Killing the Youth, Battle Royale and the Politics of Generational Warfare

Indianapolis, IN

The 90’s were a disheartening time for many Japanese. Their Bubble Economy, which was at its peak in the 1980’s, burst in 1990. The idea of the nuclear family deflated, people were unable to find stable work, and anxiety seeped into the nation, resulting in a sharp rise in suicide rates. In 1995 alone, Japan saw the Hanshin earthquake, the Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack, and bank closures. The public feared societal collapse and scrambled to find reasons behind their misfortunes. Those who came of age in the 1990s became known as the “Lost Generation,” and the term gakkyu hokai (classroom collapse) became popularized as Japan's youth became their country's scapegoat. Koushun Takami's novel, Battle Royale, published in 1999, issues a warning against society's blame game and seeks to humanize Japanese youth. It is society who turns the youth into "demons", pitting children against one another to fight to the death. Loyalty and community amongst students, Japan's treasured values, are penalized and ultimately futile, as they are forced to murder friends and acquaintances. It is not the youth at fault, but the militaristic government and society itself, refusing to understand and help them. Instead of reflecting on themselves and figuring out how to better structure their government, they punish their children, creating the delinquent monsters they feared in the first place. Takami allegorically argues that contemporary Japanese society is systematically abusing its children.