Middle-class-self and the embodiment of benign prostate enlargement or prostate cancer: a reading of how ‘onco-economics’ affect a Japanese onco-self

This paper draws on 35 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Japanese men to conceptualise embodied experiences of benign prostate enlargement and prostate cancer as 'onco-economics.<b>'</b> The experiences of prostate-related conditions provide a lens through which Japanese men's subjectivities are expressed and contested, especially in relation to expectations around masculinity, aging, and economic responsibility. The data challenges the normative assumptions embedded in the 'middle-class self,' which refers to the ideology that Japan is a homogenous and stable middle-class society, by drawing attention to the feminisation of care in clinical settings and the emergence of niche markets. These markets-spanning food, medicine, pharmaceuticals, and health insurance-commodify aging male bodies and reinforce consumerist ideals tied to middle-class identity. Ultimately, the study highlights how onco-economics reveals tensions between health, masculinity, and economic structures in contemporary Japanese society.