(Mainichi: December 23, 2015 – p. 26–27)

 Questions & answers (% except where indicated)

 (T = total; P = previous; M = male; F = female)

 Q: Are you satisfied with your current life?

 Q: How happy are you currently?

 Q: Do you think Japan will be an easier place to live ten years from now?

 Q: If Japanese society today were divided into the following five classes, to which class do you think you would belong?

 Q: Do you find the sound of children’s voices in the neighborhood park, on the train, or on the bus noisy?

 Q: Has the amount of money that your household spends in one month increased, decreased, or not changed from this time last year?

 Q: Which of the following is most important for you to be happy?

 Q: Tokyo’s Shibuya and Setagaya Wards have created a system to officially recognize same-sex couples. Do you approve of this system?

 Q: Which of the following social problems and policy issues facing Japan are you concerned about? (Select as many as apply)

 Q: Which of the following is your ideal living situation?

 Q: With the decline in the birthrate and the aging of society, the working-age population (ages 15–64) will decrease every year. What do you think would be the most effective way to secure a labor force in Japan going forward?

 Q: What do you think is most important for government and company initiatives to create a work environment that is friendly toward women?

 Q: The government is encouraging middle-aged and elderly persons living in the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan area to relocate to regional areas as an initiative to revitalize those areas. Do you approve of this initiative?

 Q: Do you think that people in Japan today have an equal chance of earning social position and being economically well-off no matter what circumstances they were born or raised in?

 Q: Do you think that your children’s and grandchildren’s generation in Japan will have an equal chance of earning social position and being economically well-off?

 Q: Do you support the Abe cabinet?

 Q: Which political party do you support?

 Q: Almost three years have passed since Abe launched his second administration. In what ways do you think Japanese society has changed during that time? (The below figures are averages based on a scale where 1 is “greatly worsened” and 5 is “greatly improved.”)

 Q: Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution consists of the following two paragraphs: (Paragraph 1) “Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.” (Paragraph 2) “In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”

Do you think that paragraph 1 should be revised?

Do you think that paragraph 2 should be revised?

 Q: Has the current Japanese Constitution served a useful role in Japan’s postwar prosperity?

 Q: In what ways do you think Japanese society has changed over the past 70 years since the end of World War II? (The below figures are averages based on a scale where 1 is “greatly worsened” and 5 is “greatly improved.”)

 Q: What is your view on Japan’s nuclear power plants? Please select the item that most closely reflects your view.

Q: (Only for those who answered that nuclear power plants should be “reduced” or “abolished” in the above question) What form of energy should be used to replace nuclear power? Please select the item that most closely reflects your view.

 Q: Do you feel close to the current emperor?

 Q: Do you think that the prefectural and municipal assemblies in the area where you live are performing their function of serving as a check on the governor/mayor and administration?

 Q: Japan has placed emphasis on its alliance with the United States since the end of World War II. Which country/region do you think Japan should focus the most on going forward?

 Q: What are your views on the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty? Please select the item that most closely reflects your view.

 Q: The following two questions concern the United States, China, South Korea, and Russia.

Q: How close do you feel toward each of these countries? (The below figures are averages based on a scale where 1 is “do not feel close” and 5 is “feel close.”)

Q: How do you think Japan’s relationship with each of these countries will have changed ten years from now compared to the current relationship? (The below figures are averages based on a scale where 1 is “greatly worsened” and 5 is “greatly improved.”)

 Q: The Public Offices Election Act provides regulations on the election of Diet members as well as governors, mayors, and prefectural and municipal assemblypersons. Please indicate your level of interest in the following elections on a scale of 1 to 6 with 1 as high. (The below figures are averages.)

 Q: In elections for members of the House of Representatives, voters write the name of the candidate they want to vote for in the single-member constituency vote and write the name of the political party they want to vote for in the proportional representation vote. Which vote do you place more priority on?

 Q: Debate in now underway in the House of Representatives regarding revising the election system. Please select the item that most closely reflects your view.

 Q: In House of Representative elections, single-member constituency candidates can simultaneously run under the proportional representation (PR) system. They can thus be elected as a PR candidate even after they have lost the single-member constituency election. What do you think about this “double candidature”? Please select the item that most closely reflects your view.

 (Note) Figures are rounded off. Averages are rounded off at the second decimal place. “0” indicates that the figure was below 0.5%, and “–” denotes that no respondents answered. “No answer” omitted. Only in the case of the question on respondents’ level of interest in elections, the lower the figure, the higher the ranking. In cases where multiple answers are allowed, the percentages will total more than 100. Figures in parentheses denote the results of the “2014 Survey of Public Opinion in Japan,” a postal mail survey conducted last year. The names of political parties are as of the date of the survey.

 Polling methodology: The survey was conducted of 2,400 voters selected from the voters list of 240 locations nationwide on a stratified two-stage random sampling basis. Questionnaires were posted on Oct. 21 and responses were received from 1,523 people by the beginning of December. Excluding responses by proxy, etc., valid responses were obtained from 1,468 people (61%). Of these, 46% were men and 54% were women. By age, those in their 20s made up 10%; those in their 30s, 13%; those in their 40s, 19%; those in their 50s, 16%; those in their 60s, 20%; those in their 70s, 15%; those in their 80s, 6%; and those age 90 or over, 1%.