世論 What Japan Thinks

[survey 1] [survey 2]

Between the 22nd and 29th of March 2007 DIMSDRIVE Research surveyed its internet community regarding tea and tea-like drinks from plastic bottles. This is the second of a pair of rather similar surveys on tea drinks.

Demographics

6,477 members of the DIMSDRIVE Research internet community completed a private internet-based survey. 40.3% were male, 0.5% in their teens, 16.8% in their twenties, 36.5% in their thirties, 28.6% in their forties, 13.2% in their fifties, and 4.4% aged sixty or older.

This is a survey I’ve been looking for for a while, as I have wanted to do an “Ask What Japan Thinks” on tea, as I do get a few visitors looking for this sort of information, so I hope the information helps you out.

Note that in Japan plastic bottles are called PET bottles, with PET standing for polyethylene terephthalate, it appears. These bottles are usually recycled separately, so most public areas have a bin for these types of bottles only. You are supposed to take the cap off (some bins now have a separate opening for them) and the label, but I must admit to not doing either, although I do always use the correct bin.
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[survey 1] [survey 2]

Over the first five days of April 2007 MyVoice surveyed its internet community regarding tea and tea-like drinks. This is the first of a pair of rather similar surveys on tea-related drinks.

Demographics

17,539 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private internet-based survey. 54% were female, 2% in their teens, 19% in their twenties, 39% in their thirties, 26% in their forties, and 14% in their fifties.

This is a survey I’ve been looking for for a while, as I have wanted to do an “Ask What Japan Thinks” on tea, as I do get a few visitors looking for this sort of information, so I hope the information helps you out.

Note that in Japan plastic bottles are called PET bottles, with PET standing for polyethylene terephthalate, it appears. These bottles are usually recycled separately, so most public areas have a bin for these types of bottles only. You are supposed to take the cap off (some bins now have a separate opening for them) and the label, but I must admit to not doing either, although I do always use the correct bin.
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japan.internet.com recently reported on a survey conducted between the 26th and 28th of April by goo Research into the trustworthiness of internet information.

Demographics

1,041 members of goo Research’s online monitor group successfully completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.8% of the sample was male, 18.9% in their teens, 22.8% in their twenties. 19.9% in their thirties, 19.4% in their forties, and 19.0% in their fifties.

The results here really took me aback! Commercial blogs, which by definition are trying to sell you stuff, top the charts, whereas CEO blogs are the least trusted, even though the CEO has a legal obligation (I hope, at least) to tell the truth (or at least not lie) or face prison whereas commercial blogs are trying to sell you stuff and will always tell you how they are better than brand X.

Note that Q1 should really be phrased as “Have you ever obtained information that you determined was incorrect?”

Sadly, this time the presented results fail to directly mention anything about trust in Wikipedia.
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With Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net running a group writing project and competition of the subject of Top 5 Things, I thought I’d try entering the competition too with a fun look back at some of the things I’ve learnt through my translation activities for this blog. It’s also a good excuse to summarise some of the sillier posts for the benefit of my newer readers.
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japan.internet.com recently reported on an interesting little poll conducted by Cross Marketing Inc into television at home.

Demographics

Between the 18th and 19th of April 2007 Cross Marketing interviewed 300 members of their online monitor panel by means of a private internet-based questionnaire. All the respondents lived in Tokyo or the surrounding area and were mobile phone users. 50.0% were male, 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.

With the soon-approaching analogue switch-off on the 24th of July 2011 (why that date? I must research that!) it would seem that there is quite a bit of scope for the market in both televisions and DVD and hard disk recorders to expand as people buy them as much for the digital tuners as for the other features. My home too is still strictly analogue, but our CRT does have the required digital input plug if we decide to update the VCR alone.
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I saw on the television this morning a new service (currently free) for camera-equipped mobile phones. Surf to http://kaocheki.jp (顔ちぇき) with your mobile, snap you or your friend’s face, post it off to them and it comes back and tells you which famous person you resemble. Even if you don’t have a mobile or live overseas, you can try attaching a photograph (full face, filling about 80% of the frame) to an otherwise empty mail message addressed to female@kaocheki.jp for women, male@kaocheki.jp for men, or mix@kaocheki.jp if you’re just not sure. This direct method is not guaranteed to work. Mobile phone snaps are usually up to 240×320 pixels and 30 to 40 kilobytes in size, JPG in format, so attaching a 5 megabyte TIFF will probably not work.

UPDATE: Wifey snapped my mug last night, sent it off to the female address above, and in reverse order, at number three I am apparently 16% like 仲間由紀恵 Yukie Nakama, which I suppose is nice. At number two is 中島知子, Tomoko Nakajima, who I am 18% like. She’s one half of the comedy duo Othello. At number one, with another stunning 18% resemblance, is だいたひらる, Hikaru Daita, a dead-pan and rather plain-looking comedienne. The software must be broken! Wifey has just informed me that for the either/or address too Hikaru Daita was my top match.

Also note that although you may be able to email photos from another address, you cannot view the results from browsers other than those on a mobile phone it seems, but the reply email does contain the top match. Whether or not they only reply to mails from mobile phones is another big unknown!

Who do you resemble?

Over the first five days of April 2007 MyVoice surveyed its internet community regarding the use of word of mouth web sites. To use the popular English buzzword, these sites could also be called CGM sites, or Consumer Generated Media sites, although I think that CGM covers a wider area than the word of mouth sites referenced by this survey.

Demographics

17,647 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private internet-based survey. 54% were female, 2% in their teens, 19% in their twenties, 39% in their thirties, 26% in their forties, and 14% in their fifties.

I’ve used kakaku.com a few times myself to get ideas of prices and user opinions on home applicances and computer peripherals. The lowest prices they display, however, are potentially misleading, I feel, as I don’t know how or if they account for haggling or for special one-day sales and the like. On the other hand, I do feel their user ratings are quite reliable. Very well worth a visit before purchasing, and their simple star ratings make it very easy to find out which items are best in their class. However, I end up doing most of my buying in a bricks and mortar store.
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I now present yet another slightly odd goo Ranking, this time on what people do when they feel drowsy behind the wheel. As usual, there is no demographic information. The survey was conducted between the 20th and 22nd of March 2007.

Note that there is perhaps some scope for overlap in the answers. For instance, the top option is chewing gum and the fourth is taking caffeine. However, there is at least one brand of gum that contains caffeine, and in fact is advertised on television as a pick-me-up when feeling tired whilst driving.
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Over the first five days of April 2007 MyVoice surveyed its internet community regarding home loans.

Demographics

17,241 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private internet-based survey. 54% were female, 19% in their twenties, 40% in their thirties, 26% in their forties, and 15% in their fifties. Note that since one needs to be over 20 to get a loan, teenagers were excluded from this survey.

I have a loan, and I fall into the higher brackets in Q3 and Q4. Note that contrary to popular belief, it is not impossible for non-permanent residents to get a home loan, although naturally, any credit scoring that takes place will be rather harsh on those without demonstratable commitment to Japan. I got mine whilst in the process of applying for permanent residency, although they did not ask for any proof that this was actually the case. I am also a full employee (正社員, seishain) of a major company, so that no doubt helped me get a scary multiple of my salary as a loan, one which I am due to be paying off until I am 75…
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Recently japan.internet.com reported on a survey conducted by goo Research into shareholder meetings.

Demographics

Between the 19th and 20th of April 2007, goo Research got 1,083 successfully completed replies to their private internet-based questionnaire. 52.5% were male, 24.8% in their twenties, 22.5% in their thirties, 21.8% in their forties, 20.7% in their fifties, and 10.2% in their sixties.

Share trading is something I have yet to do in Japan, despite having a company savings scheme, so I cannot really comment much on the results of this survey. Of course one cannot mention shareholder meetings in Japan without mentioning the 総会屋, soukaiya, yakusa-connected extortionists who seek payment in return for not disrupting the company’s AGM. Many companies hold their AGM on the same day to hopefully reduce the chance of being targeted by the mob.

I was surprised by almost one in five shareholders having attended an AGM or the like. Perhaps the more detailed survey results indicates why many people choose to attend. Do companies give away gifts or have food laid on for attendees?
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