世論 What Japan Thinks

As the second part of the survey published on Saturday into English study, this is a recent poll conducted by goo Research in conjuction with the Yomiuri Shimbun as part of their 13th Topi-Q Net survey into the matter of objectives for 2008.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 25th of December 2007 549 young members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sex ratio was reported as 1:1 male to female, but there obviously was one odd person left over. The ages of the respondents ranged between teens to thirties, although the exact split is not reported. 40% of the sample were students in either secondary or tertiary education, 28% were full-time employees, and 12% homemakers, with the other 20% presumably made up of part-timers, NEETs, etc.

It’s a bit depressing, I suppose, than in Q1SQ1 only one in ten is going to make 2008 the year of love, with far more people likely to have their nose stuck in a book rather than anywhere else. At least, however, there was a decent degree of positive reflection on the year past, with almost half rating the past year at 70 out of 100 or more.
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Read more on: 2008,goo research,yomiuri shimbun

The winners of the 2008 New Year Postcard lottery for the Year of the Rat have been announced, and the winning numbers and prizes are as follows. The number to check is the six digit number at the bottom right of the card. Note that some cards do not actually have numbers…

First prize: 574578

Choose any one from a 37 inch Sharp AQUOS LCD television, a Sharp water oven, a MacBook plus iPod classic, or a foreign holiday from HIS.

Second prize: 957358, 769466, or 397940

Choose any one from an iPod nano, a Nintendo Wii, a Canon IXY DIGITAL 10 camera, a Sanyo air filter, or a Le Creuset cast iron pan.

Third prize: last four digits 9660

Choose any one from a pasta sauce set, filter coffee, Marrons Glaces (Crystallized Chestnuts), some Asakusa boiled beef, a Queen Alice beef stew set, Dalloyau French sweets, some Imperial Hotel canned soup, Yoku Moku sweets, Nadaman restaurant gift set, or Orbis Collagen beauty drink.

Fourth prize: last two digits 37 or 64

Otoshidama stamp set – a fifty yen and an eighty yen stamp, pictured above.

C Gumi Special prize: 812751 or 561101

Choose any one from cardboard furniture set, commuter bicycle set, or a garden decoration set. The “C Gumi” is apparently something to do with carbon offest New Year Postcards.

New Year Greeting Original Prize: 935473, 588104, 520056 or 700871

New Year Greeting Original Ninetendo DS Lite.

If you have matched any of these, go to your nearest post office before the 28th of July 2008 and either collect the stamps while you wait, or apply for any of the bigger prizes. The full prize line-up can be seen here. I haven’t checked my cards yet, but how did you get on?

Read more on: 2008,lottery,new year

Here’s a quicky on New Year resolutions, in particular on what qualifications Japanese would like to try to get in 2008. This survey was presented by goo Ranking.

Demographics

Over the 21st and 22nd of November 2007 1,101 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.7% of the sample was female, 6.2% in their teens, 15.4% in their twenties, 30.2% in their thirties, 27.1% in their forties, 11.0% in their fifties, and 10.3% aged sixty or older. Note that the score reported is the relative number of votes each choice got, not the percentage of the sample that chose each option.

I too want to do the second choice, the Kanji Kentei! It’s surprisingly fun to study, and a good excuse to buy a Nintendo DS to help with your study. Sadly, none of the tests that I featured in an earlier article made the cut! Also note that the word kentei, 検定, is the Japanese for examination, but it also has implications of being an exam with various grades. Regarding getting English qualifications, Let’s Japan had an interesting article on the chain school market.
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Read more on: 2008,education,goo ranking