When goo Ranking looked at urban legends related to job-hunting, there were a lot of answers that seemed quite out of place to me. Note that this survey was concerned with the milk round (what is the US term for this?), university students job-hunting activities.
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.
I only have vague memories of the milk round for me; one notable was visiting and getting rejected by the company that eventually ended up being my ticket to Japan. Read the rest of this entry »
Between the 23rd and 26th of April 2010 1,187 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-base questionnaire. 61.4% of the sample were female, 10.1% in their teens, 17.4% in their twenties, 30.9% in their thirties, 24.9% in their forties, 10.1% in their fifties, and 6.5% 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.
Number 4 is one I’d like to hear about, as I cannot really imagine what might be hidden by the marathon! For number 6, I think I’ve heard somewhere about Paul McCartney having a Japanese nanny. If any of my readers have heard more about the rumours, or if you want me to investigate more myself, please drop me a line! Read the rest of this entry »
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.
Number 2 is actually true, although it is for promotional reasons:
Number 5 is also actually almost true, although the school is in Shizuoka, I think. The kids gargle with it, as green tea has an anti-bacterial effect. I’ve seen it on the television, so it must be true!
This is probably the strangest survey I’ve translated since my one on the top folklore and superstitions. This time we look with goo Ranking at the urban legends that might just be true. As I am no expert in Japanese rumours, some of the translations may be wrong, and some of the rumours just seem rather odd, but I hope my readers can help me out. The survey was conducted between the 19th and 21st of June 2007.
I thought that fan death was interesting – this is a popular legend in Korea, but I didn’t know anyone really took it seriously in Japan. Perhaps interestingly, number 10, skin breathing, comes from the Bond film Goldfinger. Ian Fleming invented other such rumours, for example the one about Sumo wrestlers being trained to retract their testicles, and that gay people cannot whistle. Finally, I’d be shocked, quite frankly, if there wasn’t a bomb shelter underneath the Diet! Perhaps, however, the rumours go further.