Japan's New Middle Class

Focusing on the Japanese middle class, this classic study offers a detailed examination of the salaryman and his family's life, set against the backdrop of Japan's rapid postwar economic growth. The authors analyze how the emergence of lifelong employment shaped social dynamics, creating a dominant class that influenced broader societal patterns, affecting even those outside this group. The fiftieth-anniversary edition features a new foreword by William W. Kelly, enhancing its relevance in understanding contemporary Japanese society.