The line graph demonstrates Japanese residents’ average income per month in comparison with the costs of black and white TVs and color ones between 1953 and 1983.
Overall, the income of Japanese people remarkably increased while the prices for TVs plummeted consistently over time.
Regarding average salary, there was a gradual growth to around 30 thousand Yen in the first two decades, after which the figure rocketed to nearly 70 thousand Yen by 1983.
The prices for TVs, on the other hand, exhibited an opposing pattern. A black and white TV cost precisely 110 thousand Yen in the beginning, nearly five times the average salary a Japanese person earned at that time. At some point around 1960, its cost was recorded to had declined significantly; however, it still doubled people’s salary on average, at 40 thousand Yen. Since then, the price reduced around 10 thousand Yen every decade and dropped to 20 thousand Yen in the final year. The price for color TVs also followed this trend even though it appeared later, in around the beginning of 1960s. At that point, it was sold for approximately 100 thousand, more than twice as much as the price of black and white TVs, and five times the salary of Japanese people contemparily. Two decades later, the cost of it decreased quickly to just under 50 thousand. Eventually, both kinds of TVs cost considerably less, along with increased income, which made them more affordable for Japanese people.