世論 What Japan Thinks

One of the topics of conversation in Japan these days is the beard ban enacted by a local council. To find out what people think of this, iShare conducted a survey into beards.

Demographics

Between the 1st and 4th of June 2010 423 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.8% of the sample were male,・0.7% in their twenties, 31.9% in their thirties, and 37.4% in their forties.

The reason for enacting the ban was because some taxpayer customer got upset at seeing a half-shaven face one morning; rather than a sensible ruling on not coming in to work without shaving, the council decided all facial hair must go. There was quite an entertaining article in the Japan Times looking at this issue.

I think a beard can look good, but chin beards or half-hearted moustache are not, although I’d never dream of complaining about one. However stubble that looks like one’s just got out of bed has to go!
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I’ve never considered an outbreak of spots cute, and I can’t really imagine anyone else finding plouks attractive, but this survey from iShare into acne uncovered a large number of spot fans.

Demographics

Between the 17th and 19th of May 2010 1,081 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.9% of the sample were female, 30.8% in their twenties, and 69.2% in their thirties, and all were unmarried.

If you’ve been in Japan for any period of time recently you surely cannot fail to have seen an ad or ten for Proactiv (no link – they’ll have to pay me for one!), all exceedingly annoying! I also saw last week that the Bashful Prince, Ryo Ishikawa, has recently broken out, so given that he is this year the king of advertisements, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets lined up to endorse Proactiv too.

Oh, and I just checked that in the US a thirty day kit is $19.95, in Japan a sixty day kit is 9,300 yen, making it about 2.5 times more expensive in Japan.

I never had acne, although I now have psorisis and have to wear short trousers on doctor’s orders!
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iShare recently did one of their trademark curious surveys, this time looking at issues surrounding funerals.

Demographics

Between the 18th and 21st of May 2010 432 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.6% of the sample were male, 32.9% in their twenties, 32.4% in their thirties, and 34.7% in their forties.

Funerals in Japan are a horrendous rip-off, on the whole, especially as many feel they have to call in priests to officiate, who often charge in the millions of yen for their services. I’ve seen people defend this practice by saying that as people are expected to bring a cash gift for the family they can cover expenses; this may be true, but then again one has to give presents back to everyone who gifts, and of course there is ongoing expenses of grave maintenance and annual services for the deceased, which again can run into hundreds of thousands.

And I really ought to link to my brother’s post from three years ago.
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I don’t know if it’s just the sort of people I work with, but many people in the office seem to have half their Windows desktop strewn with icons. However, this recent survey from iShare into organising desktop icons found that such behaviour was the exception rather than the rule.

Demographics

Between the 30th of April and the 10th of May 2010 537 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.3% of the sample were male, 31.3% in their twenties, 32.2% in their thirties, and 36.5% in their forties.

I try to keep my icons down to under two columns on the left and just one or two on the right.

Another interesting related subject I should look out for is the use of tray icons – again, most of my colleagues have well over 15 on their machine, including default informational icons like the two touchpad-related ones our standard notebook computers come shipped with. I turn off all the ones I can as they are just a distraction, on the whole.
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There’s enough people in the office who brush their teeth at lunchtime to block access to the sinks, so I was interested in this recent survey from iShare into brushing teeth in the office to see how widespread such habits were.

Demographics

Between the 10th and 13th of May 2010 498 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.2% of the sample were male, 31.5% in their twenties, 33.1% in their thirties, and 35.3% in their forties.

Some of the top reasons for brushing at work were to protect against decay or bad breath, and people not liking the feeling if they don’t brush. For the non-brushers at work, they said they didn’t have time, it was too much bother, they don’t have a toothbrush at work, there’s nowhere to brush, and they didn’t like brushing in the toilet.

I don’t bother brushing at work for probably most of the reasons listed above; at home I rarely brush, but instead I usually chew gum.
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With Father’s Day on the horizon, iShare took a very detailed look at fathers at home.

Demographics

Over the 6th and 7th of May 2010 450 male members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All were married with children, and with a salary of 3 million yen or more. 80.0% were in their forties, and 20.0% were in their fifties. Note that this is the first survey I can remember from iShare that included anyone in their fifties.

I can’t choose my own programs, but then again there’s not really any alternatives that I have a pressing need to watch rather than whatever mindless entertainment is on the box.

I can’t relate to the Q9SQ questions as my wife doesn’t let me near the remote control for the recorder, and anyway I can usually catch up via YouTube or Japan Probe!
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With Father’s Day on the horizon, iShare took a very detailed look at fathers at home.

Demographics

Over the 6th and 7th of May 2010 450 male members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All were married with children, and with a salary of 3 million yen or more. 80.0% were in their forties, and 20.0% were in their fifties. Note that this is the first survey I can remember from iShare that included anyone in their fifties.

Oyaji is a slighly insulting or self-deprecating term to refer to a middle-aged man, in particular ones with a middle-aged outlook or appearance. Or smell…

It’s perhaps not surprising that over half the participants have some complaint or other about their home life. Personally, I don’t have any complaints of sufficient note to register in Q1, and any lingering feelings I might have are easily dispelled by the relief of getting away from the office!
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This recent survey from iShare looked at praiseworthy glasses, a rather grand title influenced, no doubt, by the survey being sponsored by the glasses vendor JINS.

Demographics

Between the 14th and 16th of April 2010 834 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.0% of the sample were male, 28.7% in their twenties, 33.1% in their thirties, and 38.2% in their forties.

I have prescription glasses, and I’ve never thought of getting dummies, even when I wore contact lenses. As my uncorrected vision is horrendous, no matter how well they might suit me, squinting and walking into things while wearing dummy glasses far outweighs the benefits.
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It’s a while since we’ve visited the toilet with iShare, so I was curious to see this latest investigation by them into the gents.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 23rd of April 2010 529 male members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 28.5% of the sample were in their twenties, 32.7% in their thirties, and 38.8% in their forties.

Although I’m well house-trained, I always stand in public toilets. I steer clear of Japanese-style trenches, though, as I’ve been scarred by the one time I had to use them when I had a bit of the runs, and I managed to get poo on my trousers…

Note that apparently at schools, entering a cubicle will often get you seriously teased (if television programs are to be believed), causing problems with constipation in schoolkids, and perhaps both the teasing and the constipation continue to be problems in later life?

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A recent survey from iShare looking at mobile phone types found that clamshells with the standard ten keys were both the most popular current phone and future phone.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 12th of April 2010 520 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 58.3% of the sample were male, 31.0% were in their twenties, 30.2% in their thirties, and 38.8% in their forties.

Interestingly enough, touch panel smartphones were around twice as popular with males as females. I got the impression from other surveys that there was more significant iPhone penetration with women.

If I can afford an unlimited data packet plan, my next phone will be a flat touch panel smartphone; if I decide to stay stingy and stick with email, it will be a ten key clamphone like my current.
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