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| Sunday, 20 June 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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A moment in time How long is a moment? Not surprisingly, it varies according to country. In Japan, surveys have shown that if people are asked on the telephone to wait "a moment" they take that as meaning 32 seconds on average. People in the US, Europe and Australia interpreted a moment as 38 seconds on average, and people in Hong Kong expect to wait 51 seconds (all survey data Citizen Watch Co. Ltd., 2001, unless otherwise stated).
Now that so many people have cell phones, almost half of the Japanese people surveyed said that the annoyance of waiting for someone has decreased in comparison to the past. However, when asked how long it takes before they become annoyed waiting for a reply after leaving a message in someone's cell phones, 29 per cent of Japanese respondents said 10 minutes 22.5 per cent said 5 minutes and an impatient 7.8 per cent said they become annoyed after just one minute. Surprisingly, younger people in their 20s are more relaxed in comparison to people 30 or older, and can wait longer before becoming annoyed. How long would you wait for a boyfriend or girlfriend? Almost 70 per cent of Japanese people in their 20s or 30s responded that their threshold for feeling annoyed was 30 minutes when waiting somewhere inside, 60 per cent said the threshold was 20 minutes when outside. There is even data showing that when elementary school children say they have kept a friend waiting for 'a bit', they mean about five minutes. People vary according to whom they would most want to spend their time with. 40 per cent of elementary school pupils think the time they spend with their family is precious - a 10 per cent increase on the answer for 20 years ago. Time spent with their school friends is also rated as important. When adults are asked who they would most want to spend their time with 57 per cent of males say it is their wife, but only 38 per cent of females say it is their husband. 32 per cent of women cite time spent with their children as the most important. The trends differ according to age-categories, and the difference between male and female responses become particularly conspicuous with respondents in their 40s, perhaps because this is the age when their children are about to become independent. There are many words in Japanese related to time. There is an expression 'an age ago,' which the average of the response to a survey (Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd., Urban Life Research Institute 2003) established as 12.3 years. Also, 26.4 per cent described their everyday lives as 'hectic' and 57.4 per cent described the ideal everyday life they would like to live as 'leisurely' (Seiko Watch Corporation, 2003). Yuka Ogura Courtesy : Asia Pacific Perspectives. |
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News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
And what if someone says they will get back to you "straight
away?" In Japan, people expect the answer in 41 minutes eight seconds
on average. "Straight away" in the US, Europe and Australia is
46 minutes 34 seconds, and in Hong Kong just 14 minutes 15 seconds.
