I subscribe to “Yoron What Japan Thinks”. This guy has gone to the trouble of translating into English the results of online surveys that deal with consumer and life-style trends in Japan, surveys that I wouldn’t couldn’t read in Japanese.
These statistics are interesting, but I also liked his comment on irresponsible journalism.
I suppose if I was intellectually bankrupt and just wanted to get hits for this story by getting spread to the more excitable corners of the web, I should have entitled the story something like “Four in five Japanese will DIE of STUBBORNNESS”, and indeed I wouldn’t be too surprised if it gets picked up anyway and repackaged with a similar scary line. Anyway, I believe that geiger counters are actually relatively difficult to use accurately, and for perhaps the biggest source of mostly unfounded worry, foodstuffs, they are pretty much useless, but yet I hear that people in Tokyo supermarkets do wave them over the veggie stalls. I wonder how they react to bananas and Brazil nuts?
via Over one in six Japanese want a geiger counter | 世論 What Japan Thinks.
If you haven’t yet done so, take a gander at his “about” page, which includes this gem which makes me think he’s British (the use of “git”, not the fact he’s anti-social!):
Are you really an anti-social git?
“Yes” is probably the most accurate answer, with a tacked-on “…but I’m getting better”.
Email, maps and travel guides most wanted on foreign trips | 世論 What Japan Thinks
Aug 22
Posted by sheffner in Uncategorized | Comments off
via Email, maps and travel guides most wanted on foreign trips | 世論 What Japan Thinks.
No. 2 was “using maps to look up routes”. Can you guess what #1 was?
And here are some other recent surveys. They give an interesting glimpse into Japanese psychology, if you’re interested in that kind of thing.
via When Japanese think they’re back home from overseas | 世論 What Japan Thinks.
No.1 is totally predictable.
via How Japanese spent their summer holidays as kids | 世論 What Japan Thinks.
This one’s pretty depressing. Top of the list is “Was busy with club activities so didn’t have any free time” and “Was busy studying so didn’t have any free time” comes in at #4. All work and no play and all that, so it’s not surprising that No. 2 is “was at a loose end every day.”
Tags: children, cultural commentary, Japan, surveys, what japan thinks