世論 What Japan Thinks

With the government recommending that mobile companies remove SIM Lock restrictions on future mobile phones, thus allowing the same phone to be used on multiple carriers, this survey from iShare into SIM Lock removal found more people than I expected opposed to the move.

Demographics

Between the 14th and 19th of April 2010 469 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.6% of the sample were male, 29.6% in their twenties, 35.4% in their thirties, and 35.0% in their forties.

I’m all for SIM Lock removal, if just to encourage service providers to compete on price rather than the current locking into high-priced handsets and long-term contracts. Despite Japan having just about the cheapest fixed-line internet, mobile prices are all basically between 4,000 and 5,000 yen or so for all-you-can-use data plans, plus an additional 1,000 to 2,000 yen per month for basic service access with very few free minutes, then 40,000 to 60,000 for the handset on top. In the UK, as far as I can determine data plans are about half that price yet handsets are still subsidised. Due to these high prices, I cannot afford to upgrade to an Xperia, despite the many good reviews (barring battery life) that I am reading.
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A recent survey from iShare into cellphone straps, focusing in particular on disposal, revealed many interesting habits regarding Japanese people’s phone decorations.

Demographics

Between the 24th and 29th of March 2010 507 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.6% of the sample were male, 31.8% in their twenties, 32.9% in their thirties, and 35.3% in their forties.

A cellphone strap survey always gives me a chance to try to sell you cute cellphone straps! The pie chart above looks at function versus design – here’s a acupressure massage function and here’s the cute Mameshiba design for instance. Q1SQ4 indicates no-one’s interested on jumping in early onto the latest bandwagon, but just in case you are, can I recommend solar-powered Game and Watch keychain?

I usually change my strap when I find a new design, but I’ve not really been in the searching mood much, so I’ve got mostly rather tatty two-year-old straps right now.
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With tomorrow being Mothers Day in Japan, here’s an interesting look by iShare at issues relating to Mothers Day.

Demographics

Between the 19th and 22nd of April 2010 468 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 59.0% of the sample were male, 29.9% in their twenties, 33.1% in their thirties, and 37.0% in their forties.

I never had a period of hating my mother, and I’m not just saying that because I know she reads my blog! However, I’ve never bought her a Mothers Day present as she doesn’t believe in that sort of thing, although I did once send her a bunch of flowers that I won in a Mothers Day promotion at a supermarket. The wife makes sure her mother gets a present every year, and this year was an alpaca cushion with a cherry blossom pot-pouri in its bum…
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It is the tradition that the wife manages the family budget, and that the husband merely gets a pocket money allowance, but this recent survey from iShare looked at the current situation regarding money management.

Demographics

Between the 1st and 5th of April 2010 1,275 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.3% of the sample were male, 31.1% were in their twenties, 33.5% in their thirties, and 35.2% in their forties.

I was watching a program on general money-related advice a couple of days ago, and they said that actually not giving the husband an allowance is better, or if there is an allowance, make it a percentage of salary (including bonus!) as an incentive. To illustrate the point, they interviewed a few people on the street and the guys with allowances were asked what they did when their pocket money ran out. The answers broadcast included buying stuff with credit card instead (presumably the wife didn’t check receipts) or borrowing money from their parents!
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Here’s a short but curiously interesting survey from iShare, looking at artistic talent, in particular being able to perform such a talent in front of others.

Demographics

Between the 2nd and 7th of April 2010 497 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.9% of the sample were male, 32.2% in their twenties, 32.2% in their thirties, and 35.6% in their forties.

I have no artistic talents, and am quite envious of those who have them. I’d like to learn to sing, and the wife keeps semi-suggesting it, but I’m totally and utterly tone deaf!
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iShare recently took a look at socks or no socks at home, and came up with some surprising figures.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 30th of March 2010 499 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.9% of the sample were male, 30.5% in their twenties, 31.9% in their thirties, and 37.7% in their forties.

I never go sockless at home; wearing slippers with no socks just doesn’t feel right, and barefoot is not really an option on wood veneer flooring. Anyway, wifey would probably accuse me of spreading athlete’s foot germs around the house, as we’ve watched television programs (sponsored by the makers of OTC creams for said disease, no doubt) about the hidden dangers of second-hand germs spread through bare feet. I do change my socks as soon as I get home, however.

Some of the reasons given for socks in the summer were worried about dust, people sufferring from cold feet, and feeling relaxed with socks; conversely the sockless people worried about sweatiness, heat in general, and were just bothered by their socks. In the winter, reasons for socklessness included feeling more relaxed with unconstrained feet, just being in the habit of it, and just liking being barefoot.
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A recent survey from iShare took a look at two things that affect me too, stress and sleep.

Demographics

Between the 19th and 25th of March 2010 515 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.9% of the sample were male, 30.1% in their twenties, 34.6% in their thirties, and 35.3% in their forties.

My stress is probably somewhere around level 3 or 4, depending on how much of a pain in the backside my boss is being… However, I do suffer from utter exhaustion just about every day, but sleeping in after my alarm is a very, very rare occurance, given how irritatingly loud it is!
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A recent survey from iShare looked at the matter of the colour pink, in particular pink clothing.

Demographics

Between the 18th and 24th of March 2010 497 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.9% of the sample were male, 29.2% in their twenties, 34.4% in their thirties, and 36.4% in their forties.

I don’t have any pink items in my wardrobe, but pink on the right sort of men does look quite cool; pink for cuteness on women doesn’t work for me, although for elegance it does.

When the panel were asked which celebrities suited pink, top for women and second for men was the quite, quite horrendous fashion sense of Pei and Paako Hayashiya:

More suitable answers for men were Audrey’s Kasuga and the lounge lizard Junichi Ishida. For women, the choices were Seiko Matsuda, the irritatingly cutesy Yukorin and vapid Suzanne (she’s in the middle), then Nanako Matsushima and Ebi chan.
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A recent survey from iShare looked into the distance between men and women in relationships. The title is not very exciting, but as is often the case for iShare, the questions and results were both thought-provoking.

Demographics

Between the 18th and 23rd of March 2010 901 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.8% of the sample were male, 29.6% in their twenties, 33.2% in their thirties, and 37.2% in their forties.

For me, I’d be level 3 for Q1, L4 for Q2, L5 for Q3 and Q4, L3 for Q5 and L4 for Q6.

I’d like to say that women should drive on daates as I do get a bit fed up not being able to look at the scenery!
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The hanami, cherry blossom viewing, season is in full swing, which means all the popular areas are packed, making for not really a very pleasant experience in my opinion. Thus, this survey from iShare into hanami information sites looked into “air hanami”, just looking at the photos and not bothering visiting in person.

Demographics

Between the 10th and 15th of March 2010 548 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.9% of the sample were male, 33.9% in their twenties, 31.2% in their thirties, and 34.9% in their forties.

Watching the television this last weekend, I saw that Ueno Park in Tokyo had around 100,000 visitors on Saturday! I find the crowds too much bother, so I make do with looking at Kema Sakuranomiya Park in Osaka through the window of the train to and from work.

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