世論 What Japan Thinks

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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With the Tokyo Motor Show in full swing, it might be fun to have a look at this ranking survey from goo Ranking into what collaboration projects they’d like to see from car makers. The only demographic information available is that the data was collected between the 25th and 29th of September 2007.
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The four most frequent petty vehicular crimes I see in Japan are red light running, no adult seatbelts, not using child seats and, the focus of this article, the use of mobile phones. This was outlawed in Noverber 2004, and although the government reported a significant reduction in accidents caused by the use of mobile phones, there was some scepticism from me and others as to whether this was really due to safer driving and not just due to less reporting. So, japan.internet.com reported on the results of a survey conducted by Cross Marketing Inc into hands-free adapters.

Demographics

Over the 15th and 16th of August 2007 320 car-driving members of Cross Marketing Inc’s online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was split 50:50 male and female, and 25.0% in their twenties, 25/0% in their thirties, 25.0% in their forties, and 25.0% in their fifties.

You’ll have to buy the full report, I suspect, to find out the most interesting figures, such as when driving how frequently people make or receive calls or email on the mobile phones.
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Whith the Autumn national road safety campaign coming upon us soon, it is quite timely to look at this survey published by japan.internet.com and carried out by Cross Marketing Inc into mobile phones and hands-free equipment. They interviewed 320 car drivers who also own mobile phone from their internet monitor group, exactly 50:50 male and female as usual, and 25.0% in their twenties, 25.0% in their thirties, 25.0% in their forties, and 25.0% in their fifties. How often they actually drove cars is not noted, however.

When reading the answers in Q3, remember first that the respondents are being asked to admit if they break the law and second that the response, “Often” (my translation of やや守る, yaya mamoru) is open to interpretation; would people who refrain from calling or mailing out but answer incoming calls select “often” as their reply? My completely unscientific observations would suggest that there’s a lot more scofflaws than just the 7% this survey suggests.
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INFOPlant performed a survey at the end of last November to find out people’s views on buying domestic cars. 8,559 people, 38.8% male, filled in a questionnaire available through an iMode menu.

I don’t see myself buying a car of any origin in the forseeable future. Living right in front of the railway station and with all stores offering cheap home delivery for big stuff, it’s so much cheaper to just rent whenever I have a need for my own transport. Also, running costs, or more accurately, sitting in the parking area not running anywhere costs, are pretty steep in Japan, even if the vehicle itself is relatively cheap.
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