B

The first baby boom occurred in the early postwar period. With the return of Japanese soldiers from the battlefields and colonies created by the Asia—Pacific War, a great many Japanese couples had children. In the three years from 1947 to 1949, between 2,600,000 and 2,700,000 babies were born. Known as 'baby boomers' (dankai no sedai), these people came of age in the 1960s, when many of them showed interest in politics and economics through student movements and antiwar protests. This generation also began their working careers in an era of high economic growth. The Japanese middle class was expanding during a period when lifetime employment was common.