Meet the typical Japanese millennial: Victims of the country's 'Lost Decade,' they are trapped in dead-end jobs and are adamant about never having kids

Matthew Loh,Huileng TanJun 20, 2023, 07:31 IST

Japan is home to 27 million millennials.Richard A. Brooks/AFP/Getty Images

From 1986 to 1991, Japan experienced a serious economic downturn after an asset-price bubble popped.
Japan then went into a "Lost Decade" of low growth and high unemployment.

At 36, Isechi Makoto finally feels like he can start living life.

Isechi on a holiday in Hokkaido.Isechi Makoto

The typical Japanese millennial is financially conservative, having grown up watching their country's "Lost Decade" suffer from a devastating economic crisis.

Travelers and commuters in Toyko.Richard A. Brooks/AFP/Getty Images

Most of Japan's millennials don't care about buying a home, and less than a third of them own property.

Most Japanese millennials do not aspire to own homes and are happy to rent.Issei Kato/Reuters

Japanese millennials may not be working themselves to death, but they're still clocking long hours at work.

Jin outside his first sharehouse in Kyoto.Jin Gujin

With Japan's millennials perpetually worried about the economy, few of them are thinking of starting families.

Babies sit on the starting line, ready to compete in a baby-crawling competition hosted by a Japanese magazine in Yokohama in 2015.Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images

Used to seeing adversity hitting the economy, Japanese millennials are consistently conservative spenders.

Unlike those who grew up during Japan's economic boom, Japanese millennials are conservative spenders.James Matsumoto/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Image

Unlike their parents, Japanese millennials don't stand for the hustle of corporate life.

Suganuma has just started her own company and says starting a family would be too taxing for her and her husband.Suganama Natsuki

Day in the life of a millennial who fled Ukraine to find peace in Greece, where she can work remotely and avoid the stress of war

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