Cross-National Comparative Survey
on National Character

　Based on a proposal submitted by Japan National Research Council, the Institute of Statistical Mathematics (ISM) was founded under the Ministry of Education in 1944 during WWll. After the war, the ISM's mission was shifted from operations research to the development of official statistics and scientific public opinion systems for the post-war democracy in Japan. Most of systems on official statistics and survey research were established by the ISM as various collaborated works with members of other universities, institutes and the government, i.e., all over Japan.

A view of Mt. Fuji from ISM
(office in Tachikawa)

A Graduation photography event in Vietnam - a country developing a free market, but also retaining Confucian traditions.

　During the post-war time, some people of the US government insisted on "Romanization of the Japanese language", because they believed that the use of Chinese characters presented difficulties in education and daily life. In 1948, the ISM played a central role in an interdisciplinary team under the Ministry of Education in order to carry out a nationwide survey on "the Japanese Literacy" based on statistical random sampling theory. The result confirmed the sufficient literacy of the Japanese to develop the post-war democracy and it eventually saved the Japanese language from possible social confusions. Based on the methodology invented in the survey, the ISM has started "the Japanese National Character Survey" in 1953 to study the attitudes, opinions, and social values of the people in daily life, which lasts over 60 years now. This is a world- widely unique and significant survey supported by the Ministry of Education, and it stimulated many other countries to start the same type of statistical sampling survey such as GSS in the USA, EuroBarometer in EU, etc.

　Since 1971, it has been extended to cross-national surveys for more comprehensive study, including surveys on the Japanese immigrants in Hawaii and Brazil. The most significant task involves the cross-national comparability of the peoples beyond differences such as cultures, languages, and social systems. We have developed a paradigm called "Cultural Linkage Analysis" to overcome the difficulties of comparability, which has now evolved as "Cultural Manifold Analysis (CULMAN)" for the three sets of hierarchical comparative frameworks: time, space, and research themes. Now the Asia-Pacific Values Survey" has been in progress with the support of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science during 2010-2014 fiscal years.

Lal Qila (Red Fort) in Delhi: India is a multiethnic, multilingual, and multi-religious society.

The Institute of Statistical Mathematics conducts a longitudinal survey on the national character of Japan. Around 1971, this was expanded to a series of cross-national comparative studies to better understand Japanese attitudes and values. It covers studies of Japanese Americans in Brazil, Hawaii, and the West Coast of the United States. Recent surveys cover many countries in East Asia, the Pacific Rim, and the India-Asia Pacific region. Related papers and books can be found on our website. Click the image on the right to view the related website.

（Chikio HYAHSHI, Hakujiro AOYAMA, Sigenobu NISHIDAIRA, KKikuo NOMOTO, Yasumasa KURODA)

(Chikio HAYASHI, Akira MIZUNO, Tatsuzo SUZUKI, Fumi HAYASHI, Ryozo YOSHINO, Katsuzo YAMAMOTO, TAkeo KAWAI, Katsunori WAKISAKA, Susumu MIYAO, Koichi MORI)

(Ryozo YOSHINO, Chikio HAYASHI, Tatsuzo SUZUKI, Fumi HAYASHI, Tadahiko MAEDA, Kazue YAMAOKA, Hiroko KAWAHARA, Masakatu MURAKAMI, Frank Shotaro Miyamoto, Tetsuden Kashima, Tsukasa Namekata, Stefan Fugita)

（Ryozo YOSHINO, Chikio HAYASHI, Tatsuzo SUZUKI, Fumi HAYASHI, Yuejun ZHENG, Tadahiko MAEDA, Masamichi SASAKI,Kazue YAMAOKA, Hiroko KAWAHARA, Yasamasa KURODA, Frank Shotaro Miyamoto, Tetsuden Kashima, Stefan Fugita)