Fish-eating (and vegetarian statistics) in Japan

Although the topic of this survey from DIMSDRIVE Research Inc was fish, the most interesting figure for me was some data to allow me to estimate the number of vegetarians in Japan.

Demographics

Between the 1st and 16th of Octoer 2008 9,524 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.5% of the sample were male, 1.3% in their teens, 13.7% in their twenties, 34.% in their thirties, 31.2% in their forties, 14.5% in their fifties, and 5.1% aged sixty or older.

The vegetarian numbers can be derived from first noticing that 0.7% don’t eat fish according to Q2, then 2.7% of these 0.7% say they don’t eat fish because they are vegetarians, meaning that a whole 8 people from the original 9,524, or 0.08% of the sample, which makes a mere 10,000 vegetarians in the whole of Japan! Of course, monks would inflate the figures, although note that the average local priest is not averse to even grilled beef!

Note that here fish refers to fish only, not other beasts of the sea like octopus, squid, prawns, shellfish, or indeed whale.

Research results

Q1: Do you like eating fish? (Sample size=9,524)

Love it	40.0%
Like it	44.6%
Can’t say either way	7.7%
Don’t really like it	6.2%
Hate it	1.5%

Q2: How often do you usually eat fish? (Sample size=9,524)

Almost every day	3.6%
Four or five days a week	11.6%
Two or three days a week	49.3%
One day a week	21.2%
Two or three days a month	9.0%
One day a month	2.3%
One day every two or three months	1.4%
One day every six months	0.4%
One day a year	0.0%
Less than that	0.5%
Don’t eat fish	0.7%

By age, older people were more likely to eat fish: over four in five over-sixties ate fish at least twice a week, whereas just over half of thise in their twenties did.

Q3: How often do you or your family members usually cook fish at home? (Sample size=9,524)

Almost every day	3.0%
Four or five days a week	8.9%
Two or three days a week	42.5%
One day a week	20.5%
Two or three days a month	9.1%
One day a month	3.3%
One day every two or three months	1.9%
One day every six months	0.8%
One day a year	0.2%
Less than that	1.4%
Don’t know	1.4%
Don’t cook fish at home	7.0%

Under two in five of those living alone cooked fish weekly or more, whereas nearly two-thirds of all other family sizes managed the same frequency.

Q4: What kinds of fish dishes do you often eat? (Sample size=9,229, those eating fish at least once a month, multiple answer)

Grilled	91.7%
Sashimi	76.8%
Boiled	54.5%
Sushi	51.8%
Dried	45.2%
Fried	36.1%
Tempura	30.0%
Hot-pot, shabu-shabu	22.6%
Minced	22.1%
Fish balls, fish paste	21.3%
Rice bowl	13.1%
Rice ball, stir-fry rice, other rice dish	12.7%
Miso soup, soup	12.2%
Salad, marinade	10.5%
Pasta	5.0%
Hamburger	3.7%
Other	0.9%
No particular dish	0.2%

Q5A: What kinds of fish do you like? (Sample size=9,229, those eating fish at least once a month, multiple answer, top fifteen)

Rank		Votes
1	Sanma	3,596
2	Tuna	3,322
3	Chum salmon	2,503
4	Mackerel	2,416
5	Horse mackerel	2,232
6	Japanese amberjack	1,157
7	Medaka ricefish, sea bream	1,143
8	Okhostk Atka mackerel	795
9	Pilchard	696
10	Skipjack tuna	683
11	Young Japanese amberjack	652
12	Righteye flounder	629
13	Flounder	531
14	Salmon	520
15	Pacific cod	284

You’ll notice salmon appears twice in the list; the more popular was the Japanese term さけ, é®­, sake, the less popular was the English loan word salmon. I don’t know what the difference between the two is.

Q5B: What kinds of fish do you like? (Sample size=men eating fish at least once a month, multiple answer, top ten)

Rank		Votes
1	Tuna	1,923
2	Sanma	1,876
3	Mackerel	1,256
4	Horse mackerel	1,140
5	Chum salmon	970
6	Medaka ricefish, sea bream	586
7	Japanese amberjack	508
8	Skipjack tuna	410
9	Pilchard	406
10	Young Japanese amberjack	348

Q5C: What kinds of fish do you like? (Sample size=women eating fish at least once a month, multiple answer, top ten)

Rank		Votes
1	Sanma	1,720
2	Chum salmon	1,533
3	Tuna	1,399
4	Mackerel	1,160
5	Horse mackerel	1,092
6	Japanese amberjack	649
7	Medaka ricefish, sea bream	557
8	Okhostk Atka mackerel	454
9	Salmon	374
10	Righteye flounder	370

Q6: Why do you eat fish? (Sample size=9,229, those eating fish at least once a month, multiple answer)

Delicious	82.1%
Good for health	53.4%
Like fish	50.5%
Goes well with rice, Japanese food	47.8%
Can obtain DHA, other nutrients that fish are rich in	33.3%
Light and refreshing	22.1%
Low in fat	15.3%
Other family members like fish	14.6%
Cheap to buy	13.8%
Suits my age	9.4%
Just because it’s put on the table	2.9%
Other	1.3%
No particular reason, just because	2.5%

Q7: Where do you buy fish? (Sample size=9,229, those eating fish at least once a month, multiple answer)

Supermarket	91.0%
Fishmonger	19.5%
Department store	12.4%
Market	5.6%
Shop other than fishmonger	4.7%
Internet, TV shopping, etc	3.5%
Harbour, fisherman	2.5%
Home centre, discount store	1.0%
Mobile shop	0.8%
Other	3.8%
Don’t buy fresh fish	4.1%

Q8: What do you check (what is important) when buying fish? (Sample size=8,852, those buying fish, multiple answer)

Freshness	83.4%
Price	77.8%
Type of fish	48.4%
Place of origin	38.9%
Colour, sheen	37.3%
Whether in season	36.3%
Dampness of the eyeball	34.0%
Sashimi-ready, raw-ready, cooking use, etc	33.8%
Sell-by date	31.4%
Number, weight of fish in pack	27.6%
Whether it’s leaking water	23.8%
Size of each fish	23.1%
Preparation (if the guts are removed, etc)	16.8%
Whether it’s sliced	14.3%
Whether it’s grated	9.2%
How it’s displayed	3.0%
Other	0.7%
Nothing in particular	2.0%

Q9: Why don’t you eat fish? (Sample size=295, those never eating fish or eating less than once a month, multiple answer)

Dislike fish	37.6%
Bothersome to cook	27.8%
Worried about smelly hands, room, rubbish	23.1%
Don’t like the smell	22.7%
Bothersome to eat	19.3%
Can’t cook	17.6%
Fish is expensive	15.6%
Don’t have the chance to eat it	13.2%
Other family member hates fish	8.1%
Can get enough nutrients from other sources	4.4%
Allergic	4.1%
Vegetarian	2.7%
Got food poisoning, etc from it before	1.0%
Other	4.1%
No particular reason	11.2%

Q10: Why don’t you cook fish at home? (Sample size=559, those never cooking fish or cooking less than once a month, multiple answer)

Don’t cook at all at home	31.7%
Cooking is bothersome, difficult	30.6%
Can’t cook fish	28.3%
Quicker, tastier to buy ready-cooked	22.2%
Worried about smelly hands, room, rubbish	21.8%
Difficult to cook it well	19.0%
Gets kitchen, cooking implements dirty; washing up is difficult	15.6%
Don’t have good cooking implements	6.1%
Can’t buy	5.5%
Family member hates, is allergic to fish	2.0%
Haven’t many recipies	2.0%
Other	6.4%
Don’t know	1.8%
No particular reason	11.4%

Q11: In your everyday life, do you think you eat sufficient fish? (Sample size=9,524)

Sufficient	11.0%
Sufficient to some degree	30.0%
Can’t say either way	20.1%
Insufficient to some degree	28.6%
Insufficient	10.3%

Only for those over fifty was there a clear majority who felt they were eating sufficient fish. People living alone significantly felt they weren’t getting enough.