Japanese high school students are more aware about brand goods than their counterparts in other countries, while their parents let them spend their allowance more freely compared to students abroad, a survey has found.

The survey, which was released on Tuesday, was conducted by the Japan Youth Research Institute last fall and covered 5,394 high school students in Japan, the United States, China and South Korea.

The results of the poll showed that only 23.6 percent of Japanese parents ask their high school children about how they spend their allowance, ranking at the bottom among the four countries surveyed.

As many as 58.6 percent of high school students in South Korea said their parents ask them about the way they spend their allowance, followed by China at 50.2 percent and the United States at 34.3 percent.

Asked if their parents always tell them about the importance of saving money, some 48.6 percent of Japanese high school students said yes, again ranking at the bottom among the four countries.

Meanwhile, Japan topped the list when it came to the question about whether students are influenced by advertisements on TV and in magazines, with 56.5 percent of pollees saying yes, while the figure for the United States, China and South Korea stood between 32.6 and 45.9 percent.

Japanese high school kids were also found to be most sensitive to fashion, ranking at the top to such questions as: do you want to mimic celebrity fashions; do you refuse to wear out-of-date outfits; and do you feel rich by owning brand goods.

Japan is also the most mobile phone-loving country, with a whopping 96.5 percent of high school students possessing their own cellular phones, while China ranked at the bottom of the list even though 63.4 percent of high school students said they have their own cell phones.

On the other hand, Japan ranked lowest when it came to personal computers, with only 21 percent of high school students having their own PCs, while the United States topped the list with 60.7 percent of high school kids possessing their own computers.

When asked if they should save money for the future, 88.4 percent of Japanese high school students said yes, ranking at the top among the four countries.

Compared to a similar survey conducted in 1995, Japanese high school kids who think they can buy power with money dropped from 49.5 percent to 29.1 percent, while those who want to have rich friends fell from 31.1 percent down to 18.6 percent.

"Japanese high school students have come to worship money less. I think it shows the maturing of (Japanese) society," said Tamotsu Sengoku, head of the research institute.

Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. Mainichi features the best news in Japan, current news in Japan, Japan news in English, Japan business news, Tokyo Japan news, and Japan entertainment news. Mainichi News is syndicated in accordance with editorial regulations: personal and noncommercial purposes.

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