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Joseph Dela Peña has written something similar:
Young adult[s]… in their late teens and early twenties face a bevy of social
pressures. There is an overwhelming pressure to succeed academically…. And then
there’s also the fact that the “1990s witnessed a multiple breakdown of political,
economic, and socio-cultural orders and induced a visible shift in the mood of
society reflecting an end to the glorious age of Japanese economic success on the
global stage”…. Young Japanese have extreme pressure to succeed… and this
pressure is perpetuated, not relieved, by… family and society in general. 91
The result of this environment is that:
A growing number of Japanese youth categorised as NEET (“Not in Employment,
Education or Training”) (Kelts 2007:12). The NEET in Japan are commonly
between fifteen and thirty-four years old, among whom more than sixty percent are
aged above twenty five (Nakamura 2004), with smaller numbers either consciously
refusing to work, seek work, or gain education that would increase their chances of
obtaining work (as opposed to those in similar situations where this condition may
be largely circumstantial or imposed). 92
The Japanese government is naturally concerned about these so-called
“post-bubble kids” who no longer want to work as “salary men”, office
workers or OLs (“office ladies”), often due to a fear of early death from
overwork (karoshi). 93 Some “find it hard to achieve the extremely high
standards of academic benchmarks”, 94 and others “are unable to procure
suitable employment in the current economic environment”. 95
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