世論 What Japan Thinks

DIMSDRIVE performed internet-based research involving 5,274 people in September of last year to find out which country’s citizens would people most want to marry. It is not stated whether or not the people interviewed were single or not.

The Asia versus the West split is quite noticeable in the men, but really striking amongst the women. I previously translated statistics regarding international marriages in Japan that shows that the ideals being expressed here do not seem to be realised.

On a slight tangent, I watched the last episode of an NHK English learning program which features an English-speaking Western blonde angel that prods a clueless office worker along the path to success at her job getting a date with her transferred from New York colleague, the ideal tall, muscular, tanned, well-coiffured white executive. The angel’s job was done because the glaikit Misaki finally pulled her man.
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goo Research recently performed a large investigation into HIV and AIDS awareness amongst the Japanese. 38,474 people supplied answers to the questions posted in an open to the public internet-based survey, availiable for a week at the end of November. The demographics were 2.7% 19 or under, 25.4% between 20 and 29, 39.8% from 30 to 39, 22.8% between 40 and 49, 7.2% between 50 and 59, and 2.3% sixty and over.

The second half of the survey sees that there is still a small but perhaps significant minority of those with prejudices against those with HIV and AIDS. There is also a larger minority with some reservations about these matters, but I think that, for instance, there has to be some rational discrimination – obvious ones like disallowing blood transfusions or regulations regarding working in environments where there are the risks of blood contamination are present, such as masks and gloves for food preparation.
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[part 1] [part 2]

goo Research recently performed a large investigation into HIV and AIDS awareness amongst the Japanese. 38,474 people supplied answers to the questions posted in an open to the public internet-based survey, availiable for a week at the end of November. The demographics were 2.7% 19 or under, 25.4% between 20 and 29, 39.8% from 30 to 39, 22.8% between 40 and 49, 7.2% between 50 and 59, and 2.3% sixty and over.

One of the more interesting results is the figure that almost one in three blame foreigners or Japanese playing around overseas as the reason for the increase in AIDS cases in Japan. This is an important figure to note, as it is an often recited statistic that a big number of Japanese blame foreigners for nasty diseases, an attitude I feel is a bit racist, especially as it usually comes from people who complain about discrimination from the Japanese. Whether or not 31.7% does represent a big number, and from that 31.7% how many are worried about the Japanese playing away from home versus the foreigner contingent, I’ll leave that for others to discuss.

Also of note are the condom usage statistics. Unfortunately, those in monogamous relationships are not listed separately, as that certainly affects usage rate, as does the low rate of usage of The Pill (must find some stats on that!).
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goo Research, along with Yomiuri Weekly, carried out a massive poll amongst working women. For a week at the end of September this year, over 10,000 working women aged 20 and over completed an internet-based questionnaire on their thoughts and opinions. Twenty years ago, the Equal Employment Opportunity Law was passed, so this is an investigation into how the position of working women has changed.

This second half of the survey sees working for the government as very popular, but engineering-based companies like Toyota and Sony are in the top three, with NTT and IBM also showing up. Two perhaps softer, more feminine companies, Benesse and Shiseido also do well, and with livedoor in sixth, perhaps its well-known distinctly non-Old Boy president indicates to women that the company may be run in a more welcoming, and dare I say Western, fashion.

Note also that the majority of women have felt sexual discrimination at work, and in particular two in five women have experienced problems in the area of salary, promotion, and work and family life balance.
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[part 1] [part 2]

goo Research, along with Yomiuri Weekly, carried out a massive poll amongst working women. For a week at the end of September this year, over 10,000 working women aged 20 and over completed an internet-based questionnaire on their thoughts and opinions. Twenty years ago, the Equal Employment Opportunity Law was passed, so this is an investigation into how the position of working women has changed.

It’s quite a depressing set of figures, I feel. Not just discrimination, but harassment seems endemic amongst firms, and women are so used to it that they perhaps don’t consider the everyday discrimination as abuse. On a more positive note, however, almost half the women want to have the opportunity to have a full career not terminated nor even just punctuated by baby-rearing, although I personally consider that a child during the first three years of life needs one full-time parent.

Note that here almost three in five report being touched up, which is very depressingly high, but sexist language is barely half that, which suggests to me that women on the whole are accepting of, or at least inured to, that sort of behaviour.

I also wonder how much under-reporting has happened – note that in Q1 people report that they were expected to do the woman’s work around the office, yet there seems no specific category for this type of harassment. Also, office parties are notorious for the boss getting drunk (or faking drunk) and pestering his female underlings, but perhaps this is seen as outside the work environment thus not job-related harassment?
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