The New Generation in Japan
日本的新一代
IN THIS ARTICLE: Japanese students seem to be losing patience with work ... (and) prefer easy jobs without heavy responsibility.
本文簡介：日本學生似乎正對工作失去耐心…(而且)更喜歡無需負重大責任的輕松工作。
[1]Japan's post-World War II value system of diligence, cooperation, and hard work is changing. Recent surveys show that Japanese youth have become a "Me Generation" that rejects traditional values.
[2] "Around 1980 many Japanese, especially young people, abandoned the values of economic success and began searching for new sets of values to bring them happiness," writes sociologist Yasuhiro Yoshizaki in Comparative Civilizations Review. Japanese youth are placing more importance on the individual's pursuit of happiness and less on the values of work, family, and society.
[3] Japanese students seem to be losing patience with work, unlike their counterparts in the United States and Korea. In a 1993 survey of college students in the three countries, only 10% of the Japanese regarded work as a primary value, compared with 47% of their Korean counterparts and 27% of American students. A greater proportion of Japanese aged 18 to 24 also preferred easy jobs without heavy responsibility.
[1]日本二戰以后形成的勤奮、合作和努力工作的價值體系正在發生變化。最近的調查顯示，日本青年已變成了拒絕傳統價值觀的“自我一代”。
[2]“1980年前后，許多日本人，特別是年輕人，摒棄了經濟上成功的價值基準，開始尋找能給他們帶來幸福快樂的新的價值準則，”社會學家吉崎康宏在《文明比較評論》一書中這樣寫道。日本青年人現在越來越重視追求個人幸福而越來越少關注工作、家庭和社會的價值基準。
[3]日本學生似乎正對工作失去耐心，而美國和韓國學生卻不是這樣。在一項1993年的對這三個國家的高校學生進行的調查中，只有10%的日本人認為工作是一個主要的價值體現物，而韓國人和美國人分別是47%和27%。年齡在18到24歲的大多數日本人還更喜歡無需負重大責任的輕松工作。
[4] Concern for family values is waning among younger Japanese as they pursue an inner world of private satisfaction. Data collected by the Japanese government in 1993 shows that only 2304 of Japanese youth are thinking about supporting their aged parents, in contrast to 63% of young Americans. It appears that many younger-generation Japanese are losing both respect for their parents and a sense of responsibility to the family. Author Yoshizaki attributes the change to Japanese parents' over-indulgence of their children, material affluence, and growing concern for private matters.
