世論 What Japan Thinks

[part 1 | part 2]

I have translated this slightly old survey from Hi-Ho Marketing Services regarding alcohol consumption and attitudes. This survey was carried out at the end of May 2003 by means of an internet questionnaire amongst 6,055 people from all over the country. 43.4% of the respondents were male, and 67.4% were married. 40.0% were in their thirties, and just a fraction under 25% were in their twenties and their forties.

The second half of this survey sees lots of people engaging in what might be called dangerous drinking habits, such as having a drink or two before bedtime. This casual view of alcohol is backed up by a later question where people identify it as a stress-reducers and a source of fun. In fact, the final question about attitudes misses out many negative issues, such as it being a cause of traffic accidents or domestic violence, leading me to suspect that this survey may have been commisioned by one of beer producers.

Q6: In which situations or at what time do you drink at home, for each alcohol type? (Sample size=4,546 (home drinkers), multiple answer)

Wine – N=2,830

Before evening meal	16.8%
During evening meal	59.4%
After evening meal	20.1%
During other meals	2.6%
After bath	9.8%
Before bed	20.5%
Daytime	1.0%
On returning home	1.7%
When throat is dry	2.3%
On hot days/nights	2.3%
After sports	0.8%
With guests	27.5%
When celebrating events	36.3%
At family gatherings	10.9%
Other	1.6%
No particular set time	6.9%

Happoshu – N=3,140

Before evening meal	22.8%
During evening meal	58.2%
After evening meal	16.2%
During other meals	4.4%
After bath	36.1%
Before bed	16.5%
Daytime	3.2%
On returning home	6.2%
When throat is dry	19.2%
On hot days/nights	18.8%
After sports	7.2%
With guests	18.0%
When celebrating events	15.7%
At family gatherings	9.4%
Other	1.4%
No particular set time	5.0%

Beer – N=3,275

Before evening meal	23.5%
During evening meal	54.4%
After evening meal	15.5%
During other meals	4.3%
After bath	31.4%
Before bed	13.4%
Daytime	2.7%
On returning home	5.3%
When throat is dry	17.1%
On hot days/nights	17.4%
After sports	7.6%
With guests	29.8%
When celebrating events	26.0%
At family gatherings	11.5%
Other	0.9%
No particular set time	5.3%

Can chuhai – N=2,707

Before evening meal	11.2%
During evening meal	38.5%
After evening meal	19.7%
During other meals	2.4%
After bath	27.3%
Before bed	23.8%
Daytime	1.5%
On returning home	3.1%
When throat is dry	11.4%
On hot days/nights	7.5%
After sports	2.0%
With guests	13.1%
When celebrating events	10.5%
At family gatherings	6.2%
Other	1.8%
No particular set time	11.9%

Self-mixed shochu – N=1,511

Before evening meal	14.2%
During evening meal	37.6%
After evening meal	22.6%
During other meals	2.3%
After bath	11.3%
Before bed	23.0%
Daytime	0.7%
On returning home	2.8%
When throat is dry	2.0%
On hot days/nights	1.3%
After sports	0.5%
With guests	13.2%
When celebrating events	7.1%
At family gatherings	5.7%
Other	1.5%
No particular set time	20.6%

Sake (nihonshu) – N=1,912

Before evening meal	14.0%
During evening meal	46.3%
After evening meal	12.7%
During other meals	2.4%
After bath	2.8%
Before bed	15.0%
Daytime	0.6%
On returning home	1.4%
When throat is dry	0.1%
On hot days/nights	0.3%
After sports	0.1%
With guests	20.8%
When celebrating events	30.8%
At family gatherings	8.7%
Other	2.1%
No particular set time	15.1%

I note this table omits my favourite time for beer, when watching sports on TV! I also leave as an exercise for the reader to identify which drinking habits may be indicative of a problem with alcohol.

Q7: What sort of cuisine goes with wine and happoshu or beer? (Multiple answer)

	Wine N=2,830	Happoshu, beer N=3,869
Western meat dishes	45.4%	29.0%
Cheese	36.4%	11.7%
Pasta	29.5%	9.7%
Western fish dishes	19.4%	12.1%
Japanese fish dishes	13.3%	32.8%
Salad	13.0%	9.7%
Japanese meat dishes	10.7%	30.2%
Western non-meat, fish or veg dishes	8.3%	7.5%
Western vegetable dishes	7.6%	7.8%
Japanese vegetable dishes	4.6%	18.5%
Fruit, dessert	4.5%	1.0%
Chinese dishes	4.4%	27.0%
Japanese non-meat, fish or veg dishes	3.3%	15.2%
With snacks	0.0%	25.0%
Other	12.3%	20.9%
Enjoyable just on its own	19.5%	19.7%

Q8: Where do you buy your alcohol? (Sample size=5,420 then 5,328, multiple answer then single answer)

	Use	Use the most
Supermarket	65.9%	34.7%
Bulk/wholesale shop	58.2%	31.7%
Discount store	34.2%	12.0%
Convenience store	31.0%	7.2%
Off-licence/liquor store	28.1%	8.5%

Q9: Why do you choose where to buy your alcohol? (Sample size=5,273, multiple answer)

Because it’s cheap	64.5%
Because it’s close or convenient	51.8%
Wide selection	16.9%
Always shop there	14.6%
Carries my favourite brands	13.1%
Can use beer coupons, etc	7.7%

Looking at the above reasons with respect to the favourite places to shop, supermarkets were about twice as popular from a convenience point of view, whereas discount and bulk stores were almost twice as popular on price. The range of products stocked was almost three times more often identified as a reason for using bulk stores versus supermarkets.

Q10: How satisifed are you with where do buy your alcohol? (Sample size=5,273, multiple answer)

	Very satisfied	Quite satisfied	Not very satisfied	Not satisfied at all	Don’t know
All N=5,273	8.2%	75.6%	10.0%	0.6%	5.5%
Supermarket N=1,847	5.1%	76.8%	10.7%	0.6%	6.8%
Bulk/wholesale shop N=1,688	8.9%	78.1%	8.5%	0.3%	4.1%
Discount store N=637	9.6%	78.2%	7.7%	0.5%	4.1%
Off-licence N=451	16.9%	67.4%	9.5%	1.3%	4.9%
Convenience store N=385	3.1%	65.7%	18.2%	1.6%	11.4%
Drug store N=72	11.1%	76.4%	8.3%	1.4%	2.8%
Department store N=69	7.2%	79.7%	11.6%	0.0%	1.4%
Home centre N=44	9.1%	75.0%	11.4%	2.3%	2.3%
Internet N=36	30.6%	66.7%	2.8%	0.0%	0.0%

Q11: Which of the following do you identify with when thinking about alcohol? (Sample size=6,055, multiple answer)

It’s something for enjoying life	61.2%
It’s something for eliminating stress	55.3%
It enhances a meal	28.2%
It’s a reward to myself	24.8%
I’m concerned about calories	24.4%
Tax is high	23.1%
It enriches life	18.7%
It’s a lifestyle habit	16.8%
I inadvertantly drink too much	16.5%
It’s bad for health	9.9%
I don’t know its tastiness	7.4%
Its a luxury item	7.1%
It’s good for health	6.9%
Doctors or family, etc, say I should cut down	4.8%
It makes life sophisticated	4.2%
It enhances the quality of life	3.7%
It’s difficult to choose what snacks to serve with types of alcohol	2.8%
I don’t know what cuisine it goes with	2.1%
I don’t know table setting and table manners for drinking	1.2%
Other	3.0%
Nothing in particular	3.5%

Looking at the breakdown by the sexes for interesting differences, more than 10% more women chose the first option, alcohol being a means of enjoying (instead of other options refering to enriching) life. Slightly less than 10% more women also chose it as a method of stress reduction, with nearly 50% more women also choosing it as their personal reward. These three figures seems to point to a potential problem with alcohol amongst women. Over 70% women were worried about calories, however.

For the men, almost a third more thought the tax was high, and almost double said drinking was a custom, presumably due to workplaces having almost compulsory drinking sessions. About a third more men were concerned about drinking too much, and almost five times as many had been told to cut down.

[part 1 | part 2]