Awareness Survey of 18-Year-Olds – Preamble to the Constitution Results of 37th installment announced

With constitutional revision an issue that continues to be discussed in Japan, the 37th installment of the Awareness Survey of 18-Year-Olds, launched by The Nippon Foundation in October 2018, was carried out from April 15 to 19 on the subject of the “Preamble to the Constitution.” The Constitution of Japan was promulgated on November 3, 1946, and came into effect on May 3, 1947.
The survey found that 40% of respondents have either read or have a recollection of having read the Preamble, while the remainder replied either that they had no recollection or did not remember having read the Preamble. Of those who remembered reading the Preamble, more than half said that they read it when they were in junior high school.
In response to a question to all respondents as to whether the Preamble was easy to understand, less than 20% replied that it was, while more than 80% replied that it was difficult to understand or that there were points that they could not understand. In open-ended responses as to why it was difficult to understand, the top replies were that the wording was difficult to follow and that the sentences were too long. In addition, roughly 30% of respondents felt that the Preamble should clearly mention Japanese values like history, traditions, and culture, while roughly the same percentage felt this was not necessary and roughly 40% did not know.

Notes:

1. From the 13th survey, the number of respondents, comprising men and women aged 17 to 19, has been increased to 1,000 from 800. (With the exception of the 20th installment, “Awareness Survey of Society and Country,” all surveys cover respondents in Japan only.)
2. In the information below, differences between total amounts and simple sums are due to rounding.

Survey 37. Preamble to the Constitution (Results announced on May 21, 2021)

Finding: 40.1% of respondents have read or have a recollection of having read the Preamble to the Constitution. (n = 1,000)

Finding: 17.0% of respondents found the Preamble to the Constitution to be easy to understand. (n = 1,000)

Other Findings

• Of respondents who have either read or have a recollection of having read the Preamble (n = 401), the time at which they read the Preamble: elementary school – 13.2%; junior high school – 55.9%; high school – 28.9%.
• Of all respondents, 31.1% of respondents felt that the Preamble should clearly mention Japanese values like history, traditions, and culture, while 27.1% felt this was not necessary and 41.8% did not know.