Featuring
Michael Zielenziger
Author and Journalist
Devin T. Stewart
Former Senior Fellow, Senior Program Director, and CNL Staff Adviser, Carnegie Council
Michael Zielenziger discusses Japan's hikikomori, bright young people who opt to live as shut-ins because they don't fit in a society of high conformity and low entrepreneurship.
Author Michael Zielenziger (Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation) discusses the sociology of Japan's hikikomori—bright, creative people in their working years who choose to live as shut-ins because they don't fit in a society of high conformity and low entrepreneurship. He believes that stagnant governance and a values crisis are weakening Japan's competitive position in the world.