Aimlessness has hardly been typical of the postwar Japan whose productivity and social harmony are
the envy of the United States and Europe. But increasingly the Japanese are seeing a decline of the traditional
work-moral values. Ten years ago young people were hardworking and saw their jobs as their primary
reason for being, but now Japan has largely fulfilled its economic needs, and young people don't know
where they should go next.
     The coming of age of the postwar baby boom and an entry of women into the male-dominated job market
have limited the opportunities of teenagers who are already questioning the heavy personal sacrifices involved
in climbing Japans rigid social ladder to good schools and jobs. In a recent survey, it was found that only 24.5
percent of Japanese students were fully satisfied with school life, compared with 67.2 percent of students in
the United States. In addition, far more Japanese workers expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs than their
counterparts did in the ten other countries surveyed.
     While often praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics, Japanese education tends to stress test
taking and mechanical learning over creativity and self-expression." Those things that do not show up in the
 test scores, personality, ability, courage or humanity are completely ignored," says Toshiki Kaifu, chairman
of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's education committee." Frustration against this kind of thing leads kids
to drop out and run wild." Last year Japan experienced 2,125 incidents of school violence, including 929
assaults on teachers. Amid the outcry, many conservative leaders are seeking a return to the prewar emphasis
on moral education. Last year Mitsuo Setoyama, who was then education minister, raised eyebrows when he
argued that liberal reforms introduced by the American occupation authorities after World WarⅡ had
weakened the"Japanese morality of respect for parents."
     But that may have more to do with Japanese life-styles." In Japan," says educator Yoko Muro,"it's never
a question of whether you enjoy your job and your life, but only how much you can endure." With economic
growth becoming centralization, fully 76 percent of Japans, 119 million citizens live in cities where community
and the extended family have been abandoned in favor of isolated, two generation households. Urban Japanese
have long endured lengthy commutes (travels to and from work) and crowded living conditions, but as the old
group and family values weaken, the discomfort is beginning to tell. In the past decade, the Japanese divorce
rate, while still well below that of the United States, has increased by more than 50 percent, and suicides have
increased by nearly one-quarter.