias towards men than even their panels of employed people!), 4.8% in their twenties, 35.3% in their thirties, 44.7% in their forties, 12.4% in their fifties, 2.1% in their sixties, and 0.6% aged seventy or older.

The early warning system is not predictions of earthquakes, but instead sensors all over the country can detect an earthquake nearby, and since radio messages travel faster than the earthquake P and S waves, they basically radio ahead to warn that something nasty is coming, usually giving no more than 10 seconds warning, just enough time to dive under a handy table. As The Big One for Tokyo is predicted to likely occur under the city, it does seem rather pointless for the residents of that city.
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No serious internet user should be without Google, and this research conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com into Google service awareness shows that many Japanese use it heavily.

Demographics

On the 11th of August 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor group employed in either the public or private sector completed a private on-line questionnaire. 76.1% of the sample were male, 9.4% in their twenties, 37.9% in their thirties, 40.3% in their forties, 10.6% in their fifties, and 1.8% in their sixties.

As Yahoo! beats Google in Japan for most aspects, I’d love to see similar questions asked about that portal too.

Note that this survey was conducted after the Japanese versions of Google Maps Street View was launched, and although Q1SQ1 does not mention it, I wonder if Google Maps was included within the Google Earth answer? I also wonder if AdSense was grouped with AdWords.
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This is a matter that I have pondered about, so it’s interesting to see BlogCh addressing the issue of hot water bum-washing toilet seat usage.

Demographics

Between the 29th and 31st of July 2008 658 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed an internet-based private questionnaire. 51.2% of the sample were male, 13.2% in their twenties, 47.0% in their thirties, 28.6% in their forties, and 11.2% in their teens or fifty or older.

I’ve used the hot water spray twice; once on a toilet with a built-in drier, and once without. Both were rather unpleasant experiences, and the lingering feeling of dampness downstairs was quite disconcerting.

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This is a very straightforward look at a quite straitforward subject, wristwatches. This survey was reported on japan.internet.com and conducted by goo Research.

Demographics

Between the 6th and 11th of August 2008 1,055 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.2% of the sample were male, 14.5% in their teens, 19.7% in their twenties, 21.7% in their thirties, 16.3% in their forties, and 27.8% aged fifty or older.

I just got my watch battery replaced (1,000 yen from Yodobashi Camera, in case you’re wondering, but for some reason I had over 3,000 repair points on my card, so I got it for free) on my analogue-dialled stopwatch-adorned watch that I only wear at weekends, on the outside of my left wrist.
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Let’s be silly again today with goo Ranking, looking this time at when people feel loved, for both men and women. Note that the sample for this group is in their teens and twenties only.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 15th of July 2008 1,064 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.9% of the sample were female, 10.3% in their teens and 89.7% in their twenties. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Hugs are my number one! The number one for men actually sounds pretty dangerous to me.

Oh, and before you comment, as usual more spicy answers have been filtered out by goo Research!
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Today’s dose of sillyness is as usual from goo Ranking, looking at the ideal situation for a first kiss, for both men and women. Note that the sample for this group is in their teens and twenties only.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 15th of July 2008 1,064 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.9% of the sample were female, 10.3% in their teens and 89.7% in their twenties. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

My first kiss in Japan was in a location not featuring in the ranking, down a dark alley behind some vending machines. Romantic, eh?
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This is a bit of a short, but sweet, survey conducted by BlogCh into cellphone function ease of use.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 28th of July 2008 547 people (the selection method was not mentioned) completed a survey. 52.3% of the sample were male, 21.1% in their twenties, 45.9% in their thirties, 25.2% in their forties, and 8.8% of other ages.

I liked this survey because one of the selling points of the SoftBank iPhone is the ease of use, which the foreign press often stresses whilst mentioning the difficulty of Japanese cellphone operation. The results here highlight few are really comfortable with their phones. I was surprised by Osaifu Keitai (RFID-based contactless payment) being the hardest to use, as it’s just a touch on the sensor and you’re done. However, I think there is also the aspect of difficulty of understanding what exactly it is mixed in with these results.

Another reason I liked this survey was the use of Japanese to describe the degrees of confidence. I’ll leave them untranslated.
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There’s the new AdSense for Feeds out, which works with FeedBurner but not very flexibly yet.

However, I have a cunning idea, so if it works you will see this in your RSS reader along with an advertisement…

PS: What do you think about ads in RSS? I’ll only stick them at the end of longer survey posts, not short ones like this, except for this time since I’m just testing…

This survey conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com regarding computer recycling is a particularly relevant survey to me, as I am right now in the middle of copying files from an old PC to a new one via my notebook.

Demographics

On the 7th of August 2008 331 members of the JR Tokai Express Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.1% of the sample were male, 14.2% in their twenties, 41.4% in their thirties, 23.0% in their forties, 12.1% in their fifties, and 9.4% in their sixties.

There has to be a better way to copy around 80GB of data from one computer to the other! I’m just using a network share and the rather nice utility TeraCopy that fixes a few bugs and annoyances in the standard Windows file copying routines. One other problem I have is that I only have one monitor and only one handy network connection so I cannot directly copy from old to new. Hopefully I’ll be up and running by tomorrow.

Regarding disposal of computers, the 資源有効利用促進法, shigenyuukouriyousokushinhou, or Law for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources, to give it its official English translation according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry web site, requires businesses to promote recycling of computers (and air conditioners, microwaves, televisions, washing and drying machines, fridges, and copiers).
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