regional average of US$3.3 million and global average of

US$3.9 million.

However, wealth is both wider spread and more

prevalent in Japan compared to its Asian neighbors.

Specifically, Japan’s wealthy individuals own combined

financial assets of US$3.5 trillion (46% of the total assets

owned by Asia’s wealthy individuals). In addition, Japan’s

wealthy individuals represent 59% of those in the Asia

region with over US$1 million in financial assets alone.

At the same time, there is also a growing divide in Japan

between “rich” and “poor,” and a consequent narrowing

of the middle class majority, a hallmark of Japan over

the past decades. However, this phenomenon continues

to be far less pronounced than in other developed

countries.

For example, the average annual household income for

Japan’s 47.5 million households is approximately 5.6

million yen; specific segments exhibit far higher annual

household incomes than this already rather high average.