Tap Water Popular in Japan, but Bottled Water Still Ranks First

Clean and Convenient

Panasonic conducted a survey in April on daily water consumption habits, targeting 4,700 people, or 100 people each from Japan’s 47 prefectures. The survey inquired which water sources people mainly used for drinking. Bottled water ranked first at 44%. Among those who preferred bottled water, the most commonly cited reason was convenience at 54.9%, followed by cleanliness and taste.

Plain tap water ranked second at 35.8%, well ahead of tap water filtered through a water purifier or dispensed from a water server. Japan’s strict water quality standards give residents confidence in the safety of their tap water, making it a major source of drinking water in everyday life.

A prefectural breakdown of the rate of respondents who drank plain tap water showed a clear concentration in eastern Japan, with Nagano at 66%, Yamagata at 56%, Fukushima at 55%, Aomori at 53%, and Iwate at 52%. By contrast, the proportion of those who stated they felt reluctant to drink water straight from the tap was higher in western Japan, including Okinawa at 69%, Nagasaki at 61%, and Fukuoka at 60%; Saitama, in the east of the country, was also at 60%.

The most common reason given for reluctance to drink plain tap water was its chlorine smell and taste, cited by 64.3% of respondents. Others expressed concern over the hygiene of residential water supply pipes and storage tanks, as well as harmful substances such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often referred to as “forever chemicals.”

Data Sources

• Data from survey on drinking water habits (Japanese) from Panasonic

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Photo AC.)