世論 What Japan Thinks

This is a matter that I have pondered about, so it’s interesting to see BlogCh addressing the issue of hot water bum-washing toilet seat usage.

Demographics

Between the 29th and 31st of July 2008 658 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed an internet-based private questionnaire. 51.2% of the sample were male, 13.2% in their twenties, 47.0% in their thirties, 28.6% in their forties, and 11.2% in their teens or fifty or older.

I’ve used the hot water spray twice; once on a toilet with a built-in drier, and once without. Both were rather unpleasant experiences, and the lingering feeling of dampness downstairs was quite disconcerting.

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This is a very straightforward look at a quite straitforward subject, wristwatches. This survey was reported on japan.internet.com and conducted by goo Research.

Demographics

Between the 6th and 11th of August 2008 1,055 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.2% of the sample were male, 14.5% in their teens, 19.7% in their twenties, 21.7% in their thirties, 16.3% in their forties, and 27.8% aged fifty or older.

I just got my watch battery replaced (1,000 yen from Yodobashi Camera, in case you’re wondering, but for some reason I had over 3,000 repair points on my card, so I got it for free) on my analogue-dialled stopwatch-adorned watch that I only wear at weekends, on the outside of my left wrist.
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Let’s be silly again today with goo Ranking, looking this time at when people feel loved, for both men and women. Note that the sample for this group is in their teens and twenties only.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 15th of July 2008 1,064 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.9% of the sample were female, 10.3% in their teens and 89.7% in their twenties. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Hugs are my number one! The number one for men actually sounds pretty dangerous to me.

Oh, and before you comment, as usual more spicy answers have been filtered out by goo Research!
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Today’s dose of sillyness is as usual from goo Ranking, looking at the ideal situation for a first kiss, for both men and women. Note that the sample for this group is in their teens and twenties only.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 15th of July 2008 1,064 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.9% of the sample were female, 10.3% in their teens and 89.7% in their twenties. 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 first kiss in Japan was in a location not featuring in the ranking, down a dark alley behind some vending machines. Romantic, eh?
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This is a bit of a short, but sweet, survey conducted by BlogCh into cellphone function ease of use.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 28th of July 2008 547 people (the selection method was not mentioned) completed a survey. 52.3% of the sample were male, 21.1% in their twenties, 45.9% in their thirties, 25.2% in their forties, and 8.8% of other ages.

I liked this survey because one of the selling points of the SoftBank iPhone is the ease of use, which the foreign press often stresses whilst mentioning the difficulty of Japanese cellphone operation. The results here highlight few are really comfortable with their phones. I was surprised by Osaifu Keitai (RFID-based contactless payment) being the hardest to use, as it’s just a touch on the sensor and you’re done. However, I think there is also the aspect of difficulty of understanding what exactly it is mixed in with these results.

Another reason I liked this survey was the use of Japanese to describe the degrees of confidence. I’ll leave them untranslated.
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There’s the new AdSense for Feeds out, which works with FeedBurner but not very flexibly yet.

However, I have a cunning idea, so if it works you will see this in your RSS reader along with an advertisement…

PS: What do you think about ads in RSS? I’ll only stick them at the end of longer survey posts, not short ones like this, except for this time since I’m just testing…

This 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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[Part 1][Part 2]

Now for part 2 of this survey conducted by an unnamed market research firm for Kao’s cat goods division into cat toiletism. Yes, they did stick an -ism on the end!

Demographics

No details were given, bar that 3,025 people owned by cats completed a survey. They do mention, however, that there are over 7 million households with cats, and in the last five years the percentage of single human households with a cat has doubled to the current figure of 14.4% of the total, or just over a million singles with a cat.

In Q8, remember that most Japanese homes are on the small size, so the choice of where to put the litter tray is rather limited.

At the moment in Japan there is a bit of a cat boom, and one of the ways it is expressed is by cat cafes, where you can have a cup of tea amongst some kitties. Indeed, I went to one recently, and once I finish uploading to flickr I’ll post a review.
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You may remember last year there was an ill-fated attempt by me to start up a blog carnival for Japan. The good news, however, is that Nick over at Long Countdown has ressurected the idea over at the Japan Soc Community Blog.

So, the first host is Shane at The Tokyo Traveler. She’s looking for Impressions of Tokyo, so please feel free to join in. You can submit your story through the widget below. The due date is the 20th of August, so don’t delay!

[Part 1][Part 2]

How do you know if your cat loves his litter tray? To try to find out in a less direct fashion than illustrated by the photograph, an unnamed market research firm on behalf of Kao’s cat goods division looked into cat toiletism. Yes, they did stick an -ism on the end!

Demographics

No details were given, bar that 3,025 people owned by cats completed a survey. They do mention, however, that there are over 7 million households with cats, and in the last five years the percentage of single human households with a cat has doubled to the current figure of 14.4% of the total, or just over a million singles with a cat.

My main reason for liking cats is that they are not clingy. I can’t stand dogs, with one of the reasons being their over-friendliness. Being able to keep themselves entertained when left on their own is a big plus too, of course. Back in Scotland I liked the pine chip poo sand and never understood why anyone would buy the Fuller’s Earth clay stuff!

Photograph by lynx81.
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