世論 What Japan Thinks

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

Ahh, this is a survey that is sure to be misconstrued and misquoted in the coming weeks and months. Already I’ve seen a poor summary from Kyodo News on Japan Today, and I’m waiting for the usual suspect to throw in his tuppence-worth on it. I’m talking about a recent survey sponsored by the Cabinet Office Japan on the subject of protecting human rights.

Demographics

Between the 21st of June and the 1st of July 2007 3,000 people aged 20 or older were randomly selected from the voter rolls. 1,766 people, or 58.9%, were available and chose to take part in the survey conducted by means of face-to-face interviews. 53.3% were female, 8.1% in their twenties, 16.8% in their thirties, 16.3% in their forties, 20.8% in their fifties, 19.8% in their sixties, and 18.1% aged seventy or older.

In Q15, Hansen’s disease is leprosy.

Q17 is quite timely, with another story just coming to light about three guys who met through the internet with the purpose of doing someone in at random, it seems.

Oh, and the photograph is of ex-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and a couple of human rights mascots, both called Ken. Don’t ask.
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[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

Ahh, this is a survey that is sure to be misconstrued and misquoted in the coming weeks and months. Already I’ve seen a poor summary from Kyodo News on Japan Today, and I’m waiting for the usual suspect to throw in his tuppence-worth on it. I’m talking about a recent survey sponsored by the Cabinet Office Japan on the subject of protecting human rights.

Demographics

Between the 21st of June and the 1st of July 2007 3,000 people aged 20 or older were randomly selected from the voter rolls. 1,766 people, or 58.9%, were available and chose to take part in the survey conducted by means of face-to-face interviews. 53.3% were female, 8.1% in their twenties, 16.8% in their thirties, 16.3% in their forties, 20.8% in their fifties, 19.8% in their sixties, and 18.1% aged seventy or older.

The Dowa issue in Q10 is the problem of treatment from the old Buraku-min caste as there is still some discrimination against them today.

Q13 is a difficult one to decipher. On a superficial level, just 3.2% believe foreigner discrimination is inevitable, which is good, but conversely only about three in ten tag unfair treatment as discrimination. Of course, what sort of unfair treatment the respondent is thinking about is not described, nor is even what sort of foreigner they are basing their answer on.
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[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

Ahh, this is a survey that is sure to be misconstrued and misquoted in the coming weeks and months. Already I’ve seen a poor summary from Kyodo News on Japan Today, and I’m waiting for the usual suspect to throw in his tuppence-worth on it. I’m talking about a recent survey sponsored by the Cabinet Office Japan on the subject of protecting human rights.

Demographics

Between the 21st of June and the 1st of July 2007 3,000 people aged 20 or older were randomly selected from the voter rolls. 1,766 people, or 58.9%, were available and chose to take part in the survey conducted by means of face-to-face interviews. 53.3% were female, 8.1% in their twenties, 16.8% in their thirties, 16.3% in their forties, 20.8% in their fifties, 19.8% in their sixties, and 18.1% aged seventy or older.

The key question is, of course, what do Japanese consider human rights? This question is not directly asked, but Q1 sets the scene by mentioning the eternal and inviolate rights from the Constitution of Japan. This document includes basic rights such as the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. However, it also includes the right to choose and dismiss public officials and universal adult suffrage (Article 15), a right denied to foreigners, and the freedom to choose one’s occupation (Article 22), another right denied to many visa holders. Therefore, it can clearly be seen that the rights available to all citizens are not all available to resident aliens (and I personally believe that Article 15 and perhaps 22 are acceptable), therefore Q12 is not as bad as it sounds.
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[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

Last year two of the big stories in Japan were children killing themselves due to bullying, and group suicides with people meeting over the internet in suicide clubs. Regardless of how tragic each incident is, these types of suicides make up just a few percentage points of the overall figures, with physical ill-health in older people being the main trigger for suicides. To find out what the average Japanese thinks, the Cabinet Office of Japan sponsored an opinion poll on the topic of building a healthy heart (suicide prevention methods).

Demographics

3,000 adults were selected randomly from the Japanese voter lists and face-to-face interviews were conducted. Of the original sample, 1,728 answered the questionnaire, a response rate of 57.6%. 54.7% of the sample was female, 8.1% in their twenties, 15.4% in their thirties, 15.9% in their forties, 22.0% in their fifties, 21.1% in their sixties, and 17.6% aged seventy or older.

Note that the buzzword for the suicide prevention methods is こころの健康づくり, kokoro no kenkou-zukuri, literally translated as building a healthy heart.

Perhaps I’m lucky, but my employer carries out all the activities in Q10. Whether or not anyone acts on the information provided is another matter altogether, of course!
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[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

Last year two of the big stories in Japan were children killing themselves due to bullying, and group suicides with people meeting over the internet in suicide clubs. Regardless of how tragic each incident is, these types of suicides make up just a few percentage points of the overall figures, with physical ill-health in older people being the main trigger for suicides. To find out what the average Japanese thinks, the Cabinet Office of Japan sponsored an opinion poll on the topic of building a healthy heart (suicide prevention methods).

Demographics

3,000 adults were selected randomly from the Japanese voter lists and face-to-face interviews were conducted. Of the original sample, 1,728 answered the questionnaire, a response rate of 57.6%. 54.7% of the sample was female, 8.1% in their twenties, 15.4% in their thirties, 15.9% in their forties, 22.0% in their fifties, 21.1% in their sixties, and 17.6% aged seventy or older.

Note that the buzzword for the suicide prevention methods is こころの健康づくり, kokoro no kenkou-zukuri, literally translated as building a healthy heart.

Although Q5 indicates the majority of people would seek professional help for depression, I suspect there is quite a gap between what people say here and what they actually would do.
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[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

Last year two of the big stories in Japan were children killing themselves due to bullying, and group suicides with people meeting over the internet in suicide clubs. Regardless of how tragic each incident is, these types of suicides make up just a few percentage points of the overall figures, with physical ill-health in older people being the main trigger for suicides. To find out what the average Japanese thinks, the Cabinet Office of Japan sponsored an opinion poll on the topic of building a healthy heart (suicide prevention methods).

Demographics

3,000 adults were selected randomly from the Japanese voter lists and face-to-face interviews were conducted. Of the original sample, 1,728 answered the questionnaire, a response rate of 57.6%. 54.7% of the sample was female, 8.1% in their twenties, 15.4% in their thirties, 15.9% in their forties, 22.0% in their fifties, 21.1% in their sixties, and 17.6% aged seventy or older.

Note that the buzzword for the suicide prevention methods is こころの健康づくり, kokoro no kenkou-zukuri, literally translated as building a healthy heart.

I feel Q3 is flawed. The statements do not have simple yes/no answers, so perhaps either degrees of agreement or opinions on the frequency of such occurances would have been more illuminating.
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[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

Between the 18th of January and the 4th of February the Cabinet Office Japan conducted a survey into what people thought about society.

Demographics

10,000 people were selected randomly from all Japanese citizens aged 20 or older for face-to-face interviews. 5,585 people were available and agreed to take part. 54.5% of the sample was female, 7.9% in their twenties, 14.8% in their thirties, 15.2% in their forties, 21.0% in their fifties, 20.8% in their sixties, 15.4% in their seventies, and 4.8% aged 80 or older. 74.6% were married, 11.8% were divorced or widowed, and 13.5% never married.

Another knee-jerk from many in the foreign community was when Japan’s Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa talked about it being only natural that couples want at least two children. Some bloggers did go against the trend, I’m glad to say, and this survey shows that the majority of married people want, in fact, three children, and even the younger generation much prefer two to one or zero.

At least the topic of children brings out the brighter side of the Japanese. Education costs are a major concern, as even most public schools require the parents to pay for the basics like text books..
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[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

Between the 18th of January and the 4th of February the Cabinet Office Japan conducted a survey into what people thought about society.

Demographics

10,000 people were selected randomly from all Japanese citizens aged 20 or older for face-to-face interviews. 5,585 people were available and agreed to take part. 54.5% of the sample was female, 7.9% in their twenties, 14.8% in their thirties, 15.2% in their forties, 21.0% in their fifties, 20.8% in their sixties, 15.4% in their seventies, and 4.8% aged 80 or older. 74.6% were married, 11.8% were divorced or widowed, and 13.5% never married.

People do not seem very enamoured by the government in Q7! As in part 1, in Q11 and Q12 there seems to be significantly more pessimists than optimists. Interestingly, however, is that in Q8 “cohesiveness of the people”, perhaps another way of phrasing “homogeneous”, comes very low in the list of praiseworthy aspects of Japan, despite what Bummei Ibuki might think. Personally speaking, I have to agree with him on this if you look at the data from a statistical viewpoint.
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[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

Between the 18th of January and the 4th of February the Cabinet Office Japan conducted a survey into what people thought about society.

Demographics

10,000 people were selected randomly from all Japanese citizens aged 20 or older for face-to-face interviews. 5,585 people were available and agreed to take part. 54.5% of the sample was female, 7.9% in their twenties, 14.8% in their thirties, 15.2% in their forties, 21.0% in their fifties, 20.8% in their sixties, 15.4% in their seventies, and 4.8% aged 80 or older. 74.6% were married, 11.8% were divorced or widowed, and 13.5% never married.

This first part is rather depressing, as can be seen in Q4 and Q5 where people see the darker side of society much more clearly, although this can be offset by the personal society-oriented opinions expressed in the earlier questions. I’m not sure exactly what Q6A and Q6B are saying. Successful people, on the whole, get there due to effort, but perhaps “successful” here refers to people who inherit rather than work for their wealth, such as many politicians or ex-politicians who land cushy jobs on retirement due to the practise of amakudari.
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The Cabinet Office Japan recently released a survey into people’s thoughts about public safety in Japan. 3,000 people aged 20 or older were chosen by random, and between the 14th and 24th of December 1,795 of them, or 59.8%, took part in face-to-face interviews. Of those who did not participate, 124 had moved, 79 were on long-term absenses from home, 365 were not at home, 58 could not be found, 514 refused to participate, and 65 did not take part for other reasons. Demographically, 54.1% were female, 8.9% between 20 and 29, 15.0% between 30 and 39, 16.9% between 40 and 49, 21.9% between 50 and 59, 20.7% between 60 and 69, and 16.7% aged 70 or older.

The “gaijin hanzai” comment is related to the uproar regarding of widespread availability of a magazine playing on precisely the fears expressed in this survey.

I was surprised by the results in Q11 – my sterotypical image of the Japanese is that on the whole they would tend to help the police to the best of their efforts, but we see that they have reservations, especially if the crime is a relatively minor one that doesn’t involve family or friends.
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