A Japanese government opinion poll shows the proportion of people who cited "disaster preparedness" as an area that is heading in an undesirable direction has tripled from the previous survey.

The Cabinet Office sent the questionnaire to 3,000 people aged 18 and older around the country from October to November last year. It received responses from 1,777 of them, or 59 percent.

Asked whether they are satisfied with the current state of Japanese society, 53 percent of the respondents said they were "satisfied" or "satisfied to some extent." The figure was 3 points up from that of the previous survey last fiscal year.

The survey also asked which areas they think are moving in an undesirable direction, allowing respondents to select multiple choices.

The results show "commodity prices" was cited by 71 percent of the respondents, followed by "business conditions" at 51 percent and "government finances" at 47 percent. Areas related to the economy ranked high as in the previous survey.

Fifteen percent of the people selected "disaster preparedness," which jumped three times from the previous figure of 5 percent.

Cabinet Office officials say the increase may be attributed to growing anxiety following a series of disasters in the country, including the Noto Peninsula earthquake.