"The survey compared the incomes of the bottom 10 percent of households with children to the average income of 41 countries who are members of the OECD or the European Union.

The income gap in Japan was found to be 60.21 percent, meaning the household income of the nation’s most underprivileged families with children was less than 40 percent of the average."

I'm not sure how to read this. Income gap be damned, what is the minimum livable income? There's a difference between being poor relative to one's peers and being too poor to afford housing / food / education.

I live in Tokyo at the moment. My experience (as a single person without kids) is that if one wanted to live frugal but happy-go-lucky life it could be done quite cheaply.

"The income of the poorest fell from about ¥902,500 to ¥840,000 during the same period, according to data compiled by Abe of Tokyo Metropolitan University"

So there are some numbers, but what is the cost of living and where? Moving from Tokyo to Osaka would probably cut my living expenses by 50% or more. What about living in a smaller Japanese town?

The cost of living disparity between major urban areas and rest of Japan is probably gigantic.