High school students in Japan are far more likely to think working is purely for earning a living than their counterparts in the United States, China and South Korea, a survey showed Thursday.
The share of respondents who said they strongly agree with the idea stood at 68.6% in Japan, compared with 16.3% in the United States, 17.7% in China and 32.4% in South Korea, according to the survey by the National Institution for Youth Education.
Meanwhile, the proportion of Japanese high school students who believe working would be fun stood lowest among the four countries at 18.8%. The figure came to 34.5% in the United States, 26% in China and 29% in South Korea.
Asked whether they want to live a leisurely life if they have enough income, 49.4% of Japanese respondents said they strongly wish to do so, the highest among the four countries. The ratio jumped some 16 percentage points from a similar survey conducted 10 years ago.
Over 80% of Japanese respondents said they have studied about and considered possible future occupations, highest among the four.
Meanwhile, the proportions of Japanese students who took action, such as visiting job sites and engaging in work experience programs and volunteer activities, stood between 7.4% to 16.8%, way lower than those in the other countries.
The survey was carried out between September last year and February this year, covering about 1,800 to 4,800 people each in the four countries.
"I think it's not that Japanese students are passive but that there have been changes in their view of work," said Teppei Aoyama of the institution's Research Center for Youth Education.
"Their view of work, however, is not based on experiences," Aoyama said. "It's important to learn about diverse ways of living through encounters with various people at workplaces and in local communities."