Eye-opener for Japan’s youth

True,there is still a 30 per cent power cut in several cities,including Tokyo,but it has not affected normal life. In Sendai,where the ocean invaded the airport with giant waves,there are very few signs of the tsunami left. It took only a month for the airport to become operational. Now engineers and technicians are working round the clock to make it better than before. “Don’t give up,Japan,” reads one of the hundreds of handwritten messages displayed at the passengers’ lounge at the airport.

Japan never gives up. It sets an example for other nations,like India,to follow. Near Sendai,we visit a resettlement colony under construction for tsunami victims. The quality of houses being built is unbelievably high. I cannot resist the thought of comparing them with the shoddy houses built for project-affected people in many places in India. At the newly opened TEPIA hi-tech exhibition centre in Tokyo that showcases technologies for sustainable development,we see a new construction technique that enables a normal house,built on sliding cylinders,to remain stable even after a severe earthquake. In Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills,Mori Trust,one of Japan’s leading urban development companies,has built trendy skyscrapers — part of its futuristic Vertical Garden Cities project — that are not only earthquake-resistant but also completely self-sufficient for their energy needs.

All this is undoubtedly admirable,but the most important effect of the recent natural disaster in Japan is located elsewhere — in the minds of its restless youth. The sheer scale of the death (over 20,000 people killed) and devastation (to cope with the crisis,the government has announced an across-the-board 20 per cent cut in the budgets of almost all departments) has served as a shock therapy for the young generation,whose alienation from parents,teachers,elders in the family and community and,of course,from the country’s querulous politicians had reached alarming levels. This generation knows neither the hardships suffered by their grandparents after World War II,nor Japan’s “Bubble Economy” of the 1980s,which their parents enjoyed. From being the second largest economy in the world,Japan has become the third largest,China having overtaken it. Political instability has become chronic. Though still prosperous,Japan has become leaderless and directionless.

According to Hanami Ishikawa,who works as an executive with Japan Tourism Board,“Our teenagers and also those in their 20s and 30s have become extremely lonely due to a combination of social,economic,cultural and technological factors. In India I have seen many young people who are poor,but not lonely. In Japan,our youth are rich and have many comforts,but are lonely. They try to overcome their loneliness by building contacts on the internet,but it is not the same as having real and emotionally rich relationships with other human beings. A few years ago,we had some unfortunate cases of teenagers entering into suicide pacts on the internet,even though they had not met each other.”

How,I asked Hanami,has the earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster affected the youth? “It has suddenly opened the eyes of our young people,” she replied. “Many young people are now asking serious philosophical questions such as ‘What is the meaning of life?’ They have by no means left their obsession with Facebook and other stuff on the internet,but they have realised that it is extremely important to have harmony with nature and with fellow human beings. Everyone was surprised to see the massive and spontaneous participation of the youth,and also of youth icons,in evacuation,relief and rehabilitation activities.”

On the day Japan was hit by the earthquake and tsunami,Shijeki Tanaka,a 26-year-old consultant for creative industries,was in Mumbai organising a fashion show featuring Japanese designers. “The first thought that crossed my mind was: ‘What can my colleagues and I do to help the victims?’ Immediately after returning to Japan,we plunged into relief activities. We did it not for the victims but for ourselves. Because our relief work,which was purely voluntary,gave meaning to our lives. We want to take control of our lives,and want to give a new direction to Japan,a Japan aware of its responsibilities in a fast-changing world.”

Tanaka told me about a young friend of his,who had a well-paying job in the HR department of a large company but was not satisfied because the work often involved doing things that went against her ethics. “After getting involved in the voluntary work for Fukushima victims,she liked it so much that she quit her job to do it full-time. Today’s youth are patriotic,but they have different ideas about what is good for Japan.”

This observation is echoed by Masahiko Kaji,who heads the operations of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Japan. “I am immensely pleased to see that the young professionals in my company,not only the Japanese but also those who have come from India,go every weekend,spending their own money,to some or the other disaster-affected area to render voluntary service. I especially admire my Indian colleagues because they quickly returned to Japan in spite of being told by their parents to remain in India. In fact,the number of employees at TCS in Japan has exceeded the pre-March 11 level.”

The most dramatic impact of the triple disaster on young men and women in Japan is that more and more of them are now thinking of getting married and having children. Japan’s population is declining at an alarming rate because it has one of the lowest birthrates in the world — by 2050,its population will have shrunk by over two crore to stand at nine crore. Although sexual mores have become liberal,young people prefer not to get married and,if married,not to have children. However,the number of marriages registered in the past three months has risen sharply.

“Suddenly,after March 11,young people have realised that life is both short and uncertain,” said Yamaguchi Kazumi,a young professional tourist guide. “They are feeling that it is important to have a family,to care for it and be cared by it. Earlier,many young people did not bother to appreciate how much their parents and grandparents had done for them. They took many things in life for granted. Life had become very materialistic and individualistic,which is not in the grain of Japanese culture. Family ties were becoming weak and fragile. Now many young people are realising that happiness comes from caring for others. I think that now they would like to have stable relations with commitment and self-sacrifice,the way my grandmother,who passed away at 95 last year,cared for her children and grandchildren,even after losing her husband in the war in 1945. In this sense,March 11 could well become a turning point in Japan’s social history.”