世論 What Japan Thinks

goo Ranking published a short ranking survey on the topic of which traditional culture people might like to learn. Demographical information is not present. The survey was conducted between the 19th and 20th of April 2007.

For me, I’d like to take up Go (I used to play as a kid) and calligraphy. I think I’d be more of the large-scale kind of guy with a huge broom slapping the ink on the canvas by the gallon in the hope of making up in quantity what I’m lacking in quality.

I’m a bit surprised, I suppose, seeing origami in there (another one I did as a kid) as it doesn’t feel to me like a traditional art. I’ve also never heard of carving Buddhas as being a traditional art! I’ve also once made a fan (badly) and had a day out at a traditional Kyoto Yuzen dyeing factory.

Do you participate in any traditional arts?
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goo Ranking recently published, as selected by goo Research’s monitor pool over the 19th and 20th of April 2007, Japan’s most curiously-named stations.

Some of the names are amusing, others are strange, and a few more I just don’t get! Any help would be more than welcome.

Note that the number one choice is Japan’s longest station name. This title used to be held by 「ルイス・C.ティファニー庭園美術館前駅」, “Louis C Tiffany Garden Museum Mae Station”, but the museum closed down and the station was renamed to the slightly shorter 「松江イングリッシュガーデン前駅」, “Matsue English Garden Mae Station”, apparently on the 21st of May 2007. Note that at the time of writing, Wikipedia wrongly reports this as the longest Japanese station name in a link from their Louis C Tiffany page.

To help you locate the places, I’ve made a custom Google Map for all these stations.
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goo Ranking recently published another rather entertaining survey, this time on where people would least like to go on a first date to, with both male and female versions published.

As usual for goo Ranking, there is no demographic information available about the sample size, only that the votes were gathered between the 19th and 20th of April from members of the goo Research monitor group. The top voted location was awarded 100 points, and the others awarded a score representing the relative percentage of votes they got.
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With summer coming up, let’s take a rather timely look with goo Ranking at Japan’s favourite Haagen Dazs flavours. Over the 19th and 20th of April 2007 an unspecified number of people chose their favourite ice cream flavour from the Haagen Dazs range. 100 points was awarded to the top choice, and others given a score based on the percentage of votes of the number one that they obtained.

My personal favourite is Cookies and Cream, although it is only a once-in-a-blue-moon treat for me. I also love black sesame ice cream, but I can’t say I’ve ever knowingly eaten Haagen Dazs’s version.

If you’d like to learn more about Japanese ice cream habits, I have previously translated a more detailed look at the ice cream market in Japan.
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I now present yet another slightly odd goo Ranking, this time on what people do when they feel drowsy behind the wheel. As usual, there is no demographic information. The survey was conducted between the 20th and 22nd of March 2007.

Note that there is perhaps some scope for overlap in the answers. For instance, the top option is chewing gum and the fourth is taking caffeine. However, there is at least one brand of gum that contains caffeine, and in fact is advertised on television as a pick-me-up when feeling tired whilst driving.
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With Japan’s Golden Week holidays almost upon us, and with the submission deadline for the April Japan Blog Matsuri just 10 days away, I would like to present my entry, another slightly strange from a Western point of view ranking survey from goo Ranking on what people would most like to eat after returning from a foreign holiday. The survey was conducted between the 20th and 22nd of March 2007.

One may note that a number of the entries in the list are actually recently-imported dishes: number 9, curry, is the first obvious one, but Japanese “curry” (stew with a hint of spice, usually) and sticky rice is quite a different experience from a real curry such as one might find in the UK.

This survey might also go some way to explaining why so many Japanese, even those going as far as the International Space Station, find they need to pack a few Cup Noodles in their suitcases.
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It’s the weekend, so what nicer than joining the Japanese in one of their favourite pastimes, going for a drive. Before one can go for a drive, one needs a car of course, so why not rent one? But, what points are important when renting a car? goo Rankings tried to find out in this ranking survey conducted between the 20th and 22nd of March 2007.

I rent a car once every few months or so, and I always select Toyota Rentacar, as they are convenient, have car navigation systems as standard, and I especially like renting the Prius as although it might be a bit more expensive, the low fuel costs make up for it, and I do like driving it. A non-smoking car is a given, naturally, and only recently did Toyota introduce booking a specific model as non-smoking, hopefully due to complaints from customers like me.

Just in case you want to rent but your Japanese is not up to it, Hertz use Toyota as their agent in Japan, so you can call them instead to do your booking.
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With the recent negative news breaking regarding TOTO toilets going up in smoke, let’s look at the more positive side of Japanese toilets through a survey published by goo Rankings on what function or service people are most happy to find in public restrooms. The survey was conducted between the 22nd and 24th of February 2007, but no more demographic information is available, although looking at the results it is perhaps a mainly female audience who completed the survey. Note that the score column has 100 points for the top vote getter, and for the other entries the score is the percentage of the top’s vote total that that entry received.

The first time I experienced the top ranking warm toilet seat it was a strangely disconcerting feeling, as to that point warmth was associated with someone else having recently used said loo, but now I love the feature, and my toilet at home also has a cloth cover for even more soothing comfort on the chilly nights.

Number four, also known in Japanese by the brand name “Oto Hime”, or “Sound Princess“, plays a wee tune to cover up the plops and splashes as one does one’s business. I saw my first only two weekends ago in a small cafè; I really wanted to press the button, but we were the only customers and the owner is a friend of my wife’s family, so I just couldn’t.
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goo Rankings recently published the results of statistics gathered from searches of their ecology portal site on the top environmental search keywords for March 2007.

For educational purposes, I’ll report both the Japanese term and the English translation.
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Following on from Sunday’s survey on people’s hopes and ambitions for ten years hence, this time goo Ranking looked at what expectations people had for society at large in ten years time. As usual, no demographics, bar the fact that the survey was conducted between the 22nd and 24th of February.

This set of results has the cure for cancer that I was disappointed not to see in the previous survey, but I suppose it could be classed more as a discovery than as an invention? I note, however, that resolution of North Korean issues, be it kidnapping or just general problems stemming from having a loony at the helm, does not feature in the list. I wonder if people expect it to be resolved much quicker than the 10 years asked about here?
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