History
The "Surveys on the Japanese National Character" is one of statistical research projects regularly carried out by the Institute of Statistical Mathematics and it aims to ascertain the current attitudes and opinions of Japanese nationals and their shifts over time using social surveys.
The surveys began in 1953 soon after the end of the World War II. New installments have been carried out since then every 5 years, and in 2013 the 13th installment was carried out on the 60th anniversary of the commencement of the survey project. These survey installments are carried out, as a matter of principle, using the same methodology and questionnaire items each time.
The aims of the continuous survey on the Japanese national character can be roughly divided into two categories. The first is elucidating the changing aspects of the Japanese mentality through posing the same questions over the long term. The second is probing for new trends in the future while we maintain continuity with the past, and preparing for those trends. To these ends, we use both new questions and previous questions that have not been necessarily used in each installment.
The surveys began in 1953 soon after the end of the World War II. New installments have been carried out since then every 5 years, and in 2013 the 13th installment was carried out on the 60th anniversary of the commencement of the survey project. These survey installments are carried out, as a matter of principle, using the same methodology and questionnaire items each time.
The aims of the continuous survey on the Japanese national character can be roughly divided into two categories. The first is elucidating the changing aspects of the Japanese mentality through posing the same questions over the long term. The second is probing for new trends in the future while we maintain continuity with the past, and preparing for those trends. To these ends, we use both new questions and previous questions that have not been necessarily used in each installment.
In the Thirteenth Survey, we not only considered the trends in Japanese consciousness across the last half century, but we also gave consideration to identifying what kind of effect the March 2011 Great East Japan earthquake had on the thinking of Japanese nationals.
