世論 What Japan Thinks

iShare recently did one of their trademark curious surveys, this time looking at issues surrounding funerals.

Demographics

Between the 18th and 21st of May 2010 432 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.6% of the sample were male, 32.9% in their twenties, 32.4% in their thirties, and 34.7% in their forties.

Funerals in Japan are a horrendous rip-off, on the whole, especially as many feel they have to call in priests to officiate, who often charge in the millions of yen for their services. I’ve seen people defend this practice by saying that as people are expected to bring a cash gift for the family they can cover expenses; this may be true, but then again one has to give presents back to everyone who gifts, and of course there is ongoing expenses of grave maintenance and annual services for the deceased, which again can run into hundreds of thousands.

And I really ought to link to my brother’s post from three years ago.
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I haven’t looked at Bluetooth for a while, but still, according to this survey from Marsh Inc, reported on by japan.internet.com, into Bluetooth, awareness is quite low; despite Japanese mobiles being advanced in many other features, Bluetooth is still a rarity.

Demographics

Between the 26th and 31st of May 2010 300 members of the Marsh monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, 2.0% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% aged sixty or older.

My netbook comes with a Bluetooth LED and had a Bluetooth driver installed, but it doesn’t actually have any Bluetooth hardware…
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I don’t know if it’s just the sort of people I work with, but many people in the office seem to have half their Windows desktop strewn with icons. However, this recent survey from iShare into organising desktop icons found that such behaviour was the exception rather than the rule.

Demographics

Between the 30th of April and the 10th of May 2010 537 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.3% of the sample were male, 31.3% in their twenties, 32.2% in their thirties, and 36.5% in their forties.

I try to keep my icons down to under two columns on the left and just one or two on the right.

Another interesting related subject I should look out for is the use of tray icons – again, most of my colleagues have well over 15 on their machine, including default informational icons like the two touchpad-related ones our standard notebook computers come shipped with. I turn off all the ones I can as they are just a distraction, on the whole.
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To make up for my short off-line period, here’s an excellent survey from goo Ranking, looking at what over the top urban legends people would want to learn more about.

Demographics

Between the 23rd and 26th of April 2010 1,187 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-base questionnaire. 61.4% of the sample were female, 10.1% in their teens, 17.4% in their twenties, 30.9% in their thirties, 24.9% in their forties, 10.1% in their fifties, and 6.5% 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.

Number 4 is one I’d like to hear about, as I cannot really imagine what might be hidden by the marathon! For number 6, I think I’ve heard somewhere about Paul McCartney having a Japanese nanny. If any of my readers have heard more about the rumours, or if you want me to investigate more myself, please drop me a line!
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I hope… Normal service will be resumed from tomorrow!

Please let me know if you notice anything broken.

With the deadline for the digital terrestrial switchover getting ever closer – only 13 months until the 24th of July 2011 – rates of adoption are creeping up, according to this recent survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com into terrestrial digital television, the 14th time this regular survey has been conducted.

Demographics

Between the 10th and 12th of May 2010 1,084 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the sample were male, 16.3% in their teens, 17.7% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 16.2% in their forties, 15.9% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

Coupled with the Eco Point system for rebates for buying digital televisions due to end in December of this year (it works out at about 20% off a Japanese brand 32″), surely the next couple of surveys will see the figure surpass 80%. I know I’m tempted to buy with my summer bonus.

As a cross-reference, I saw the government recently claiming that 83.8% of households were digital-ready, a figure that differs greatly from the numbers here. If you notice the wording, though, it implies that these households have at least one digital reception device, which would include One Seg mobile phones, but I hardly see them taking pride of place in one’s living room!

In Q2, I cannot really think why three people were satisfied with the copy protection on digital broadcasts. Perhaps the respondents has either worked on the specifications or were in the business of selling hacking software.
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Last year I barely saw any surveys regarding music consumption, but this year there seems to have been a decent number of them, with the latest offering being from goo Research via japan.internet.com looking at how people obtain music.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 14th of May 2010 1,088 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.8% of the sample were male, 17.7% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 21.3% in their thirties, 15.6% in their forties, 15.3% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

The question Q1SQ1 is a bit difficult to interpret, especially the first answer that talks about using a specialised tool – I don’t think many of the commercial services offer free downloads in any significant quantity, so I wonder if the figure includes people unwittingly using P2P software?
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There’s enough people in the office who brush their teeth at lunchtime to block access to the sinks, so I was interested in this recent survey from iShare into brushing teeth in the office to see how widespread such habits were.

Demographics

Between the 10th and 13th of May 2010 498 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.2% of the sample were male, 31.5% in their twenties, 33.1% in their thirties, and 35.3% in their forties.

Some of the top reasons for brushing at work were to protect against decay or bad breath, and people not liking the feeling if they don’t brush. For the non-brushers at work, they said they didn’t have time, it was too much bother, they don’t have a toothbrush at work, there’s nowhere to brush, and they didn’t like brushing in the toilet.

I don’t bother brushing at work for probably most of the reasons listed above; at home I rarely brush, but instead I usually chew gum.
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This week’s silliness from goo Ranking is a look at what features of people of the opposite sex, even if you attended a dating party with them, would rule them out as a potential partner, for both men looking at women and women looking at men. I presume what the ranking is getting as is people who will never get past the “friend” stage to the “partner” level.

Demographics

Between the 23rd and 26th of April 2010 1,187 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-base questionnaire. 61.4% of the sample were female, 10.1% in their teens, 17.4% in their twenties, 30.9% in their thirties, 24.9% in their forties, 10.1% in their fifties, and 6.5% 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.

A dating party is my translation of the Japanese term gokon, a place where usually three to five guys and an equal number of girls go out together and see what happens. The respective male and female organisers are usually known to each other, but for the rest it’s usually a first meeting. The organisers usually bring along work colleagues to the event.
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With Father’s Day on the horizon, iShare took a very detailed look at fathers at home.

Demographics

Over the 6th and 7th of May 2010 450 male members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All were married with children, and with a salary of 3 million yen or more. 80.0% were in their forties, and 20.0% were in their fifties. Note that this is the first survey I can remember from iShare that included anyone in their fifties.

I can’t choose my own programs, but then again there’s not really any alternatives that I have a pressing need to watch rather than whatever mindless entertainment is on the box.

I can’t relate to the Q9SQ questions as my wife doesn’t let me near the remote control for the recorder, and anyway I can usually catch up via YouTube or Japan Probe!
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