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.
本文简介：日本学生似乎正对工作失去耐心…(而且)更喜欢无需负重大责任的轻松工作。
[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]日本二战以后形成的勤奋、合作和努力工作的价值体系正在发生变化。最近的调查显示，日本青年已变成了拒绝传统价值观的“自我一代”。
[2]“1980年前后，许多日本人，特别是年轻人，摒弃了经济上成功的价值基准，开始寻找能给他们带来幸福快乐的新的价值准则，”社会学家吉崎康宏在《文明比较评论》一书中这样写道。日本青年人现在越来越重视追求个人幸福而越来越少关注工作、家庭和社会的价值基准。
[3]日本学生似乎正对工作失去耐心，而美国和韩国学生却不是这样。在一项1993年的对这三个国家的高校学生进行的调查中，只有10%的日本人认为工作是一个主要的价值体现物，而韩国人和美国人分别是47%和27%。年龄在18到24岁的大多数日本人还更喜欢无需负重大责任的轻松工作。
[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.
