Solo Japan: Single-Life Culture (WGSN report)
In-depth, nine-page report on how Japan’s growing single population is reshaping culture and consumption, created for global trend forecaster WGSN. The nation’s uncoupled demographic is predicted to reach 50% of the population by 2035, surpassing that of seniors who have been the segment most courted by marketers in recent years. This growing single population is now redefining culture and consumption in its own solitary image, which is also influencing how the coupled-up spend their yen.
The new ‘solo-katsu’ (solo activity) constitutes, to a degree, Japan’s belated recognition of the importance of ‘me-time’. With existing retail and leisure concepts being adapted for the solo market, and the emergence of models devised specifically for this demographic, the individual is being accorded a newfound respect by both industry and wider society, in a country that has traditionally emphasised the primacy of the group.
(Dec. 2019, subscriber-only content)