Japanese of Different Ages

Today I taught English to Ms. N (my mother’s friend) and her daughter who are 60- and 30-something, respectively. So, since I came to Japan in May, I have established contact with different generations of Japanese--preschoolers, elementary, junior-high, high-school, and college students, teachers, and housewives, and so on--between ages 3 and 60-something. And I am now convinced that analysis of generational differences is necessary for any sociologist to understand a given society accurately.

What strikes me as something common among different generations of Japanese is their contentment with Japan. Most of them seem to think that Japan is wealthy and peaceful, even though they feel the number of crimes is rising. I wonder whether this contentment is partly responsible for the country’s impending decline.