What is Japan’s “lost generation?” How does that concept refer to the idea of precarity? Julia Obinger claims that social realities in Japan have been changing for roughly two decades and many young Japanese are directly affected by the “hiring ice ages” have become known namely as a “lost generation.” “Some of the public accounts pathologize the younger generations’ perceived inactivity as a sign of “apathy” and “passivity,” and put forward certain social trends that they interpret as deviant and socially destructive behavior” – claims Obinger. This paper critically examines the facts and discourses surrounding the emergence of this “lost generation” in the 1990s in japan, highlighting possible alternative interpretations within the discourse.
Keywords: lost generation, precariat, Japan, NEET, education, unemployment, postgraduates, labor market
fot. Tomasz Lazar, A man hiding from heavy rain in a phone booth, Zuccotti Park, New York
