This White Paper on the National Lifestyle (Fiscal Year 1996) consists of two parts. Part One looks at the current state of safety and security in the national lifestyle and a number of key issues affecting both. It will consider safety and security under the following headings roughly following an individual’s life cycle: Education, Employment, Family, Living Environment, Medical Treatment, and Old Age. Part Two investigates consumption and other aspects of household behaviour in Japan during Fiscal Year 1995.

It is often noted that superior achievement in primary and secondary education in particular has given Japan an advantage over other countries. Some recent statistics suggest however that Japan may be losing this dominant position in education as other countries catch up. For example, the performance of Japanese in English examinations has remained stable whilst that of other Asians such as Koreans and Chinese has been improving. Japanese schoolchildren have 220 school days per year, more than most developed countries, but the same or less actual class hours.
Fourteen year-old children in Japan have 117 hours of foreign language classes per year, roughly the same as the US, one-third less than in France and almost two-thirds less than in the Netherlands.

Until now, under the Japanese employment system, many Japanese have been able to count on steadily increasing income over their working lifetime. However, the system is in a process of change. Most managers now believe that the lifetime wage profile of employees must become less steep if they are to avoid making them redundant. Employees no longer pledge loyalty to their companies.This White Paper also advocates the importance for working individuals of obtaining specific skills.

Regarding families, the divorce rate and the incidence of single-parent families are still low in Japan compared to other countries, but both have been increasing rapidly. Also on the increase is the phenomenon of "tanshin funin", where husbands are transferred by their companies to live and work away from their families.

The living environment of Japanese is in need of improvement. More than seven percent of Japan’s housing needs to be either rebuilt or extensively renovated in order to have a chance of withstanding natural disaster. Comparing the damage caused by the Great Hanshin Earthquake and the 1994 Northridge Earthquake in Los Angeles, we find that whilst only five times as many buildings suffered damage in the Japanese disaster, the death toll was over one hundred times greater. Meanwhile, Japan’s crime rate is substantially lower than other countries although the number of handguns seized has begun to increase in the 1990s.

Medical treatment, care and the pension system are a source of anxiety for many Japanese as they grow old and Japan’s ageing society draws closer. Medical treatment costs per capita have been increasing in Japan especially amongst older people. This is partly because Japanese consume large quantities of medicines, which are also very expensive. Also, there is a shortage of care facilities for the elderly, which encourages many elderly people to remain in hospital longer than necessary. The elderly enjoy highly subsidised medical treatment but also receive pensions at the same time. A major challenge facing Japan is to maintain the current quality of medical treatment at lower cost by efficiently coordinating the medical treatment, care and pension systems.

Part Two of the White Paper investigates various household statistics for FY1995 and a number of relevant issues. It observes that consumption growth in FY1995 was 2.7% in real terms, an improvement over FY1994’s figure of 1.7%. Additionally, Part Two takes up two important topics.
First, it considers the increasing information-orientation of Japanese households and notes that although personal computers have become more popular, Internet access has not yet achieved the levels of the US, Germany or the UK. Secondly, it analyses consumption from a medium / long term perspective asking the important question of whether consumption behaviour in Japan changed fundamentally as a result of the "bubble economy" of the late 1980s. The White Paper analyses survey results from about 50,000 households and concludes that such fundamental change in consumer behaviour has not occurred. The strong growth in consumption during the bubble period was largely explained by high income growth.

Finally, with regard to safety and security in Japanese society, the White Paper concludes that many Japanese nowadays harbour a certain anxiety. However, by making the problems clear and rationalizing existing social systems now it is possible to achieve an even greater level of safety and security in the future.

(A more detailed summary in English will be available in early 1997.)