The Infrastructure of Public Opinion Research in Japan

This article introduces the infrastructure of public opinion research in Japan by reviewing the development of polling organizations and the current situation of social surveys. In Japan, the polling infrastructure developed through the direction and encouragement of the U.S. occupation authorities. In the early 1969s, however, survey researchers began to conduct their own original polls in not only domestic but also cross-national contexts. An exploration of recent survey trends reveals that polling organizations tended to conduct more surveys during summer, in the mid-range of sample size (1,000-2,999), based on random sampling (response rates of 40-50%), and through the mail between April 2011 and March 2012. The media was the most active polling sector.