the "lost two decades" that followed the bursting of the speculation- and asset inflation-driven "bubble economy" in the early 1990s,

the "lost two decades" that followed the bursting of the speculation- and asset inflation-driven "bubble economy" in the early 1990s, and had a hard time finding jobs in the "employment ice age" that came with the stagnant economy. The interviewees complained that living in modern Japanese society is tough.