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The precautionary measures and uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have serious psychological impacts on peoples’ mental health. We used longitudinal data from Hiroshima University to investigate loneliness before and during the pandemic among older and younger people in Japan. We provide evidence that loneliness among both older and younger people increased considerably during the pandemic. Although loneliness among younger people is more pervasive, the magnitude of increase in loneliness during the pandemic is higher among older people. Our logit regression analysis shows that age, subjective health status, and feelings of depression are strongly associated with loneliness before and during the pandemic. Moreover, household income and financial satisfaction are associated with loneliness among older people during the pandemic while gender, marital status, living condition, and depression are associated with loneliness among younger people during the pandemic. The evidence of increasing loneliness during the pandemic is concerning for a traditionally well-connected and culturally collectivist society such as Japan. As loneliness has a proven connection with both physical and mental health, we suggest immediate policy interventions to provide mental health support for lonely people so they feel more cared for, secure, and socially connected.

In 2014, the Japanese government introduced the Nippon Individual Savings Account (NISA) to encourage tax-exempt investment and asset accumulation. In January 2024, the NISA underwent significant restructuring to boost household savings in financial asset investments. Taking advantage of the launch of the revamped NISA, we analyzed data collected in late 2022 of 95,632 active investors in a leading securities company to explore their preferences in the previous NISA. Notably, investors exhibit a preference for installment NISA over ordinary NISA, indicating an inclination for long-term capital establishment through gradual investments in secure financial assets. Regression analysis reveals that installment NISA investors are typically female, older, married, or divorced, have lower educational qualifications, engage in part-time employment, have higher incomes, display risk aversion, maintain larger asset balances, and adopt long-term perspectives. By contrast, those favoring ordinary NISA tend to be male, young, married, and financially literate and to have lower incomes, higher asset balances, and shorter-term perspectives. This study advocates maintaining both NISA types, increasing the annual and total investment limits, and eliminating tax exemption periods. These measures would be advantageous for tax savings and capital formation. However, a robust financial education campaign is emphasized to encourage individuals to invest in financial assets, breaking the tradition of keeping funds idle.

Success in the current complex and sophisticated financial marketplaces depends on the ability of people to make sustainable financial decisions to improve their future well-being, for which financial literacy is a pathway. This study examines the relationship between the demographic and socio-economic factors and financial literacy in Japan by segregating financial literacy into financial knowledge, attitude, and behavior, and providing a deeper understanding of the relationships. The methodology included using data from the Financial Literacy Survey 2016 by the Central Council for Financial Services Information of Japan. We used a linear regression model to explain how demographic and socio-economic factors relate to financial knowledge, attitude, and behavior. Results show that education, the balance of financial assets, and the use of financial information are positively related, while the experience of financial trouble is negatively related to financial knowledge, attitude, and behavior. We show that males are more financially knowledgeable than females, but females are more positive than males with regard to financial behavior and financial attitude. Age is positively related to financial knowledge but negatively related to financial attitude, thus suggesting that middle-aged people in Japan are more financially knowledgeable, but younger and older people are more positive with regard to financial behavior and attitude. The findings have implications for policymakers.

Japan has vaccinated its older population; a mass vaccination program for younger citizens is underway. Accordingly, this study investigated vaccine hesitancy among younger Japanese citizens. We used online panel survey data from the Hiroshima Institute of Health Economics Research of Hiroshima University and applied probit regression models. Our study found that vaccine hesitancy among younger people was significantly higher than among older people. Moreover, vaccine hesitancy was significantly higher among younger women than younger men and inter-age-group differences in vaccine hesitancy were higher for younger men than for younger women. Regression demonstrated that subjective health status and anxiety about the future were significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy among younger women and younger men of all ages, respectively. Furthermore, marital status, university degree, anxiety about the future, and myopic view of the future had specific associations with vaccine hesitancy among younger women of different ages, while subjective health status, university degree, having children, financial literacy, household income and assets, and myopic view about the future had specific associations with vaccine hesitancy among younger men of varying ages. Therefore, these results suggest that policymakers should consider the diversity among the younger generation while developing effective, tailored communication strategies to reduce their vaccine hesitancy.

This study investigates the phenomenon of panic selling, in which investors rapidly sell financial securities due to fear or uncertainty, often causing asset prices to plummet. Despite the significance of this behavior during market crises, there is limited understanding of the factors that drive panic selling. To address this gap, we applied the overreaction hypothesis, integrating financial literacy to explore whether investor sentiment influences trading decisions even when financial knowledge is present. We analyzed individual investor level data from a survey conducted by Rakuten Securities Company and Hiroshima University in Japan, covering the period between November and December 2023. Using probit regression models, we examined the relationship between panic selling, financial literacy, and overconfidence, while controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and psychological factors. Our findings reveal that overconfident investors are more likely to engage in panic selling during market downturns, even when financial literacy reduces such tendencies. This relationship persists across various degrees of selling, including partial and full divestment of stocks and mutual funds. The results underscore the importance for policymakers to monitor the dissemination of negative information during crises to mitigate panic selling. At the household level, the findings highlight the need for investors to acquire financial knowledge and seek reliable information to make informed decisions, thereby reducing their susceptibility to panic selling.

According to a survey by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in 2017, 3.6% of Japanese adults—equivalent to about 3.2 million people—have suffered from problem gambling at some point in their lifetime. This study examines the relationship between financial literacy, financial education, and gambling behavior (measured as gambling frequency) among the Japanese population. We hypothesize that financially literate and financially educated people who use their knowledge to make sound financial decisions are less likely to gamble. The data used in this study are from a nationwide survey in Japan from the Preference Parameters Study of Osaka University in 2010 (n = 3687). To control for endogeneity bias between financial literacy and gambling behavior, we use the education of respondents’ fathers as an instrumental variable. The results from the probit-instrumental variable model show that financial literacy has a significantly negative relationship with gambling frequency, while financial education has no significant relationship with gambling frequency. Our findings suggest that problem gambling may be mitigated by promoting financial literacy, but no such conclusion can be drawn for financial education.

This study investigates the impact of tactile impressions on consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for smartphone covers with varying surface textures. While prior research has examined visual and auditory cues in consumer behavior, the commercial relevance of surface texture remains underexplored. Therefore, we analyze how WTP varies across texture types and reference price conditions and examine the demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors influencing valuation. Data were collected from 387 respondents at a major shopping mall, where participants evaluated four surface textures (A-D) under two reference prices (100 yen and 1,000 yen). Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression was used to assess associations between consumer characteristics and WTP. The results show that WTP increases with higher reference prices, indicating a price anchoring effect. Men, unmarried individuals, and those exhibiting hyperbolic discounting demonstrated higher WTP for certain textures. However, risk preference, smartphone usage, and impatience were not significant predictors. These findings suggest that firms can position textured products at premium price points and employ sensory marketing strategies, such as in-store trials, to enhance consumer engagement. This study contributes to the literature by integrating tactile marketing with behavioral economic theory, offering novel insights into joint influence of sensory cues and time preferences on consumer valuation.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0338004.].

Investment in risky financial assets plays a crucial role in individual wealth accumulation and broader financial market development. However, existing research has primarily emphasized financial literacy while giving limited attention to behavioral mechanisms that may weaken its influence on investment behavior. In particular, hyperbolic discounting, reflecting time-inconsistent preferences that favor immediate rewards over long-term gains, may constrain the effective translation of financial knowledge into forward-looking financial decisions. Against this background, this study examines whether hyperbolic discounting mediates the association between financial literacy and investment in risky assets using large-scale survey data from Japan’s Money and Life survey. Employing regression-based mediation analysis within a cross-sectional framework, the results indicate that financial literacy is strongly and positively associated with risky asset investment, while hyperbolic discounting exerts a statistically significant but economically small mediating effect that slightly attenuates this relationship. The findings suggest that cognitive financial capability remains the dominant driver of participation in risky financial markets, whereas present-biased preferences play a secondary behavioral role. These results provide important implications for investors, educators, and policymakers by highlighting that policies aimed at improving financial literacy are likely to yield substantial investment benefits, while complementary interventions addressing behavioral biases may offer additional, though more modest, gains in promoting long-term, forward-looking financial decision-making.

Despite government efforts, the uptake of screening for breast and cervical cancers among Japanese women remains low. This study employs financial literacy and financial education as proxies for rational decision-making to explore their potential to enhance cancer screening practices in Japan. Using data from Osaka University’s Preference Parameters Study, mean comparison tests and probit regression models are utilized to examine the association between breast and cervical cancer screening and financial literacy and financial education. The results of probit regression show that individuals with higher levels of financial education tend to participate in both breast and cervical cancer screening. In contrast, individuals with higher financial literacy are likely to participate in breast cancer screening, whereas no significant impact is observed for cervical cancer screening. Furthermore, our findings reveal that financial education positively influences both breast and cervical cancer screening. Factors such as employment, marriage, higher education, increased household income, and greater assets demonstrate robust positive relationships with breast and cervical cancer screening. Meanwhile, psychological factors including happiness, a myopic view of the future, anxiety about later life, and perceived health status have no significant associations, except for a positive association between anxiety about life and cervical cancer screening. Our study suggests the development of targeted educational programs that leverage financial literacy and financial education to raise awareness about the importance of breast and cervical cancer screening.