Income disparity in Japan

January 28, 2007
By Ken Worsley

The supposed widening of the gap between the rich and poor in Japan has become quite an issue over the past year. The Democratic Party of Japan intends to make it a campaign issue in the leadup to this summer’s Upper House elections. In the new DPJ campaign television ad, three of their party leaders pledge to carry out a policy of Seikatsu ishin, or lifestyle restoration. In other words, they want people to trust them to bring their personal income back in line with what it once was (Here is a press release by the DPJ on their intentions for the new Diet session that got underway last Thursday).

Many people blame reforms made under the Koizumi administration for exacerbating the gap between rich and poor. Personally, I have seen no data proving that it has worsened, although the situation has been talked about so much here in Japan that I believe it; it would be good to see some evidence.

However, in an historical sense, many Western thinkers wonder why such income disparity (when compared to that of the United States, for example) failed to develop in the first place. And that brings me to the point of my post:

This was posted back in October, but is still relevant. The very well written Economist’s View Blog has a link to a paper entitled The Evolution of Income Concentration in Japan, 1886-2002: Evidence from Income Tax Statistics by Moriguchi Chiaki and Emmanuel Saez, as well as a discussion on that paper. If the topic interests you in the least, it makes for good reading, and an interesting cultural point of view.

And if you have any ideas on how to patch up the supposed growing income disparity in Japan, or even some ideas for a decent campaign commercial: contact the Democratic Party of Japan.

Filed Under Economics