The Nippon Foundation's 18-Year-Old Consciousness Survey Results: 78th Survey, Theme "Awareness of Country and Society (6-Country Survey)"
The Nippon Foundation's 78th 18-Year-Old Consciousness Survey (6 countries) in February revealed declining birthrates and aging populations as key issues in Japan and South Korea. Japanese youth's optimism for their country's future was the lowest among the six nations, and their social engagement awareness was also low, though showing improvement from the previous survey.
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- 📰 Published: April 6, 2026 at 20:00
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The Nippon Foundation (Minato-ku, Tokyo; Chairman Takeju Ogata) conducted its 78th 18-Year-Old Consciousness Survey in February, focusing on "Awareness of Country and Society." The survey asked 1,000 17-19 year olds from each of six countries – Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, South Korea, and India – about their thoughts on the future and current state of their own countries, as well as their involvement with society.
Regarding "Important issues in one's own country (up to 3)," the declining birthrate and aging population ranked first and second in both Japan and South Korea, which have some of the lowest birthrates in the world, similar to the 62nd survey in February 2024. In Japan, "increase in immigrants," which was 12th in the previous survey, increased threefold to about 20% and jumped to fourth place overall.
Concerning "The future of one's own country," while more than half in India and China believe it will "get better," in the remaining four countries, more respondents believe it will "get worse." However, the percentage of those who believe it will "get better" has decreased in India, China, and South Korea, with China seeing a particularly sharp drop of about 30 percentage points. Japan remained at the bottom again with 16%, a slight increase from the previous survey. For reference, in the 20th survey across nine countries conducted in 2019, only 9.6% of Japanese youth responded that things would "get better," about one-quarter of those who thought things would "get worse."
In terms of "The current state of one's own country," Japan had a higher agreement rate (nearly 60%) with "There are excellent leaders" than the US, UK, and South Korea, exceeding the previous survey's results by about 20 percentage points. Agreement with "My country can exercise leadership in international society" also increased, but remained 10-20 points lower than the other five countries.
Regarding "Satisfaction with one's own life," "My life" ranked lowest in Japan, the US, China, and South Korea. For "Involvement with society," Japanese youth's responses to "I think I am a responsible member of society," "I have my own thoughts on elections and social issues," and "I think I am an adult" all increased by about 4 percentage points compared to the previous survey. However, similar to the previous survey, Japan remained at the bottom among the six countries.
More detailed results and graphs are available in the report. Please also refer to the 20th (9-country survey), 46th, and 62nd (6-country survey) reports.
- 20th Survey Report (2019) https://x.gd/M8Rhc
- 46th Survey Report (2022) https://x.gd/2PKW6
- 62nd Survey Report (2024) https://x.gd/Smfwd
## Outline of the 78th "Awareness of Country and Society (6-Country Survey)" Results
### ▼Future of one's own country: Percentage of respondents who answered "It will get better"
78th Survey: India 61.8%, China 54.8%, UK 34.0%, US 30.8%, South Korea 23.5%, Japan 15.6%
62nd Survey: China 85.0%, India 78.3%, South Korea 41.4%, US 26.3%, UK 24.6%, Japan 15.3%
### ▼Current state of one's own country:
*Total of "Agree" + "Somewhat agree."
Regarding "Important issues in one's own country (up to 3)," the declining birthrate and aging population ranked first and second in both Japan and South Korea, which have some of the lowest birthrates in the world, similar to the 62nd survey in February 2024. In Japan, "increase in immigrants," which was 12th in the previous survey, increased threefold to about 20% and jumped to fourth place overall.
Concerning "The future of one's own country," while more than half in India and China believe it will "get better," in the remaining four countries, more respondents believe it will "get worse." However, the percentage of those who believe it will "get better" has decreased in India, China, and South Korea, with China seeing a particularly sharp drop of about 30 percentage points. Japan remained at the bottom again with 16%, a slight increase from the previous survey. For reference, in the 20th survey across nine countries conducted in 2019, only 9.6% of Japanese youth responded that things would "get better," about one-quarter of those who thought things would "get worse."
In terms of "The current state of one's own country," Japan had a higher agreement rate (nearly 60%) with "There are excellent leaders" than the US, UK, and South Korea, exceeding the previous survey's results by about 20 percentage points. Agreement with "My country can exercise leadership in international society" also increased, but remained 10-20 points lower than the other five countries.
Regarding "Satisfaction with one's own life," "My life" ranked lowest in Japan, the US, China, and South Korea. For "Involvement with society," Japanese youth's responses to "I think I am a responsible member of society," "I have my own thoughts on elections and social issues," and "I think I am an adult" all increased by about 4 percentage points compared to the previous survey. However, similar to the previous survey, Japan remained at the bottom among the six countries.
More detailed results and graphs are available in the report. Please also refer to the 20th (9-country survey), 46th, and 62nd (6-country survey) reports.
- 20th Survey Report (2019) https://x.gd/M8Rhc
- 46th Survey Report (2022) https://x.gd/2PKW6
- 62nd Survey Report (2024) https://x.gd/Smfwd
## Outline of the 78th "Awareness of Country and Society (6-Country Survey)" Results
### ▼Future of one's own country: Percentage of respondents who answered "It will get better"
78th Survey: India 61.8%, China 54.8%, UK 34.0%, US 30.8%, South Korea 23.5%, Japan 15.6%
62nd Survey: China 85.0%, India 78.3%, South Korea 41.4%, US 26.3%, UK 24.6%, Japan 15.3%
### ▼Current state of one's own country:
*Total of "Agree" + "Somewhat agree."