The recent awareness survey on alone activity of Japanese people, conducted by Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living, finds that the number of Japanese people who prefer to be alone has significantly increased since 1993.
The ratio of those who prefer to be alone was 56.3% in 2023, 12.8 higher points than 1993, and the ratio of those who make time for themselves consciously was up to 49.1% in 2023 from 27.3% in 1993.
The ratio of those who have enthusiastic hobbies for themselves rose to 74.8% from 58.1%, and the ratio of those who prefer to do hobbies and activities alone rather than with others" increased from 31.9% to 44.2%.
Regarding the places I want to go alone, the ratios rose to 53.4% from 20% for cafe, to 46.7% from 20.9% for fast food restaurant and to 35.% from 18.1% for movie theater. Regarding acceptable hours spending alone in cafe, the ratio of 120 minutes or longer was remarkably up to 42.7% from 7.2%, and the average acceptable hours also increased from 49 minutes to 114 minutes.
The ratio of those who prefer to be alone rose across all generations, with 53.3% among late 20s, 59.5% among early 30s and 56% among late 30s.
