{"id":29084,"date":"2017-10-17T09:46:19","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T14:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2017\/10\/17\/japanese-more-satisfied-with-economy-but-doubts-about-future-persist\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T13:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T17:45:12","slug":"japanese-more-satisfied-with-economy-but-doubts-about-future-persist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2017\/10\/17\/japanese-more-satisfied-with-economy-but-doubts-about-future-persist\/","title":{"rendered":"1. Japanese more satisfied with economy, but doubts about future persist"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

People in Japan believe their lives have improved dramatically over the past two generations. Roughly two-thirds (65%) say life in Japan today is better for people like them than it was 50 years ago. The Japanese are much more upbeat than Americans<\/a> (37%) who were asked to compare their lives today to a half century ago.<\/p>\n\n

Japanese also feel better about their country\u2019s current economic situation than they did a year ago. In spring 2017, roughly four-in-ten (41%) said economic conditions were good, up from three-in-ten (30%) in 2016. While hardly a ringing endorsement of their nation\u2019s economic health, the Japanese express a more positive view of their economy than at any time since Pew Research Center began asking this question in 2002.<\/p>\n\n

The echoes of Japan\u2019s long-struggling economy are evident among Japanese ages 30 to 49 \u2013 they are the most negative about the current economy. Roughly two-thirds (65%) of this age group say economic conditions are bad.<\/p>\n\n

Although overall economic satisfaction is on the rise in Japan, concerns about the future persist.<\/p>\n\n

About half of Japanese (51%) believe the condition of the global economy poses a major threat to Japan. (Concern about this issue is substantially lower than for a number of other threats such as cyberattacks.) Worries about external economic turbulence are particularly strong among the young: 65% of those ages 18 to 29 are worried, compared with 43% of those ages 50 and older.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

When it comes to the global economic balance of power, just 7% of Japanese believe that Japan is the world\u2019s leading economic power. Such lack of faith in the country\u2019s economic pre-eminence has been prevalent for years.<\/p>\n\n

When asked about the economic prospects of the next generation, only 19% believe that today\u2019s children will be better off financially than their parents, while 72% say kids will be worse off when they grow up. But there is a more hopeful note on this issue: About a third (32%) of younger Japanese believe children will be better off, while pessimism is stronger among those ages 30 to 49 and those 50 and older: Only 18% and 16% respectively in those age groups think today\u2019s youngsters will prosper financially.<\/p>\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/h3>\n\n

Unease over immigration and cultural diversity\n<\/p>\n\n

Japan\u2019s population is expected to decline by 30%<\/a> over the next half century, thanks to aging and a low birthrate. One way to meet that demographic challenge is through immigration. But as of 2015, only about 2 million immigrants lived in Japan, making up about 2% of the population<\/a> \u2013 far less than other aging societies, such as Germany (15%) and the U.S. (14%).<\/p>\n\n

But increasing Japan\u2019s immigrant population may face domestic reluctance. Just 24% of Japanese believe that having people of many different backgrounds \u2013 diverse ethnic groups, religions and races \u2013 makes their country a better place to live. A majority (57%) says it makes Japan a worse place to live. One sign that Japanese views may change: 44% of Japanese ages 18 to 29 say diversity makes for a better country, compared with 17% of those ages 50 and older.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People in Japan believe their lives have improved dramatically over the past two generations. Roughly two-thirds (65%) say life in Japan today is better for people like them than it was 50 years ago. The Japanese are much more upbeat than Americans (37%) who were asked to compare their lives today to a half century […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[724],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[60,26,395],"tags":[],"bylines":[988],"collection":[],"datasets":[1029],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[507,514],"research-teams":[525],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-29084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-democracy","category-international-affairs","category-international-political-values","bylines-bruce-stokes","datasets-spring-2017-survey-data","formats-report","mode-of-analysis-survey","regions-countries-asia-pacific","regions-countries-international","research-teams-global"],"label":false,"post_parent":29091,"word_count":480,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2017\/10\/17\/japanese-more-satisfied-with-economy-but-doubts-about-future-persist\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":37657,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/10\/PG_17.10.17_Japan_Featured-Image-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/10\/PG_17.10.17_Japan_Featured-Image-jpg.webp?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":37657,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/10\/PG_17.10.17_Japan_Featured-Image-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/10\/PG_17.10.17_Japan_Featured-Image-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":37657,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/10\/PG_17.10.17_Japan_Featured-Image-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/10\/PG_17.10.17_Japan_Featured-Image-jpg.webp?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":37657,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/10\/PG_17.10.17_Japan_Featured-Image-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/10\/PG_17.10.17_Japan_Featured-Image-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":37657,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/10\/PG_17.10.17_Japan_Featured-Image-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/10\/PG_17.10.17_Japan_Featured-Image-jpg.webp?w=640&h=320&crop=1","width":640,"height":320,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":37657,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/10\/PG_17.10.17_Japan_Featured-Image-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/10\/PG_17.10.17_Japan_Featured-Image-jpg.webp?w=640&h=320&crop=1","width":640,"height":320,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[{"id":724,"name":"msolorzano","email":"msolorzano-temp@pewresearch.org","slack_user_id":"","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f86893a13d28433dcc6c4512a48b171b84ea93b30b59a30560a70570b12b1dec?s=48&d=mm&r=g"}],"table_of_contents":[{"id":29091,"title":"Japanese Divided on Democracy\u2019s Success at Home, but Value Voice of the People","slug":"japanese-divided-on-democracys-success-at-home-but-value-voice-of-the-people","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2017\/10\/17\/japanese-divided-on-democracys-success-at-home-but-value-voice-of-the-people\/","is_active":false},{"id":29084,"title":"1. 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