The Nippon Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA) has conducted the “First Survey of Attitudes Toward Politics, Economy, and Society (NIRA Basic Survey).” The purpose of this survey is to conduct “fixed-point observation” of people's attitudes in relation to politics, the economy, and society.

The survey was conducted online from March 16, 2023 (Thursday) to March 20, 2023 (Monday). A total of 2,000 responses were collected, of which 1,805 were valid responses (from respondents who successfully completed the trap questions) (Note 1). The following preliminary results are based only on data from respondents who completed the trap questions, and are weight-corrected aggregate results, with the population aged 18 years and older given in the Population Census (2020) considered as the statistical population (Note 2).

(Note 1): A trap question is a question designed to detect respondents who respond without carefully reading the question text. In this survey, “Please choose “4. Tend to disagree” for this item” was prepared as a trap question, and the further responses of those who chose this response for this question were considered valid.

(Note 2): For more detail regarding the formulation of weights, see “II. Chousa gaiyou [Overview of the Survey]” (in Japanese). The ratios (%) in the figures and tables in the text are rounded to the first decimal place, and the total of the breakdown therefore may not equal 100%. In addition, figures may not match those in the text.

KEY POINTS

- More than 70% of respondents indicated that they trust their “Family,” “The Japan Self-Defense Forces,” “The courts,” “The police,” and their “Municipal authorities,” while more than 60% do not trust “The Diet,” “The government,” “SNS (Twitter, Instagram, etc.),” and “Internet media (news apps, websites, blogs, etc.).

- While less than 50% of respondents agreed with the statement “I am interested in politics,” more than 70% agreed with the statements “Current political parties are focused on vested interests; I would like to see leaders who more directly represent the will of the people” and “Most politicians are concerned with the interests of the wealthy and powerful.” 

- Many respondents were pessimistic about the outlook for Japan's economic situation, with 80% or more answering “Bleak” or “Somewhat bleak” for both the near future (1-2 years) and the more distant future (5-10 years).  

- Many respondents cited “Soaring food and energy prices,” “Hardship due to slow economic growth,” “Natural disasters and epidemics,” “Armed conflict in neighboring countries,” and “Inability to receive government services due to a worsening economic situation” as concerns for the future of society, both in the near future and the medium- to long-term future.

- The highest percentage of respondents indicated that they had no time for study, self-development, or training in the most recent “normal week,” suggesting that many people are unable to invest time in self-improvement. The results also showed that teleworkers were more likely to be able to secure time for self-improvement.

- The percentage of respondents who thought that government bond issuance should be curbed exceeded the percentage of those who thought that there is no need to worry about Japan’s budget deficit. More than 60% of respondents thought that the tax rate for high-income earners should be raised when income taxes are raised.  

- The percentage of those who answered that they “Would prefer to change jobs if given the chance” greatly exceeded the percentage of those who answered that they “Would prefer to stay with the same company for a long time”. This tendency was particularly evident among younger respondents. 

- When asked about their willingness to bear the additional burden of improving the level of public services, 64% of respondents indicated that they would be willing to pay extra. The most common items to which respondents responded positively were “Medical services,” “Support during emergencies and disasters,” “Childcare support,” and the “Pension system.” On the other hand, “Defense” and “Livelihood support” received few positive responses, and “Employment support” received the lowest response.

- Respondents indicated that the expense that could be reduced most significantly by eliminating waste while maintaining the current level of services was “Expenses for administrative personnel.” In addition, the greatest number of respondents thought that all expenses were wasteful by 10-20%.