Abstract
Tackles the view that Japan's lifetime employment system (LES) and seniority-based wage system (SWS) are nearing collapse. Starting with an overview of the development of the "Japan Model" of production and labour management, and that of its wage systems, the author then argues his case, presenting evidence mostly from manufacturing industry and individual enterprises. He discerns no major changes in the LES but finds drastic changes have occurred in the wage system: a general move towards multiple wage systems, some growth in work-based elements in wages, and a decline in the concept of the age-based living wage.