Separate Beds Preferred by Married Japanese
This recent survey from iShare looked into the Japanese bedroom to find out how couples sleep in Japan. Demographics
Between the 26th and 29th of October 2010 615 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.4% of the sample were male, 24.1% in their twenties, 35.0% in their thirties, and 41/0% in their forties.
Q1SQ1 is perhaps slightly misleading as I suspect people who sleep on futons often use two single quilts and two single matresses pushed together as double futons are the exception rather than the rule, although I should look for statistics to back up this claim.
Some of the reasons for sleeping in separate rooms were due to a baby displacing the husband, but noisy snoring was also a factor.
Research results
Q1: Are you currently married? (Sample size=615)
| All | Male N=347 | Female N=268 | |
| Yes (to SQ1 and SQ2) | 38.9% | 36.9% | 41.4% |
| No (to SQ3) | 61.1% | 63.1% | 58.6% |
Q1SQ1: How do you currently sleep at home? (Sample size=239)
| All | Male N=128 | Female N=111 | |
| Same bed, futon | 33.5% | 31.3% | 36.0% |
| Same room, different beds, futons close together | 39.3% | 39.8% | 38.7% |
| Same room, different beds, futons far apart | 3.3% | 4.7% | 1.8% |
| Different rooms | 23.8% | 24.2% | 23.4% |
The older couples got the further they drifted away. By their forties, 27.9% were in different rooms.
Q1SQ2: How would you like to sleep at home? (Sample size=239)
| All | Male N=128 | Female N=111 | |
| Same bed, futon | 31.8% | 36.7% | 26.1% |
| Same room, different beds, futons close together | 43.1% | 44.5% | 41.4% |
| Same room, different beds, futons far apart | 5.0% | 2.3% | 8.1% |
| Different rooms | 20.1% | 16.4% | 24.3% |
About three-quarters of those currently sharing a bed or sleeping close together wanted to stay that way, but only half of those in different rooms did.
Q1SQ3: If you were married, how would you want to sleep at home? (Sample size=376)
| All | Male N=219 | Female N=157 | |
| Same bed, futon | 19.1% | 23.3% | 13.4% |
| Same room, different beds, futons close together | 48.4% | 46.6% | 51.0% |
| Same room, different beds, futons far apart | 5.9% | 4.6% | 7.6% |
| Different rooms | 26.6% | 25.6% | 28.0% |
- whatjapanthinks.com
