世論 What Japan Thinks

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

This rather epic survey from the Cabinet Office Japan will be split into multiple parts and posted over the next few days. Here they looked at awareness of society, covering four main areas of country and society, the state of society today, evaluation of government, and how society works. A translation of a similar survey from last year may be found here and two years ago is here.

Demographics

10,000 people aged 20 or older were randomly selected from the entire Japanese population to take part in the survey. From that group, 5,494 people agreed to take part in face-to-face interviews conducted between the 7th and 24th of February 2008. 53.8% of the sample was female, 8.1% in their twenties, 15.3% in their thirties, 15.8% in their forties, 21.3% in their fifties, 21.9% in their sixties, 16.5% in their seventies, and 3.1% aged eighty or older. 74.7% were married, 11.8% were divorced or widowed, and 13.5% were unmarried.

The depression continues in this section, with Q13 dissatisfaction with the government’s KY-ness (空気が読めない, Kuuki ga Yomenai, inability to sense the mood), and Q14 showing pretty much all aspects of life not looking good and Q15 highlighting the ones particularly decaying. However, at least the final section on children was bright in outlook.

Research results

Q13: Overall, how much do you think the national government reflects on how the citizens are thinking and what opinions they hold? (Sample size=5,494)

Reflects a lot	1.1%
Reflects to some degree (to SQ)	20.6%
Don’t reflect much (to SQ)	56.3%
Don’t reflect at all (to SQ)	18.9%
Don’t know (to SQ)	3.0%

Q13SQ: What do you think they should do in order to relect the citizens’ opinions and thoughts better? (Sample size=5,266)

Politicians should listen well to the voice of the people	25.7%
Citizens should be interested in national government	20.3%
There should be more places when citizens can participate	17.5%
Citizens should make a conscious choice when voting	15.3%
Government should listen well to popular opinion	14.0%
Media should clearly express the opinions of citizens	5.2%
Other	0.6%
Don’t know	1.5%

Q14: Looking at the current situation Japan is in, which of the following areas are heading in a good direction? (Sample size=5,494, multiple answer)

Science and technology	21.2%
Communications, distribution	17.9%
Internationalisation	16.6%
Medical, welfare	15.1%
Disaster prevention	15.1%
Culture	9.9%
Traffic	9.7%
Natural environment	9.4%
Education	9.0%
Public order	8.2%
Living environment	6.4%
Diplomacy	5.8%
Resources, energy	5.7%
Defense	4.4%
Employment, working conditions	4.3%
Economic strength	3.6%
Food supply	3.2%
Land, homes	2.9%
Business climate	2.7%
Regional disparity	2.5%
National character	2.5%
Prices	1.4%
Trends in society	1.1%
Public finances	0.9%
Other	0.1%
Nothing, don’t know	27.5%

Q15: Looking at the current situation Japan is in, which of the following areas are heading in a bad direction? (Sample size=5,494, multiple answer)

Business climate	43.4%
Prices	42.3%
Food supply	40.9%
Public finances	37.5%
Medical, welfare	34.4%
Regional disparity	32.9%
Public order	31.6%
Employment, working conditions	31.1%
Natural environment	28.6%
Economic strength	25.8%
Resources, energy	25.4%
Education	24.3%
Trends in society	23.8%
Diplomacy	22.7%
Defense	18.9%
Living environment	15.9%
National character	14.8%
Land, homes	8.8%
Traffic	8.0%
Internationalisation	7.5%
Disaster prevention	5.7%
Culture	4.8%
Science and technology	3.4%
Communications, distribution	3.4%
Other	0.4%
Nothing, don’t know	3.8%

Q16: In today’s society, regarding each individual citizen’s earnings, savings, property, etc, to make a difference in their financial situations, what sort of measures should be taken? (Sample size=5,494)

Strengthen measures centered around tax and social security	35.4%
Strengthen measures centered around direct support for raising of wages	31.5%
Strengthen measures centered around indirect support for raising of wages	18.6%
Current measures are sufficient	4.4%
Other	0.4%
Nothing in particular	1.8%
Don’t know	7.8%

Q17: Ideally, how many children would it be good for you yourself to have? (Sample size=5,494)

None	0.5%
One	1.6%
Two	34.8%
Three	52.3%
Four	5.2%
Five	1.9%
Six or more	0.3%
Don’t know	2.2%

This gives an average of 2.70 children.

Q18: How many children do you actually have or have had? (Sample size=unclear)

None	3.0%
One	9.3%
Two	45.2%
Three	28.6%
Four	3.9%
Five	1.2%
Six or more	0.3%
Don’t know	8.6%

This gives an average of 2.28 children. The sample size here is not stated, but perhaps it is only married people. However, I find it surprising that only 3.0% are childless (this doesn’t agree with the demographic information provided, which said 20% were childless), but perhaps due to sampling methodology Dinkies (Dual Incomes, No Kids) were difficult to reach? Or perhaps it’s just that I’ve made a translation error!

Q19: Have you yourself felt mostly joy or mostly hardship bringing up children? If you don’t have any children, answer with whay you imagine it would be like. (Sample size=5,494)

Felt mostly joy	53.9%
Felt about equal joy and hardship	35.5%
Felt mostly hardship	5.2%
Other	0.4%
Don’t know	4.9%

Q20: What joys have you felt bringing up children? (Sample size=unclear, multiple answer)

Watching the children grow up	67.8%
Strengthening family bonds	57.8%
Growing myself while bringing up children	53.0%
Just seeing my children	43.5%
Making new acquaintances while bringing up children	37.7%
Having a fulfilling life while bringing up children	35.4%
Bringing the next generation of society	18.6%
Gaining self-confidence through bringing up children	18.4%
Experience of child-rearing being useful to work, etc	14.4%
Bringing up an heir to the house, business	9.5%
Other	0.3%
Nothing in particular	1.8%
Don’t know	3.7%

Q21: What hardships have you felt bringing up children? (Sample size=unclear, multiple answer)

Saving money for children’s future education	45.8%
Loss of my own free time	22.9%
Children’s companion’s strength, perserverance	22.6%
Can’t work how I thought I might	13.9%
Lack of breathing space at home	9.7%
Don’t know the best way to relate to children	9.2%
Difficult taking the children along when going out	7.7%
Don’t like children	1.1%
Other	1.2%
Nothing in particular	19.3%
Don’t know	4.0%

Q22: In the future, who do you think should have the biggest responsibility for bringing up children? (Sample size=unclear)

Parents and family	42.3%
Government	12.5%
Child-rearing facilities	11.6%
All citizens	10.5%
School, educators	9.2%
Neighbours	5.7%
The current situation is fine	4.0%
Other	0.3%
Don’t know	4.0%

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