世論 What Japan Thinks

Here’s another interesting look at drinking alcohol with MyVoice.

Demographics

Over the first five days of October 2009 13,102 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 14% in their twenties, 32% in their thirties, 32% in their forties, and 22% aged fifty or older.

I just read today about Japan and the social cost of alcohol, which is interesting reading, and I agree on the whole with the facts and the conclusion, although the estimate of the number of alcoholics seems on the low side, or else the diagnosis of an alcoholic in Japan is somewhat different to the west. The most interesting figure, though, is the social cost of alcohol. This article say 6.6 trillion yen, whereas a similar figure from a BBC article suggests £6.4 billion in terms of productivity losses. Working at 150 yen to the pound and populations of 130 million versus 65 million, that makes the cost to Japan industry almost 3.5 times greater!

Research results

Q1: About how often do you usually drink? (Sample size=13,102)

Almost every day	20.1%
Four or five days a week	9.2%
Two or three days a week	15.4%
Once a week	10.6%
Two or three days a month	10.4%
Once a month or less	15.9%
Don’t, can’t drink	18.4%

Q2: What kinds of alcohol do you like? (Sample size=drinkers, multiple answer)

Beer	63.8%
Chu-hai	43.9%
Wine	38.9%
Happoshu (fake beer)	36.7%
Cocktail	34.8%
Ume-shu (plum wine)	34.8%
Shochu, awamori (Japanese spirits)	28.7%
New genre beer (even faker beer)	28.1%
Sake	25.6%
Western spirits	15.4%
Chinese spirits	5.0%
Korean spirits	3.3%
Other	1.2%
No answer	0.2%

Q3: Where do you usually drink alcohol the most? (Sample size=drinkers)

Mostly at home, friend’s home	62.1%
A bit more at home, friend’s home	13.9%
A bit more at bars, pubs	12.6%
Mostly at bars, pubs	10.3%
No answer	1.0%

Q4: When drinking alcohol at home what sorts of mood do you want to get into? (Sample size=drinkers, multiple answer)

When I want to relax	59.1%
When I want to relieve my tiredness	28.0%
When I want to sleep soundly	27.8%
When I want to get rid of stress	24.7%
When I want to lighten my mood	24.4%
When I want to open up	21.6%
When I want to forget something bad	16.1%
When I want to be optimistic	13.5%
When I want to liven up the mood	12.5%
When I want to be happy in the haze of a drunken hour	8.9%
When I just want to get drunk	8.4%
When I want to be feel refreshed	7.9%
When I want to talk with people	6.6%
When I want to think things through	1.3%
Other	5.1%
No particular reason	4.7%
Don’t drink at home	5.1%
No answer	0.4%

Q5: When drinking alcohol outside the home what sorts of mood do you want to get into? (Sample size=drinkers, multiple answer)

When I want to open up	33.5%
When I want to talk with people	32.6%
When I want to liven up the mood	31.9%
When I want to get rid of stress	25.8%
When I want to relax	22.5%
When I want to be optimistic	16.0%
When I want to forget something bad	12.5%
When I want to lighten my mood	11.9%
When I just want to get drunk	6.7%
When I want to relieve my tiredness	6.2%
When I want to feel refreshed	5.9%
When I want to sleep soundly	3.1%
When I want to be happy in the haze of a drunken hour	1.4%
When I want to think things through	0.8%
Other	4.2%
No particular reason	12.5%
Don’t drink outside	6.3%
No answer	0.4%

Q6: Who do you often drink with? (Sample size=drinkers, multiple answer)

By myself	45.4%
With friends	42.9%
With spouse	41.6%
With work colleagues	24.9%
With parents	9.6%
With boyfriend, girlfriend	7.6%
With friends from social circles	6.9%
With brother, sister	5.1%
With children	4.7%
With other family members	2.4%
Other	1.3%
No answer	0.6%

Q7: When do you want to drink alcohol? (Sample size=drinkers, multiple answer)

During meals	50.1%
Birthdays, wedding anniversaries, other celebrations	31.2%
When eating out	30.0%
When on a trip	29.5%
After a bath	27.3%
After work	24.5%
Before a meal	23.4%
After a meal	18.5%
When I’m with people	16.5%
When gathered with social circle from hobbies, sports, etc	14.7%
When I’m alone	10.9%
After sports	9.4%
While watching sports	8.2%
After housework	5.0%
Other	2.7%
No particular time	5.1%
No answer	0.3%