世論 What Japan Thinks

Round about the time of the release of the Nintendo DS there was a lot of buzz about the new demographics they were reaching, in particular how the range of brain training software was selling well in the older market segment. To see what the situation is these says, goo Research, in conjuction with AllAbout Japan, surveyed the “Mrs” demographic about their use of digital items and game machines.

Demographics

Over the 17th and 18th of December 2007 1,076 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The “Mrs” demographic was married women between the ages of 50 and 69, with 33.9% aged between 50 and 54, 33.9% between 55 and 59, and 32.2% in their sixties.

I remember once trying to tempt my mother into gaming with The Hobbit on the Sinclair Spectrum, but I can’t say it was much of a success at all. However, the brain training games would be fun for her, perhaps, or even if they weren’t I could play them instead…
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I’ve always meant to get into Social Network Services (or Sites), but just never had the time, or quite frankly the inclination! To see what the Japanese are thinking about them these days, japan.internet.com reported on the 11th regular SNS survey conducted by goo Research.

Demographics

Between the 8th and 13th February 2008 1,097 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.1% of the sample was male, 16.4% in their teens, 18.3% in their twenties, 21.4% in their thirties, 16.3% in their forties, 15.5% in their fifties, and 12.3% aged sixty or older.

There really ought to be a specialised Japan blogger SNS or other forum for exchange of ideas and the like; I know that I have far more ideas than I have time to realise them, so some way to allow us all to keep in touch would be most useful. There has been moves by the Daily J, but it really needs someone to grab the bull by the horns and give it a good kick up the backside. I’d love to do it myself, but time is the one thing I do not have.
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There seems to have been a definite theme running through the goo Rankings I’ve been publishing over the recent weeks, but let me assure you anything you may read into this is purely your own imagination! This time let’s look at what people feel worried about when they get married, the marriage blues in other words, with detailed ranking for both men and women.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 24th of December 2007 1,094 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private online questionnaire. 45.6% of the sample was male, 8.8% were in their teens, 15.6% in their twenties, 29.1% in their thirties, 26.8% in their forties, 10.7% in their fifties, and 9.0% 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.

A surprising result is that for whether work will understand, where it is men who are much more worried. This reflects two aspects of Japanese social structure; first, women are expected and often expect themself to quit either after marriage or once they have children (indeed, concerns about being a working mother was very low on the list of women’s worries), and second, salarymen are often expected to work (or drink) until the last train home, so new grooms are concerned about how they are going to be able to excuse themselves from their responsibilities.

For me it was probably a combination of a change in lifestyle (no longer being able to just lie in bed until noon, not bother shaving, then order pizza for dinner), a lack of private time to wander around the shops, and no spare money to spend on bits and pieces for my computer. However, these are of course outweighed by the benefits.
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With cellphones getting more and more features packed into them, here’s an interesting survey reported on by japan.internet.com and conducted by goo Research into cellphone input devices.

Demographics

Between the 15th and 17th of February 2008 1,092 members of goo Research’s online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.2% were male, 16.4% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 16.4% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, and 11.7% aged sixty or older.

I think a full keyboard is nice to have, but none of the ones I’ve seen seem to be practical, as the keys are all far too tightly spaced, rendering the device pretty useless. A fingerprint reader is popular here, perhaps with people thinking about the security aspect, although compared to using a PIN, I don’t really think there is much of a benefit. The acceleration sensor is for motion games, and features on some of the 905i series of phones from NTT DoCoMo, but I cannot really see the practical use at all.
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To me most of the Japanese cellphones that I’ve owned have had various problems with usability, even experiencing later models by the same company actually going backwards in terms of functionality. My current phone has minor irritants here and there; for instance there is a fractional delay between key presses and a response in the UI, and settings menus always open with the first entry highlighted instead of the current option. To see how the Japanese live with their phones, MyVoice investigated cellphone ease of use.

Demographics

Over the first five days of January 2008 12,906 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample was female, 2% in their teens, 15% in their twenties, 38% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 16% in their fifties.

For me, the keypad itself is not too important, although some of the new designer phones have got pretty awful pads that I would certainly not buy. On the other hand, my wife, who can type on her mobile faster than on a PC keyboard, the tactile feel is the second most critical item after “Does it come in pink?”
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Today, 22nd of February, or 2/22, can be read as “nyan, nyan, nyan”, the sound of a mewing cat, therefore it has been designated as the Day of the Cat. To celebrate, goo Ranking looked at where cats like to enter. Yes, that is a stupid question!

Demographics

Between the 22nd and 25th of January 2008 1,126 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private online questionnaire. 45.6% of the sample was male, 3.6% were in their teens, 15.8% in their twenties, 35.1% in their thirties, 27.3% in their forties, 11.0% in their fifties, and 7.3% 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. How many were cat owners or cat lovers was not documented.

Two of the top cat blogs are Mako and the superstar of the cat world, Hatchan, who is immortalised in not just photo books, but they also have stuffed toys of him in real-life poses, real-life size and weight. Number 11 might be unfamiliar to you, but searching Google images for 猫なべ,neko nabe, will soon educate you as to what it is all about. Alternatively, here’s a video via Japan Probe:

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This is an interesting recent survey reported on by cNet Japan and conducted by goo Research into the topic of the use of cameras by seniors.

Demographics

Over the 6th and 7th of February 2008 1,001 members of the goo Research monitor pool aged over sixty were interviewed by means of a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.4% were male, and 69.3% were in their sixties, 15.9% aged seventy or older. Note that since this was internet-based, all were internet users by definition. In addition, as a control sample over the same period 174 people in their thirties, 51.7% female, were asked the same questions.

Not falling into either of the age groups it’s difficult for me to comment, but one thing I thought initially was that the number of SLR users is low as I always see a few old people with big cameras whenever I go to parks, but then I realised that it’s just selective recall, as one remembers a big camera.
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I’m the odd one out in the office as just about everyone else uses their portable computer rather than their desktop as their main computer for less compute-intensive tasks such as email, document preparation, etc. This perhaps is a common situation in other offices too, given the results of a survey reported on by japan.internet.com and conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into notebook computers and mobility.

Demographics

Over the 6th and 7th of February 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor panel employed in either the private or public sector completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 83.9% were male, 9.7% in their twenties, 38.8% in their thirties, 34.8% in their forties, 13.6% in their fifties, and 3.0% in their sixties.

Q1SQ1 should be read with care, as it is not where people habitually use their notebook computers, but just places that they have. For example, 18% say they use theirs when commuting, but it doesn’t mean that one in five people in the morning rush train are typing away; it’s rare (once a week or less?) that I see anyone else typing away on the train, whether it be packed or empty.
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With almost all new cellphones now having a memory card slot with media costs dropping drastically, and listening to music on phones becoming more popular, here’s an interesting survey reported on by japan.internet.com and conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into the topic of cellphone memory card usage.

Demographics

On the 13th of February 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research online monitor group employed in either the private or public sector completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 83.9% of the sample was male, 10.9% in their twenties, 38.5% in their thirties, 39.4% in their forties, 8.8% in their fifties, and 2.4% in their sixties.

A year and a half ago (summer 2006) a similar question was asked, and at that time 128 MB was the most popular size, so that’s a quite impressive factor of 8 larger.
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I get the distinct impression in the USA and Europe that Bluetooth is a must-have feature for mobile phones, but in Japan a recent survey said only 5% wanted Bluetooth on their next phone, versus 22% after infra-red. This survey reported on by japan.internet.com and conducted by Cross Marketing Inc into Bluetooth confirms this lack of interest in Bluetooth.

Demographics

Over the 6th and 7th of February 2008 300 members of the Cross Marketing monitor pool successfully completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The group was split 50:50 male and female, 20.0% in their teens, 20.0% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, and 20.0% in their fifties.

Only a few selected models of mobile phones come with Bluetooth these days, and I’ve never seen anyone in Japan using these earpiece Bluetooth accessories that I saw quite a few times when I was in the USA. I may have once seen someone with Bluetooth headphones, but that’s about it. It might be an interesting survey to discover why exactly people don’t use them.

Q1SQ2 shows how low usage of Bluetooth really is. Although 22.7% of people said they owned a Bluetooth device, these 68 people owned 95 Bluetooth-capable devices between them, making about 1.4 devices per person. From these 95 devices, 79 were master devices, leaving just 16 accessory-class devices, and just four of them had potential to be used with mobile phones.

Oh, and just in case you are in the 43.7% according to this survey, Bluetooth is a short-range low-power wireless standard most often found in (non-Japanese!) mobile phones.
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