Abstract
Everybody is aware of what happened in the northeast of Japan on March 11, 2011. A huge earthquake that shook the ocean floor near the east coast of Japan caused gigantic tidal waves to roll inland, destroying a large number of towns on the coast and resulting in a huge loss of human life—around 19,000 people are dead, and about 2500 people are still missing to date. Waves also assaulted the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, inflicting severe damage on key areas of the plant that stored critical equipment. Since then, radioactive contamination has become a threat not only to the people living close to the damaged plant but also to the wider population living in Fukushima and neighboring prefectures. What made things worse was the electric power shortage caused by the destruction of the Fukushima Daiichi plant and the suspension of operations at other nuclear facilities on safety concerns. Thus, almost every industry located in the eastern half of Japan has been adversely impacted, leading to the unemployment of a large number of people; some estimate that unemployment and layoff figures caused by the 3.11 disaster could be well over 2,200,000 (Genda 2014, p. 104).
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- 1.
The data is from the first to third sweep of the Youth Cohort Study of Japan. Our original samples were randomly collected from 20-year-old young people from all over the country in 2007. The number of responses are 1357 for the first sweep (autumn 2007), 1097 for the second sweep (autumn 2008), and 966 for the third sweep (autumn 2009). Variables used in the analyses and their components are shown in the table below.
Components of the variables
Variable
Questions used
Choices
𝛼
Competencies
Activeness
I am always an active participant.
Strongly agree/agree/disagree/strongly disagree
0.759
I have an ability to contribute to society.
Strongly agree/agree/disagree/strongly disagree
I have some advantages over other people.
Strongly agree/agree/disagree/strongly disagree
Communication skills
Expressing my opinion
Completely able/able/unable/completely unable
0.752
Conversing naturally with people who you don’t know
Completely able/able/unable/completely unable
Directing a group of people with your leadership
Completely able/able/unable/completely unable
Information skills
Making documents using Personal computers or word processer
Completely able/able/unable/completely unable
0.808
Collecting information from internet
Completely able/able/unable/completely unable
Social Attitudes
Meritocracy
Jobs should be provided for those who have appropriate abilities to fulfil their responsibilities.
Strongly agree/agree/disagree/strongly disagree
0.655
It is a good thing for those who have achieved better result than others to be compensated with high salaries and status for their own abilities.
Strongly agree/agree/disagree/strongly disagree
It is a good thing for those who have achieved better result than others to be evaluated as a better human being than the others.
Strongly agree/agree/disagree/strongly disagree
Hope
Japan provides opportunities for youth.
Strongly agree/agree/disagree/strongly disagree
0.575
Social problems can be solved by people.
Strongly agree/agree/disagree/strongly disagree
It is the fault of the young who cannot get stable jobs, because they are not giving enough efforts.
Strongly agree/agree/disagree/strongly disagree
Dissatisfaction
I am not happy with the government.
Strongly agree/agree/disagree/strongly disagree
0.693
I am not happy with the companies’ attitudes towards employment.
Strongly agree/agree/disagree/strongly disagree
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Honda, Y. (2019). Background of “Individualized Meritocracy” Among Japanese Youth: Social Circulation Model of Postwar Japan and Its Collapse. In: Kitamura, Y., Omomo, T., Katsuno, M. (eds) Education in Japan. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 47. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2632-5_10
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