In Japan, young people unfamiliar with social campaigns have sought out training. A would-be activist in Tokyo practicing his technique.

By HIROKO TABUCHI


TOKYO

A GROUP OF YOUNG people recently gathered in a darkened park here. Holding placards and megaphones, they chanted slogans condemning the Japanese government and a lack of jobs and opportunity.

The scene, which is repeated often in the gritty Tokyo neighborhood of Koenji, is nothing close to the protests that have recently shaken Iran. Indeed, the protests would hardly raise an eyebrow in most parts of the world, but in this country, which values conformity, they represent a stark departure from the norm. Since the 1960s, when youth protests turned violent, even the mildest form of protests by young people has been viewed as taboo.

But the pain of recession is changing that, giving rise to a new activism among Japan’s youth, who have long been considered apathetic.

“I’m here because I want to change society,” one leader, Yoshihiro Sato, 28, recently shouted to a crowd of about 50. “Will you join me-” Unlike the ‘60s generation, which agitated to change the bourgeois basis of Japanese society, Mr.Sato and other young people are today fighting to join it. They are demanding greater professional opportunities, more job security and a stronger social safety net. After so many decades without a grassroots movement, protests are so rare here that many who wish to take part require basic training.

The Tokyo-based Pacific Asia Research Center, an institute that typically runs seminars on social issues like poverty, organized the recent march. After a surge of interest from young people who said they wanted to get more involved in social issues but did not know how, the center started offering what it says is Japan’s first activist training program. The sessions include poster-making and campaigning on the Web.

“Once we’re done, we’ll overrun Japan with demonstrations,” Seiko Uchida, the head of the research center, told a crowd.

That may be hyperbole, but the deteriorating economy has inarguably affected young people more than any other demographic. Unemployment was 9.6 percent in April for Japanese aged 15 to 24, compared with 5 percent unemployment over all.

But unemployment and welfare benefits are sparse in Japan. And government spending is skewed toward pensions and health care for older voters rather than programs that might train young workers or help them support their families.

In the first quarter of the year, Japan’s economy shrank a devastating 14.2 percent on an annual basis, as exports slumped because of the global economic slowdown.

Many of those who lost their jobs were younger people in precarious “temporary” positions that were the product of a decade-long deregulation.

The disparity has fueled generational friction, particularly between those who reaped the fruits of Japan’s rapid postwar growth and younger Japanese who came of age in Japan’s “Lost Decade” of the 1990s, when the country’s economic growth stagnated, and during its anemic recovery.

When companies like Canon and Toyota Motor started to fire temporary factory workers late last year, a handful of the workers lashed out publicly, confronting managers at factory gates, often in front of TV cameras. Others brought a flurry of lawsuits against former employers.

Today, workers are rushing to unionize, and the Japanese Communist Party says it is getting about 1,000 new members a month, many of them disgruntled young people.

Still, most Japanese remain deeply averse to confrontation and protest. “Japanese feel it’s shameful to get involved in protests,” said Makoto Yuasa, a longtime activist. “Many still look at us suspiciously, like we might be making bombs.” Still, “this is the most significant rise in activism I’ve seen in years,” said Yoshitaka Mouri, a professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts, who has been following the rising protest culture.

Some experts question how much political influence demonstrators will wield. Young people are outnumbered by older voters, and are concentrated in cities, where ballots carry less weight, proportionally, than in the sparsely populated countryside.

To quell the rising anger, the government has increased spending on programs for younger people. In his latest economic stimulus package, Prime Minister Taro Aso pledged 1.9 trillion yen ($19 billion) in programs to raise youth employment. He is also prodding companies to elevate temporary workers to full-time status. Such actions have done little to change the economic issues.

For now, the public has some sympathy with the protesters, and the rallies get heavy coverage in local media. “I support these young people,” said Masaaki Saito, 60, an owner of a small electronics store in Koenji who took part in student protests in his youth. “It’s been a long time,” he said, “but Japan’s youth are getting their voice back.”