TOKYO AP Nobuyuki Asai had pretty much expected he would get a job offer from Japan's biggest telecommunications company before his high school graduation next spring. Although not a stellar student Asai had reason to be optimistic. In the past every senior at Adachi High who wanted a job had found one by mid-September. The offer never came. Of the nearly 50 Adachi students looking for work this year six are still searching and 10 have given up and decided to go to vocational schools. With Japan's economy wilting a growing legion of disillusioned teen-agers is finding the country's work force has no room for them spawning fears that if things don't improve Japan could soon be paying the price in increased crime and poverty. Unemployment for young Japanese between 15- and 19-years-old is about 10 percent the highest since the government began tracking the figure in 1968 and far above the 4.3 percent rate for the general population. It is better than the United States where the teen jobless rate is about 15 percent. But near zero unemployment has long been one of the pillars of Japan's postwar economic growth and a key to the low crime rates and social stability Japanese have grown accustomed to. ``It's a state of emergency'' said Ryo Mino an official in the Education Ministry. ``We are extremely worried.'' Education officials say a major concern is a growing rootlessness among teens who no longer desire the job security and social standing that are so important to their parents. Many instead float from one part-time job to another. Juvenile crime although low compared to the United States and other Western nations has been rising. The number of juveniles committing murder rape and other serious crimes jumped to 2263 in 1997 up 51 percent from the year before. The number rose an additional 10 percent during the first half of this year. Disillusionment and restlessness are particularly high among teens who aren't on track to get into the best universities. Adachi High a drab gray school on the slummy side of Tokyo where railroad tracks crisscross a muddy river sends few of its graduates to the top four-year colleges. Instead most of the students typical teens with a weakness for baggy jeans and karaoke parties end up in less prestigious colleges or trade schools. But not until this year did the possibility of being left out in the cold become a reality. Job offers for prospective high school graduates in the district plummeted 35 percent. The drop was especially drastic in the ailing financial sector where offers fell from 52 to just nine. With the recession worsening salesclerk jobs that previously went to high school graduates are being snatched up by those with university and junior college degrees. Such economic changes are hard for today's youth to grasp. ``These kids grew up in affluence'' said Kokichi Arai a guidance counselor at Adachi High. ``Their parents gave them money and lots of material things. They think jobs are easy to come by.'' Kazuyuki Kageyama of the unemployment office for the Adachi district said youngsters are starting to simply give up. Over the last three years seniors in the Adachi district with no interest in either going to college or finding full-time employment have more than doubled. Most of them end up with part-time jobs. ``Fortunately there are still lots of part-time jobs for these kids'' Kageyama said. ``But I fear what the future holds could be dangerous.'' Asai a cheerful 17-year-old who plays the tuba for his award-winning high school band had once hoped to go to college. But when his father's demolition business failed several years ago a casualty of the recession Asai realized he'd have to let that dream go. Then the hoped-for telecommunications job didn't materialize. Finally his guidance counselor found Asai a spot at a small computer firm run by an Adachi graduate. ``It was like there was no chance for us from the beginning'' Asai said. ``Having just a high school degree was a big drawback.'' APW19981201.0484.txt.body.html APW19981201.1338.txt.body.html