KOCHI -- Businesses in Kochi Prefecture boast the highest rate of holding year-end and New Year office parties among the country's 47 prefectures at 77.8%, a recent survey has shown, reflecting Kochi's reputation as a party-loving prefecture, where people are said to "get along with anyone over drinks."

In contrast, Kochi's neighbor Tokushima Prefecture ranked second from the bottom at 43.6%. The other two prefectures -- Kagawa and Ehime -- on the island of Shikoku had 61.5% and 56.5%, respectively.

A total of 6,529 companies nationwide responded to the online survey conducted in early December by private credit research firm Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd., including 36 in Kochi, 55 in Tokushima, 65 in Kagawa and 92 in Ehime prefectures. The national average for companies planning to hold such events was 59.6%, the highest since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this is nearly 20 percentage points lower than the pre-pandemic level of 78.4% in 2019.

Among businesses that answered they were not holding such gatherings this season despite the tradition of having them pre-pandemic, the most common reason, with multiple answers permitted, was "low demand for such events" at 65.1%, followed by "an increase in employees expressing reluctance to participate" at 36.6%.

Tokyo Shoko Research analyzed that the approach to communication has significantly changed due to the pandemic, and that "the era of seeking bond-building and unity through drinking gatherings may have changed."

(Japanese original by Masatoshi Maekawa, Kochi Bureau)