No, people should stop using Twitter and Tiktok to spout ignorant, hateful, toxic comments. If people stopped using Twitter and Tiktok altogether, they would just find other venues to spout their non-sense, like Instagram's Thread for example. Human ugliness will find a way.
Including Dogen, possibly. Japanese Twitter has been very toxic in the past year or two, to the point it's really hard to use. Angry viral tweets with the intention of making other people angry have been very amplified there lately, including anti-foreigner rhetoric. The Japanese comments so far on this video don't have the same tone. It kind of feels like Dogen's treating Japanese Twitter as a stand-in for Japan instead of realizing it's just some silly website that runs entirely on outrage nowadays.
If you ask me, the work ethic you praise Japan for, is what's killing their birthrate. After working 60 hours a week (That's 5, 12-hour days btw or 6, 10's) with extended hours from kissing your bosses butt by going to bars with him AFTER work, who wants to then go home and also deal with the challenges of a relationship AND raising a child..? Very few.. and those who do would not be able to have a proper relationship with their partner or child under such conditions either. Hard work IS to be commended, but it's literally to the point of hurting them. It's a societal mindset that's aging Japan, not just the yen or economy. Also: "We got a lot of cool stuff out of it, so it's ok if someone _misses the birth of their child._ " is exactly what I'm talking about. Literally Work > Family.
tbh as a software developer I never understood why games have to be released with a very strict deadline to the point that people miss their child's birth. It's a game, not a critical piece of software. Nowadays many games release with a lot of bugs and missing features just because they have to be released on an imaginary schedule which was selected almost arbitrarily.
My stance is kinda in the middle the hardwork is good but the Japanese are just going too far. The frequent after working drinking and work inefficiency are the main issues imo. Sacrificing for work isn't necessarily bad but I'd wish the sacrifices produce high return which isn't always the case
There's also the practice of sending people, without their families if they have one, across the country "for the company." How can you form a relationship or have children when you're at the mercy of some corporation's decision to relocate you on a whim with the threat of never again getting a promotion?
I disagree. The work ethic of the Japanese has been like this for centuries. However, the birth rate is a relatively recent, modern problem, one that most western countries share. The difference is the stance on immigration. Germany is the perfect example in contrast to Japan. A very similar trend in terms of birth rate is present, but the country is constantly flooded with immigrants. This is the only reason the population isn't in the same kind of decline as Japans. However this brings heaps of problems, due to the uncontrolled nature of the immigration. Where as Japan is stagnating, Germany is in state of steady decline. It is their work ethic that keeps Japan from the same decline. The Japanese needed a solution like 25 years ago to their demographic problem. Controlled immigration, only allowing people in, those who are willing and able to integrate into the culture (and the work ethic as part of it). And at the same time, introducing programs that would make raising children less of a burden. Former socialist countries in Europe, don't have the same kind of population decline, or at least they didn't had them, till the 1990s. And yet one can argue, that in those countries similar work ethics were promoted as the one in Japan. If you know what Stakhanovism is, you should know what I am talking about. And at the same time having only one child or none at all, was quite rare. The average was 2-3, keeping the population steady. So again, the work ethics are not necessarily the issue here. I am no expert on Japanese culture by any means, but knowing how different dating and marriage are than in the west, that would be my first guess to start evaluating the root cause of the problem. In Japan it is still customary for the wife to become a full time housewife after marriage. Knowing this, one needs to examine Salaries, living expenses etc. The likely reason is, that on an average Salary of a Husband it is simply impossible to support a large family. If this is the case, then again providing proper child support, or raising wages would be a valid solution. But as with any social issue, there are likely a bunch of different reasons, that need to be tackled. And yes, the work ethics are likely part of it, not making the issue any better, but also not the main or the sole cause.
I would argue that this "Japanese spirit" that created FF7 also played a role in the decreasing birth rate. Ain't much time for marriage, family or dating if you are working 100+ hours a week
This Japanese spirit existed for centuries and did not in fact play any role in decreasing the birth rate. In fact Japanese people used to work more in the older days when the population was rising than now. The reasons explained in the video are actually quite accurate.
@@jonasw3945 "The Japanese spirit!” the Japanese shouted, while coughing like someone infected with tuberculosis... “The Japanese spirit!” say the journalists. “The Japanese spirit!” say the pickpockets. The Japanese spirit has crossed the ocean in a single bound. In England, lectures are given on the Japanese spirit. In Germany, they stage dramatic spectacles on the Japanese spirit... Admiral Togo possesses the Japanese spirit and the local fishmonger has it as well. Swindlers, mountebanks and murderers also have the Japanese spirit... Now if you ask, “Well, what exactly is this Japanese spirit?”, they say in reply “Why it's the Japanese spirit of course!”, and walk on. Then, after they've gone five or six paces, one can hear them clearing their throats with an hrrumph... Is the Japanese spirit triangular, or is it quadrangular? As the name indicates, the Japanese spirit is a spirit. And since it is a spirit it is always blurry and fuzzy. There's no one in Japan who hasn't had it on the tip of his tongue, but there's no one who has actually seen it. Everyone has heard about it but no one has yet encountered it. Is it, perhaps, a kind of that long-nosed braggadocio, the goblin? - Natsume Soseki
Hi, I’m a Japanese who lives in France. So I’m in the opposite situation i guess. Unfortunately, here is the person who said to me “japan is a fucking racist country, go home”, ” nationalist”, “your country is extreme right ”or “ i would like to go to japan but there is a GAIZIN problems. Japanese is mean”. I wondered why they say this (and why to me?). Then they told me that they watched interviews from youtube and TikTok . They said that Japanese doesn’t sit next to foreigner, but here in France, the same thing happens!!! In Tokyo, for example Yamanote-line, there is a lot of Japanese who sit next to foreigners! In addition, i totally don’t care if French doesn’t sit next to me. That is their decision!!! I know that foreigner’s life is hard in japan, yes there is a problem, but me too, In France too!!! Japan is a country, not an amusement park. There is a traditional, historical, and cultural context. This is not only japan, but all around the world. Im so sad that not all but a lot of person doesn’t think like me.
I know it's an easy thing for me to say, but don't take it too personally. They are blinded by social media, as you yourself noticed. Like many other people are. They probably haven't even been to Japan. They don't know anything. And France also has serious problems with racism and overly nationalistic sentiments and politics. Every country has its own problems. Just know that there are foreigners who have been to Japan and know how it actually is over there.
I do. Just to confirm your experiences, I have been observing the same thing in Germany, too. For context, originally from Iran, I lived in Malaysia for 6 years and 7 years in Germany. The amount of hypocricy here in Europe is astounding and unfortunately, most of the time when I say something positive about Japan, some people here are quick to respond with something strange about Japan. Like the last one was: "Have you seen their electrical cables through streets? All seem so dangerous..", then I have to educate them about earthquakes, typhoons, etc. Every country has a unique culture (and subculture in each region) and every foreigner will have different experience in each country. I know someone that followed the same path as me, even same university in Kuala Lumpuer, he loves Germany and I don't. Yeah social media has definitely polarizied peoples' view of Japan. But once they visit, they usually say I wish I could stay there a bit longer, or I will visit next year! (also, I like what you said "Japan is a country, not an amusement park.", that's definitely one of the common views of Japan 😬)
Hi i'm french and one time i sat in the Yamanote-line and an old japanese lady sitting next to the place i sat on stood up and sat somewhere else in the car, maybe she saw i was with a friend and gave him a seat or just ran away for some reason, i will never know lol But in france i would not care who sit next to me in the train or metro as long as they dont bother me I know some people that might say japan is racist and all, but i thought it was only a small amount of people saying that In my experience some are distant from "gaijin" but not fundamentally racist, some don't care, some enjoy having strangers passing by, and more, it's a whole mix, no one can say a whole country is racist, that's weird lol I saw a few movies, dramas, and tv shows, and i'm happily surprised that there's a lot more strangers and metis (ハーフ）than in the past, same inside shops and konbinis I always thought that japanese people would not particularly have a "stranger" problem in france, i'm surprised !
I've been to Japan once, and my experience with Japanese was that they are very kind people and eager to help. Like, a man in Nagasaki helped me get on the right bus, which sounds awfully simple, but the catch was that he walked me to the nearest bus station, talked to station workers on my behalf, and then patiently explained everything to me, all while carrying grocery bags. Obviously, things differ from person to person, but I've been lucky to not encounter any animosity.
Please try not to take these things that happen to all foreigners in all countries too close to your heart. People who are unreasonable and judgemental towards you are petty and ignorant. There is no doubt you are a wonderful person and you are not what others may be telling you they think you are. Hope that you have close friends already (if not, please 頑張ってね！In the end, you need to stay in touch with those people who value you, care about you and love you truly.
As a student here in Japan I agree with most of this however the viral video of the man dancing in the street is for sure not because he doesn't understand Japanese culture, but because he understands it on a very basic level. If you start breakdancing blocking someone's way back in an American city you will at least be yelled at by someone he blocks, if not getting in an actual fight. But here in Japan he knows that unless a police officer is nearby people will just try to ignore him, and he can get the clout he's here for from angry foreigners and Japanese people who now are on twitter that he strives for, its very different than say talking on the train or walking down the wrong way of the street, the difference between exploitation and ignorance of culture. Of course with my limited exposure here in the last few months and the few years of research I did before coming I think another reason why the birth rate is going down aside from money, which is the more pressing and immediate issue, is that a lot of people also don't have the time to raise children, not just because of the work culture but more that they also need to work more to afford living in these times as well, it doesn't leave much time for healthy social and romantic lives with free time let alone having a child. Though for sure foreigners have a lot of work to do, I just hope this recent trend of mostly Kick streamers coming here to cause big issues dies down more.
There's a reason Johnny Somali pulled at that trolling off in Japan and not in the US. He wouldve been tazed and the spent the weekend in jail if he did.
Ah. So the dancing gaijin is a manipulative bastard with no-good intentions, yes? I sure hope there won't be more gaijins like him in Japan, bent on disrupting the peace for their own clout.
As someone working in games, I found your view of the games industry example extremely ignorant, I don't mean this "meanly". The industry is known worldwide to be dominated by a crunch culture of long hours, by virtue of being a "passion job". What makes japanese games and media so good then? Many things, but I can just quote Nintendo when the bosses lowered their salaries so they didn't have to fire anyone because "the fear of losing your job kills creativity". Meanwhile those bickering twitter game devs you talk about are fighting for better conditions and unions in an industry known to be highly unstable and dominated by crappy executive decisions driven by poor but popular investment choices (which are the origin of most crappy AAA games). There's also the factor of Japan basically being the origin of game dev and having an animation industry since forever. Still I do believe there's something unique about them and of all things... it's not work culture. I would much more likely attribute this to a culture of community values and an excellent artistic and visual culture (check how good most highschoolers draw over there). I blame current issues on rampant individualism from unfettered capitalism more than anything else, but I don't know enough about japan to be able to tell.
He says all of that while over in the anime industry theres animators who can't even complain about their horrible working codition on twitter (If they do complain they have to delete it)
Japan is far more collectivist in culture than individualist, this is demonstrated by their emphasis on hierarchy, countless idioms about not sticking out from the crowd (very contrary to the west) and psychometric data we have on the country.
@@Dogen How nuanced do you have to be to realize that work culture in Japan is utterly fucked? Or literally that potentially missing the birth of your child to meet a work deadline just...isn't something to admire?
Honestly treating Japanese people as if they are all the same is fundamentally wrong. Ofc, in Japan I met some Japanese people who would bump into me with so much strength and not apologise or react or ones that would just step on my foot and just go about their day but I also managed to meet some nice old store owners who happily explained to me some things about Japanese culture, we had good talks about calligraphy and I managed to meet all the employees in bic camera trying to find a product I was searching for. There is bad and good people everywhere.
Obviously all Japanese aren't the same, and if I go by my own personal experiences I had nothing but good experiences going there. But that doesn't mean there aren't issues, many of which might not be easy to see unless you actually move there. Things like the discrimination within the housing market where most landlords just don't rent to foreigners at all... While I was in Japan I also saw stuff like izakayas with a "no foreigners" sign on the door and news broadcasts basically telling the typical story of how foreigners are so bad and litter and all this. Yet when I was taking the cramped busses of Kyoto I saw both local Japanese as well as foreign tourists who failed to move deeper into the bus to make space for more passengers and instead just crowded the entrance. Despite the bus driver telling us to make space. Even in cities where I hardly saw any tourists I'd also see littering as well. So it does kinda feel like foreigners are often used as the scapegoats to explain away anything bad. Something which I can only imagine just further fuels any sort of xenophobia that may exist. Alot of what is pinned as xenophobia, I believe to also be largely just about a language barrier. I think many Japanese might not want to serve foreigners because they don't feel comfortable communicating with them. So what might come across as discrimination or what is discrimination might not always be based in any sort of hatred or disdain for a certain group. So while I didn't have any especially bad experiences in Japan, I don't want to pretend there aren't problems.
We need a Dogen PM for Japan. 昔から道元さんの動画を見させていたただき、素晴らしいユーモアと日本語力にいつも刺激を受けています。 しかし（残念ながら？）今回の動画は最も刺激的でした。 日本にお邪魔して13年間が立つのですが、こちらの動画をみて感じたことは一言でいうと「初心忘るべからず」でした。 大事なことを思い出させてくれまして有難う御座います。そして、いつも素敵な動画ありがとうございます。 Part of me feels like you should upload more videos like this, but more than that, I hope there will be no such need.
Gee, that work ethic is so amazing that for some reason people aren't having children... It's kind of hard to make the next generation when companies are sending their businessmen across the country and away from their wives, if they even have the chance to find one! There needs to be a work-life balance for people or there won't BE people. You don't need all-nighters or to miss the birth of your child to make a good product. As a game developer, I believe that the reason so many AAA studios release mediocre (or worse) games is because of corporate greed and a narrow outlook on quarterly returns. Indie developers can make fantastic games in a fraction of the time and with an infinitely smaller budget than AAA studios. Why? Passion. Because they have to -- there's no massive financial backdrop to save them from failure while at the same time they don't have a big name to get people to buy their game if it sucks.
may I ask, as a game dev, do you understand why games have to be released at such a fixed schedule? I mean they are not critical piece of software, nobody dies if a game gets released 6 months later and nowadays many games release with a lot of bugs and cut/missing content. As a gamer I'd much prefer a game to be good and bug free than having it a few months earlier. To me those deadlines feel very arbitrary.
That work ethic existed since forever and people did in fact have kids, working long hours doesn't prevent you from having kids and the 60s, 70s and 80s generation of Japanese people are a proof of that
@@ArchangelAurora every month of development is money. Also, game release dates are planned to correspond with holiday and not overlap with big releases. Wrong release time can really bring sales down
Dogen-san, I thought you would say at a certain point that this "resolve" was part of the problem. You even referenced game development, an industry where "crunching" is expected and a widely known issue. Overworking yourself to death, having no work-life balance, having no place in society without a job... Is this the Japanese spirit? I would for sure not want to have children in this situation. I would prefer my father to support my mother, who was in labor, at the moment I was born. A product, a delivery, can be changed and matters only financially, but a son (and his mother!) would forever remember father wasn't there.
Immigration is not the answer. Its just kicking the can down the road. Almost every major world economy is experiencing birthrate decline. There needs to be deep fundamental issues resolved before seeing birthrates increase. From work culture to cost of living.
If your population is expanding too fast (e.g. India) then birth rate decline is a good thing. World population is increasing and will until we destroy ourselves with climate change or nuclear hellfire. Until then, if we distributed that increase across the world, nowhere would have to deal with over or under population.
THanks for making this video. I live in Japan and as I see more and more stupidity coming from the internet with regard to "the way Japan is" and the way I see tourists acting, I start to get afraid that people like me who love living here and try my best to do right by the community will start to be looked at negatively even if we have been trying our best all along. I love Japan. I want to make it my home. I want to raise a family here and I want them to grow up and learn all the wonderful things Japan has to offer socially and culturally. I hope that won't become difficult in the future.
The fact of the matter though is immigration will absolutely lead to these events, it does not matter how stringent the standards are. It must be accepted that immigration means, by definition, violation of societal norms and potential for disruption. I am frankly getting tired of people pretending the issue is not real. If it means Japan must do it to avoid oblivion, rather than relax their burdensome economic attitude, then Japan will simply not be Japan anymore, but another globalist economic hub. If thats what Japan wants that is fine. That is not what I want for my country.
Apologies for responding in English, I don't speak Japanese well and am relying on Google's translation of your comments. I very much agree with something I saw in the translation: "The best countermeasure I can think of is to spread the idea among Japanese people that it is a mistake to lump all foreigners togrether." Again, apologies if the translation missed the spirit of what you are saying, but, I find myself agreeing with this sentiment very strongly and just wanted you to know. I encourage people I know (in America) to try to view Japanese in the same way. Not as a homogenous group, but as a country of people with varying opinions and interests. I think it's the best way to view all people, Japanese, American or otherwise. Again, apologies if the translation was incorrect and if my response lacks nuance as a result. I just wanted to say that I agree with what I read and do my best to do the same from my side as well.
its a linguistic problem because east asian countries use the word 'gaijin' or it's cognates or 'falang'/barang in thailand/cambodia. This produces and insular culture.
The thing is those multiple all nighters cause more issues that need to be fixed then if they stuck to a regular schedule. Most knowledge workers have 6 hours of actual work in them each day, and then you VERY quickly go into negative productivity and the amount of time it takes to recover and get back to normal is 2-3x more than it took to get into the situation.
We love Japan. I want Japan to be better. I love how Japan has supported and held onto traditional arts and crafts. But how is anyone supposed to have time for kids if they’re working 100 hour weeks? The other problem is the lack of political will among the youth. They have every reason to be disillusioned, but change only comes when you vote, even if it’s for the anti-NHK party!
Great video, wish everyone sees it. Maybe you can answer this in another video - to combat the falling birthrate, why does working hard to do something meaningful always mean working 6 days a week for 12+ hours a day? Why couldn't it mean be more productive 4 days a week and have the extra time to work on having kids to solve the birthrate issue?
Because Japan has a problem with adapting and evolving. “If I did it, you can too.” That’s how the old bosses feel. New ideas and merit isn’t rewarded, seniority is. They’re stuck trying to repeat what they were doing in the 80s and hoping it’ll work. Any change is muzukashii.
Me and my sister were watching "Luca" in Japanese and in one scene, a character said "Holy carp" and it was translated as an ordinary interjection in Japanese. I told my sister, "Can you imagine using this movie to learn English and thinking, 'Holy carp...' so _that's_ how you say なんてこった, not realizing that it's a _fake_ swear word?" "Um, dude, that's one of our _fish_ swears, not a _real_ one. Yeah, we also have _alien_ swears and _family-friendly_ swears. And get this, some people get offended by the fake swear words and won't let their children say them, even though they're not real." English is a weird language.😂
Every language actually spoken by humans is "weird", but English does have some special weirdness to it at times. That said, of course cursing isn't going to translate well from any language to any other language. Nor will puns. (Although maybe they could have used e.g. 串 to allude to くそ? But Japanese bowdlerization just doesn't work the same way, I think.)
I do not live in Japan but spend a significant amount of time there through work. Anecdotally, in Shibuya/Central Kyoto there seems to be a significant rise in social media influencer presence conducting public-nuisance 'skits' among American (tourists?) nationals which won't help the image of foreign presence within Japan. On top of that, I feel like some cultures, mainly (again) American *can* be loud and boisterous which contrasts the reserved domestic nature.
I's funny that there are americans worrying about immigrants in japan, implying that those are arab immigrants or what not. While in actuality most mishaps are from americans. Maybe japan need to introduce visa for americans, because they are too relaxed. Majority of countries have visa-free pass for americans, maybe they need to learn what paperwork is and taste some immigration policies from the receiving side
@@alexkozliayev9902 Where did he say Arab immigrants? But yeah I agree, Americans are the worst tourists, even worse than the Chinese which is saying something
Regarding the point at 2:33, I've been reading a lot of manga lately. And they often feature afterwords by the various mangaka. And It's astounding how many of them mention that their child was born and that they were either lucky to have been present at the birth or express light regret of missing it due to work. In general, it's interesting to read about their personal lives and thoughts in these short snippets. And it really is worrying how often they write about these all-nighters, long work hours and especially health issues. It really is representable for the "Japanese Spirit". On the one hand, it's admirable. On the other, it's just... sad.
I'm very happy you made this video. In the recent few years I have noticed a huge rise in open racism against Japan online. People saying things like "all Japanese are racist, Japanese aren't kind they are polite, Japanese people are all fake". And it's not the loud minority. I see comments like those with tens of thousands of likes, over countless videos insulting Japan and it's people. All because people might have had one negative experience and now throw everyone in the same pot. It's frustrating as an outsider looking in so I can't imagine how insulting and painful it must be for Japanese people to read and hear comments like that.
There has been a leftist push to trash Japan because the left REALLY hates Japan as they see them as white Asians basically. Japan has done fairly well at holding off leftist influence and the left really hates this.
As a person who is emgrant in JP - I mean, the problem is not "letting in more people" because emigration laws are already pretty relaxed compared to most of first world countries(speaking as ukrainian, and i have some experience and understanding of how different emigration systems work in europe, us and canada), esp in terms of getting PR(HSP point system) and citizenship(besides revoking your old one, it's much easier, than getting euro citizenships, for example). The problem is being attractive to emigrants because salaries are lower than those in other first world countries(can speak for my field as software dev - 6-8 mln jpy is not that much), I'm not gonna talk cliche bs stamps like "but u have to learn japanese!!!!", you have to learn english to migrate to US, for example, and for most of fellow second and third worlders it's just as hard as learning japanese(can speak as a person who's native language is slavic. Nihongo was probably easier to learn for me than english, because of phonetic interlap and simple grammar), "people are not welcoming!!!!"(no, they are, especially in western Japan), "but muh work culture!!!!"(relax, work culture here is worse than europe, but much much better than anything existing in us where your purpose is to work 24/7 to pay half of your salary into rent and then being laid off with zero social safety nets), because they're stamps, but there are issues with attracting people due to very sad state of economy
From my understanding, if you live in a city you can essentially get anywhere you want without a car at all. Between lower rent (compared to US cities) and no car, getting paid less isn't as big of an issue as it seems. It's definitely a huge difference for tech jobs though, especially compared to developer jobs in the US.
hell yeah! Japanese people are THE BEST! I frequently hear especially from foreigners that "Oh, japanese are so XYZ" and everytime I feel cringe because, like yeah-yeah, Japanese people are hard-working, oh what a bad thing it is! Or, oh Japanese people are too serious? Yes exactly. Because they care about their and everyone else's wellbeing. Of course there is cultural differences, but like, we are foreigners. We are "guests" here, unlike the locals. It's their country. Sadly, people from Europe and especially from the US sometimes behave as if everyone must accept them and their type of behaviour, which can't be further from the truth. Japanese people do not have to accept any bs from foreigners. It's JAPAN, not Europe or US or anything else. Sure Japan has its own issues, but I feel as the Dogen and you had mentioned, foreigners should remember that they are in a different country, and things are different here. So personally I try to integrate myself as much as possible and behave in a respectful way. Japanese people helped A LOT especially Ukrainians. They are very, very kind and advanced as a nation in many ways. That's why everyone wants to visit Japan, not Europe or the US or other countries. Japan is the dream for lots and lots of people. Because unlike others, Japanese respect THEMSELVES first and do their best for THEIR country. No wonder Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world with 98% population being natives. More foreigners does not equal a better society, unless those foreigners LEARN THE LANGUAGE, INTEGRATE AND FOLLOW THE JAPANESE CUSTOMS 😊
Japanese salaries are lower, but it also costs less to live in Japan than it does in the US, and yeah its great not being able to rely on cars to get anywhere or do just about anything. Oh and Japan's healthcare is pretty solid.
@@MCNeko6554 Just so to say - the world is not only limited to US, and Europe is just as not car-dependent as Japan, with low cost of living, social programs, but the salaries in tech(and the market size itself is much much better)
Working long hours isn't the same as working effective hours. You need rest to perform well, especially if it is complex or creative work. And who wants to have a family of you live only for working.
The Japanese work ethic is praiseworthy, but after the FF7 example I cannot but ask myself, what is more worth: finishing your work on a videogame or being there for your wife and witness the birth of your child?
I love it here in Japan, it is why I moved here. And just for the record, my overwhelming experience has been people being helpful, welcoming, and patient with me. But are you seriously saying the foreigners who are getting treated with hostility are to blame for the hostility, because they dared to complain about it online? Dude, I am 100% certain that the round the clock news stories about tourists behaving badly have a lot more to do with anti-foreigner sentiment, than some random person complaining on Twitter. I mean come on man, you don't have to look very hard to find Japanese people pulling pranks and dancing in busy intersections for social media attention. I've seen it several times with my own eyes, especially in Shibuya. That doesn't make the national news as a story about Japanese people causing inconvenience and acting badly. But make it a foreigner, and especially a westerner or African, and it will be the top story on NHK tonight. I get that you are trying to be "one of the good ones" who doesn't cause problems, but as someone who grew up in one of the most multicultural cities on Earth, I've had a lifetime to see what does and doesn't work, and I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, this "love it or leave it, my way or the highway, if you don't like like it go back to where you came from" attitude does not work in the long run. It creates exactly the resentment and lack of assimilation you are trying to avoid. Even according to Japan's own politicians, Japan is not in a position where they can afford to just close themselves off from the rest of the world. So just like every other country on Earth, they are going to have to figure out some way to make immigration work for their society. It is a global economy, and the days where any nation can just choose to not participate outside their own borders are long gone. The only pathway forward that actually works in this globalized world, is mutual respect of the advantages of different cultures, a willingness by both parties to learn and accommodate some differences, and a cross cultural understanding that is very different from the "in Japan the Japanese are always right, and if you think otherwise, then you are the problem" attitude you are promoting. That kind of attitude is always going to lead to people who feel second-class, and end up creating insular ethnic communities that fail to assimilate.
I agree wholeheartedly. I wasn't even aware of the breakdancing foreigner issue, but hearing about it here in this video made me go "huh? One of my Japanese dancer friends just posted a video of herself doing the exact same thing, though??" I also just think that the overall argument/video was not structured properly...
Yo, thanks for the comment-a lot of truth in what you said. Wasn't trying to say that foreigners who get treated with hostility are to blame for it, or that Japanese people are always right; the line towards the end about 'thinking before you act' (永遠に我慢しろとは言っていない。日本人だって我慢しているのを思い出した上で冷静に行動してください）was meant to communicate, 'Yes it's OK to criticize the negative parts about Japan, but please do so in a logical manner, rather lashing out at Japanese people as a whole', but the wording definitely could have been better, particularly the translation.
Failure to assimilate is happening in the so called multicultured west, certain demographics are overwhelmingly criminal in behabviour and hostile to the host culture. Japan will be fine. NZ is about the same size but has under 6 million people, They are not poor nor dying. Multiculturalism has failed and is a flawed concept. Japan hould be strict with foreigners, not allow citizenship and have the option to deport anyone they want to.
That's how passion in small studios becomes ingrained as crunch culture when they become bigger corporations even in individualist cultures like America. With a more collectivist culture like Japan it means that mindset is just even more pronounced, - but in Japan the foundation isn't just from personal passion. It also comes from a cultural background where everyone CAN expect that from everyone else because it's an island nation with a disproportionate amount of natural disasters, so that type of collective community bond has always been critical to everyone's well-being for its whole history. That's what makes it especially difficult to see where that perseverance can't solve the issue with things like the aging population and relationship to helping immigrants understand those things are critical to successful integration for the long-term good of all of Japan.
@@よもぎ-d7yRUclips actually has a function to translate comments. I also noticed that Dogen here only talked about what foreigners could do themselves. I thought it might be a deliberate decision. If he suggested that the other group should find a compromise, he would turn into someone who comes to Japan and then asks Japanese people to change.
As an outsider looking in, and from a western European perspective, it's baffling that unionization levels are so low in Japan. Japanese wages has been basically static for 30 years, and while working conditions are improving slowly, there still many examples of very worker hostile conditions. The Japanese have basically left all power of the working conditions up to the politicians and legislature, and then continuously voted for a conservative party. Sacrificing yourself for the benefit of society is all well and good, but a healthy society starts with a healthy populace.
TLDR everybody is bad, so let's be nice to each other I once came to the conclusion that what is polite is very different in every country, and what is polite in yours can be rude in someone else. I watched something on RUclips that Japanese people are so polite, and they do this and that, and I was "but this is rude in my country"; and it was said that American service is the best, and I was "but this is rude in my country"; and when I worked in London I was shocked how my colleague talked with his kids on the phone, and I was "I'm rude in this country". Every culture have different definition of what is acceptable and what is polite and rude, as a person visiting you should "read the room" and do as locals do, and Japanese people also should "read the room" and understand that not everybody knows all of Japanese etiquette and just react if something is not right (if you say something in your native language often times you can be understood in some way just from the tone and gestures)
As someone who has never been there, and only hears stories of others' experiences, a lot of them do sound like they encounter a lot of xenophobia though? Like, not all Japanese people are going to be xenophobic, but xenophobia being a real problem probably shouldn't be ignored if foreigners really are being picked on by police, or banned from xyz just because they're foreign. I dunno. Being from a multicultural society, it sounds like a very unpleasant situation.
its not bad most of the xenophobia is exaggerated. yes there are bad Japanese people, but as someone who grew up in multicultural NYC, there is still plenty of racism about.
People with bad experiences are more likely to actively tell other people about it. People who had no problems or who do not mind as much might not say anything or voice their opinion only when directly asked about it. This can skew the projected and perceived image of a society quite a bit.
Missing the birth of your child to work is some Linkd-in level thinking. L take. You can have good resolve and still understand work life balance. Ironically, long work hours are likely impacting the decline in birth rates because no one has the time or energy for dating.
I don't think he was endorsing that behavior, rather using it to emphasize the extent to which Japanese workers prioritize institutions over their individual pursuits, specifically in a former era when the current economic and demographic concerns weren't as relevant. He uses it to punctuate, actually, why that type of work ethic is now ineffective, but the contemporary solutions (adopting multiculturalism for its economic benefits) are a joint responsibility between nationals and foreigners. Just because he thinks FFVII (the original not the remake) is a masterpiece doesn't mean he's celebrating slave-levels of labor. That's how I read it at least.
Long work hours culture always existed in Japan and never impacted the birth rate negatively, people worked long hours and found time to have kids and to date, work life balance is different depending on the culture, french people will look at Germans or Americans and think they do not have any work life balance, Spanish may look at all 3 and think neither do, it is all cultural, if I as a Japanese person want to stay an all nighter to finish a project in my company that I'm passionate about then how will that prevent me from going to a date the next weekend or having a child ?
i think its okay to say that yes, while japanese work culture has produced a lot of amazing things - i think they as a society would greatly benefit from not pushing themselves SO hard to the point of missing out on family, and/or literal death… and i think immigration is a factor in making them realize this themselves. people from other countries are just not as willing to let themselves be worked to the bone and beyond. i think there is a good balance to be reached. but you’re right - we need to talk about these things in a way that is not read as an insult to their culture.
'Working hard' for the sake of it is literally killing humanity. The Japanese have a term for this. 'Working hard' out of passion is what you are referring to, and people are far more resilient if that's what they can do. Of course, all in due moderation. We want to foster a society in which people can let their passion flourish, rather than see their flames snuffed out entirely because 'number must go up'.
They shouldn’t have to pull all-nighters but they are forced to with the pressure of share-holders profit expectations. If the game’s budget was fairly distributed to the developers instead of those at the top, the process could be slowed-down. We shouldn’t praise the exploitation of employees as “good work ethic”.
I really needed a video like this. I felt I changed a little bit my "pessimistic vision" about Japanese society. I think it's important for us, the foreigners living here, to be more comprehensive and forgiving as Japanese people are. Thank you so much for the video.
I would love to meet and talk about this personally but I don't agree nor disagree with your point of view. Maybe one day, I will visit your city - and if so - we can grab something to eat/drink.
For once i'll have to disagree almost entirely with one of your video and you are missing the point. - Yes Japan accomplished great things (and still does), does it mean it's due mostly to their work culture and spirit ? Hell no, you mention Toyota, FF7, Elden Ring but Japan is not the only country is the world to produce great cars and games. Quality and success happens in most modern countries so the key to unlock such a thing is much wider and can be leveraged by a lot of other things without having to tick that box. - Immigration can help but it can't be the solution. Multiple reasons for that. One of them being Japan has a high barrier for entry not because of visa acquisition which is actually quite flexible now already, but due to the nature of its language hard to acquire and the working culture you consider as a positive thing. Which healthy mind is seriously considering moving somewhere and build a family where you'd have to put a very high amount of hours, no holidays and a pay check which doesn't make up for it all while learning one of the most complicated language in the world ? And for the few who are doing it, they will adopt the same behavior as japanese people after the first generation which means you would be in constant need of fresh immigration. The fix is simple. People want to get paid more and work less. Do that then they will start making babies again.
I dont think his take on the work culture was overall positive but just a describtion. And no, the work culture is NOT the problem but both parents have to work. Just the same as in the west. More pay, less work... kind of as you said.
I just spent all of October in Japan, annual trip to visit family. I noticed a lot more foreigners in the work force this time than I ever have. I also saw more Japanese folks walking and eating this trip than my previous ten trips put together. Things are changing.
The latest trend that accelerated postcovid is that Japan is WTFland where you can do crazy things. Except it's less and less true, and that local people are annoyed to see visitors behaving like they are in a freaking theme park. Japan should rebrand itself to what it is, a developed yet conservative Asian society.
Are you sure about that? My country is also called xenophobic pretty often, but when we see this, we are anything but offended. We may even be a bit proud of preserving the existing culture. Do we dislike foreigners in general? Of course not. But we expect them to behave in a local manner, and that produces some tension. I guess it may work in a similar way in Japan.
he pointed out the "xenophobic" as an extreme generalization foreigners make about Japan. Japanesse people are proud of their culture, that doesn't mean they hate you for being different, they're just confused or just cautious about people they don't know about
@Kismet13-qd9vm it's totally possible to integrate, there's plenty of examples. Singapore for example, it's multiple races but everyone acts the same. Lots of people integrate into the US too. We just have to be better about filtering out those that refuse to integrate.
@@ripplecutter233 agreed it is possible but dont let them clump together like the uk thats not good, do not tolerate anti social behaviors like that. we got some work to do on that as well but it needs to happen
This video is an entire emotional journey from the hilarious indiscriminate slights to Japan and the rest of the world alike to a pointed call to action for immigrants to stop shitting on the same society they are a part of. A very good take and I couldn't imagine how to put it in any better way.
Although reading the comments I do wonder if my read for the first part of the video is mistaken and all of the things were said without any hint of irony lol I sure wish not.
there's beautiful abandoned towns that they're not filling up, eventually peps will come and get some XD The only way they can deal is if they start to have a lot more kids to fill in the space, or when the population drops very low, others will just come in. just my short trip of hopping around japan, I noticed that a good portion of the asian population are not japanese already
This is a great video, and highlights one of the sad realities at play here: the solution requires both sides to have sympathy and understanding for each other. Sadly there ain't much sympathy left, especially in the western world.
Complaining as an immigrant only brings negatives and Japanese people don't really complain because of culture, which in turn allows bad systems to persist. Shouganaikara gaman to the end. I don't think immigration will solve anything for Japan because it doesn't fix the fundamental problems the country is facing. If the Japanese people aren't having kids, why would the immigrants be any different? At best it would be a stop gap measure and if leaned on for too long it could bring social division and instability due to growing cultural differences between the locals and the newcomers. I come from Sweden and have seen this type of development first hand.
All cultures have room for improvement, of course, but in the case of the Japanese the work culture needs to change. The Japanese work culture has worked well for a very long time, but it should be noted that this was before the modern population boom. There was more room for everyone, more resources per person. Now that there are far more people than ever before, things are becoming too expensive for more and more people. Though the biggest issue isn't so much with the work culture in itself, but with the work culture in combination with the wages compared with the cost of living most likely. This is an issue in my home country of Norway as well, which while having a far better work/life balance than Japan, is facing the same declining birthrates. And the answer is probably that people are spending their best years on education and establishing careers, and building up the funds to acquire more permanent homes before having children. Additionally, finding a partner has become increasingly difficult it seems. So by the time everything is in place, many people will simply be too old to want to start having children. Additionally, people keep flocking to cities, causing more of the same problem because there is a limited amount of space for instance. But life outside of cities is being considered as more and more inconvenient, so people move. I myself do wish to move to a city to some degree because of the convenience. A solution there, while costly, could be to improve the convenience of smaller places, better public transportation is a big one. As with any problem, there is never a single solution, but rather many things that need to be worked on. I do not know the answers, I can merely make suggestions and offer opinions I do wish the best for Japan and its people, and I hope to visit again in the future, it truly is a wonderful place with great people. I do like Japan a lot, and I see many similarities with Norway, from being roughly the same size, to having some interesting cultural similarities, both in the simple, silly stuff like not wearing shoes in the house, to the cooperative spirit of working together towards a common goal. Perhaps there are things we could both learn from each other to improve both countries.
The work culture is not an issue, the work culture in Japan is, and always has been for centuries, the same and it never impacted people having kids or having a good social life, the issue is entirely economical, the birth rate is also low, actually even lower in some european countries with their "good work life balance", how would you explain that ?
@@jonasw3945 I cannot, I am merely speculating. The issues involved at complex and nuanced, but do note that Japan is further along the decline than Western Europe is, despite having to rebuild at the same time. So I just think that the work culture is compounding the other issues rather than being a cause itself. So perhaps a change there could slow things down, give Japan more time to address the main causes. Who knows, I don't, I just stupidly offered my thoughts when I clearly should have just done nothing. But do not mistake something working for a long time as the same as it will always work.
@@jonasw3945 Omg, how can you be so uninformed. No, it hasn’t been like this for centuries. You obviously haven’t read the first accounts but japanese were famous for being laid back and lazy.
@Lock2002ful Nope read anything about postwar Japan and you'll, Japan would have never been the economic powerhouse it is today with this work ethic, people collectively worked hard and still had kids and families and brought in the first economic miracle that paved the path for other Asian countries to have their economy blossom after a century of European and American economical domination
@@jonasw3945 Who’s talking about post WW2? It was the same everywhere. Germany, the US, Japan. You were claiming they have always been like this for centuries which simply isn’t true. It was the arrival of Perry and the opening of Japan and the treaties forced upon Japan that lead to that mentality.
People should learn that a country is the same as your house, you can hire a cleaner, or someone to fix something for you, however, throwing more people inside your house will not fix it if YOU don't take care of it. This is for every country out there, you can hire/import some people to help you, but, if you don't try and fix it yourself, it will not get better. Also, in the same note, if you just open your doors and let anyone in, it is not your house anymore, it's just an open space for anyone to do whatever they want...
But American AAA game companies also force their employees to pull endless all-nighters and it was especially common in the 90s all over the software industry
When I went to Japan last year, while checking into my hotel I reciprocated the respect I was given by reflex. As I got into the elevator and turned around, the front desk worker customarily bowed. Reactively, I bowed as well without thinking. It doesn't take much effort to be respectful.
So true. This is why I think channels like yours are important: you help bridge the cultural gap, and help Japanese and non-Japanese people understand each other better. That understanding, and willingness to give the benefit of the doubt to each other, is vital.
Pretty huge miss on the game industry/work ethic comments for two reasons, the first kind of off topic from the point of video but it's in the script so still subject to critique, the second much more relevant. While, yes, there is some admirability in self sacrifice for the pursuit of something you're passionate about that could bring immense joy to many lives, implying it's uniquely Japanese and that overseas people just bicker with each other on Twitter is insulting a lot of people with nationalized generalizations, the very thing you condemn in the heart of the video. It's also not some kind of idealized state that we should be striving for; it loses all respectability once it becomes the norm. No one should be expected to make that decision (or be forced into it) over and over again. You also have to consider the other side of this: by praising coders pulling back to back all nighters and saying "This is why we got Elden Ring", you're promoting these conditions being placed on people just so you could have another video game. Is that really worth it? Are you sure we couldn't get Elden Ring without doing that to people? Did these situations even happen at From? I appreciate that it was just set up material for the true message of the video, but that fails to pay off when it itself is the performance you want to see less of in the world. I think the moral high horse clouded your judgement on the script here a little bit.
@Dogen I'm glad you appreciate the feedback, I was a little worried typing it. I hope it didn't come off too harsh. I love the message you're sending with the core of the video, keep up the fantastic work ❤️
thanks for pointing out the ways that we receive the benefit of doubt when in Japan. Gives me a new sense of appreciation of Japanese culture and people. Also, yes! broad-stroke generalizations are often hurtful!
日本に必要なのは、他の文化があり、その文化が持つ特質があることを理解することであり、そのような文化から来た人々が、日本人が自国を活性化させるために力を貸してくれるのであれば、負担を分かち合うことができるのだ。この理解がなければ、移民が日本にとって有益かどうかという議論自体が無意味になってしまう。移民は、どんなに日本の文化や習慣に同化しようとも、自分たちを自分たらしめているもの、文化的、宗教的、社会的な考え方を手放すことはできないし、手放すべきでもない。もし日本が彼らにとって故郷のように感じられなければ、彼らにとって日本は故郷であり、貢献できる場所にはなり得ない。日本人が外に出て、そのような人たちだけが住める地域や都市を作れとか、社会の構造や信条を根本的に変えろとは言わないが、そうしなければ「日本人は外国人嫌いだ」と言う人たちがそう言うのも当然だろう。移民は、日本社会に同化しているとみなされるために、彼らの文化、宗教、アイデンティティなどの基本的な側面を変えることを期待されるべきではない。例えば、日本に移住したイスラム教徒やユダヤ教徒は、ほとんどの食べ物を食べることができず、死んでも日本に埋葬されず（日本はイスラム教徒やユダヤ教徒の墓地を建設することを不必要に難しくしている）、祭りを楽しんだり、仕事の合間を縫って祈りを捧げたりすることができないと分かっているのに、なぜ日本のために全力を尽くさなければならないのだろうか。ヒンズー教徒が純粋なベジタリアンフードを手に入れるのが難しいとか、お祭りのために休暇を取るのが難しいなど、他の国の人々も同じような問題に直面している。これらは日本の文化やアイデンティティの弊害ではなく、他の文化圏の人々が少しでもくつろぐために必要な基本的なことなのだ。外国人や移民を大量に雇用している他のすべての国々は、このような施設を提供することで生じるちょっとした、そして瞬間的な感情的・経済的不快感が、移民たちが国に還元する子供たちや経済的利益にはるかに勝ることに気づいているからだ。サウジアラビアにはパキスタン人のトラックストップがあり、アメリカにはシーク教徒のトラックストップがあるように。ヒンズー教徒は英国で純粋なベジタリアン料理を食べることができるし、死者を火葬することもできる。これらの国々が行ってきたことはほんの小さなことだが、これらの国々が何十億もの経済的利益を享受してきたのは、これらの人々が故郷のようにくつろげるようにしたおかげなのだ。そうでなければ、「外国人はバカだ」「日本人は外国人嫌いだ」というサイクルは永遠に終わらないだろう。 I think what Japan needs is a fundamental level understanding of the fact that there are other cultures with their qualities and individuals from these cultures can come and help the Japanese share the burden in revitalising their country if they are helped in doing so. Without this understanding, the whole argument about whether or not immigrants are beneficial to Japan or not is moot. An immigrant no matter how much they assimilate with the Japanese culture and customs cannot and should let go of what makes them unique and the cultural, religious, social ideas that make them them. For them Japan cannot be a home and a place where they can contribute if Japan doesn't feel like home to them. Now I am not saying that the Japanese go out and create neighbourhoods or cities where only these people can live or fundamentally change the structure of their society and beliefs, but there's things that need to happen or the people who say that "Japanese are so xenophobic" would be justified in saying so. Immigrants should not be expected to change the basic aspects of their cultures, religions, identity and such to be considered assimilated into the Japanese society. For example why should a Muslim or a Jew who immigrates to Japan give their best for Japan if they know that they can't eat most of the food, if they die they cannot be buried in Japan (as Japan is making it needlessly difficult for Muslim and Jewish cemeteries to be built), if they cannot enjoy their festivals or take a few minutes out of their work-day to pray. Similar issues are faced by other peoples from other countries like Hindus finding it difficult to get pure vegetarian food or getting time off for their festivals and such. These are things that are not the bane of Japanese culture and identity but the basics that people from other cultures need to feel a bit at home. All the other countries that employ foreigners and immigrants in numbers have these things because they realise that the little and momentary emotional and economic discomfort that comes from providing these facilities is far outweighed by the kids and economic benefits that these immigrants give back to the country. Like Saudi Arabia has Pakistani truck stops and the US has Sikh truck stops. Hindus can find pure vegetarian food in the UK, can cremate their dead there and the government there makes it easy by not holding say important exams on the day of their festivals. These are little things that these nations have done but they've reaped billions in economic benefits that came just from letting these people feel at home. Japan, if you are listening please let these people feel at home there and make them feel that they are welcome there for generations and you'll see how these people surprise you otherwise this cycle of "foreigners are stupid" and "Japanese are xenophobic" will never end.
Never heard so much facts in my life. I made a video about japan upon getting back from studying abroad and I too feel like throwing my phone across the room when reading the comments about how Japanese people are xenophobic or they suck. Even like the top comment on the video is like that. I hate the entire notion of people saying "Japanese people are ____" as if they're a hive mind that thinks exactly one way, people who say that are the actual racists IMO.
I got jozu'd twice in my last trip to Japan and I was super happy about these little interactions. It feels like I should have spoken a bit more but I was a bit shy, like 5 women in a bakery focusing on my and my kids, it's just weird to start a conversation. I feel like my generation (I'm 39) is getting increasingly bad at communicating with other people (the language and culture barrier just make things even worse) but it's clearly evolving into that direction. I just had this talk with my coworker about how our life is now too easy and with food delivery you can just stay home an entire week and talk to nobody.
I'm not Japanese. What makes Japan Japanese? Is it the ethnic Japanese who broadly share a common history and culture? Japan has a declining birthrate. Will more immigration remedy the birthrate? It doesn't seem to be the case in other countries that have tried the same thing. Okay, so the economy is suffering and immigration will help boost the population of younger working-age people due to the declining birthrate. Since some amount of immigration won't fix the low birthrate, it means more growth = more immigration, persistently. If the ethnic Japanese and its culture maintain a low (below replacement even) birthrate while a hodgepodge of immigrants with their own cultures (and often their own families) continue to take permanent residence in Japan each year, the Japanese population shrinks while the foreign national population increases. Today, Tokyo is around 95% Japanese, with just under 5% being foreign nationals. Yeah, Tokyo seems like a Japanese city to me. If, in 40 years, Tokyo is 35% Japanese, would you still call it a Japanese city? Surely it would be better if immigration was carefully managed, so that it's small and high quality. Where the people - as you mentioned in a previous video - feel at home in the Japanese culture and want to naturalise. I think it's a fool's quest to haphazardly increase immigration without any discussion of the important caveats and limitations. I suppose it's ultimately up to the general population of Japanese to decide for themselves, assuming their opinion gets taken into account by the policy makers (which is not always a given). Finally, I don't think any of my argumentation above detracts from your message of mutual respect. I support that, with the addition of just a little more respect for the host in polite society.
excellent comment I wholeheartedly agree with! Keep Japan for Japanese. Immigration should result in naturalization. And I do not want Tokyo to be 35% Japanese in the future. I came here because of my love to Japan and Japanese culture, its language and Japanese people. If Tokyo becomes 35% Japanese, the crime rates will SKYROCKET. Forget about having a good life then. Europe and the US are excellent examples of what happens when you let anyone in your country wihout a proper filtering
@@makesu_ Gotta love those rightwing US foreigners who want to tell japanese people to keep Japan japanese. 😂 Who tf do you think you are? You are a child, a friggin student? How about you learn your place and some respect before talking about others.
@@pergutoThe fact that you say that means you are just an anime fan and don’t engage with Japanese Twitter. That’s fine, but your statement is just not accurate
@@artboy598 It's true that there is a lot of drama on Japanese twitter, but most Japanese have a job and thus don't have the time to get in a flame war on twitter. Those who do are people with nothing better to do in their lives.
@@germazara89 I mean, 2chan was invented here to post shit anonymously online here. There are a loooot of japanese people who have nothing better to do than to post shit online. It’s a huge problem that even lead suicides and new legislation to punish these people. And it’s not only hikikomori doing this. People do this on their way to work, during work, during their break and on their way home to work.
It’s really great to hear your perspective! Japanese people aren’t racist; they may just be less familiar with other cultures, just as people from abroad may not fully understand Japanese culture. I hope we can bridge these gaps by learning to understand and forgive each other. If there is some Japanese who is rude to, people from abroad, I wanna say sorry. That kind of people are usually rude towards Japanese as well. 😐
I don't know if this is already happening, but what if it were common place and acceptable (legal) for business in Japan to charge "global market rate" for their goods and services to tourists and keep a price for Japanese citizens that's appropriate to their income and expense. And make it a country wide formula so it isn't the case where individual restaurants have to set ambiguous prices. I grew up in Hawaii and locals got kama'aina discounts and it is a simple way to respect the hardships of the working class who are on the ground, serving and welcoming all out of state visitors.
This kind of already exists. Local hole-in-the-wall shops and restaurants with low prices aren't typically the kind of places that attract foreign tourists. On the other hand, "tourist trap" locations in the country already have high markups on everything. Tourism makes up less than 10% of the GDP anyway. The health of the economy in Japan is ultimately in its workforce.
Did you just call Twitter, "X"? This aside, you really make great points. Actually, to summarize, people need to use common sense not just when in Japan, but just in your daily life.
It's important to understand that culture is never spontaneous. It takes centuries to form, and does so for a reason. Japanese culture may seem "extreme" to foreigners, but it matches the highly unique living conditions that you described in previous videos. (And then, a lot of what Americans complain about in Japan, seems perfectly natural to me as a Canadian....)
Damn. Having worked in the service industry for almost all of my adult life, respect has become one of my most important values. It goes both ways and that is easily forgotten.
I don't know. You say foreigners complaining (on their social media) Japanese people being xenophobic is entirely wrong, and Japanese people being racist against foreigners (more or less systematic) is kinda justified, in the same breath. How is the effort to reduce the friction solely on foreigners, not Japanese people? Sounds like you're practically saying foreigners to keep their honne, to act like a Japanese, to blend in as much as possible, even though that landlord won't allow you in their 1DK apartment. It is Japan that needs immigrants, not the other way around, mostly. I know this whole video idea was put together probably thanks to all the Logan Pauls and all the Kick streamers. You would probably get brownie points, gain followers with anti-immigration sentiment as well, but like... Talk to some experts. If you talked, reference them.
Foreigners in fact should keep their honne and act like a Japanese, to blend in as much as possible. It's Japan mate. Foreigners shouldn't feel entitled here. It's the country of Japanese and some nationalism is not a problem. Japanese people need immigration? I disagree. Immigration did a very dirty job in Europe, the US and countries alike. Import the 3rd world = become the 3rd world. It's that simple. Unless foreigners get accustomed to Japanese way of living. It's called immigration because people immigrate, learn the language, follow the local law and traditions and essentially blend in.
also, if foreigners dislike Japanese way of living, then they should just leave. They don't have to decide for Japanese people what's wrong and whats right in their country. You would probably disagree and that's ok. I understand immigration is not easy at all and especially when it comes to Japan. And yes, some Japanese people do behave badly towards foreigners. Still, I feel like we should not talk badly about Japan if we continue to enjoy living here. Personally I believe Japanese people deserve more praise and gratitude than they get especially online
It's quite disappointing how ppl forgot that when you're in a foreign country you don't represent just yourself, but your entire country as well as it's not in your right to change that whole country to fit whatever ideals of being you have. Whether that's wrong or right, it does not matter, this is reality. And the part where you represent your country in foreign lands is specially aggravated if ppl from your country are extremely rare in that new place you're in, the probability of you being their very first interaction with your nationality is extremely high. Treat others how you would like to be treated. Gain their respect and trust, and you will change some minds organically with time, without enforcing or demanding anything.
Thanks for the video, you conveyed your points well and I think you have a good point, even if I disagree regarding immigration. I tend to go out in Shibuya and give free hugs, as well as hold up signs with positive messages like. 「あなたはあなただけしかいないよ 代わりなんて他にいないんだ」 But these kind of things aren't enough. So I try to connect with Japanese guys and workout with them, help them get stronger and encourage them. Cause the stronger the man is both physically and mentally, the more likely he is to be healthy, make more money, be attractive to girls, and tada, family. I believe the problems can be solved by helping Japanese boys and men to improve through physical training and I guess some ego stroking. And foreigners can do that with more ease.
@@makesu_ loooool that explains everything 🤣😂 Foreign exchange student and think you know anything. Grow up, get a real job and live here for two decades. Then we can talk again.
@@Lock2002ful on my way there, champ. Hope you enjoy living in this beautiful country and will be staying here, from your comment you seem to be very serious and respectful towards the Japanese, I respect you for that and we don't have to agree on everything. I am thrilled to see and to know that there are hard working and respectful foreigners living here, even though we may disagree on some things. It must have been extremely tough for you to integrate, but good job!
yes, obviously imigrants and tourists should be more respectfull. but japan must also be slightly more willing to accept change. integration is a compromize. Japan must also be slightly more open to change Japanese work culture is too extreme. especially their machista attitude towards the roles of men and women in the work place immigrants wont be willing to integrate with Japanese culture when it is contrary to their basic values
I have been working since I was 17. Working hard has never been a problem for me. I've been to Japan four times, and I love the country and respect the people and their customs. I am learning Japanese because I love it! But I can't just show up in Japan and continue working there because I have no financial guarantor. Even if I am a refugee from my own country which turned into a war zone. It is such a shame, I am still able to give back so much but I can't go do it in Japan.
What is different about Japan than US is that Foreigners in Japan have to conform to Japanese Culture and Social Norms while in USA, it’s the Society that has to accept the Culture and Social Norms of the foreigners. The latter causes people to group themselves in their own social bubbles that create friction between other social bubbles because they don’t see eye to eye on the perceived differences. In Japan, only foreigners that successfully integrate themselves into Japanese culture and social norms can live in Japan for a long period of time. My brother works as a lead ALT in Fukuyama Japan, and he has see many ALTs that come to Japan on the JET program not being able to adapt to real Japanese life which is far different than the Anime those people watch.
There needs to be compromise on both sides, immigration policies that are controlled but also fair and empathetic, social pressure to assimilate that isn't burdensome or onerous, and most importantly, trust and compassion between people. I don't mean to be pessimistic, but I don't think any country has figured out a way to do this optimally.
bro just let the salarymen go home early & not be forced to go out drinking or stay back and it will be a step in the right direction. Yes the problem is more nuanced and this is just a fraction of the issue but the corpos gotta give else they wont have anyone to work for them left.
0:25 or don't forget "region" locking your app and games, just because. 8:45 道元, here's the thing. Ever wonder why Taiwan and Japan can get along? Not because of past history or anything, but did you ever thought about it? 10:10 (I'm just going to type this in Taiwanese since it would translate better in Japanese) 各位日本人，你知道我在路上聽你們批評外國人的話挺多的嗎wwwwww。我是沒啥意見啦，但是還是有"外國人"懂日文的喔
So, in short, people should stop using twitter.
And most definitely stop using tiktok ASAP.
No, people should stop using Twitter and Tiktok to spout ignorant, hateful, toxic comments. If people stopped using Twitter and Tiktok altogether, they would just find other venues to spout their non-sense, like Instagram's Thread for example. Human ugliness will find a way.
Including Dogen, possibly. Japanese Twitter has been very toxic in the past year or two, to the point it's really hard to use. Angry viral tweets with the intention of making other people angry have been very amplified there lately, including anti-foreigner rhetoric. The Japanese comments so far on this video don't have the same tone. It kind of feels like Dogen's treating Japanese Twitter as a stand-in for Japan instead of realizing it's just some silly website that runs entirely on outrage nowadays.
@@babblingbrook4720日本人だけど本当にそれ…
日本の政治絡みのTwitterは本当に終わってる。
日本は公では政治の話を控える傾向が他の国に比べて強いから、政治のツイートをする人は結構偏ってることが多い。
ただそれを見て影響されちゃう人もいたりして結構極端な意見がマジョリティになってる。
まさにエコーチャンバーの最たる例
If you ask me, the work ethic you praise Japan for, is what's killing their birthrate. After working 60 hours a week (That's 5, 12-hour days btw or 6, 10's) with extended hours from kissing your bosses butt by going to bars with him AFTER work, who wants to then go home and also deal with the challenges of a relationship AND raising a child..? Very few.. and those who do would not be able to have a proper relationship with their partner or child under such conditions either.
Hard work IS to be commended, but it's literally to the point of hurting them. It's a societal mindset that's aging Japan, not just the yen or economy.
Also: "We got a lot of cool stuff out of it, so it's ok if someone _misses the birth of their child._ " is exactly what I'm talking about. Literally Work > Family.
tbh as a software developer I never understood why games have to be released with a very strict deadline to the point that people miss their child's birth. It's a game, not a critical piece of software. Nowadays many games release with a lot of bugs and missing features just because they have to be released on an imaginary schedule which was selected almost arbitrarily.
My stance is kinda in the middle the hardwork is good but the Japanese are just going too far. The frequent after working drinking and work inefficiency are the main issues imo. Sacrificing for work isn't necessarily bad but I'd wish the sacrifices produce high return which isn't always the case
There's also the practice of sending people, without their families if they have one, across the country "for the company." How can you form a relationship or have children when you're at the mercy of some corporation's decision to relocate you on a whim with the threat of never again getting a promotion?
I disagree. The work ethic of the Japanese has been like this for centuries. However, the birth rate is a relatively recent, modern problem, one that most western countries share. The difference is the stance on immigration. Germany is the perfect example in contrast to Japan. A very similar trend in terms of birth rate is present, but the country is constantly flooded with immigrants. This is the only reason the population isn't in the same kind of decline as Japans. However this brings heaps of problems, due to the uncontrolled nature of the immigration. Where as Japan is stagnating, Germany is in state of steady decline. It is their work ethic that keeps Japan from the same decline.
The Japanese needed a solution like 25 years ago to their demographic problem. Controlled immigration, only allowing people in, those who are willing and able to integrate into the culture (and the work ethic as part of it). And at the same time, introducing programs that would make raising children less of a burden.
Former socialist countries in Europe, don't have the same kind of population decline, or at least they didn't had them, till the 1990s. And yet one can argue, that in those countries similar work ethics were promoted as the one in Japan. If you know what Stakhanovism is, you should know what I am talking about. And at the same time having only one child or none at all, was quite rare. The average was 2-3, keeping the population steady. So again, the work ethics are not necessarily the issue here.
I am no expert on Japanese culture by any means, but knowing how different dating and marriage are than in the west, that would be my first guess to start evaluating the root cause of the problem. In Japan it is still customary for the wife to become a full time housewife after marriage. Knowing this, one needs to examine Salaries, living expenses etc. The likely reason is, that on an average Salary of a Husband it is simply impossible to support a large family. If this is the case, then again providing proper child support, or raising wages would be a valid solution. But as with any social issue, there are likely a bunch of different reasons, that need to be tackled. And yes, the work ethics are likely part of it, not making the issue any better, but also not the main or the sole cause.
いやそれ言ったら戦後の日本はどうなるんですか？
昭和の時代は、バブルがはじける前でも日本人は働き続けました。
労働時間が問題じゃないんです。
高卒で手取り１８万で、税金で５万持ってかれても結婚して、子供３人作れは不可能ですよｗ
少子高齢化を加速させてるのは、増税です
自分が産まれた1999年は消費税３％です。 今１０％です。
財務省の出世レースで、増税をして源収を増やした奴が出世する仕組みだからです。
島の外側に居る貴方達は、マクロな大雑把な部分でしか日本を見れていません
パートの母親 学生のアルバイトは、親の扶養に入ってる場合103万円以上の年間の収入があると税金を取られるのでそれ以上働けません。
この３０年 物価が上がったのに消費税も他の税金も上がり続けるのに、給付は殆ど変化なしです。
巻き上げた税金は、大手企業の税負担に殆ど使われてるので、若い層は子供を作らない事は当たり前な事なのです。
要するに、国民は役人の出世レースの犠牲になってるだけ
アメリカも国連も平気で内政干渉してきます。
若い層に支持を受けてる、国民民主党の代表がアメリカ側に面会を求められてます。
アメリカ政府も国連も財務省も日本国民にはyes manで居て欲しいのです。
労働時間が気に食わないならやめればいいし、ゲームやアニメ作ってるようなクリエイターは貴方達の基準でモノづくりしてないです。
I would argue that this "Japanese spirit" that created FF7 also played a role in the decreasing birth rate. Ain't much time for marriage, family or dating if you are working 100+ hours a week
The birth boom was in the same time. The work culture is just one factor....
@isaza5716 I didn't say it was the only factor, just one. It might be a more recent issue though. I didn't know there was a birth boom at that time
I think that's essentially the point he's making. The tireless spirit that created some of things we love from Japan isn't going to fix this issue.
This Japanese spirit existed for centuries and did not in fact play any role in decreasing the birth rate. In fact Japanese people used to work more in the older days when the population was rising than now. The reasons explained in the video are actually quite accurate.
@@jonasw3945 "The Japanese spirit!” the Japanese shouted, while coughing like someone infected with tuberculosis... “The Japanese spirit!” say the journalists. “The Japanese spirit!” say the pickpockets. The Japanese spirit has crossed the ocean in a single bound. In England, lectures are given on the Japanese spirit. In Germany, they stage dramatic spectacles on the Japanese spirit... Admiral Togo possesses the Japanese spirit and the local fishmonger has it as well. Swindlers, mountebanks and murderers also have the Japanese spirit... Now if you ask, “Well, what exactly is this Japanese spirit?”, they say in reply
“Why it's the Japanese spirit of course!”, and walk on. Then, after they've gone five or six paces, one can hear them clearing their throats with an hrrumph... Is the Japanese spirit triangular, or is it quadrangular? As the name indicates, the Japanese spirit is a spirit. And since it is a spirit it is always blurry and fuzzy. There's no one in Japan who hasn't had it on the tip of his tongue, but there's no one who has actually seen it. Everyone has heard about it but no one has yet encountered it. Is it, perhaps, a kind of that long-nosed braggadocio, the goblin?
- Natsume Soseki
Hi, I’m a Japanese who lives in France. So I’m in the opposite situation i guess.
Unfortunately, here is the person who said to me “japan is a fucking racist country, go home”, ” nationalist”, “your country is extreme right ”or “ i would like to go to japan but there is a GAIZIN problems. Japanese is mean”.
I wondered why they say this (and why to me?).
Then they told me that they watched interviews from youtube and TikTok .
They said that Japanese doesn’t sit next to foreigner, but here in France, the same thing happens!!!
In Tokyo, for example Yamanote-line, there is a lot of Japanese who sit next to foreigners!
In addition, i totally don’t care if French doesn’t sit next to me. That is their decision!!!
I know that foreigner’s life is hard in japan, yes there is a problem, but me too, In France too!!!
Japan is a country, not an amusement park.
There is a traditional, historical, and cultural context.
This is not only japan, but all around the world.
Im so sad that not all but a lot of person doesn’t think like me.
I know it's an easy thing for me to say, but don't take it too personally.
They are blinded by social media, as you yourself noticed. Like many other people are. They probably haven't even been to Japan. They don't know anything.
And France also has serious problems with racism and overly nationalistic sentiments and politics. Every country has its own problems.
Just know that there are foreigners who have been to Japan and know how it actually is over there.
I do. Just to confirm your experiences, I have been observing the same thing in Germany, too. For context, originally from Iran, I lived in Malaysia for 6 years and 7 years in Germany. The amount of hypocricy here in Europe is astounding and unfortunately, most of the time when I say something positive about Japan, some people here are quick to respond with something strange about Japan. Like the last one was: "Have you seen their electrical cables through streets? All seem so dangerous..", then I have to educate them about earthquakes, typhoons, etc.
Every country has a unique culture (and subculture in each region) and every foreigner will have different experience in each country. I know someone that followed the same path as me, even same university in Kuala Lumpuer, he loves Germany and I don't.
Yeah social media has definitely polarizied peoples' view of Japan. But once they visit, they usually say I wish I could stay there a bit longer, or I will visit next year!
(also, I like what you said "Japan is a country, not an amusement park.", that's definitely one of the common views of Japan 😬)
Hi i'm french
and one time i sat in the Yamanote-line and an old japanese lady sitting next to the place i sat on stood up and sat somewhere else in the car, maybe she saw i was with a friend and gave him a seat or just ran away for some reason, i will never know lol
But in france i would not care who sit next to me in the train or metro as long as they dont bother me
I know some people that might say japan is racist and all, but i thought it was only a small amount of people saying that
In my experience some are distant from "gaijin" but not fundamentally racist, some don't care, some enjoy having strangers passing by, and more, it's a whole mix, no one can say a whole country is racist, that's weird lol
I saw a few movies, dramas, and tv shows, and i'm happily surprised that there's a lot more strangers and metis (ハーフ）than in the past, same inside shops and konbinis
I always thought that japanese people would not particularly have a "stranger" problem in france, i'm surprised !
I've been to Japan once, and my experience with Japanese was that they are very kind people and eager to help. Like, a man in Nagasaki helped me get on the right bus, which sounds awfully simple, but the catch was that he walked me to the nearest bus station, talked to station workers on my behalf, and then patiently explained everything to me, all while carrying grocery bags.
Obviously, things differ from person to person, but I've been lucky to not encounter any animosity.
Please try not to take these things that happen to all foreigners in all countries too close to your heart. People who are unreasonable and judgemental towards you are petty and ignorant. There is no doubt you are a wonderful person and you are not what others may be telling you they think you are. Hope that you have close friends already (if not, please 頑張ってね！In the end, you need to stay in touch with those people who value you, care about you and love you truly.
As a student here in Japan I agree with most of this however the viral video of the man dancing in the street is for sure not because he doesn't understand Japanese culture, but because he understands it on a very basic level. If you start breakdancing blocking someone's way back in an American city you will at least be yelled at by someone he blocks, if not getting in an actual fight. But here in Japan he knows that unless a police officer is nearby people will just try to ignore him, and he can get the clout he's here for from angry foreigners and Japanese people who now are on twitter that he strives for, its very different than say talking on the train or walking down the wrong way of the street, the difference between exploitation and ignorance of culture. Of course with my limited exposure here in the last few months and the few years of research I did before coming I think another reason why the birth rate is going down aside from money, which is the more pressing and immediate issue, is that a lot of people also don't have the time to raise children, not just because of the work culture but more that they also need to work more to afford living in these times as well, it doesn't leave much time for healthy social and romantic lives with free time let alone having a child. Though for sure foreigners have a lot of work to do, I just hope this recent trend of mostly Kick streamers coming here to cause big issues dies down more.
There's a reason Johnny Somali pulled at that trolling off in Japan and not in the US. He wouldve been tazed and the spent the weekend in jail if he did.
Second this comment
@@TheGreatMilksteak he got wrekt in Korea.
There is a difference between exploitation and ignorance but that doesn't mean they are mutually exclusive.
Ah. So the dancing gaijin is a manipulative bastard with no-good intentions, yes? I sure hope there won't be more gaijins like him in Japan, bent on disrupting the peace for their own clout.
As someone working in games, I found your view of the games industry example extremely ignorant, I don't mean this "meanly". The industry is known worldwide to be dominated by a crunch culture of long hours, by virtue of being a "passion job". What makes japanese games and media so good then? Many things, but I can just quote Nintendo when the bosses lowered their salaries so they didn't have to fire anyone because "the fear of losing your job kills creativity". Meanwhile those bickering twitter game devs you talk about are fighting for better conditions and unions in an industry known to be highly unstable and dominated by crappy executive decisions driven by poor but popular investment choices (which are the origin of most crappy AAA games).
There's also the factor of Japan basically being the origin of game dev and having an animation industry since forever. Still I do believe there's something unique about them and of all things... it's not work culture. I would much more likely attribute this to a culture of community values and an excellent artistic and visual culture (check how good most highschoolers draw over there). I blame current issues on rampant individualism from unfettered capitalism more than anything else, but I don't know enough about japan to be able to tell.
He says all of that while over in the anime industry theres animators who can't even complain about their horrible working codition on twitter (If they do complain they have to delete it)
Japan is far more collectivist in culture than individualist, this is demonstrated by their emphasis on hierarchy, countless idioms about not sticking out from the crowd (very contrary to the west) and psychometric data we have on the country.
Should have explored this bit with more nuance, appreciate the feedback.
As a game dev in Japan, came here to say exactly this
@@Dogen How nuanced do you have to be to realize that work culture in Japan is utterly fucked? Or literally that potentially missing the birth of your child to meet a work deadline just...isn't something to admire?
日本在住外国人の、めっちゃくちゃ日本を愛す私のような人に、この動画を見て感動すべきだろうと思ってました。確かに誤解されたり、疑われたりする可能性が高いかもしれないがこうした動画を投稿してくれてるのは嬉しいに極みないんですね。
Honestly treating Japanese people as if they are all the same is fundamentally wrong. Ofc, in Japan I met some Japanese people who would bump into me with so much strength and not apologise or react or ones that would just step on my foot and just go about their day but I also managed to meet some nice old store owners who happily explained to me some things about Japanese culture, we had good talks about calligraphy and I managed to meet all the employees in bic camera trying to find a product I was searching for. There is bad and good people everywhere.
strawman based on illocutionary semantics
Obviously all Japanese aren't the same, and if I go by my own personal experiences I had nothing but good experiences going there. But that doesn't mean there aren't issues, many of which might not be easy to see unless you actually move there. Things like the discrimination within the housing market where most landlords just don't rent to foreigners at all...
While I was in Japan I also saw stuff like izakayas with a "no foreigners" sign on the door and news broadcasts basically telling the typical story of how foreigners are so bad and litter and all this. Yet when I was taking the cramped busses of Kyoto I saw both local Japanese as well as foreign tourists who failed to move deeper into the bus to make space for more passengers and instead just crowded the entrance. Despite the bus driver telling us to make space. Even in cities where I hardly saw any tourists I'd also see littering as well. So it does kinda feel like foreigners are often used as the scapegoats to explain away anything bad. Something which I can only imagine just further fuels any sort of xenophobia that may exist.
Alot of what is pinned as xenophobia, I believe to also be largely just about a language barrier. I think many Japanese might not want to serve foreigners because they don't feel comfortable communicating with them. So what might come across as discrimination or what is discrimination might not always be based in any sort of hatred or disdain for a certain group.
So while I didn't have any especially bad experiences in Japan, I don't want to pretend there aren't problems.
We need a Dogen PM for Japan.
昔から道元さんの動画を見させていたただき、素晴らしいユーモアと日本語力にいつも刺激を受けています。
しかし（残念ながら？）今回の動画は最も刺激的でした。
日本にお邪魔して13年間が立つのですが、こちらの動画をみて感じたことは一言でいうと「初心忘るべからず」でした。
大事なことを思い出させてくれまして有難う御座います。そして、いつも素敵な動画ありがとうございます。
Part of me feels like you should upload more videos like this, but more than that, I hope there will be no such need.
This should be a worldwide sentiment that all people try to remember. Thank you, Dogen.
Gee, that work ethic is so amazing that for some reason people aren't having children... It's kind of hard to make the next generation when companies are sending their businessmen across the country and away from their wives, if they even have the chance to find one! There needs to be a work-life balance for people or there won't BE people. You don't need all-nighters or to miss the birth of your child to make a good product.
As a game developer, I believe that the reason so many AAA studios release mediocre (or worse) games is because of corporate greed and a narrow outlook on quarterly returns. Indie developers can make fantastic games in a fraction of the time and with an infinitely smaller budget than AAA studios. Why? Passion. Because they have to -- there's no massive financial backdrop to save them from failure while at the same time they don't have a big name to get people to buy their game if it sucks.
may I ask, as a game dev, do you understand why games have to be released at such a fixed schedule? I mean they are not critical piece of software, nobody dies if a game gets released 6 months later and nowadays many games release with a lot of bugs and cut/missing content. As a gamer I'd much prefer a game to be good and bug free than having it a few months earlier. To me those deadlines feel very arbitrary.
That work ethic existed since forever and people did in fact have kids, working long hours doesn't prevent you from having kids and the 60s, 70s and 80s generation of Japanese people are a proof of that
@@ArchangelAurora every month of development is money. Also, game release dates are planned to correspond with holiday and not overlap with big releases. Wrong release time can really bring sales down
Dogen-san, I thought you would say at a certain point that this "resolve" was part of the problem. You even referenced game development, an industry where "crunching" is expected and a widely known issue. Overworking yourself to death, having no work-life balance, having no place in society without a job... Is this the Japanese spirit? I would for sure not want to have children in this situation. I would prefer my father to support my mother, who was in labor, at the moment I was born. A product, a delivery, can be changed and matters only financially, but a son (and his mother!) would forever remember father wasn't there.
Immigration is not the answer. Its just kicking the can down the road. Almost every major world economy is experiencing birthrate decline. There needs to be deep fundamental issues resolved before seeing birthrates increase. From work culture to cost of living.
If your population is expanding too fast (e.g. India) then birth rate decline is a good thing. World population is increasing and will until we destroy ourselves with climate change or nuclear hellfire. Until then, if we distributed that increase across the world, nowhere would have to deal with over or under population.
THanks for making this video. I live in Japan and as I see more and more stupidity coming from the internet with regard to "the way Japan is" and the way I see tourists acting, I start to get afraid that people like me who love living here and try my best to do right by the community will start to be looked at negatively even if we have been trying our best all along.
I love Japan. I want to make it my home. I want to raise a family here and I want them to grow up and learn all the wonderful things Japan has to offer socially and culturally. I hope that won't become difficult in the future.
日本の移民問題に対する在日外国人ならではの視点、大変興味深いと思いました。
生まれてから今までほとんどの期間ずっと日本に住んでいた日本国籍保持者の私としては、「日本に対する文句を外国人がSNSで呟かない」と言うのは日本人の反外国人感情を抑える上で一定の効果があるだろうし、それが在日外国人に取れるほぼ唯一の対抗策なのだけれど、同時にそれは極めて対症療法的だし、それを広い範囲で徹底するのは難しいだろうとも思いました。結局のところ、この問題の根本は外国から日本にやってくる人たちを勝手に「外国人」として雑にグルーピングして、そのグループを構成する人々のうちのひとりがやらかした失態を、何故かその他の構成員にも連対的に負わせるという日本人の非論理的なマインドにあります。そしてこれは別に日本に限ったことではなく世界中で起きていることなので、人間が人間である限り完全に無くすことは難しいだろう、と言う仮説も成り立ちます。
道元さんの言うとおり移民を受け入れないことには日本の経済は衰退する一方です。しかしながら、日本国内に外国人が増えることによって日本人の中で反外国人感情が増幅し、それによって不利益を被る在日外国人が増えたり、日本人の国際的な評判が下がってしまうのも避けられないのではないか、と私は考えています。
私に考えられる最もマシな対策としては、「外国人を一括りにしてものごとを語るのは間違いで、一人ひとりをその人個人として扱うべきだ」という考え方を日本人の間に広めること、そして「誹謗中傷を含まない、自分と異なる意見に対して日本人が寛容になること」ですが、こういったものすら効果は限定的であると感じざるを得ません。
いつか世界中の人間の国家間の行き来がより活発になり、文化や価値観の平均化がより進んでカルチュラルギャップが無くならない限り、この問題は解決しないかもしれません。
The fact of the matter though is immigration will absolutely lead to these events, it does not matter how stringent the standards are. It must be accepted that immigration means, by definition, violation of societal norms and potential for disruption. I am frankly getting tired of people pretending the issue is not real. If it means Japan must do it to avoid oblivion, rather than relax their burdensome economic attitude, then Japan will simply not be Japan anymore, but another globalist economic hub. If thats what Japan wants that is fine. That is not what I want for my country.
Apologies for responding in English, I don't speak Japanese well and am relying on Google's translation of your comments.
I very much agree with something I saw in the translation: "The best countermeasure I can think of is to spread the idea among Japanese people that it is a mistake to lump all foreigners togrether." Again, apologies if the translation missed the spirit of what you are saying, but, I find myself agreeing with this sentiment very strongly and just wanted you to know. I encourage people I know (in America) to try to view Japanese in the same way. Not as a homogenous group, but as a country of people with varying opinions and interests. I think it's the best way to view all people, Japanese, American or otherwise.
Again, apologies if the translation was incorrect and if my response lacks nuance as a result. I just wanted to say that I agree with what I read and do my best to do the same from my side as well.
このご意見ありがとうございます。日本に引っ越すつもりのアメリカ人としてこのビデオを見てほぼ同じことを思って、日本人の方にもこういう考え方を見られて嬉しいです。道元さんの心配ももちろん共感できますがもっと根深い問題なのではないかとですね。この移民の問題で政治的な力のバランスは圧倒的に日本側にあるゆえに、在日外国人に大半の責任を負わせるのは平等公正ではないかもしれません。しかし日本文化の外国への態度の影響で（鎖国、尊王攘夷などの文化歴史もありますし）、そして変化への一般的な抵抗、寛容で優しい行動だけで解けては少し信じがたいものだと思います。
ちょっとだるいかもしれないんですが納得のできる解決は今の私にはまだありません。
its a linguistic problem because east asian countries use the word 'gaijin' or it's cognates or 'falang'/barang in thailand/cambodia. This produces and insular culture.
失態をグループの人に連帯的に負わせているわけでは無いと思います。単純な認知をして予測不可能性を避けたい人間の性で、イメージを付与してしまうのだと思います。心理的にバランスを保つという意味では自然なのかもしれません。
①「大きく主語を一括りにするのは間違い」との考えは理解できますが、実際不可能だと思います。外国の方でも日本人の特定の属性（性別・年代・地域）を認識しつつ語る事（直接的であれ間接的であれ）はあります。ご本人の経験を踏まえた問題意識と会話の意図によると思いますし無くすのは難しいと感じています。
②「日本人は異なる意見に寛容に」というのはよく聞くのですが、寛容というのはどういう態度でしょうか。日本人は割と同意しなくても強く非難しませんし、命令したり、他人の性格や状況判断を断定的に描写して言い放つことはあまり無いと思います。対話相手へのフォローや言葉がけなどは文化により違うかもしれませんが。
③論理的というのはどういうものでしょうか。自然の法則に従うという意味でしょうか？何か道徳的な規範に従うということでしょうか？
The thing is those multiple all nighters cause more issues that need to be fixed then if they stuck to a regular schedule. Most knowledge workers have 6 hours of actual work in them each day, and then you VERY quickly go into negative productivity and the amount of time it takes to recover and get back to normal is 2-3x more than it took to get into the situation.
まぁ観光客なら百歩譲って許すとしても、日本に住む外国人はDogenさんのように日本を好きな外国人でいてほしい
確かに日本には改善すべきポイントや世界からは異質なポイントは多々あるけれど、例え外国人がそれらのポイントを気に入らなかったとしても、「じゃあ君は国に帰れば良いじゃん」と言われるような意見ではなく、全員にとってより良い国になるような建設的な意見であってほしい。それと、日本という国の個性を認めてほしい
ただの「日本が好き」ではなく、日本社会を理解すること本当に一番大事だと思います。
We love Japan. I want Japan to be better. I love how Japan has supported and held onto traditional arts and crafts. But how is anyone supposed to have time for kids if they’re working 100 hour weeks? The other problem is the lack of political will among the youth. They have every reason to be disillusioned, but change only comes when you vote, even if it’s for the anti-NHK party!
@@ferretyluv100時間も働くわけが無いww
So many insightful comments down here, it's great to see different, thought out perspectives like this.
Great video, wish everyone sees it. Maybe you can answer this in another video - to combat the falling birthrate, why does working hard to do something meaningful always mean working 6 days a week for 12+ hours a day? Why couldn't it mean be more productive 4 days a week and have the extra time to work on having kids to solve the birthrate issue?
Because Japan has a problem with adapting and evolving. “If I did it, you can too.” That’s how the old bosses feel. New ideas and merit isn’t rewarded, seniority is. They’re stuck trying to repeat what they were doing in the 80s and hoping it’ll work. Any change is muzukashii.
@@ferretyluv It's more like "I went through this, you should too." A bonus "It's only fair", perhaps.
Me and my sister were watching "Luca" in Japanese and in one scene, a character said "Holy carp" and it was translated as an ordinary interjection in Japanese.
I told my sister, "Can you imagine using this movie to learn English and thinking, 'Holy carp...' so _that's_ how you say なんてこった, not realizing that it's a _fake_ swear word?"
"Um, dude, that's one of our _fish_ swears, not a _real_ one. Yeah, we also have _alien_ swears and _family-friendly_ swears. And get this, some people get offended by the fake swear words and won't let their children say them, even though they're not real."
English is a weird language.😂
Every language actually spoken by humans is "weird", but English does have some special weirdness to it at times. That said, of course cursing isn't going to translate well from any language to any other language. Nor will puns. (Although maybe they could have used e.g. 串 to allude to くそ? But Japanese bowdlerization just doesn't work the same way, I think.)
I do not live in Japan but spend a significant amount of time there through work. Anecdotally, in Shibuya/Central Kyoto there seems to be a significant rise in social media influencer presence conducting public-nuisance 'skits' among American (tourists?) nationals which won't help the image of foreign presence within Japan. On top of that, I feel like some cultures, mainly (again) American *can* be loud and boisterous which contrasts the reserved domestic nature.
I's funny that there are americans worrying about immigrants in japan, implying that those are arab immigrants or what not. While in actuality most mishaps are from americans. Maybe japan need to introduce visa for americans, because they are too relaxed. Majority of countries have visa-free pass for americans, maybe they need to learn what paperwork is and taste some immigration policies from the receiving side
@@alexkozliayev9902 Where did he say Arab immigrants? But yeah I agree, Americans are the worst tourists, even worse than the Chinese which is saying something
@@alexkozliayev9902 Except most mishaps aren't from Americans.
大いに納得します。問題は”増やすか増やさないか”じゃなくて”どんな人を増やす？”ということです。働く意志、言語能力、礼儀、そういった日本に有利なことがないと移民の評判を汚すだけでスティグマを助長します。日本に住みたい外国人はきちんと常識的なルールを守ってほしい。
Regarding the point at 2:33,
I've been reading a lot of manga lately. And they often feature afterwords by the various mangaka.
And It's astounding how many of them mention that their child was born and that they were either lucky to have been present at the birth or express light regret of missing it due to work.
In general, it's interesting to read about their personal lives and thoughts in these short snippets. And it really is worrying how often they write about these all-nighters, long work hours and especially health issues. It really is representable for the "Japanese Spirit". On the one hand, it's admirable. On the other, it's just... sad.
I'm very happy you made this video.
In the recent few years I have noticed a huge rise in open racism against Japan online. People saying things like "all Japanese are racist, Japanese aren't kind they are polite, Japanese people are all fake". And it's not the loud minority. I see comments like those with tens of thousands of likes, over countless videos insulting Japan and it's people. All because people might have had one negative experience and now throw everyone in the same pot.
It's frustrating as an outsider looking in so I can't imagine how insulting and painful it must be for Japanese people to read and hear comments like that.
YT keeps deleting my replies here, so let's see if I can make it brief.
Social media platforms are doing it on purpose.
There has been a leftist push to trash Japan because the left REALLY hates Japan as they see them as white Asians basically. Japan has done fairly well at holding off leftist influence and the left really hates this.
I'll be up front: were you invited to dinner at an embassy ?
As a person who is emgrant in JP - I mean, the problem is not "letting in more people" because emigration laws are already pretty relaxed compared to most of first world countries(speaking as ukrainian, and i have some experience and understanding of how different emigration systems work in europe, us and canada), esp in terms of getting PR(HSP point system) and citizenship(besides revoking your old one, it's much easier, than getting euro citizenships, for example). The problem is being attractive to emigrants because salaries are lower than those in other first world countries(can speak for my field as software dev - 6-8 mln jpy is not that much), I'm not gonna talk cliche bs stamps like "but u have to learn japanese!!!!", you have to learn english to migrate to US, for example, and for most of fellow second and third worlders it's just as hard as learning japanese(can speak as a person who's native language is slavic. Nihongo was probably easier to learn for me than english, because of phonetic interlap and simple grammar), "people are not welcoming!!!!"(no, they are, especially in western Japan), "but muh work culture!!!!"(relax, work culture here is worse than europe, but much much better than anything existing in us where your purpose is to work 24/7 to pay half of your salary into rent and then being laid off with zero social safety nets), because they're stamps, but there are issues with attracting people due to very sad state of economy
From my understanding, if you live in a city you can essentially get anywhere you want without a car at all. Between lower rent (compared to US cities) and no car, getting paid less isn't as big of an issue as it seems. It's definitely a huge difference for tech jobs though, especially compared to developer jobs in the US.
hell yeah! Japanese people are THE BEST! I frequently hear especially from foreigners that "Oh, japanese are so XYZ" and everytime I feel cringe because, like yeah-yeah, Japanese people are hard-working, oh what a bad thing it is! Or, oh Japanese people are too serious? Yes exactly. Because they care about their and everyone else's wellbeing. Of course there is cultural differences, but like, we are foreigners. We are "guests" here, unlike the locals. It's their country. Sadly, people from Europe and especially from the US sometimes behave as if everyone must accept them and their type of behaviour, which can't be further from the truth. Japanese people do not have to accept any bs from foreigners. It's JAPAN, not Europe or US or anything else. Sure Japan has its own issues, but I feel as the Dogen and you had mentioned, foreigners should remember that they are in a different country, and things are different here. So personally I try to integrate myself as much as possible and behave in a respectful way. Japanese people helped A LOT especially Ukrainians. They are very, very kind and advanced as a nation in many ways. That's why everyone wants to visit Japan, not Europe or the US or other countries. Japan is the dream for lots and lots of people. Because unlike others, Japanese respect THEMSELVES first and do their best for THEIR country. No wonder Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world with 98% population being natives. More foreigners does not equal a better society, unless those foreigners LEARN THE LANGUAGE, INTEGRATE AND FOLLOW THE JAPANESE CUSTOMS 😊
Japanese salaries are lower, but it also costs less to live in Japan than it does in the US, and yeah its great not being able to rely on cars to get anywhere or do just about anything. Oh and Japan's healthcare is pretty solid.
@@MCNeko6554 Just so to say - the world is not only limited to US, and Europe is just as not car-dependent as Japan, with low cost of living, social programs, but the salaries in tech(and the market size itself is much much better)
Working long hours isn't the same as working effective hours. You need rest to perform well, especially if it is complex or creative work.
And who wants to have a family of you live only for working.
The Japanese work ethic is praiseworthy, but after the FF7 example I cannot but ask myself, what is more worth:
finishing your work on a videogame or being there for your wife and witness the birth of your child?
I love it here in Japan, it is why I moved here. And just for the record, my overwhelming experience has been people being helpful, welcoming, and patient with me. But are you seriously saying the foreigners who are getting treated with hostility are to blame for the hostility, because they dared to complain about it online? Dude, I am 100% certain that the round the clock news stories about tourists behaving badly have a lot more to do with anti-foreigner sentiment, than some random person complaining on Twitter.
I mean come on man, you don't have to look very hard to find Japanese people pulling pranks and dancing in busy intersections for social media attention. I've seen it several times with my own eyes, especially in Shibuya. That doesn't make the national news as a story about Japanese people causing inconvenience and acting badly. But make it a foreigner, and especially a westerner or African, and it will be the top story on NHK tonight.
I get that you are trying to be "one of the good ones" who doesn't cause problems, but as someone who grew up in one of the most multicultural cities on Earth, I've had a lifetime to see what does and doesn't work, and I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, this "love it or leave it, my way or the highway, if you don't like like it go back to where you came from" attitude does not work in the long run. It creates exactly the resentment and lack of assimilation you are trying to avoid.
Even according to Japan's own politicians, Japan is not in a position where they can afford to just close themselves off from the rest of the world. So just like every other country on Earth, they are going to have to figure out some way to make immigration work for their society. It is a global economy, and the days where any nation can just choose to not participate outside their own borders are long gone.
The only pathway forward that actually works in this globalized world, is mutual respect of the advantages of different cultures, a willingness by both parties to learn and accommodate some differences, and a cross cultural understanding that is very different from the "in Japan the Japanese are always right, and if you think otherwise, then you are the problem" attitude you are promoting. That kind of attitude is always going to lead to people who feel second-class, and end up creating insular ethnic communities that fail to assimilate.
I agree wholeheartedly. I wasn't even aware of the breakdancing foreigner issue, but hearing about it here in this video made me go "huh? One of my Japanese dancer friends just posted a video of herself doing the exact same thing, though??" I also just think that the overall argument/video was not structured properly...
Yo, thanks for the comment-a lot of truth in what you said. Wasn't trying to say that foreigners who get treated with hostility are to blame for it, or that Japanese people are always right; the line towards the end about 'thinking before you act' (永遠に我慢しろとは言っていない。日本人だって我慢しているのを思い出した上で冷静に行動してください）was meant to communicate, 'Yes it's OK to criticize the negative parts about Japan, but please do so in a logical manner, rather lashing out at Japanese people as a whole', but the wording definitely could have been better, particularly the translation.
Failure to assimilate is happening in the so called multicultured west, certain demographics are overwhelmingly criminal in behabviour and hostile to the host culture. Japan will be fine. NZ is about the same size but has under 6 million people, They are not poor nor dying. Multiculturalism has failed and is a flawed concept. Japan hould be strict with foreigners, not allow citizenship and have the option to deport anyone they want to.
so FF7 is basically
Sweatshop : Japan edition 1994-1997 ....
Every brilliant game was.
That's how passion in small studios becomes ingrained as crunch culture when they become bigger corporations even in individualist cultures like America. With a more collectivist culture like Japan it means that mindset is just even more pronounced, - but in Japan the foundation isn't just from personal passion. It also comes from a cultural background where everyone CAN expect that from everyone else because it's an island nation with a disproportionate amount of natural disasters, so that type of collective community bond has always been critical to everyone's well-being for its whole history.
That's what makes it especially difficult to see where that perseverance can't solve the issue with things like the aging population and relationship to helping immigrants understand those things are critical to successful integration for the long-term good of all of Japan.
well you clearly missed the point of the video
Also elden ring.
Unfortunately most successful games are made under constant crunch..
7:40 自分生まれ育ち日本の日本人なんですが、これはちょっとん？と思いました
生活が苦しいからといって、日本は外国人差別的だっていう投稿を見て「ディスられた！」と日本人がキレることはおかしいというか的外れ(実際日本はかなり構造的にも外国人差別的だと思う)だし、その人がその投稿とは関係ない別の外国人を見て「出てけ！」っていうのも問題だし、それこそ差別的だと思う
この動画はなんか、日本人の外国人差別を正当化してて、外国人は日本に適応しないといけないみたいなふうに言ってるように捉えられたけど、自分は外国の人も日本人に媚びへつらわずに公共の福祉に反しない限りは自分の文化を大切にして生きられる社会であってほしいと思った
とにかく、海外出身の人が日本の差別的な価値観を内面化というか受け入れて適応しようしてるのを見ると、悲しい気持ちになる 外国の人だって日本人に怒る権利はある
sorry for those who don’t speak Japanese, I wasn't confident enough to write my opinion in English
You can use a translator or something to read this
I can see this perspective too. Not a fan of nationalism, but respect is important most of all.
@@よもぎ-d7yRUclips actually has a function to translate comments.
I also noticed that Dogen here only talked about what foreigners could do themselves.
I thought it might be a deliberate decision.
If he suggested that the other group should find a compromise, he would turn into someone who comes to Japan and then asks Japanese people to change.
I wholeheartedly agree with this comment.
まさにその通り。
はっきり言ってこの動画を観て何言ってんのと思った。
外国人であることだけで日本人に迷惑って？
私も外国人やけど、まず日本人も外国人もそれぞれやし、共存とお互いの理解は大事やけど、お互いに怒っても良いこと十分ある。
変なおっさんは理由も無く私に向いて差別的なこと言いって来たら怒るし、物凄くうるさいやマナー守らないで変なことする海外からの観光客などにも怒る。
人はそれぞれだ。日本人だからとか外国人だからとかを思ってる時点でアウトやろう。
As an outsider looking in, and from a western European perspective, it's baffling that unionization levels are so low in Japan. Japanese wages has been basically static for 30 years, and while working conditions are improving slowly, there still many examples of very worker hostile conditions. The Japanese have basically left all power of the working conditions up to the politicians and legislature, and then continuously voted for a conservative party. Sacrificing yourself for the benefit of society is all well and good, but a healthy society starts with a healthy populace.
Probably because they don't want to tank it even more with unions.
TLDR everybody is bad, so let's be nice to each other
I once came to the conclusion that what is polite is very different in every country, and what is polite in yours can be rude in someone else. I watched something on RUclips that Japanese people are so polite, and they do this and that, and I was "but this is rude in my country"; and it was said that American service is the best, and I was "but this is rude in my country"; and when I worked in London I was shocked how my colleague talked with his kids on the phone, and I was "I'm rude in this country". Every culture have different definition of what is acceptable and what is polite and rude, as a person visiting you should "read the room" and do as locals do, and Japanese people also should "read the room" and understand that not everybody knows all of Japanese etiquette and just react if something is not right (if you say something in your native language often times you can be understood in some way just from the tone and gestures)
As someone who has never been there, and only hears stories of others' experiences, a lot of them do sound like they encounter a lot of xenophobia though? Like, not all Japanese people are going to be xenophobic, but xenophobia being a real problem probably shouldn't be ignored if foreigners really are being picked on by police, or banned from xyz just because they're foreign. I dunno. Being from a multicultural society, it sounds like a very unpleasant situation.
its not bad most of the xenophobia is exaggerated. yes there are bad Japanese people, but as someone who grew up in multicultural NYC, there is still plenty of racism about.
People with bad experiences are more likely to actively tell other people about it. People who had no problems or who do not mind as much might not say anything or voice their opinion only when directly asked about it. This can skew the projected and perceived image of a society quite a bit.
Absolutely spot on, my friend. Will be sharing this for sure. Thank you.
日本が好きで日本語を勉強してコミュニケーションをとってくれる移住者がいい。80万人以上いる在日中国人コミュニティの中には、中国人が経営するアパートに住み、中国人向けスーパーに行き、中国人と働き、全て中国語で生活できる経済圏が出来てるとか。短期ならいい。でも長く住むなら日本の言語と文化を尊重してほしい。
話の趣旨はきちんと理解出来ました。単なる注意や「馬鹿だなもう」が移民排斥に発展する可能性がないとは言えないからね。ドイツやフランスはヘイトも溜まっていたりする。そう言う世界の情勢を知った上で、話しているだろう事は理解出来ます。日本人全員がお人好しで、外国人に寛容な訳では無い。
Missing the birth of your child to work is some Linkd-in level thinking. L take.
You can have good resolve and still understand work life balance. Ironically, long work hours are likely impacting the decline in birth rates because no one has the time or energy for dating.
I don't think he was endorsing that behavior, rather using it to emphasize the extent to which Japanese workers prioritize institutions over their individual pursuits, specifically in a former era when the current economic and demographic concerns weren't as relevant. He uses it to punctuate, actually, why that type of work ethic is now ineffective, but the contemporary solutions (adopting multiculturalism for its economic benefits) are a joint responsibility between nationals and foreigners. Just because he thinks FFVII (the original not the remake) is a masterpiece doesn't mean he's celebrating slave-levels of labor. That's how I read it at least.
Long work hours culture always existed in Japan and never impacted the birth rate negatively, people worked long hours and found time to have kids and to date, work life balance is different depending on the culture, french people will look at Germans or Americans and think they do not have any work life balance, Spanish may look at all 3 and think neither do, it is all cultural, if I as a Japanese person want to stay an all nighter to finish a project in my company that I'm passionate about then how will that prevent me from going to a date the next weekend or having a child ?
extremely well thought and delivered
i think its okay to say that yes, while japanese work culture has produced a lot of amazing things - i think they as a society would greatly benefit from not pushing themselves SO hard to the point of missing out on family, and/or literal death… and i think immigration is a factor in making them realize this themselves. people from other countries are just not as willing to let themselves be worked to the bone and beyond. i think there is a good balance to be reached. but you’re right - we need to talk about these things in a way that is not read as an insult to their culture.
'Working hard' for the sake of it is literally killing humanity. The Japanese have a term for this.
'Working hard' out of passion is what you are referring to, and people are far more resilient if that's what they can do. Of course, all in due moderation. We want to foster a society in which people can let their passion flourish, rather than see their flames snuffed out entirely because 'number must go up'.
They shouldn’t have to pull all-nighters but they are forced to with the pressure of share-holders profit expectations. If the game’s budget was fairly distributed to the developers instead of those at the top, the process could be slowed-down. We shouldn’t praise the exploitation of employees as “good work ethic”.
I really needed a video like this. I felt I changed a little bit my "pessimistic vision" about Japanese society. I think it's important for us, the foreigners living here, to be more comprehensive and forgiving as Japanese people are. Thank you so much for the video.
みながドウゲンさんなら、まじウェルカム！♬
Woke up at 6 AM, turned the computer on at 6:30 AM, got a life lesson at 6:45 AM. WOW
I would love to meet and talk about this personally but I don't agree nor disagree with your point of view. Maybe one day, I will visit your city - and if so - we can grab something to eat/drink.
For once i'll have to disagree almost entirely with one of your video and you are missing the point.
- Yes Japan accomplished great things (and still does), does it mean it's due mostly to their work culture and spirit ? Hell no, you mention Toyota, FF7, Elden Ring but Japan is not the only country is the world to produce great cars and games. Quality and success happens in most modern countries so the key to unlock such a thing is much wider and can be leveraged by a lot of other things without having to tick that box.
- Immigration can help but it can't be the solution. Multiple reasons for that. One of them being Japan has a high barrier for entry not because of visa acquisition which is actually quite flexible now already, but due to the nature of its language hard to acquire and the working culture you consider as a positive thing. Which healthy mind is seriously considering moving somewhere and build a family where you'd have to put a very high amount of hours, no holidays and a pay check which doesn't make up for it all while learning one of the most complicated language in the world ? And for the few who are doing it, they will adopt the same behavior as japanese people after the first generation which means you would be in constant need of fresh immigration.
The fix is simple. People want to get paid more and work less. Do that then they will start making babies again.
I dont think his take on the work culture was overall positive but just a describtion. And no, the work culture is NOT the problem but both parents have to work. Just the same as in the west. More pay, less work... kind of as you said.
I just spent all of October in Japan, annual trip to visit family. I noticed a lot more foreigners in the work force this time than I ever have. I also saw more Japanese folks walking and eating this trip than my previous ten trips put together. Things are changing.
And I'm worried that the beauty of the nation of Japan might simply disappear into the ether.
Yup. A lot more of a certain type of foreigner work force is being pushed on Japan and it will only end in disaster.
30年前の平均と比べて所得は上がっているはずなのに
重税のせいで可処分所得がほぼ変わらない。
日本人は政治が苦手なんだろうね…
そして過剰に大手メディアの発信を鵜呑みにする。
そこにあやかって大した志もなく職業政治家になろうとする輩が大量発生しているのも問題だね。
そして、若者の投票率が低い原因の一つとして
停滞の元となった低品質政治を見てきたから希望を見い出せない、が正しいと思う。
それを変えるには結局投票…と堂々巡り
シンプルに投票は行った方がいい。
移民問題の構造は単純な日本人vs外国人の構造ではないと思う。より正確には日本人vs文化移民vs経済移民だと思う。ここで、文化移民っていうのはDogenさんみたいにアメリカや他の裕福な国から日本文化が好きでわざわざ日本にやってくる人。経済移民は単に日本に来て稼ぎたい人。実際日本の外国人の大半は中国や東南アジアからの出稼ぎだし。
稼ぐ為に他の国に移住するのは悪く無いと思うけど。
日本人だって同じ理由で別の国に移住したり別の国で生産したりするやん。
理由は何だって良い。
良い人ならどこから来たか関係ないやろう。
稼げて生活できるならいいが、実際は稼げず、犯罪に走り、社会保障費にたかり、家族を日本に呼び寄せてさらなる社会保障費(税金)を増大させてる事が問題かと。働いて自立してるならいいが、上記のような外国人がとても多いのです。老人プラス外国人のために、現役世代に負担がのしかかっています。
働き納税する日本人と税金で遊びほうける外国人の構図がもうすでに出来上がっています…
@@Lock2002ful 日本人の話はしてないと思いますよ。受入国の文化や制度が「経済移民として受け入れて自国が影響を受けること」をどう捉えるか、や「良い人」が何を意味するか、が重要ですね。言語を共有しても実態が違うかもしれません。
The latest trend that accelerated postcovid is that Japan is WTFland where you can do crazy things.
Except it's less and less true, and that local people are annoyed to see visitors behaving like they are in a freaking theme park.
Japan should rebrand itself to what it is, a developed yet conservative Asian society.
Well said, Dogen-san.
Are you sure about that? My country is also called xenophobic pretty often, but when we see this, we are anything but offended. We may even be a bit proud of preserving the existing culture. Do we dislike foreigners in general? Of course not. But we expect them to behave in a local manner, and that produces some tension. I guess it may work in a similar way in Japan.
he pointed out the "xenophobic" as an extreme generalization foreigners make about Japan. Japanesse people are proud of their culture, that doesn't mean they hate you for being different, they're just confused or just cautious about people they don't know about
Japanese like other cultures but at the same time they still don't understand another person culture. It's very distant.
I agree with this video. I think any country that accepts immigrants can reasonably expect them to integrate into the existing customs and culture.
no they cannot, look at the UK that isnt integration they all just clump together
@Kismet13-qd9vm it's totally possible to integrate, there's plenty of examples. Singapore for example, it's multiple races but everyone acts the same. Lots of people integrate into the US too. We just have to be better about filtering out those that refuse to integrate.
@@ripplecutter233 agreed it is possible but dont let them clump together like the uk thats not good, do not tolerate anti social behaviors like that. we got some work to do on that as well but it needs to happen
@@Kismet13-qd9vm yes I agree
I was gonna say something, but you said everything I was going to. Great video!
I lot of similarities with Korea. While I don't live in Japan and I live in Korea, a lot of this translate all the same. Good video.
日本語上手ですね
まだまだです
This video is an entire emotional journey from the hilarious indiscriminate slights to Japan and the rest of the world alike to a pointed call to action for immigrants to stop shitting on the same society they are a part of. A very good take and I couldn't imagine how to put it in any better way.
Although reading the comments I do wonder if my read for the first part of the video is mistaken and all of the things were said without any hint of irony lol I sure wish not.
こんなに真剣に日本の将来を考えてくれるアメリカ人がいる。矛盾の極みだけど有難いじゃないか。しっかり応えて対等に戦えるようになりたいよね。
there's beautiful abandoned towns that they're not filling up, eventually peps will come and get some XD The only way they can deal is if they start to have a lot more kids to fill in the space, or when the population drops very low, others will just come in.
just my short trip of hopping around japan, I noticed that a good portion of the asian population are not japanese already
This is a great video, and highlights one of the sad realities at play here: the solution requires both sides to have sympathy and understanding for each other. Sadly there ain't much sympathy left, especially in the western world.
Good thing Dogen has such a view on immigration. Almost thought he knew nothing about it /s
Incredible video, thank you.
Complaining as an immigrant only brings negatives and Japanese people don't really complain because of culture, which in turn allows bad systems to persist. Shouganaikara gaman to the end.
I don't think immigration will solve anything for Japan because it doesn't fix the fundamental problems the country is facing. If the Japanese people aren't having kids, why would the immigrants be any different? At best it would be a stop gap measure and if leaned on for too long it could bring social division and instability due to growing cultural differences between the locals and the newcomers. I come from Sweden and have seen this type of development first hand.
All cultures have room for improvement, of course, but in the case of the Japanese the work culture needs to change.
The Japanese work culture has worked well for a very long time, but it should be noted that this was before the modern population boom. There was more room for everyone, more resources per person. Now that there are far more people than ever before, things are becoming too expensive for more and more people.
Though the biggest issue isn't so much with the work culture in itself, but with the work culture in combination with the wages compared with the cost of living most likely. This is an issue in my home country of Norway as well, which while having a far better work/life balance than Japan, is facing the same declining birthrates. And the answer is probably that people are spending their best years on education and establishing careers, and building up the funds to acquire more permanent homes before having children. Additionally, finding a partner has become increasingly difficult it seems. So by the time everything is in place, many people will simply be too old to want to start having children.
Additionally, people keep flocking to cities, causing more of the same problem because there is a limited amount of space for instance. But life outside of cities is being considered as more and more inconvenient, so people move. I myself do wish to move to a city to some degree because of the convenience.
A solution there, while costly, could be to improve the convenience of smaller places, better public transportation is a big one.
As with any problem, there is never a single solution, but rather many things that need to be worked on. I do not know the answers, I can merely make suggestions and offer opinions
I do wish the best for Japan and its people, and I hope to visit again in the future, it truly is a wonderful place with great people.
I do like Japan a lot, and I see many similarities with Norway, from being roughly the same size, to having some interesting cultural similarities, both in the simple, silly stuff like not wearing shoes in the house, to the cooperative spirit of working together towards a common goal. Perhaps there are things we could both learn from each other to improve both countries.
The work culture is not an issue, the work culture in Japan is, and always has been for centuries, the same and it never impacted people having kids or having a good social life, the issue is entirely economical, the birth rate is also low, actually even lower in some european countries with their "good work life balance", how would you explain that ?
@@jonasw3945 I cannot, I am merely speculating.
The issues involved at complex and nuanced, but do note that Japan is further along the decline than Western Europe is, despite having to rebuild at the same time.
So I just think that the work culture is compounding the other issues rather than being a cause itself. So perhaps a change there could slow things down, give Japan more time to address the main causes.
Who knows, I don't, I just stupidly offered my thoughts when I clearly should have just done nothing.
But do not mistake something working for a long time as the same as it will always work.
@@jonasw3945
Omg, how can you be so uninformed.
No, it hasn’t been like this for centuries.
You obviously haven’t read the first accounts but japanese were famous for being laid back and lazy.
@Lock2002ful Nope read anything about postwar Japan and you'll, Japan would have never been the economic powerhouse it is today with this work ethic, people collectively worked hard and still had kids and families and brought in the first economic miracle that paved the path for other Asian countries to have their economy blossom after a century of European and American economical domination
@@jonasw3945
Who’s talking about post WW2?
It was the same everywhere. Germany, the US, Japan.
You were claiming they have always been like this for centuries which simply isn’t true.
It was the arrival of Perry and the opening of Japan and the treaties forced upon Japan that lead to that mentality.
People should learn that a country is the same as your house, you can hire a cleaner, or someone to fix something for you, however, throwing more people inside your house will not fix it if YOU don't take care of it.
This is for every country out there, you can hire/import some people to help you, but, if you don't try and fix it yourself, it will not get better.
Also, in the same note, if you just open your doors and let anyone in, it is not your house anymore, it's just an open space for anyone to do whatever they want...
Excellent analogy.
But American AAA game companies also force their employees to pull endless all-nighters and it was especially common in the 90s all over the software industry
When I went to Japan last year, while checking into my hotel I reciprocated the respect I was given by reflex. As I got into the elevator and turned around, the front desk worker customarily bowed. Reactively, I bowed as well without thinking.
It doesn't take much effort to be respectful.
So true. This is why I think channels like yours are important: you help bridge the cultural gap, and help Japanese and non-Japanese people understand each other better. That understanding, and willingness to give the benefit of the doubt to each other, is vital.
Pretty huge miss on the game industry/work ethic comments for two reasons, the first kind of off topic from the point of video but it's in the script so still subject to critique, the second much more relevant. While, yes, there is some admirability in self sacrifice for the pursuit of something you're passionate about that could bring immense joy to many lives, implying it's uniquely Japanese and that overseas people just bicker with each other on Twitter is insulting a lot of people with nationalized generalizations, the very thing you condemn in the heart of the video. It's also not some kind of idealized state that we should be striving for; it loses all respectability once it becomes the norm. No one should be expected to make that decision (or be forced into it) over and over again. You also have to consider the other side of this: by praising coders pulling back to back all nighters and saying "This is why we got Elden Ring", you're promoting these conditions being placed on people just so you could have another video game. Is that really worth it? Are you sure we couldn't get Elden Ring without doing that to people? Did these situations even happen at From?
I appreciate that it was just set up material for the true message of the video, but that fails to pay off when it itself is the performance you want to see less of in the world. I think the moral high horse clouded your judgement on the script here a little bit.
Super fair feedback, appreciate it.
@Dogen I'm glad you appreciate the feedback, I was a little worried typing it. I hope it didn't come off too harsh. I love the message you're sending with the core of the video, keep up the fantastic work ❤️
本題じゃないけどイントネーションが完璧ですごい
thanks for pointing out the ways that we receive the benefit of doubt when in Japan. Gives me a new sense of appreciation of Japanese culture and people. Also, yes! broad-stroke generalizations are often hurtful!
日本に必要なのは、他の文化があり、その文化が持つ特質があることを理解することであり、そのような文化から来た人々が、日本人が自国を活性化させるために力を貸してくれるのであれば、負担を分かち合うことができるのだ。この理解がなければ、移民が日本にとって有益かどうかという議論自体が無意味になってしまう。移民は、どんなに日本の文化や習慣に同化しようとも、自分たちを自分たらしめているもの、文化的、宗教的、社会的な考え方を手放すことはできないし、手放すべきでもない。もし日本が彼らにとって故郷のように感じられなければ、彼らにとって日本は故郷であり、貢献できる場所にはなり得ない。日本人が外に出て、そのような人たちだけが住める地域や都市を作れとか、社会の構造や信条を根本的に変えろとは言わないが、そうしなければ「日本人は外国人嫌いだ」と言う人たちがそう言うのも当然だろう。移民は、日本社会に同化しているとみなされるために、彼らの文化、宗教、アイデンティティなどの基本的な側面を変えることを期待されるべきではない。例えば、日本に移住したイスラム教徒やユダヤ教徒は、ほとんどの食べ物を食べることができず、死んでも日本に埋葬されず（日本はイスラム教徒やユダヤ教徒の墓地を建設することを不必要に難しくしている）、祭りを楽しんだり、仕事の合間を縫って祈りを捧げたりすることができないと分かっているのに、なぜ日本のために全力を尽くさなければならないのだろうか。ヒンズー教徒が純粋なベジタリアンフードを手に入れるのが難しいとか、お祭りのために休暇を取るのが難しいなど、他の国の人々も同じような問題に直面している。これらは日本の文化やアイデンティティの弊害ではなく、他の文化圏の人々が少しでもくつろぐために必要な基本的なことなのだ。外国人や移民を大量に雇用している他のすべての国々は、このような施設を提供することで生じるちょっとした、そして瞬間的な感情的・経済的不快感が、移民たちが国に還元する子供たちや経済的利益にはるかに勝ることに気づいているからだ。サウジアラビアにはパキスタン人のトラックストップがあり、アメリカにはシーク教徒のトラックストップがあるように。ヒンズー教徒は英国で純粋なベジタリアン料理を食べることができるし、死者を火葬することもできる。これらの国々が行ってきたことはほんの小さなことだが、これらの国々が何十億もの経済的利益を享受してきたのは、これらの人々が故郷のようにくつろげるようにしたおかげなのだ。そうでなければ、「外国人はバカだ」「日本人は外国人嫌いだ」というサイクルは永遠に終わらないだろう。
I think what Japan needs is a fundamental level understanding of the fact that there are other cultures with their qualities and individuals from these cultures can come and help the Japanese share the burden in revitalising their country if they are helped in doing so. Without this understanding, the whole argument about whether or not immigrants are beneficial to Japan or not is moot. An immigrant no matter how much they assimilate with the Japanese culture and customs cannot and should let go of what makes them unique and the cultural, religious, social ideas that make them them. For them Japan cannot be a home and a place where they can contribute if Japan doesn't feel like home to them. Now I am not saying that the Japanese go out and create neighbourhoods or cities where only these people can live or fundamentally change the structure of their society and beliefs, but there's things that need to happen or the people who say that "Japanese are so xenophobic" would be justified in saying so. Immigrants should not be expected to change the basic aspects of their cultures, religions, identity and such to be considered assimilated into the Japanese society. For example why should a Muslim or a Jew who immigrates to Japan give their best for Japan if they know that they can't eat most of the food, if they die they cannot be buried in Japan (as Japan is making it needlessly difficult for Muslim and Jewish cemeteries to be built), if they cannot enjoy their festivals or take a few minutes out of their work-day to pray. Similar issues are faced by other peoples from other countries like Hindus finding it difficult to get pure vegetarian food or getting time off for their festivals and such. These are things that are not the bane of Japanese culture and identity but the basics that people from other cultures need to feel a bit at home. All the other countries that employ foreigners and immigrants in numbers have these things because they realise that the little and momentary emotional and economic discomfort that comes from providing these facilities is far outweighed by the kids and economic benefits that these immigrants give back to the country. Like Saudi Arabia has Pakistani truck stops and the US has Sikh truck stops. Hindus can find pure vegetarian food in the UK, can cremate their dead there and the government there makes it easy by not holding say important exams on the day of their festivals. These are little things that these nations have done but they've reaped billions in economic benefits that came just from letting these people feel at home. Japan, if you are listening please let these people feel at home there and make them feel that they are welcome there for generations and you'll see how these people surprise you otherwise this cycle of "foreigners are stupid" and "Japanese are xenophobic" will never end.
Outstanding video - thank you!
日本では移民と社会保障の問題を切り離して考える人が多い。「移民が増えると治安が悪くなる。スウェーデンを見てみろ」と言う一方で社会保険料が上がると文句を言う。ドイツのように移民を増やしながら経済的に成功している国もある。少なくともGDPでは日本を追い越した。日本はこのトレードオフを真剣に考えるべき時だと思う。海外から奴隷制度と批判される技能実習制度を推進してきた国にはむずかしいかもしれないが。
Never heard so much facts in my life. I made a video about japan upon getting back from studying abroad and I too feel like throwing my phone across the room when reading the comments about how Japanese people are xenophobic or they suck. Even like the top comment on the video is like that. I hate the entire notion of people saying "Japanese people are ____" as if they're a hive mind that thinks exactly one way, people who say that are the actual racists IMO.
I got jozu'd twice in my last trip to Japan and I was super happy about these little interactions. It feels like I should have spoken a bit more but I was a bit shy, like 5 women in a bakery focusing on my and my kids, it's just weird to start a conversation. I feel like my generation (I'm 39) is getting increasingly bad at communicating with other people (the language and culture barrier just make things even worse) but it's clearly evolving into that direction. I just had this talk with my coworker about how our life is now too easy and with food delivery you can just stay home an entire week and talk to nobody.
I'm not Japanese.
What makes Japan Japanese? Is it the ethnic Japanese who broadly share a common history and culture?
Japan has a declining birthrate. Will more immigration remedy the birthrate? It doesn't seem to be the case in other countries that have tried the same thing.
Okay, so the economy is suffering and immigration will help boost the population of younger working-age people due to the declining birthrate. Since some amount of immigration won't fix the low birthrate, it means more growth = more immigration, persistently.
If the ethnic Japanese and its culture maintain a low (below replacement even) birthrate while a hodgepodge of immigrants with their own cultures (and often their own families) continue to take permanent residence in Japan each year, the Japanese population shrinks while the foreign national population increases. Today, Tokyo is around 95% Japanese, with just under 5% being foreign nationals. Yeah, Tokyo seems like a Japanese city to me.
If, in 40 years, Tokyo is 35% Japanese, would you still call it a Japanese city?
Surely it would be better if immigration was carefully managed, so that it's small and high quality. Where the people - as you mentioned in a previous video - feel at home in the Japanese culture and want to naturalise. I think it's a fool's quest to haphazardly increase immigration without any discussion of the important caveats and limitations.
I suppose it's ultimately up to the general population of Japanese to decide for themselves, assuming their opinion gets taken into account by the policy makers (which is not always a given).
Finally, I don't think any of my argumentation above detracts from your message of mutual respect. I support that, with the addition of just a little more respect for the host in polite society.
excellent comment I wholeheartedly agree with! Keep Japan for Japanese. Immigration should result in naturalization. And I do not want Tokyo to be 35% Japanese in the future. I came here because of my love to Japan and Japanese culture, its language and Japanese people. If Tokyo becomes 35% Japanese, the crime rates will SKYROCKET. Forget about having a good life then. Europe and the US are excellent examples of what happens when you let anyone in your country wihout a proper filtering
何が日本を日本人たらしめているのか？それは人に迷惑をかけない精神があるかないかです。思いやりとか気配りの基本です。これがある外国人は共存できるし分かり合えると思う。これがあれば韓国人も中国人もベトナム人もクルド人もどんな国の人も尊敬されます。さらに感謝の心があれば言うことなしです。違う歴史や文化でも日本ではこれがあればいいだけです。
@@makesu_
Gotta love those rightwing US foreigners who want to tell japanese people to keep Japan japanese. 😂
Who tf do you think you are? You are a child, a friggin student? How about you learn your place and some respect before talking about others.
*Implies Japanese people don’t spend all day arguing on Twitter like Westerners*
*Japan has the MOST Twitter accounts of any country*
90% are only for posting anime drawings and following Jpop news
@@perguto Only acceptable reason to have an account there tbh. Though Bluesky is rapidly taking over that niche.
@@pergutoThe fact that you say that means you are just an anime fan and don’t engage with Japanese Twitter. That’s fine, but your statement is just not accurate
@@artboy598 It's true that there is a lot of drama on Japanese twitter, but most Japanese have a job and thus don't have the time to get in a flame war on twitter. Those who do are people with nothing better to do in their lives.
@@germazara89
I mean, 2chan was invented here to post shit anonymously online here.
There are a loooot of japanese people who have nothing better to do than to post shit online. It’s a huge problem that even lead suicides and new legislation to punish these people. And it’s not only hikikomori doing this. People do this on their way to work, during work, during their break and on their way home to work.
初版への愛を感じる
It’s really great to hear your perspective! Japanese people aren’t racist; they may just be less familiar with other cultures, just as people from abroad may not fully understand Japanese culture. I hope we can bridge these gaps by learning to understand and forgive each other.
If there is some Japanese who is rude to, people from abroad, I wanna say sorry. That kind of people are usually rude towards Japanese as well. 😐
I don't know if this is already happening, but what if it were common place and acceptable (legal) for business in Japan to charge "global market rate" for their goods and services to tourists and keep a price for Japanese citizens that's appropriate to their income and expense. And make it a country wide formula so it isn't the case where individual restaurants have to set ambiguous prices. I grew up in Hawaii and locals got kama'aina discounts and it is a simple way to respect the hardships of the working class who are on the ground, serving and welcoming all out of state visitors.
This kind of already exists. Local hole-in-the-wall shops and restaurants with low prices aren't typically the kind of places that attract foreign tourists. On the other hand, "tourist trap" locations in the country already have high markups on everything.
Tourism makes up less than 10% of the GDP anyway. The health of the economy in Japan is ultimately in its workforce.
Dogen: time is money, and Japanese people aren't being compensated properly for the time their job expects them to contribute.
Did you just call Twitter, "X"?
This aside, you really make great points. Actually, to summarize, people need to use common sense not just when in Japan, but just in your daily life.
It's important to understand that culture is never spontaneous. It takes centuries to form, and does so for a reason. Japanese culture may seem "extreme" to foreigners, but it matches the highly unique living conditions that you described in previous videos. (And then, a lot of what Americans complain about in Japan, seems perfectly natural to me as a Canadian....)
Damn. Having worked in the service industry for almost all of my adult life, respect has become one of my most important values. It goes both ways and that is easily forgotten.
I don't know. You say foreigners complaining (on their social media) Japanese people being xenophobic is entirely wrong, and Japanese people being racist against foreigners (more or less systematic) is kinda justified, in the same breath. How is the effort to reduce the friction solely on foreigners, not Japanese people? Sounds like you're practically saying foreigners to keep their honne, to act like a Japanese, to blend in as much as possible, even though that landlord won't allow you in their 1DK apartment. It is Japan that needs immigrants, not the other way around, mostly.
I know this whole video idea was put together probably thanks to all the Logan Pauls and all the Kick streamers. You would probably get brownie points, gain followers with anti-immigration sentiment as well, but like... Talk to some experts. If you talked, reference them.
Yeah, this whole video is a Japan simp L take of trying to be “the good foreigner”.
Quite ridiculous and infuriating what he’s saying.
Foreigners in fact should keep their honne and act like a Japanese, to blend in as much as possible. It's Japan mate. Foreigners shouldn't feel entitled here. It's the country of Japanese and some nationalism is not a problem. Japanese people need immigration? I disagree. Immigration did a very dirty job in Europe, the US and countries alike. Import the 3rd world = become the 3rd world. It's that simple. Unless foreigners get accustomed to Japanese way of living. It's called immigration because people immigrate, learn the language, follow the local law and traditions and essentially blend in.
also, if foreigners dislike Japanese way of living, then they should just leave. They don't have to decide for Japanese people what's wrong and whats right in their country. You would probably disagree and that's ok. I understand immigration is not easy at all and especially when it comes to Japan. And yes, some Japanese people do behave badly towards foreigners. Still, I feel like we should not talk badly about Japan if we continue to enjoy living here. Personally I believe Japanese people deserve more praise and gratitude than they get especially online
Kenny Omega を見つけた! But also, fantastic video and thank you for making it!
It's quite disappointing how ppl forgot that when you're in a foreign country you don't represent just yourself, but your entire country as well as it's not in your right to change that whole country to fit whatever ideals of being you have. Whether that's wrong or right, it does not matter, this is reality. And the part where you represent your country in foreign lands is specially aggravated if ppl from your country are extremely rare in that new place you're in, the probability of you being their very first interaction with your nationality is extremely high. Treat others how you would like to be treated. Gain their respect and trust, and you will change some minds organically with time, without enforcing or demanding anything.
Thanks for the video, you conveyed your points well and I think you have a good point, even if I disagree regarding immigration.
I tend to go out in Shibuya and give free hugs, as well as hold up signs with positive messages like. 「あなたはあなただけしかいないよ
代わりなんて他にいないんだ」
But these kind of things aren't enough.
So I try to connect with Japanese guys and workout with them, help them get stronger and encourage them.
Cause the stronger the man is both physically and mentally, the more likely he is to be healthy, make more money, be attractive to girls, and tada, family.
I believe the problems can be solved by helping Japanese boys and men to improve through physical training and I guess some ego stroking.
And foreigners can do that with more ease.
"The original, anyway..." 初版ね… You gotta stay sharp for these little quips.
私が留学生です。この動画本当にありがとうございました。日本は一番好きな国です。日本語とか、日本の文化とか、いろいろことを習っています。日本人は良くて、優しい人達と思っています。外国人が日本人を尊敬しなければならないと思っています。
@@makesu_
loooool that explains everything 🤣😂
Foreign exchange student and think you know anything.
Grow up, get a real job and live here for two decades. Then we can talk again.
@@Lock2002ful on my way there, champ. Hope you enjoy living in this beautiful country and will be staying here, from your comment you seem to be very serious and respectful towards the Japanese, I respect you for that and we don't have to agree on everything. I am thrilled to see and to know that there are hard working and respectful foreigners living here, even though we may disagree on some things. It must have been extremely tough for you to integrate, but good job!
Dogen for president 🙌
(oh, wait...)
yes, obviously imigrants and tourists should be more respectfull. but japan must also be slightly more willing to accept change.
integration is a compromize. Japan must also be slightly more open to change
Japanese work culture is too extreme. especially their machista attitude towards the roles of men and women in the work place
immigrants wont be willing to integrate with Japanese culture when it is contrary to their basic values
I have been working since I was 17. Working hard has never been a problem for me. I've been to Japan four times, and I love the country and respect the people and their customs. I am learning Japanese because I love it!
But I can't just show up in Japan and continue working there because I have no financial guarantor. Even if I am a refugee from my own country which turned into a war zone.
It is such a shame, I am still able to give back so much but I can't go do it in Japan.
When I grow up, I wanna be like Dogen-san.
最近言われる外国人労働者っていうのは「日本人より安い賃金で働く外国人」を意味する。健全な経済対策なら人手不足の時は賃金を上げるのに、企業が賃金上げたくないから安い労働者を輸入してる、いわば現代の奴隷制度。いずれ日本人の低所得者と職を奪い合うことになり、日本人に失業者が増える。それで移民政策反対と言えばレイシストだと言われ対立やヘイトが生まれる。これは今ほかの外国でも生まれてる現象だから何も特別なことではなく、なるべくして起こってる。でも企業側から見ると安い労働者の需要がなくなるはずがない、その分企業が儲かるから。
「日本で年収300万以上稼いで納税できる外国人」と設定すればこうはならない。でも日本人は真面目に働くし労働環境はきついし社会保険料含む税金が高く、さらに言語の壁もあり、その「平均的な日本人」に外国人が合わせなければならないから、「労働」だけを見ると日本に住みたいなんて普通思わない。もっと働きやすい国はいくらでもある。
それでも日本に来たいと思う標準～高額納税外国人はドウゲンさんのように日本が好きだから来る外国人だけだった。だから今までは摩擦が生まれなかった。
今大学生の間ですでに気づいてる人がいる。日本人の大学生は高い授業料を払ってるのに同じキャンパスにいる外国人は授業料が免除されてる、それも日本の税金で。これは日本政府による日本人差別だ。外国人を優遇するからヘイトが生まれるのに、政府自らヘイトを生み出すシステムを作ってるのが悪質だと思う
What is different about Japan than US is that Foreigners in Japan have to conform to Japanese Culture and Social Norms while in USA, it’s the Society that has to accept the Culture and Social Norms of the foreigners. The latter causes people to group themselves in their own social bubbles that create friction between other social bubbles because they don’t see eye to eye on the perceived differences. In Japan, only foreigners that successfully integrate themselves into Japanese culture and social norms can live in Japan for a long period of time. My brother works as a lead ALT in Fukuyama Japan, and he has see many ALTs that come to Japan on the JET program not being able to adapt to real Japanese life which is far different than the Anime those people watch.
There needs to be compromise on both sides, immigration policies that are controlled but also fair and empathetic, social pressure to assimilate that isn't burdensome or onerous, and most importantly, trust and compassion between people. I don't mean to be pessimistic, but I don't think any country has figured out a way to do this optimally.
bro just let the salarymen go home early & not be forced to go out drinking or stay back and it will be a step in the right direction. Yes the problem is more nuanced and this is just a fraction of the issue but the corpos gotta give else they wont have anyone to work for them left.
0:25 or don't forget "region" locking your app and games, just because.
8:45 道元, here's the thing. Ever wonder why Taiwan and Japan can get along? Not because of past history or anything, but did you ever thought about it?
10:10 (I'm just going to type this in Taiwanese since it would translate better in Japanese) 各位日本人，你知道我在路上聽你們批評外國人的話挺多的嗎wwwwww。我是沒啥意見啦，但是還是有"外國人"懂日文的喔