Japan's urban singles: negotiating alternatives to family households and standard housing pathways

In comparison to other advanced economies, the rise of people living alone in Japan has been late and rapid, with singletons now accounting for almost half of all households in major cities. The normative and structural... [ view full abstract ]

In comparison to other advanced economies, the rise of people living alone in Japan has been late and rapid, with singletons now accounting for almost half of all households in major cities. The normative and structural frameworks surrounding standard family-household formation, however, remain formidable, reducing the housing career and life-course possibilities for non-family formers. In this paper, we consider the household and housing pathways being negotiated by younger-adults who live independently. In addition to various secondary data sources, we specifically draw on qualitative interviews with 35 individuals from 28 Tokyo households in addressing manifestations of, and resistance to, atomisation and individualisation in the Japanese context. Our analysis focuses on meanings and practices of homemaking among renters and buyers in the growing sector of single-person dwellings, as well as the emergence of commercial shared housing since the early-2000s. This analysis provides an illustrative contrast to discourses surrounding the ‘singles boom’ and ‘the growing appeal of living alone’ in Western cities.