Younger Generation Rails Against Their Plight

By Tsutomu Yamashita, Asahi Weekly

　「オールナイトニッポン」といえば、１９７０年代の人気ラジオ番組の笑福亭鶴光さんが思い浮かぶのが私のような中年世代です。今、若者の駆け込み寺になっているインターネット・ラジオの番組が「オールニートニッポン」で、人気のＤＪは、雨宮処凛（かりん）さんです。その番組の１周年の公開放送の一夜を取材しました。ワーキング・プア世代の若者の生の声をお届けします。

　Many middle-aged Japanese who used to listen to the midnight radio program "All Night Nippon" in their youth will be surprised when they hear the current Internet radio program "All NEET Nippon," which is equally popular with today's young listeners.

　Although the two programs have a similar talk show format, their content is quite different, like a generational gap. The latter program broadcasts strong protest messages from the NEET and the working poor from all over Japan such as "let us live" and "the right to live must not be monopolized by regular workers."

　Other concerns of the NEET generation - such as mental disorders, staying indoors and suicide problems - are discussed on the air.

　In Japan, NEET is a negative word describing young people who are unemployed or having difficulty finding a job. Originally, the term, coined in England, means "Not in Education, Employment or Training."

　The labor ministry estimates the number of part-timers and jobless aged 15 to 34 is around 1.8 million. Total part-time workers, also called freeters, and contract employees, reached one-third of the overall workforce in Japan in 2006. Temporary jobs and financial problems make it difficult for young people to get married and to have families.

　All NEET Nippon on Oct. 12 had an open recording to celebrate the program's first anniversary. The project started last October to improve the life and working conditions of the NEET generation.

　The studio was filled with about 80 young people. Most were freeters, NEET or those who used to be in those situations.

　Karin Amamiya, the well-known activist, writer and host of the anniversary program, said, "We will demand a policy for the young to escape poverty. To do so, we can even go to the residences of influential politicians and business leaders to protest."

　Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the Social Democratic Party, a guest speaker on the program, demanded that more young people speak out to help change the political world.

　"We must try to reduce the widening gap in income among workers," she said.

　For three hours, the discussion centered around problems such as low-paying and unstable jobs that young people are often forced to take, and the need for a better working environment and higher wages.

上の世代の責任に気付いた

　After the recording, at a small dinner party for listeners in the recording hall, Tomohiro Oki, in his early 30s from Chiba Prefecture, described his odd current situation.

　"I become like an invisible man to earn about 7,000 yen a day because when I apply for temporary jobs, sometimes I pretend to myself that I am my young brother, who is younger and has not been forced to change jobs like me."

　Oki became angry, saying, "Companies do not welcome mid-30s workers like me, with my experience being so many part-time jobs that have flooded my personnel record."

　Other All NEET Nippon listeners began to question whether the current Japanese system, dominated by the older generation, such as All Night Nippon listeners, can ensure bright futures for today's youth.

　They are fearful of not being able to live as a middle class as their parents did, as they grow older.

• right...by　生きる権利を〜に独占されてはならない
• staying indoors　家にひきこもること
• on the air　放送で
• reduce...workers　勤労者間の拡大する所得格差を縮める
• need...wages　よりよい労働環境と高い賃金の必要性
• pretend...brother　弟になりすます
• so...record　履歴書からあふれるほど多くのアルバイトの仕事
• whether...youth　オールナイトニッポンのリスナーだったような古い世代が多数を占める、現在の日本のシステムが、今の若者に明るい未来を約束できるかどうか
• are...did　彼らの親のように中流の生活ができないのではないかと不安である