Japanese Youth: 30 Years of Change

What is Thematic Research ?

Our thematic research seeks to elucidate the realities of society today by observing trends based on the results of long-term historical surveys. Thus far, we have followed trends among the elderly, children and families for spans of 20 or 30 years. This year’s theme is “Japanese Youth: 30 Years of Change.”

Introduction

We considered the following perspectives in conducting this thematic research:

Youth is one of the hottest themes throughout the ages, and tends to be regarded as a hard-to-understand subject.
Many people probably feel uncomfortable with narratives about youth, thinking: “Young people have always been like this.” “That can be said of any cohort, and doesn’t just apply to young people nowadays.”
In this session, we seek to trigger reflection based on that sense of discomfort.

Part 1
True or false? Conventional wisdom about youth

We sought to verify the relevance of conventional wisdom about youth with long-term time-series data.

Target of the present long-term time-series survey
- Single males and females aged 19–22
- Target of youth survey 30 years ago, in 1994, now aged 49–52

Triggering and proposing the future

“Constant” image of youth (universal characteristics of young people that have not changed over the years)
“Non-unique” image of youth (characteristics of people in general today including older generations)
“Incorrect” image of youth (characteristics wrongly attributed to young people by prevailing narratives)

Part 2
Gen Z driven by mothers and same-gender peers

The biggest change among youth over the 30 years lies in their personal relationships. We analyzed this change with long-term time-series data and the results of qualitative surveys.

Mothers and same-gender peers have become extremely important for young people.
For Gen-Z people, their mother is a “mentor mom,” who accompanies or leads them.
- Factor 1:
  Mothers are increasingly “capable,” with ample experience of studying and working.
- Factor 2:
  Both daughters and sons have more occasions to do things with their mother.
For Gen Z, same-gender peers are “low-risk friends” who are easy to be with.
- Factor 1:
  As they limit the number of their friends, same-gender peers are “sustainable friends,” with whom they can maintain personal relationships without stress.
- Factor 2:
  Same-gender peers are “fellow soldiers in the information war,” with similar needs for information under similar circumstances.
- Factor 3:
  Same-gender peers are an “area free from compliance,” where they do not have to be ashamed of being themselves, and can act without concern about potential harassment.

Part 3
How companies might develop relationships with Gen Z

We considered how best to adapt marketing to the changes in personal relationships among young people discussed in Part 2.

As consumers, the values and desires behind their consumption behavior have not changed much. New desires cannot emerge easily as young people are already surrounded by a multitude of things.
Mothers and same-gender peers could serve as triggers for consumption among youth.
In an age where people cannot be confident about their choices, companies need to ensure “psychological safety” for sei-katsu-sha.