A Short History of Social Inequality Studies in Modern Japan

This chapter aims at providing the readers with a short modern history of Japanese social inequality study. Special attention is given to economic disparity, subjective evaluations of inequality, social stratification, social class, regional inequality and gender inequality. It traces paradigm shifts as well as the accumulated insights in a given field of study. What becomes particularly apparent is the absence of meaningful conversation between the field of social stratification and the field of social class study. On the basis of their agreement on substantial conceptualisation of class, the contestation at an ideological level emerged. This prevented the Japanese field of social inequality study from developing an overarching theoretical framework, which enables us to draw a comprehensive picture of unequal social realities in Japan. In support of recent calls for revaluation of class theory on the basis of analytical turn, I conclude this chapter by emphasising the benefit of situating Japan in the context of global inequality.