Cultural Capital as an Analytical Tool in Japanese Society:

<p>Taking its cue from the British empirical development of Culture, Class, Distinction, the same question in Japanese society is explored in this article, and the kind of cultural capital that can be found is quantitatively examined. However, since there is no survey data that can originally clarify such questions, we will examine to what extent such questions can be approached with the data that is currently widely available.<br><br>We conduct a correspondence analysis in which cultural variables and lifestyle variables are included. In correspondence analysis, variables related to cultural activities or lifestyles are used as active variables in accordance with Culture, Class, Distinction. Firstly, only variables related to either cultural activities or lifestyle are input. Secondly, both are included. As a supplementary variable to the results of each of these analyses, a variable often used in the analysis of social stratification is plotted, and the relationship between the two is examined. The analysis uses two sets of data: data from the 2015 Survey on Social Stratification and Social Mobility (SSM2015) and some Wave data from the Panel Survey in the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Tokyo (Japanese Life Course Panel Survey, JLPS).<br><br>As a result, the presence or absence of involvement in cultural activities is probably correlated with the total amount of capital. In particular, there is a large overlap between involvement in classical music and fine arts and the social class variable. It is possible that music and fine arts themselves, presented as cultural activities, can be seen as the consequences of the propagation of culture “imported” from the Western world. Meanwhile, the variance of the second axis was found to be mainly related to age.<br><br>In Culture, Class, Distinction, though not fully examined, it is suggested that the relationship between urban and rural areas may have an influential role, perhaps correlated with age. In other words, it may be possible to interpret that the nature of cultural capital possessed differs depending on age and place of residence, while involvement in cultural activities in general is defined in an overlapping manner by the total amount of capital.<br><br>In this paper, we identify the relationship from two axes that are very moderate in terms of statistical analysis. From these results, there is a possibility that we can find cultural capital in contemporary Japan. However, the fact is that the quantitative data currently available on Japanese society is insufficient to provide an answer that is any closer to Culture, Class, Distinction.</p>