世論 What Japan Thinks

Today I will present three ranking surveys for the price of one, all on the theme of water usage at home, all carried out by DIMSDRIVE Research as part of their 85th Ranking Survey over the period of about a week at the end of June and start of July. First is using water for drinking at home, next is water for tea and coffee at home, and finally water for cooking at home.

Japan’s tap water is basically safe, but in the big cities it tends to smell a bit due to the various treatments it undergoes. Most restaurants, for example, serve water that at least has been through some sort of treatment, but what exactly they use in their tea is anyone’s guess. At home, we have a built-in water purifier that we use for drinking and tea and coffee, except for when making a large pot of tea (usually 麦茶, mugicha, barley tea) for refrigerating, when we use plain old tap water. The exact reason for this is beyond me. Our previous flat had some nasty black spots (tar or pitch, perhaps) that occasionally flaked off making filtration absolutely necessary.

Q1: At home, when drinking water, what sort of water do you drink? (Sample size=5,367, multiple answer)

Rank	Type of water	Votes
1	Mineral water	2,104
2	Filtered tap water	1,903
3	Direct from the tap water	1,598
4	Boiled tap water	780
5	Tap water with charcoal added	139
6	Other type of water	109
7	Tap water processed another way	108
8	Direct from the well water	102
9	Other type of water passed through water filter	80
10	Boiled mineral water	54

Q1: At home, when drinking water, what sort of water do you drink? (Sample size=5,367 by sex, multiple answer)

Rank	Men N=2,794	Votes	Women N=2,573	Votes
1	Mineral water	1,038	Mineral water	1,066
2	Filtered tap water	962	Filtered tap water	941
3	Direct from the tap water	952	Direct from the tap water	646
4	Boiled tap water	381	Boiled tap water	399
5	Tap water with charcoal added	68	Tap water with charcoal added	71
6	Direct from the well water	63	Other type of water	66
7	Tap water processed another way	59	Tap water processed another way	49
8	Other type of water	43	Other type of water passed through water filter	47
9	Other type of water passed through water filter	33	Direct from the well water	39
10	Boiled mineral water	28	Boiled mineral water	26

Looking at the detailed age and sex breakdown, almost every group had mineral water as either the first or second choice. Teenage boys and men in their fifties drank straight from the tap, whilst using a water purifier was tops for almost everyone aged forty and over.

Q2: At home, when making tea or coffee, what sort of water do you use? (Sample size=5,367, multiple answer)

Rank	Type of water	Votes
1	Boiled tap water	1,914
2	Filtered tap water	1,899
3	Direct from the tap water	1,098
4	Mineral water	574
5	Boiled mineral water	298
6	Tap water with charcoal added	114
7	Mineral water passed through water filter	81
8	Other type of water	80
9	Boiled other type of water	72
10	Other type of water passed through water filter	66

I’m not sure if there isn’t a bit of confusion here with water boiling – the standard Japanese electric pot does boil water itself, unless put to the lowest setting; however green tea seems to be best brewed between 60°C and 80°C, so perhaps this is where the boiled or non-boiled difference comes from? Or perhaps there are also people who boil the water in a kettle then transfer it to their pot to keep warm? I also wonder why there seems to be more people who pass mineral water through a filter before boiling it than who use mineral water directly.

So, let’s move on to the breakdown by sex.

Q2: At home, when making tea or coffee, what sort of water do you use? (Sample size=5,367 by sex, multiple answer)

Rank	Men N=2,794	Votes	Women N=2,573	Votes
1	Filtered tap water	962	Boiled tap water	1,014
2	Boiled tap water	900	Boiled tap water	937
3	Direct from the tap water	653	Direct from the tap water	445
4	Mineral water	295	Mineral water	279
5	Boiled mineral water	147	Boiled mineral water	151
6	Tap water with charcoal added	50	Tap water with charcoal added	64
7	Mineral water passed through water filter	47	Other type of water passed through water filter	43
8	Other type of water	41	Boiled other type of water	40
9	Boiled well water	36	Other type of water	39
10	Direct from the well water	34	Mineral water passed through water filter	34

Q3: At home, when cooking, what sort of water do you use? (Sample size=5,367, multiple answer)

Rank	Type of water	Votes
1	Direct from the tap water	2,682
2	Filtered tap water	1,865
3	Boiled tap water	675
4	Mineral water	482
5	Mineral water passed through water filter	97
6	Direct from the well water	97
7	Other type of water	87
8	Tap water with charcoal added	76
9	Boiled mineral water	70
10	Other type of water passed through water filter	59

Q3: At home, when cooking, what sort of water do you use? (Sample size=5,367 by sex, multiple answer)

Rank	Men N=2,794	Votes	Women N=2,573	Votes
1	Direct from the tap water	1,427	Direct from the tap water	1,255
2	Filtered tap water	921	Filtered tap water	944
3	Boiled tap water	303	Boiled tap water	372
4	Mineral water	233	Mineral water	249
5	Mineral water passed through water filter	57	Other type of water	50
6	Direct from the well water	47	Boiled mineral water	42
7	Other type of water	37	Direct from the well water	42
8	Tap water with charcoal added	36	Mineral water passed through water filter	40
9	Boiled mineral water	28	Tap water with charcoal added	40
10	Other type of water passed through water filter	26	Other type of water passed through water filter	33

For all ages and both sexes, tap water in some form or other occupies all three top slots.