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October Degree of freedom of life 59.7 pts, up 1.4 pts since September
Continuing from last month, Degree of anxiety scores are down across the board, scores for all Degree of activity restriction items related to going out and shopping ease
While anti-infection measures continue, the shift to “outside” is accelerating

Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living, a think tank of Hakuhodo Inc. in October 2020 conducted its “Survey of Sei-katsu-sha Concerning COVID-19” to understand sei-katsu-sha’s attitudes and behaviors during the coronavirus pandemic. The survey was conducted October 1–5, in the Greater Tokyo (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama and Ibaraki Prefectures), Greater Nagoya (Aichi, Mie and Gifu Prefectures), and Hanshin (Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Nara Prefectures) areas, targeting 1,500 males and females aged 20–69 (See p.14 for the survey outline).

The number of daily new cases of coronavirus in Japan peaked in early August before dropping gradually for a period, then going up and down in September. The survey was conducted after the 4-day long weekend (September 19–22) and the commencement of bookings for travel to and from Tokyo in the government’s Go To Travel campaign (September 18).

When we asked sei-katsu-sha to rate their freedom of life under current circumstances if their normal life prior to the spread of COVID-19 rated 100 points, the result was 59.7 points, up 1.4 points since September, the second consecutive increase.

Degree of anxiety as a result of the spread of the coronavirus decreased across all items for the second consecutive month. In particular, the drop in Feel anxious about the lack and uncertainty of information (61.5%, down 5.1 points) was notable. Scores for all Degree of activity restriction items also decreased for the second month in a row. The decreases in Refrain from nonessential and nonurgent shopping (67.0%, down 7.4 pts), Refrain from eating out (69.3%, down 6.4 pts) and Refrain from nonessential and nonurgent trips (76.9%, down 5.6 pts) stood out.

In Degree of behavioral change, while change in scores was small overall, decreases in scores for items related to refraining from going out such as Refrain from going out and use net shopping and food delivery services instead (37.5%, down 6.6 pts) and Refrain from going out and enjoy pastimes I can do at home (64.3%, down 5.7 pts); and increases in items related to going out like Enjoy leisure activities outdoors where people don’t gather (43.2%, up 4.3 pts), etc. stood out. Meanwhile, the score for Consistently wear a mask, wash my hands and take other precautions against infection (91.5%, down 1.3 pts) continues to be high. It seems sei-katsu-sha are shifting their behavior to “outside,” including going out, going shopping and enjoying leisure activities, even as they continue to take precautions against infection.

This survey will be conducted regularly for the time being (The survey content may be changed depending on changes in circumstances).

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