World view Japan Changing of the guard Sabine Stork In the West, we tend to look at Japanese youth culture as an exotic and somewhat eccentric place. We focus on its popculture phenomena from kazai (cute) to the cat cafs, the gaming, and nerd culture, which all, of course, exist. But Thinktanks recent qualitative research in Japan points to a serious value shift among young people that is making them a very different proposition from previous generations. The yutori, roughly the millennial generation aged between 20 and 35, are quietly abandoning traditional values, including some of the conformity for which Japanese culture is known. Among the key differences is a need for self-expression, but also less desire to consume and, instead, being content to lead a more frugal, constrained lifestyle. They have embraced the spirit of mottainai meaning how wasteful which derives from the Buddhist notion of lamenting the misuse of objects and resources, as well as from the need to be grateful for what the world has given us. Thats a notion Japanese millennials really do buy into yutori translates roughly as having the time and the space to appreciate life. And it also seems to mean being relaxed about living within constraints. For example, 26-year-old Keiko, who we encountered in a recent group in Tokyo, rents rather than buys her clothes. Thats highly sustainable behaviour. Its also, of course, very mottainai. As in the West, there has been a move towards subscription clothing. The Mechakari service, from lifestyle group Stripe International, targeted women in their 20s and 30s with a starter sub, giving them the chance to wear three branded items a month for a monthly fee of 5,800 yen. Last year, as Covid-19 impacted the economy, Stripe came up with a Lite plan, costing just shy of 3,000 yen. The rental model has also gained traction among yutori for home furnishings, and at the start of this year, were joined by leading retailer Muji a favoured millennial brand. Shoppers can choose from a range of subscription furniture, with a chair, for example, coming in at a reasonable 300 yen a month over four years. Once an item is returned, Muji sends it back out for rental or puts it up for sale. This means that Covid-19 has had much less impact on the young Japanese psyche than it appears to have done in the West. According to a recent Media Brands survey, life satisfaction has remained fairly high among young Japanese, who enjoy having more free time and dont resent not travelling abroad or going to restaurants. Interest in foreign travel is surprisingly low more than half of yutori have never travelled outside Japan, while a substantial subset have no interest in doing so either. Abroad is not aspirational, but, rather, unsafe an impression that has grown since the early 2000s and during the pandemic. The generational sea change in perspectives has affected views on the work-life balance. Everyone is aware of Japans population is set to shrink from 126 million to 105 million by 2050 Millennials account for 22% of the population In contrast, the 55 to 75 age group was 26% of Japans population (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division 2019) 14 Impact ISSUE 33 2021_pp14-15_Japan.indd 14 26/03/2021 09:52