世論 What Japan Thinks

One thing you soon notice in Japan is that a lot of people drink little bottles of… well, I’ve never really quite worked out exactly what is in these little bottles, but basically some supposedly healthy concoction. I did have one foreign friend who drunk them, but the smell of them was enough to put me off ever trying! To find out what the Japanese themselves are consuming, MyVoice performed a survey on these health drinks.

Demographics

Over the first five days of June 2007 13,228 members of the MyVoice internet community successfully completed an online survey. 54% were female, 2% in their teens, 18% in their twenties, 39% in their thirties, 27% in their forties, and 14% in their fifties.

I suspect that some of these drinks do tend to quackery, but I don’t know what testing is required for them before they make their claims, although I would hazard a guess that the answer would be “not much”. Some of the advertisements have small captions saying that they are restricted to people over 15 and only one per day, so perhaps I should investigate the reason for that, although the cynical part of me says that it is just to try to convice the viewer of the potency of the brew.

Research results

Q1: How much attention do you usually pay to your health? (Sample size=13,228)

Pay a lot of attention	15.2%
Pay a bit of attention	64.7%
Pay little attention	17.1%
Pay no attention whatsoever	3.0%

Q2: Select which of the following your are concerned about regarding your body or your eating habits. (Sample size=13,228, multiple answer)

Lack of exercise	59.7%
Overeating	48.3%
Stiff shoulders, back pain	46.3%
Don’t eat enough vegetables	43.5%
Eyes get tired easily	42.6%
Getting fat	37.6%
Get stressed easily	36.8%
Sleepy, lack of sleep	34.8%
Eat a lot of fatty food	33.7%
Body gets tired easily	26.3%
Eat lots of snacks	25.4%
Irregular periods	25.2%
Poor skin condition	21.6%
Digestive function is low	20.9%
Drink too much	18.1%
Eat unbalanced meals	17.9%
Skip meals	15.6%
Eat out often	15.0%
Other	2.3%
Nothing in particular	3.0%
No answer	0.1%

Q3: Which of the following have you drunk? (Sample size=13,228, multiple answer)

Oronamin C, Oronamin C Royal Polis	52%
C1000 Takeda Vitamin Lemon	49.9%
Ripobitan D	45.2%
Fibe Mini	37.3%
Acerola Vitamin C	36.9%
Chocola BB, Chocola BB Light, Chocola BB Royal	20.7%
Chelate Lemon	18.6%
Arinamin V Drink	17.8%
Regain, Regain 24 Royal	17.0%
Hachimitsu Kurosu Diet	13.7%
Ukon no Chikara	13.4%
Calorie Mate Can	12.7%
Ameel S	11.7%
Kurosu Drink	10.7%
Shokumotsusei Nyusankin Labre	8.0%
Minmindaha	7.4%
Amino Collagen Drink	6.4%
Alpha, Alphamini	6.3%
Amino Value Conku	6.2%
Collagen 10000 + Vitamin C1000 Drink	6.2%
Cassis i	3.9%
Uruoi Biritsu	3.7%
Gussumin	2.3%
Ninniku no Chikara	2.2%
Perfect Slim	2.2%
Kyupurun	2.0%
Maka no Genki	1.6%
Nama Royal Jelly	1.0%
Other	17.1%
Never drunk any of them	11.6%
No answer	0.1%

Q4: Which one of the following do you drink the most? (Sample size=those who drink health drinks)

Ripobitan D	17.2%
C1000 Takeda Vitamin Lemon	16.0%
Oronamin C, Oronamin C Royal Polis	15.0%
Acerola Vitamin C	6.2%
Chocola BB, Chocola BB Light, Chocola BB Royal	4.2%
Chelate Lemon	3.5%
Ukon no Chikara	3.3%
Fibe-mini	3.2%
Hachimitsu Kurosu Diet	2.3%
Shokumotsusei Nyusankin Labre	2.2%
Kurosu Drink	1.8%
Arinamin V Drink	1.7%
Ameel S	1.2%
Regain, Regain 24 Royal	1.1%
Collagen 10000 + Vitamin C1000 Drink	1.0%
Amino Collagen Drink	0.9%
Minmindaha	0.7%
Calorie Mate Can	0.7%
Amino Value Conku	0.7%
Alpha, Alphamini	0.5%
Uruoi Biritsu	0.5%
Cassis i	0.3%
Perfect Slim	0.2%
Gussumin	0.2%
Ninniku no Chikara	0.2%
Kyupurun	0.1%
Maka no Genki	0.1%
Nama Royal Jelly	0.1%
Other	14.3%
No answer	0.7%

Q5: About how often do you drink health drinks? (Sample size=13,228)

Almost every day	5.6%
Four or five times a week	3.2%
Twice or thrice a week	9.9%
Once a week	13.1%
Twice or thrice a month	16.2%
Once a month	16.9%
Less than once a month	33.5%
No answer	1.6%

Q6: Why do you drink health drinks? (Sample size=those who drink health drinks, multiple answer)

Recover from fatigue	47.2%
Supplemental nourishment	27.0%
Maintain health	25.3%
Just drink them	20.6%
Ease a dry throat	14.8%
Refresh body	14.6%
Skin quality effect	13.9%
Prevent disease, prevent worsening of disease	8.3%
Improve digestion	6.7%
For weight loss diet	4.3%
Anti-aging effect	2.7%
Detox effect	1.4%
Other	4.8%
No answer	1.6%

Q7: What is most important when choosing a health drink? (Sample size=those who drink health drinks)

Effect	33.5%
Taste	24.6%
Price	15.6%
Ingredients	7.7%
Natural ingredients, organic	1.7%
Calories	1.5%
Maker, brand	1.4%
Advertisement image	1.2%
Word of mouth, recommendation from friend	1.0%
Quantity	0.5%
Stands out in shop	0.4%
Packaging	0.3%
Discussed in magazines, television	0.2%
New product	0.1%
Other	0.7%
Nothing in particular	8.7%
No answer	1.3%