世論 What Japan Thinks

Autumn is probably my favourite season in Japan, but sadly that was not one of the questions posed in this survey from MyVoice, their second look at the taste of Autumn.

Demographics

Over the first five days of October 14,652 members of the MyVoice internet community successfully completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 2% in their teens, 14% in their twenties, 38% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 17% aged fifty or older.

My Autumn foods would have to be the horrendously expensive matsutake mushrooms, although given the price of high quality ones I usually end up eating merely the prepacked off-cuts that come in rice topping kits. I do like chestnuts too, usually eaten with pasta or in chestnut flavour Kit-Kats, which have an almost coffee-like flavour and are well worth hunting down.

Research results

Q1: When do you begin to feel Autumn? (Sample size=14,652)

Mid August or earlier	0.3%
Late August	2.3%
Early September	5.1%
Mid September	16.1%
Late September	30.3%
Early October	26.0%
Mid October	13.5%
Late October	4.1%
Early November or later	1.2%
Don’t feel Autumn, don’t know	1.2%

Q2: What makes you feel Autumn? (Sample size=those who feel Autumn, multiple answer)

Temperature, weather	83.4%
Scenery	51.5%
Plants	40.0%
Events	31.2%
Clothes	28.9%
Food, drink	25.4%
Living things	21.8%
Restaurant menus	14.6%
Information	13.8%
Electric products	2.8%
Facilities, services	2.5%
Work	2.3%
Daily products, accessories	1.6%
Travel	1.1%
Medicines	0.7%
Furniture	0.6%
Other	2.2%
No answer	4.2%

Q3: What kinds of eating opportunities increase in Autumn? (Sample size=14,652, multiple answer)

Eat home-cooked food at home more often	12.5%
Eat out more	3.5%
Eat home-cooked food outside more often	3.1%
Eat brought-in food at home more often	1.0%
Eat brought-in food outside more often	1.0%
Other	1.5%
No particular change in eating habits	78.9%
No answer	0.7%

Q4: What are the flavours of Autumn? (Sample size=14,652, multiple answer)

Sanma (Pacific saury)	72.1%
Chestnuts	61.6%
Pears	50.4%
Persimmon	42.9%
Matsutake mushrooms	37.3%
New rice	34.7%
Grapes	29.1%
Sweet potato, baked potato	27.8%
Other mushrooms	21.8%
Ginnan nuts	17.8%
Autumn salmon	17.8%
Pumpkin	9.5%
Aubergine (eggplant)	8.5%
Other	2.2%
Nothing in particular	2.2%
No answer	0.1%

Q5: Which flavour of Autumn goes best with alcohol? (Sample size=14,652)

Sanma (Pacific saury)	48.1%
Ginnan nuts	8.9%
Matsutake mushrooms	8.5%
Autumn salmon	4.8%
Other mushrooms	3.5%
Aubergine (eggplant)	2.6%
Chestnuts	1.3%
Pears	0.7%
Sweet potato, baked potato	0.5%
Grapes	0.4%
New rice	0.4%
Persimmon	0.3%
Pumpkin	0.3%
Other	1.4%
Nothing in particular	18.1%
No answer	0.3%

Q6: Which kind of alcohol goes best with your answer in Q5? (Sample size=those who chose a food in Q5)

Sake	37.0%
Beer	25.3%
Shochu spirits	16.1%
Chu-hai (Shochu highball)	3.9%
Ume shu (plum wine)	3.3%
Wine	2.1%
Whisky	1.0%
Liquer	0.3%
Other	0.2%
Something other than alcohol	4.2%
Don’t, can’t drink alcohol	6.2%
No answer	0.5%