世論 What Japan Thinks

With Japan’s Asian neighbours of Taiwan, China and South Korea making inroads into areas of Japan’s market that Japanese companies used to dominate, this survey from goo Research, performed in conjuction with the Nikkei Shimbun (Japan’s Financial Times), into Chinese, South Korean and Taiwanese makers’ digital devices and home electronics provides some insights into the strengths and weaknesses of these companies.

Demographics

Between the 9th and 13th of March 2012 577 members of the goo Research online monitor group aged over 20 years old and in full-time employment completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 24.8% in their twenties, 25.0% in their thirties, 25.0% in their forties, and 25.3% aged fifty or older.

Before reading this survey, I would have said that computers (Taiwanese), smartphones (Samsung and LG) and televisions (Samsung and LG again) would have been the biggest markets, so I was surprised to see fridges and washing machines ahead of smartphones. Of course, many Japanese-branded fridges and washing machines, etc, are assembled in China!

I’m typing this on an MSI (Taiwan), my main desktop is from Acer (Taiwan), and I also have a room fan from an obscure Chinese firm. Pretty much everything else is Japanese, except for my Braun razor.
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A recent survey from the Nippon Research Center looked at tourism to Japan. It was part of an omnibus survey, with another six topics covered, but none of the others directly related to Japan.

Demographics

The exact date of the survey was not reported, but 5,000 people were interviewed by both face-to-face and internet-based questionnaires. There were exactly 50:50 male and female, 28.0% between 15 and 29, 28.0% in their thirties, 28.0% in their forties, and 16.0% in their fifties. There were 370 people selected from each of the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Shenyang, and 210 people from each of 15 other cities.

I’m surprised by Mount Fuji being so high in the list, but perhaps it is the only place most people can recall, just as everyone would say “The Great Wall” about China. It’s also a surprise to see both Osaka and Nagoya outdoing Tokyo, although if you add up all the areas of Tokyo…
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Looking around the web, about a year ago there was an earlier version of the Buddha Phone released, but now it’s been powered up to be a portable shrine ready to accept your prayers 24 hours a day. At first sight the phone is rather unspectacular:

You might notice the lotus symbol at the top right of the keyboard, the first hint that things may not quite be what they seem.
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Today’s survey is from not just Japan, but also from China, in a wide-ranging survey from Gallup International conducted into the matters of tourism, food safety, the environment, and the relationship between the two countries.

Demographics

For Japan, between the 5th and 17th of November 2008 1,200 people aged between 15 and 79 were chosen from all over the country at random from residents information and answered the survey either face-to-face or were left with the questionnaire. For China, between the 13th and 19th of November 2008 1,266 people between the ages of 18 and 59 from the 15 largest cities in China completed an internet-based questionnaire.

In the environmental questions in Q5, perhaps surprisingly China is more concerned than Japan about them, but when one looks at their particular worries, Chinese citizens are worried about the immediate threat from airborne and water pollution, this result being reflected in their distrust of their own food products.

I would like to visit the Great Wall of China and see the Terracotta warriors in their home settings, but I worry about being able to find veggie food and about the general level of hygene in the country.
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Food safety is a big topic here in Japan, with the memory of poison gyoza fresh in many people’s mind, and raw vegetables from China in particular shunned by many consumers. To see what exactly is happening, Nippon Research Center recently conducted a survey into food safety issues.

Demographics

Between the 2nd and 14th of April 2008 1,200 people were randomly chosen based on the population distribution from the 2005 census data. 200 sample points were chosen and from each point 6 people agreed to face-to-face interviews. 50.4% of the sample were female, 6.2% in their teens, 15.1% in their twenties, 17.9% in their thirties, 15.3% in their forties, 18.4% in their fifties, 15.9% in their sixties, and 11.2% in their seventies.

I’d like to say a quick hello to any readers who might have joined me from Slashfood, who have been kind enough to cover a couple of articles from me in the last few weeks. This one is just to show I do serious food topics too!

Not surprisingly, China’s image is horrendous, but there is one particular Chinese export that people do not seem to mind, or at least don’t think about it when purchasing. That product is Oolong and other teas, and one new tea in particular, Suntory’s Black Oolong Tea, advertised as one product that canhelp in the fight against metabolic syndrome, has in the two years since launch sold round about 75 billion yen’s worth (around 750 million US dollars) of tea according to a television programme I saw at the weekend, representing close to half a billion 350 ml bottles! Its adverts unashamedly features subtitled Chinese actors eating Chinese food. Click through to view the television commercials.

With the biggest stories in Japan this week being pesticide poisoning from Chinese gyoza, which is looking like a deliberate case of tampering with the packaging line, according to an expert on NHK news tonight, this recent survey from MyVoice on the image of Chinese products is most timely, although given the figures here China’s image can hardly sink any lower.

Demographics

Over the first five days of January 2008 12,669 members of the MyVoice internet community successfully completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54% of the sample was female, 2% in their teens, 15% in their twenties, 38% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 16% in their fifties.

I personally try to avoid as much Chinese foodstuffs as possible. One problem, though, especially for prepared foods, is that although the preparation might happen in Japan thus meriting a Made in Japan label, the ingredients may be imported. For instance, I have heard that some brands of instant noodles use cabbages from China. I saw a program on food safety in the Chinese domestic market, and if that is anything to base tourism decisions on, if you are going to the Beijing Olympics, you would be best advised to bring your own food and make sure your travel insurance is up to date!

On the other hand, I do a lot of shopping at the 100 yen shop, and the vast majority of their brands are made in China, but a laundry net or a calendar is hardly going to kill you! It is also pretty difficult to avoid Made in China clothes, as retailers from UniQlo to Aeon use the country as their primary source.
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It’s been quite a while since I’ve looked at a political opinion poll, so with the recent changes at the top with Junichiro Koizumi being replaced by Shinzo Abe, and with North Korea being a tad unreasonable at the moment, I think this would be a good time to present a translation of a survey of public opinion by the Yomiuri Shimbun on the new cabinet and the recent trip to China and Korea.
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