Ishikawa Prefecture placed first in a newly calculated quality-of-life satisfaction index of prefectures, followed by Nara, Shizuoka, Kanagawa and Shiga, the Mitsubishi Research Institute said Oct. 8.Compared with similar indexes by the Economic Planning Agency, the new index is based on various statistics that Mitsubishi believes more accurately reflect the degree of residents' satisfaction, the institute said. Also, the statistics used in the new index are weighted according to their relation to the actual degree of satisfaction, which has been derived from a nationwide questionnaire conducted last July.For instance, the combined factors of income, savings and assets affect people's satisfaction most heavily and was weighted accordingly, the firm said. Other influential factors are housing, leisure and days off, health and work. According to the EPA's index, the best five prefectures are Fukui, Nagano, Yamanashi, Ishikawa and Toyama.
