More Japanese Attending Year-End Parties in 2023

Now that life is returning to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic, people in Japan seem less hesitant about making plans to spend the New Year’s holiday with friends and family for the first time in several years. In mid-November, the Tokyo-based online information service provider Biglobe conducted an online survey on year-end parties, targeting 1,000 people nationwide aged from 20 to 59.

Among the 873 people surveyed who are currently employed, 29.3% plan to attend or have already attended a year-end party at their workplace, which is roughly double the 14.8% in the 2022 survey on the same topic.

In the case of private end-of-year parties, 28.4% of the respondents either plan to attend or have attended such an event, a significant increase over the 15.6% in the previous year’s survey.

The percentage of people in their twenties attending year-end parties was higher than other age groups, at 36.0%, but those in their fifties showed the highest year-on-year rise in attendance, more than doubling from 11.2% to 26.4%.

When asked if year-end parties are still necessary in Japan, 36.6% said that they were either “definitely necessary” or “somewhat necessary,” an increase of 6.6 points over the 30.0% in the 2022 survey. By age group, respondents in their twenties had the highest percentage describing year-end parties as “necessary,” at 42.0%, while those in their forties were the lowest, at 29.2%.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)