Aimlessness has hardly been typical of the postwar Japan whose productivity and social harmony are the envy of the United States and Europe. But increasingly the Japanese are seeing a decline of the traditional work-moral values. Ten years ago young people were hardworking and saw their jobs as their primary reason for being, but now Japan has largely fulfilled its economic needs, and young people don't know where they should go next.

The coming of age of the postwar baby boom and an entry of women into the male-dominated job market have limited the opportunities of teen-agers who are already questioning the heavy personal sacrifices involved in climbing Japan's rigid social ladder to good schools and jobs. In a recent survey, it was found that only 24.5 percent of Japanese students were fully satisfied with school life, compared with 67.2 percent of students in the United States. In addition, far more Japanese workers expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs than did their counterparts in the 10 other countries surveyed.

While often praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics, Japanese education tends to stress test taking and mechanical learning over creativity and self-expression." Those things that do not show up in the test scores personality, ability, courage or humanity are completely ignored," says Toshiki Kaifu, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's education committee." Frustration against this kind of thing leads kids to drop out and run wild." Last year Japan experienced 2,125 incidents of school violence, including 929 assaults on teachers. Amid the outcry, many conservative leaders are seeking a return to the prewar emphasis on moral education. Last year Mitsuo Setoyama, who was then education minister, raised eyebrows when he argued that liberal reforms introduced by the American occupation authorities after World WarⅡhad weakened the "Japanese morality of respect for parents."

But that may have more to do with Japanese life-styles." In Japan," says educator Yoko Muro, "it's never a question of whether you enjoy your job and your life, but only how much you can endure." With economic growth has come centralization; fully 76 percent of Japan's 119 million citizens live in cities where community and the extended family have been abandoned in favor of isolated, two-generation households. Urban Japanese have long endured lengthy commutes (travels to and from work) and crowded living conditions, but as the old group and family values weaken, the discomfort is beginning to tell. In the past decade, the Japanese divorce rate, while still well below that of the United States, has increased by more than 50 percent, and suicides have increased by nearly one-quarter.

☆单词讲解☆
1. harmony n. 协调, 融洽
[固定搭配] be in harmony with 与...协调一致；be out of harmony with 与...不协调一致；
2. postwar adj. 战后的
3. sacrifice n. 1 牺牲, 献身2 祭品, 供奉 v. 1牺牲, 献出2 献祭, 供奉
4. rigid adj. 刚硬的, 刚性的, 严格的
5. yielding adj. 1 出产的2 易弯曲的3 屈从的4 易受影响的 n. 让步
6. counterpart n. 1 副本, 极相似的人或物2 配对物
7. committee n. 委员会
8. frustration n. 挫败, 挫折
9. incident n. 事件, 事变 adj. 附带的, 易于发生的
[固定搭配] be incident to 易发生于, 随着...而来的, 对...是难免的
10. assault n. 攻击, 袭击 v. 袭击
11. amid prep. 在...中
12. outcry n. 大声疾呼
13. conservative adj. 保守的, 守旧的 n. 保守派
14. minister n. 部长, 大臣
15. occupation n. 职业, 占有, 占有(房屋等)期间
16. endure v. 耐久, 忍耐
17. centralization n. 集中, 中央集权化
18. divorce n. 1 离婚2 脱离 vt. 1 使离婚2 与...脱离

随着战后出生高峰期出生的孩子长大成人，再加上妇女如今也进入了本来由男性统治的职业市场，这使得青少年的机会大大缩小了，他们本来就已经抱怨在日本社会里要想上好学校、取得好工作就必须要爬上森严的社会阶梯，所以个人必须作出很多牺牲。在最近的一次调查统计中，只有24.5%的日本学生对学校生活完全满意，而在美国有62.7%的学生表示满意。而且，和其他10 个被调查的国家的工人相比，太多的日本工人表示对自己的工作不满意。

虽然日本的教育因强调基础知识而经常受到外国人的赞扬，但是它往往强调考试和机械学习，而不重视创造性和自我表现。“在考分中得不到体现的那些东西——个性、能力、勇气或人性——完全被忽视，”执政的自民党教育委员会主席Toshiki Kaifu 说，“而由此产生的挫折感致使孩子们辍学、放荡不羁。”去年日本发生了2125 起校园暴力事件，其中包括929 起袭击教师事件。在人们的强烈抗议下，许多保守党领导人正在力图回复到战前的情况——强调道德教育。去年当时任教育大臣的Mitsuo Setoyama 就提出责难，他申辩说二战后美国占领当局引进的自由改革削弱了“日本人尊敬父母的道德观”。

但这可能和日本人的生活方式关系更大。教育家Yoko Muro 说：“在日本，你是否喜欢你的工作和生活从来不是问题，问题是你究竟能忍受多少。”随着经济发展的集中化，在日本的一亿一千九百万国民中，有76%的人口住在城市里，几代同堂的大家庭和社区已经被独立的、主要由两代人组成的小家庭所取代。城市里的日本人长期忍受着漫长的上下班交通和拥挤的居住条件，但是随着旧有的家庭观念