Japan Pulse

• 83% surveyed in Apple World is planning to take off more than five days for vacation this year; 96% said they’d travel overseas if they had a long vacation.
• 83% of women in their thirties surveyed by IMJ Mobile pay for mobile phone services with monthly subscription fees.
• 73% of women interviewed after seeing a preview of “Sherlock Holmes” said their partner is more like Watson than Holmes, yet 55% wanted a Holmes-like boyfriend and 77% agreed Watson would make a better husband.
• 61% of people surveyed by by NicoNico Douga said they can trust recommendations of others users when it comes to products and restaurants.
• 60% of people surveyed for Goo Research said they thought Japanese history was the most important social studies class to be taught in Saturday classes.
• 58% of people surveyed by NicoNico Douga said they never use their real name on blogs or social forums.
• 32% of working women interviewed in japan.internet.com claim that a government worker would be their ideal partner, followed by 20% for salarymen and 17% for doctors.

• 75% of surveyed wives have bought clothing for their husbands, in particular, underwear.
• 75% of people surveyed at a town meeting said they think Osaka needs to maintain an international airport.
• 67% of Gizmodo Japan readers said they have deleted the call history on their mobile phones at least once.
• 49% of NicoNico Douga users say they sometimes think that socializing on the Net can be a hassle.
• 46% of people surveyed expected Japan to not get any gold medals at the Vancouver Winter Games.
• 34.9% of people surveyed by internet.com use Mozilla Firefox, 23.3% use IE, 19.1% use Google Chrome.
• 30% of women surveyed by OZMall said they’ve been able to meet guys through participating in sports.
• 19% of men surveyed by Biglobe think about getting married when a friend gets married; 15% think about it when they have a girlfriend; 10% think about it when they are eating dinner alone.

• 83% of the teaching staff in Okinawa think that the students are going through tough family and/or financial times.
• 77% of survey respondents think car sensors should be installed to detect the silent hybrid and electronic cars passing by.
• 60% of people surveyed said they support Japanese snowboarder Kazuhiro Kokubo in the Vancouver Winter Olympics, despite his uniform-protocol transgression.
• 54% of women surveyed say they take supplements daily, and 54% of those take only vitamins.
• 50% buy a product after trying out a sample of it.
• 48% are keen about the idea of reading an e-book on an iPhone.
• 40% of surveyed employees with hay fever prefer to stay at home; 35% of them say wearing a mask is stressful.
• 35% of japan.internet.com readers use SNS such as Mixi to share information, 31% said they use Twitter and 17% use blogs.
• 29% of dog lovers would consider going to a “cat cafe.”
• 20% of males would like to drink a bourbon with Robert De Niro; 17.6% of females want to drink with Fukuyama Masaharu.

• 100% of people surveyed by Goo Research said they did not want a line on their palm indicating a tendency toward financial troubles.
• 75% of people surveyed say that they have reserved hotel rooms online; 75% of those have had problems booking online.
• 75% of survey respondents said they’re concerned about the personal information that can be gained from their garbage.
• 69% of people surveyed want to see more change in the sumo world.
• 65% of people use hand disinfectants.
• 60% of people are not interested in the latest trend of remaking or customizing their old clothes.
• 58% of people surveyed don’t want to borrow money. 7% thinks loans are useful.
• 58% of Onagawa, Miyagi Pref., residents are opposed to a nuclear power plant.
• 57% of people surveyed realize they’re going bald, but only 7% tried hair-growth products.
• 56% of housewives want to cut down on food expenses, much lower than last year’s 85%.
• 55% of people say they use almost the same password for different accounts.
• 39% of surveyed PC users purchased Windows 7, while 54% don’t feel the need to buy it.

• 98% of surveyed parents have at least heard of Internet filtering, though only 32.8% have actually used it.
• 96% of 2channel users view the site from home.
• 96% of Aichi Prefecture residents feel uneasy about food safety, up 12 percent from 2007.
• 74% of nationwide survey respondents have not secured large furniture or appliances in preparation of earthquakes.
• 74% of salarymen accept the “inevitability” of getting fired in light of the current recession.
• 69% of Internet users say they subscribe to shopping-related “mail magazines” (newsletters), followed by travel/leisure-related mail.
• 66% of gamers aged between 25 and 34 said “Dragon Quest” is the game title they immediately associate with the RPG genre.
• 63% of Japanese put a nameplate outside their places of residence.
• 55% of survey respondents say they don’t go see movies at theaters because it’s a hassle.
• 42% of office ladies surveyed in Tokyo said they’ve felt that they are taking the masculine role in relationships.
• 42％ of survey respondents created their New Year’s greeting cards on computers.
• 39% of surveyed office workers think cost-cutting measures have had an adverse affect on motivation.
• 34% of women say they don’t want a lover who is in debt.
• 33% of game users bought 5-9 video games last year.
• 32% of people surveyed nationwide are not paying into a pension plan.
• 27% of surveyed salarymen believe are optimistic about their company’s future; 24.2% are pessimistic.
• 25% of people shopping in department food sections are attracted to the smell of burning meat, followed by bread and curry.

New man? Otomen's main character is in touch with his feminine side

You’ve probably seen them, preening  in front of station mirrors in public, teasing their hair until it looks just so. Or maybe you’ve seen the beauty products available to them, including foundation and eyebrow tweezers.

No, not the gals; we’re taking about the much hyped new breed of man known as soshokukei (herbivorous). According to the talking heads and pop psychiatrists, the herbivore is more interested in his appearance, less interested in his career and increasingly passive with girls. The phrase was coined by writer Megumi Ushikubo back in 2007 and has caught on so much that some men now proudly describe themselves as herbivores without feeling any social shame. Typical herbivore pastimes include such things as cooking, clothes shopping and eating sweets, and naturally the older generation of carnivorous skirt-chasing careerists are appalled by this new tribe, seeing them as lazy and unwilling to take on the responsibilities of an adult man.

This year a popular TV series was launched depicting just such a man in crisis with his public identity and private desires. “Otomen” tells the story of Asuka Masamune. Adept at judo and karate he appears to be the toughest guy in high school, but behind closed doors he loves sewing and romantic manga. The manga that inspired the TV series was extremely popular, showing perhaps that the character struck a chord, albeit with the young girls at which the drama was aimed.

Continue reading about changing gender roles →

"Jogging" by Masahiro Hayata

A few weeks ago, a neighbor asked me and a dozen other friends and acquaintances to help him get a spot at the Tokyo Marathon. Participants are selected by lottery, he explained, and by drawing numbers for him we could ostensibly increase his chances of pounding the pavement next March.

He needs all the help he can get: With Japan’s “running boom” arguably at its peak, races around the country are filling up faster than ever. The 2009 Tokyo Marathon saw 226,378 applicants competing for 30,000 spots: a 68% increase from the year before, and this year’s Peace Marathon in Hiroshima had around 2,000 more participants than 2008. What may be most significant about these numbers is that a majority of these new applicants are first-timers and women. Japanese running clubs are also seeing their numbers swell with new runners, especially those clubs with membership fees that offer professional coaching.

The market has been following closely. Now Nike and Asics have flagship stores in the trendy Harajuku district, and one of Asics’ star designers has broken off to start his own line. According to Brett Larner of Japan Running News, all the major running shoe makers are opening specialty shops and starting their own running clubs. “Upper management-level people from two major brands told me that Japan is the only place in the world where the running market has continued to grow during the recession,” he says, adding that Runners Magazine just moved into new offices last month, due in part to the spike in interest. What’s more,  he explains: “Non-running lifestyle and fashion magazines now regularly feature articles on running geared towards young, fashionable, independent women, the largest demographic within the current Japanese running boom.”

Continue reading about running in Japan →

Japan’s pet population has grown by over 9 million in the last 10 years. Cats figure into the equation, but it’s the present “dog boom” that gets the most attention, with the spotlight shining on more and more services available for Japan’s canine lovers. In addition to clothing lines and custom-made birthday cakes, dog owners can now keep a memento of their deceased four-legged friend after their death, in what now marks a complete cradle-to-grave cycle.

What’s not mentioned as frequently is how the grave-end of this cycle presents itself to many unwanted pets. Some estimates show that over 300,000 dogs a year are now being put down around the country. There is no simple answer as to why so many pets are abandoned, or even bought in the first place, although it has been argued that Japan’s love of cute and the difficulties of raising children play a role.

Continue reading about the pet boom →