Nanae Okubo was "inspired." Shunta Taka-yama was "waaaah, all fired up."
The heady mixture of pompom-waving cheerleaders, chants drawn from ancient warrior purification rituals, drummers, a brass band and ear-splitting rock music had gotten the two 19-year-old Tokyo students psyched up for their coming challenge.
They are about to start looking for work.
PHOTO: AP
The two were among some 3,000 students from business and technology colleges who filled an outdoor auditorium in a central Tokyo park earlier this week for an event aimed at giving them a rousing send-off on their journey into the corporate world.
Crowding the stage and screaming at the cheerleaders, the students, identically clad in severe grey suits, weren't behaving like the salarymen and women of tomorrow, even if they looked like them.
But their exuberance masks a serious reality.
Times are tough for young workers in Japan. Unemployment in the 15-24 age group is 10 percent, twice the overall rate and double what it was 10 years ago.
Japan's decade-long slowdown has pushed the unemployment rate up to record highs as companies cut costs by shedding older workers, closing subsidiaries and holding off on new hires.
"Listening to older students I realize that things are getting more difficult each year," Okubo said, struggling to make herself heard over the brass band's rendition of Frankie Valli's Can't take my eyes off you.
With a recovery gathering steam, there are signs that employment conditions are getting better, with more jobs available. But the slowdown has left a legacy of problems for the economy.
Fewer young workers means less tax income and welfare payments to boost falling government revenues and prop up the ailing pension and health systems needed to cope with Japan's rapidly aging society.
In addition, poor prospects and a more individualistic outlook on life have seen some 4 million young people opt for a life of casual job-hopping, more than double the number 10 years ago.
This has raised government concern about whether Japan will have enough skilled workers to maintain its industrial productivity, a problem that some say will take more than an economic recovery to sort out.
"The worrying aspect is the skill mismatch angle," said Richard Jerram, chief economist at ING Securities.
"Job vacancies are running at record levels, generally in highly value-added manufacturing and information services," he said.
"It appears that many young people may have spent their university years playing Game Boy but they are not qualified as IT engineers."
Remedying this, he said would mean taking a look at the education system, which may be too generalist.
However, the government may take some heart from the positive approach of Okubo, Takayama and several other students who took time away from the fun and games to talk about their prospects.
All were aware of how difficult the challenge was, but none was interested in the casual labor route.
"I don't think it's bad for people to become casual workers, if they are working toward some dream of their own," said Takayama.
"But I want a regular job," he said.
Takeo Ariga, a goatee-sporting 21-year-old would-be public official, said people shouldn't just blame the economy.
"High school students are too superficial when they think about work. They need to think more seriously."
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS