The aim of this book is to analyze Japan's high-growth economy, in particular to clarify the kinds of changes in people s lives that were generated by high growth. The present volume focuses not on the macro-economic mechanisms that expanded the scale of the economy, but on the micro-economic changes that were effected in everyday life. The emergence of a mass consumption society as a result of economic growth suggests that people's lifestyles and consumer behavior changed in various ways.
The first chapter focuses on the apparel industry's expanding market as it corresponded to changes...