The Angst of Youth in Post-Industrial Japan: A Narrative Self-help Approach

Abstract

This paper explores the experience of angst (ikizurasa) among youth in long- term unemployment in post-industrial Japan, and proposes a model for supporting them. Currently, the dominant model for unemployment support consists of activation policies, which assume that users can identify their problems and clarify their needs in job seeking. However, for youth in situations of long-term unemployment, the effectiveness of these policies is limited. This paper argues that indirect support which focuses on (re)constructing human relationships through sharing narratives is a more effective way to help such youth mitigate their angst. In-depth interviews with two participants in a Self-Help Group for youth affected by long-term unemployment, as well as participant observations of the group, reveal how a narrative approach allowed participants to build new senses of self founded in realities shared by others. The analysis shows how these developments were crucial to helping the participants to find employment that suited their situations and needs.

Keywords

• angst
• hikikomori
• ikizurasa
• isolation
• labour force
• Japan
• narrative
• post-industrial society
• precarity
• self-help
• unemployment
• youth