Nippon.com | 2014.02.17
... in the shadows of the economic resurgence, a different crisis for Japanese society is steadily getting worse. Growing numbers of people now fall into a category I have labeled “Solitary Non-Employed Person,” or SNEP. The use of this term, which was selected as one of the 50 major buzzwords of 2013, is becoming alarmingly widespread...It refers to a person aged between 20 and 59 who is single, unemployed, and spends the bulk of his or her time either entirely alone or in the company of no one other than family. This description will no doubt remind many readers of the hikikomori...
...the number of SNEPs—for whom even temporary, part-time employment is out of reach—has risen to nearly the same level as that of the freeters.
Leading the World in the Solitary Non-Employed...
...There is little to suggest that the Internet has caused any increase in the SNEP population. People who are isolated tend to lose their interest in society. This makes them less likely to spend time online and use the Internet as a source of information...
...would-be SNEPs are now beginning to play a vital role in supporting the town’s elderly population. Among other things, they provide transportation to enable older people to go shopping. They are also earning a regular income making a special kind of quiche containing maitake mushrooms...more...
La pegatina tokiota que me ha traído Antonio esta vez by Sonia Blanco, on Flickr
