the nation's youth, who seem to be growing increasingly detached from responsibility and ambition I can see why - they're not stupid. They see a future of absu

the nation's youth, who seem to be growing increasingly detached from responsibility and ambition I can see why - they're not stupid. They see a future of absurd amounts of unpaid overtime, pitiful salaries, long commutes, additional hardship if they choose to have children and an inflexible culture controlled by grey old men. From the Wiki you linked to: young people falling into this category were framed as lazy, work-shy and voluntarily out of employment. This media portrayal was effective in arousing the concern of Japan's (conservative) middle aged population, but it led only to moderate support for new youth policies. To paraphrase Max Planck, progress happens one funeral at a time.