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.
"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. Japanese students seem to be losing patience with work, unlike their counterparts in the United States and Korea. In a recent 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.
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 2005 shows that only 23% 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.
The shift toward individualism among Japanese is most pronounced among the very young. According to 2003 data from the Seimei Hoken Bunka Center of Japan, 75% of Japanese youth aged 16 to 19 can be labeled "self-centered", compared with 53% among those aged 25 to 29. To earn the self-centered label, the young people responded positively to such ideas as "I would like to make decisions without considering traditional values" and "I don't want to do anything I can't enjoy doing".
Diminishing social responsibility, according to Yoshizaki, is tied to the growing interest in pleasure and personal satisfaction. Yoshizaki concludes that the entire value system of Japanese youth is undergoing major transformation, but the younger generation has not yet found a new organized value system to replace the old.
1. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “waning” in paragraph 3?
A. becoming less B. increasing C. missing D. becoming popular
2. What is Yoshizaki’s attitude towards most Japanese parents’ way of parenting?
A. Supportive B. Negative C. Satisfied D. Worried
3. What might be one of the possible reasons of Japanese young people’s change?
A. World War II leaves such a heavy impact on them that they have lost the interest of work.
B. Most of them are the only child at home so they don’t need to work hard.
C. Japanese younger generation place too much emphasis on personal satisfaction and interest now.
D. Most of the younger generation lose the confidence in their own country so they don’t work hard.
4. Why do we say that Japanese youth have become a “Me Generation”?
a. Because they don’t regard a better education a pride.
b. Because a greater proportion of Japanese young people prefer easy jobs without heavy responsibility.
c. Because most of the teenagers become self-centered according to the 2003 survey.
d. Because only 10% of the Japanese young people regard work as a primary value.
A. a B. a, b C. b, d D. b, c, d
5. According to the survey, which country’s young people work harder?
A. Japanese B. Korean C. American D. Chinese