ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the changes in the social attitudes, identification and images of Japanese people while considering the specific characteristics of the Heisei period. According to the Labour Force Survey, the percentage ratio of non-regular employment to overall employment has increased from 20.2% (1990) to 38.5% (2019). Compared to the Showa period, the Heisei period might be considered an age of stagnation. Therefore, it is likely that Japanese people’s satisfaction with their society declined over the course of the Heisei period. From this perspective, an overall lowering of social class identity and life satisfaction and an increase in the demand for social welfare could be expected, and such tendencies should have become strongest among the socially disadvantaged. In order to survive in a complex society, people must adapt to various social changes.
