MAEBASHI -- Tokyo topped the rankings of Japan's 47 prefectures in terms of the amount of spending money adults have, followed by Kanagawa and Gunma prefectures, a survey has found.

According to the lifestyle awareness survey by Sony Life Insurance Co., adults in Tokyo could use an average 37,650 yen (approx. $238) as their spending money each month, followed by 31,450 yen (about $199) for Kanagawa Prefecture and 30,650 yen (roughly $194) for Gunma Prefecture.

The online survey, which was conducted between Oct. 18 and 28 last year targeting 4,700 people aged 20 to 59, also had Gunma's neighboring prefectures Tochigi and Ibaraki ranking 18th and 45th at 23,450 yen (approx. $148) and 17,000 yen (around $108), respectively. The findings suggest that husbands and others in Gunma can spend relatively more on items including lunch despite the generally low prices in the prefecture.

Furthermore, Tokyo, Hyogo and Shizuoka were the top three prefectures for the average amount of investment per month, at 30,550 yen (approx. $194), 27,950 yen (about $177) and 24,200 yen (roughly $153), respectively. Gunma placed fifth at 23,000 yen (around $146).

As for average monthly savings, Hyogo Prefecture topped the list at 44,950 yen (approx. $285), followed by Tokyo at 42,200 yen (about $267) and Kyoto Prefecture at 38,550 yen (roughly $244). Gunma ranked 16th at 32,300 yen (around $205), more than 10,000 yen less than Hyogo.

Hyogo also dominated the rankings for the current amount of savings, at 6.235 million yen (approx. $39,490), followed by Kanagawa at 6.138 million yen (about $38,880) and Tokyo at 5.608 million yen (around $35,520). Gunma ranked 15th at 4.189 million yen (roughly $26,530).

With regard to financial leeway in daily life, Kyoto, Osaka and Miyazaki prefectures tied for first place at 5.6 points on a scale of 10, while Gunma and Iwate prefectures ranked the worst at 4.4 points.

Looking at comfortableness in living, Fukuoka, Tokyo and Hyogo emerged as the top three prefectures at 7.2, 7.1 and 7.0 points on a 10-point scale, respectively. Gunma, at 6.1 points, shared 28th place with other prefectures including Niigata and Nagano.

The survey, which was released on Dec. 12, sampled 100 people each from the country's 47 prefectures.

(Japanese original by Ryuko Tadokoro, Maebashi Bureau)