世論 What Japan Thinks

Here’s an interesting look with iShare at driving, looking in particular at poor driving habits.

Demographics

Between the 4th and 7th of January 2010 495 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.4% of the sample were male, 33.5% in their twenties, 31.9% in their thirties, and 34.5% in their forties.

In Q2SQ1 the issue of “paper drivers” is highlighted - paper drivers is a Japanese expression (it’s actually the English words that are used) that indicates people who are qualified on paper but never actually do much if any driving. I’m probably borderline paper myself as my driving is limited to renting a car just a handful of times every year.

In Q2SQ2, I wonder if we can assume that the 25% who drive to the speed limit are regular speeders? On empty motorways I might occasionally wander one or two kilometres per hour over the limit, but on busy urban highways and surface streets I do usually run just a little bit under the limit and I certainly do always maintain my distance from the car in front.
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Here’s an interesting look with Marsh Inc, reported on by japan.internet.com, into hands-free mobile phone equipment.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 9th of October 2009 300 members of the Marsh monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.0% of the sample were female, 2.7% in their teens, 17.3% 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.

Considering that Bluetooth is not standard on even high-end phones, and given that talking isn’t really that popular in Japan anyway, one rarely sees the earpiece kit on pedestrians (certainly not in the Osaka area, although it might be a bit more popular in Tokyo) so I suspect the devices are just as rare in cars.

The article also notes that the fine for using a mobile phone while driving is 5,000 yen for a bicycle, 6,000 yen for a car or motorbike, and 7,000 yen for a large vehicle. This goes up to 50,000 yen if you cause an accident, etc. The basic fine seems a bit low considering I got done for 15,000 yen for parking for under 10 minutes in a back-street just last month.
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The government of Japan may have changed, but the Cabinet Office Japan surveys are carrying on - it’ll be interesting to see if I can detect a change in tone in the questions. This survey was entitled a built environment for pedestrians, but also covered most other local transport means.

Demographics

Between the 16th of July and the 2nd of August 2009 5,000 members of the public were selected at random to complete the survey; 3,157 people, or 63.1%, agreed to cooperate. 54.4% of this sample were female, 7.8% in their twenties, 14.3% in their thirties, 17.1% in their forties, 19.8% in their fifties, 23.4% in their sixties, and 17.6% aged seventy or older. Additionally, 46.1% were employed, 11.6% were self-employed, 3.0% were home workers, and 39.3% were unemployed, including students and housewives, who made up 60.9% of that 39.3%. Finally, 47.8% drove some form of motorised transport almost every day, 15.7% several times a week, 7.3% several times a month, 8.3% had a licence but didn’t drive, and 20.9% did not have a licence.

For me, to walk or cycle to the shops involves traversing an exceptionally steep hill and a bit of pavement-free road, whereas instead my train season ticket allows me to hop on a train and ride one stop down the line to get right into my suburban town centre.
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The government of Japan may have changed, but the Cabinet Office Japan surveys are carrying on - it’ll be interesting to see if I can detect a change in tone in the questions. This survey was entitled a built environment for pedestrians, but also covered most other local transport means.

Demographics

Between the 16th of July and the 2nd of August 2009 5,000 members of the public were selected at random to complete the survey; 3,157 people, or 63.1%, agreed to cooperate. 54.4% of this sample were female, 7.8% in their twenties, 14.3% in their thirties, 17.1% in their forties, 19.8% in their fifties, 23.4% in their sixties, and 17.6% aged seventy or older. Additionally, 46.1% were employed, 11.6% were self-employed, 3.0% were home workers, and 39.3% were unemployed, including students and housewives, who made up 60.9% of that 39.3%. Finally, 47.8% drove some form of motorised transport almost every day, 15.7% several times a week, 7.3% several times a month, 8.3% had a licence but didn’t drive, and 20.9% did not have a licence.

I have a licence but rent a car about once every two months or so, so I don’t really know where I would fall in the demographic question above. I also managed to get a fixed penalty parking fine (15,000 yen!) last weekend, but that’s another story.

My commute is train only - my home is one minute from the station, work is two minutes away at the other end, so I cannot see any point in having a car.
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Despite a law being passed to forbid the use of mobiles while driving cars or riding bicycles, even the casual observer will see that the law is not being adhered to. To try to quantify how much, Point On Research conducted a survey reported on by japan.internet.com into mobile phone use while on the move.

Demographics

On the 16th of June 2009 800 members of the Point On monitor group who were heavy users of mobile phones completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, 25.0% in their teens, 25.0% in their twenties, 25.0% in their thirties, and 25.0% in their forties.

From my casual observations as a pedestrian, I am not terribly surprised at these numbers, although I am surprised by the amount of people admitting that they are doing it.

One could argue in Q1SQ2 that perhaps many of the phone talkers are using hands-free equipment, I suppose, but sadly it doesn’t distinguish between the two options.
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One of the Japanese government’s economic stimulus plans is to decrease the tolls on all roads to just 1,000 yen maximum per day on weekends and public holidays starting on the 28th or March, and from the 12th March 2009 they also introduced a subsidy of 5,250 yen for cars and 15,750 yen for motorcyclists who fitted ETC devices, Electronic Toll Collection devices, as the system only applies to ETC card holders. To see what people thought of this, DIMSDRIVE Research loooked at ETC purchase support system and toll road usage discounts.

Demographics

Between the 4th and 16th of April 2009 5,547 driving license-holding, and with a family car, members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 52.9% of the sample were male, 0.2% aged 18 or 19, 11.8% in their twenties, 36.9% in their thirties, 29.9% in their forties, 14.9% in their fifties, and 6.3% aged sixty or older. 69.2% were the main users of a car, and the other 30.8% had access to the family vehicle.

Note that even without the discount system or for weekday usage, fitting an ETC makes sense as fees are slightly lower as you get charged for the exact distance you travel, not a rounded-up fee; on the Osaka to Kobe expressway, for instance, it is normally a flat fare of 700 yen, but with ETC if you only travel part-way you get a refund as you exit.

In Q9, it seems odd that even those without ETC will increase their usage.

One issue that gets swept under the carpet is the increase in CO2 and other pollutants caused by heavier vehicle usage, and also there may be heavier traffic, causing jams and higher fuel consumption from idling. Here’s an interesting set of figures found on Google about how small towns create disproportionate amounts of CO2.
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Given the quality of public transport and the concentration of the population in urban areas, I was surprised by the results of this survey by MyVoice into car life, where almost four in five rated it necessary to some lesser or more degree.

Demographics

Over the first five days of March 2009 15,391 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 2% in their teens, 14% in their twenties, 37% in their thirties, 28% in their forties, and 19% aged fifty or older.

For me, owning a car is not needed in the slightest. I do rent a car twice or thrice a year when we need to visit various cemetaries, but outside these times I can manage shopping either just carrying stuff or getting home delivery; our speciality is going to a nearby Conan home centre and buying two or three trolleys full of kitchen and bathroom items, which we can get delivered to our door for just 800 yen. Add in the train tickets at 1,020 yen and it’s still under 2,000 yen once every six weeks or so, far cheaper than a car could ever be.
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I wonder how the fear of impending collapse in a number of the car manufacturers will affect their investments into research and development into alternative power sources. However, this survey from MyVoice into electric cars was conducted before the bottom fell out of the manufacturing business, so such worries are not reflected in the results.

Demographics

Over the first five days of November 2008 15,382 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 2% in their teens, 14% in their twenties, 36% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 19% aged fifty or older.

Although I’m not convinced yet of the overall relative environmental impact of electric vehicles, they go some way to at least displacing pollution. Hybrids like the Toyota Prius are a nice ride once you get used to the gearbox, though, but I can’t see me giving up the train in the forseeable future.
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I was prompted to translate this survey by Mari’s recent mention of such cars. Ita-sha, literally painful cars (to look at, or from the point of view of the car?), painted up with anime characters of the so-called moe kind, which usually means infeasibly large-breasted schoolgirls. This recent survey published by iShare on the topic of car customisation found almost one in three willing, to use the vernacular, to rice up their cars.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 27th of October 2008 424 members of the free email forwarding service CLUB BBQ completed a private online questionnaire. 53.8% of the sample were male, 15.3% in their twenties, 49.3% in their thirties, 26.7% in their forties, and 8.7% in their teens or fifty or older. The sample is a bit small to draw conclusions from, but the topic is quite fun so it would be a shame not to translate this one.

I’ve never seen a manga-adorned car myself, although there is no shortage of be-spoilered and be-skirted mini-vans farting around town with their after-market exhausts which certainly qualify as ita-sha in terms of my own eyes and ears.
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With other surveys showing that car manufacturers are among the most green companies, let’s look at one effort they make to show their green credentials, hybrid cars, in a survey conducted by MyVoice.

Demographics

Over the first five days of August 2008 14,782 members of the MyVoice internet community successfully completed an internet-based private questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 1% were in their teens, 15% in their twenties, 37% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 18% in their fifties.

The Prius is a lovely car which I always try to rent when I need a car in Japan. I always use Toyota Rent-A-Car. If you pay using a (Japanese only?) credit card you get a 5% discount. The cars are fully-equipped with a CD player, good satellite navigation system (Japanese only!) and ETC automatic toll payment machine, if you have a card for that. I’m picking up one the weekend after next, and it works out at about 8,000 yen per day.

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