ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how the women experienced the transition from university to work and how their adult lives unfolded. As Brinton explains, this generation is indeed best viewed as 'lost' in the sense of being sandwiched between cohorts who came of age during prosperity and those who will come of age in a moderately restored Japanese economy where many employers will pass over the thirty-somethings who could not gain a toehold in the labor market when they should have. Kishimoto Yoshie was 37 when author first met her. She was modest despite her elite position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kishimoto-san looked me straight in the eyes while talking to author and her friendliness was unpretentious, unlike that of some of the other women whom author had met in the Japanese government. Kishimoto-san attended public co-educational schools until she graduated from high school. Kishimoto-san attended a public university and graduated with a degree in English literature.
