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In the postwar decades, the standard of living in Japan has undergone a dramatic rise.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Japan In Crisis )〕 Japanese consumers have benefited from the nation's economic growth, while in turn they have stimulated the economy through demand for sophisticated products, loyalty to domestically produced goods, and saving and pooling investment funds. But personal disposable income has not risen as fast as the economy as a whole in many years—at 1 percentage point less than average GNP growth in the late 1980s. ==Overview== The postwar years in Japan witnessed a steady rise in the average Japanese standard of living, together with a narrowing of differentials between blue-collar and white-collar workers. The wage gap between the two groups was considerably reduced, bonuses were established and raised for blue-collar workers, welfare facilities were made available to all employees, and the permanent employment guarantee was made available to regular blue-collar workers.〔Japanese blue collar: the changing tradition by Robert E. Cole〕 Three signs of affluence in the post-war period were the “three sacred treasures”, a television, a fridge, and a washing machine, and by 1964, 90% of households possessed all “three sacred treasures”. Most families had sought to equip themselves with these luxury items, and in the years that followed, consumer demand increased significantly.〔Contemporary Japan by Duncan McCargo〕 From 1951 to 1967, for instance, the percentage of paid radio subscriber households rose from 58.6% to 93.4%, while from 1952 to 1970, the percentage of paid television subscriber households rose from 0.01% in 1951 to 94.% in 1970.〔Driven by Growth: Political Change in the Asia-Pacific Region edited by James W. Morley〕 By 1970, 98% of all employee households owned a washing machine, 95% a gas or electric refrigerator, 80% a vacuum cleaner, 77% a camera, and 67% to 70% a television set. Collectively, trade unions (which engaged each year in a “spring offensive” to settle wages and bonuses) helped the bulk of the Japanese population to a share in the affluence brought by the expansion of national production. Real wages in manufacturing were nearly 50% higher in 1960 than they had been in 1934-36 (which was taken to be the prewar norm). In the next ten years they grew by another 80%, while those in commerce grew only a little more slowly. From 1955 to 1980, the amount of the average household budget spent on food fell from 44.5% to 27.8%, while the proportion spent on medical care, rent, and clothing also dropped, leaving more money for non-essentials such as extra education, consumer durables, and leisure.〔William G. Beasley, ''The Rise of Modern Japan''.〕 According to William G. Beasley, Japanese living standards were in many ways “undoubtedly impressive by the 1980s: high real wages, low unemployment rates, excellent health care, above average consumption of goods and services”. Nevertheless, a 1986 white paper found that in matters affecting the quality of life, Japan still lagged behind America and Europe. Nearly 75% of all power lines in Tokyo were still above ground, while only just over one-third of homes were connected to sewers.〔 In 1985, only 36% of Japanese households had access to sewage facilities, compared with 65% in France (1975) and 97% in the United Kingdom (1976). Per capita park space in central Tokyo was only 2.2 square metres, compared with between 30 and 50 square metres in Washington, London, and Bonn. The ratio of roads to total area was also low in central Tokyo at 14%, compared with 17% in London and 20% in Paris.〔The Japan of Today, Published in 1989 by The International Society for Educational Information, Inc.〕 Despite the hard work and sacrifice that have made Japan one of the wealthiest nations in the world, many Japanese felt they are "a rich nation, but a poor people". Such a negative view of the economy is prompted by the fact that the average consumer had to pay for goods and services that are much cheaper elsewhere.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Japan - Living Standards )〕 In spite of these negative perceptions, however, average living standards improved sharply in the 1970s and 1980s, and real household expenditures did rise during Japan's economic growth.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Japan - Employment, Wages, and Working Conditions )〕 The new national wealth created by the post-war economic boom was also evenly distributed amongst the Japanese people, which left almost no one in an economic lower class. In addition, the level of unemployment remained low.〔Insight Guide: Japan, APA Publications, 2010〕 The living standards of most working-class Japanese also rose considerably during the postwar era, with real wages more than doubling from 1965 to 1975.〔Social democracy in the South Pacific by Peter Davis〕 In the seventies, average living standards in Japan rose to be as high (depending on the measurement) as anyone living in the West. By August 1960, 9 out of 10 urban households had a radio, almost half had an electric washing machine and an electric fan, and more than half had a television set.〔Life World Library: Japan by Edward Seidensticker and the editors of LIFE〕 By the late Seventies, however, 99.4% of all households had refrigerators, 98.7% owned washing machines, 97.7% had colour television sets, and 53.4% possessed motor cars.〔 By the early 1980s, most Japanese enjoyed to “to the full the fact that they possessed amenities and advantages befitting a society as advanced as any on Earth.” The annual income of the average Japanese family had increased to $20,000, about 40% of all homes were equipped with microwave ovens or air conditioners, more than 8 out of 10 families had electric sewing machines, 2 out of 3 families owned a passenger car and at least one tape recorder, and more than 99% of all households contained colour television sets and refrigerators.〔Time Life Books: Library of Nations: Japan, Fourth European English language printing, 1988〕 By the mid-1980s, Japanese real wages were estimated to be at least 60% to 80% of real wages in the United States. Some 90% of Japanese came to regard themselves as middle class, and Japanese workers had come to be regarded as amongst the best paid in the world. According to International Labour Organization statistics, Japanese workers in manufacturing in 1984 earned an average of $5.91 per hour. In addition, according to a 1989 study on Japanese society, a comparison based on the (then) current value of the yen revealed that Japanese workers were now earning more per hour than their American counterparts.〔 Japan’s high level of economic growth in the postwar period was also accompanied by a rapid redistribution of income, while social policies such as the occupation land reform (together with LDP rural patronage and rice price support) improved the quality of life for farmers, and reduced the numbers of rural Japanese migrating to urban areas. For those who did migrate, however, the employment situation was favorable. As noted by Ikuo Kabashima, “The rapidly growing Japanese economy produced a high demand for labor, especially among young workers such as the rural migrants. The possibilities for sales outstripped the ability to produce (given the relatively labor-intensive techniques of the time), bringing about a labor shortage. This produced relatively high wages, even for those without a high school education. This provided well-paying jobs for the migrants and helped equalize the distribution of income”.〔 The share of total family living expenses devoted to food dropped from 35% in 1970 to 27% in 1986, while net household savings, which averaged slightly over 20% in the mid-1970s, averaged between 15 and 20% in the 1980s. Japanese households thus had greater disposable income to pay for improved housing and other consumer items. The increase in disposable income partly explained the economic boom of the 1980s, which was pushed by explosive domestic demand, as well as a sharp rise in the value of the yen after the Plaza Accord. Japanese income distribution in the 1980s, both before and after taxes, was among the most equitable in the world. An important factor in income distribution is that the lower income group is better off than in most industrialized countries. The economic crisis of the 1990s diluted this picture somewhat, increasing the unemployment rate (to 4.0% in 2006). The collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble brought a phenomenon called the Lost Decade, with reimporters and discount chains bringing down inflated prices for food and consumer goods, especially electronics. Today Tokyo is still one of the most expensive cities in the world, but the difference in living expenses between Japan and other industrialized nations is nowhere near the level of the 1980s. Today, the majority of Japanese employees not only enjoy job security and access to a range of occupational benefits, but a very high standard of living as well. In addition, despite having a social security system that is less generous than that which exists in most developed countries, Japan has an egalitarian distribution of income that bears comparison with Scandinavia. As noted by one historian, “Clearly Japan has developed its own indigenous version of economic and socials security which, arguably, offers social protection comparable to the advanced welfare states of Europe”.〔A handbook of comparative social policy by Patricia Kennett〕 As noted by Kenichi Ohmae in the early Nineties, “The standard of living has increased steadily over the past forty years; more than 90 percent of the people consider themselves middle class and reasonably happy about their life.”〔The Borderless World: Power and Strategy in the Interlinked Economy by Kenichi Ohmae〕 In summing up Japan’s social and economic achievements, Jeff Kingston has noted that “Postwar Japan has experienced success in reconstructing a war-ravaged nation, raising living standards, renovating democracy, taming militarism and rejoining the community of nations. This far-reaching rehabilitation of Japan marks an extraordinary achievement and has led to significant advances in the lives of Japan’s citizens. It is stunning that despite this whirlwind of tumultuous and deracinating transformation, Japan has preserved and augmented its social capital and avoided the worst of the scourges that plague other advanced industrialized nations. The relative absence of deep cleavages in society, the highly developed sense of community and success in containing the dislocation and social ills and modernization are a source of considerable strength in Japan. People are better housed, better educated, healthier, live longer and are, by virtually any yardstick, better off than their predecessors and most other people in the world. They have enjoyed political stability, economic security, low crime, good health care, decent schools, adequate housing and an extraordinary level of public politesse. Even during the prolonged adversity of the early 1990s, the social fallout has been limited. Japan has not avoided the usual problems of industrialized societies, but seems to have done a better job in containing, and coping with, these problems.”〔Japan in Transformation, 1945-2010 (2nd edition) by Jeff Kingston〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Standard of living in Japan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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