Basic Quantitative Results

While all the cross tables for the survey will available in the appendix of this paper, only the significant results between the sexes from item 31 to 86 will be reported. This section will also report necessary results from items 11 through 30 and 87 through 93 first. A copy of the survey from the original PDF form is available in the appendix¹⁴. All cross tables in the explanation below are found after the PDF survey form and will be referenced by the question number as it appeared in the PDF form, not the online survey.

After presenting the results of the items on marriage at conference and in the general meeting at Kyushu University, a similar question arose about whether or not there was a

variance between the life satisfaction of those with non-Japanese spouses and Japanese spouses.

Out of curiosity a simple test was run. n = 243 (Japanese spouse =222, Non-Japanese spouse 21) represents the amount of married couples. There was very little variance in the 1 to 10 scale except for the 6 and 7 results. 8.1% with a Japanese spouse scored a 6 on the life satisfaction

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scale while non-Japanese scored 14.3%. 23.4% of those with Japanese spouses scored a 7,

followed by only 9.5% by those with a non-Japanese spouse. These are rather arbitrary numbers mostly because there are only 21 respondents with non-Japanese spouses versus 222 with Japanese ones. Another inconsistency would be whether how many of the 21 westerners were married to each other. While the concept is interesting, a more focused line of questioning and criteria are needed to arrive at a better result. Due to the small sample numbers, it was decided not to continue testing. This may have some potential with a larger sample and could lead to some interesting data in future research.

The reasons LTW came to Japan sets them apart from other immigrant and migrant groups. Items Q13 and Q14 of the survey dealt with respondents’ reasons to come and their reasons for staying in Japan. They were allowed to choose three from the list provided so the n will vary from answer to answer. Item Q13 asked why respondents came to Japan. The choices were as follows: work related, self-actualization, family, marriage, adventure, fun, language study, study culture. There was also a choice for “other” as well¹⁵. The top three responses were:

work related: n = 186, males = 104, females = 82; adventure: n = 127, males = 84, females = 43;

fun: n = 82, males = 56, females = 26; study culture was a close fourth: n = 78; males = 44, females = 34. Q14 was a follow-up question to Q13. It asks why respondents have stayed in Japan for the long-term. The choices were work, business, study, enjoyment, quality of life and family. A choice for “other” was also given¹⁶. The top three choices were: work: n = 224, males = 145, females = 79; family: n = 215, males = 125, females = 90; quality of life: n = 177, males = 121, females = 56. Work remained the highest in importance, but the second and third choices became family and quality of life.

The next group of questions is yes/no items. The idea was to get a clear indication of where LTWs stand on certain topics. Q27 and Q28 dealt with the Japanese national health and

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pension schemes. One respondent suggested I should have asked about private healthcare systems because not everyone is in the national health plan. This is evidence that even some long-termers do not know that foreign residents (longer than a year) are required by law to pay into the national health scheme. The answers for Q27 were recorded as: All respondents n = 305, yes = 263 (86.2%), no = 42 (13.8%); males n = 183, yes = 156 (85.2%), no = 27 (14.8%); females n

= 122, yes = 107 (87.7%), no = 15 (12.3%). Q28 covered the national pension scheme. The results are recorded as: All respondents n = 301, yes = 216 (71.8%), no = 85 (28.2%); males n = 180, yes

= 126 (70%), no = 54 (30%); females n = 121, yes = 90 (74.4%), no = 31 (25.6%).

Q29 and Q30 asked if respondents would be interested in dual citizenship and the right to vote in all elections. These are both yes or no items. Q29 inquired about dual citizenship. The answers were recorded as: All n = 301, yes = 231(76.5%), no = 71 (23.5%); males n = 181, yes = 137 (75.7%), no = 44 (24.3%); females n = 121, yes = 94 (77.7%), no = 27 (22.3%). Q30 asked about the interest in gaining voting rights in all elections. The results are recorded as: All n = 300, yes = 234 (78%), no = 66 (22%); males n = 181, yes = 139(76.8%), no = 42(23.2%); females n

= 119, yes = 95 (79.8%), no = 24 (20.2%). These questions may be looked at as successive. Dual citizenship could be the first step followed by the right to vote in all elections, which seems more reasonable than giving non-citizens the right to vote. Currently, foreigners are allowed to vote in all elections if they renounce their current citizenship and become a Japanese national. The dual citizenships route, however, would be preferable by many.

The respondents’ opinion of the Japanese education system was the target of Q87. Many LTWs have children who have gone through various forms of the education system in Japan.

Many of the respondents are also educators. This gives them a distinct insight into the system.

This item was broken into four parts. Respondents were asked to rate Japanese elementary, junior high school, high school and university to the best of their knowledge from 1 (low) to 10 (high). While elementary schools scored high, the rating got progressively worse as it progressed to the university level: elementary school: n = 300, mean = 7.6; junior high school: n = 297,

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mean = 6.1; high school: n = 291, mean = 5.8; university n = 288, mean =4.9. Many of the respondents classify themselves in education or a profession connected to education. These ratings might be an interesting key to future research into why the numbers moved

progressively negative in the way they did.

Q88a, b and c furthered the questioning of respondents’ contact with the Japanese school system. The item asked if they had children, did they send them to a Japanese or international school. One part of the question asked if their children were enrolled in the Japanese system, did they personally take part in school activities. For Q88a 71.3% answered “yes” that their children attend Japanese schools, while no received 3.9%. 24.8% were labeled not applicable.

Q88b asked if parents take part in school activities. They were given five choices: never, rarely, sometimes, often and always. The results showed women participating in school activities more than men. When combining the choice of “often” and “always” males (n = 118) scored 33.1%

while females (n = 81 ) resulted in 51.9%. On the opposite end, when combining “never” and

“rarely” the males scored 31.3% and the females resulted in 11.1%. Q88c asked if parents sent their children to international school. Only 11.7% of respondents sent their children to

international school, while 71.8% did not and 16.5% were N/A. The high tuition rates of international schools can be a deterrent for many who do not fulfill scholarship requirements.

Q89 (n = 301: males = 181, females = 120) asked respondents if they planned to stay in Japan. This was followed by an open ended question asking if they do plan to leave Japan, to please state the date of when they plan to leave. This was asked to research respondents who wish to leave but do not know when they are leaving. They do not see a future in Japan, but the solid plan to leave is not in place. This feeling of impermanence could be seen as a frustrating situation. Without further inquiry, the reason for the “no” answers without a plan is hearsay and subjective. The absence of a plan after a minimum of 10 years in Japan is a rather telling number. Someone who is always planning to leave but never actively moving towards such a goal acts as an example of cognitive dissonance. The “yes” replies showed 83.8% (within sex:

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males = 85.8%, females = 80.8%). “No” was scored at a total of 16.2% (within sex: males = 14.2%%, females = 19.2%). A summary of the open-ended questions can be found in the Appendix section with the Q89 cross table¹⁷.

Q91 through Q93 inquired about friendship with Japanese nationals. First respondents were asked if they have Japanese friends of the same sex as themselves. This came up several times during interviews. This was especially true with the western men stating they have difficulty maintaining friendships with Japanese men. Overall the respondents answered 66.2%

for “yes” (within sex: males = 55.7%, females = 82%) and 33.8% for “no” (within sex: males = 44.2%, females = 18%) for Q91 (n = 305, males = 183, females = 122). Western females

seemingly are more likely to have friendships with Japanese women. Q92 (n = 300, males = 181, females = 119) continued this trend by asking how many Japanese friends they have without specifying sex. Respondents were given five choices: 0-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-more. The largest overall percentage was observed with 46% of all respondents for 2-3 friends. Males scored within sex at 42.5% for 2-3 friends while the result for the same amount of friends for females was 51.3%. The jump in the score for men possibly reflects they are likely to have Japanese female friends rather than Japanese male friends.

The next item was on language use. Q93 (n = 306: males = 184, females = 122) requested which language respondents used when speaking with Japanese friends. The results show 35%

(within sex: males = 31%, females = 41%) use more Japanese than English, while 59.2% (within sex: males = 63% , females = 53.3%) stated they use more English. This item was unclear and should have covered more options for mixed conversations. The original goal was to observe what percentages of western foreigners are using mostly Japanese in their daily life. A few stated in the comment section that they use a 50/50 mix of Japanese and English. While this is statistically unlikely for someone to be using each language at an equal level, this could be a

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question for further research. An educated guess would be if an English speaker is saying 50/50, then they most likely are using English more. This may be simplifying complex language

environments, but those who answered 50/50 also answered in the average or low range for the self-rated language scale in the first half of the questionnaire.

One of the items covered a question that often arose during past interviews. It was about the supposed phenomenon of when the seat next to the non-Japanese on the train was always the last one empty. This would technically be labeled as a “microaggressions”, but was added to the survey out of curiosity. Some respondents expressed they were offended by the question. No harm was meant by it. It was rather self-indulgent to do so, and I apologize for bothering my fellow long-termers with such questioning. Q90 (n = 301, males = 181, females =120) was a “yes”

or “no” question about whether or not respondents had experienced “the empty seat syndrome”

or not. 73.1% of respondents said they had experienced it. 77.9% of males and 65.8% of females answered “yes”. This is open to many interpretations, which this paper does not attempt to do because of the lack of proper data. Respondents wrote in the comment section while they answered “yes”, they by no means are bothered by it, and one respondent said he even enjoys having the extra space. The goal was to discuss the existence of it, not the reasons for it or how people feel. A researcher has to have some fun now and again.

3.4 Cross tabulation for significant variables between males and females