Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation (Vintage Departures)
A journey inside modern-day Japan reveals the economic and social realities that have created a lost generation of Japanese young adults, examining the country's a high suicide rate, low birthrate, untreated cases of depression, young men who have become recluses from society, and young women who have rejected the traditional path to marriage and motherhood.
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The world's second-wealthiest country, Japan once seemed poised to overtake America as the leading global economic powerhouse. But the country failed to recover from the staggering economic collapse of the early 1990s. Today it confronts an array of disturbing social trends, notably a population of more than one million hikikomori: the young men who shut themselves in their rooms, withdrawing from society. There is also a growing numbers of 'parasite singles': single women who refuse to leave home, marry, or bear children. In this trenchant investigation, Michael Zielenziger argues that Japan's tradition-steeped society, its aversion to change, and its distrust of individuality are stifling economic revival, political reform, and social evolution. Shutting Out the Sun is a bold explanation of Japan's stagnation and its implications for the rest of the world.
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