スタンダード ￥800/100単語（消費税含む）

Dominant players of a different society

The expression "100 million, all middle class" has disintegratedno longer applies. And a to Japan, as a society with a wealth disparity that is hard on the losers is becoming a reality. How was the golden age, whererealized, the age in which all Japanese people considered themselves middle class, realized? And why did it collapse?

About 15 years ago, domestic Japanese companies were offering products and services at prices higher prices than their fair prices values to domestic consumers in Japan. These consumers had to purchase products manufactured in Japan at prices higher prices than the same products could be purchased those overseas and to use the services of companies in Japan at rates higher prices than these companiesthose charged for the same servicesabroad by the same companies. But nobody was complaininged. For those that aren’t aware of the prices of Japanese products soldconsumers unaware that prices were lower overseas or the price of services offered in overseas, they have, there was no reason to complain.

Prospective However, prospective kachigumi, who were aspiring to become "successful winners" and were well versed in the price differences, never dared to complain about the situation. (Kachigumi is a new Japanese word that generally describes successful members of Japanese society who are considered “winners” in today’s tough competition.)

Japanese companies could getachieved high returns when consumers in Japan bought their products or used their services at the high domestic prices. The company can set thecould then pay for the corporatetheir employees high higher salaries and wages and provide them with lifetime employment can be maintained. By usingWith the extra profits gained domestically, dumping becomes possible they could afford to “dump” products and services at lower prices outside the country. Despite the criticism Japanese corporations received, even beingsuch as being called “economic animals,” they continued to crush rival companies abroad through dumping. Many Japanese companies have growngrew to the global scale by doing sothis way.

This is not a gentlemanly conduct;, of course, and we cannot complain that we are ridiculedabout having been labeled as the economic animals. It is also natural that the complaints and objections fromby the governments of developed countries gradually increased. The consumers in the developed these countries, mainlyprimarily the United States, jumped ontoto use Japanese high quality products without careful considerations , “because they arewere high-quality products that were cheap to buy and easy to use', and ironically.” Ironically, this decision leadsometimes led to decreased wages or and loss of jobs in some cases. such overseas countries.

These governments began to notice this the situation and developed hostility grew toward Japanese companies. Again, with the United States leading the way, they increased pressures pressure against dumping conducted by Japan and strongly demanded thatrequested the Japanese government to eliminate various barriers concerning their imports of foreign services and products. The government considered this, and as a result the manufacturing industry and the service industryies in Japan were forced to compete hard into severe competition with foreign companies in the same field. As a result, the profit of the company.Thus their profits decreased and salaries of corporate employees were cut down. And ; also many of the consumers were began demanding cheapinexpensive products and services. Thus The revenue of these companies thus further decreased. This, and this led to the corruption of life-long employment and to the need for corporate restructuring, both of which the companies had to face.

Does this mean thethat consumer's decisions in behavior leadled to these ironic results, by decreasing which decreased the profits of companyies these consumers worked for, which in turn lead led to decreased in their own salary ies and taking away their ownloss of jobs?. Presumably so, and office worker salaries will continue to decrease as long as consumer demand for products and services does not become “thoughtful demand that considers the country's future.”take into account the longer term prospects for the country’s future.

In a situation of this, In this situation companies will pay only the necessary minimum salaries because the cost of labor must be reduced along with the costs of products and services.

Dominant players of a different society

The expression "100 million, all middle class" no longer applies to Japan, as a society with a wealth disparity that is hard on the losers is becoming a reality. How was the golden age realized, the age in which all Japanese people considered themselves middle class? And why did it collapse?

About 15 years ago, Japanese companies were offering products and services at prices higher than their fair values to domestic consumers. These consumers had to purchase products manufactured in Japan at prices higher than those overseas and to use the services of companies in Japan at rates higher than those charged abroad by the same companies. But nobody complained. For consumers unaware that prices were lower overseas, there was no reason to complain.

Prospective kachigumi, who were aspiring to become "successful winners" and were well versed in the price differences, never dared to complain about the situation.(Kachigumi is a new Japanese word that describes successful members of Japanese society who are considered "winners" in today’s tough competition.)

Japanese companies achieved high returns when consumers in Japan bought their products or used their services at the high domestic prices. The company could then pay their employees higher salaries and wages and provide them with lifetime employment. With the extra profits gained domestically, they could afford to “dump” products and services at lower prices outside the country. Despite the criticism Japanese corporations received, such as being called “economic animals,” they continued to crush rival companies abroad through dumping. Many Japanese companies grew to global scale this way.

This is not gentlemanly conduct, of course, and we cannot complain about having been labeled as economic animals. It is natural that the complaints and objections by the governments of developed countries gradually increased. The consumers in these countries, primarily the United States, jumped to use Japanese products without careful consideration, “because they were high-quality products that were cheap to buy and easy to use.” Ironically, this decision sometimes led to decreased wages and loss of jobs in such overseas countries.

These governments began to notice the situation and hostility grew toward Japanese companies. Again, with the United States leading the way, they increased pressure against dumping conducted by Japan and demanded that the Japanese government eliminate various barriers concerning their imports of foreign services and products. The government considered this, and as a result the manufacturing and service industries in Japan were forced into severe competition with foreign companies. Thus their profits decreased and salaries were cut; also many consumers began demanding inexpensive products and services. The revenue of these companies thus further decreased, and this led to the corruption of lifelong employment and to the need for corporate restructuring, both of which the companies had to face.

Does this mean that consumer decisions led to these ironic results, which decreased the profits of companies these consumers worked for, which in turn led to decreased salaries and loss of jobs? Presumably so, and office worker salaries will continue to decrease as long as consumer demand for products and services does not take into account the longer term prospects for the country’s future.

In this situation companies will pay only the necessary minimum salaries because the cost of labor must be reduced along with the costs of products and services.