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Japanese people big spendings

maushan3

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1 Feb 2007
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I was having a talk recently with my dad about my soon-to-be exchange experience to Japan and he brought up the subject of the wonderful image the Japanese have, how much money they spend on themselves, as in paying too much attention to their looks and spending big money on things. He went to Japan a long time ago (1995, he happened to be in Tokyo the day of the Sarin attacks on the train) and told me that Estate was very expensive, that few people could afford buying property and that many people from the beginning of their careers just gave up any hope of buying a home, that they just rented, that even some lived on apartments rented by the company they worked for. So, he told me, for that same reason, many people just decide spending pretty much all their money on things like clothes, nice cars, motorcycles and high-tech toys.

Question is, you all, knowing more about Japan than me or my dad, how much is this accurate nowadays? Like as in this being the reason the fashion industry is so prosperous. It seemed to me rather odd, so I don't know...

Mauricio
 
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About the fashion industry; In Japan you really have the "I should fit in the group" thing, everyone has a Louis vuiton bag so I should buy one as well (Louis vuiton sells more stuff in Japan than in any other country).

It shocked me when I started to get to know my wife (girlfriend at that time) and she told me that she had 4 to 5 bags that were over 400-500 euro, and she didn't even spend that much on shopping. She told me that when I look arround there are girls with even more expensive bags and clothes.

The strange things is IMO, in the Netherlands you work for your pocket money after you are 15-16 (except maybe when your parents are rich), but here they all get their money from their parents, I have no idea how much they get so I also would like to ask a question to members on the forum whom are having kids in Japan: How much pocket money do you give them?

Later on when I came to Japan I got even more shocked to see how my parents in law spend money sometimes (and they aren't even that rich, the father owns a cafe that doesn't make any profit plus a small (7man) transport company where he get's his money from). We got gifts from our weddings from them an evenlope with ... well let's say a pack of money 1cm heigh.
It's crazy how they can spend their money sometimes, but I guess that's Japan most of the times.

Another thing is that a lot of Japanese work really hard let's say 50-80 hours a week, and almost never have longer than 1 week off. Because they work so many hours, and don't have a lot of holidays they can't spend it a lot either. So when they can spend it, they will!

Wiki source about Savings:
Typically, Japanese consumers have been savers as well as buyers, partly because of habit. However, by 1980, the consumer credit industry began to flourish. Younger families are particularly prone to take on debt. Housing is the largest single item for which consumers contracted loans. In 1989, families annually borrowed an estimated US$17,000 or about 23% of their average savings. Those who wished to buy houses and real estate needed an average US$242,600 (of which they borrowed about US$129,000).

But many families in the 1980s were giving up the idea of ever buying a house. This led many young Japanese to spend part of their savings on trips abroad, expensive consumer items, and other luxuries. As one young worker put it, "If I can never buy a house, at least I can use my money to enjoy life now." As credit card and finance agency facilities expanded, the use of credit to procure other consumer durables was spreading. By 1989, the number of credit cards issued in Japan reache

Japanese families still feel that saving for retirement is critical because of the relative inadequacy of official social security and private pension plans. The average family in 1989 had US$76,500 in savings, a figure far short of what was needed to cover the living expenses for retired individuals, although official pensions and retirement allowances did help cover the financial burdens of senior citizens. The annual living expenses for retired individuals in 1989 were estimated at US$22,800. About half of this was from government pensions and the rest from savings and retirement allowances. Senior citizens in their seventies had the largest savings, including deposits, insurance, and negotiable securities worth an estimated US$113,000 per person. In 1989, individuals in their twenties had savings amounting to US$23,800 and salaried workers in their thirties had US$66,000 in savings.
 
It's still like that for many, and getting worse because of the property inflation here. It has somewhat happened to me, without help, it would be difficult to buy the kind of property I want to retire in.
 
About the fashion industry; In Japan you really have the "I should fit in the group" thing, everyone has a Louis vuiton bag so I should buy one as well (Louis vuiton sells more stuff in Japan than in any other country).
It shocked me when I started to get to know my wife (girlfriend at that time) and she told me that she had 4 to 5 bags that were over 400-500 euro, and she didn't even spend that much on shopping. She told me that when I look arround there are girls with even more expensive bags and clothes.
The strange things is IMO, in the Netherlands you work for your pocket money after you are 15-16 (except maybe when your parents are rich), but here they all get their money from their parents, I have no idea how much they get so I also would like to ask a question to members on the forum whom are having kids in Japan: How much pocket money do you give them?
Later on when I came to Japan I got even more shocked to see how my parents in law spend money sometimes (and they aren't even that rich, the father owns a cafe that doesn't make any profit plus a small (7man) transport company where he get's his money from). We got gifts from our weddings from them an evenlope with ... well let's say a pack of money 1cm heigh.
It's crazy how they can spend their money sometimes, but I guess that's Japan most of the times.
Another thing is that a lot of Japanese work really hard let's say 50-80 hours a week, and almost never have longer than 1 week off. Because they work so many hours, and don't have a lot of holidays they can't spend it a lot either. So when they can spend it, they will!
Wiki source about Savings:

You may have heard about this already, but apparently after entering university, students do minimal studying and spend most of their time on "baito" and social activities. They may not get much kozukai or pocket money before university, but after entering university they would be willing to spend all of their earnings to make themselves look more fashionable.

Sometimes I am amazed at how the Japanese use 10000yen bills as if they are 10$ bills. Before you know it, if you use 10000yen bills like them, your bills are gonna be gone. Contrarily speaking, here in Canada rarely would you ever see people using $100 bills.
 
You may have heard about this already, but apparently after entering university, students do minimal studying and spend most of their time on "baito" and social activities. They may not get much kozukai or pocket money before university, but after entering university they would be willing to spend all of their earnings to make themselves look more fashionable.

Depends on the course - anyone doing a medical course is flat out the entire time, and people doing teaching courses also tend to be very, very busy.
 
I've always viewed the Japanese as being very generous, with time, money etc and I suppose this comes into it. Every person I know who has been to Japan says they feel awful as they will be showed with attention and dinners etc etc and they have no way of giving it back.

Maybe my ex is secretly Japanese, he knows he'll never be able to afford a house either so spends every penny he earns (and more) on unneccassary items like clothes he doesn't need, the latest games console etc etc
 
I think that you can spend more when you don't have to own a car, a lawn mower, a snowblower, car insurance, car payments, a mortgage, furnish a huge house etc. Why not buy nice things for yourself? I don't see a problem, but that's just my point of view.
 
yes, the japanese spends huge amounts of money on fashion, but overall americans still spend the most out of every country :D

My guess would be the japanese spend more in fashion than americans, but americans spend more in eating and housing costs.
 
I really don't have any experience with Japanese and spending in terms of fashion, besides the fact that a lot of stores I would visit while in Japan were very expensive.

However, recently when I went to Japan I met up with one of my penpals. Throughout the day she guided me through Kyoto, and at the end of the night took me to a really nice dinner. All together I would say she spent 200 dollars on me for the entire day!

Just the fact that she would spend so much money on me when she didn't have to was amazing!

(don't worry everyone, I sent her a card with the remaining yen I had when I got home, which was about 200 dollars)
 
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