ABSTRACT
A normative and pervasive life-course pattern has been embedded in the development of Japan’s post-war homeowner society. In the past, many middle-class families have successively ascended the housing ladder, thus attaining home ownership (Hirayama, 2007). The private ownership of housing has provided a material basis for securing homes and accumulating assets, but has also been a key symbolic marker of membership in mainstream society. Since the middle of the 1990s, however, it has become increasingly difficult for younger generations to acquire a foothold on the rungs of the property ladder (Forrest and Hirayama, 2009; Hirayama, 2010; Hirayama and Ronald, 2008). The notable decrease in the number of young people following conventional life courses and housing careers has implied that the traditional organization of Japan’s home-owning society is unravelling.
