In an annual survey of the most popular jobs among preschoolers and elementary schoolers, the “scientist and scholar” job category clinched the top spot among Japanese boys for the first time in 15 years, following the recent Nobel Prize awards to Japanese scientists, Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. has said.

Among girls, “working at a food shop” was the most popular occupation for the 21st straight year, followed by “nurse” and “preschool teacher.” Among those who wanted to work with food, working in a cake shop was the most popular choice, with one respondent saying she wants to “make sweets that even people suffering from illness can eat with joy.”

The survey, released Thursday, showed that “baseball player” was in second place for boys, topping “soccer player,” which came in third for the first time in eight years.

In the survey, boys who said they wanted to become a scientist or scholar cited reasons such as wanting to “completely cure cancer” or “make a robot to play with.”

In the most recent awards to Japanese scientists, biochemist Satoshi Omura and cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi were awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2015 and 2016, respectively, while physicist Takaaki Kajita received the Nobel Prize in physics in 2015.

Dai-ichi Life Insurance surveyed 1,100 children across the country between July and September. The life insurer has conducted the survey since 1989.

KEYWORDS children, jobs, surveys