Abstract
The basic structure of postwar Japanese society was formed during the era of rapid economic growth. The changes in Japan's industrial structure in this period led to social disorganization in rural districts, a massive inflow of population into cities, and, as a consequence, the prevalence of nuclear families in metropolitan areas. In this large-scale trend toward urbanization and the nuclear family, housing commodification played a significant role. Previous studies have considered housing as a container of the modern family and a space that embodies the modern family norm. This framework of analysis, however, presupposes the concept of the modern family and assumes its actual existence, and therefore the empirical realities of residential spaces are understood from the perspective of the modern family norm.
In this article, we critically examine the framework of analysis in previous studies as mentioned above. We then analyze the relationship between family and housing in the context of the structural development of postwar Japanese society toward high mass consumption. Specifically, we focus on the process of commodification and transformation of urban housing and clarify the following three points. First, from the viewpoint of the generative process of living room, we clarify the important phase in which postwar Japanese society has shaped itself as a consumer society whose fundamental unit is a “home,” a nuclear family composed of salaried men with their wives and children. Second, we clarify the fact that the transformation of residential spaces is more closely associated with the advancement of the industrial system than the modern family norm. Third, by referring to recent high-rise residential buildings, we elucidate the shift in the focus of residential space formation from the order of “home” to bodily comfort.
