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Paper short abstract

This study investigates the shifting patterns of media narratives regarding Japan’s most vulnerable populations, focusing on the urban poor and foreign residents, particularly Japanese Brazilians (nikkeijin). The research examines preliminary findings from three major national print media outlets.

Paper long abstract

Mass media in contemporary Japan operates within a fundamental contradiction, serving as a primary conduit for communicating public policy while simultaneously treating its audience as consumers. This commercial drive often results in the marginalization of social issues that lack "market appeal," specifically the persistent reality of poverty. This study investigates the shifting patterns of media narratives regarding Japan’s most vulnerable populations, focusing on the urban elderly and foreign residents, particularly Japanese Brazilians (nikkeijin). While Japan has long been projected as a model of Asian prosperity, this image has frequently glossed over significant government failures to generate household wealth and address stagnant wages over the past two decades.

This research examines preliminary findings from three major national print media outlets: Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, and Nikkei News. By selecting news coverage from pivotal economic periods—including the post-bubble era, the 2008 global financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic—this study identifies how media language shapes the "invisibility" of the poor. Findings suggest that while the urban poor are framed through a lens of "self-reliance," foreign residents are often portrayed as an elastic labor force. During economic shocks, these migrant workers—concentrated in manufacturing under irregular contracts—are the first to be discarded, yet remain excluded from the social security systems guaranteed to Japanese citizens.

The implications of these media patterns are profound for Japanese civil society. First, by framing poverty as a lack of individual self-reliance rather than a systemic policy failure, the media reduces public pressure for robust welfare reform. Second, the portrayal of foreign residents as temporary, irregular labor reinforces a "security gap" where tax-paying residents are denied basic living standards during emergencies. Ultimately, this study argues that the commercialized nature of Japanese media reinforces social stratification. By prioritizing narratives that satisfy consumer expectations over those that challenge policy shortcomings, the media perpetuates the exclusion of marginalized groups from the national discourse, hindering the development of a truly inclusive social safety net in an aging, globalized Japan.