Boring talkers

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goo Ranking took a look recently at the features of boring talkers.

Demographics

Over the 25th and 26th of November 2011 1,074 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.4% of the sample were female, 11.6% in their teens, 14.7% in their twenties, 26.9% in their thirties, 25.0% in their forties, 11.1% in their fifties, and 10.7% 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.

Number 5 is the reason I usually dislike work events, as they either talk shop (hmm, why wasn’t that in this list?) or talk about ex-colleagues or contacts in obscure departments that I have never heard of, let alone the person themselves!
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Virus worries keep Japanese on Galapagos

How much do you want to upgrade to Android? graph of japanese statisticsThis recent survey from Media Interactive looked at upgrading to a smartphone, specifically from current Japanese feature phones, often called Galapagos mobiles in both English and Japanese due to their unique evolution to fit the needs of the Japanese market.

How much do you want to upgrade to an iPhone4S? graph of japanese statistics

Demographics

Between the 9th and 11th of December 2011 300 feature phone-using members of the iResearch monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. No further demographic information was provided.

There definitely is a problem regarding viruses, worms and other malware on Android in particular, but it is debatable how likely the average user is to encounter them; I would guess that not often enough to make buying a virus scanner a good investment. Do any of my readers use smartphone virus scanners, and if so, why and how?

Looking at the list of negative reasons from Q1, if one thinks about the iPhone on SoftBank, lack of electronic cash, infrared and One Seg (terrestrial digital television), a need to change email addresses (I believe), poor reception, lack of design choice and no waterproofing all count against it. For Android phones from Japanese manufacturers on Docomo, virus worries and perhaps a lack of apps (or at least a perception of a lack) count against it. That gives a total of 62.3 points against the iPhone, versus 29.7 against Android, about twice as few negative votes for Android. Curiously enough, just about twice as many people want an Android versus an iPhone4S according to Q3 and Q4.
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Japan last for police trust and legitimacy

Central Research Services Inc recently published a survey looking at victims of crime, etc in Japan, and comparing it with similar surveys from Europe.

Demographics

In 2011 2,000 people over the age of 15 were randomly selected from resident registers to take part in the survey. At the end of May all bar those from two sampling points in Tohoku that were affected by the earthquake were interviewed face-to-face, and the remaining people were interviewed at the end of July. In total 1,251 responded to the questionnaire, with 50.5% of the sample female and 49.5% male. The age breakdown was not given.

These are really very surprising figures for me! I didn’t expect Japan to be so low on police legitimacy, for one thing. Recently there has been a spate of reports of police uselessness when responding to crimes, miscarriages of justice, etc which would have influenced public distrust of the overall criminal justice system, but questions on direct interactions with the system would suggest that even the average bobby on the beat is a bit bent.

Note that the European data was taken from European Social Survey, 2009, “Trust in Justice: European Social Survey”.
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When Japanese truly come of age

With today being a public holiday for the annual Coming of Age Day, where everyone who had their 20th birthday in the last calendar year gets tarted up in their best togs and get together in their local town hall to listen to boring speechs. However, although they statatistically became adults in the previous year, goo Ranking took a look at when people felt they truly reached adulthood.

Demographics

Over the 25th and 26th of November 2011 1,074 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.4% of the sample were female, 11.6% in their teens, 14.7% in their twenties, 26.9% in their thirties, 25.0% in their forties, 11.1% in their fifties, and 10.7% 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.

Here’s some new adults with a random dude:

Me with Kimono girls

And here’s a local mayor trying to get hip with the kids:

For my part, I felt I became an adult when I moved out of university dorms and started flat sharing, which incidentally was just round about my 20th birthday. Note that this doesn’t feature in the list below – for some reason flat-sharing is not popular at all in Japan.
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Drunken Japanese FAILs

Woohoo, another FAIL ranking! This time it’s a good one for not just the festive season, but also for tomorrow’s Coming of Age Day, which usually includes getting blootered with your old school mates after (or indeed, before) the ceremony. So, the subject is failures people have had when drunk, conducted by goo Ranking as usual.

Demographics

Over the 25th and 26th of November 2011 1,074 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.4% of the sample were female, 11.6% in their teens, 14.7% in their twenties, 26.9% in their thirties, 25.0% in their forties, 11.1% in their fifties, and 10.7% 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. Further note that the 125 people in their teens would not have been asked this question since they are below the drinking age of 20.

It’s a bit of a cliche, so I’ll skip a photo of number one, and instead find a different kind of crashed-out drunk:

cat_0014

I’ve never had the falling asleep in the train one, although when I first came to Japan in the evenings seemingly random trains decided not to stop at my stop, so it was all too common for me and other foreigner colleagues to end up quite a bit further down the line than we intended…

Looking at the list, I’ve only done four, honest!
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Majority choosing paraffin or gas over electricity for winter heat

Are you thinking about using a paraffin or gas stove instead of an air conditioner this winter? graph of japanese statisticsWith the winter drawing in, and with the continued threat of power cuts – the Kansai area power supplier has asked for voluntary 10% cuts, and now imports of Iranian crude are threatened – people are thinking how best to heat their homes, so this survey from goo Research, reported on by japan.internet.com, looked at saving electricity in winter.

Research results

Between the 5th and 11th of December 2011 1,050 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the sample were male, 15.9% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 21.1% in their thirties, 16.8% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, and 12.3% aged sixty or older.

I saw some back-of-the-envelope calculations that showed that per thermal unit, heat from paraffin (kerosene) was half the price of electricity in Japan, but I don’t know where gas stands in the equation. Problems, though, with liquid fuel include the smell, higher risk of fire, and of carbon monoxide poisoning from ill-maintained devices. Furthermore, with liquid fuel, and free-standing gas heaters, it is recommended to air the room once an hour, so much of the heat tends to escape. On the other hand, electric heaters dry the air badly. We have underfloor heating in the living room and dining room, but I’m not convinced of its usefulness except when sleeping on the floor!
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Safe water more important than tasty water

Do you feel reluctant to drink tap water without boiling, using a water filter, etc? graph of japanese statisticsWith the recent nuclear accident and scare about caesium in drinking water, many people in Tokyo and other parts of the north have switched to bottled water or other alternatives to the tap. To find out exactly what was going on, iShare took a look at home use drinking water.

Demographics

Over the 8th and 9th of November 2011 1,166 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 60.2% of the sample were male, 9.9% in their twenties, 29.2% in their thirties, 37.1% in their forties, and 23.8% in their fifties.

Our flat came with a built-in reverse osmosis (I presume that’s what it is, anyway!) drinking water filter, which we use only for drinking directly or filling the kettle. We just have a feeling that town water is just not that safe drunk directly, perhaps influenced by our previous flat where there was regularly black flakes coming through the old pipes, and we used a non-osmosis-based plugged into the mains purifier.
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Many Japanese want to try out a Sony PS Vita

What portable gaming machine do you most want to try out? graph of japanese statisticsWhat Japan Thinks kicks off the New Year properly with a proper survey, this time from iShare, looking at portable gaming machines, a definition that stretches to include not just Nintendo-like devices, but also smartphones and tablets.

Demographics

Between the 22nd and 26th of December 2011 714 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service who owned and were interested in portable gaming machines completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.0% of the sample were male, 30.0% in their twenties, 49.9% in their thirties, and 20.2% in their forties.

My gaming device is my Android smartphone (Panasonic P-01D), and the only two games I have on it at the moment are Andoku (sudoku) and Nethack. I should really download Angry Birds (I’m still to play it on any device!), I suppose, but as I’m trying to keep my data charges down I don’t want to have adverts being fetched from the internet as I play!
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What Japan expects from politicians in 2012

As we enter 2012, here is goo Ranking’s annual look at expectations of the people.

Demographics

Over the 25th and 26th of November 2011 1,074 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.4% of the sample were female, 11.6% in their teens, 14.7% in their twenties, 26.9% in their thirties, 25.0% in their forties, 11.1% in their fifties, and 10.7% 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’d put a stable administration (one thing that the DPJ in their current state most certainly cannot deliver) and correct use of tax revenues top of my list, in particular a stable administration that can actually enact massive cuts to the various quangos and jobs for the boys that suck away at the government finances.
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Heartfelt Nengajou (New Year postcards)

Let’s end the year on a postive note, a look with goo Ranking at what New Year postcards touched people’s hearts.

Demographics

Between the 18th and 20th of October 2011 1,092 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.3% of the sample were male, 11.2% in their teens, 16.2% in their twenties, 25.7% in their thirties, 25.8% in their forties, 11.5% in their fifties, and 9.5% 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.

Happy New Year to all my readers!
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