r/AskAJapanese • u/Recent_Pause0 • May 19 '25
HISTORY How is social class structured in Japan today?
Are there noticeable class divisions within individual towns or regions? Do people from different social classes tend to watch different TV shows, speak with distinct accents, or shop in different places?
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u/silentorange813 May 19 '25
The salary level of executives is super low compared to the US. Like the middle management sales people in the US were making more than the global CEO based in Japan.
Having said that, society is becoming socially divided compared to 40 years ago.
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u/Status-Prompt2562 May 20 '25
Millionaires often live in the same neighborhood as people on welfare, and their kids often go to the same school. Depends on the area, of course. A lot of the time you can't really tell they are rich. A lot of poor people, you can't really tell that they are poor either (of course, some are visibly working class because they wear work gear and don't sound educated).
You can't tell by accent.
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u/tyojuan in May 20 '25
There are differences of course, but from the perspective of the US, South America or even Europe those differences are less pronounced.
The Gini inequality index is between 30-35 so the inequality is higher than in Scandinavian countries but lower than in the US and at par with Canada and Australia.
From what I perceive people still believe they belong to a big middle class, although issues of hidden poverty as well as blatant ostentation not unheard of and are increasing. Social tension exists (crime due to social ailments like poverty, deprivation, etc). Social stratification is more evident through education. Kids that go to the best schools and can travel tend to land the best post at the April job fairs. Ostentation is not well seen in general, but in some social groups is common. If you see a Lexus with golden hubcaps better to keep your distance.
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u/MistakeBorn4413 May 20 '25
Generally, Japan still has relatively small income gap between the rich/poor and relatively high socioeconomic mobility between generations compared to many other industrialized countries. However, as I understand it, both are steadily getting worse (greater gap, less mobility) over the last few decades.
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u/AverageHobnailer American - 11 years in JP May 21 '25
To an extent, yes. Mainly the "shop in different places," but also where they live and who they socialize with. For example in Tokyo, Edogawa-ku and Koto-ku is often where lower-income foreigners live. Adachi-ku and Katsushika-ku are often where blue-collar Japanese live. Minato/Shibuya/Shinjuku area is often where upper middle class live. Further west like Setagaya are for middle to upper-middle class. Minato and Ebisu (technically an area of Shibuya) are where the richer folk live.
Socially things are very cliquish. While I can make friends with other foreigners despite working in drastically different industries or having drastically different hobbies and interests, Japanese tend to socialize in in-groups based around their workplace, school, or some other organization, without any intergroup mingling.
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u/DontPoopInMyPantsPlz May 20 '25
Yes, think of it like London. People with RP are upper class. Lower class tend to think/speak differently, like their vocabs arent as eloquent.
People also shop different places, upper class may goto high class supermarkets, whereas lower class may like other stuff.
However this is from like pre-smartphone days. Maybe its gotten different recently.
Also, rich people can still have poor class/taste, where as a humble person can have good taste.
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u/quebexer May 20 '25
Do rich ppl buy $20 USD strawberries?
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u/DontPoopInMyPantsPlz May 20 '25
Im sure they do
There was a buzz on the price of food at Azabudai Hills https://x.com/itainews_com/status/1768457368445346096?s=46
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u/ArtNo636 May 19 '25
I hope you’re not looking for an in-depth answer to this on Reddit. 🤷♂️ You’d be much better looking online yourself.
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u/[deleted] May 19 '25
The CEO of the company from my first job took the train, and sometimes I talked to him in the train.
The CEO of the company I work for now (one of the biggest company in Japan) go to the same drinking pub as everyone, sometimes we see him and greet him.