世論 What Japan Thinks

Energy drinks are a big business in Japan, but I do try to avoid them. However, this recent survey from iShare Inc showed that about three in five Japanese aged between 30 and 59 imbibe these nutritional drinks.

Demographics

Between the 5th and 10th of March 2009 495 mobile phone-owning members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.4% of the sample were male, 23.8% in their thirties, 31.5% in their forties, and 44.4% in their fifties.

Taurine seems to have some sort of benefit to muscles and removing fatty deposits from livers, but no proven energy boost, despite it being sold as such in Japan.
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With tomorrow being April Fools’ Day, what would be more appropriate than a look with iShare at virtual April Fools.

Demographics

Between the 10th and 13th of March 2009 380 mobile phone-owning members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.4% of the sample were male, 37.4% in their twenties, 27.4% in their thirties, and 35.3% in their forties.

April Fools’ Day is I feel not widely known in Japan, although that wasn’t one of the questions asked in this survey. I always keep thinking I ought to do an April Fool here, but I never come up with a good idea. Or am I just saying that to try to catch you off your guard? Or did I just state that in order to confuse you? You’ll just have to wait until tomorrow!

For reference, the JIAFA, Japan Internet April Fool Association, mentioned in Q3 has its website here, although it is rather a barren place. It might be a bit more lively tomorrow, however.

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Here’s an interesting survey on portable audio players from iShare showing how sold-state music has muscled out MD players, the leader from just three and a half years ago.

Demographics

Between the 25th of February and the 2nd of March 2009 417 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.8% of the sample were male, 40.0% in their twenties, 26.4% in their thirties, and 33.6% in their forties.

I don’t own any portable audio players – well, actually my mobile phone can play music, but I’ve never used the feature. My wife has an MD player lying around that she never uses, but I have a cunning plan for it that doesn’t involve music… Right at the moment I could use a portable player as there is a rather drunk or mentally disturbed guy muttering away to himself as I’m trying to concentrate on translating, but I digress. On to the survey!
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Here’s an interesting survey from iShare that answers the questions that many westerners ask when they see the average Japanese mobile phone email littered with kaomoji smilies and decomail animations, simply “Why?”

Demographics

Over the 28th and 29th of January 2009 668 users of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.1% of the sample were male, 12.6% in their twenties, 46.1% in their thirties, 33.4% in their forties, 6.7% in their fifties, and 1.2% in their teens or sixty or older.

Just in case you missed last night’s post, you can find about 8,000 (and growing) kaomoji facemarks at evoticon. Other technical terms included in this post are emoji, simple icons, and decomail, HTML templated mail, including DIY text animation.
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A recent survey from iShare on a favourite topic of mine, Japanese aversion for dentists, took a slightly different and rather interesting look at the oft-covered matter of Japanese teeth.

Demographics

Between the 14th and 17th of January 2009 468 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private online questionnaire. 52.6% of the sample were male, 11.3% in their twenties, 53.2% in their thirties, 26.3% in their forties, 6.4% in their fifties, and 2.8% either in their teens or aged sixty or older.

I actually need to go to the dentist (it’s 9 months since my last cleaning) but… I don’t really like phones in English, so Japanese is twice as bad! The dentist himself I can most strongly recommend, and his prices are quite reasonable, especially compared to the ham-fisted thief that my wife visits.
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Sadly the most important question, “Do you think Feng Shui is a load of cobblers?” was not asked, although given the love of blood typing, this recent survey from iShare into Feng Shui would probably have shown a disappointingly high percentage of believers.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 10th of January 2009 412 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private online questionnaire. 55.1% of the sample were male, 13.3% in their twenties, 46.8% in their thirties, 32.3% in their forties, and 7.5% either in their teens or aged fifty or older.

In Japanese Feng Shui is written using the same wind and water characters as for Chinese, but the pronounciation is slightly different, Fuu Sui. The biggest Feng Shui con artist practitioner in Japan is Doctor Copa, whose advise mostly seems to consist of sticking ugly single-colour plastic objects in strategic locations.
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Having previously looked at bum-washing toilets, iShare recently shifted their gaze towards public toilets.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 10th of January 2009 412 members of the free email forwarding service CLUB BBQ completed a private online questionnaire. 55.1% of the sample were male, 13.3% in their twenties, 46.8% in their thirties, 32.3% in their forties, and 7.5% in their teens or aged fifty or older.

Note that there is a relatively low percentage of women looking for bum-washing toilets in Q3. Whether this is due to the average women’s toilet being of a higher standard than the men’s or if this is a reflection of women being less trusting of the hygene (see the previous survey) I don’t know!

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Here’s a bit of an interesting survey from iShare, looking at what Japanese would introduce foreigners to.

Demographics

Between the 23th and 29th of December 2008 709 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.0% of the sample were male, 12.1% in their twenties, 47.5% in their thirties, 30.7% in their forties, 7.6% in their fifties, and 2.0% in their teens or aged sixty or older.

I’d put Osaka higher up the list in Q1, but I’m biased! I’d also put Kanazawa higher, as it’s Kyoto without so many tourists, and I really enjoyed the one time I visited.

I wouldn’t subject anyone to Japanese curry, but I’d put Japanese-style snacks higher. I think that refers to Japanese flavours in Western-style sweets like chestnut Kit-Kats or wasabi (horseradish-like) flavoured crisps, rather than traditional Japanese confectionary based around bean-paste.

Judging by another survey, water-squirting toilets are popular amongst the foreign population, but game arcades and Scissors-Paper-Stone are hardly unique Japanese features. On the other hand, some of the machines in Japanese arcades have to be seen to be believed, so perhaps the first is a good choice!
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Following up on coffee shop chain images comes another survey from iShare, this time looking at cellphone carrier image.

Demographics

Between the 17th and 19th of December 2008 402 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.7% of the sample were male, 15.4% in their twenties, 45.0% in their thirties, 32.3% in their forties, and 7.2% in either their teens or aged fifty or older.

Given SoftBank’s image in the title, it does seem appropriate that they supply Mickey Mouse phones.

Although I feel Starbucks’ drinks resemble coffee in the same way that happoshu resembles beer (but without the low price tag), plenty of people love them, as this recent survey from iShare into star ratings for coffee chains shows.

Demographics

Between the 19th and 22nd of December 2008 441 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.5% of the sample were male, 14.1% in their twenties, 44.4% in their thirties, 31.1% in their forties, and 10.4% in their teens or aged fifty or older.

Having said that I dislike Starbucks, I saw a poster outside one of their shops to say they now have seasonal tea lattes which did look nice, but not nice enough to tempt me inside.

My favourite chain is Kobe-based (although I did find one near Tokyo Tower once) and called UCC (Ueshima Coffee Company), with their green tea latte being a particularly fine drink.
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