![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
Mortgage payments for your primary residence will not count as savings. Logic being resale value of most residences in Japan is pretty hard to anticipate.
Also disregard dividend/cap gains income you may be reinvesting.
I am sure many people may "save" for future (pre-retirement) expenses such as travel, cars, kids or homes, but let's exclude those buckets here.
*Of course, if you are paying for private school for a couple kids, your savings rate is most likely way below it was before they were in school. If this is the case, how about putting in what your average savings rate is over time in order to make comparisons a little more even.