世論 What Japan Thinks

Actually, this survey would be more accurately headlined “Nuclear power last year and 9 years hence” as it was conducted last September, well before everything went all pear-shaped in Fukushima. The official title for this survey from Central Research Service Inc was the environment and energy problems.

Demographics

At some point in September 2010, 3,000 people over the age of twenty selected at random from the Kansai prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama and Shiga and 1,500 people from Fukui prefecture (where all Kansai’s nuclear reactors are situated) were sent a survey by post. 1,082 people from Kansai (36%) and 569 (38%) from Fukui returned the completed survey. A breakdown by age and sex was not reported.

I’ve previously reported on a similar survey by the same company into nuclear power in Kansai, which may serve as a useful cross-reference.
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The two biggest urban areas of Japan are Tokyo and Osaka, and the areas around them are respectively known as Kanto and Kansai. The two have many differences in habits that even the Japanese themselves find surprising, that being the subject of this recent survey from goo Ranking.

Demographics

Over the 21st and 22nd of September 2010 1,072 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 68.2% of the sample were female, 10.4% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 29.8% in their thirties, 26.2% in their forties, 8.7% in their fifties, and 7.0% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Here’s evidence from flickr of number 1 – left is Osaka, right is Tokyo.

I only knew four of them – the slices per loaf is completely new and quite surprising to me, for instance. I’m not sure why noodle broth was a surprise, as I thought that was pretty common knowledge. However, the first (and last, I hope) time tasting Kanto-style was surprising – there seemed to be about a week’s worth of salt in the pitch-black soup versus the clear and mild Kansai flavour.
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The two major metropolitan areas in Japan are Kanto, centred around Tokyo, and Kansai, centred around Osaka. Both areas have many distinct facets, so this goo Ranking looked at the differences between people in the Kansai and in Kanto.

Demographics

On the 19th of November 2009 1,166 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 59.9% of the sample were female, 13.4% in their teens, 20.6% in their twenties, 28.2% in their thirties, 23.2% in their forties, 8.3% in their fifties, and 6.3% aged sixty or older.

Kansai versus Kanto is like Glasgow versus London, just to put it into perspective. I’ve lived all my Japan life in Kansai, so it’s difficult for me to directly compare, but I get the impression that the Tokyo area is much colder for foreign residents than Kansai.

The preferences for dashi broth is something I have had direct experience of – a local soba (buckwheat noodles) restaurant was initally Kansai-style, with a light, clear broth, but for some reason they decided to go Kanto-style, resulting in something that tasted and looked like warmed-up soy sauce and almost undrinkably salty! That change lasted less than three months, presumably because they had far too many complaints!

Oh, and most of the people who get posted here from Kanto complain that Kansai cyclists are horrendous scoff-laws.
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One thing that I have always considered a bit of a dichotomy in Japan has been the overwhelming anti-nuclear weapon stance of the general public (hmm, I don’t actually have a survey on that, so I hope I’m correct!) versus the seemingly quiet acceptance of nuclear power. This recent survey from Central Research Services Inc looked at the second half of the above statement. The survey was entitled living and the environment, so the below is just one part of the survey.

The “Is nuclear power needed?” question is a difficult one to decipher, and the text doesn’t suggest any refinement to it. Given that Kinki’s main electricity generator KEPCO (Kansai Electric Power Co) generates 60% of its power from nuclear, it is very much required, so a negative answer is not a realistic position. However, if the question is more slanted towards “Is more needed?” or “Should alternatives be found and existing facilities decommissioned?”, that goes some way to explaining the 20% opposition. Here is an article on Kinki power.
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