Japan Data
Economy
Work
Aug 12, 2025
An annual survey in Japan has found a growing number of people consider leisure to be more important to them than their jobs.
Getting Away for a While
A survey conducted by the Japan Productivity Center on how people spend their leisure time in 2024 showed that, at 48.3%, the top activity for the third year in a row was “domestic sightseeing trips (including summer escapes, winter escapes, and onsen (hot springs).” “Watching videos (including rental and streaming),” at 38.1%, rose by one place from the previous year to second place. In third and below were “dining out (excluding daily meals)” with 35.6%, “reading (for pleasure)” at 33.8%, and “listening to music (including streaming, CDs, records)” at 33.3%. “Movies” came in seventh and “going for a drive” eighth. The percentage of people taking overseas trips was 6.0%, 0.7 points higher than the previous year.
The online survey, aimed at people aged 15 to 79, received 3,467 responses from across Japan.
Those who said they “went on domestic trips,” did so 4.5 times on average a year and typically spent around ¥129,200 annually. People who enjoyed “dining out” went on average 18.6 times a year, spending ¥65,300.
Respondents were also asked if there had been any changes in how much time and money they spent on their leisure activities compared to the previous year. When calculated as a “leisure index” by looking at the difference in percentages for each response year-on-year, it showed their leisure time had increased by 0.4 (up 3.1 the previous year) and expenditure by 1.4 (up 5.5 the previous year). These were both a continued rise, following on from 2023.
More People Finding Meaning in Leisure
Asked if they focus more on work or leisure, 37.8% of respondents indicated they “find more meaning in leisure than in work” and 30.0% said they “wrap up work quickly and enjoy their leisure time as much as possible,” meaning 67.8% in total feel leisure is more important. This was also the highest rate recorded since comparable statistics became available in 2009. Meanwhile, 20.7% answered that they “focused equally on work and leisure” and 9.3% said that they “sometimes enjoy leisure activities, but focus more on work.”
Data Sources
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)
travel
leisure
AloJapan.com