All indications are that Japan is reverting to prewar norms. I am not referring solely to the new nationalism, bolstered by Japan's increasingly aggressive military stances, but rather to the notion of social equality -- or inequality -- that is being created for its citizens today.
When the growth bubble burst in the early 1990s, many firms began to abandon their policy of "permanent employment." Middle-aged executives were offered early retirement; and, in an era of revolutionary technological change, many who took it found it difficult to secure meaningful employment afterward. Among those were people lumbered with huge mortgages, which in some cases exceeded the value of their properties. The suicide rate among this group rose significantly and still remains high.
Whereas in the 1980s school leavers were in the enviable position of being able to pick and choose stable jobs from eager employers, when the bubble burst the tables turned. Increasingly since then, the trend has been for employers to hire nonpermanent staff who could easily be laid off and rehired as business conditions warranted.