<i>the nation&#x27;s youth, who seem to be growing increasingly detached from responsibility and ambition</i><p>I can see why - they&#x27;re not stupid. They see a future of absurd amounts of unpaid overtime, pitiful salaries, long commutes, additional hardship if they choose to have children and an inflexible culture controlled by grey old men.<p>From the Wiki you linked to: <i>young people falling into this category were framed as lazy, work-shy and voluntarily out of employment. This media portrayal was effective in arousing the concern of Japan&#x27;s (conservative) middle aged population, but it led only to moderate support for new youth policies.</i><p>To paraphrase Max Planck, progress happens one funeral at a time.