The Japanese have different lifestyles depending on their place of residence and their age or generation. Their eating habits, type of housing, language, style of thinking, and many other aspects of their everyday life hinge upon where they live and how old they are. This chapter examines both geographical and generational variations in Japanese society with a view to assessing the ways in which these demographic characteristics condition the options and preferences of each Japanese.

Geographical Variations

Japan as a Conglomerate of Subnations

A total of about 128 million people live in the 378 thousand square kilometer Japanese archipelago. In terms of territorial size, Japan is larger than Great Britain, similar in size to unified Germany, and considerably smaller than France and Italy. But being mountainous and hilly, with only about one-third of its land being inhabitable, Japan is more densely populated than any of those countries. Not surprisingly, the strain of population density affects the lifestyles of the Japanese. In a crowded environment, urban dwellers in Japan learn early in life how to cope with the pressure of many people living in limited space. On station platforms in urban centers, passengers line up in two or three rows in an orderly manner. During rush hours, Tokyo subways and railways use ‘pushers’ to push workers into over-packed trains. Most city dwellers live in small houses, tiny condominiums, and meager flats, a situation that is the source of widespread dissatisfaction among urban residents.