Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The role of home ownership in Japan’s aged society

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Housing and the Built Environment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In postwar Japan, a housing system focused upon promoting residential-property ownership has been embedded in the wider context of providing welfare. However, Japan’s home-ownership-oriented society has been progressively challenged by growing inequalities both between and within generations, and aggravated by intensive societal aging. Since the 1990s, a more volatile and uncertain economy has made it more difficult for younger cohorts to access home ownership, which has undermined traditional mechanisms for maintaining the ‘home-owning society’. Within older cohorts, economic conditions relating to home ownership have become noticeably differentiated, leading to considerable stratification among elderly people. While residential-property ownership has been a cornerstone of Japan’s welfare system, it has also driven an aggravation of socioeconomic inequalities. The focus of this paper is the assessment of sustainability of the home-ownership-based welfare approach in Japan with particular reference to inter- and intra-generational inequalities. Empirical evidence was obtained by re-calculating the micro-data from the National Survey of Family Income and Expenditure as well as other statistical sources.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. One euro approximately 130 yen, April 2009.

References

  • Arakawa, T. (2003a). Wagakuni kakei chochiku no genjo to hokosei ni tsuite [On trends in savings]. Life Design Report, 2003(1), 4–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arakawa, T. (2003b). Koreisha hoyu shisan no genjo to sozoku [Older people’s assets and inheritance]. Life Design Report, 2003(5), 16–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabinet Office. (2005). Kokumin Seikatsu Hakusho [Government white paper on the national lifestyle]. Tokyo: National Printing Bureau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castles, F. G. (1998). The really big trade-off: Home ownership and the welfare state in the new world and the old. Acta Politica, 33(1), 5–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elsinga, M., Toussaint, J., & Doling, J. (2007). Reflections on asset-based welfare and future research. In M. Elsinga, P. D. Decker, N. Teller, & J. Toussaint (Eds.), Home ownership beyond asset and security: Perceptions of housing related security and insecurity in eight European countries. Amsterdam: IOS Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen, G. (1997). Hybrid or unique?: The Japanese welfare state between Europe and America. Journal of European Social Policy, 7(3), 179–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahey, T. (2003). Is there a trade-off between pensions and home ownership?: An exploration of the Irish case. Journal of European Social Policy, 13(2), 159–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forrest, R., & Hirayama, Y. (2009). The uneven impact of neo-liberalism on housing opportunities. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 33(4), 998–1013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forrest, R., Kennett, P., & Izuhara, M. (2003). Home ownership and economic change in Japan. Housing Studies, 18(3), 277–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groves, R., Murie, A., & Watson, C. (Eds.). (2007). Housing and the new welfare state: Perspectives from East Asia and Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harada, S. (1985). Sengo jutaku housei no seiritsu katei [The establishment process of housing laws in post-war Japan]. In Institute of Social Science, Tokyo University (Ed.), Fukushi Kokka vol. 6: Nihon no Shakai to Fukushi [The Welfare State vol. 6: Japanese Society and Welfare]. Tokyo: Tokyo University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harada, S. (1988). Nihongata fukushi shakai no kazoku zo [Families in the Japanese-style welfare society]. In Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo (Ed.), Tenkanki no Fukushi Kokka [The Welfare State in Transition]. Tokyo University Press: Tokyo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirayama, Y. (2003). Housing and social inequality in Japan. In M. Izuhara (Ed.), Comparing Social policies: Exploring new perspectives in Britain and Japan. Bristol: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirayama, Y. (2007). Reshaping the housing system: Home ownership as a catalyst for social transformation. In Y. Hirayama & R. Ronald (Eds.), Housing and social transition in Japan. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirayama, Y., & Hayakawa, K. (1995). Home ownership and family wealth in Japan. In R. Forrest & A. Murie (Eds.), Housing and family wealth: Comparative international perspectives. London: Routlege.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirayama, Y., & Ronald, R. (Eds.). (2007). Housing and social transition in Japan. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirayama, Y., & Ronald, R. (2008). Baby-boomers, baby-busters and the lost generation: Generational fractures in Japan’s homeowner society. Urban Policy and Research, 26(3), 325–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holliday, I. (2000). Productivist welfare capitalism: Social policy in East Asia. Political Studies, 48, 706–723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holliday, I., & Wilding, P. (Eds.). (2003). Welfare capitalism in East Asia: Social policy in the tiger economies. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horie, Y. (2008). Kinyu chochiku no nai seati no zoka to tokucho [The increase of households without savings and its characteristics]. Kyushu Keizai Gakkai Nenpo [The Annual Report of Economic Science], 46, 121–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoshi, A. (2001). Gendai kazoku niokeru shisan keisei no kitei yoin [Asset accumulation and contemporary families]. Jinko Mondai Kenkyu [Journal of Population Problems], 57(2), 36–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Izuhara, M. (2005). Residential property, cultural practices and the ‘generational contract’. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 29(2), 327–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Izuhara, M. (2007). Turning stock into cash flow: Strategies using housing assets in an ageing society. In Y. Hirayama & R. Ronald (Eds.), Housing and social transition in Japan. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemeny, J. (1980). Home ownership and privatization. International Journal of Urban and Regional Studies, 4(3), 373–388.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemeny, J. (2005). The really big trade-off” between home ownership and welfare: Castles’ evaluation of the 1980 thesis, and a reformulation 25 years on. Housing, Theory and Society, 22(2), 59–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, K., & Renaud, B. (2009). The global house price boom and its unwinding: An analysis and a commentary. Housing Studies, 24(1), 7–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurata, T. (2007). Motiie Shisan no Tenkan Sisutemu [The welfare benefits of the reverse mortgage plan]. Tokyo: Hosei University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malpass, P. (2008). Housing and the new welfare state: Wobbly pillar or cornerstone? Housing Studies, 23(1), 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport. (2005). Tochi Hakusho [Government white paper on land]. Tokyo: National Printing Bureau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport. (2008). Tochi Hakusho [Government white paper on land]. Tokyo: National Printing Bureau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miyake, J. (1985). Jutaku shijo ron [On the housing market]. In Shin Kenchikugaku Taikei Henshu Iinkai [Committee on New Architectural Theories] (Ed.), Shin Kenchikugaku Taikei vol. 14: Haujingu [New theories of architecture vol. 14: Housing]. Tokyo: Shokoku Sha.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2005). Economic outlook 78. Paris: OECD.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2007). OECD factbook 2007: Economic. Paris: OECD, Environmental and Social Statistics.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ohmoto, K. (1985). Fukushi kokka to wagakuni jutaku seisaku no tenkai [The welfare state and housing policy in Japan]. In Institute of Social Science, Tokyo University (Ed.), Fukushi Kokka vol. 6: Nihon no Shakai to Fukushi [The welfare state vol. 6: Japanese Society and Welfare]. Tokyo: Tokyo University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oizumi, E. (1994). Property finance in Japan: Expansion and collapse of the bubble economy. Environment and Planning A, 26(2), 199–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oizumi, E. (2007). Transformations in housing construction and finance. In Y. Hirayama & R. Ronald (Eds.), Housing and social transition in Japan. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peng, I. (2000). A fresh look at the Japanese welfare state. Social Policy & Administration, 34(1), 87–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ronald, R. (2004). Home ownership, ideology and diversity: Re-evaluating concepts of housing ideology in the case of Japan. Housing, Theory and Society, 21(2), 49–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ronald, R. (2007). Comparing homeowner societies: Can we construct an East-West model? Housing Studies, 22(4), 473–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ronald, R. (2008). The ideology of home ownership: Homeowner societies and the role of housing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ronald, R., & Hirayama, Y. (2006). Housing commodities, context and meanings: Transformations in Japan’s urban condominium sector. Urban Studies, 43(13), 2467–2483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shinkawa, T. (1993). Nihongata Fukushi no Seiji-Keizaigaku [Political economy of Japanese-style social welfare]. Tokyo: San-ichi Shobo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonoda, M. (2000). Shutoken ni okeru kosodate setai no jutaku sozoku no kanosei to soreni kanrensuru jutaku juyo no tokusei [The effect of the intergenerational transfer of the house on the housing need for young family household]. Meiji Daigaku Riko Gakubu Kenkyu Hokoku [Research Report, School of Science and Technology, Meiji University], 23, 23–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takegawa, S. (2005). Japan’s welfare-state regime: Welfare politics, provider and regulator. Development and Society, 34(2), 169–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uzuhashi, T. (1997). Gendai Fukushi Kokka no Kokusai Hikaku [Comparative perspectives on contemporary welfare states]. Tokyo: Nihon Hyoron Sha.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uzuhashi, T. (Ed.). (2003). Hikaku no nakano Fukushi Kokka [Welfare states in comparison]. Kyoto: Mineruva Shobo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamada, C. (2007). Ribasu mogeji [Reverse mortgage]. Nihon Fudosan Gakkaishi [The Japanese Journal of Real Estate Sciences], 20(4), 100–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yokoyama, F. (2002). Sengo Nihon no Josei Seisaku [Public policy for women in Postwar Japan]. Tokyo: Keiso Shobo.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The micro-data from the National Survey of Family Income and Expenditure were obtained with the permission of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications via the Research Center for Information and Statistics of Social Science at Hitotsubashi University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan

    Yosuke Hirayama

Authors
  1. Yosuke Hirayama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yosuke Hirayama.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hirayama, Y. The role of home ownership in Japan’s aged society. J Hous and the Built Environ 25, 175–191 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-010-9183-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-010-9183-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation