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Perceptions of Poverty in Japan: Constructing an Image of Relative Poverty Contrasted Against an Image of Extreme Poverty

ABSTRACT Japan is now ranked as the country with the second highest ratio of relative poverty second only to the U.S. However, according to the results of our research, most Japanese people do not understand what relative poverty is. The only image they have of poverty is that of extreme poverty, which is based on media portrayals and influenced by their memories of the desperate conditions in Japan after World War II. This perception is manipulated in order to gain public acceptance of “welfare reform” and destruction of the economic safety net in the conservative political arena. Thus there is a critical and urgent need to discuss and construct a clear concept of relative poverty using understandable language accessible to Japanese people.