世論 What Japan Thinks

This ranking survey from goo Ranking used a word I haven’t heard for a while, mottainai, “what a waste”, in a survey entitled what things at work do people think are mottainai?

Demographics

Over the 6th and 7th of February 2013 1,122 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 60.1% of the sample were female, 10.2% in their teens, 16.6% in their twenties, 26.5% in their thirties, 25.0% in their forties, 11.1% in their fifties, and 10.6% 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.

My place of work tries to avoid most of the wastes below, but one thing I notice in the office but not listed here is a bilingual poster that is in all the toilet cubicles that reads something like “Please close the toilet seat after use. This saves 15 grammes of CO₂ per day.” 15 grammes of CO₂ is a bit difficult to picture, but apparently is about the same as boiling a kettle, according to Google. Talking of saving electricity, and related to number 4, here is a snap from Flickr, although from a train rather than an office:

Read the rest of this entry »

With the temperature hovering around 35 degrees Celcius outside, and Cool Biz meaning that it’s about 28 degrees Celcius inside the typical office, tempers are bound to be frayed, so this survey from goo Ranking looked at what aspects of their co-workers annoyed people in the office in summer.

Demographics

Over the 8th and 9th of June 2012 1,092 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 60.1% of the sample were female, 10.8% in their teens, 15.8% in their twenties, 28.9% in their thirties, 26.3% in their forties, 10.2% in their fifties, and 8.0% 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’m probably guilty of causing the first (or more correctly number 16), as I have some scented underarm deodorant in the office, so I’m sure my colleagues at least notice it! I also do tend to get a bit shivery when the air conditioner is over-strong. Number 10 annoys me, although the one person who excessively faps his fan at least does work.
Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the start of the new financial year, which also means that it’s the mass intake of new recruits at the workplace, which further means that goo Ranking will conduct its annual look at what behaviour by new recruits do people want to warn them about.

Demographics

Over the 29th of February and the 1st of March 2012 1,175 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 61.4% of the sample were female, 10.0% in their teens, 16.5% in their twenties, 29.3% in their thirties, 24.1% in their forties, 10.6% in their fifties, and 9.5% 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.
Read the rest of this entry »

goo Ranking took a look at a subject close to my heart, what are the characteristics of coworkers who are difficult to work with.

Demographics

Between the 17th and 18th of January 2012 1,048 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 61.6% of the sample were female, 12.3% in their teens, 15.6% in their twenties, 27.9% in their thirties, 25.8% in their forties, 9.5% in their fifties, and 8.9% in their sixties. 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 say the main problem I see with my colleagues is an unwillingness to challenge the status quo, or even to just suggest different ways of doing things. One recent case that comes to mind was that I was moving on to a new project, and I asked what other people in similar environments were using for source code control, and the answer I got back was “nothing”. After banging my head on the desk for a few minutes, I decided to go with git, which I taught myself in two minutes.

Naturally, I have none of the characteristics from the list below.
Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a fun wee survey from goo Ranking, looking at the top ten jobs that Japanese wanted to do when they were a child, for both boys and girls.

Demographics

Over the 24th and 24th of May 2011 1,085 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.5% of the sample were male, 11.0% in their teens, 15.3% in their twenties, 27.5% in their thirties, 25.1% in their forties, 12.6% in their fifties, and 8.6% 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’m actually surprised by the results being a bit more adult that when I was a kid. Doctors, football players, pilots and spacemen was as far as we got, none of this author business or translators or diplomats. However, I do suspect there is a little bit of selective memory going on, as there are no train drivers for the boys.

When my brother was in the last year at primary school, I think it was, he wrote an essay on what he wanted to be; a dog eutheniser at the police pound.
Read the rest of this entry »

A recent ranking survey from goo Ranking looked at fun company rules that people would like to see introduced at their own workplace.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 22nd of April 2011 1,110 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 60.5% of the sample were female, 10.8% in their teens, 16.2% in their twenties, 27.4% in their thirties, 26.4% in their forties, 9.3% in their fifties, and 9.9% 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.

While looking up some of the companies listed, I came across more office rules from Kayac (in English). The one I found most curious was:

Lucky Wages

All our staff can play as they earn with our lucky dice scheme. They can top up their basic monthly wage by rolling the dice, introducing an element of fun and chance into their working day.

Now that is quite, quite strange!
Read the rest of this entry »

The third survey for today from goo Ranking is a look at the gap people felt between before and after starting work.

Demographics

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.
Read the rest of this entry »

goo Ranking recently looked at Japan’s worst corporate customs. For many foreigners in Japanese workplaces, a harder question would be to list Japan’s best corporate customs, however!

Demographics

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.

Although it doesn’t say in the text, the answers seem to mainly reflect women’s situation in the workplace, or perhaps it’s just that they have more complaints, a situation which I can well understand. When my wife was single, she used to have to go out drinking many evenings in the week, and her boss’s choice in pubs were usually Filipino bars…

Extreme heat and cold is another one, and this year will be even worse as many more companies will be following government advice and setting air conditioning to 28 degrees Celcius. Indeed, my place of work asked us to consider 29 degrees or more…
Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

A recent survey from iShare into relationships with one’s boss revealed some interesting facets of the worker-boss relationship in Japan.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 23rd of July 2010 427 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.9% of the sample were male, 30.4% in their twenties, 31.1% in their thirties, and 38.4% in their forties.

I do regularly but not frequently talk to my boss about career advancement, but I’ve never had a decent answer from him, thus I’d be in the 27.4% in Q1SQ4. I’ve only had one direct boss that I can say I respected totally; my employer seems to breed large number of middle management who do not want to rock the boat and would prefer to stay in the office until all hours producing low-value but high-volume reports rather than asking why the information is needed.
Read the rest of this entry »