世論 What Japan Thinks

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

The Norinchukin Bank recently released the results of a survey they commissioned into fathers, their eating habits, and what they are teaching their children about food.

Demographics

The survey was conducted between the 22nd of November and 7th of December in 2006, amongst fathers living in and around the Tokyo area, with 400 men aged between 30 and 49 were interviewed. Although it is not clearly stated, I believe all the men surveyed were full-time employment.

The survey results were on the whole presented not in tabular form, but as highlights of the answers given to the posed questions. I will retain the same style in this write-up.

Part one looked at eating habits. I found the drinking habits interesting; note that only 7% of drinkers do not drink with their evening meal.

SECTION 1: Food Habits

Q1: How many times a week do you have breakfast at home? Who do you eat with? What do you eat? (Sample size=400)

Almost half the fathers (49.3%) ate breakfast every day; 13.0% ate it five or six times a week, 15.0% managed it three of four times a week, and 10.8% had breakfast at home just once or twice a week, leaving 11.9% never eating at home. In addition, 38.8% missed breakfast all together at least once a week. The main reason for not eating at home was waking up late with 41.9% oversleeping, and 36.9% just not hungry.

48.9%, however, ate with their children and 48.3% with their wives, and 46.6% eating alone; those in their forties were much more likely to eat by themselves than those in their thirties. The main reason for eating alone was due to having to get up earlier than everyone else, with over three-quarters (75.6%) in that situation; conversely 17.1% got up later than everyone else, and 7.9% said the family just eat whenever they feel like it.

Top of the menu was bread, at 69.3%, followed by 62.5% eating eggs, and 55.7% rice. Just over half (51.7%) drank coffee or tea, 42.6% had miso soup, 41.8% ham or bacon, and 33.8% natto. Exactly three-quarters of those in their thirties had bread, but just 63.9% in their forties did.

Q2: What do you eat for lunch on weekdays? Where do you eat it? (Sample size=400)

45.8% ate lunch at a restaurant outside of the workplace, 26.5% bought a lunchbox, and just 25.5% had a lunchbox made for them at home. 23.8% ate at a workplace cafeteria, and 22.0% bought bread, rice balls or other fast food.

Regarding the usual menu for lunch, top was rice and side dishes, with 84.1% eating this. Next was 47.9% on udon or soba noodles, 43.3% eating ramen, 40.6% often chose rice bowls, and 33.2% curry rice. Looking at the differences between those in their thirties and their forties, rice balls, cup noodles or cup soup, and hamburgers were all significantly more popular with the younger group. Conversely, udon and soba noodles were ten percentage points more popular with the older group.

Q3: How much on average do you spend on lunch? (Sample size=400)

The average spend was 607.6 yen. Nearly seven in ten spent between 500 and 900 yen, 13.1% got by with less than 13.1%, and 8.9% spent between 1,000 and 1,100 yen.

Q4: How many times per week do you eat an evening meal at home? Who do you eat with? (Sample size=400)

Every day	47.5%
Five or six times a week	22.0%
Three or four times	21.8%
One or two times	8.5%
Never	0.2%

The average number of times was 5.4 nights per week. The larger the family, the more often the father ate at home every day, although whether this was due to increased parental responsibility or just a lack of money is not explored!

On weekdays, fathers most often ate with their wives, with 62.9% doing so. 56.4% also sat down at the table with their children, but 53.1% also often ate alone. The 40s age group experienced eating alone more often than those in their 30s.

On weekends, 97.2% sat down their their children, and 96.5% with their wives.

Q5: What do you often eat at evening meals at home? (Sample size=400)

Grilled fish was eaten by 69.7%, 68.9% had curry or stew, 63.4% stir-fried veggies etc, 60.7% boiled fish or veggies, 58.9% salad, 56.6% deep-fried chicken, etc, 54.6% grilled beef or steak. The traditional miso soup was drunk by just 52.6%.

Food favoured by the younger group included stir-fried veggies etc, deep-fried chicken, and pasta, whereas the older set preferred more Japanese-style food like grilled fish and sashimi.

50.6% of the sample ate prepared food such as side dishes bought at a supermarket or frozen foods once or twice a week, whereas only 22.8% always cooked from scratch.

Q6: What is your most favourite dish at home? (Sample size=400, free answer)

Rank	Dish	Votes
1	Curry rice	86
2	Hot-pot (nabe)	68
2	Grilled fish	68
4	Sashimi	66
5	Gyoza	56
6	Hamburger	43
7	Deep-fried chicken	41
8	Grilled beer	39
9	Boiled daikon radish, sato-imo (kind of potato)	31
10	Pasta	27

For disliked foods, top was boiled veggies with 15 votes, then 13 people disliked pumpkin, 12 celery, and 12 natto. Note that these are all vegetables.

Q7: What do you often drink? Do you drink with your evening meal? (Sample size=400)

The top drink was beer and beer-like concoctions, with 61.0% imbibing, and shochu (including chuhai) was next with 52.0% doing so. Following up, but way down, was 14.3% with sake, 7.3% wine, 4.3% whisky. In addition, 13.8% said they were teetotal. Beer was tops for those in their 30s, shochu for the 40s.

Next, almost four in five (79.3%) tend to drink with their evening meals, with 43.0% of those in their forties always drinking, and slightly less, 28.5% of those in their thirties doing so. Conversely, 24.5% of those in their thirties never drink with their evening meal (this figure includes the 13.8% who never drink at all, I believe), and just 17.0% of those in their forties do not.

Interestingly, those who lived with their parents were more likely to have a drink with every evening meal, at 43.4% for those with parents versus 34.6% of those whose parents are elsewhere. Similarly, those sometimes drinking were 32.1% versus 22.2%.

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]