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The so-called Lost Generation has come of age. In fact, several candidates in Sunday’s election come from this very group that many older Japanese had written off as never being able to make a go of things. What makes the candidacy of Ryuhei Kawada, 31, so special is the fact that until now, few members of this vast segment of seemingly aimless young people had sought political office. This is the first election since the term “Lost Generation” was coined over a decade ago in which members of this demographic sector can make their voices heard. Not surprisingly, Kawada’s campaign has attracted like-minded sympathizers. Kaori Yagi and Ayumi Sakuda are two such people. Throughout the decade from the mid-1990s when disillusionment set in among the younger generation, Yagi and Sakuda–then in their 20s–traveled, drifted from job to job and tried to give meaning to their lives. The Lost Generation refers to some 20 million Japanese currently aged between 25 and 35 who found it difficult to land stable employment following the burst of the asset-inflated bubble economy in the early 1990s. What sets such people apart is that they reached adulthood just as social myths about lifetime employment and guaranteed prosperity were exploding. As a result, people in that generation were often viewed as selfish, absorbed in self-reflection and unwilling to make the sort of sacrifices that their parents had made. Yagi and Sakuda, both 31, have come to realize that holding down full-time employment is important. Without a steady income and related benefits, the future would always look bleak. Thus, Kawada’s election campaign shone like a beacon to them.
Comments:
1 Comment posted on "Signs of change - Lost Generation"
Zen on July 24th, 2007 at 7:55 am
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Peace.
so uhm yeah, greetings from an half irish half arabic guy that lives in germany! ah and start making more podcasts, like 3 a week 
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