世論 What Japan Thinks

Over six days at the end of June DIMSDRIVE Research looked at what people thought about the two key features of the Japanese summer, namely the rainy season and typhoons. 3,198 people from their monitor group completed a private internet-based survey; 53.6% of the sample was female, 2.4% in their teens, 16.6% in their twenties, 34.0% in their thirties, 25.5% in their forties, 12.3% in their fifties and 9.2% in their sixties.

I suppose the overall results of this survey are only notable in their predictability that people dislike bad weather! I too dislike the rainy season, but I’ve been lucky enough to avoid most typhoons; there was one dangerous one two years ago that nearly flooded a river rather too close to my flat, but other than that, back home a good Atlantic gale is much more ferocious than the average, or even the stronger than average typhoons that blow over Japan.
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As part of their 85th round of Ranking Research carried out over the end of June and start of July, DIMSDRIVE Research asked 5,367 people from their monitor group what they would want to be if they change into something else for just one day.
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DIMSDRIVE Research recently published the results of their 84th Rankings survey. This time one of the questions was on what mobile phone features are really not needed at all. They questioned 5,950 people from their monitor group at the end of June by means of a closed internet questionnaire.

With most newer phones being loaded with more and more features, with a corresponding increase in development costs (you’d scarcely believe me if I told you how much one of the recent DoCoMo 90x series cost in person-months!), this is perhaps a timely survey that may give the phone companies pause for thought.

Note that SMS features on the list – almost every phone has a far more advanced mail client, so the SMS is just there for legacy support. Another strange answer is the wireless LAN; as far as I am aware, it is not a feature that is widely available apart from one or two specialised SmartPhones. Perhaps people were just lumping BlueTooth and infra-red support together under this category?

This poll also raises more questions than it answers. Why is BlueTooth right up there? Does it indicate consumer ignorance of what it does? Why do more men want rid of games rather than music playback?
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Today I will present three ranking surveys for the price of one, all on the theme of water usage at home, all carried out by DIMSDRIVE Research as part of their 85th Ranking Survey over the period of about a week at the end of June and start of July. First is using water for drinking at home, next is water for tea and coffee at home, and finally water for cooking at home.

Japan’s tap water is basically safe, but in the big cities it tends to smell a bit due to the various treatments it undergoes. Most restaurants, for example, serve water that at least has been through some sort of treatment, but what exactly they use in their tea is anyone’s guess. At home, we have a built-in water purifier that we use for drinking and tea and coffee, except for when making a large pot of tea (usually 麦茶, mugicha, barley tea) for refrigerating, when we use plain old tap water. The exact reason for this is beyond me. Our previous flat had some nasty black spots (tar or pitch, perhaps) that occasionally flaked off making filtration absolutely necessary.
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With Japan due back from Germany tomorrow morning (no, I have no confidence in them being able to beat Brazil by two clear goals), let’s look at a recent ranking survey by DIMSDRIVE Research on what people would like to see a World Cup of. They interviewed 4,597 members of their internet monitor group, with 2,383, or 51.8%, male.

Note that many of the sports mentioned already have world championships, so perhaps people mean they want to see coverage of these events, or they are ignorant of their existence, as I was too until I started searching. The links you see below go to existing world championships or world federations of the sports mentioned, or just news of such events.

Note also that the top three involve food either directly or indirectly.
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DISMDRIVE Research released their 81st Ranking Research results, and one of these was a look at what folklore or superstitions people worry about. 4,597 people replied with the single (I think) superstition that they pay most attention to. 2,383 of the respondents, or 51.8%, were male.

This is a fun one for me, as the folk traditions here are often very different from home; I have never heard here of walking under a ladder being unlucky (probably because all ladders get coned off and have two guys waving batons to steer you round the obstacle), urinating on a bee sting seems a very popular (but totally ineffective) antidote, and PET bottles lined up outside houses to scare off cats don’t work.

Note that effect of black cats crossing your path is…umm, I’m not sure any more! Back home in Scotland it was good luck (I think – my memory’s going!) but in Japan it’s bad luck, according to this survey. I remember the Tom and Jerry cartoons where they’d have a black cat causing bad luck, so perhaps that’s the American belief. This random web page says that Japan is good luck, so I am now totally confused!
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In their 72nd Ranking Research questionnaire, DIMSDRIVE Research took a look at what Japanese people said they did before they went to sleep. They interviewed 5,298 people from their internet monitor group, 50.3% male, about their habits at the end of March this year.

You will notice that no-one mentions interacting with one’s partner, even just a cuddle or a chat, as what they do when they can’t sleep. Whether this is an uncommon practice or if this and more saucy answers were weeded out, I do not know.
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[part 1] [part 2]

Following on from a previous survey that looked at toothbrush habits, this survey addresses another popular stereotype of the Japanese, the wearing of spectacles. DIMSDRIVE Research interviewed 7,851 members of their internet monitor group, 56.9% female, by means of an internet-based questionnaire. The age demographics were 1.5% teenagers, 20.8% in their twenties, 35.6% in their thirties, 25.6% in their forties, 11.7% in their fifties, and 4.8% aged sixty or older.

I found it a bit strange that many of the women voted for seemed to be more a list of sexy women who have once or twice been photographed wearing glasses rather than a list of regular wearers who suit them.

Also, Mari’s Diary recently published an entry regarding eyeglass fetishes.
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[part 1] [part 2]

Following on from a previous survey that looked at toothbrush habits, this survey addresses another popular stereotype of the Japanese, the wearing of spectacles. DIMSDRIVE Research interviewed 7,851 members of their internet monitor group, 56.9% female, by means of an internet-based questionnaire. The age demographics were 1.5% teenagers, 20.8% in their twenties, 35.6% in their thirties, 25.6% in their forties, 11.7% in their fifties, and 4.8% aged sixty or older.

If you are shopping for glasses in Japan, one thing to watch out for is the chains with fixed-price offers; quite often the frames available are rather limited, and the extras, such as less Coke bottle-like lenses or anti-glare coating soon add up. In fact, my wife got a pair of prismatic lenses with a nice imported frame from a wee private shop cheaper than I got my supposed 7,000 yen set from a big chain – once I added in the test, frames, coating, etc the price quadrupled. And of course, beware of shop owners shooing you away.
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In January, DIMSDRIVE Research interviewed by means of an internet-based questionnaire 1,454 people, 59.2% male, to find out what people do to get rid of a hangover. The Japanese for hangover is 二日酔い, futsukayoi, “two days drunk”, which I think is a wonderfully descriptive term!

I find the whole subject of Japan and drink fascinating, and whilst I’m still to find the one survey that confirms my suspicion that whilst overall alcohol consumption in Japan may be lower than in the West, there are comparable, if not higher, figures for regular drinkers, and more worryingly, regular heavy drinkers. Alcohol abuse is still not recognised here as a societal problem; I’m not some sort of Puritan calling for prohibition, of course, just someone who wishes booze was taken seriously.

As a small anecdote, in one of our company magazines we got a depression checklist, and one of the signs was not wishing to join in with office drinking sessions; for me, these events cause me stress, and paying 4,000 to 5,000 yen to sit in a usually very smokey pub for two hours as people continute to talk shop all around whilst making do with a veggie option that is a poor excuse for a meal is not really my idea of fun; I’d rather be snuggling up with wifey under the kotatsu watching the telly at home!
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