TOKYO -- On a chilly January afternoon in Yokohama, a 25-year-old IT company employee said what much of Japan is thinking: "I'm not expecting my salary and the economy to improve much."
The man has only been in his job for a year, following graduate school. But any excitement he might have felt about this new beginning is overshadowed by fears for the future. How, he wonders, will he cover the expenses that inevitably come with marriage, children and looking after aging parents?