Comparing the Values of People Across Japan's 47 Prefectures: Hokkaido/Tohoku Region and Kanto Region Edition

DENTSU SOKEN INC. and Dentsu Future Forecasting Support Lab conducted the "Quality of Society Annual Survey 2021" in October 2021, targeting 12,000 men and women nationwide, under the supervision of Professor Yasufumi Shibauchi of Tokyo Keizai University. This survey, which aims to understand people's attitudes and values regarding society, began its first iteration in December 2019, making this the third survey. Plans are in place to continue collecting and accumulating data on a regular basis.

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In our previous series, we introduced major societal changes and the current state of public consciousness across Japan as a whole.

Starting now, we will introduce distinctive aspects of people's attitudes and values at the prefectural level, leveraging the unique perspective afforded by a nationwide survey. First up is the "Hokkaido/Tohoku Region and Kanto Region Edition." Please note that all rankings within the articles represent positions among Japan's 47 prefectures.

<Table of Contents>

Hokkaido/Tohoku Region Edition
▼Fukushima and Akita: Positive about men taking childcare leave
▼Iwate and Yamagata: Prefer face-to-face work
▼Aomori: Health concerns; Miyagi: Positive about shared housing
▼Hokkaido: Lacking distinct characteristics despite regional traits

Kanto Region Edition
▼Tokyo and Ibaraki: Volunteer participation remains aspirational
▼Tochigi and Gunma: Low expectations for media
▼Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa: Few value biases

Hokkaido and Tohoku Region Edition

First, let's look at the Hokkaido and Tohoku regions.

Fukushima and Akita are proactive about "men taking childcare leave"

Regarding "acceptance of men taking childcare leave," Fukushima Prefecture ranked first nationally (86.0%), followed by Akita Prefecture in second place (85.9%).

Regarding men taking paternity leave, the percentage of respondents who answered "acceptable" has shown an increasing trend over the three surveys, with the national average also high at 80.7%. However, Fukushima and Akita Prefectures, which lead the pack, deserve special attention.

Iwate and Yamagata: Preferring Face-to-Face Work

In the first installment of this series, we introduced that over 70% of people believe remote work should become established. However, the perspective seems slightly different for people in Iwate Prefecture.

Iwate ranked first nationally (39.0%) in the percentage of people who answered, "Once the infectious disease situation calms down, I think we should return to working in person, such as commuting to offices." Yamagata also ranked third (36.6%), and Akita ranked fourth (35.9%). In the Tohoku region, the value placed on working face-to-face appears to be stronger compared to other prefectures.

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Aomori Expresses Health Concerns, Miyagi Positive About Shared Housing

In a survey asking "Do you consider yourself healthy?", the percentage of respondents who answered "I do not consider myself healthy" regarding physical health was highest in Aomori Prefecture (30.6%).

Aomori Prefecture also ranks last in average life expectancy by prefecture, as published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. This low life expectancy may well be contributing to the high number of people reporting poor health.

What about lifestyle preferences? Regarding communal living arrangements like share houses, Miyagi Prefecture showed the strongest positive attitude in the Tohoku region. The percentage of residents who answered "I can accept it" ranked third nationally (47.2%), indicating a tendency to have little resistance to living with people who are neither relatives nor married or in a common-law relationship.

Hokkaido: Lacking Distinctive Features Despite Regional Characteristics

So far, we've highlighted distinctive items for Hokkaido and Tohoku. Some may have noticed Hokkaido's absence. In the "Quality of Society Annual Survey 2021," which covered 35 items and 355 questions, Hokkaido ranked within the top 10 for not a single item. Despite Hokkaido's regional characteristics—its vast land, harsh winter cold, and unique ethnic culture—the survey revealed that Hokkaido residents hold views very close to the national average. This is a highly intriguing point.

Having examined Hokkaido and the Tohoku region thus far, we conclude with one unusual finding. Regarding actions taken to protect personal health, Fukushima Prefecture ranked last nationally (23.0%) in the proportion of people who answered "I receive regular dental checkups."

Fukushima ranks 7th in the number of dental caries patients by prefecture (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). Considering that the other two worst-ranked prefectures, Saga (23rd) and Yamagata (31st), are much lower, this suggests a lack of correlation with actual patient numbers.

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Kanto Region Edition

Next, we'll introduce the Kanto region.

Volunteer Participation Stays at Willingness Level in Tokyo and Ibaraki

When asked about experience or intention to participate in various volunteer activities, Tokyo (9.4%) ranked lowest nationally at 47th place—the only single-digit percentage—for the proportion of people who answered "I participated in some volunteer activity within the past year." Ibaraki (10.9%) ranked 46th.

However, looking at the difference between this figure and the percentage who answered "I want to participate," Tokyo showed a gap of 18.3 points (12th place) and Ibaraki 20.8 points (6th place), both relatively high. This clearly indicates that while there is motivation to participate in volunteer activities, it is not translating into actual action.

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Tochigi and Gunma Don't Expect Much from the Media

Regarding expectations for information sources and media, the percentage of people who answered "teaching me about various opinions and ways of thinking in the world" was 46th for Tochigi Prefecture (60.6%) and 45th for Gunma Prefecture (61.3%). In other items related to views on information sources and media, these two prefectures also ranked lower overall compared to other Kanto prefectures, suggesting they may not have high expectations for the media.

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Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa: Less Bias in Values

In contrast to Gunma and Tochigi, where trends were clearly visible, the three prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa showed little difference from the national average in most items and had few distinctive characteristics.

Interestingly, these three prefectures—often grouped together with Tokyo as the "Greater Tokyo Area"—do not necessarily follow the same trends as Tokyo. Depending on how one interprets this, it could be seen as indicating less bias in their values and a sense of balance.

This article focused on introducing distinctive items by prefecture, but the survey collected data on many other items as well. If you are considering regional branding or promotion strategies, or wish to learn more detailed content at the prefectural level, please feel free to contact us. Next time, we will present the "Chubu Region and Kinki Region Edition."

*Rankings in the article are determined by referencing data to the second decimal place.
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【Survey Overview】
Title: "Quality of Society Annual Survey"
Survey Period:
1st Survey: December 11-18, 2019
2nd Survey: November 11–17, 2020
Third Survey: October 19–28, 2021
Survey Method: Internet survey
Target Area: Nationwide
Respondents: 12,000 men and women aged 18–74
Survey Company: Dentsu Macromill Insight, Inc.
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<Contact for Inquiries Regarding This Survey>
DENTSU SOKEN INC., Contact: Yamasaki, Hitō
E-mail: d-ii@dentsu.co.jp
URL: https://institute.dentsu.com
Future Prediction Support Lab Contacts: Ogura, Tachiki, Ono, Chiba
E-mail: future@dentsu.co.jp
URL: https://www.dentsu-fsl.jp
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