As potential carriers of the coronavirus, young people have been asked during the pandemic to change their lifestyles not just for their own well-being, but for that of all members of society.

For that reason they carry a hefty responsibility — but perhaps they shoulder a disproportionate share of the blame as well.

Recent surveys and news coverage in Japan have cast young people as brazen wrongdoers, some argue, which is distracting the public from more pressing issues such as the country’s haphazard attempts to contain the virus or its sluggish vaccine rollout.