I often have conversations with a slightly older generation of people in Japan about how cultural values have changed, and how youth no longer respect their elders. An izakaya owner put it to me like this: “They are now more individual, but they do not have the respect for tradition that we did.” It’s a lament you hear constantly.
It was interesting, therefore, to read Haruki Murakami’s thoughts on the subject in a somewhat rare interview published in the Japan Times, which I’d encourage all of you interested in contemporary Japan to read. Some salient quotes:
Murakami, 59, is a baby boomer who is deeply interested in the problems of his generation. “Our generation tended to pick the best of everything by upholding idealism while engaged in a revolutionary struggle without believing in a revolution.”
But once members of this generation graduated from school, many became company employees. “This time, they became corporate soldiers, developed the economy, created a bubble and called it quits by bursting it. The baby-boom generation was at its core. So, I think someone has to take responsibility.”
I found this notion that Murakami’s generation was engaged in revolution–without actually believing in revolution–fascinating, as though there really is a half-way commitment to change. Certainly Japundit has fostered numerous conversations over the years about how slowly change takes place, and how uncommitted people are to seeing it through.
The collapse of the bubble economy in the first half of the 1990s coincided with the collapse of the Cold War structure. Everybody thought peace was at hand, but what came was a chaotic world.
“Especially after Sept. 11 (2001), we live in a world in which nobody knows what will happen next. My novels are about stories in which nobody knows what will happen next. That may be the reason readers have an affinity for my novels.”
The Japanese also harbored the illusion that if they worked hard, they would become rich and happy, but that has been totally crushed. “So, they were forced to face the facts about what they are. But that is very uncomfortable.”
On a somewhat related note, I was curious to see very few Louis Vuitton handbags in Japan this time around. Even a few years ago, the outrageously expensive (and to my eye, bland) Hermes tote bag seemed to be everywhere. I have no real way of proving what I saw–aside from a bunch of photos of people in trains not carrying designer gear. Perhaps there is a change of sorts, more in attitude than anything else, about wealth and the future and relating to the world at large. Others disagree, and perhaps are completely correct.
What do all of you out there think: is the baby boomer generation, as Murakami suggests, not committed to change? And on a shallow note, do you see fewer brand items circulating around?
Hey, JAPUNDITs, here’s a change to get your big break in modeling. Graphic designer Yukie Kaneko is looking for gaijin men to model her new fundoshi collection. Fundoshi are traditional Japanese undergarments that are similar to a loin cloth.
