The term “disparate society” has taken a firm hold in the lexicon when
describing modern Japanese society. As social problems such as irregular
employment rates, poverty rates, and the percentage of people that are unmarried
continue to rise, the government has failed to formulate effective measures.
This study critically examines the conscious divisions in the minds of people
brought upon by the widening of disparities as a cause for the increasing distrust
in television by conducting a nationwide public opinion poll （October
2018） with a focus on the relationship between subjective class identification
and trust in television. The results demonstrated that although the age, region
of residence, size of the city of residence, and household income of poll respondents
do not impact the level of trust in television, people who self-identify as
members of the lower levels of society tend to have lower levels of trust in
television.
