OSAKA, Japan – Japanese researchers have released a comprehensive dataset tracking how adults in Japan responded psychologically and socially to the COVID-19 pandemic over more than four years.

The dataset, published in Data in Brief, spans 30 survey waves conducted between January 2020 and March 2024. It documents shifts in risk perception, infection-prevention behaviors, policy attitudes, views toward foreigners, and levels of psychological distress among Japanese adults.

The panel survey began with 1,248 participants recruited via a nationwide online platform, with 600 added in its 13th wave to offset attrition. Researchers repeatedly surveyed the same individuals to capture real-time changes as the pandemic unfolded.

All anonymized item-level data, a bilingual codebook, and full questionnaires are openly accessible through the Open Science Framework, providing what the team describes as an unprecedented resource for global researchers, policymakers and educators.

Lead author Professor Asako Miura of Osaka University said the project aimed to document how people’s psychological states shifted as the crisis evolved. “Looking back, it became far more valuable than we imagined,” Miura said. “By making this long-term data open, we hope it will benefit a wide range of research and spark meaningful dialogue.”

The researchers say the dataset can be used to compare findings across countries and inform evidence-based policymaking for future health crises.