8.1.1 JAPANESE NEWSPAPER REPORTS RELATED TO THE BABY BOOMERS
The number of newspaper articles dealing with the baby boomers between the years 2004 and 2014 was 1,109, with 474 of them being in Yomiuri Shimbun and 635 in Asahi Shimbun. Figure 7 displays the number of articles per year in a stacked style by newspaper. The quantitative analysis showed that the number of articles increased dramatically by 149 pieces from 2004 to 2005, followed by two consecutive years with over 250 articles per year, respectively.
8 The study of Japanese baby boomers in this chapter is based on the forthcoming academic article ‘Representation of Ageing Baby Boomers in Japanese Newspapers’, co-authored by Kathrin Komp. Motoko Ishikawa conducted the study from the planning stages to implementing it and reporting on the findings, whereas Komp offered advice and technical support.
9 As described in Chapter 6, the research questions of the study are as follows: (1) How do Japanese and Finnish national newspapers portray the baby boomers during the period of their retirement and beginning of old age? (2) How are newspaper portrayals of ageing baby boomers different or similar in Japan and Finland? (3) In what ways is gender involved when Japanese and Finnish newspapers articulate the retirement and ageing of the baby boomers?
These two peak years, 2006 and 2007, marked a transition from the period before early retirement (phase I) to the period during early retirement of the baby boomers (phase II). The sum of articles in 2005, 2006 and 2007 accounted for approximately 70 per cent of all articles published over the studied period. Then, the number of articles decreased sharply in 2008, and the decline continued until 2011. However, when the normal retirement period (phase IV) began, namely in 2012, the number of articles again began to rise.
Nevertheless, this upward trend was much weaker than during the previous peak years. Thus, it can be said that the Japanese newspapers stimulated discussions on the baby boomers ahead of their actual retirement. According to a Japanese government panel survey conducted on middle-aged persons, including the baby boomers (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare 2019), 81.3 per cent were still in the workforce in 2005 (respondents age: 50–59), compared to 69.3 per cent in 2010 (respondents age: 55–64) and 55.1 per cent in 2015 (respondents age: 60–69). This implies that the retirement of the boomers has proceeded gradually.
Count
Year before
early retirement
during early retirement
before normal retirement
during normal retirement Newspaper:˛Yomiuri ˛Asahi
Figure 7. Number of articles about the baby boomers in Japanese newspapers, by newspaper and year.
Though the development over time applies to both newspapers, notable differences do exist between the two. With Yomiuri Shimbun, more of the articles were concentrated in the peak three years from 2005 to 2007, accounting for approximately 76 per cent of total articles, while the proportion of articles for the said years in Asahi Shimbun was approximately 64 per cent.
Another issue to mention is that the number of baby boomer-related articles in Asahi Shimbun was greater than in Yomiuri Shimbun throughout the studied period, with the exception of 2007. The disparity ranged from nine to 36 per year, which resulted in 161 more articles in Asahi Shimbun than in Yomiuri Shimbun. The distinction between the two newspapers indicates that Asahi Shimbun showed relatively balanced interest in the baby boomers over time. On the other hand, the reports in Yomiuri Shimbun tended to pay strong attention to the particular event of the early retirement of the baby boomers, demonstrating that the more conservative Yomiuri Shimbun showed concern over the significant societal and economic changes caused by the mass retirement of baby boomers. Additionally, the audiences of the newspapers might also account for the differences in reporting styles: Asahi Shimbun is a newspaper addressing middle-class readers in particular, while readers of Yomiuri Shimbun have a somewhat lower socio-economic background.
8.1.2 FINNISH NEWSPAPER REPORTS RELATED TO THE BABY BOOMERS
The number of editorial articles in Helsingin Sanomat referring to the baby boomers was 127 between the years 2000 and 2015. Figure 8 displays how the number of articles varied by year over the study period. No significant trend was observed in the occurrence of relevant articles. Rather, the number of articles tended to fluctuate over time because of the smaller number of articles.
However, after 2009, the year with the greatest number of articles and at the beginning of normal retirement (phase III), the number of articles decreased steadily toward the year 2014.
The temporal distribution of articles was quite even, with 7.9 per cent of the articles being published during one single year (2000) in phase I (before early retirement), 45.7 per cent during phase II (early retirement) and 46.5 per cent during phase III (normal retirement). No significant change in the number of articles occurred between the period during early retirement and the period during normal retirement. This implies that public discussions paid sustained attention to the baby boomers irrespective of their status as young pensioners or normally retired pensioners. However, at the beginning (years 2008–2011) of the normal retirement period (phase III), editorials were published more frequently than during the end of the same period (years 2012–2015).
before early retirement
during early retirement
during normal retirement Count
Year
Figure 8. Number of articles about the baby boomers in Finnish newspaper, by year.