世論 What Japan Thinks

Here’s an interesting look by DIMSDRIVE Research at one particular Japanese word, 面倒くさい, mendokusai, bothersome. The word can be literally translated as “the smell of trouble”, and I always internally translated it as “a pain in the bum”, thus the title of today’s post.

Demographics

Between the 28th of April and the 12th of May 2010 13,802 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group managed to make enough effort to fill in a private online questionnaire. 52.4% of the sample were male, 0.6% in their teens, 8.5% in their twenties, 28.1% in their thirties, 32.8% in their forties, 18.9% in their fifties, and 11.0% aged sixty or older.

Here’s one Japanese-English dictionary with a number of example sentences.

I often mutter mendokusai under my breath at work, usually at procedures at work that are far more complicated than they need be. I did spend five minutes typing out a description of one of the work procedures, but then realised that there’s another even bigger pain in the bum, but as it’s too mendokusai for me to type it out, tough!

I’ll stick with mendokusai throughout this article, because as you can see from Q2SQ1, there are many nuances.
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This survey from iShare about the most helpful electrical device from 2010 also discovered that despite televisions being the biggest sellers this year and the eco points system being phased out, televisions were still the most popular buy.

Demographics

Between the 8th and 11th of November 2010 636 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.4% of the sample were male, 23.6% in their twenties, 30.2% in their thirties, and 46.2% in their forties.

When asked why they chose their answers for Q2, computers were cited as being usable for both work and play, and just being something people cannot lead their lives without. Mobile phones were indispensible and a part of life, television was something watched every day and as they’d bought a TV with a built-in hard disk their viewing frequency had increased. For white goods, the one answer chosen was for air conditioning, for all the hard work it put in over the summer.
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I haven’t seen any statistics on browser use in Japan for a while, so I was glad to get this data from goo Research via japan.internet.com on browsers.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 17th of November 2010 1,091 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.7% of the sample were male, 16.6% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 21.1% in their thirties, 16.3% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, and 12.4% aged sixty or older.

Looking at worldwide statistics on browser usage Internet Explorer is on 52%, Firefox on 26% and Chrome on 11%, but these figures are based on actual page views, so it’s difficult to make a direct comparison. I was also suprised to see that only 13% here have a recommended browser at work or school, although some people might have locked-down PCs so they cannot actually make a change themselves.

You’ll note that this survey was collected on the web, yet 6.4% of the sample (70 people) said they knew what a browser was but didn’t use one… Just as well that they were eliminated from the follow-up question!
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One of the top tourist spots in Tokyo is Tokyo Tower, and a new tourist attraction under construction is the Tokyo Sky Tree, so this survey took a look at what people think of Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Sky Tree.

Demographics

Between the 27th of May and the 10th of June 2010 8,199 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was 50.0% male, 0.8% were in their teens, 11.1% in their twenties, 31.5% in their thirties, 31.8% in their forties, 16.9% in their fifties, and 7.9% aged sixty or older.

Tokyo Sky Tree is a dreadful name (yes, they use the English words) but it’s an amazing tower. When complete it will be 634 metres high to the tip of its antenna, the tallest tower in the world. The height is easy to remember as it’s a mnemonic (why is that word so hard to remember how to spell?) for Musashi, the old name for the area in which it was built. Enough talk, here’s a picture of it from TANAKA Juuyoh on flickr.

A recent survey from iShare took a look at strong and cool Japanese women, a follow-on from looks at guys earning more than 10 million yen and guys with more than 10 million in the bank. They’ll be a look at strong and cool men later this week.

Demographics

Over the 18th and 19th of October 2010 2,122 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service in full-time employment and with a driving license completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 84.9% of the sample were male, 4.1% were in their twenties, 49.2% in their thirties, and 46.7% in their forties.

I find it interesting to note that in Q16, the top two strong and cool women both used to be men in Takarazuka Theatre, as was the woman in sixth place.

Oh, and don’t ask me to explain the fashion styles in Q17 any further as I haven’t a clue what they are.
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A recent survey from iShare took a look at strong and cool Japanese women, a follow-on from looks at guys earning more than 10 million yen and guys with more than 10 million in the bank. They’ll be a look at strong and cool men later this week.

Demographics

Over the 18th and 19th of October 2010 2,122 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service in full-time employment and with a driving license completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 84.9% of the sample were male, 4.1% were in their twenties, 49.2% in their thirties, and 46.7% in their forties.

I’m going to be a bit busy tomorrow, so I’ll stretch this one out over two days. I’m not really sure I can picture a strong and cool Japanese woman right now… except maybe my wife – see part two for why!
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Another fun survey from goo Ranking looked at what kind of otaku girlfriend it would be fun to have.

Demographics

Over the 21st and 22nd of October 2010 1,075 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 66.3% of the sample were female, 9.9% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 30.9% in their thirties, 24.7% in their forties, 8.8% in their fifties, and 7.5% 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. This question is for the males only.

Looking at the answers, I’m surprised that cosplay came in as low as position 10. Perhaps the problem is that we hope for this:

But get this:

Or even this:

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This recent survey from goo Ranking looked at choices for destinations for overseas honeymoons. The question was suitably worded to be inclusive of not just the about to marry people, but also the already married and single people.

Demographics

Over the 21st and 22nd of September 2010 1,072 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 68.2% of the sample were female, 10.4% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 29.8% in their thirties, 26.2% in their forties, 8.7% in their fifties, and 7.0% 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.

Thailand probably comes dead last due to the recent civil unrest being fresh in people’s minds, I suspect. I was surprised to see that South Korea did not feature in the list, although I suppose it doesn’t have a resort image. If I was going on honeymoon again, I’d probably choose New Zealand, especially if starting from Japan.
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A recent survey from goo Ranking looked at no matter how much you might love your partner, where would you draw the line on matching items.

Demographics

Over the 21st and 22nd of October 2010 1,075 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 66.3% of the sample were female, 9.9% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 30.9% in their thirties, 24.7% in their forties, 8.8% in their fifties, and 7.5% 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.

I fortunately have none in the top 10, although about half of the ones in the bottom 10. Paired glasses would be downright creepy for me – here’s a glasses pair look from Japan (the only pair look of any kind I could find on flickr!) from Coal Miki.

With Skype already available on many smartphone, and indeed with Japan’s second-largest carrier, au, now preloading it onto many phones, this survey from goo Research looks at awareness of Skype and other associated issues.

Demographics

Between the 12th and 17th of November 2010 1,070 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.9% of the sample were male, 16.2% in their teens, 18.3% in their twenties, 21.8% in their thirties, 16.1% in their forties, 15.4% in their fifties, and 12.2% aged sixty or older.

In Q2, I’m not sure if people were fully aware that Skype to Skype may be free (excluding packet charges), but Skype to non-Skype mobile phones requires payment. Furthermore, in Japan public wireless is rather thin on the ground, so even if the majority of mobile phones in Japan have it installed, calls are still going to have to be paid for more often than not.
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