Recent surveys show that Japanese youth have become a "Me Generation" that rejects traditional values.
"Around 1980 many Japanese, 1 young people abandoned the values of economic success and began 2 for new sets of values to 3 them happiness," writes sociologist Yasuhiro in Comparative Civilizations Review. Japanese youth are placing more importance on the individual"s pursuit of 4 and less on the values of work, family, and society.
Japanese students seem to be losing patience with work, 5 their counterparts in the United States and Korea. In a 1993 6 of college students in the three countries, only 10% of the Japanese regarded 7 as a primary value compared with 47% of Korean students and 27% of American students. A greater 8 of Japanese aged 18—24 also preferred easy jobs 9 heavy responsibility.
The younger Japanese are showing less concern for family values as they pursue an inner world of private satisfaction. Data collected 10 the Japanese government in 1993 shows that only 23% of Japanese youth are thinking about supporting their aged parents, in contrast 11 63% of young Americans. It appears that many younger-generation Japanese are 12 both respect for their parents 13 a sense of responsibility to the family. Author Yoshizaki attributes the change 14 Japanese parents ! over-indulgence of their children, material affluence, and growing 15 for private matters.
The shift 16 individualism among Japanese is most pronounced among 17 very young.According to 1991 data 18 the Bunka Center of Japan, 50% of Japanese youth aged 16—19 can be labeled "self-centered" compared with 33% among 19 aged 25-29. To earn the self-centered label, the young people responded positively to 20 ideas as "I would like to make decisions without considering traditional values" and "I don"t want to do anything I can"t enjoy doing. "