Potpourri - as reported in the Asohi Shimbun - Surveys of boiled foods and commuters - Brief Article

Japan, Inc., May, 2003

When asked by the "be monitor" organization what types of stewed foods respondents eat most frequently, the top three, with almost equal votes, were sukiyaki, with 459 votes; yosenabe (seafood), with 457 and yudofu (boiled tofu), with 445. Other popular boiled dishes included tori mizutaki (chicken), with 316; shabushabu (usually beef), 290; udon-sukiyaki (noodles with beef), 240; chige (Korean-style stew), 172 and khaki dotenabe (oysters), 83.

* The most unpleasant things people say they encountered on commuter trains, in descending order, were people allowing their children to go on a rampage (729 votes), talking on a cellphone (716), sitting with legs spread open (701), talking in a loud voice (610), groping women (604), spreading open the pages of one's newspaper (525), playing a personal stereo too loudly (520), applying cosmetics (501), failing asleep and leaning against one's neighbor (387) and couples who engage in public displays of affection (375).