For their report on goo Research’s fourth regular survey into electronic money, japan.internet.com took a look at an interesting aspect, the potential for discounted rail fares when using electronic cash.
Demographics
Between the 10th and 12th of February 2014 1,078 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 58.5% of the sample were male, 0.5% in their teens, 11.6% in their twenties, 22.4% in their thirties, 32.6% in their forties, and 33.0% aged fifty or older.
With sales tax going up from 5% to 8% in April, although currently all train tickets are rounded to the nearest 10 yen, some transport operators are planning on increasing fares by exactly 3% (actually by 2.857%, but you know what I mean!) then rounded to the nearest yen, but only for electronic cash users. As most of the ticket vending machines cannot handle one and five yen coins, for cash users the tax increase will be rounded up to the nearest ten yen. Read the rest of this entry »
A topic that has recently come to the fore is buses and/or trains running around the clock in Tokyo. It was covered on last night’s news as one of the ideas being floated to increase Japan’s attractiveness to foreign investors. However, one major negative issue is that currently the last train home is often the only excuse employees have for leaving work (labour protection laws are poorly enforced, and the pressure from societal norms means a lot of unpaid overtime is worked) or indeed obligatory after-work drinkies, so removing the final escape route could make the average employees lot much worse.
So, with that in mind, Yahoo! conducted an open news poll asking is 24 hour city buses and underground necessary? At the time of writing, seven days into an ten-day poll, 41,587 people have voted. 22% say both are needed, 5% say buses only, and 17% underground only. However, these three are outweighed by the noes to both, with 58% saying that both forms of round-the-clock public transport are not necessary.
Between the 23rd and 26th of March 2011 1,070 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-base questionnaire. 53.4% of the sample were female, 10.2% in their teens, 13.1% in their twenties, 24.7% in their thirties, 23.7% in their forties, 13.3% in their fifties, and 15.0% 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.
I’d bet that most of my readers would feel irritated or frustrated rather than uncomfortable by someone stealing their seat, but I suppose feeling awkward is a very Japanese reaction. The two number sixes are similar, I think. Personally, I’ve been embarrassed by number two (especially if it includes drooling, snoring and sleeping on someone’s shoulder), number three, and number nine. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve previously looked at loud phone calls on the train, but this survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com found that many were annoyed by quiet phone calls too in this survey into train manners.
Demographics
Betweem the 10th and 12th of February 2010 1,080 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.7% of the sample were male, 16.3% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 16.0% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, and 12.2% aged sixty or older.
I actually find quieter phone conversations more annoying, as people seem to make less effort to cut the conversation short, but instead imagine cupping their hands over their mouth masks the noise.
If I rode with other foreigners what I really want to do is to point at the person and talk in English about how bad mannered the person is, but as I don’t I have to make do with scowling at them. Read the rest of this entry »
Between the 21st and 24th of July 2009 1,026 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 48.2% of the sample were male, 8.0% in their teens, 14.6% in their twenties, 28.8% in their thirties, 26.0% in their forties, 12.5% in their fifties, and 10.1% 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. Note that today’s question is for the men only.
As it’s a while since I’ve tried to sell you mobile phone straps please allow me this indulgence of a high-tech demo of a train leaving Tokyo station:
Between the 10th and 15th of July 2009 543 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.5% of the sample were male, 33.3% were in their twenties, 31.5% in their thirties, and 35.2% in their forties.
I’m not in favour of men-only carriages (although I strongly support women-only) as I’m not really sure they’d change anything; I’d love to know why people wanted them, as surely it cannot just be due to the fear of being misidentified as a groper.
Maybe I’ve just been in Japan too long, but I’ve recently noticed train phone manners going downhill, with talking on the phone being an obvious hate, but also people who leave their keypress beep on irritate me a lot. These feelings seemed to be shared by most people, according to this recent survey conducted by Point On Research and reported on by japan.internet.com into mobile use onboard trains.
Demographics
On the 2nd of February 2009 exactly 1,000 mobile phone using members of the Point On monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. Exactly 50.0% of the sample were female, 20.0% in their teens, 20.0% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, and 20.0% aged fifty or older.
When I go abroad this sort of behaviour doesn’t really bother me, perhaps because I am accepting that it is the social norm for the country I am visiting, or perhaps it is because I’m often trying to sleep on my daily commute.
The picture accompanying this post is a Tokyo manners poster, one of a series of posters they have produced, with today’s statistic added for a more accurate representation of the situation! Read the rest of this entry »
Trains always have a certain charm for me, and the shinkansen (bullet train) more than most, but sometimes I feel there are things missing, with no wireless LAN even on the newest models being the most obvious omission. This survey from goo Ranking looked at what the Japanese felt they’d like to see on the shinkansen and other express trains.
Demographics
Between the 25th and 28th of July 2008 1,072 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 5.7% in their teens, 14.4% in their twenties, 31,0% in their thirties, 28.1% in their forties, 10.5% in their fifties, and 10.4% 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.
The one thing I felt missing from express trains (not that I wanted to use it myself) is the opportunity to order special lunch boxes from stations you pass through. These eki-ben, as they are known, are rather popular for some reason I have never been able to understand.
With many of the answers it is not specified if people want the facilities to use or to avoid, although I suspect the latter for most of them! Read the rest of this entry »
In yesterday’s post I pondered out loud about whether or not the line I commute on is the busiest one in the Osaka area or not, so I decided to look for some statistics. With surprisingly little effort, I found the data for last year, 2007, for Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya areas.
The degree of crowding was averaged over one hour over all the trains passing through the segment between two stations, and I presume also averaged over the year. As a baseline, 100% is full, not just all seats taken, but also the straps and a few people around the doors. 150% is touching shoulders, but can still easily read a newspaper. 180% is bodies touching, but can just manage to read. 200% is just a bit too close, but you can still just manage a magazine or book. 250% is sardines.
With one of the favourite ways to pass the time in trains being fiddling with one’s mobile phone, this recent survey reported on by japan.internet.com and conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into mobile phone email lets us look at what people are doing with them on the train.
Demographics
On the 10th of May 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor group employed in the private sector completed a closed online questionnaire. 75.5% of the sample was male, 11.5% in their twenties, 35.2% in their thirties, 38.8% in their forties, 11.5% in their fifties, and 2.4% in their sixties. Note that as JR Tokai Express draws some of its monitor base from promotion through JR Tokai Express trains, there may very well be a bias towards people who frequently use the bullet train, where it is acceptable to talk on one’s mobile in between the carriages.
As noted above, as there are probably a lot of business travelers, the 11% who talk on trains might include a certain percentage who only do it on the shinkansen or other long-distance trains where such behaviour is acceptable.
Also in Q2, One Seg television at 12% just beats music playing, but many more people use iPods instead for their in-train audio entertainment.
The extra information from Q2 saying that three in four were checking route information strengthens my assumption that there were a lot of business travelers in the survey. Read the rest of this entry »
For their report on goo Research’s fourth regular survey into electronic money, japan.internet.com took a look at an interesting aspect, the potential for discounted rail fares when using electronic cash.
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Maybe I’ve just been in Japan too long, but I’ve recently noticed train phone manners going downhill, with talking on the phone being an obvious hate, but also people who leave their keypress beep on irritate me a lot. These feelings seemed to be shared by most people, according to this recent survey conducted by Point On Research and reported on by japan.internet.com into 
With one of the favourite ways to pass the time in trains being fiddling with one’s mobile phone, this recent survey reported on by japan.internet.com and conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc into 
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