Japan as a Stratified Society: With a Focus on Class Identification

The primary aim of this paper is to examine inequalities in Japan by looking at attitudes towards class identity, through an exploration of three specific topics: first, where Japan stood at the end of the 1990s in a cross-national comparison of class identification; second, changes over time in the distribution of class identification for different age groups and, third, changes in class identification within individuals. For the first topic, I analyzed the 1999 International Social Survey Programme and found that the percentage of those who identify themselves as middle class in Japan is not necessarily high when compared to other countries. On the other hand, the existence of a significant age effect in determining class identification emerges as a characteristic of Japan. Second, I examined data from the Social Stratification and Mobility survey, conducted every 10 years (1955–2005), to study changes in the distribution of class identification and to examine its determinants. My results confirm that the age effect was significant in 2005 and that, in terms of individual income, young people are notably less well off than those in other age groups. Finally, I used the Japan Life Course Panel Survey, conducted by the Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo, to look at changes in class identification within individuals between 2007 and 2008. My results show that individuals’ attitudes towards class identification change a great deal over time.