世論 What Japan Thinks

Even though I haven’t bought any new bits for my self-built home PC since I got married, I can still recite the key specs: 800 (or is it 900?) MHz Athlon, 80 GB hard disk, and 640 MB memory, although I can understand why there was so many don’t knows in this survey reported on by japan.internet.com and conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into home computer specs.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 13th of January 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor panel employed in the public or private sector completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.3% of the sample was male (this figure is significantly lower than the usual 80% to 85% male percentage in other JR Tokai Express Research surveys of salaried workers), 21.2% in their twenties, 38.2% in their thirties, 25.2% in their forties, 5.8% in their fifties, and 9.7% in their sixties.

Note that in Q1 most people take part in these surveys through their home computers, so that figure cannot be extrapolated to cover the wider population. I am one of the 26.4% who share their home PC, but if I ever manage to make a decent amount of cash online, my first purchase will be a nice portable for myself, then perhaps a dockable for wifey.
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The Trade Union Congress in the UK recently called for workers to be allowed some MySpace time, and one gets the impression that in the USA the ability to use company resources for personal internet access and private telephone calls is a fundamental human right, but what of Japan? A recent report from japan.internet.com on a survy conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into employee internet access management shone some light on this topic.

Demographics

On the 16th of January 2008 330 people from the JR Tokai Express Research monitor pool employed in private enterprises or other organisations as directors, senior management, personnel, or in other management or planning roles completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 75.8% were male, 4.5% in their twenties, 27.9% in their thirties, 44.2% in their forties, 19.1% in their fifties, and 4.2% in their sixties.

Our rules are actually set in place mostly by personnel or other management divisions in order to try to comply with J-SOX issues, with a bit extra from the MIS department. Many of our policies are on paper sensible (though over-stringent), but the justification they add is often laughable. My favourite is their restriction on writing to bulletin boards; apparently someone wrote over 20 messages one day to a train-spotter message board and the owner complained about being flooded with traffic… My pet hate is that Skype is forbidden, even though for people on business trips it can be the cheapest way to keep in touch with family (and the office), due to paranoia about file-sharing and flooding the local network if it becomes a hub, but both these options can be turned off. I did consider renaming notepad.exe to skype.exe or winny.exe just to put the wind up the MIS department, but I suspect they don’t have a sense of humour. Oh, and they also forbid Opera 9 due to the risk of the inbuilt BitTorrent client leaping into life and sharing the whole hard drive.

I in no way whatsoever work on the basis of if it isn’t blocked by the proxy, it’s fair game.
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< ?PHP
include "/home/whatjapa/public_html/libchart/libchart.php";

$chart = new PieChart(400, 200);

$chart->setTitle(“Might you like to buy Apple’s iPhone?”);
$chart->addPoint(new Point(“Yes”, 51.7));
$chart->addPoint(new Point(“No”, 19.3));
$chart->addPoint(new Point(“Don’t know”, 29.0));

$chart->render(“/home/whatjapa/public_html/image08/buy-iphone-jan.png”);
?>

Two days, two mentions of Apple’s iPhone! This time, however, rather than trying to shoehorn it into an existing survey, japan.internet.com reported on a survey by conducted by JR Tokai Express Research into Apple’s iPhone.

Demographics

Between the 9th and 11th of January 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research online monitor group employed in either the public or private sector completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 80.0% of the sample was male, 10.9% in their twenties, 36.4% in their thirties, 36.1% in their forties, 13.9% in their fifties, and 2.7% in their sixties.

This is also well-timed with regards a report on Forbes about the iPhone (thanks Gen!) which takes the rather safe line that the latest NTT DoCoMo 905i series does everything and more already, and that the price tag is rather prohibitive. Looking at Q1SQ2 below, it seems that almost no-one is willing to pay the price it was initially offered at in the USA, but well over a quarter of the potential customers are willing to pay around the current market value. This also ignores the fact that the previously-mentioned 905i series is selling, and selling well, at over 50,000 yen on a standard pricing plan, and of course the up-front cost is just a fraction of the total cost of ownership. To compare, in the USA the cheapest unlimited data plan costs $59.99 with 450 free minutes, 5,000 evening and weekend minutes, and 45 cents per minute after that, whereas in Japan the cheapest 905i plan is 2,000 yen (excluding tax) for 25 free minutes (300 free minutes would be 8,000 yen!), 400 yen for answering machine and call waiting service, 200 yen for iMode walled-garden functionality, 5,700 yen pake-houdai full unlimited data packet plan for full browser, and then 40 yen per minute afterwards. This makes a USA iPhone cost around $1,839 for two years including $399 for the handset, or about 200,000 yen, versus a minimum 249,200 yen for a 905i series phone including the 50,000 yen handset cost, not forgetting that a Japanese tend to upgrade more frequently than once every two years, making a basic 905i about 25% more expensive than an iPhone. If one compares the package with a similar amount of minutes, the price becomes 393,200 yen, almost double the price! To be generous to NTT DoCoMo, after a year you may become eligible for a 35% discount, rising to 50% after 10 years, so a worst-case scenario is closer to 333,140 yen, only 66% more expensive, and a best-case of 221,600 yen, still 10% more expensive than an iPhone. Similar costs apply to the other main carriers, SoftBank and au.

If you want to read more on the iPhone in Japan, please view my article on why Apple’s iPhone will succeed in Japan, or catch up on all past articles on the iPhone.
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This may seem a bit of a strange subject to handle on Christmas Day, but the 25th of the month is payday, and the last payday of the year includes a 源泉徴収表, gensenchoushuuhyou, or end of the year statement of earnings and tax paid (or a P60 for British people in the audience), which is an excuse for a slightly bumpy seque into a survey reported on by japan.internet.com and conducted by JR Tokai Express Research into final income tax returns, or 確定申告, kakutei shinkoku.

Demographics

On the 11th of December 2007 330 self-employed members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 66.4% were male, 6.4% in their twenties, 31.5% in their thirties, 40.6% in their forties, 16.4% in their fifties, and 5.2% in their sixties. You may have noticed that when JR Tokai Express Research has a survey with people drawn from employees in the public and private sector the male percentage is over 80%. It might be interesting to find out why there is a higher ratio of self-employed women in their monitor panel.

I don’t know if many foreigners are aware of it, but if you spend over 100,000 yen or so (sorry, I don’t have the exact figures!) over the last calendar year on medical bills, including doctors’ fees, prescription medicines and traveling expenses you can claim back tax on the extra money. There are of course exceptions like gold teeth, ningen dock (full preventitive checks taking from half a day to two days) and quackery, but it’s always worth saving your receipts just in case.
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The internet, the information super-highway, is supposed to be this great conduit of information by which everyone can gather information on whatever they please. To find out how the Japanese are plugging into these vast resources, japan.internet.com reported on a survey conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into using the internet to garner information.

Demographics

On the 27th of November 2007 331 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor group employed in the public or private sector completed a private online questionnaire. 78.2% of the sample was male, 9.7% in their twenties, 37.5% in their thirties, 36.0% in their forties, 12.1% in their fifties, and 4.8% in their sixties.

It is not clear from the survey whether just computer-based internet access was counted, or if mobile phone usage was included.

Quite frankly, this survey seems fatally flawed as Q1 does not include Wikipedia (which is itself fatally flawed) as I must admit that for simple factual data I do reference it, and given that is seems to often appear in four in five of Japanese surfers’ search results, to not include it would be an oversight.

If you too want to gather information on train times, NihonHacks recently had an article on how to do it.
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With the New Year soon to be upon us, japan.internet.com reported on a survey conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into year end and new year holidays.

Demographics

On the 5th of December 2007 331 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor panel employed in the public or private sector successfully completed an online questionnaire. 81.3% of the sample was male, 8.2% in their twenties, 37.2% in their thirties, 40.2% in their forties, 11.8% in their fifties, and 2.7% in their sixties.

My plans are sleeping, some housework, visiting the parents-in-law, and going to the cinema; we have tickets for Cha-cha. I think we also have a musical fitted into the schedule somewhere that might or might not be Rent. I have 10 days continuous holidays, from Friday the28th to Sunday the 6th inclusive.
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Despite numerous government announcements regarding Linux initiatives, little real progress is being made, with the official English web pages describing the project in fact looking rather dead. In order to find out what is actually happening in government offices, japan.internet.com published the results of a survey by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into introducing Open Source Software (OSS) in the public sector.

Demographics

On the 4th of December 2007 330 people from the JR Tokai Express Research online monitor group employen in the public sector completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 83.0% of the sample was male, 3.9% were in their twenties, 42.7% in their thirties, 43.9% in their forties, 7.9% in their fifties, and 1.5% in their sixties.

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The world is going digital, from digital television to digital audio, but what about one of the last hangovers from the analogue world, the humble calendar? With the end of the year approaching, will the desktop calendar move from on top of the PC to into the PC? To find out what’s happening in Japan, japan.internet.com reported on a survey conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into this very topic of calendars.

Demographics

On the 30th of November 2007 334 members of JR Tokai Express Research’s online monitor group employed in either the public or private sector successfully completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 81.3% of the sample was male, 10.0% in their twenties, 39.0% in their thirties, 35.3% in their forties, 12.4% in their fifties, and 3.3% in their sixties.

In my previous team we used to get a handful of free desktop calendars from a translator dispatch company, but now I suspect that with my employer’s heavy emphasis on compliance issues, these are treated as potential bribes or another method of receiving favourable treatment thus we are forbidden from accepting them.

On my home PC I occasionally download (and wifey does so often) wallpaper with a one- or two-month calendar featuring either Pinky or cute Neko no Kimochi cover models, although if you’re not a member you need to do a short survey before you get to the download page, I’m afraid, and the free samples for non-subscribers don’t have dates on them.

In January I translated an identical set of questions.
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Earlier this year, the Japan Recording-Media Industries Association announced that last year’s sales were below predicted numbers, and they think it will be 2010 before the market flourishes. One reason for this is the confusion between the standards, Blu-ray Disc versus HD DVD, with consumers delaying their purchases to avoid being stuck with another Betamax. To learn what people thought of the situation, japan.internet.com reported on a survey conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into next-generation DVD.

Demographics

On the 26th of November 2007 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research online monitor group employed in either the public or private sector successfully completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 82.1% of the sample was male, 8.5% in their twenties, 40.3% in their thirties, 33.6% in their forties, 14.2% in their fifties, and 3.3% in their sixties.

Another reason is perhaps the lack of clear user benefits from upgrading from DVD; on a good system, the higher quality of the next generation is really obvious, but for those with lower-end television the desire to upgrade just their media player is not present. However, this aspect was not addressed in the survey below. Also missing from the report below is details on how many of the owners have stand-alone players versus PS3, Xbox or computer drive owners.

Personally, I’ve no plans to buy either format, not that I watch many DVDs anyway.
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Even though shops like Oxfam dress many UK students, charity shops as we might know them in the west basically do not exist in Japan, for various reasons that would be interesting to see investigated through a survey. Indeed, perhaps the full version of this survey reported on by japan.internet.com and conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into used clothes covered that issue, although the highlights below do not.

Demographics

On the 20th of November 2007 334 members of the JR Tokai Express Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.3% of the sample was male, 4.8% in their teens, 16.5% in their twenties, 37.4% in their thirties, 24.3% in their forties, 8.7% in their fities, 7.5% in their sixties, and for the first time ever for a JR Tokai Express Research poll, 0.9% (or three people) were specifically identified as being aged seventy or older.

I’m not sure how the first answer in Q1SQ2 should be read; is this referring to buying pre-worn jeans or the like, or choosing used for everyday wear as one cannot afford new. I’d also like to see cross-referencings between where purchased and why purchased, and also what sorts of clothes. I can image little stigma being attached to picking up a second-hand kimono, but a box of everyday clothes from a fleamarket is a very different kind of purchase.
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