From Class Struggle to General Middle-Class Society to Divided Society: Societal Models of Inequality in Postwar Japan

Chiavacci, David

doi:10.1093/ssjj/jyn022

Cited by 77 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The prefectural data show, they argue, that there was actually a slight decrease in regional inequality in Japan in the years from 1990 to 2003. However, the general zeitgeist, whether supported or not by evidence, presents a different picture, one of growing unease and even disquiet, a condition reflected in the work of a number of Japanese writers (Tachibanaki, 1998;Satō, 2000;Chiavacci 2008). The notion of growing social inequality has become firmly established.…”

Section: Spatial Manifestations Of Social Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though rates of uptake of social welfare assistance are thought to be very low (Nagata and Kiyokawa, 2009), they have nevertheless reached levels not previously seen since the mid 1950s. Interestingly, public opinion and the media, for long entrenched in the belief that Japan was predominantly middle class, are now convinced that Japanese society is unequal and becoming more so (Chiavacci, 2008;Pilling, 2007). Chiavacci, however, argues that despite the intensified nature of academic and popular debate on the country's 'unequal society' (kakusa shakai), inequalities are not necessarily more severe now than they were in earlier decades of rapid economic growth.…”

Section: Spatial Manifestations Of Social Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pencilling Tokyo into the map of neoliberal urbanism

Waley

2013

Cities

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There is no questioning the immensity of change in Tokyo's urban landscape over the last few decades, despite the difficulties faced by the Japanese economy. This transformation results from a vigorous promotion of urban restructuring by the state and a keen uptake by corporations. The question examined here is the extent to which Tokyo fits into a palette of policies generally seen as neoliberal and, more generally, how and where Tokyo fits into global narratives of urban change. In order to put some perspective on the nature of urban change in Tokyo, three themes are pursued here that are generally considered to indicate a neoliberal policy turn: a territorial rescaling designed to concentrate energies on places of economic strength; a relaxation of regulations facilitating urban restructuring; and housing and other social policies resulting in residential segregation and producing greater social inequality which finds a spatial expression. In doing this, the paper reviews recent debates in the literature on Tokyo, debates that suggest a difference in view between those who see urban life-spaces as conditioned increasingly by a neoliberal policy approach and others for whom the pattern and spaces of life in Tokyo are coloured by a more distinct set of policies moulded by the (neo-) developmental state. The paper concludes by arguing that only some elements of a 'neoliberal urban inventory' are present in the urban landscape of Tokyo, that they exist within a recognisably neoliberal discursive framework, and that this is best conceptualized within a wider East Asian framework.

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Section: Spatial Manifestations Of Social Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Spatial Manifestations Of Social Inequalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pencilling Tokyo into the map of neoliberal urbanism

Waley

2013

Cities

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“…Where poverty exists in Japanese cities, it has until now tended to be spatially dispersed, hidden away at the household or individual level, or in distant, suburban housing estates. However, recent research supported by OECD figures indicates that it is on the increase (Nagata and Kiyokawa, 2009;Chiavacci, 2008) and suggests that the move away from lifelong employment structures to part-time, short-term jobs in the Japanese economy might soon start to be reflected in a measure of residential segregation in large Japanese cities (Slater 2010;Jacobs, forthcoming).…”

Section: Putting Sino-japanese Comparative Urbanism To Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Japanese Cities in Chinese Perspective: Towards a Contextual, Regional Approach to Comparative Urbanism

Waley

2012

Urban Geography

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“…The authors of these recent studies -a multidisciplinary assemblage of both domestic and international labor economists, sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists who often collaborate with one another -have made significant progress toward explaining the institutions and cultural logics that structure the way youth live in, and how some drop out of, mainstream Japanese society at a time when so-called irregular (hiseiki) jobs proliferate. These developments have been said to have put pressure on entrenched middle-class values, a sentiment echoed in the popular kakusa shakai debate on social disparities (Chiavacci 2008). However, regardless of the merits of these studies, there remains a more fundamental -and in a sense prior -logic that has so far largely escaped rigorous scholarly attention, namely the logic that governs what is generally known as "youth problems" (wakamono mondai).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcending labels and panics: the logic of Japanese youth problems

Toivonen

Imoto²

2013

Contemporary Japan

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Social scientific research on Japanese youth experienced something of a boom in the 2000s and is attracting further attention following the triple disaster of 11 March 2011. But while advances have been made in understanding young people's relationship to work, marginalization, and activism, for instance, the premises of this emerging field of research remain shaky. Despite cursory critiques of associated labels and recurring "moral panics," the dynamics of youth problems have not yet been sufficiently understood. This paper draws on the well-known case of the "nerdy" otaku to illustrate how youth problems arise from the complex interaction of labels, incidents, and prominent actors -that is, their more visible side -with underlying assumptions, strategies, and interests -that is, the less salient dimension of such problems. After highlighting important connections between the otaku phenomenon and the two subsequent phenomena of hikikomori and NEET, four key mechanisms are set out that govern the way youth problem debates emerge and evolve more generally (i.e., the respective roles of "industries," "translators," rhetorical strategies, and youth as a "muted group"). The paper concludes by relating the findings to post-tsunami Japan, arguing that the way in which young people are debated in the 2010s may turn out surprisingly similar to the debates in the 2000s, unless the very configuration of the institutions and actors that construct youth debates changes.

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From Class Struggle to General Middle-Class Society to Divided Society: Societal Models of Inequality in Postwar Japan

Cited by 77 publications

References 8 publications

Pencilling Tokyo into the map of neoliberal urbanism

Pencilling Tokyo into the map of neoliberal urbanism

Japanese Cities in Chinese Perspective: Towards a Contextual, Regional Approach to Comparative Urbanism

Transcending labels and panics: the logic of Japanese youth problems

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