It is not critical in the sense of being negative. It points out a known [1] problem and the steps that the Japanese government is taking to combat that problem

It is not critical in the sense of being negative. It points out a known [1] problem and the steps that the Japanese government is taking to combat that problem (earlier English education, etc). Anyway, I found the article helpful, perhaps you didn't because of the time you spent in the country? [1] For example, it was one of Naoto Kan's priorities while Prime minister to increase jobs to help stem suicides. Google 'japanese student depression' for example, yields plenty of first page links making similar claims. I'd agree that many of the links don't rise to the level of hard science, and welcome alternative viewpoints and data, but this is not just some random article with one person's made up hypothesis.