Japanese social hierarchy portrays a systematic classification of all the social classes in the Japanese social society. This hierarchy is quite different from the social system that was employed in the ancient Japan as since the ancient times society has undergone several structural changes. The major difference has been due to the modernization of society and culture in Japan along with certain changes in educational trends over the years.
Japanese social hierarchy broadly gets divided in 3 parts which further gets divided in some sub parts. This classification is on the basis of power, money and social status a person holds in the social society of Japan. The in-depth description of this Japanese social hierarchy is abridged as below in a manner starting with the top most social class and ending with the lowest one.
Upper Class
The Upper Class as name implies is the cream class of the society that enjoys utmost power and monetary freedom in the Japan social society. These people have high status in the Japanese social hierarchy and is further divided into two sub-levels which are:
- The Royal Family – These people belong to the ancient Japanese royal families who ruled the Japan over many centuries. After the government system came to Japan, these royal families now don’t rule the Japan but still enjoy a high status in the society.
- Business Class – These are the people who are the mega business owners in Japan. These business professionals rule the country in means of economy since the economical sector is widely influenced by these and their businesses. These are among the highest earning segment of the society.
Middle Class (the Service Class)
This level comprises of a layman, a common man or simply saying a service man who incorporates majority of the Japan population as well as is a major part of Japanese society. This part of Japanese social hierarchy work on salary basis for the business class people in their companies and firms. This level also consists of businessmen who don’t have large scale business but run a small scale business. So this level will be of two sub levels:
- Low Scale Business Men – Running a business of their own but at a small scale
- Service Men – Doing jobs in a company
Lower Class (the Labor Class)
The lowest class in this hierarchal structure forms lower part of the population of the Japan as well as of the society. They perform day to day working to earn their livelihood. This class comprises of people who earn lowest wages in the Japan and majority of times, face financial instability. The labors and people associated with related work will be employed under this level of the Japanese social hierarchy. Moreover the homeless and under privileged who lives on the grants of the government are also under this level of the hierarchy.