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POVERTY AND SOCIAL WELFARE IN JAPAN. Edited by Masami Iwata and Akihiko Nishizawa. Melbourne: Transpacific Press; Portland (OR): distributed by International Specialized Book Services, 2008. xiii, 323 pp. (Tables, maps, Mus.) US$34.95, paper. ISBN 978-1-876-84381-6.
Poverty or hinkon can be considered one of the key words that reflect the reality of contemporary Japanese society. Even in Japan, ranked among the richest countries in the world, poverty is a phenomenon that is prevalent among a certain section of the population. Currendy, this is an accelerating trend. With the welfare state provisions being rolled back and neoliberal politics on the rise, the social safety net is proving inadequate for a large section of the population. In fact, these changes have made the lives of ordinary people considerably more precarious with respect to not only career and life planning but also with regard to issues of identity and sense of self.
As Masami Iwata, an editor of this book, mentions in the introductory chapter, some of the benefits related to the entire life cycle, including the costs of children's education and care of the elderly which the collective welfare state previously provided, have now become...