The government announced a plan in June to find 300,000 permanent jobs for those who got stuck in the prolonged "employment ice age" that was triggered by the collapse of the bubble economy in the 1990s, but critics are skeptical about how effective it will be and are urging a revamp.

The plight of the ice age generation mainly stems from Japan's practice of hiring new university graduates en masse, labor experts say. The unique system has long served as the backbone of Japan's traditional lifetime employment system and seniority-based wage hikes.

When the bubble economy imploded, leading to Japan's "lost decade," the chances of landing a such a job fell greatly. The malaise led to a significant rise in unemployment from the early 1990s through the early 2000s. The people in this age bracket, also dubbed the "lost generation," have since been working part-time or as contract workers. Their incomes are typically low, making it difficult to marry and have children.