Many Young Japanese Feel No Connection to Imperial Family

The Nippon Foundation regularly conducts surveys to gain better understanding of the opinions held by young Japanese people aged 17 to 19 years old and this time 1,000 young people nationwide were asked about their impressions of the imperial family.

Those who said they had an interest in the imperial family, including those who were “somewhat” interested, accounted for 44.3%, while those who indicated they had a sense of closeness to them at some level was 46.6%.

When the 557 people who answered either that they had little or no interest in the imperial family were asked what ways could be used to increase interest, 48.1% said they “don’t know.” Excluding that, the most common suggestions for creating more appeal were “social media posts by imperial family members of the same generation as me” and “social media posts by the emperor and empress,” with 27.1% and 26.0%, respectively. A marked gender difference was seen with 31.7% of women and 23.1% of men suggesting “social media posts by imperial family members of the same generation as me.”

Asked whether they knew the Imperial Household Agency had launched an Instagram account on April 1 and that it had been posting mainly photos related to Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako’s activities, 66.2% of respondents were “not aware.” Only 4.6% said “I follow it.” It seems this social media initiative is not quite hitting the mark.

The survey was conducted online in mid-May.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Jiji.)