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Who Browses the Japanese Web?
Who Browses the Japanese Web?
What are the demographics of the Japanese Internet population? An online
summer survey conducted by CyberSpace Japan provides some enlightening clues.
by John Drake
Compiling an accurate profile of Internet users can be a difficult task.
Unlike "real" sites, where visitors can be physically monitored
and quizzed through a random or statistically valid survey, callers to "virtual"
sites retain almost complete anonymity. There are scripts that can determine
what provider a caller is linking from, but unless a person takes the time
to fill out an online questionnaire, other information remains unobtainable.
CyberSpace Japan (CSJ), which has pretensions of becoming the "Japanese
Yahoo," conducted a survey of persons who accessed its Web site during
a one-week period in the summer. Approximately 1,200 Web users took the
time to answer approximately a dozen questions about their age, occupation,
computer, browser, etc. While the statistics gained in this manner may not
be representative of the Japanese Internet as a whole -- and may be skewed
toward the more experienced users, or those who are willing to take the
time to complete an online survey -- CSJ feels that users of its index page
are probably an accurate reflection of Japanese Web users. (To view the
Japanese-language original of the survey, point your browser to http://www.csj.co
.jp/.)
One of the more interesting findings of the survey was revealed from answers
to the question, "What kind computer do you use to connect to the Internet?"
Nearly 40% of the respondents reported that they use a Macintosh, while
DOS/V users accounted for 26% and UNIX users for 24%. of those surveyed.
NEC computers, the dominant platform in Japan (with a nearly 50% market
share), were used by less than 10% of the respondents. Whether the low ratio
of PC-98 users is a function of the software, or a lesser Internet-sophistication,
or some other factor, remains unclear.
The relatively large proportion of UNIX users might seem surprising at first
glance, but the statistics garnered from the question, "Where do you
usually access the Internet," shed some light on this. "School"
and "the office" -- locations likely to be running UNIX systems
-- were the most popular access points (36% and 35%, respectively); home
users totaled 28%. Over half (54%) of the respondents reported they had
an IP connection, and 35% were using dial-up access (with 11% other or unknown).
About 22% of the users reported they spend an average of less than 2 hours
per week online; 26% spend 2 to 4 hours, and 19% spend 4 to 6 hours. Some
33% said they are online more than 6 hours per week.
On the software side, Netscape was by far the most popular browser among
Mac, DOS/V, and NEC users, while Mosaic was the predominant choice of UNIX
users. Part of the explanation for browser-of-choice undoubtedly has to
do with the availability of freeware/
shareware program versions for each platform.
The respondents were overwhelmingly (96%) male. About 80% were age 34 or
younger, with nearly 30% aged 20 to 24. The mix was about 44% company employees
(about 2/3 in engineering or technical positions, and almost 1/6 in management),
and 36% students. Educators and researchers accounted for another 10%, with
the remaining 10% scattered among service professionals, government officials,
self-employed, and "other." Over 60% live in the Kanto (Tokyo)
area. (About 3% of the respondents accessed from overseas.)
Overall, these figures suggest that World Wide Web use is in Japan is still
confined to a relatively specific group of people -- primarily young males
with a technical or scientific background. (Nearly half of CSJ's respondents
could be classified as engineers in their twenties.) Until Internet and
WWW use spreads to other segments of society -- something that will be dependent
both on easier interfaces and more diverse and interesting content -- in
spite of all the media hoopla, the Internet will have relatively little
impact on Japanese society in general.ç
(c) Copyright 1996 by Computing Japan magazine