The rising sun leaves some Japanese in the shade

摘要

In A country that very nearly defines itself by its egalitarianism, an anguished debate in parliament, in newspaper columns and on television shows has gathered pace this year about Japan's widening gap between the haves and have-nots. Arch-conservatives and left-wingers alike blame the income gap not just on globalisation clobbering the unskilled, but on the structural reforms and deregulation championed by the prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, and his Liberal Democratic Party (ldp). Over the past few years, the critics charge, companies that once protected their workers have been able more easily to sack them, or redesignate them as "non-regular" staff, who come cheaper. Young adults, even graduates, have suffered in particular, many unable to get full-time work or any work at all.