New Book Highlights Elders' Consumer Preferences
"Mirai-shijo Kanzen Koryaku Gaido" is a new book on the buying habits of Japan's elderly and not-so-elderly. As reported by Asahi, some of the findings are predictable, such as relatively few purchases of Western-style foods. But some of it is surprising, or at least interesting: while older people tend to avoid foods that hard to chew, they are still big fans of senbei, those hard rice crackers.

The book is based on stats from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' annual survey of household spending. Perhaps displaying self-interest or at least some wishful thinking, Asahi notes that the authors (23 students at the Shizuoka University of Art and Culture) believe the publishing industry should continue to do okay, since Japanese from 50 on up still spend considerable sums on newspaper and magazine subscriptions.