Japan’s consumers are showing a revived interest in the importance of health. Responses to a survey, received from both adult men and women in all age groups, express the intention to increase health-related expenditure, for example through food, leisure and other pursuits.
The Nikkei Marketing Journal (NMJ) dated 4 February published the results of a nationwide poll in September conducted by Recruit Lifestyle Co., Ltd.’s Jalan travel website. It obtained 2,582 valid responses.
In descending order, the items in which participants said they had recently taken a new interest or about which they had developed concern (with multiple responses given), included diet (82.2%), travel (79%) and health and relaxation (74.7%). When asked, “In what topics have you taken more interest than you did previously?” the top responses were health and relaxation (62.8%), travel (61.8%) and food (59.5%).
Somewhat unusually for a survey with a wide age spread, it found almost insignificant differences in the intention of different age groups to devote more time and spend more money on health. Among men in their sixties, 65.3% planned to do so, followed by men in their thirties (62.5%) and boys in their teens.
Compared with a current average monthly expenditure of ¥3,541 for health-related activities (not including medical treatment or medication), future spending is expected to rise by an average of ¥855 to ¥4,396. The sharpest increases are among men in their thirties (¥1,379) and females in their teens and twenties (¥1,060), respectively.
Asked if they have an interest in travel that promotes better health, 70.9% gave positive replies. The term “health tourism” might, in the Japanese mind, include therapeutic mineral spring bathing, specially prepared “slow food” or macrobiotic diets, as well as trips including yoga sessions or Pilates.