Tokyo: The average holiday budget for the upcoming year-end and New Year period is up 28 percent from a year before at 45,235 yen in Japan, a survey showed Monday.

The share of respondents planning to visit their parents’ homes climbed 2.5 percentage points to 18.5 percent, according to the survey by Tokyo-based research company Intage Inc. The rise was particularly strong among men in their 20s and 50s and women in their 40s and 50s.

“We guess many people will go to see their elderly parents for the first time in a while, as COVID-19 restrictions have been removed entirely,” an Intage official said.

Meanwhile, the share of respondents who plan overseas trips inched up to 0.7 percent from 0.6 percent. Foreign travel demand has not recovered because of inflation and the yen’s weakening, according to Intage.

The survey also found that 8.3 percent of respondents plan to travel in Japan for an overnight or longer stay, up from 7.6 percent, and that 4 percent plan a day trip, up from 3.6 percent.

Asked what kind of holiday spending will be affected by higher prices and the yen’s drop, 62.7 percent cited daily meals and ingredients, and 51.3 percent cited special food for the period, such as “osechi” New Year’s cuisine.

The online survey was taken Nov. 24-27, covering 5,000 people aged 15-79.

JIJI Press