An Underclass Returns -- and With it, What?
Sunday, August 27, 2006 Posted: 02:27 PM JST
"All indications are that Japan is reverting to prewar norms," Writes Roger Pulvers in a Special to The Japan Times. "I am not referring solely to the new nationalism, bolstered by Japan's increasingly aggressive military stances, but rather to the notion of social equality -- or inequality -- that is being created for its citizens today."
Pulver compares Japan's "lost decade" -- "a decade that is now pushing 20" -- with an earlier period in Japanese history: "Japanese society is heading for a precarious roller coaster ride, just as it experienced in the 1930s. And comparing that era with our own presents some eerie similarities."
Keywords: opinion_item
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