Shuhei Takebe graduated from a prestigious university in Japan. It qualified him to become a day laborer.

After three years of part-time work at rock concerts and baseball games, Takebe, 25, is attending a job training program in an attempt to land full-time employment. He's fallen on the wrong side of a growing schism in Japan: Those with a traditional job-for-life, with health care, pension and regular promotions; and those in temporary or contract work with no benefits or job security.

"I've been going nowhere after college," Takebe said. "I want to do something, but it's hard to figure out how."