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 maledominated job market have
limited the opportunities of teenagers who are already questioning the heavy personal sacrifices involved in climbing Janpan's 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 did their counterparts in the 10 oher 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 educatin 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 War II 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 has come centralization; fully 76 percent of Japan's 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.
关键字:
考研英语生词表: