ABSTRACT

What role does consumption play in Japanese lives that are more than study, work and shopping? How have those lives changed since World War II as Japan has wrestled with the meaning of white-collar careers, women spreading their wings, changing family values, a shrinking birth rate, an aging population? This book explores Japan through the eyes of Japanese researchers and discovers patterns of change that are both uniquely Japanese and shared by consumers in other advanced industrial nations.

chapter |13 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|16 pages

Material Conditions

chapter 2|21 pages

Emotional Responses

chapter 4|42 pages

Women Spread their Wings

chapter 5|22 pages

Ideal Couples and Other Choices

chapter 6|32 pages

What's Happening to the Children?

chapter 7|30 pages

Growing Old in an Aging Japan

chapter 8|27 pages

Real Places, Imaginary Spaces

chapter 9|25 pages

Putting Japan in Perspective