世論 What Japan Thinks

Nifty Research recently took a look at crime prevention.

Demographics

Between the 14th and 20th of February 2014 4,833 members of the Nifty monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. No detailed demographic information was provided.

I’ve not experienced any crime here in Japan (except getting a parking ticket once…), and I don’t take any particular anti-crime measures when out and about.

Note that in Q6, carrying pepper spray is illegal.
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Japan is still very much a smoker’s paradise despite being outnumbered by non-smokers, as this survey from Nifty into smoking revealed.

Demographics

Between the 24th and 30th of January 2014 5,098 members of the Nifty monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. No further demographics were given.

You can even get tobacco tea from a vending machine in Japan:

In Q6, banning smoking on pavements (sidewalks for my American readers) illustrates the strength of JT, Japan Tobacco, and its advertising, which has convinced the public that despite Q5 showing that most people are aware of the health issues, impoliteness and the risk of poking children in the eye outweighs taking said children into a smoky cafe and puffing away; as many a foreigner says, Japan must be the only country where it is often easier to smoke inside than outside. Next, banning smoking in bullet trains would be low-priority for me, as on the main Tokyo-Osaka run all the newer trains are non-smoking, but have a smoking room, which I actually think is worse. With a distinct smoking car, it is easy to avoid; with a room, if you happen to get a seat nearby and beside a smoker, their fumes after their visits will be pretty obnoxious.

Where I’d like to see smoking banned is parliament; then I will know that the government is really serious about tackling the issue.
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Today is a bunch of questions from @nifty around the theme of the New Year.

Demographics

Between the 6th and 12th of December 2013 5,418 members of the @nifty internet service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. No further demographic information was provided.

One reason for translating this is that I’ve just finished sending off my New Years cards (the Japanese equivalent of Christmas cards), a total of 16, I think it was, and my wife is sending another 45.
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@nifty, an internet service provider and portal in Japan, conducted a survey into attitudes regarding Japan. Each question was made as a separate post, so I’ll include links inline.

Demographics

Between the 15th and 21st of November 2013 5,264 members of @Nifty completed a private internet-based questionnaire. No further demographics were provided.

When a friend came over to Japan recently I took him out to a basic restaurant for okonomiyaki (see the pic above), and he loved it. It was a pokey little place with just the one counter/hotplate and 12 seats, the chef cooking right in front of us, ciggie smoke clogging the air, ice-cold beer. He loved it, as did I, as I hadn’t been to such a simple, honest place for so long; before I got married, I used to frequent a local okonomiyaki shop, visiting at least once a week.
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Between the 26th of April and 9th of May 2013 5,198 members of @Nifty answered a number of questions about udon, Japanese wheat-based noodles. Here are some of the highlights.

First, when asked how much they loved it, 2% said it was to die for, 32% loved it, 43% liked it, 18% had no particular preferences, just 4% didn’t really like it, a rounded 0% hated it, and no-one would die rather than eat it! I’m in the like category.

Next, regarding whether it was better hot or cold, 44% chose hot, 24% had no preference, 6% preferred it cold, 25% liked it hot in winter and cold in summer, and 1% disliked it either way.

Regarding when they liked to eat it, women had more preferences than me in almost every category; just under a half of both sexes chose at lunchtime, 27% anf 34% of women in cold weather, 24% of men and 35% when their didn’t want to spend time or effort eating anything else, and so on down. The two times that men prefered it more than women was any time (24% versus 22%) and after drinking, 7% versus 2%!

Now, an interesting question; there are two main variants of broth that udon is served with; Kanto dashi from the Tokyo region, and Kansai dashi from the Osaka area. Kansai dashi is an almost clear broth subtly flavoured with kombu seaweed, Kanto dashi is basically 90% soy sauce, or at least that’s how it tastes to me! The results of this question were split by the regions of Japan; 25% to 30% of those in East Japan prefered Kanto dashi, versus under 5% in the West. Tokai, which is the Nagoya area was in no-man’s land, with about 18% siding with Kanto. About 35% in East Japan liked both styles equally, whilst under 10% in the West did. Kyushu, however, had about 18% sitting on the fence. Interestingly, even in Kanto itself more prefered Kansai dashi (about 33%), and a few percent more in other eastern and northern areas were also so inclined. In Kansai, over 90% supported the home team, and about 80% in parts further west.

When asked what flavouring accents they liked, sliced green onions was tops with 90%, chili-based spices was second at about 66%, then bonita fish flakes at 28% or so. Yuzu, citrus peel, was just under 20% despite being my favourite.

Ahh, I’ve got all hungry now!

japan.internet.com recently reported on an interesting survey conducted by Nifty, comnico and Lifemedia into social media usage, focusing on young soon-to-graduate students.

Demographics

Between the 8th and 11th of March 2013 559 social media-using people who were due to graduate at the end of this academic year and were aged between 20 and 26 completed an internet survey, but it was not reported how the sample was gathered. 62.1% of the sample were female, and 37.9% male.

Coincidentally, my new group leader today introduced himself, including his Facebook page, and suggested that people interested should befriend him, so I shall do that and see what happens…
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