Japanese people's bodies, human relationships and living spaces are all growing smaller together. Experts say a trend of shrinking scale across the board — from physique to friendships, consumption patterns and housing forms — is becoming the new standard for Japan in an era of low growth.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, in a recent feature titled "Narrow Japan," diagnosed that Japanese society is shifting toward choosing "less, narrower and closer," the paper reported Friday.
The newspaper noted that this trend is not a temporary fad but a structural result created by the overlap of the "lost 30 years" that followed the collapse of the bubble in the 1990s, population decline and shifting generational values.
The most visible change is the human body. According to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's National Health and Nutrition Survey, the average height of Japanese men aged 20 and older was 167.7 cm as of 2019, 3.8 cm shorter than the average for men born in 1978-79. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's School Health Statistics Survey also showed the average height of 17-year-old males in fiscal 2024 was 170.8 cm, confirming virtual stagnation over the past 30 years.
Japanese physiques, which had grown steadily for more than 100 years since the Meiji era thanks to improved nutrition and economic growth, effectively stopped growing from the generations born in the 1970s and 1980s. Average daily calorie intake is also on a downward trend, and Japan is classified as a country with a high proportion of lean body types even among developed nations.
Human relationships are also becoming increasingly narrow. In a survey by the Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living, the proportion of respondents who said "the more friends, the better" fell from 31.9% in 1994 to 10.3% last year, less than one-third. Conversely, the proportion answering "same sex" when asked whether the person they feel most comfortable with is of the opposite or same sex jumped from 25.5% to 64.8% over the same period.
This means a trend of prioritizing relationships with same-sex friends over romance has become pronounced. As partners for consultation on personal concerns, a growing number of young people cite their mothers rather than workplace superiors or seniors. Nikkei interpreted this as the result of a stronger stability-oriented tendency to focus on close relationships rather than political and social issues.
Consumption and housing styles are also following the downsizing orientation. The number of consumers who leave choices to artificial intelligence (AI) recommendations rather than directly comparing various products has increased, and "consumption without choosing" — reducing the deliberation itself rather than expanding options — has emerged as a new trend.
Amid the impact of rising land prices in city centers, narrow houses of around three pyeong and ultra-compact apartments are spreading, and in the restaurant industry, standing bars and small bistros that efficiently use narrow spaces are increasing. A new term, "space performance" (supepa), referring to the efficiency of space utilization, has even emerged.
Nikkei noted that rather than trying to return to the past growth model, Japanese society should first acknowledge its already-changed population structure and the values of the younger generation themselves. It diagnosed that the "downsizing" running through physique, human relationships, consumption and housing is establishing itself as the new standard for Japan in an era of low growth, beyond a simple change in lifestyle.
