Nearly half of the female respondents to a Cabinet Office survey released Saturday believe they are overweight, up 6.1 percentage points from the previous survey taken in October 2000.
The survey on health and sports showed that 47.6 percent of adult women feel they are fat, indicating more women are becoming conscious of their weight for beauty and health reasons.
The percentage of male respondents who believe they are overweight dropped slightly to 32.7 percent from the 33 percent in the last survey.
When taken from the overall number of male and female respondents, 40.6 percent see themselves as overweight, up 3.1 points.
The largest percentage of women, in their 50s, felt overweight, at 56.2 percent, followed by those in their 40s at 52 percent. For men, the largest number of respondents in their 40s felt the same, at 53.2 percent, the survey showed.
The survey polled some 2,200 men and women, aged 20 and up, across Japan in February.
For their favorite sport or exercise, the highest percentage of respondents listed walking, at 37.2 percent, up 3.4 points.