jr tokai express research

Web email usage patterns in Japan

Do you use throwaway email addresses? graph of japanese statisticsAs usual, a Yahoo! service dominates the rankings, this time when JR Tokai Express Research Inc looked at PC-targeted free email services in a report published by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

On the 22nd of August 2008 333 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor panel employed in the public or private sector completed an online members-only questionnaire. 86.8% of the sample were male, 3.3% in their twenties, 34.5% in their thirties, 53.2% in their forties, and 9.0% in their fifties.

In Q2, I wonder why almost half of the sample use free mail services to subscribe to newsletters. Is it to protect privacy or anonymity, to keep one’s main mailbox clean, to take advantage of high-quality spam filters, to allow access from multiple locations, or what reason? Sadly, this issue is not addressed in this report.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Five or less sites regularly checked by majority of Japanese

How many web sites do you regularly check? graph of japanese statisticsI looked at RSS feed usage yesterday and expressed surprise at the relatively low level of usage, but this new survey from JR Tokai Express Research Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com into web site viewing habits reveals perhaps that there is not much need for RSS.

Demographics

On the 4th of September 2008 331 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor pool who used the internet at home completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.6% of the sample were male, 3.3% in their teens, 11.8% in their twenties, 30.5% in their thirties, 24.5% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, 8.5% in their sixties, and 5.7% in their seventies or older.

I was going to quote similar figures on site usage from the UK or USA, but I couldn’t find anything useful through Google! If someone knows of a “What the UK/USA Thinks”-like web site, please let me know.

Although there are few people performing their regular site checks through RSS, with the majority having no more than five places to visit, RSS is perhaps not that necessary. However, do people start checking more sites once they learn about RSS, or do they keep the same number but just do their checks quicker? That would be an interesting topic for a survey.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Mobile phone transmission speed in Japan

How satisfied are you with your mobile's transmission speed? graph of japanese statisticsThe vast majority of Japanese phones use the 3G network, but is that enough for the average user? This survey from JR Tokai Express Research Inc (actually, japan.internet.com forgot to mention who conducted the survey, but looking at the sample size, age demographics and the high concentration of respondents from the Tokai area, it has to be from JR Tokai!) tried to find out with this survey on mobile phone speed.

Demographics

On the 9th of September 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.5% of the sample were male, 3.0% in their teens, 11.8% in their twenties, 31.7% in their thirties, 23.0% in thier forties, 15.4% in their fifties, 9.1% in their sixties, and 6.0% aged seventy or older.

I’m satisfied with my current mobile transmission speed, although the most I ever as from it is sending a 20 or 30 kilobyte photo attachment. Speed of operation, however, that’s a different matter altogether and something I do have strong opinions about!
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Googling your home in Street View Japan

Have you Googled your home on Google Maps Street View? graph of japanese statisticsThis survey from JR Tokai Express Research Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com looking into issues surrounding Google Maps Street View.

Demographics

On the 20th of August 2008 332 members of the JR Tokai Express Research online monitor panel employed in either the public or private sectors completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 83.7% of the sample were male, 6.3% in their twenties, 35.8% in their thirties, 45.2% in their forties, and 12.7% in their fifties.

The Google camera car didn’t make a trip up my street, despite being right beside a railway station on the most overcrowded (or so I heard, I should search for figures!) line in the Kansai area. When I used my old computer with Street View it was horribly slow, although I did manage to find my previous flat. I had a look around the area but didn’t find anyone I knew, however.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

iPod touch wanted by almost two in five Japanese

How much do you know about the iPod touch? graph of japanese statisticsWith Apple’s iPhone doing – well, nobody knows, as Apple will not allow SoftBank to release any data, but it’s certainly winning the PR and brand image battle. To see if any of the charm has rubbed off onto the iPod touch, JR Tokai Express Research Inc conducted a survey, the results being reported on by japan.internet.com.

Research results

On the 19th of August 2008 332 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor panel employed in either the public or private sectors completed an internet-based private questionnaire. 85.8% of the sample were male, 6.6% in their twenties, 33.1% in their thirties, 45.5% in their forties, 12.0% in their fifties, and 2.7% in their sixties.

Talking of the iPhone (I’ve mentioned often enough how little I am interested in portable music) I saw an article in the Australian newspaper … on the Japan iPhone market that was rather inaccurate, so I’ll take this chance to correct it. What they did get right, however, is that the iPhone will shake up the Japan market, but I don’t think it will be quite the earthquake that I first thought. It quotes someone as saying:

Gerhard Fasol, of telecoms consultancy Eurotechnology Japan, estimates they shifted between 75,000 and 125,000 units in July. At that rate, he thinks 2008 sales could total between 645,000 and 1 million.

No, it will not sell one million this year. SoftBank have already dropped the price of the plan to allow a discount for people who use less than 5 Mb of data per month, but that represents barely one page a day through the Safari web browser. WiFi is not a viable option as public access points are rare in Japan, and if one does stick to that, why not just buy an iPod touch and keep one’s proper phone for everything else? No support for emoji for instance, not just input but also display, will turn off just about every casual user.

This potential for continuously upgrading applications, without also needing to replace handsets, is the genuine innovation Apple brings to the Japanese mobile market and the most direct challenge to the existing system..

Almost all newer mobile phones have options to update their firmware and applications, although this option is rarely taken. There is maybe an argument that the iPhone’s process is more user-friendly, but when one thinks of a phone one expects it to work straight out of the factory and not have to have repeated upgrades. Of course, it’s rather difficult to download a One Seg receiver or an electronic cash chip, yet Japanese phones can easily download extra packages to support more types of electronic money.

Now, back to the iPod touch.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Computer satisfaction in Japan

How satisfied are you with your computer at home? graph of japanese statisticsHaving just upgraded my computer, I’m in the satisfied to some degree category, but to see what the Japanese think about home computers, JR Tokai Express Research Inc conducted a survey which was reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

On the 19th and 20th of August 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 58.5% of the sample were male, 2.4% were in their teens, 14.2% in their twenties, 33.0% in their thirties, 23.6% in their forties, 12.4% in their fifties, 9.1% in their sixties, and 5.2% aged seventy or older. Note that due to the survey being conducted online, in Q1 not surprisingly nearly everyone had a home computer.

Ahh, what was right with my old machine! It was old, slow, occasionally needed two or three resets to boot, it was noisy, slow USB ports and temperamental Japanese input to name just the major problems. The new beast that I’ve finally ported stuff over to fixes nearly every one of these complaints, but I’m still getting the hang of Vista and I should have upgraded to 2 gigs of RAM when I bought my Acer Aspire L5100.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Earthquake early-warning devices in Japan

How much do you know of the earthquake early-warning system? graph of japanese statisticsWith another recent survey on earthquake preparedness (untranslated by me) showing over two in three rather worried about The Big One hitting, this survey on earthquake early warnings presents a look at a different aspect of the same topic. The survey was conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc and published on the japan.internet.com web site.

Demographics

On the 18th of August 2008 331 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 84.3% of the sample were male (it said the survey was conducted with just internet users, but that’s an even heavier bias towards men than even their panels of employed people!), 4.8% in their twenties, 35.3% in their thirties, 44.7% in their forties, 12.4% in their fifties, 2.1% in their sixties, and 0.6% aged seventy or older.

The early warning system is not predictions of earthquakes, but instead sensors all over the country can detect an earthquake nearby, and since radio messages travel faster than the earthquake P and S waves, they basically radio ahead to warn that something nasty is coming, usually giving no more than 10 seconds warning, just enough time to dive under a handy table. As The Big One for Tokyo is predicted to likely occur under the city, it does seem rather pointless for the residents of that city.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Google Earth most popular other Google service in Japan

Do you know the internet search engine Google? graph of japanese statisticsNo serious internet user should be without Google, and this research conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com into Google service awareness shows that many Japanese use it heavily.

Demographics

On the 11th of August 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor group employed in either the public or private sector completed a private on-line questionnaire. 76.1% of the sample were male, 9.4% in their twenties, 37.9% in their thirties, 40.3% in their forties, 10.6% in their fifties, and 1.8% in their sixties.

As Yahoo! beats Google in Japan for most aspects, I’d love to see similar questions asked about that portal too.

Note that this survey was conducted after the Japanese versions of Google Maps Street View was launched, and although Q1SQ1 does not mention it, I wonder if Google Maps was included within the Google Earth answer? I also wonder if AdSense was grouped with AdWords.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

PC Recycling law followed by very few Japanese

Do you know about the Recycling Law? graph of japanese statisticsThis survey conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc and reported on by japan.internet.com regarding computer recycling is a particularly relevant survey to me, as I am right now in the middle of copying files from an old PC to a new one via my notebook.

Demographics

On the 7th of August 2008 331 members of the JR Tokai Express Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.1% of the sample were male, 14.2% in their twenties, 41.4% in their thirties, 23.0% in their forties, 12.1% in their fifties, and 9.4% in their sixties.

There has to be a better way to copy around 80GB of data from one computer to the other! I’m just using a network share and the rather nice utility TeraCopy that fixes a few bugs and annoyances in the standard Windows file copying routines. One other problem I have is that I only have one monitor and only one handy network connection so I cannot directly copy from old to new. Hopefully I’ll be up and running by tomorrow.

Regarding disposal of computers, the 資源有効利用促進法, shigenyuukouriyousokushinhou, or Law for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources, to give it its official English translation according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry web site, requires businesses to promote recycling of computers (and air conditioners, microwaves, televisions, washing and drying machines, fridges, and copiers).
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By Ken Y-N, ago

YouTube usage in Japan

Have you ever embedded a YouTube video on an SNS, blog, etc? graph of japanese statisticsAlthough other reports have shown that visitors to the home-grown competitor to YouTube, Nico-Nico Douga, stay longer and watch more per session, in terms of both visitor numbers and total viewing time, YouTube is still ahead. Therefore, this survey reported on by japan.internet.com and conducted by JR Tokai Express Research Inc looked only at YouTube.

Demographics

On the 6th of August 2008 330 members of the JR Tokai Express Research monitor group employed inb either public or private industry completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 69.7% of the sample were male, 9.7% in their twenties, 36.1% in their thirties, 41.2% in their forties, 10.6% in their fifties, and 2.4% in their sixties.

Q1 is a bit of a poor question as when you first access it defaults to the country and language setting of you browser (I think), but from a menu on top you can change both the language and the default country, so presenting a binary Japan versus USA is incorrect. I use Japan as my location and UK English as my language, so how would I answer?

Q2 is also confusing as what is entertainment? I guess that means clips from television variety programs, but it’s difficult to be sure.
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By Ken Y-N, ago