Thursday, February 27, 2014

address system in Japan

My friend had an exhibition for his new company today.  It was at a place called Gallery Common in Omotesando, an upscale district in Tokyo.  It was easy to find the basic vicinity, but once I did, I was reminded at how much of a pain the address system here is.

Addresses have three numbers, e.g. 1-2-31 or 7-23-4.  The numbers are preceded by the area in which the building or house is located, e.g. Higashi Shinjuku.  So a hypothetical address (I'm making this up) could be something like Higashi Shinjuku 1-20-12.

The first number, 1, would mean 1-chome.  The chome indicates the district.

The 20 would mean that it's the 20th block in  the district.  

The 12 would mean that it's the 12th house/building on the block.

Before Google maps and smart phones, I could spend literally an hour looking for a place in Tokyo.  And Google maps doesn't solve all the problems because most Tokyo streets don't have names, which is a real real pain sometimes.  (The story I've heard is that they designed Tokyo to be seemingly haphazardly laid out, rather than according to the parallel/perpendicular street system utilized in many countries, and even in other prefectures in Japan, like Hokkaido.  The reason for the haphazardness was to confuse the enemy in the event of an invasion by a foreign country.)  Generally businesses, I find, don't have their addresses posted outside their doors.  I guess they figure their big signs ought to do the trick.  One who is looking for an official address would have a better chance at seeing it at the front of a private residence, esp. near a mailbox.

So this is what it looked like.  Clothes shops, a crepe shop, a Starbucks, on within striking distance of Gallery Common.  But like two of the buildings on the block had addresses displayed out front, so I was walking around and around.








poles and building corners will have the district and block displayed, in some areas

this crepe place had no address on display
Finally, I found a building with an address posted outside!

This isn't exactly an interesting topic, but it's one that people usually have to deal with when they live in Japan.  The lack of easily accessible addresses and street names.  The bright side is that it is kind of a mysterious world to live in. . .Not knowing where things are or what's in those buildings.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Kagaya, theme restaurant

Over the weekend, I had the Kagaya experience.  It's a little izakaya located in the basement of a building near Shimbashi station.  It sort of falls within the theme bar/restaurant experience, but not for the usual reasons.  Other examples of theme places are:  the Christon Cafe, which is decorated as a neon-lit, semi-Gothic church; Arabian Nights looks like a Sinbad movie; The Lock Up is one of several prison-themed bars; Ninja Akasaka is the only ninja restaurant I've ever seen.

Kagaya is different from the previously mentioned because it doesn't depend on decor, but rather on the man who runs it, along with his many persona.  He goes by the name of Mark, but he also gave us the option of calling him Master.

I got there a few minutes late because, even though it's only a minute from Shimbashi station, I had a hard time finding it.  All of us did.  The map on the restaurant website threw us off for some reason.  Anyway, I did eventually find it with a station map, and the help of a kind policeman.  This is a picture of that map; I've marked the approximate spot with an X and a note that it would be best to use the New Shimbashi Bldg as a landmark.  Once you exit the Karasumori exit of the station, simply go straight toward the New Shimbashi Bldg and keep going straight when you hit the first intersection.  Kagaya will soon be on your right side.




This was the sign that led me there.  Some of the people in my group were worried when they saw the frog theme, thinking that it was tonight's menu.  (They'd never tried frog before.)




When I stepped inside, he was explaining the menu to my friends.  They all looked up at me, a little disheveled, and said that I'd just missed something.  The menu, written in crayon in a notebook typically owned by elementary schoolchildren, had a flower on its cover.  At the time I arrived, Mark had just finished. . .caressing the flower, over and over.  Three of those in our party were mothers, and they said they'd never again look at their children's notebooks the same way.

As I sat, Mark had my oshibori (moist washcloth to wipe my hands) brought out on the head of an Anpanman robot.  He then asked us to choose a country--USA, Japan, France, Brazil, China. . . ?  We had no idea why at first, but we soon found out.  Apparently, the country you choose has nothing to do with the food or drink you receive, but it decides the way in which the goods are delivered.  

The guys at the next table chose Japan first.  (Every time something is served to you, you can choose a different theme.)  This was the result:

 

And soon after came the Anpan robot.




He also did his French routine, a Frenchman in a beret who drew a quick (and pretty decent) likeness of one of our group's ladies.  

You have a few choices in terms of set menus and price.  We chose the biggest and most expensive, which at ¥4200 was pretty reasonable for the food we got and the all-you-can-drink deal.  Sorry, I don't have pictures of the food.  I remember there was spinach cooked in sesame, a chicken wing for each of us, boiled pumpkin, tofu curd (which was really good!  And I usually don't have any feelings about tofu curd), a salad consisting of cabbage and a bunch of other vegetables, saba (mackerel). . .A couple of other things.  The lady in the kitchen made it all herself, it seemed.  We weren't really full by the end but we were satisfied.

This was kind of the finale.  The last set of drinks he brought to us was preceded by:

                   



The Japanese group in this picture took everything perfectly in stride.  Just laughing and enjoying the performance.  I don't know if Kagaya is everyone's cup of tea, but it wasn't boring.  I found some other videos on You Tube:


 


As I was looking around for other reactions to Mark and his craziness, I came across some blogs that thought it was simply weird, others that said you can't leave Japan without having gone there at least once.  I'd say it's a pretty good time; the food and drink alone would probably be worth it, if you drink alcohol.  The performance is a plus if you're in the mood and don't mind some over-the-topness.  Be warned, he does do some stroking (e.g. as he handed me the menu, he started to focus on my hand and caress it as he spoke) and some poking (with puppets, mostly).  He also used the puppets on the crotch of one of the guys in our group.  But I think Mark is careful not to cross the line with women; I'm not sure about that, but it was just my feeling when I was there.

I also came across this CNN article.  It gives a fuller description than mine.
http://travel.cnn.com/tokyo/play/kagaya-izakaya-dining-performance-art-250001

And this is the Kagaya website
http://www1.ocn.ne.jp/~kagayayy










Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Snow

The past two weekends have been the snowiest weekends I've seen since moving here...On Saturday, Feb 8,  Tokyo saw its heaviest day of snow in forty-five years.  Of course, it's little compared to what the east coast in the U.S. went through this weekend, but it had its impact.  I didn't know it at the time but at least eleven people in Japan perished from the cold, according to Yahoo! News:

http://news.yahoo.com/five-dead-600-injured-snow-storm-hits-japan-020500454.html
Below is a reprinting of that article:
-----------------------------------
Tokyo (AFP) - The heaviest snow in decades in Tokyo and other areas of Japan has left at least 11 dead and more than 1,200 injured across the country, reports said Sunday.

As much as 27 centimetres (10.6 inches) of snow was recorded in Tokyo by late Saturday, the heaviest fall in the capital for 45 years, according to meteorologists.
The storm hit Tokyo on the eve of its gubernatorial election.

Observers say the weather may affect voter turnout in the city of 13 million people. As of 6:00 pm (0900 GMT) turnout was down more than 10 percentage points from a previous poll during the last mayoral election.

As a depression moved along the Pacific coast Saturday, the northeastern city of Sendai saw 35 centimetres (13.8 inches) of snow, the heaviest in 78 years.
Local media said at least 11 people have been killed with one person also in critical condition in snow-linked accidents -- mostly crashes after their cars skidded on icy roads.
In central Aichi prefecture, a 50-year-old man died after his car slipped on the icy road and rammed into an advertisement steel pole, a local rescuer said.
Public broadcaster NHK reported at least 1,253 people were injured across the nation, many of whom had slipped on the ground or fallen while shovelling the snow off their roofs.
More than 20,000 households were without electricity early Sunday while airlines cancelled more than 400 domestic flights a day after over 740 flights were grounded.
Nearly 5,000 people were stranded at Narita airport Saturday as traffic linking the airport to the capital was disrupted, NHK said.
Further snowfall is expected Sunday in the northern part of the country, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nearly a week later, on Valentine's Day, came another record day of snowfall.  According to CNN, at least nineteen people died in snow-related incidents that day:

Feb 14 was chaotic in Tokyo, mainly  because the trains were all behind schedule.  It seems the train conductors here are unused to driving in this kind of precipitation and were consequently cautious and slow-moving.  The stations were immensely crowded all day.  Here are some pics:

 


Hachiko in the snow


Hachiko in the snow




 Yesterday, I went to the supermarket and was in for a surprise.  A great deal of the shelves were almost empty.  I asked one of the stock clerks, a guy who looked to be in his late teens, if the reason for the empty shelf space was the snow.  He responded "Sou desu ne!  Snow desu.  Yuki no sei."  (Basically, "Yes, it's the snow!  It's the snow's fault."  He went on to apologize for the lack of meat available. He was incredibly emotional in his sympathy.  Seemed like a nice guy.
 
the cupboards were bare

the cupboards were bare

the cupboards were bare

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

another governor

This week Tokyo's new governor was elected.  (The previous governor resigned over a bribery scandal.)  Elections were on a Sunday, during a weekend that saw more snow than any weekend in decades.  It isn't clear yet how that may have affected the results; the TV broadcaster NHK said that it was the third lowest turnout for such an election.  What is clear is that the winner, Yoichi Masuzoe, was the pro-nuclear energy candidate; his opponents, former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa (who was endorsed by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi) and human-rights lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya, were both against nuclear power.

Aside from that, a couple of other things have been surfacing in the media's coverage:  his personal life has had its ups and downs, as he's been married three times and has had children with several women, etc., which I think is his own business, unless his family values are at issue in how he governs.

The other thing that has grabbed hold of the media cycle is something he said in 1989, on record, that women couldn't make critical decisions because they have menstrual cycles that make them irrational.  The link for this article is

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2555178/Women-threaten-sex-strike-against-men-voted-new-Tokyo-governor-claimed-females-unfit-government-periods-make-irrational.html

To be fair to him, it was over two decades ago, and I believe that people can reconsider their prejudices in the course of time.  But it astounds me how politicians can make such statements over here and still survive.  A previous, long-standing Tokyo governor named Shintaro Ishihara is quoted to have said that "old women who live after they have lost their reproductive function are useless and are committing a sin."  See his Wikipedia article, specifically the section entitled "Other controversial statements":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shintaro_Ishihara#Views_on_foreigners_in_Japan

I remember last year President Obama, at a fundraising lunch, referring to the California AG as "by far, the best-looking Attorney General. . ."  and all the grief he took for that.  The stark contrast between this and that, I suppose, speaks to the differences in how politics is run here and there.

Anyway, below is a reprinting of the article about the newly-elected governor:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Women threaten 'sex strike' against men who voted for new Tokyo governor after he claimed females were unfit for government because 'periods make them irrational'
  • Yoichi Masuzoe said women are 'not normal' when menstruating
  • 'The association of women who will not have sex with men who vote for Masuzoe' has gained 3,000 followers since it launched last week
  • Former health minister won Tokyo's gubernatorial election today
By Daily Mail Reporter

A group of women have launched a sex boycott against men who voted for the newly elected governor of Tokyo, after he claimed females were unfit for government because of their menstruation cycles. 

Yoichi Masuzoe claimed in an interview with a men's magazine that women were not able to make critical decisions when they having a period because they are 'not normal'.

A Twitter campaign called 'the association of women who will not have sex with men who vote for Masuzoe' has gained 3,000 followers since it launched last week.

Yoichi Masuzoe claimed in an interview with a men's magazine that women were not able to make critical decisions when they having a period because they are 'not normal'
Yoichi Masuzoe claimed in an interview with a men's magazine that women were not able to make critical decisions when they having a period because they are 'not normal.'
However, despite their best efforts, the former health minister backed by Japan's ruling party, won Tokyo's gubernatorial election on Sunday, defeating two candidates who had promised to end nuclear power.

The anonymous group founders say in their profile: 'We have stood up to prevent Mr Masuzoe, who makes such insulting remarks against women [from being elected] … We won't have sex with men who will vote for Mr Masuzoe.'

In the 1989 interview he said women were irrational because of their menstrual cycle.
He said: 'Women are not normal when they are having a period … You can't possibly let them make critical decisions about the country [during their period] such as whether or not to go to war.'


However, despite their best efforts, the former health minister backed by Japan's ruling party, won Tokyo's gubernatorial election on Sunday, defeating two candidates who had promised to end nuclear power
However, despite their best efforts, the former health minister backed by Japan's ruling party, won Tokyo's gubernatorial election on Sunday, defeating two candidates who had promised to end nuclear power.
The anonymous group founders say in their profile: 'We have stood up to prevent Mr Masuzoe, who makes such insulting remarks against women [from being elected] ... We won't have sex with men who will vote for Mr Masuzoe'
The anonymous group founders say in their profile: 'We have stood up to prevent Mr Masuzoe, who makes such insulting remarks against women [from being elected] ... We won't have sex with men who will vote for Mr Masuzoe'
A second petition website was also launched on Wednesday, by a group of women trying to stop him from becoming governor of Tokyo, attracting 75,000 hits a day, the Guardian reports.

Masuzoe's victory was declared in exit polls on public broadcaster NHK within minutes after voting closed.
Masuzoe, 65, appeared smiling before cameras, with his supporters shouting 'Banzai,' and promised to make Tokyo 'the No. 1 city in the world.'

Japan's former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa speaks following his defeat in the Tokyo gubernatorial election in Tokyo. Hosokawa was backed by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who pushed for zero nuclear power
Japan's former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa speaks following his defeat in the Tokyo gubernatorial election in Tokyo. Hosokawa was backed by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who pushed for zero nuclear power
Masuzoe's victory was declared in exit polls on public broadcaster NHK within minutes after voting closed
Masuzoe's victory was declared in exit polls on public broadcaster NHK within minutes after voting closed
The ballot was widely seen as a test for Japan's public opinion on atomic power in a nation shaken by the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

But the anti-nuclear camp was divided between two candidates — former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa and human-rights lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya.

Masuzoe garnered about 30 percent of the vote, according to NHK exit polls. 

Hosokawa and Utsunomiya got about 20 percent each, indicating that if the anti-nuclear vote had been united, a win by either might have been possible.

Official vote tallies were not expected until Monday.


Sunday, February 9, 2014

article: "Conservatives push agenda at Japan's public TV"

Just came across this AP article on Yahoo! News,
http://news.yahoo.com/conservatives-push-agenda-japan-39-public-tv-032142730.html

When I came to Japan, it wasn't very hard to talk to my students about WWII.  Everyone generally seemed to think that bad things happened.  There was also a prevalent feeling that it was in the past, and that people who were either little children then or who'd not even been born were pretty much guiltless.

During that first year, though, Prime Minister Koizumi started visiting Yasukuni Shrine, an act criticized (by Korea and China, who suffered under Japan's military during that war) because the shrine honors a handful of convicted war criminals, in addition to the fallen soldiers who were acting under orders as soldiers everywhere do.  It also honors civilians killed in the war.

Once PM Koizumi started visiting the shrine, protests on mainland Asia arose.  Angry crowds were shown prominently on the news here.  With them came a change in attitude among my students (who were all adults at the time, I think it worth mentioning).  They mostly resented these protests and felt that the PM and any other Japanese citizens were free to visit or avoid Yasukuni as the liked.  I understood this point of view; after all, don't most of us feel it within our rights to criticize our own country?  and yet, if people from outside the country do it, isn't it natural to feel a bit defensive?

A few years ago there was a bit of excitement (i.e. protests) over how the government was changing history textbooks here.  Ardent critics maintained that it was a whitewashing of brutalities committed by Japan's military during WWII.  I haven't read those books (because I can't read kanji well enough) but most of my (adult) students at the time felt that yes, the politicians making the changes in the telling of history were doing it so that their ancestors, who were participants in the war, would have more "beautiful histories."  I appreciated that those students were able to speak so honestly and objectively about their own government and country.

The high school where I  teach takes its juniors on a school trip to Korea every year, and they're taught about WWII.  I've heard that this isn't typical of high schools in Japan.  But just the same, it continues.

Here's the article:  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conservatives push agenda at Japan's public TV

Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Minutes of a recent governing board meeting of Japan's public broadcaster NHK seem to back up suspicions that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, despite his denials, is trying to use Japan's news giant to promote his nationalist agenda.


The minutes, posted on NHK's website but not widely reported, show conservatives appointed to the board by Abe voicing their opinion on coverage at the Jan. 14 meeting.
One of the four new members favored by Abe proposed that NHK should do more to educate the public about Japan's territorial claims on islands at the center of a dispute with China, its wartime history as well as the problems with the post-World War II U.S.-led tribunal that prosecuted Japanese war criminals.

"I think there should be room for programs that provide the most basic knowledge about history and the challenges Japan is faced with," said Naoki Hyakuta, the author of a bestselling book on a wartime suicide fighter pilot.

Another new board member, Abe confidante Michiko Hasegawa, stressed the need to promote "correct education" for the public.

It's unclear whether their statements are affecting coverage, and NHK denied any political influence over its editorial decisions. The board members' comments reflected their personal views, NHK said in a statement, responding to inquiries by The Associated Press.
Hyakuta, according to the minutes, then made sure if it was OK for board members to comment on programming. He was told they can't make comments that influence specific programs, but they can express their preferences as "personal impressions." Experts say anything board members say could easily cause compromise and self-restraint in coverage.
"Apparently NHK is leaning toward the government, and increasingly neglecting its responsibility to check authority," said Yasuhiko Tajima, a media law professor at Sophia University in Tokyo. "I even feel democracy is at risk."

NHK, the country's most respected radio and television network, has been buffeted by a series of developments in the past two weeks that have thrust concern over Abe's influence on the appointments into the headlines.

First, the new NHK Chairman Katsuto Momii infuriated South Korea and China by saying Japan was unfairly criticized for the use of Asian women as military prostitutes, which he argued was common in countries at war.

The board picked Momii to head NHK late last year after his predecessor abruptly announced he would resign, following Abe's ruling party criticism of NHK's news coverage as too liberal.

At his inaugural news conference that, Momii also said, "We cannot say left when the government says right," suggesting NHK would be loyal to the government's policies, including the territorial disputes.

His comments triggered criticism that he contradicted NHK's mission to serve the public's interest without bias. Of 12,700 responses from viewers, about 70 percent was critical of NHK, the broadcaster said last week.

Days later, a professor quit an NHK radio program on which he had been a regular guest for 20 years after being told not to discuss nuclear energy before Sunday's Tokyo governor elections.

The developments are "part of Abe's plan to achieve his nationalistic agenda," said Takaaki Hattori, a media and communications professor at Rikkyo University in Tokyo. "As he pushes for stronger military and patriotic education, his nationalism angers South Korea and China, fanning animosity here and helping to drum up support for his agenda. NHK is part of the process."

The NHK controversy was further fueled last week by public comments attributed to the same two board members who spoke out on programming at the board meeting.
In a speech supporting a conservative Tokyo gubernatorial candidate, Hyakuta said the 1937 Nanjing massacre of Chinese civilians and disarmed soldiers by Japanese troops was a fabrication. He also accused the U.S. forces that occupied Japan after the war of brainwashing the population with a self-denigrating view of Japan's wartime history.

Two days later, the Japanese newspaper Mainichi revealed that board member Hasegawa, a professor of Japanese culture, had written an essay last fall praising a right-wing extremist who committed suicide in 1993 to protest a liberal magazine article.
Abe acknowledged that the four new board members are his trusted people, but denied any intention to exercise influence over NHK. The four joined the board as part of its partial membership renewal.

The 12-member governing board, which approves NHK's budget, is made up of outside experts, including academics and business leaders, and their ties with ruling lawmakers often raise eyebrows. Board members must be approved by parliament and the prime minister.

Experts say political influence is a longstanding problem at NHK. The broadcaster was criticized for altering a 2001 program on wartime Japanese sex slavery, allegedly after Abe and another ruling party lawmaker complained, although both sides denied political pressure caused the change.

http://news.yahoo.com/conservatives-push-agenda-japan-39-public-tv-032142730.html



Wednesday, February 5, 2014

This Winter's First Snow


This week came this winter’s first snow in Tokyo.  Started out as little specks of ice, then within an hour morphed into fluffy-looking flakes.  

I really like Shimo-Kitazawa on a snowy day.  Something in the narrow streets of that old neighborhood stirs in me the happiness of being with people.  Finding a nice place to sit with a hot drink in my hands before going back outside.




It sometimes amazes me how so many girls in Japan can wear shorts, mini-skirts, and/or stockings on freezing days











Saturday, February 1, 2014

"What Japan Thinks"

Just came across this website, What Japan Thinks.
It's--well, I think it's interesting.  The questions they ask in surveys--mostly not things that I'd think of asking myself, but nonetheless I realize I kind of wouldn't mind knowing.  The segment of people who use the otohime (sound princess) at home--why?  Is it for housemates, or the soothing nature of the sound?  

Below are some samples of questions and the breakdown of stats.  I like that the sample sizes are over a thousand; I recall my old professor saying that one needed at least a thousand samples to form a statistic.   I just want to be clear that the following information isn't of my own finding.  I'm just quoting what I saw at this link:  

The website is whatjapanthinks.com

I haven't looked into it yet, so I can't speak to its sources of information, or its accuracy, but just in terms of what it ponders, I thought it worth mentioning.  Will post more if I can find out something  about its sources.

Sample
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Research results


Q1: Which of the following functions does your home toilet have? (Sample size=1,045, multiple answer)


Heated toilet seat 73.3%
Warm water bottom washer 67.2%
Deodoriser function 34.8%
Bidet function 33.1%
Bottom dryer 31.5%
Auto flush 12.8%
Sound Princess 2.6%
Other 0.3%
None of the above 25.1%

 

Q2: Which of the following functions do you use on your home toilet? (Sample size=1,045, multiple answer)


All Male
N=523
Female
N=522
Heated toilet seat 62.7% 61.2% 64.2%
Warm water bottom washer 55.2% 56.0% 54.4%
Deodoriser function 26.3% 26.2% 26.4%
Bidet function 19.7% 0.0% 39.5%
Bottom dryer 10.0% 12.0% 7.9%
Auto flush 8.6% 10.1% 7.1%
Sound Princess 1.4% 1.7% 1.1%
Other 0.3% 0.2% 0.4%
None of the above 30.4% 31.5% 29.3%

Q3: Which of the following functions, items do you use in toilets outside your home? (Sample size=1,045, multiple answer)


All Male
N=523
Female
N=522
Paper towel 41.8% 32.3% 51.3%
Warm water bottom washer 41.4% 53.0% 29.9%
Hand dryer 37.1% 28.7% 45.6%
Toilet seat cover sheet 31.8% 27.2% 36.4%
Toilet seat cleaning liquid 28.3% 23.7% 33.0%
Sound Princess 26.3% 4.2% 48.5%
Deodoriser function 12.9% 15.7% 10.2%
Bidet function 8.2% 0.0% 16.5%
Bottom dryer 7.5% 10.9% 4.0%
Other 0.1% 0.2% 0.0%
None of the above 20.7% 24.1% 17.2%
The following question was for the 59.6% who said they did not use the warm water washer in public toilets.

Q4: Why don’t you use the warm water bottom washing function in public toilets? (Sample size=612, multiple answer)


All Male
N=246
Female
N=366
Not needed 33.5% 42.3% 27.6%
Bothered that other people have used it 29.6% 13.8% 40.2%
Concerned about the cleanliness 28.3% 16.3% 36.3%
Too much bother 11.6% 12.2% 11.2%
Ecological reasons 2.9% 2.4% 3.3%
Don’t know how to use it 2.3% 2.4% 2.2%
Other 0.7% 0.4% 0.8%
Don’t know what the feature is 2.3% 3.3% 1.6%
There’s not many toilets with that feature 13.2% 20.3% 8.5%

Q3: Which of the following items do you have in your home toilet? (Sample size=1,045, multiple answer)


Toilet cleaning items 66.2%
Toilet paper holder 66.1%
Mat 60.7%
Slippers 57.2%
Deodorant spray, etc 56.5%
Towel 47.6%
Toilet seat cover 44.8%
Rubbish bin 35.0%
Toilet lid cover 31.5%
Calendar 30.8%
Clock 19.1%
Decorative objects 18.2%
Artificial flowers 17.7%
Picture 9.6%
Magazine, manga 5.8%
Photo 5.8%
Live flowers 5.5%
Book 2.9%
Other 1.6%
None of the above 4.9%

Q6: How often do you lock your home toilet door? (Sample size=1,045)


Always 18.9%
Often 14.6%
About half the time 5.9%
Rarely 31.4%
Never 29.1%

Q7: How and how often do you wash your hands after using the toilet in the following situations? (Sample size=1,045)


Always, with soap Always, sometimes with soap Always, never with soap Sometimes Never
All, home, poo 38.1% 20.2% 34.4% 4.2% 3.1%
Male, home, poo
n=523
33.7% 21.8% 35.9% 4.8% 3.8%
Female, home, poo
n=522
42.5% 18.6% 33.0% 3.6% 2.3%
All, home, pee 19.3% 21.6% 42.2% 10.8% 6.0%
Male, home, pee
n=523
16.4% 21.2% 41.9% 12.6% 7.8%
Female, home, pee
n=522
22.2% 22.0% 42.5% 9.0% 4.2%
All, outside, poo 42.8% 24.2% 29.5% 1.8% 1.7%
Male, outside, poo
n=523
39.0% 25.4% 30.8% 2.9% 1.9%
Female, outside, poo
n=522
46.6% 23.0% 28.2% 0.8% 1.5%
All, outside, pee 28.2% 26.8% 37.7% 4.4% 2.9%
Male, outside, pee
n=523
22.0% 27.2% 39.8% 7.1% 4.0%
Female, outside, pee
n=522
34.5% 26.4% 35.6% 1.7% 1.7%

 

FE8J3MCXH543

Q8: Do you stand or sit for a pee at home? (Sample size=523, male)


Usually sit Half and half Usually stand
All 30.4% 16.3% 53.3%
Twenties
N=103
43.7% 17.5% 38.8%
Thirties
N=106
37.7% 17.0% 45.3%
Forties
N=106
30.2% 14.2% 55.7%
Fifties
N=102
19.6% 19.6% 60.8%
Sixties
N=106
20.8% 13.2% 66.0%