20. Why Is Rice So Expensive in Japan?

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Preface ix
4. Acknowledgments xiii
5. Living
6. 1. Do the Japanese Live Better Than Americans? 3
7. 2. Why Avoid the Altar? 11
8. 3. Why Go to School after School? 21
9. 4. Why So Many Gifts? 27
10. 5. Why Is Pachinko So Popular? 33
11. 6. Why Are the Japanese Obsessed with Luxury Brand-Name Goods? 39
12. 7. Why Are There So Many Small Shops in Japan? 45
13. 8. How Do the Japanese and Americans Spend Their Money? 51
14. 9. How Can the Japanese Manage without Personal Checking Accounts? 59
15. 10. What Are Most Japanese Doing on Tax Day? 67
16. Work
17. 11. Why Do Students Take It Easy at the University? 73
18. 12. Why Do Japanese Companies Hire Only Spring Graduates? 83
19. 13. Why Don’t Workers Claim All Their Overtime? 91
20. 14. How Do Workers Get Paid? 99
21. 15. Do the Japanese Work till They Drop? 107
22. 16. Why Do the Japanese Save So Much? 115
23. System
24. 17. Why Is Japan a Paradise of Vending Machines? 123
25. 18. Why Do Doctors Prescribe So Many Pills? 131
26. 19. Why Do Bank Automatic Teller Machines Shut Down at 7 P.M.? 137
27. 20. Why Is Rice So Expensive in Japan? 149
28. 21. How Can the Japanese Spend So Little on Health Care? 157
29. 22. How Does Japan’s Largest Bank Work? 167
30. 23. Why Do So Many Japanese Contribute to Public TV? 173
31. 24. Why Are So Few People on Welfare in Japan? 179
32. 25. What Are Keiretsu and Why Do Some U.S. Companies Dislike Them? 185
33. 26. Is Japan an Egalitarian Society? 195
34. Glossary of Japanese Terms 205
35. Sources for Statistical Data on Japan 209
36. About the Contributors 211
37. Index 215