世論 What Japan Thinks

In this latest look, this time by Masrh Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com, into manga and internet cafes, using the internet just managed to outdo reading manga.

Demographics

Between the 9th and 13th of June 2010 300 members of the Marsh online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, 2.3% in their teens, 17.7% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 20.0% in their fifties, and 20.0% aged sixty or older.

Since last reporting on this I have actually been into an internet cafe! However, rather than the rather dodgy-looking ones in the centre of town, I actually used the Kansai Airport one. It was rather a pleasant experience, given the jet lag, and they have a nice range of speciality teas for you to choose from. It’s worth a visit if you’ve got time to burn, although since Kansai Airport has free wi-fi just about everywhere you don’t need to go there just for the connection, assuming you’ve got a suitable portable device.
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If you miss the last train home, a good tip I hear is to spend the night in an internet cafe. To see how popular that and other activities are at these places, MyVoice recently performed a survey on this very topic of internet cafes.

Demographics

Over the first five days of March 2008 14,691 members of the MyVoice internet community successfully completed a private online questionnaire. 54% were female, 2% in their teens, 15% in their twenties, 38% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 16% in their fifties.

Although I have never set foot in one, I have an image of internet cafes as dim and dingy places. I should really visit once just to confirm or dispel my prejudice, but as most will no doubt have a permanent fog of cigarette smoke I might not last more than a couple of minutes!

Last year one of the Words of the Year was Net Cafe Refugees, people working in casual cash-in-hand jobs by day, and dossing down in the cafe by night.
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I’ve never actually ventured into a manga or net cafe myself, as I do have an image of them being dark, slightly dodgy places that smell of stale tobacco and stale otaku. I’m probably completely and utterly wrong, so perhaps in the name of research I should poke my nose in once just to confirm or correct my mental picture! So, as reported by japan.internet.com, recently Cross Marketing Inc looked at internet cafes and manga kissas (comic cafes).

Demographics

Over the 26th and 27th of September 2007 300 people from Cross Marketing Inc’s monitor pool successfully completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sexes were split 50:50, and 20.0% of the respondents were in their teens, 20.0% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, and 20.0% in their fifties.

The most often used feature I hear about from fellow foreigners is sleeping! If you miss the last train, dossing down in a net cafe is a cheap option, it seems.
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