Following a preparatory survey in FY1971, the National Survey on Lifesty le Preferences was first carried out in FY1972 under the title of the "Survey on National Preferences". Its objective was to ascertain the attitudes and needs of the Japanese people under the circumstances of high-speed growth prevailing a t the time of the drafting of the Basic Economic and Soical Plan 1973-1977 (impl emented in February 1973).
The National Survey on Lifestyle Preferences was first carried out under its current title three years later in FY1975 in an attempt to assess the chang es in the attitudes and needs of the Japanese people in the period of economic s tagnation following the First Oil Shock. It adopted the basic framework of the FY1972 "Survey on National Preferences" but sought to achieve a greater understa nding of people's attitudes, by investigating their desires more closely and by introducing for the first time a consideration of the their sources of happiness and insecurity.
The FY1978 National Survey on Lifestyle Preferences sought both to build on the experience of the previous two surveys and to achieve a certain continui ty. This survey thus established the pattern for all subsequent surveys, and em phasized the relationship between the survey and objective social indicators of people's lives.
The FY1981 National Survey on Lifestyle Preferences was implemented in t wo parts: Phase I and Phase II. Phase I followed up on the standard pattern est ablished in the FY1978 Survey. Phase II meanwhile, in analysing individuals' cr iteria for lifestyle satisfaction and important sources of their happiness, inve stigated in more detail the degree of lifestyle satisfaction and other trends id entified in Phase I.
The experience of the surveys so far highlighted a crucial requirement o f the survey if it was to serve as a basic resource in the drafting of future po licies concerning the national lifestyle. Namely, in addition to identifying th e changing attitudes and desires of the Japanese people over time, the survey ne eded also to lay bare the central issues facing the Japanese lifestyle as well a s the changes in people's fundamental attitudes which define lifestyle preferenc es. To this end, the National Survey of Lifestyle Preferences was carried out a nnually from FY1984, with three years constituting one cycle. The initial surve y in each three year cycle was to identify various trends over time, whilst the second and third surveys were to deal with central issues facing the Japanese li festyle and to analyse the changing attitudes of the Japanese people.
Thus, the three-year cycle of the Fifth National Survey on Lifestyle Pre ferences began with the FY1984 Survey which emphasised continuity in the survey and closely resembled Phase I of the FY1981 Survey. The remaining two years of the cycle analysed the changing attitudes of the Japanese people and focussed on the central issues of "Lifestyle Choices in a Society of Increasing Longevity" (FY1985) and "Japan's Internationalization and Changing National Attitudes" (FY1 986).
The three-year cycle of the Sixth National Survey on Lifestyle Preferenc es began with the triennial survey of changes in Japanese preferences over time in FY1987. The following two years focussed on the central issues of "Changing Attitudes towards Disparities in Japanese Society" (FY1988) and "Changing Japane se Attitudes towards Leisure Time" (FY1989).
The three-year cycle of the Seventh National Survey on Lifestyle Prefere nces began in FY1990 with the triennial survey of changes in Japanese preference s over time. The following two years focussed on the central issues of "Excessi ve Concentration in the Tokyo Region" (FY1991) and "The Declining Birth Rate" (F Y1992).
The three-year cycle of the current Eighth National Survey on Lifestyle Preferences began in FY1993 with the triennial survey of changes in Japanese pre ferences over time. The second survey in the cycle (FY1994) focussed on the maj or issue of "Japan's Aging Society", whilst this third survey in the cycle (FY19 95) looks at "Perceptions of an Affluent Society".