Over 70% of those polled in Japan feel tired due to coronavirus pandemic

TOKYO -- Over 70% of respondents in a recent survey on changes in lifestyle consciousness and behavior amid the coronavirus pandemic answered that they feel some degree of fatigue due to the prolonged period of self-restraint as a result of a third state of emergency invoked in April.

The survey was conducted from April 30 to May 11 via the internet, and the Cabinet Office announced the results on June 4. Of the 10,128 respondents, about 70% in each age group answered that they "feel" or "slightly feel" tired due to the pandemic.

In particular, the proportion of respondents who said they "feel" tired reached 41.3% among those in their 20s, 37.6% among people in their 30s and 34.0% among those in their 40s, decreasing with age, indicating the younger the respondents were, the more stress they felt.

Altogether 6,788 people in the survey answered that they were working. Of these, a total of 30.8% of respondents nationwide and 53.5% in the 23 wards of Tokyo answered they were teleworking -- a slight increase from the 27.7% nationwide and 48.4% in the capital's 23 wards who gave the same response in the previous survey taken in December 2020, which asked people about the state of emergency in May of the same year.

On the other hand, the percentage of respondents who answered that they "telework and hardly ever go to work" halved from 10.3% last time to 5.2% this time. The results suggest that the combined use of teleworking and commuting is increasing.

Economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said at a press conference, "We would like to increase the proportion of those who are mainly teleworking,"

(Japanese original by Aoi Hanazawa, Political News Department)