Zenbird Editorial TeamVegewel, a plant-based information site, and its operating company, Frembassy conducted the 4th Japanese Vegetarian, Vegan, and Flexitarian Population Survey in January, and the results are compiled and compared to three previous surveys.
Out of 2,418 men and women aged 20 years and above who were surveyed, 5.9% were vegetarian or vegan, a 0.8 percentage point increase from the previous survey. 19.9% of the total were flexitarians, who consciously reduce their consumption of animal products at least once a week, a 3.1 percentage point increase from the previous survey.
The survey also explored other dietary habits, such as being gluten-free (4.3%), additive-free and organic (8.3%), macrobiotic (2.4%), fasting (3.3%), low-sugar/restricted carbohydrates (13.0%), and raw food (3.1%).
According to the survey, 26.1% of the respondents reported consciously reducing their consumption of animal products, such as meat and fish, an increase of 7.1% from the previous survey. Out of these respondents, 18.2% reported reducing their consumption of animal products every day, 25.9% reported doing so every three days, 32.1% reported doing so once a week, 11.6% reported doing so once a month, and 12.2% reported doing so at other times.
Vegewel defines a flexitarian as someone who follows a diet that reduces animal products for at least one day a week, resulting in a flexitarian rate of 19.9% of those who reported reducing animal products, a 3.1 percentage point increase from the previous survey.
The survey also asked respondents about their experiences with plant-based food, and found that 17.5% have tried soy meat, 3.1% have tried other plant-based meat substitutes, 32.5% have tried soy milk, 17.9% have tried almond milk, 8.4% have tried oat milk, 2.2% have tried other plant-based milks, 4.1% have tried vegetable cheese substitutes, 4.1% have tried vegetable butter substitutes, and 1.2% have tried vegetable egg substitutes.
Overall, the latest survey highlights a growing trend of reducing animal product consumption and exploring plant-based alternatives in Japan.
[Reference] Vegewel Japanese Vegetarian, Vegan, and Flexitarian Population Survey (JA)More about veganism in Japan
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