More than two decades ago — just as Japan was impressing the world by emerging from the first oil crisis with a leaner economy — Taichi Sakaiya, now head of the Economic Planning Agency, warned in a novel that the nation would face a midlife crisis before the turn of the century.

As he predicted in his 1976 best seller "Dankai no Sedai" ("The Baby Boom Generation"), the economy now seems to have reached a turning point. With its long-cherished lifetime employment system on the verge of collapse, the nation's rapidly aging society now faces an unprecedented level of joblessness.

Confidence is eroding, particularly among baby boomers and other middle-aged people. Untroubled by the slightest possibility of layoffs, they both supported and enjoyed the nation's postwar economic growth. But pundits say lifetime employment is becoming obsolete.