Are Japanese Youth Insular Minded? Are Adults Not, Then?

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I notice various discussions going on in media recently about the insular mindset of Japanese youth.

Are they sure?  I said ‘no’ in my posting of January 12.  And I found an article (in Japanese) that shares my view.

As I wrote on January 12,  parents of our youth existed in a certain social climate.  The same can be said of the generation before.  Rarely did they go abroad at their own risk, by their own decision (especially men).

During the period of economic growth, 1960-90 and even afterwards, most of the international studies were based on support by or command from companies or government offices.  Typically, they came back to Japan in several years.  They went overseas not by their own will.  Therefore, it was basically a ‘business trip’, regardless of the length of their stay.

Mr. Kurihara of the Harvard Kennedy School expresses the same opinion and observation in his latest Cambridge Gazette (Since this edition of the Cambridge Gazette is rather long, it might be a good idea to start reading from the editor’s postscript. ) There are so many people who are concerned.

Adults don’t reflect on their own behavior even though they have tons of words to say about our youth.  I have an impression that youth instinctively doubt what adults say.  The same observation is expressed in the writings by Mr. Jiro Shirasu.

It is our responsibility as adults to encourage and support youth.