Japanese youths refuse to grow up

The annual coming-of-age ceremony in Japan was once a solemn rite of passage, but today's events will highlight a growing generation gap between adults who were brought up to cherish hard work and self-sacrifice and youths who are increasingly taking refuge in escapism and refusing to grow up.

To the horror of middle-aged Japanese, youths in Urayasu, a city just outside Tokyo, have chosen Disneyland as the gateway for their entrance into grown-up society.

Instead of listening to advice from their elders in town halls - the usual form on such occasions - thousands of youths will take dancng lessons from Mickey and Minnie Mouse next to Cinderella's palace. The drastic departure from tradition is one of many changes being introduced countrywide to prevent a recurrence of the disruption that marred last year's ceremonies.

Coming of Age day, on the second Monday in January, is a national holiday when society welcomes those who will turn 20 - the age at which it becomes legal to vote, smoke and drink alcohol. Hundreds of thousands of young women step out in silk kimonos and white fur stoles, while men dress in the sober suits of the salarymen they might once have hoped to become.

They are usually invited to a celebration at their local town hall, where politicians and other community elders lecture them on the responsibilities they face.

There has always been fidgeting at such ceremonies as the new adults anticipate the legal drinking they will indulge in after the speeches. But in recent years, the impatience has got out of hand.

First there was chattering on mobile phones and drinking during the speeches. Then last year, several ceremonies were disrupted by firecrackers, toy guns and drunken heckling.

At least one mayor stormed out, police were called and newspaper editorials warned of the "coming-of-age rampage", although only a small minority of the 1.5m participants were involved in such disruptions.

"Deference to superiors has been the foundation of society. To see basic manners break down is frightening," said Yuko Kawanashi, a sociologist at Temple University in Tokyo.

In recent years, the media have focused on a breakdown of classroom discipline, teenage murders, social withdrawal by youths and the growing number of drifters, who jump from part-time job to part-time job.

The fear has been heightened by demographic trends. With a birthrate of just 1.36 children per woman and an average life expectancy of about 80, Japan has the fastest ageing society in the world. As a result, today's youths face a far heavier pension and wel fare burden than their predecessors, but there is little sign that they are interested in bearing it.

Although Confucian values encourage them to wait for rewards in later life, the bleak economic outlook gives little reason to be patient. Instead they are increasingly opting for instant gratification. Independence, marriage and childbirth are put off longer and longer. More than 10m between the age of 20 and 34 live with their parents.

The response to the problems at coming-of-age ceremonies has largely been to give young people more of what they want.

In Kofu, one town has introduced a karaoke competition with a top prize of a £500 air ticket. Machida, in western Tokyo, has replaced the ceremony with a rock concert and athletics competition.

However, Urayasu, a Japanese Milton Keynes, has gone the furthest in allowing a local youth organisation to decide where they wanted to stage their entrance into adulthood.

"We never imagined they would pick Disneyland," an official said. "But they don't seem to think it is strange."

Youths in other areas expressed envy rather than surprise. "I wish we could have our ceremony at Disneyland, but for us it will be the usual speeches," said Kazuyuki Irie. "There'll be people out to make trouble. I think it'll be chaos."