When the Japanese
"bubble economy" finally popped in the early nineties, Japan
experienced a massive shockwave to the their economy and overall, society. The economy was in turmoil. Companies lost almost of all of their
value. People were losing jobs or
working long hours of overtime in order to compensate for the reduction in the
workforce. This was a major change
for the Japanese people to deal with.
Prior to the burst, people were accustomed to lifetime employment
schemes that their companies had employ. The main tenet of this scheme was that you would work long
hard hours at the company and the company would reciprocate by providing their
employees a stable job with good pay and benefits.
In the turmoil of the
1990's, sociologists and economists have termed this period "the lost
decade". Japanese companies
and its workers were struggling to once again find their footing in the global
market. While Japanese economy is
slowly recovering, there are some in Japanese society who are not feeling
affects of these changes. These
people are part of the "lost generation" of Japan. This generation mainly consists of
young Japanese people who are struggling to find their place in society and
older Japanese people who after years of slaving away at their works have given
up and left the Japanese corporate rat race. The changes that these individuals were experiencing in the
"lost decade" were detrimental to their lives. The people who fall in this categorized
as "freeters", "net café refugees, and the "yutori and satori generations".
Freeter (フリーター)
are the underemployed or unemployed people of Japan. This term was first used in the late 1980's to describe
people who deliberately chose not to become salary-men. The freeter supposedly comes from to
two words: "free" which comes from freelance in English and
"ter" from the German word, arbiter,
or laborer. Freeters are
people who lack full-time employment.
They usually work as low-skill temp workers. According to the Japanese Institute of Labor in 2000, the
average salary of a freeter who works 4.9 days a week earns on average \139,000
a month. They earn a little more
than the poverty line in Japan that is set to 1.22 million yen a year (about
\101,667 a month).
Why would someone want
to become a freeter? The Japanese
Institute classifies freeters into three categories. First, there are "moratorium" freeters who wants
to enjoy life and deliberately chooses not to pursue the Japanese salary-man's
lifestyle. The second category of
freeter is the "dream pursuing" freeter. These people hold specific dreams and ambitions that are not
compatible with the standard Japanese work-styles. The last category is named "no alternative". Individuals who fall into this category
could not find a decent a job after high school or university.
Also, there are a
plethora of problems that come with choosing the freeter lifestyle. These individuals are unlikely to start
their own households and starting a household. If you are middle-aged Japanese person, it can be difficult
to find a decent paying job because most companies are looking to hire young
Japanese who came out of high school and university because they are easier to
mold into the company frame of thinking.
These individuals also cannot continue their family line. This is problematic in a society that
is structured around the family.
The last problem that these people will face is that they will be forced
to work in the "age of retirement". Most freeters are unable to pay into the pension or pay
little amounts towards retirement.
Freeters who fall into
the "moratorium" and "no alternative" categories are most
likely to become net café refugees (ネットかフィ難民). These so-called refugees choose to live in Internet cafes
instead of trying to find a permanent residence for various reasons. Some of these "refugees" work
as day laborers or on short-term contracts. Since many of these people receive low wages, it would be a
daunting task to find affordable housing especially in large cities where housing
costs can be extremely high. There
are other refugees who that trying to find an apartment and a good paying job
is troublesome. There is a lot of
pressure and stress that is associated in working as an office worker in Japan. Long hours and high housing costs will
cause many people to break down in stress. In addition to these individuals, there are people who feel
that having this lifestyle is refreshing and life changing. Many of these refugees worked in large Japanese
companies in which they had to work long hours of overtime and had to a lot of
stress to complete their projects on time. Many of these net café refugees are walking a fine line
between destitution and being productive members of society.
Some young freeters
nowadays are part of a recent new phenomenon called the "satori generation"
(悟り時代). The "satori generation" is
made up of young who do want anything or hold any ambitions. These individuals typically do not
drive, refuse to wear brand name clothing, don’t dream for a better life, don’t
travel, aren’t interested in sports, and don’t fall into love. They have given up on the social
pressures of life (employment, courtship, and family). They turn away from materialism not for
spiritual reasons but because they can.
They want to lead to an un-stressful and unremarkable life. They feel that they are enlightened in
some fashion. Afterall, satori can
be translated to enlightenment in English.
The term "satori
generation" has its roots in the popular Internet chat site
"2channel". Members of
that site were discussing the book, "Hoshigaranai Wakamonotachi (欲しがらない若者たち)"
by Taku Yamamoto. The title means
"The Young People Who Don't Want Anything" in English. In the book, Taku Yamamoto traces the
"satori generation" to the "yutori" education model in the
2000's. Yutori education (ゆとり教育)
means "pressure free" education. Students were encouraged to not take their exams so
seriously. Also, there was a lot
leeway given to them in the classroom.
Also, these same students saw the economic conditions of the
2000's. Many companies were not
hiring and the economy was still tepid.
So, there was no ambition for these students to care about their
future. There is a similar
situation happening in South Korea in regards to the "satori
generation". South Korea has
created its own "sampo generation". The "satori generation" and the "sampo
genration" are very similar in terms of their outlook on life.
Besides people who are
struggling to find a hold on society and those who have given up, there are
people are bringing struggles to the life of the Japanese family. Traditionally, the Japanese family
structure was a strong and vital to society. However, we are beginnings to see tears in the family dynamic. The Japanese family like most families
around the world have had gone through hardships before, but these new problems
that are affecting families are related to the collapse of the bubble economy
and the onset of the "lost decade". During the bubble economy, parents spoiled their
children. If the child wanted
something, they would get it. The
children were not expected to help in the household chores. A lot of the meals were eaten outside
the house. Now, these same
children are grown up and having problems that are associated to their
upbringing. There are the
"monster parents" who are very overprotective of their children and
are a bane of Japanese homeroom teachers.
Also, there are the "parasite singles". After graduating university,
these individuals move back home and live off their parents.
Parasite singles (パラサイトシングル)
are single people in the 20's and the 30's who live with their parents in order
to enjoy a carefree life. At
first, this term was primarily used to describe young unmarried women. More recently, men and women have
become parasite singles. The term,
parasite single, was coined by Professor Mashiro Yamada of Tokyo Gakugei
University in his book, "The Age of the Parasite Singles" (パラサイトシングルの時代). The vast majority of these adult
children do not help with the household chores. Some statistics have shown that 85% of parasite singles do
not help with the shared living expenses.
Also, 50% of these individuals receive some sort of finical assistance
from their parents.
Being a parasite
singles allows these adult children to either save their income or spend it on
luxury items or travel, while, they enjoy the social interaction with their
parents. Also, many parents feel
that this support will be reciprocated in the future when the parents get
older. For some Japanese women,
they feel that being a parasite single is a type of rebellion against the
traditional roles of woman in Japanese society: wives and mothers. Besides these reasons, the rise of
parasite singles can be linked to the high costs of living in the city and the
effects of the collapse of the bubble economy. There is a similar situation in America when it comes to
parasite singles. In America,
these individuals make up the "boomerang generation".
Besides parasite
singles, there is another subsection of society that is affecting the Japanese
family. These people are called
"monster parents". In
the West, these parents are called "helicopter parents" because they
hove and swoop over their children's lives. Monster parents are the bane of every school and
teacher. These parents are known
to call teachers at ungodly hours (think late night). If the child is in trouble at school or gets a lower grade,
these parents will complain to the teachers that it is the fault of the
parents. These are just few of the
things that monster parents will do.
In 2008, Professor Morotomi Yoshihiko wrote a book on monster parents
called モンスターペアレント！？親バカとバカ親は紙一重
(Monster Parents!? Parent Stupid and Stupid Parent A Fine Line). In his book, Morotomi gives many
examples of monster parents. One
of the examples that he illustrates is that one school is going to hold a
musical. The teacher has to decide
which student will get the lead role.
Many parents complain to the teacher that their child should be the main
lead in the play. The complaining
goes on for days and nights. At
the end, the teacher gives in to the parent's wishes. So when the play is being performed, there are several main
lead characters. Make that all the
same character with the same clothing and lines. Morotomi's book actually becomes the basis of a Japanese
television drama called モンスターペアレント (Monster Parents).
Morotomi explains in
his book that the monster parents are the children who grow spoiled and well
looked after during the bubble economy.
These children now want to spoil and overly protect their children
because that is what they learned from their parents. These same parents who complain to the schools and the
parents also have a hard time raising their children. Many of these of the parents are often clueless when it
comes to basic household chores and easy recipes to make for their
children.
In 2007, Ishikawa Yuki
wrote a book about monster mothers called モンスターマザー世界は「わたし」でまわっている
(Monster Mother The World That is Around "I"). Ishikawa describes many situations that
many parents would find disturbing.
There are children who are constantly asking their mothers to read a
book to them. However, the mother
suggests to the child that they should watch TV instead. There are mothers who give their
kindergarten-aged children snacks like chocolate, rice crackers, and ice cream
for breakfast. Also, she talks about
izakayas (Japanese style pubs) that have a children's room complete with toys
and a TV showing cartoons. Why do
they have these rooms in a bar?
Parents will bring their children out drinking with them and put them in
these rooms. After a while at the izakaya,
the child tells his mother that he wants to go home. Instead of going home, the mother tells the child to go back
the room.
Scenes like this were
uncommon for a long time in Japan.
The Japanese family is going through a hard time. The children who were spoilt by the
parents during the bubble economy are now having children and we are now seeing
the repercussions. It should be
noted that not all families are seeing these problems. However, these problems do cause a
strain on society as a whole. The
Japanese government and the media are trying to address these sensitive issues. This is a major obstacle to overcome
because people rarely talk about their family issues in public. People are becoming more aware of these
issues through news stories and books being published on how to cope with these
issues.
While these groups of
the "lost generation" can seen as a burden on Japanese society, these
groups also showcase the some of the shortcomings that exist in society. It is also important to note the
"lost generation" is not constrained to Japan. This is not a Japanese problem. This is a human problem.
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