Consumerism and Images of the West Suggested Readings: Michael Zielenziger, “Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created its Own Lost Generation.” J. Bardsley.

Consumerism and Images of the West

Suggested Readings:

Michael Zielenziger, “Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created its Own Lost Generation.”

J. Bardsley & H. Hirakawa, “Branded: Bad Girls Go Shopping” in Miller and Bardsley, “Bad Girls of Japan.”

Japan’s Admiration of the West

Historical Development– Meiji Restoration– WWII and US Occupation– 1950’s– 1960’s– 1970’s– 1980’s

Images of the West in Japanese Consumers’ Mind

High QualityDesirableGood tasteLuxuriousSymbolize affluence, sophistication, and statusEtc.

Case of Japanese TV Commercials Targeted to Women

Some portrayed effects of the purchase of the product– Use of a product will bring acceptance and/or

admiration by the Western people– Use of a product will help a Japanese break the

confinement of her Japaneseness– A product can help a Japanese assimilated in

Western culture

Comparison with Asian Images in commercials

Luxury Fashion Market

Luxury goods market – $ 55 billion globally

Japanese participation – 40% of global consumption

Western Brand and Japanese ConsumersCase of Louis Vuitton (Zielenziger, p. 148)

Luxury Fashion Market in Japan

Luis Vuitton Prada

Store Openings

Japan’s Obsession with Western Brands

Post Bubble-burst and “Japanese Paradox” in the 1990’sCause of social problem?– Enjo kosai

Possible Causes

Quality of brand products?Self-cultivation?Women’s state in Japan – Unequally treated in work place– Exploited in the household– Mating customary unfair to women (Usagi Nakamura, quoted in “Bardsley and

Hirakawa. P.119)

• A rich men can get pretty women• A rich women cannot get pretty men unless she is pretty

Shopping Queen by Nakamura Usagi (2003)

“Brand goods make you feel superior even though you may be ugly, dumb, or from a poor family. They are reward for the winner of a game called capitalism.” (Usagi Nakamura, quoted in “Bardsley and Hirakawa. P.119)

Shopping Queen by Nakamura Usagi (2003)

“Oh, at last, I have become a woman who deserves to have a Birkin bag.”

“What a self-deception! But it feels so good…”

Post-marital Shopping?

Conditions for Marriageby Ogura Chikako (2003)

“New housewife orientation”– Marry for money– Have child– Work for fun– Keep on shopping

Possible Causes

Increased uncertainty in lifeDemise of traditional value system– Hard work– Frugal life– Long-term improvement in quality of life

“The more insecure the Japanese people feel in their volatile and unstable world, the more they will seek such fetishlike goods to make themselves feel better.”（ Zielenziger,p. 153)

Otaku boys and Brand-crazed girls

SimilaritySpoiled generation or victims of post-modern capitalism?

Contemporary Social Issues

Increasingly Unstable SocietyFreeter (Free Albeiter)– Definition

• Young single people who are engaged in part-time job– About 2 million in 2000

Parasaito Singuru (Parasite Single)– Definition

• Single adults living with their parents– About 12 million in 200

NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training)– 2.13 million in 2002

Hikikomori (Shut-in’s)– Definition– 0.5 million in 2000– 80% are male

Changing Structure of Japanese Society

Economic Structure– High Growth Period

• Mass production and mass consumption• Japanese-style employment system• Stable society with stable growth• Competitive education system functioned as

filter while bringing up the bottom tier– Post-Bubble and Global Economy

• Demise of Japanese-style employment system• Demise of traditional value system

Changing Structure of Japanese Society

Family Structure– High Growth Period

• Stable family• Salaried man-housewife couple

– Post-Bubble and Global Economy• Due to unstable economy and employment,

more people are staying single or marring later in their lives

Changing Structure of Japanese Society

Social Structure– High Growth Period

• Stable society• Predictable future• Large middle class• Hope for better life

– Post Bubble and Global Economy• Increasing uncertainty

– College degrees do not guarantee decent jobs any more– Lower enthusiasm in committed relationship

• Polarized society– Shrinking middle class– Increasing gap between winners and losers– Decreasing social class mobility

• Loss of hope

Other Elements

Generational gap– High expectation and high pressure from parents who

went through high growth period– Stable earning and diligent saving during and after

high growth period enables older parents to still feed their adult children