Social Inequality in Post-Growth Japan : Transformation during Economic and Demographic Stagnation Paperback / softback

In recent decades Japan has changed from a strongly growing, economically successful nation regarded as prime example of social equality and inclusion, to a nation with a stagnating economy, a shrinking population and a very high proportion of elderly people.

Within this, new forms of inequality are emerging and deepening, and a new model of Japan as 'gap society' (kakusa shakai) has become common-sense.

These new forms of inequality are complex, are caused in different ways by a variety of factors, and require deep-seated reforms in order to remedy them.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of inequality in contemporary Japan.

It examines inequality in labour and employment, in welfare and family, in education and social mobility, in the urban-rural divide, and concerning immigration, ethnic minorities and gender.

The book also considers the widespread anxiety effect of the fear of inequality; and discusses how far these developments in Japan represent a new form of social problem for the wider world.