When we traveled there a few years ago, one of our guides (a native of Japan who now lives in the U.S.) talked about what a consumer culture Japan had .. and how they went for the luxury items. Partly, she thought because things like homeowning are out of the average person's reach, so they turn to other things.
An interesting thing about Japan ... everyone hung out their laundry. In the cities, you'd look up at the high rise apartment buildings, and many of them had laundy hanging out on the balconies!
