世論 What Japan Thinks

This very comprehensive study by DIMSDRIVE Research into convenience store usage found out many interesting facts, such as almost two-thirds of those living alone frequent them quite frequently.

Demographics

Between the 2nd and 17th of September 2009 8,317 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.4% of the sample were female, 0.8% in their teens, 12.0% in their twenties, 33.2% in their thirties, 31.6% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, and 6.6% aged sixty or older.

I pop into a convenience store about two or three times a week, usually ones inside stations run by the railway company, although I don’t know if they were in scope of this survey or not. The other times I use convenience stores it’s mostly to pay bills or to use the photocopier or occasionally to pick up tickets.
Read the rest of this entry »

Recently DIMSDRIVE Research took a look at shredders and personal information.

Demographics

Between the 22nd of July and the 6th of August 2009 9,590 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.1% of the sample were male, 1.1% in their teens, 11.9% in their twenties, 32.2% in their thirties, 31.5% in their forties, 16.5% in their fifties, and 6.8% aged sixty or older.

In Q1, just in case you are wondering what a personal information-hiding stamp is, well, I can sell you one of these. It’s a stamp that overprints data with a tight pattern in order to obscure the original text which I thought was just a novelty, but 6.4% of the sample use one.

I myself have an electric shredder that we bought mail-order for about 10,000 yen a few years ago. It’s a quite large home office size, but it works well, although it does clog up if you put plastic wrappers through…
Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s look at another curious corner of Japanese life, the use of ballpoint pens, in a survey conducted by DIMSDRIVE Research.

Demographics

Between the 19th of August and the 3rd of September 2009 11,182 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.8% of the sample were male, 0.9% in their teens, 10.8% in their twenties, 32.5% in their thirties, 31.6% in their forties, 16.7% in their fifties, and 7.5% aged sixty or older.

I don’t buy any pens, instead I usually fremantle them on business trips.

Coincidentally, when looking at this year’s nengajo New Year postcars my wife did remark on how a couple of them that had been hand-written with fine point ballpoint pens looked very neat, and how she wanted to buy a similar pen.
Read the rest of this entry »

This detailed survey from DIMSDRIVE Research into new-type influenza or swine flu, found that surprisingly few people are always wearing masks as a preventative measure. Perhaps there is a degree of confirmation bias in our own personal experiences as mask wearers do stand out, so we remember the definite sightings from a busy day on the train but forget the times when there’s just a couple of masks in the carriage.

Demographics

Between the 14th and 29th of October 2009 13,263 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 54.1% of the sample were male, 0.8% in their teens, 8.9% in their twenties, 28.3% in their thirties, 32.0% in their forties, 19.0% in their fifties, and 11.0% aged sixty or older. Note that this survey was performed during a period when the number of reported cases was rapidly increasing.

Note that the Japanese term is 新型インフルエンザ, shingata infuruenza, new-type flu, but I’ll use swine flu in this translation as it’s easier to understand.

At work we have a bottle of disinfectant at the door that I always use just to show willing, but I don’t use it anywhere else.

I went today to the barber and all the staff were masked up, but no-one seemed to have a cough, but I suppose given the close-up work a barber does the mask is reassuring to the customer.
Read the rest of this entry »

Having looked last week at how people are economising in general, today I’m looking at a survey from DIMSDRIVE Research into saving money on food.

Demographics

Between the 10th and 25th of June 2009 9,685 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 1.1% in their teens, 12.3% in their twenties, 32.6% in their thirties, 30.7% in their forties, 16.0% in their fifties, and 7.3% aged sixty or older.

My eating at home has definitely increased the last year, and most of the saving money has been from buying pre-prepared salad from the supermarket rather than from one of the delicatessans in a department store.

In the final question, bean sprouts coming out as the most common cheap food highlights how much people are struggling. I can understand tofu, chicken and cabbage being popular substitutes for more expensive ingredients, but bean sprouts suggests desperation to me.
Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a subject I’ve never touched before, a survey regarding nail elegance from DIMSDRIVE Research. I found this interesting gallery of nail art if you want to see what it’s all about.

Demographics

Between the 16th and 30th of April 2009 10,667 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.6% of the sample were male, 1.0% in their teens, 12.6% in their twenties, 32.4% in their thirties, 30.9% in their forties, 16.2% in their fifties, and 6.9% aged sixty or older.

One thing I often notice in Japan are the interesting nails that some of the young ladies have, especially when their fingertips are even more tarted up than the deco-den underneath! That reminds me, there’s actually one touch-screen mobile phone (can’t remember which one!) that advertises itself as being manicured nails-friendly - I’ve heard a rumour that the iPhone isn’t terribly usable with long nails.

In the rankings of favourite colours, I’m a bit surprised that black didn’t figure.

Note that this survey looked only at fingernails, not toenails.
Read the rest of this entry »

This recent survey from DIMSDRIVE Research into pets had interesting information regarding insurance, but sadly the number of pets per person were not reported, a figure that would have helped in understanding some of the numbers.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 26th of March 2009 10,501 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was 50:50 male and female (one more female than male, but she was lost in rounding), 1.1% were in their teens, 13.1% in their twenties, 33.8% in their thirties, 30.6% in their forties, 14.7% in their fifties, and 6.7% aged sixty or older. Additional demographic information included 51.4% lived in a house, 33.5% in a flat, 12.7% in an apartment, and 2.4% in other accommodation.

I really don’t like pet shops in Japan at all; the cages on display are far too small, and they take the animals away from their mothers too early - about six weeks is the standard figure, while they are still cute enough to sell. I remember last year seeing one male kitten that was so desparate for mother’s milk that it had taken to sucking his own nipple, pulling out a lot of his own hair and leaving a big ugly raw-red mark on his chest.
Read the rest of this entry »

With Father’s Day being next weekend, here’s a timely look with DIMSDRIVE Research at a popular gift for this time of year, electric razors.

Demographics

Between the 13th and 28th or May 2009 9,897 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group successfully completed a private online questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 1.0% in their teens, 13.0% in their twenties, 34.4% in their thirties, 30.3% in their forties, 15.1% in their fifties, and 6.2% aged sixty or older. 63.5% of the sample were married, although I don’t know if that has any significance towards the results.

Both my electric shavers have been presents from the wife. The first was a rather naff Hitachi single-headed alkali battery-operated one that required me to use a razor once a week or more to catch all the bits that it missed, and my current Braun was free via credit card mileage points. I use shaving gel to set up my skin, and barring quite poor performance around the Adam’s apple area, I’m quite happy.

You’ll note that there is no question “do you have a beard, thus no need to shave?”, or even asking how the beard trimming features of the shaver is.
Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, DIMSDRIVE Research took a look at the matter of moving house.

Demographics

Between the 25th of February and the 12th of March 2009 10,789 members of the DIMSDRIVE Monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 50.5% of the sample were female, 0.8% in their teens, 13.3% in their twenties, 33.6% in their thirties, 30.7% in their forties, 15.2% in their fifties, and 6.4% aged sixty or older.

I’ve got a lot of tales about removals in Japan! The last time I was involved in one was when my parents-in-law moved; my wife organised lots of quotes through the internet, but her father accepted the first one he got, as they gave him a free kilo of rice, even though the company has a less than stellar reputation.

On the day of the removals they brought only two, not three staff to do the packing, the pick-up was delayed, so instead of arriving at the new place at 4pm as promised, it was 10pm, so tradesmen we’d asked to come in to fit the air conditioners, etc, had to go home and come back the next day. To cap it all off, there was some sort of get-out clause in the contract so we couldn’t claim any compensation off them.
Read the rest of this entry »

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.
Read the rest of this entry »