Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created its Own Lost Generation

Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created its Own Lost Generation

by Michael Zielenziger

Doubleday, HK$195

'I have an arrow pointed deep inside of me,' says Jun. After failing a university entrance exam and suffering other setbacks, the young man withdrew from society. For three to four weeks at a time, he locked himself in his room in a small apartment he shared with his parents. He sometimes rode his bicycle in the pre-dawn hours when no one could see him work off his anxiety. If he hadn't gone out, he would probably have done 'something violent' to his parents.

In Shutting Out the Sun, Michael Zielenziger, former Tokyo bureau chief of Knight Ridder newspapers, describes a Japan where virtually nobody is happy. A country that seemed poised to take over the world just two decades ago is now inhabited by a people who have largely lost their identity. Through revealing anecdotes, he attempts to explain what's wrong with the fabric of Japanese society by describing the plight of the hikikomori, the million or so young people like Jun who rarely leave their homes; the parasaito, women who prefer living with their parents to getting married and having children; and the growing legions of the alcoholic and suicidal.

Japan, according to Zielenziger, mounted a 'manic defence' to heal the 'narcissistic wound' suffered in the second world war. Before that conflict, Japanese identity was based on the ie, or kinship household. After defeat and the consequent collapse of the ie, people identified with their workplace. They channelled their energy into the rebuilding of the economy and created an era of unprecedented prosperity. After the bubble burst in the early 1990s, however, the Japanese couldn't adapt. The conformity and obedience that helped them succeed 'in an era of vertical integration' failed when creativity became essential 'in an era of open and global standards'. And as the economy stumbled, many Japanese became disoriented and lost their sense of collective identity as they lost their jobs.