日本, you concentrated more on quality of work and you completely lost in quality of Life. In my genuine opinion, you guys are overloaded with work and high respect that you entirely lost family life. There are still chances however, the Government should have a very significant role to play. Introduce policy to get youngsters married by the age of 22 and reward people with every Child born with salary hikes. Atleast this would help to sought out cost of raising kids. Families with atleast 8 Children should be substantially rewarded by all means. Womenfolk should be made to give away their jobs as their health and contribution towards the family is far very important. They should be given salaries for maintaining their families especially at this hour of population crisis. As for men, Work timings should be reduced and Overtime should be abolished, so men can visit their family to have good time together. Stop late night parties and introduce healthy social gatherings build relationships and acquaintances. Also to add, concept of living in isolation should be done away. Provide for homeless people also, so that even they could contribute to the society and nation in a right way. A Nation is built by the its people. Build families Build the country. With utmost concern towards 日本 and 日本人。
The elder gentleman who lived in US and Germany for a good while shows how important being exposed to different cultures is when having an open mind. Classy おじいさん。
Well said. I like people that are willing to experience other cultures, and are open-minded. If there were more people like him, things would be different not just in Japan, but around the world too.
The old guy's points were not on point and it seemed like he didn't know that Germany and even US are facing the same problems (more so Germany). Germany has some of the lowest birth rates in Europe even after allowing millions in mass immigration inside their country and the US is only staying afloat because of continuous mass immigration (illegal or not) and there are still a few strong religious communities where they have big families. But even the Us is under the replacement rate and that says a lot.
it's interesting how we are all facing similar issues regardless of where you are from. everything's getting expensive, wages aren't going up to help fight this, and as a result things like starting a family get pushed to the side because it's a struggle just to support yourself. Those same issues are happening in so many places around the world, I feel it here in the US.
@@k1_w3lmao stop with that old ass right-wing lie. There is plenty of evidence proving that America is a corporate owned hellscape. Big businesses have been proven to constantly price gouge ppl and are seeing record profits because of it. Inflation is something these industries hide behind as an excuse for their shady business practices. But go on ahead and blame a population that has absolutely no political power nor wealth.
@@k1_w3 disagree entirely. most of the jobs that immigrants are getting in the US are jobs that Americans aren't taking to begin with. The real issue is big corporations outsourcing jobs like manufacturing and tech support to other companies in foreign countries. it's not the people that immigrated here that are stealing jobs, its greedy corporations taking jobs away from the US because they can pay those in other countries less money.
@@k1_w3 and home prices are skyrocketing because of more greedy corporations buying them up as investment pieces. look up who's buying all the real estate, it's investment firms and other Americans buying them up to rent or flip for profit. regular Americans can't afford homes because of greed from fellow citizens, not because of foreigners.
@@k1_w3in capitalistic theory it should even out because as immigrants enter "The West" there should be a similar flow of westerners going to Asia, Africa, etc... But these countries are not immigrant friendly. It's a one way funnel .
Admirable how Takashii asks questions. He gauges the vibe of the person first before asking the questions. He's like, "ah, this person thinks this way and perhaps I could lead the conversation more to this topic". Fascinating. Also chilling what the guy in the blue shirt said, "Japan will silently fade away over time".
That’s why I subscribe to this channel as opposed to other street interview channels. Dude’s actually a real journalist and keeps it light as opposed to constantly shilling something
Well I agree with the silent part at least, went to Japan a few months ago and they are like dead quiet on the subways and trains. Not many people shout in the US either on those but it's definitely not quiet. And they don't take calls while walking, they would go to a really quiet corner, like around a vending machine, and talk there. Noise levels are much higher in public in the US.
All Countries will fade away over time. It is in the intermixing of migrants yet again. As the population grows and people migrate yet again. They begin a new mix of cultures. With the amount of people on this Planet it is very difficult to say any Nation is Whole in its citizenship. Most races have mixed race citizens already. Give it another 15 years. Most Countries will no longer be one Race.
I mean that just sounds like western countries slowly your countries identity slowly goes as you let more people in with different cultures, religions and ideas and such it doesnt have to be a bad thing will probably benefit us more in 50-100 years.
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
I think this isn’t just an issue in Japan, but a challenge faced by many developed countries. Edit : Never expected I'd get that many comments! Thanks guys~ As a Japanese person myself, it seems to me like a lot of people here in Japan are pretty set against accepting immigrants from other countries. I get where they're coming from, but the problem is that they just say no without suggesting any alternatives...
I've heard that the reason Japan is singled out for their declining population is that they don't allow immigration as a "temporary bandage", unlike countries like the US and Canada. In other words, if it weren't for immigration, countries like the US and Canada would be in a similar situation. It looks like every developed country, whether or not they allowed large-scale immigration, will face the same inevitable problem of declining population and its economic consequences in due time.
While true, Japan's issue in isolation is much worse because of their prioritization of the elderly and the workforce culture. It is similar to South Korea's woes.
@@ImGonnaFudgeThatFish Thankfully minimum wage and employee pay in SK is going up, and work prioritization is being focused more on young workers now. JP has been having issues with overworking, employee benefits, and pay much more than other countries do so it's in a even tighter spot, especially since there seems to be little change.
The third interviewer, the old man that lived abroad, was very, very analytical. I liked his opinion the most. Very on point, he basically summarized the Japanese scenario, which is shared by a lot of developed countries.
They all say money, economy...yet..all of them were born and raised, many since 2000s, 125M people live there. But yes, its in decline. if I were to believe wikipedia, 2020 consensus showed 1.3M people more than 2022...weird
@ancientslav4863 I'm no expert on the matter but I believe folks are confusing birth rate with population. The birth rate in Japan is going down, not the total number of people. The concern is being addressed now before there is an actual decline in population.
As a foreigner living in Japan for over 15 years, I just want to tell you to keep doing what you are doing. You are an excellent young journalist seeking the truth, and from what I have seen of your videos, you are spot on, as are the wonderful Japanese people you interview. They are open to new ideas, especially changing the immigration laws, which will bring Japan back again. Insular countries have much difficulty these days because the world has become so small. Many in my country don't understand how important immigration is to its success. I appreciate the Japanese culture, but change is also necessary for growth. Listen to your youth, but also, to wiser, open minded elder men like the one you just interviewed. Gambatte Kudasai!
He's parroting the western media talking points tbh, like someone who listened too much time to CCN. Its really sad to see the whole world going the Western way of decline.
This is one of my favorite videos of yours. You interviewed diverse people and they all did an excellent job of sharing their views. I studied about the population decline some in school and they all addressed the issue with their own thoughts.
Can you also share your thoughts about why this is happening and what kind of politics governments should follow to prevent this issue? (If it is a issue)
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
Around 5:30 something about the image of a young Japanese man interviewing an elderly Japanese man about the past and future of their country really struck me. Nice set of interviews overall, here. Also, I'm a bit late, but congrats on 1 million subs! I really liked the old man's well-considered thoughts, but everyone else has good points too. A lot of people touched on "the economy" and, honestly, I think the last two guys were closest to hitting the mark. If you work so much that you don't get to form a strong emotional bond with your spouse you're less likely to have kids (this is also a big part of why infidelity is so high), and doubly so if you're too tired to even do anything because you work long hours six days a week. And on top of that you don't have the financial stability to make it easy to have kids, so why would you take that risk? I STRONGLY believe that if companies increased wages and decreased expected working hours, the birth rate would recover on it's own. The question is whether companies will actually do that or not, or if the government will step in to regulate it. The answer to both questions is "probably not", especially under the LDP.
@@teiman The old man wasn't a CEO of company so he's not as far gone mentally as any of those guys are. CEO's are filled with idea's about how they need to make "more money" and that their people "aren't working hard enough". The company I work for makes 50 billion in profits after everything and everybody is paid for and they still have the insane idea they aren't making enough money. Obviously, company should be profitable but they don't need to be that profitable and if they are they should be investing that return into better working conditions as well as starting side projects that can help their employees out.
Japan seems so fixated on this world power they hold. So fixated on making sure they dont lose that. Except they're causing themselves to lose that anyways as their own citizens dont want to birth more slaves.
Overwork is definitely a huge problem, especially in education. The schools are understaffed and a lot of my coworkers end up working 12 hour days because they just physically can't get everything done. They come in at 7, teach from 8-3: 30 with often only one period off for planning, then after school they have to supervise club activities until 6pm, and only then are they able to start grading papers, lesson planning, and tackling all of their admin responsibilities (including planning the school trip, sports days, field trips, professional development trainings, etc). Plus there's mandatory club practices on Saturday mornings, so the teachers have to be at school during the weekend as well. One of my coworkers goes in on Sundays too so she literally doesn't get a day off. There's recently been a push from above to reduce working hours, but without doing anything anything to reduce the work load, it just feels empty and tone deaf. It's framed as "time management" issue and just urges teachers to work more efficiently, ignoring the root cause
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
It is nice to hear this interview with a wide variety of people, young and old, male and female. Many "I asked Japanese people" type videos only ask people around 20 years old in Shibuya or Harajuku, which I think is biased.
yes, they would do that because they think that's what their audience will listen to. If there were no people eating animals, then there wouldn't animal killings. But outside Japan, since people don't know what Japanese elderly think, they do like to know what they have to say, thus there's demand for that outside Japan.
I agree that it makes his videos much more interesting than somr others. I do not object to interviewing pretty women once in a while, if they have something interesting to say. ;)
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
The conversation with the older gentlemen in blue rings very true to me. In my culture it's also a norm for boys not to help out and children never see their father do anything at home but my own father broke that trend with us. I often saw him doing chores, cooking etc...and we all had a timetable of chores both girls and boys. He considered these duties as a general life skill. So I have the same opinion now that if you can't cook and clean after yourself, you are a bum
Yes - a man who can't look after himself or who CAN but expects other to serve him is a relic of a redundant past and is very unattractive compared to a man who steps up as a husband or father. Why would anyone with a healthy sense of self and an optimistic expectation of their life want to have kids with a bum, after all. I had a father who does the same and I see how happy my mum is that it's not something he's wanting a headpat for - he's just an adult and they are a partnership. It is normal to share workload in a family - and when men cook and clean they understand how relentless that work is so the contribution to running a home with young children is not underestimated or considered "natural". The couple is more likely to raise their children in a happy home under those circumstances.
@@RSmith-qd2uk I would argue that was also a necessity of the time periods. Men sole existence was protection and hunting so it was more efficient to just focus on doing that all the time. If you split your training to also learn cooking and cleaning you can’t spend more time on learning tracks and the land which we take for granted these days. Women became hyper specialized in homesteading due to the fact that men were out doing that hunting thing to bring bag large game. These norms worked and gave people purpose plus we didnt have technology to even the odds. It’s just how things happened
probably because everyone on theres phones they just a picture then real life and dont know to make interactions like me just some person going to non responsive and dazed like some deer in the headlights and people have there so called standards of 6 feet like god dam you want to get pounded hard as some Japanese's mochi rice cake what ever they called the Dow stuff like well in the end this probably a good thing people are just chunks of flesh with an expiry date so well good luck be scrolling gen z brain just is something else parasitic
@@johnsmith-ol9qj I disagree somewhat with this. We know that in various cultures and through-out time, these roles where not so defined as that - so we can see it's never been a permanent state as your describing here. We're closer to the agricultural period than the hunting and gathering (the word "husband" comes from the idea of animal husbandry, if that gives you a clue to what women's place in that was then) - and even the hunting and gathering were not always split between the sexes necessarily. I don't agree that the normalised sex roles you describe "worked" as well as some would like to think, mostly because when women were liberated from these hyper-socialised roles and given the choice of more independent autonomy - rather than being a literal possession of either father, brother, husband or son - then they have tended to move away somewhat from those limited roles because they don't give enough of a "purpose" beyond the purpose of survival (e.g in marriage before woman had human rights in law). The challenge of the modern era is finding a balance where people have a purposeful life with personal freedom as well as a societal and personal benefit to having children and contributing to a balanced civilization, yet not being worked to the bone and having that justified as "working well" for the powers at the top of the power structure. I think a lot of the reason people are opting out of parenthood in more developed countries is that this life-choice has become a lot more of a personal risk within late-stage capitalism and there hasn't been a proper acknowledgement from most governments that women's free caring work (across all generations) is basically the backbone of much of the economy and should be rewarded and supported as such for our economy to continue to work healthily. There's still an expectation that "women's work" is natural and should be given freely and this isn't practical.
I want to thank you for your sincere work on letting us know more about the Japanese people, you're making a great service for Japan itself. I can't go to Japan to interview people and ask questions to them, but I can watch you doing it. Other than that we can only have superficial thoughts with what other people say on the internet. I live among Japanese people in Canada and I just don't understand many things about them, at the same time it's so hard to approach and have a conversation with them, but now I go to your channel and start to understand the way they think and can decide on a better approach to connect to them. 有難うございます
Having a few rotten apples in a sack is inevitable. At the end of the day it's about seeing if the pros of having foreigners in your country outweigh the cons.
Exactly. Europe made the mistake and opened the borders. Now the foreigners generate even more costs and became a problem unsolvable with "humanistic" measures. Open borders arent the solution. Its just an easy way out for the elites, meaning they can continue to raise costs and prices to show growth on the stock market. Its all on the costs of the middle class in the end.
@@samraarvin because the standard of living has increased so the costs of raising a kid to have that standard of living is higher as well, sure if you only gave your kid the bare necessities it would prolly be affordable but that is def gonna make the kid resent you when they see other children living much better, the real problem is that money is accumulating to the top so the wealth and income gap is widening.
This is not a Japan issue, this is a world wide, mostly first world problem. You know who doesn't have this problem? 2nd and third world countries who breed uncontrollably and then expect foreign aid or illegaly immigrate to other country expecting handouts. The peoples of those nations can't afford to have children because we're all too busy taking care of some guy who has 15 wives and 30 children.
its the reality everywhere. kids cost money and as the cost to quality of life continues to escalate exponentially, the desire to have kids will shrink.
as a foreigner I never want Japan to fade away, the country as a whole is so dope from nature to just mannerism, but man the working lifestyle is just so damn brutal
@Joe-no7gs I used to work in Silicon Valley. Ten years ago, I took a year-long contract and worked in Shinjuku. I never wanted to work in Japan again. We work a lot in the US but can plan our lives. Working until nine at night in Japan and then drinking with the boss is expected.
@@AbelMusa Dope is a popular, well-known expression. Sure it sounds a bit weird when talking about a country, but it still means what it means, which is positive. You can't control how people choose to express themselves.
The point about having a way to learn Japanese when living in Japan is a big one. As an American, a Japanese language tutor costs about $50 an hour. It's a complex language from an English speakers standpoint and requires a lot of class time. One of the biggest barriers to me was when I tried to learn was it just got too expensive and I didn't really see an avenue to immigration. As an engineer by trade, it wasn't a lack of jobs, but unless I had planned to do this since early college where I might have studied overseas I just couldn't find a pathway to make the move. I love Japanese culture and would love to do more than just visit on travel, but bringing my professional skills over there seemed impossible.
There is no path to employment for my career either and I gave up, I just went to visit and that taught me everything I needed to know - I'm actually glad there was no path for my career choice for employment in Japan. Being stuck in a beautiful but lonely conformist hellscape where you'll never be a part of the community because your foreign-ness consistently sets you so far apart, is a reality I didn't need to live. Besides other countries are much more friendlier to work and career in and the work culture Isn't So torturous. I'm Beyond glad my sister finally saw the light and is coming home, it saved me the trouble of having to move, career and live there just to be close to her and her children.
tutor for what? Languages don't have complicated topics that need to be explained. Books and RUclips are more than enough to explain grammar and proper pronunciation. I think you're over complicating things. Use your smart phone to study alphabet and vocabulary. That alone will get you very far.
@Diablo-bb1nj I can get it for about $30 in group sessions of 8-16 people. Private is 50 same if private online. The distance to nearest tutor was 1 hour 15min so gas makes it about even.
One thing that is constantly on my mind is that no one would want to be the kind of parent who is never at home, and only goes home to sleep, because the children will be alone for the most part, it's kind of sad but, if anyone has experienced this in their childhood, I think it's one of the reasons they would not want to have kids. And since in Japan you are morally obligated to stay at work until superiors leave, and also go out with the members to drink, that is a lot of time that is not shared with the family. That is just sad.
@@raipier you will note that americans get 2 wks of vacation and define themselves by their jobs. europeans get maybe twice as much if not more and scarcely ever define themselves by their occupations.
I wanted you to ask a young mother what she thought! My Japanese friend in Japan, college educated in the USA & bilingual, did not "qualify" for daycare after her first baby and was unable to return to work (no daycare = no work! There is some sort of "point system" and their household had too many points). Her husband works long hours and 6-7 days a week and isn't available to help with the child or housework even though he wants to. On top of all the chores, she's making elaborate lunches and is required to fill out a daily "log" for her son before school. Basically she's always exhausted. Until Japan starts supporting women and employers start allowing women & men time off in the evenings and on weekends to help with family life- their birth rates will continue to sharply decline. Bringing in foreigners isn't the only solution, but there are so many cultural issues at play that there will not be an easy solution. Giving families more money might help a little, but a huge (and swift) culture shift is needed.
Countries have tried all kinds of incentives and none of it works. On the woman's side, a career makes them put marriage off until later or not prioritize it at all. On the men's side, they spend their younger years in freedom but struggle with women until they establish themselves in their 30s/early 40s. By this time, the married life can't compare to the single life and women panicking to find a husband before her eggs dry up can' compete with younger women.
No you exist to make other people rich. This is human society since the beginning of time. Yet you keep producing children to benefit the ruling class because?
In Japan, there is a noticeable problem in society: it has evolved into a purely work-oriented society. How can we expect average or low-income earners to dedicate enough time to their children, family, or reproduction when they have long working hours, minimal vacation time, and potentially social obligations towards their business partners and colleagues? The working hours are excessively long, and vacations are too short. While most Japanese people earn more compared to other countries, they also have higher expenses. Personally, if I were in their shoes, I wouldn't feel inclined to consider having children either. In my opinion, only well-off individuals can afford to have children without much concern, as they can handle a parent being absent from work for a few weeks or months or even partially or fully devoting themselves to household duties for the family. Furthermore, the immigration of foreigners will not significantly alleviate the situation. It is necessary for there to be a change in the excessively intense work culture, which is far from promoting a healthy and social environment within Japanese society. Without reforms that prioritize leisure time and improved salaries, as an impartial observer, I unfortunately see little hope for Japan. It's truly unfortunate because Japan possesses a fascinating culture and traditions.
@@user-qm7jw Most likely similar to Sweden... We don't see the benefits of kids, we aren't told of it.. in my 40s i realize the value of having kids, wish i had em 15 years ago.. When you grow older you will be more and more lonely, i see it in my parents now arounds 70 yo.. friends pass on, no parents left and all they got is their pretty meager retirement and if they are lucky, they have kids and grandchildren. The value in that cant be measured by much else.. 50 or 100 years back having kids was in a way to secure your elderly years from being miserable. A bit family can take care of you. Take care of the farm or livelyhood your family has. We don't have work anymore that we consider passing on to our children.. who tf wants to pass on a ordinary clerk job or a sec guard or a mailman job to their kids? Finland probably has the same problem as Sweden, people are so comfy and will be comfy all their life until they die of old age, even without children. Why bother wasting so much of your life on children when you can spend it on yourself!?.. well thats what i think the mentality is anyway. You can see it in that japanese girl on the right when he interviews the couple.
@@Haz-Zzz My perception is this is driven mainly by women in the developed world. Women are more concerned about their independence than being mothers. In my experience most men still want children, the overwhelming majority I would say. Economic hurdles are obviously a concern but even couples that could afford kids don't want more than 1 or 2 at the most. Women never want to give up their professions even if they can completely afford to. At the end of the day as long as women don't view being a full-time mother as a worthwhile pursuit we will continue to see a massive decline in birthrates all across the developed world. It's a crisis not just in Japan but almost every first world country.
It may be a uninformed opinion, but I truly believe the prosperity of Japan is going to happen when they invest in making rural areas as important as the city areas. As more young adults get olds, they often want to return to a simpler time in their lives. I hope that younger Japanese families take it upon themselves to move out of the city and focus on simpler living. The mechas will always exist. It will always be a meat grinder. You can look at historical text that shows most ancient civilizations larger cities usually had the same problems you listed of long hours and little pay. Good observation though. Also, Takashii-san is an incredible interviewer.
I was really expeting the older man to have different responses, but you can tell because of his travel experiences he really has an intelligent worldview. Really impressive to see some of the older generation in Japan with an open mind. Side note: Anyone looking to do an interview w/me in Osaka?
I actually disagree with him. I think the Japanese circle should extend and people should be more open to having grandparents raise the kids while parents work. So the tight knit community is actually essential. The reason India, for one, is growing is because it's acceptable to live in your parents'house after marriage and have them raise the really young kids if you both work. At all income levels.
being an educated Japanese boomer he probably has not lived in areas/times in the US and Germany that were hit hardest by "diversity", likely he lived in nicer/whiter areas. Most of the West has demographically changed significantly just over the last 2 decades, there are places in Germany that were Germany in the 90's that are majority foreign today
I heard that working lots of hours in Japan even when there is no work to do, is a thing. No one can raise a family like that. People wouldn't have the time and energy to have kids. If that is the case, the culture would have to drastically change to allow people live some sort of life other than sacrificing their lives to a company.
My experience doing business in Japan was long ago in the early 1990s, but I sure noticed that the professionals I worked with put in extreme hours at work, but often the time was not effectively used. Massive meetings with three times more participants than a similar meeting in the US. Subordinates spending lots of time trying to guess what the bosses wanted rather than getting clear direction. Offices with everyone sitting in cramped spaces so they couldn't think or be efficient (many US companies have adopted this bad idea since then). In the 1990s Japan was top dog in electronics design and manufacturing, top dog in automobiles and so on. Now Japan isn't the leader in ANY industry. Sad to see.
@@SpoiledBadgerMilk Anime is doing well, but it is a fairly small niche. Toyota has lost a lot of market share to Hyundai/Kia and now to Tesla. Toyota was the eco-car leader, but now is scrambling to catch up on electric cars. Meanwhile, Japan once led in all consumer electronics categories, semiconductors, laptop computers and photography. Today they have been completely pushed out of the cell phone market, and cell phones have gobbled up all of what used to be separate devices (phones, cameras, videocameras, hand held games, CB radio, tape recorders, etc.).
@johnhorner5711 have you seen Toyota sells. Or sony's sells for their camera division. Their tvs are toe to toe with likes of samsung and lg. You don't have to sell the most to be the best. Kia and Hyundai suck ass. Kia you can use your key phob to start another person's car. Hyundai are easy to car jack. Toyota doesn't want to invest in all electric because japanese are not stupid. Electric cars produce the same of co2 its just transported to the power station instead of the tail pipe. Are highly toxic for the environment to make and takes over 30,000 gallons of water min to put a car battery fire out. Toyota has the right idea hydrogen powerd cars are the real future. Plus any car today can be modified to run hydrogen. Plus you can get rid of catalytic converters evap canisters and the married of censors and computer that have made cars so expensive.
I think the older interviewer makes a strong point about having more social services for learning the language. The reality of the situation is that if you are not near fluent you cannot survive in Japan. I have been here for a year and a half and only have found a handful of "free options" however even these options are difficult to access. Its not like Japanese is really spoken outside of Japan, and not enough Japanese speak English in the business world. Even my friends in language schools have not progressed enough to find jobs in their fields. Language schools are not affordable / have small success rates it seems
I won't go there simply because of the cultural difference between mine and theirs. I imagine they might perceive me as underclass or foolish because I'm not highly educated and make too many mistakes. The language barrier is the tip of the iceberg.
he understand bc he said he lived in USA and Germany and he really went out of his comfort zone unlike other who only stayed in they own bubble and never learn
The West has just as bad a problem of declining birthrates. It just steals and braindrains other countries for migrants and workers so it helps it mitigate it.
I lived in Japan for six years and while I love the country, I do think its a country stuck in cultural stagnancy. Its work culture is relentless, its social culture is so regimented as to be stunted and its cultural adherence to societal harmony has become an silent excuse to ignore widespread problems.
its interesting seeing the difference between my country, Canada, and Japanese attitudes toward immigration. Canada faced similar concerns of a declining young workforce and now brings in 300,000 - 500,000 immigrants a year. My perception of the attitude here is that many people are against bringing more immigrants now because the cost of living has increased greatly, and infrastructure cannot support the surge in population.
mass migration is never the answer because it isn't fixing the fundamental problems. If people aren't having as many children because housing has got too expensive and salaries can't keep up, then bringing in more people will only make the issue worse, but add its own problems. Instead, they should focus on population stability - not growth, not decline. That should be the end goal for all countries. Not continuous growth. And they should do this with social policies like maternity leave / support, child benefits etc - so that people can afford to have children.
Migration is the cheapest and laziest way for the rich. Why? look at migration is not a top average country. Because the USA, Canada, England collects the cream. the best of the best. Look at Greece, Russia and other countries. Russia is especially interesting now because they suffer from a shortage of population and admit a lot of migrants. Look at what this translates into. Christianity becomes Islam and the stabbing begins. If you think that when there are more than 50% of migrants, the government and the police will control everything, this is not the case. she will let blood and acresia spill so that the cauldron does not break. And then the moment will come when the migrant will end. Already, more than 50 countries need migrants. and the countries where the most people are born are 20-30. We will have a war for migrants as colonies. We're going to have a water war. But everything will be quiet. How is the war in Israel now? Will Japan be able to participate in this race? I don't think so. after all, migrants are often poor, cheap people. And in Asia, everything is very bad (they don't like China) and India and other Indochina have strong relationship problems. Imagine that the Japanese police will start beating 5 people and they will do little. It will be a reality. You see this a lot in the United States.
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
This is a growing world wide issue. Its hard enough to support yourself. Harder to support another. You get older and maybe you can support a child. Unless you get lucky through circumstance, kids are a huge risk and responsibility. If you have kids you want them to have at least a better life or experience than you did.
“Better life” = easier, more comfortable, more conveniences, materially wealthier = worse life. Very few people want their kids to have the necessary hardships and challenges that forge competent adults.
Strange that in this era of plenty, where we have more technology than ever, people struggle so hard just to get by. Having children anywhere in the globe becomes more difficult in times such as these.
@McShag420 Unfortunately. The pandemic made it worse. World events are making it worse. In many places minimum wage is the norm. You can waste time and money on a 4 yr college degree and make at most double minimum wage, while there are jobs that you can do for similar pay without college. Everything is significantly more expensive. Finding work is harder, you need experience to get the jobs you want, but you cant get the experience because it is already a requirement for said jobs. So many problems, and additional negative circumstances only makes it tougher. So many problems in the world would disappear over night if people could more easily afford basic needs.
the older man said it perfectly and I saw it clearly while visiting Japan. Americans want to socialize and expand who they know while japanese people stick to themselves and have their group. It makes it very difficult to meet people in Japan along with the language barrier. Great interviews!
To be completely fair that is a very narrow view based on the people you've seen lots and lots of Americans are just like that too.... typically more in the rural areas. And by rural I don't mean necessarily low population areas, just outside the metro areas. Also rural americans rely more on family and less on the government not entirely so but it is the trend.... due to the type of society Japan has I think it would be better to build on thier strengths rather than to tear down the good things Japan has. So, strengthening the family reliance would be a good thing, enabling lower working hours, and increasing wages... would all be things that Japan should be working towards that would increase the birth rate.
@@UnDeAdSpRaYe Made plenty of friends, just harder to talk to people in the day to day. But Covid and language barrier had alot to do with it. Also everyone has different experiences so
That man is only speaking about stereotypes. As far as I observe, generally speaking, Americans are far more conservative sticking to their own groups, despite their society being multi-racial and they have plenty of chance to expand. Japanese want to expand yet their society is homogeneous, they do not have many chances unless they go out of Japan.
My wife and I both visited Japan a little over a month ago, and we both fell in love with the country and its people. We've both been very interested in Japan through food and anime for a long time so it was a dream come true to visit. One thing we did notice while we were there was a lack of young adults with children. Where we live, we're use to the sights and sounds of kids laughing and playing in the neighborhood or at the stores or park/public areas. That was something that was almost completely missing in all three cities we visited (Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo). It does make me sad to know there is a missing generation of future Japanese people to carry on it's beautiful culture. I've seen many videos of older craftsman and artisans that have carried on their crafts for generations, and there simply aren't enough younger people to fill in the gap. The only caveat to this is that HORDE of students that visited Kyoto while we were there. We happen to be there while many schools were having their end of year trips. Still, they were mostly middle and high school kids. I could count on one hand the amount of times we saw younger children. While I do think one solution is allowing more foreigners, I think also there needs to be a shift of the work culture that helps foster relationships outside of work relationships. There are many work culture things that just don't make sense in this day in age (staying late with the boss even if all your work is finished, having to go out for drinks with coworkers on a regular basis, needing to stay in the office even if you've completed all your work early, the NEED to have to work in the office, etc). It all makes it seem very inflexible for having a life outside of work. I've heard that long hours keep many people from being interested in investing time into romantic relationships. I think the fact that there are so many different ways of being with people that are unique to Japan (people rental services/maid cafes/host bars/etc.) is symptom of people not finding fulfilling relationships, so they find other (easier and quicker) ways of connecting with people.
It was a very long comment, thought I wouldn't read it, but happy I did.. you made it very complete, think it's a nice point of view. About artisans it's something that is getting lost everywhere I would say as people don't want to take over because of the nowadays circumstances and philosophy and the difficulty of that work too.
@@jeromeg.8461 also most youthful generations would rather reach for higher paying jobs, and seeking false lives though peoples social media often gives unnatural presures, simular with how porn has along with models and the expectations of working and using most of your money on high grade consumer products cause issues.
I completely agree. Especially considering that people in other countries like the us don't have such working conditions, so why would they want to move to and work in japan? If the work culture changes it will not only make it more accessible for foreigners looking to move to and work in japan, but it will also help the japanese population as well.
The solution to the problem would most likely mean a massive shift in Japanese culture which would change its identity. The things Japan is known for would get lost. That probably scares people. I’ve never been to Japan and i see how clean and friendly everyone is and i know that if they start opening their boarders that’s going to start dying. Look at Europe. They opened the floodgates to refuges and now it’s an absolute shithole. Rapes skyrocking, riots constant, murders up, etc. I believe Japan will start to decline into a bad place to live.
I'm from the USA and I know the cost of living is different, but even here it is very difficult to even afford to have child these days. With wages stagnating and the cost of living skyrocketing, the prospect of bringing a child into this world is very daunting to say the least. There were some great points brought up in this video. It seems many individuals want to focus on building their careers to gain more financial stability before considering parenthood. I think in general, the longer this decision is put on the back burner, the less likely people will be interested in having children all together. So that just compounds an already complex issue! All very interesting perspectives. Thanks for sharing!
As a father of two children...unless you are very well to do financially and mentally you're never 100% ready for a child. You have to work the child(ren) in if you really want one but it's totally worth the sacrifice imho.
thank you guys, it's so interesting for a westner to listen to you, it's so inspiring the manners that you have and the way you talk about things. I am from Italy, we are facing very similar issues purchase power reduced so much in the last 50 years such as birth rate and hope for a better future. I would not reccomend to import foreigners, but if you really have to please be carefull who you let in and yes to have a society we need shared rules. If you go to new york and los angeles you will see what extremist multi culturalism leads too: no rules and widespread insecurity of those who respect laws, actually laws are protecting criminals and punishing honest citizens. I would suggest to preserve your beautiful uniqueness, the world needs your contribution in the next centuries I really wish to visit Japan with a guide one day!!!
As someone that would be interested in moving to Japan, maybe the biggest issue would be the work culture. Having to stay long hours, even if you're done with your tasks, and then going out regularly with your colleagues, not taking your vacation days, just to look like a team player and not be forgotten when the possibility for promotion comes... It's no wonder infidelity rises when due to missing so many hours from home, couples get estranged and lose intimacy. Maybe that's starting to change a bit, and hopefully it will change more in the future.
Yes there should be maximum allowed working hours. And if working more need to be good extra pay. (That's how it is here, and that's how i also make good money with overtime and going abroad.)
I am also a Japanese youth. I personally feel that people having been born in Showa Era tend not to be as open-minded as the ones having been born in Heisei and Showa people tend to press their ways of thinking on youger generations and try not to listen to what younger people think. This tendency prevents Japanese society from developing, I think. The old man in the video who lived in America is quite exceptional.
That's curious. As I understand, Showa Japan underwent miraculous rapid transformation -- the whole population did an overnight unified 180, changed the entire country, and created the post-war Miracle. But you say Showa Japanese are resistant to change? I wonder whether either Meiji Restoration or the Economic Miracle would be possible in an ethnically mixed country. That's why as an American living in a country on the verge of race war, I don't lecture Japan on diversity. It makes me sick when I hear American progressives lecturing Japan on race when my country is about to re-elect the KKK Grand Dragon president to save 'White America' from the Great Replacement. My country was integrated by slavery, not by racial justice. It seems to me that Japan needs a New Miracle to survive. But please don't think the American way is the right way for Japan.
@Againsttransvestites I'm sure what I will say will make you angry, but whoever has influenced you online, Japan cannot allow those kind of influences. I hope @itsuhitokomura7607 can see that his country is doomed if they try to racially integrate while letting people scream about transgendered immigrants on Japanese social media. And the same goes for the BLM hustlers profiteering off of racial injustice. Japan cannot let trolls spread anti-Japan propaganda or anti-immigrant propaganda online while trying to integrate the country.
@@bokumo7063 If you come to Japan and talk with elderly people there (although many of them can't speak English), you will see how they are obsessed with Showas ways of thinking. Or you will see middle aged workers trying to force younger workers to work overtime without getting paid. Maybe Showa people are obsessed with their ways of thinking because they succeeded using those ways.
There is nothing special nor important about any group of people's "way of thinking", just because it's label a certain generation or culture or tradition or habit. Everybody is forced into the world without their consent and therefore their opinion is just as important as anyone else's. This is an Antinatalist Fact.@@itsuhitokomura7607
I love your channel. Thank you for making great content. When I visited Tokyo in January, I saw mothers with babies everywhere. I hope this means the population will grow again.
I follow another Japanese RUclipsr. He and his wife have three kids. He's mentioned that, because Japan's population skews older, political power lies with middle-aged and old people. The Government is thus more likely to respond to their needs and tends to neglect the needs of young families. He said that they are looking to relocate to a different country, in part because of some health challenges and in part to escape natural disasters, but also because he feels unsupported in his own country.
The US skews younger but the political class is very old so I’m not sure what the RUclipsr is saying is right. But regardless, what an awful situation modern politics are, people just take it for granted that it’s a game of us vs them so it’s incumbent on each of us to become part of a tribe and make sure its representatives get ahold of power. People just assume that it’s impossible for government to protect each and every one of us but instead it can only protect a single tribe at the expense (sacrifice) of others and since we don’t want to be sacrificed, it’s in our best interest to find a common enemy within us to offer up in the altar: the rich, the young, the elderly, etc. Sad.
@@kazuouaIt's not that the people in positions of power are old, but that the people who vote for them are old. So it's much easier to get voted into office in Japan if you cater to the needs of the elderly. In the United States a lot of politicians run on the "shit's too expensive for young people" platform and get voted in for it (even if they don't do anything about it).
Cost of living vs free time is crucial for building families. If the economy dont allow this balance then its close to impossible to have a family as a middle or lower income household. Work culture would need to change and respect workers free time and still pay well. Discussion about how to make new friends and have new relationship that the older gentleman touched on is also true and important. Japan and many other countries will need to face these things.
Feminism + contraception + environmental chemicals + "adult entertainment industry" + LGBTQ = extinction. The Amish, who avoid those things, have a high fertility rate. Most people blame the financial aspect, but that's the least of the problems.
@@MuslimMMA97 nice troll account bruh. You should leave them for longer so its not so obvious that's its a fresh account. It literally says joined 4 days ago lol
Not having a 10% consumption tax would greatly help with the cost of living in Japan. Governments will pursue every option, but cutting taxes, a large part of household budgets are tight.
Especially for a man in the US. If his wife decides to divorce, he can lose his kids, home, half or more of income, etc for the rest of his life. Only around 20% of marriages succeed in the US anymore...
It's hard, because it's two fold. While the economics behind having kids is already tough, because of sexual liberation everyone doesn't feel the need to stay loyal anymore. By the time people really want to settle down, it's essentially just too late because they wanted to only have experiences and not think about a future. Some would say it's not wrong to think that way--and I agree--but, only to a certain extent. There has to be a time when an adult just has to make decisions. THAT'S what I think is the real issue, no responsibility or avoidance of it.
Anyone can have kids right now but it's so many things, layers preventing them from doing so. Their own thoughts, actually dating, becoming a relationship, married, attempting to make kids. Each layer is a HUGE hurdle to overcome that many can't even overcome one layer much less all of them!
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
They’re planning to just continue decreasing unfortunately you can always live there I wouldn’t recommend anyone to reside in Japan anymore especially if you’re a foreigner going over there to commit useless crimes
The third older gentleman, was a surprise his thoughts and explanation was very interesting it would be great to hear more about. It's sad that in correlation with the decreasing population a lot of the care put into preserving Japanese culture also diminishes. As more and more people are leaving or unable to take on the job of caring for those things the loss of many beautiful and meaningful places continues.
My kid just turned 1 here. Been here 6 years without a single pay raise. With inflation it's impacting being able to save money and turning into a paycheck-to-paycheck situation. Many foreigners are at the mercy of recruiting companies for work, and those companies can be quite heartless and take a huge chunk for themselves, leaving you with the leftovers. And in my opinion, with the economy is as it is, it is more difficult to become a full time employee and have job security so my feeling is that while foreigners are needed, their ability to move up the ladder might be quite difficult.
Let’s be honest. Most foreigners in Japan are functionally illiterate. Imagine not being able to read and write at a junior high school level in English and expecting to advance in the workplace in an English speaking country. It took me 15 years of diligent study before I could get my teaching license from a Japanese university, but once I did my salary tripled and my benefits increased. I now have 40 paid holidays on top of national holidays and 2 days off a week. I also receive a severance package of $150,000 USD upon retirement. As far as inflation goes it’s worse in Canada, where I’m from. Speaking of Canada, home ownership is out of reach for the working class. The average cost of a home in Toronto is 1.2 million. The average cost of a home in Tokyo is $350,000. We bought our home in 2020 for $150,000. It’s a 3 bedroom home on a 1/4 acre lot 50 minutes from Ikebukuro, the heart of Tokyo. The same home would have cost 10 times that in Canada for the land alone.
Great insight yes but i don't think he's measuring where this is going to lead, the generation of the girl interviewed is going to watch their country disappear without being able to do anything about it, japan is not in the outro with a possible second episode it's at the final credit rolls, people just doesn't seem to fully admit or even realise that, maybe the shock of knowing you're really doomed is too much to handle for them.
I can relate to many of those thoughts as Germany sits in a similiar position. We have less kids because it is expensive, you work long hours and when you finally are off work you are too tired for kids. Life gets more expensive and tiring while the money you get for raising kids isnt much of a support. Our government tells us that foreign workers are the key but they open the borders for many people who do not in fact contribute to economy and also many people dont integrate well. I think some people do well and learn our language but also a lot dont and they even dont work here. So if Japan tries to grow it should carefully choose who should join their society. Some people are quite rude and dont have any manners, this will destabilize Japan and be a social burden
Open the doors to immigration, if not with highly selective methods, can be dangerous and lead to disorders and chaos like in France and most of Europe. Japan will lose his identity and safety.
Australia, USA, Singapore are amongst countries which don't have problems with immigrants because, like you suggested, those who were able to immigrate are top talents in their home country. These countries have this choice of choosing who to let in as foreign workers and who to reject because many people want to immigrate to these countries. Germany doesn't have this opportunity because it simply isn't an attractive land-contrary to the belief of many Germans who think everyone would love to move to Germany. The truth is Germany is not people's second or even third or fourth or fifth choice. That's why Germany is forced to let anyone in who meets the very bare minimum requirements and has been hoping that by allowing refugees from war torn countries in they will fill in the shortage of skilled labour forces because the situation is already getting very desperate there. Germany should focus on asking themselves why no foreign talents want to move there and improve on that. The same can be said about Japan but since they aren't keen on letting anyone in they will probably have it even worse.
Great insight yes but i don't think he's measuring where this is going to lead, the generation of the girl interviewed is going to watch their country disappear without being able to do anything about it, japan is not in the outro with a possible second episode it's at the final credit rolls, people just doesn't seem to fully admit or even realise that, maybe the shock of knowing you're really doomed is too much to handle for them.
Interesting the 2 girls @4:15 said that a TV shows promote that it's ok to not marry and not have children. The very existence of your country is in jeopardy and you take advice from mainstream media.
This makes me incredibly sad. I know Japan isn't all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows, but I always felt it would be a country that stood the test of time. The issue with not earning enough money to support oneself is a worldwide problem. People are having such a hard time supporting themselves that they can't even think of having children....
Japan eventually will learn to accept foreigners and become less racist. Overall, the world population is growing. So, decline of population of developed countries isn't a problem at all. Nothing to be sad about
The same problem exists in all developed countries that the incentives are set against having children. The expense of children is simply too high and the expectation that both parents hold full time careers just to scrape by in life makes having kids much too hard for many people to manage. They need to encourage the birth of additional children by making it economically beneficial for families to be larger.
Do you think its just because the lack of having money? even if I have enough money to get married and start a family I don't want to do it until I make sure there is an asset protection policy, because if my wife commits infidelity/cheats on me then she could just take half of my money easily
The 2 world biggest problems: cheats/divorce and abortion. When society will understand to listen to their partner (otherwise It leads to cheats/divorce) and when society will understand that abortion is a murder all the world will lead to the brightest future.
@@adrianong33Thats’s just your way of looking at it, which might or might not be the most common one. It’s almost 8mpossible to predict but it’s sorta safe to assume money and time are big problems. Especially in Japan with its declining economy, and overwork problems; aside from all the other problems like alcoholism, and elderly respect culture that contribute to the first points.
@@Luis-fd2bi Yeah but people keep saying its due to lack of money right? thats why japanese government keep giving money and baby bonuses, well here's the thing, I already have enough money but I won't get married. You know why? because i don't want to marry and get cheated on and lose it all in a divorce. Just giving more money is not going to work because people that already have enough money still does not want to marry and have kids because of it. Focus on the root problem.
In Brasil, it is very common for people to get marry and have children young, while also keeping their jobs and progressing on their careers. We usually take one or two years of "break" in order to raise the kid, then we let them with family members (most of the times retired grandpas or grandmas) or in caretakera during the week while we work and study, then in the weekends we get to be with our family and friends. I guess that could be a way to japanese people, specially woman, to raise a family while still taking care of work. However the work culture in japan is much more "extensive" than in Brasil, where people will rather take long vacations or focus on personal projects rather than spending hours in some company.
True. Same in NZ Parents have families but juggle the responsibilities and work as a couple to make it work. I think a lot of Japanese we fed the idea from their own country that it’s infeasible to work and have a family, that you can’t do both but it’s being down nearly everywhere else in the world, just not so much in Japan.
@@donii7092 they think like that because of their very long work hours. If you don't have time for yourself everyday, it would be very difficult to think about having a family. You'll always think you don't have time for it
@@Estheim We in NZ work very long hours too but our government has strong welfare benefits for growing and struggling families. I’d say the Japanese government was lacking in the family support side . They’ve only started their family support initiative so we’ll see over time how that works out for them
In the US, employers are intolerant of work history gaps. Feminism and gender quotas have opened up hiring for some (not all) returning mothers, but if a man leaves a good job for family duties he is locked out and labeled a loser.
@@Estheim Japan, from the videos i have been watching, has it really crazy,, once you are done working, and you have to show up early and leave late, you can be expected to go out to drink with your boss, whether you want to or not, or be labeled not a team player. so you are kind of stuck for all day from waking till you stumble in after the train, thats kind of uniquely intense. (honestly, i like my boss, but good grief that would be pure hell after i blew through every single conversation topic by the second day.)
I like how honest and close to me the most answers were. We all need stability in a good way to be sure that our children will have a decent life and education. 素晴らしいインタビューです、どもありがとうございます。
most of adults / old japanese Ive met were not really confortable having foreigners coming. When I was there lots of people were asking me why I was learning japanese because Ill have to go away. When I was saying I wouldn't mind staying, lots of japanese were unconfortable with the idea of myself staying
It is telling that the Japanese have a special word for anyone who is not Japanese "Gaijin". It translates to outsider but it is better translated to "mudblood" as in Harry Potter. There are societal changes needed that don't happen because supporting them can result in being made an outsider.
Like many places in Asia, I believe there is no ground in Japan to have a diverse community yet. Not only about the job vaccancies, but also the key values they stick to would be affected by the foreign cultures. Opposition against the immigration policies can be easily found in that case. But as the gentleman living in German before said, it is inevitable. And when there are more and more people choose to travel and settle in other countries, the idea of Japanese people would be changed, paying less attention to the 'tradition' or 'norms' which their parents stand to.
I'm japanese I wanted to get married until I was 25 or 26 after graduating from college. However, when I got a job, I learned that it was difficult to get a raise in salary. When I realized that I could not support my wife and children with this salary, I gave up on getting married. I'm 35 years old now, but I have no intention of getting married. I enjoy being alone.
I'm from Italy and here we are facing similar problems. The Italian proverb "Tutto il mondo è paese" can be translated as "The whole world is a small town": this proverb means that people, regardless of where they are from, tend to exhibit similar characteristics and I've never found this to be so much true as in these last years. The old and rich high-classes become ever richer while us, the young ones, will suffer the decline. It pains me that me and my fiance will most likely never be able to afford raising even a single child.
This topic makes me sad for Japan. I’ve been so fortunate to have traveled to Japan over the last 20 years a few times. There are so many wonderful things about Japan, and Japanese people. I agree though, the population shrinking so rapidly and the increased debt burden is a really bad combination for the future.
I was just in Osaka, Mie, Gunma & Tokyo. I saw lots of Japanese couples with babies and children. I just got back to California last night(hate the 12 hour flights). I also went to a few Kendo Dojos in Nara and I saw lots of young children and kendo parents holding babies during practice. So I don’t feel Japan population is in any danger. Looks well and flourishing!
Developed economies are working to squeeze every possible working hour out of their employees, and companies are looking to squeeze every last dollar out of consumers. Everything from rent, food, cars etc is vastly more expensive now than it was even 10 years ago, but wages have not changed much. This is all done in the name of greed to maximize profits, but ultimately will lead to economic collapse when there are no more consumers to perpetuate the economy since people can't afford, or do not have the time to have kids.
Yeah, but that's how developed economies got to be "developed economies." A lot of countries where the birthrate is only limited by famines, poverty-driven murders or civil wars never develop an economy that raises the standard of living for their would-be consumers. Often, 90% of the workers are agricultural workers in countries plagued with widespread starvation. Japan's highly developed economy produces way more than it's population can consume and thus has a lot of quality goods to export.
or wait 100 years later so the richest people in the world can only marry a few people, then distribute his wealth and decentralize the wealth of the richest people in the world. They wouldn't be 1% richest no more if they're the only people around. karma for inflation and government not helping and only lobbies the rich. Each are their own hero in their own story ~forgot the author.
Yes, this is what they WANT. They couldn't defeat Japan or the West with warfare, so they're using demographic and economic terrorism combined with state-sponsored Ethnic Cleansing rebranded in truly Orwellian terms as "Immigration".
Very interesting video! I’m from the US, Southern California to be exact. I see it happening here too. These are some things that I’ve personally been seeing: -A lot of women I know either say they want kids much later in life when they feel stable, or don’t want kids at all. -Things have gotten incredibly difficult and unstable, with skyrocketing costs and interest that constantly outpaces increases in income. People I know are more focused on themselves out of necessity and just trying to make it. -I also think social media has influenced a lot of people to focus on themselves in many ways and to have fun when they are young. They seem to be pretty satisfied with this and thinking they don’t need children to be happy. -Because of the difficulties we are facing, many people seem to have a pretty negative view of the future and don’t want to bring kids into it. -A lot of women around me in the 25-18 age range are incredibly awkward socially. I’m talking about intelligent, attractive, educated, well dressed women who oddly have very poor social skills. This is with other women and their friends as well. They say 1-2 things very briefly then abruptly end and have very long stretches of silence. People younger and older than this seem to better social skills. -More guys seem to be withdrawing from the real world and spending more time online. When I see these kind of guys socialize, it’s just with other guys and they are very awkward around women. -I hope no one is offended by this. It’s just what I’ve personally experienced through my interactions with friends, coworkers, girlfriends, family, people I interact with through work, etc. Others might have the exact opposite experience
@@gabhug9338 Exactly its all womens fault. Feminism and birth control became widespread in the 70s and ever since then we have women running around having sex with as many men as possible in their 20s and being too stupid to understand that the male attention disappears when they hit the wall. So then they turn 30 and the male attention dries up and suddenly they realize they have no eggs, nobody will marry them, they're going to be alone for decades until they die. Realizing that makes them literally go crazy and they have to be medicated and drink huge amounts of boxed wine just to function.
I’m a teacher and you’re totally on point. It’s the effects of helicopter parents, rising crime and kids growing up with social media all coming to fruition…
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
This is from a paper back in 2019 pre covid so i dont know how accurate it is currently, but projections probably havent changed much. it stated that by 2050, Japan's population will have lost a quarter of its population even counting new births. in 2019, japans population was something like 126mil. meaning roughly 94 mil by 2050. for perspective, thats almost the entire population of canada just dissapearing.
Not shocking enough. Although you present it well, for shock value. TL;DR It'll turn around. Maybe. No need to be too worried about it. Still some time left to change things, until 2050.
Societal collapse is imminent if women do not start prioritizing family over work and if men grow some balls and start relationships with intent to marry. That's not only in Japan. But South Korea, Germany, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, France, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Portugal etc. All of the West is collapsing and we only look at getting more money and material wealth.
People overreact to population decrease immensely. The only reason why a smaller population scares people is because the current economies we have right now are meant for a large number of people. They fail to understand that with a smaller population, the economy will eventually change to accommodate a smaller number of people. Plus, having less people on this earth is a good thing. Fewer people means fewer resources, fewer carbon emissions, and fewer conflicts between groups of people. Idk what the big deal is.
20 years ago I tried to work in Japan, but the policies made it impossible, even though I already spoke a little Japanese and had excellent credentials. Now I am 50 years old and of course to old for such a move, but the policies back then are now coming back to haunt Japan, such a wonderful country but at the back of the 90s the look into the future dimmed for politicians and the economy. The longer you wait to solve a problem, the more extreme the turn around has to become, 20 years ago with just a little more open politics could have helped Japan a lot in many ways.
You say that but Japan has done a decent job of preserving its homogeneity and cultural values. I don't think any other sizeable country has ever achieved that. Japan has repeatedly proven it can incorporate and innovate on foreign influences while retaining a core "Japaneseness" at the heart of everything it does. All of us who lived there have experienced the ugly parts - the xenophobia, the incessant bureaucracy - but that core identity it has preserved is the very thing that makes it the most fascinating, magical country in the world.
@@likearollingstone007 The most popular politicians in world are demagogues. Racism has long driven US presidential elections in the US. It's what makes conservatives popular. In other countries, it may be ethnic or religious hatred etc. Genderism is popular. Japan is no different than any where. If every one in world were same except eye color, it would be blue eye vs green eye vs brown eye people. Politically, the vast majority of people on earth are political sociopaths. They have very numbed consciences.
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I appreciate that none of the responders blamed "selfishness" or "self-absorption" for the decline in population. I think there are many, *many* other factors that influence whether a person wants/can afford to have children (intense work culture, one gender taking the brunt of the work over the other, soaring cost of living, quality of life, etc.). So many of the responders in this video came across as thoughtful and informed. Thank you for sharing.
Its definitely 100%, selfishness. Mofos in Korea we're having 5 children while in a famine and developed countries with all the wealth think they need even more wealth.
@@LarryBonson Exactly, does this person think our ancestors had It easy? Hell nah, they pushed through for the betterment of society, but these modern fools think their own life comes before the human race.
Good video transition from 9:33-9:34! Living in Canada my whole life with Taiwanese parents, I think one thing that could help the Japanese people (asides the wages) is maybe expanding their mindset, like the wise gentleman mentioned. I stayed in Malaysia 1 month for cancer treatment, but during that short time, I was キャパオーバー! Just seeing how things work in a different culture opened my eyes to different ways to do things in life. That's why seeing stubborn middle aged asian people around me change when they experience different cultures in Canada makes me believe that sometimes, all it takes is a little perspective shift!
Love this topic! I am very curious to know what Japanese people think of very pressing issues in their country. During my time abroad in Japan, I got to take a Japanese Culture class, where we learned a lot about the many issues in Japan. This is one issue in the Demographic Crisis in Japan. Do you think you could talk about the other parts of this issue? They are the aging population, population imbalance (everyone wants to go to the cities and away from the rural towns), and the stress on the welfare structure. When I was learning about these topics, I did not get to really get any Japanese opinions on topics like these. Would love to see more topics like this. Keep it up!
I think the reason why the birthrate in Japan is declining is because it could be work and life balance. Many Japanese people who are married sometimes prioritize work too much and tend to get divorced because of that. I think if we improve the work culture and time a little more, it’ll create more stability for families. If people have to work overtime, I think they should get paid more so then they can provide stability for their family a lot easier.
Recently, there have been many crimes committed by foreigners in Japan, and it seems that Japanese people discriminate against foreign men and use violence against them. But Japanese people are kind to foreign women.
I agree with you. When family life is prioritized on the same level as work we will see an increase in the birth rate. Why add more responsibilities and over time by having children when you are already working overtime at work. Getting home at 8-12pm every night. Who will take care of the kids if both parents are working?
Everyone was so well informed and gave great answers! As for accepting more foreigners, Japan first needs to address their issues with people who have already been living there for generations trying to get into Japanese society.
I was in Seoul in Feb and I saw a lady struggling to carry her luggage down the stairs in subway. I offered her help and carried her luggage a few meters. The lady was quite surprised and appreciated it and also told me that its very uncommon in Korea that a stranger do that.
@@waefawawrgaw2835well that kind of response explains exactly why it's uncommon. Apparently just being considerate of others and offering to help is "creepy".
@elphie2390 if you actually took the time to watch the whole video, and paid attention the whole way through, there was a comment made about sincerity in japan and how there is not enough of it
great interview. I'm a foreigner who has lived in Japan on-and-off since 2007. I've seen in the last 16 years that more foreigners are living here. This is nice to see. .. however, I have seen the decline in some manners from some foreigners who have moved here. It's a small thing but I feel like it's a bit of a shame. I hope that foreigners can adapt and give quality service and manners.
I think it will be a BIG issue. The difference between the Japanese manner of thinking (my burden/trouble cannot be society's issue) is so very different from that of the rest of the world that it will collide. In order to maintain that Japanese vision, I think the foreign newcomers will have to be policed very strictly. Because, sadly enoough, there are a lot of people / cultures that simply do not want to understand that you don't talk loudly in a train, throw your litter in the street,...just to name of a couple of easy examples.
It’s because too many people that move to Japan don’t want to be Japanese, but they expect everyone else to be so that the culture remains the same. Doesn’t work that way, though. You have to contribute to the kind of society you want to live in. Japan is a very specific kind of culture, and people love the country for that. But it will only be gradually watered down by immigrants who don’t want to be Japanese. And that happens when the immigrants go from wanting to live in Japan because they love it to wanting to go there for opportunity. These 20 year olds will be shocked when one day their country doesn’t feel like the place they grew up in while sit at home alone. But they will have been responsible.
I was literally looking through the comments to see if someone typed this befire I did. I sincerely hope Japan doesn't become ruined over the course. I've seen this happen in other places, in my travels to many countries, and it's so depressing.
The unfortunate thing is this is a downward spiral. Fewer young people means they will pay more in taxes to support social programs for more old people than previous generations were used to supporting. This in turn causes more young people to have even less children prolonging this cycle.
Yes, this is the main problem. Of course no one is going to address it in this way because it goes against the majority. Selfish people living off others.
Wonderful video. I would add that the issue with having a family and balancing expenses and debts are becoming almost impossible without government or federal assistance throughout the global theater. There is not a high enough incentive to have a family, and also, the inception of the internet and social media has created more introverted societies, and removed the old ways of engaging on a personal/physical level. Most of our young generations are growing up with TikTok vids and gaming, than outside chores and get togethers with friends.
They wont. Many countries will have this problem and they will NOT solve it. Look at the divorce rate. Look at what age most people marry. Look at body counts most females have (thats important) BEFORE they find "the one". Look at the infidelity rates in a marriage. Look at what now men are saying about marriage. More and more men no longer want to get married. Why would they? Too easy women who will do it for free, no ring, heck not even a dinner. Just come over.
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
Takashi-san I find your channel super interesting and thought provoking, really like your interview style, not aggressive and let people express their viewpoint. The elderly man had so much insight, unfortunately no one in power seems to be listening. Keep going - fantastic!!👏
Yes, that fading thing does give one the chills. Lived here 30 years and notice the difference. Love this kind of program very relatable and welcoming. If you need a 78 year old assistant, do let me know. Thanks.
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
I like how they are all too polite to answer :D Short and simple answer: "My salary doesn't allow me to have kids and even if it did in order to maintain my job I need to spend the majority of my time at work." That's it, people. People need a better salary and actual time to build their family. And you cannot do it without either of these things.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 What does Biden have to do with Japan? Or any other country in the world that faces the same issue? There is a world outside of America mate
Toxic work culture is an issue in Japan, I find that a lot of my friends who taught English in Japan love Japan, but could never adjust to work culture, cost of living in a major city, and the ostracized feeling of being a foreigner in Japan. Mind you, every country seems to be falling apart. Things are not looking too good here in the lucky country either.
I am really not sure if lack of money is the issue. Previous generations in many countries has way less money than us. My parents in PL earned aroun 1/20 (5%) of my current salary, yet it didn't stop them and many people in their sutuation from having kids. I'd rather say that the cause is a combination of: culture, conformity, accessible cotraception, lack of time (applies especially to Japan & highly taxed European countries) and fear (everyone tries to be a perfect parent this day and doesn't want to have kids if his house is too small, etc.)
@@sernik_z_rodzynkami Did you account for inflation when calculating your parents salary? Because just 20 years ago what my parents could buy for 10 euros and what I can buy for 10 euros are totally different things. In fact arguably in many countries the buying power of the currencies of that time compared to now is so different. That despite our salaries looking bigger in number, they are actually smaller in value.
"If the habitat is favorable, the cell will choose to reproduce. If its habitat is not sufficiently favorable or nurturing, the cell will choose immortality." I think this dialogue from the movie "Lucy 2014" applies to this phenomenon too. There is something wrong with our society that makes the youth choose to not or have fewer children. This is caused also because the youth are aware and tries to be smart on their life choice.
Except that is not true. The problem is the habitat being way too favorable actually. In places where the habitat is actually unfavorable(like extremely poor countries) it's where reproduction happens the most, because it's the easiest way to survive, and because sexuality is more valuable. In japan there is so much sexualization around you, and it's so easy to reach it that it loses it's value.
@@upsxace the people in poor countries are not aware that the environment in unfavorable. In biology, species are divided into r and K type of reproduction. Species that fall into the r side have as much offspring as possible, putting very little investment into each one. The vast majority of those offspring will die, and the rest will barely survive. K type species have very few offspring, putting intense effort and lots of investment into each one. Most of these offspring will survive to adulthood. Humans are the most K oriented species, and yet some humans tend towards r, when its a matter just trying to survive as those in the poorest countries. Other humans, those in more successful societies past the barely surviving stage, trend towards the most extreme K, so much so that it basically can reach 0 offspring. They want their offspring to have so much investment, and want to give them so much ability to do more than survive, it becomes almost impossible.
I think so too financially speaking it's not viable to rent somewhere affordable yet alone being able to afford to have kids. Many people don't want kids due to the cost and knowing they would not be able to do well by their kids if it means risking becoming homeless and having to choose between paying for utilities or food or rent. There needs to be a foundation of support to ensure that people are able to have kids as without it, it won't happen. Like going back to the 60s you can easily support a family of 3 kids or more on a single income of even a basic job like working in a supermarket as a cashier. Now it's not possible due to wages not matching and lagging significantly behind inflation. So the only way now to cut the slack is to gradually increase wages above inflation every year over time and create government support schemes that will make it economically a possibility to be able to afford children, be it through tax breaks, removal of VAT on children products, social housing for families, benefits given to kids. It's the finances that are what is wrong with society at the moment and with those changes highlighted above we will see more kids being born again. That requires at the very minimum the basics of housing, food, clothing, medical care, and utilities to not be a financial concern.
I think in a way both is right. There has been a widening gap between the level of general wealth in society and the expectations people have for their lives. While most people can’t complain, they simply want more, „yolo“. They don’t see kids as a integral part of their happiness, or they do much too late (when they might not be able to have kids anymore, especially women). I think individualism and hedonism plays a part in this, but on the other side also our financial system, which naturally and invariably increases the wealth gap between rich and poor over time. The effect is, some people never feel ready to have kids, and some (on the lower income range) objectively never will be.
@@upsxace Poorer countries have high birth rates because citizens there lack education and don't have access to basic contraceptives. Secondly, poorer people have different standards for raising kids. This is why even in developed countries with declining population, the poorer sections of society tend to have higher birth rates. Poor people don't care if their kid gets properly educated, fed or clothed. They don't care if the kids gets to enjoy a decent standard of living because they as parents don't enjoy a decent standard of living themselves. They don't care if their kids grow up to be responsible adults and do respectable jobs. In general, it's cheap to raise a kid when you think your responsibility ends with feeding the kid twice a day, and the system (aka govt) will take care of everything else. Unfortunately, middle class don't have that luxury because they neither have govt support nor can they sacrifice their standard of living.
I have a Friend who really wanted to live in Japan. He is well educated and he found well paid work. But the offices in Japan threw every rock in his way that they could to the point where he left again and went to Thailand where he was happily accepted. There he also found well payed work and has a Wife and Kids now.
THIS! This right here. Old Japanese were protected by the US and allowed to manipulate the Yen since we needed a bulwark in Asia against communism. Yet, old Japanese fools are deluded into thinking that they alone built Japan. BS! Old people's ways are killing Japan. Not sorry I left where I make so much more money in Vietnam where I have a much better life. Maybe retire in Japan, but I'll never work again for a Japanese outfit.
Hello Takashii, Alfie from the USA, in California. 9:24 I agree with her 100%! American's do have considerations and sincerities to the general public. But, I feel foreigners understanding Japanese Manners and mannnerisms is essential. Preserving Japanese way of life, I feel, is a very important, and that can only be done with foreigners adopting the Japanese way of life. That is what I am worried about, So many foreigners moving to Japan and then it is not Japan anymore. Is this not a worry among the Japanese people?
Takashi San, thank you for this video. It was very eye opening to see the Japanese people’s responses and thoughts. This problem is very concerning to me, even though I am a foreigner living in Japan with my family. I am hoping that Japan can fix this problem before it’s too late. Great video though. Great content.
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I would love to see Japan. The people seem very friendly extremely intelligent. I hope things are going well for them. I am in Nashville Tennessee in the USA
That was such an interesting interview, the interviewees were truly engaging unlike some other interviews I’ve watched before. I especially enjoyed listening to the older gentleman and his perspective on the subject. Great job, Takashii
Some very well thought out responses. Especially the first and third interviews. I have always had a desire to go to Japan. As a child I just loved learning about the country. I still hope to visit one day. Many countries are having the same issues with an ageing population due to lower birth rates. In New Zealand we faced the issue 30 odd years ago (I think as the Second Gentleman interviewed here mentioned, Japan is only now catching up and facing the same issue). We opened up immigration in a big way. It has its pros and cons. We tightened it up not too long ago. it’s such a complex issue and I don’t think we’ll ever go back to the high birth rates of the Boomer and even Gen X (my generation),.. and things like affording superannuation and caring for the older population will be an issue for some time longer… so we will need to ride things out until Gen X depart the mortal coil before things even out.
And keep in mind p Boomer boom birthrates happening because of loss of ww2 and massive development of medicine and industrialization around the world make people have more children than generation before and after them.
My husband and I are thinking about living in Japan. Trying out short term, but even thinking to stay long term. Something that is so hard for foreigners is securing a visa! My hope is that access to visas can become easier to obtain, but in the meanwhile for Japan to still hold onto their culture and history.
I'm having this issue too. I found a Japanese language school in Kyoto, so I can secure a visa for 2 yrs and work some (28hr weekly). I work remotely and would like to retain my job and income. Having a Japanese based job would secure a work visa, but it would also cut into my income and work freedom. I hope they implement a work aboard visa like several other countries have introduced. Lived in Japan briefly in Kyoto and Matsuyama and loved every second of it, everyone were so friendly, warm, and open.
If you are American, the easiest way is to join the military even as a nurse or a technician and they are allowed to be stationed in Japan. Your earrings won’t change and be paid in USD and can bring a spouse.
I know a family that had twins in Japan but, left because his children were being bullied so bad (mother is Japanese, father white/Latino). They didn't live in Tokyo, they lived somewhere in the countryside. He was shunned by the Community because he, the father was half Latino. I know this is a random case but, these problems do have lasting effects. I also feel for the mother, I can't imagine how she is feeling. Her own people won't recognize her children, nor her husband.
Being latina/latino in japan is especially hard. My mexican mother lived by the ports in mexico where there was many japanese merchant sailors (in her area she also had few jp transfer students in her schools, one she became friends with). My mother said the jp merchants treated mexicans very poorly since they looked down on them and tried to not let their kids interact anyone not jp. The comparison she gave me was how extreme white americans see/treat the chinese (production workers) and black people (abominations), which absolutely blew my mind. Her friend even got ported back to jp when her father found out she was friends with mexicans at her school. Not every japanese person is like this obviously, but there's a deep history. It was HUGE thing when Precure added in a latina girl as one of the precure members, considering all this.
no it makes sense. For them to discriminate is as natural as it was for, say, a white in the past to consider blacks as slave class. We just can't help it. Animal psychology (including humans) is about how to secure oneself, even at the cost of others. Therefore, with time, with some shooting/killing, with some matyrs, or in Japan's case, just the natural course of dying out of older generations for 2 to 3 generations, this discrimination will go away. This an speed up due to unforseeable circumstances, ofcourse.
@@liateapot2313 I'm Japanese, but most Japanese have never interact with Latin Americans in the first place, so we don't know anything about them. So we don't look at them favorably or negatively, so there are very few Japanese who look down on Latin Americans. Bullying can happen in Japan whether you are Japanese, Caucasian, or Asian, so it is unlikely that the kids were bullied because they were Latin Americans, especially since Japanese children would know nothing about a country on the other side of the globe.
@@liateapot2313 Wow. History really does shape a lot of a racial divides. I grew up in the South part of the US but, then moved up North. When, I moved to Washington I grew up with Latinos/Latinas. I made friends even if they didn't speak English but, I do realize that Americas are more forward that Japanese. It's just sad that the racial issues still persist.
Great interview! If the work culture became more efficient and less demanding, people would actually have some time for themselves or dating and be able to consider having kids. If nothing else, it would be nice to see the quality of life improve by addressing a major issue like that.
Japan ranks 27th in the world for hours worked per annum. There's a reason Japan Rail cites the hour between 5~6pm as the busiest in train stations throughout Japan...That's when MOST people are returning home from work.
@@aeishthnyda people have no time to marry and have kids because they are too busy at work? that means they dont have enough money to begin with. But what about people like me who have enough money but still doesn't want to marry and have kids? You know why? fix your divorce laws first because i dont want to get married and then get cheated on and lose all my money in the divorce. Focus on the root problem.
Watching from Australia. A good solution to increase the birth rate would be to have more vacation leave, weekends off to socialise and for the government to give tax cuts/incentives for married people to have more children. Also, having a relaxing holiday at a place like Byron Bay, NSW. Lots of international tourists go there, it's a very relaxing place, which would help people get in the mood. 😊
Yeah that is one of their biggest issues. Their work life is brutal with extremely long hours and employers expecting you to do more than the job even requires. It's their own fault. Not to mention the people are so reserved that they don't often go out flirting and trying to date. Women are more independent so they don't even bother looking for a man and if they do, the man has to earn MORE than her so they get picky and choosy.
The problem is the best society that lends to having children is probably Sweden. And even they have very low birth rates. So clearly these things aren't the problem.
Poor people have the most children :), because they have more time or less options (which argument you prefer), so there's something to what you say. Modern societies has the issue with women working. If both sexes are working, who has time to raise a family? Both men and women working has just created issues, its created an increasing wealth gap, more consumerism, more resource intensive holidays (traveling overseas as opposed to your back yard), more food waste, more garbage, more plastic waste, etc...
@@시청용계정-c1c What's the percent of your elderly? last time I remember about japan, the population consists 69% of elderly, not might be too accurate but you get the point, in the next 20~30 years they all die off, then suddenly the population is like a city. Even if cost of living gets better by those times, kids wont be in the average working age in another 18 years.
I was stationed in Okinawa for 3 years with my wife. The prioritization of manners and organization in the culture was very impressive to me. It sucks to see Japan's population is declining. I really hope we can find a solution to this problem. Our world needs more people that prioritize positive values.
WHAT? The world already has more than 8 billion people, millions who live in poverty, disease, and illiteracy. AI and robotics are already rapidly replacing human workers. So, why the hell does already far too crowded Japan need more hungry mouths?
They're coming out of a period of subjugation. Hell, even their constitution was written by the US and specifically items were written in by a feminist Jewish lady that have been very destructive to their traditional families. The thing is that those susceptible to this stuff will not breed but those resistant to it will. Their children will then have children of their own and eventually, assuming they do not fall into the trap of immigration, they will rise stronger for going through that bottleneck.
10:44 NAILED IT! The last two interviewees nailed the issues excellently. That's root cause of many if not all major world problems: wealth inequality/imbalance. Working too much because the pay is so little, the cost of living is too high, which leaves less time for socializing, which drops business traffic at once typical social gathering places(outside of bars, and night clubs) social skills atrophy, communities diminish/isolate, economy suffers(which also has the bonus value of negatively affecting our collective ability to connect meaningfully with other humans). Overworking doesn't benefit civilians, nor doe it socially optimize opportunities to build bonds of friendship, nor romance, and creating a healthy family. Things can get better when the existence of life is not dominated living to work below cost of living jobs, so one can barely stave off the wolves of poverty and all its massive stresses.
"hat's root cause of many if not all major world problems: wealth inequality/imbalance." it's false. Wealth is going up, infant mortality is going down, everything is getting better. The real problem of poor countries is too high birth rate , too much corruption and a retrograde mentality with little inclination to study and work.
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japan have 100 million people, that's way too manyy
more populated than other countries, more than britain... except britain is diverse
it's gonna happen in america i blame the economy, dont worry it will get better someday
日本, you concentrated more on quality of work and you completely lost in quality of Life. In my genuine opinion, you guys are overloaded with work and high respect that you entirely lost family life. There are still chances however, the Government should have a very significant role to play. Introduce policy to get youngsters married by the age of 22 and reward people with every Child born with salary hikes. Atleast this would help to sought out cost of raising kids. Families with atleast 8 Children should be substantially rewarded by all means. Womenfolk should be made to give away their jobs as their health and contribution towards the family is far very important. They should be given salaries for maintaining their families especially at this hour of population crisis. As for men, Work timings should be reduced and Overtime should be abolished, so men can visit their family to have good time together. Stop late night parties and introduce healthy social gatherings build relationships and acquaintances. Also to add, concept of living in isolation should be done away. Provide for homeless people also, so that even they could contribute to the society and nation in a right way. A Nation is built by the its people. Build families Build the country. With utmost concern towards 日本 and 日本人。
The elder gentleman who lived in US and Germany for a good while shows how important being exposed to different cultures is when having an open mind. Classy おじいさん。
Well said. I like people that are willing to experience other cultures, and are open-minded. If there were more people like him, things would be different not just in Japan, but around the world too.
Omg ur here y no one plays duck hunt when lmao
The old guy's points were not on point and it seemed like he didn't know that Germany and even US are facing the same problems (more so Germany). Germany has some of the lowest birth rates in Europe even after allowing millions in mass immigration inside their country and the US is only staying afloat because of continuous mass immigration (illegal or not) and there are still a few strong religious communities where they have big families. But even the Us is under the replacement rate and that says a lot.
@@shonenjuriLeading to what end result exactly? Should the japanese vanish as well?
Hello Vars 👋
it's interesting how we are all facing similar issues regardless of where you are from. everything's getting expensive, wages aren't going up to help fight this, and as a result things like starting a family get pushed to the side because it's a struggle just to support yourself. Those same issues are happening in so many places around the world, I feel it here in the US.
@@k1_w3lmao stop with that old ass right-wing lie. There is plenty of evidence proving that America is a corporate owned hellscape. Big businesses have been proven to constantly price gouge ppl and are seeing record profits because of it. Inflation is something these industries hide behind as an excuse for their shady business practices. But go on ahead and blame a population that has absolutely no political power nor wealth.
@@k1_w3 disagree entirely. most of the jobs that immigrants are getting in the US are jobs that Americans aren't taking to begin with. The real issue is big corporations outsourcing jobs like manufacturing and tech support to other companies in foreign countries. it's not the people that immigrated here that are stealing jobs, its greedy corporations taking jobs away from the US because they can pay those in other countries less money.
@@k1_w3what farming? Landscaping? Lmao they do the work that Americans don’t want to do.
@@k1_w3 and home prices are skyrocketing because of more greedy corporations buying them up as investment pieces. look up who's buying all the real estate, it's investment firms and other Americans buying them up to rent or flip for profit. regular Americans can't afford homes because of greed from fellow citizens, not because of foreigners.
@@k1_w3in capitalistic theory it should even out because as immigrants enter "The West" there should be a similar flow of westerners going to Asia, Africa, etc... But these countries are not immigrant friendly. It's a one way funnel .
Admirable how Takashii asks questions. He gauges the vibe of the person first before asking the questions. He's like, "ah, this person thinks this way and perhaps I could lead the conversation more to this topic". Fascinating. Also chilling what the guy in the blue shirt said, "Japan will silently fade away over time".
That’s why I subscribe to this channel as opposed to other street interview channels. Dude’s actually a real journalist and keeps it light as opposed to constantly shilling something
exactly. I had to keep watching, he's an excellent interviewer
Well I agree with the silent part at least, went to Japan a few months ago and they are like dead quiet on the subways and trains. Not many people shout in the US either on those but it's definitely not quiet. And they don't take calls while walking, they would go to a really quiet corner, like around a vending machine, and talk there. Noise levels are much higher in public in the US.
All Countries will fade away over time. It is in the intermixing of migrants yet again. As the population grows and people migrate yet again. They begin a new mix of cultures. With the amount of people on this Planet it is very difficult to say any Nation is Whole in its citizenship. Most races have mixed race citizens already. Give it another 15 years. Most Countries will no longer be one Race.
I mean that just sounds like western countries slowly your countries identity slowly goes as you let more people in with different cultures, religions and ideas and such it doesnt have to be a bad thing will probably benefit us more in 50-100 years.
The idea that japan is slowly fading away saddens me a lot.
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
it is not fading away - populations go up and down. When it gets down to a good level it will go up again
they make everyone work 50-60 hour weeks, its so expensive, how can you raise a family?
Not true to majority. At the end of the day, It’s really just a matter of if you have the right partner and if they want kids or not.
@@ericyoung7930 no
That's most of America for you to
Sounds like Los Angeles lmao
How is Japan’s work life balance?
I think this isn’t just an issue in Japan, but a challenge faced by many developed countries.
Edit : Never expected I'd get that many comments! Thanks guys~
As a Japanese person myself, it seems to me like a lot of people here in Japan are pretty set against accepting immigrants from other countries. I get where they're coming from, but the problem is that they just say no without suggesting any alternatives...
I've heard that the reason Japan is singled out for their declining population is that they don't allow immigration as a "temporary bandage", unlike countries like the US and Canada. In other words, if it weren't for immigration, countries like the US and Canada would be in a similar situation. It looks like every developed country, whether or not they allowed large-scale immigration, will face the same inevitable problem of declining population and its economic consequences in due time.
Agree,Japan was 10 year ahead both bad and good that will happened to all fully developed country
Japan's consequences will come faster than the rest of the West because it started a decade or two earlier.
While true, Japan's issue in isolation is much worse because of their prioritization of the elderly and the workforce culture. It is similar to South Korea's woes.
@@ImGonnaFudgeThatFish Thankfully minimum wage and employee pay in SK is going up, and work prioritization is being focused more on young workers now. JP has been having issues with overworking, employee benefits, and pay much more than other countries do so it's in a even tighter spot, especially since there seems to be little change.
The third interviewer, the old man that lived abroad, was very, very analytical. I liked his opinion the most. Very on point, he basically summarized the Japanese scenario, which is shared by a lot of developed countries.
I just wanted to comment the same. The third man seems like a very wise person to me. If he gives you advice, you better take it
Experience is valuable I guess
The two young girls are stupidly naive----
They all say money, economy...yet..all of them were born and raised, many since 2000s, 125M people live there.
But yes, its in decline. if I were to believe wikipedia, 2020 consensus showed 1.3M people more than 2022...weird
@ancientslav4863 I'm no expert on the matter but I believe folks are confusing birth rate with population. The birth rate in Japan is going down, not the total number of people. The concern is being addressed now before there is an actual decline in population.
As a foreigner living in Japan for over 15 years, I just want to tell you to keep doing what you are doing. You are an excellent young journalist seeking the truth, and from what I have seen of your videos, you are spot on, as are the wonderful Japanese people you interview. They are open to new ideas, especially changing the immigration laws, which will bring Japan back again. Insular countries have much difficulty these days because the world has become so small. Many in my country don't understand how important immigration is to its success. I appreciate the Japanese culture, but change is also necessary for growth. Listen to your youth, but also, to wiser, open minded elder men like the one you just interviewed. Gambatte Kudasai!
The older gentleman with the glasses is so wise, he nailed each question with intelligent well thought out answers.
Well he is Asian
He spent 18 years abroad, he has a much wider world view than most people.
very true Mr. Rumpz @@zrumpz
HE KNOWS THAT GLOBALISATION IS INEVITABLE NOW THAT'S WHY 😇😇😇😇
He's parroting the western media talking points tbh, like someone who listened too much time to CCN. Its really sad to see the whole world going the Western way of decline.
This is one of my favorite videos of yours. You interviewed diverse people and they all did an excellent job of sharing their views. I studied about the population decline some in school and they all addressed the issue with their own thoughts.
Can you also share your thoughts about why this is happening and what kind of politics governments should follow to prevent this issue? (If it is a issue)
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
Around 5:30 something about the image of a young Japanese man interviewing an elderly Japanese man about the past and future of their country really struck me. Nice set of interviews overall, here. Also, I'm a bit late, but congrats on 1 million subs!
I really liked the old man's well-considered thoughts, but everyone else has good points too. A lot of people touched on "the economy" and, honestly, I think the last two guys were closest to hitting the mark. If you work so much that you don't get to form a strong emotional bond with your spouse you're less likely to have kids (this is also a big part of why infidelity is so high), and doubly so if you're too tired to even do anything because you work long hours six days a week. And on top of that you don't have the financial stability to make it easy to have kids, so why would you take that risk? I STRONGLY believe that if companies increased wages and decreased expected working hours, the birth rate would recover on it's own. The question is whether companies will actually do that or not, or if the government will step in to regulate it. The answer to both questions is "probably not", especially under the LDP.
The old man was rather nice. I was fearing some conservative views, but he was rooted in realism and pragmatism. I liked that.
@@teiman The old man wasn't a CEO of company so he's not as far gone mentally as any of those guys are. CEO's are filled with idea's about how they need to make "more money" and that their people "aren't working hard enough".
The company I work for makes 50 billion in profits after everything and everybody is paid for and they still have the insane idea they aren't making enough money. Obviously, company should be profitable but they don't need to be that profitable and if they are they should be investing that return into better working conditions as well as starting side projects that can help their employees out.
Japan seems so fixated on this world power they hold. So fixated on making sure they dont lose that. Except they're causing themselves to lose that anyways as their own citizens dont want to birth more slaves.
Overwork is definitely a huge problem, especially in education. The schools are understaffed and a lot of my coworkers end up working 12 hour days because they just physically can't get everything done. They come in at 7, teach from 8-3: 30 with often only one period off for planning, then after school they have to supervise club activities until 6pm, and only then are they able to start grading papers, lesson planning, and tackling all of their admin responsibilities (including planning the school trip, sports days, field trips, professional development trainings, etc). Plus there's mandatory club practices on Saturday mornings, so the teachers have to be at school during the weekend as well. One of my coworkers goes in on Sundays too so she literally doesn't get a day off. There's recently been a push from above to reduce working hours, but without doing anything anything to reduce the work load, it just feels empty and tone deaf. It's framed as "time management" issue and just urges teachers to work more efficiently, ignoring the root cause
Weebbbb
Very interesting! I actually liked all their answers.
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
It is nice to hear this interview with a wide variety of people, young and old, male and female. Many "I asked Japanese people" type videos only ask people around 20 years old in Shibuya or Harajuku, which I think is biased.
yes, they would do that because they think that's what their audience will listen to. If there were no people eating animals, then there wouldn't animal killings. But outside Japan, since people don't know what Japanese elderly think, they do like to know what they have to say, thus there's demand for that outside Japan.
I agree that it makes his videos much more interesting than somr others. I do not object to interviewing pretty women once in a while, if they have something interesting to say. ;)
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
The conversation with the older gentlemen in blue rings very true to me. In my culture it's also a norm for boys not to help out and children never see their father do anything at home but my own father broke that trend with us. I often saw him doing chores, cooking etc...and we all had a timetable of chores both girls and boys. He considered these duties as a general life skill.
So I have the same opinion now that if you can't cook and clean after yourself, you are a bum
Yes - a man who can't look after himself or who CAN but expects other to serve him is a relic of a redundant past and is very unattractive compared to a man who steps up as a husband or father. Why would anyone with a healthy sense of self and an optimistic expectation of their life want to have kids with a bum, after all. I had a father who does the same and I see how happy my mum is that it's not something he's wanting a headpat for - he's just an adult and they are a partnership. It is normal to share workload in a family - and when men cook and clean they understand how relentless that work is so the contribution to running a home with young children is not underestimated or considered "natural". The couple is more likely to raise their children in a happy home under those circumstances.
@@RSmith-qd2uk exactly this
@@RSmith-qd2uk I would argue that was also a necessity of the time periods. Men sole existence was protection and hunting so it was more efficient to just focus on doing that all the time. If you split your training to also learn cooking and cleaning you can’t spend more time on learning tracks and the land which we take for granted these days. Women became hyper specialized in homesteading due to the fact that men were out doing that hunting thing to bring bag large game. These norms worked and gave people purpose plus we didnt have technology to even the odds. It’s just how things happened
probably because everyone on theres phones they just a picture then real life and dont know to make interactions like me just some person going to non responsive and dazed like some deer in the headlights and people have there so called standards of 6 feet like god dam you want to get pounded hard as some Japanese's mochi rice cake what ever they called the Dow stuff like well in the end this probably a good thing people are just chunks of flesh with an expiry date so well good luck be scrolling gen z brain just is something else parasitic
@@johnsmith-ol9qj I disagree somewhat with this. We know that in various cultures and through-out time, these roles where not so defined as that - so we can see it's never been a permanent state as your describing here. We're closer to the agricultural period than the hunting and gathering (the word "husband" comes from the idea of animal husbandry, if that gives you a clue to what women's place in that was then) - and even the hunting and gathering were not always split between the sexes necessarily. I don't agree that the normalised sex roles you describe "worked" as well as some would like to think, mostly because when women were liberated from these hyper-socialised roles and given the choice of more independent autonomy - rather than being a literal possession of either father, brother, husband or son - then they have tended to move away somewhat from those limited roles because they don't give enough of a "purpose" beyond the purpose of survival (e.g in marriage before woman had human rights in law). The challenge of the modern era is finding a balance where people have a purposeful life with personal freedom as well as a societal and personal benefit to having children and contributing to a balanced civilization, yet not being worked to the bone and having that justified as "working well" for the powers at the top of the power structure. I think a lot of the reason people are opting out of parenthood in more developed countries is that this life-choice has become a lot more of a personal risk within late-stage capitalism and there hasn't been a proper acknowledgement from most governments that women's free caring work (across all generations) is basically the backbone of much of the economy and should be rewarded and supported as such for our economy to continue to work healthily. There's still an expectation that "women's work" is natural and should be given freely and this isn't practical.
I want to thank you for your sincere work on letting us know more about the Japanese people, you're making a great service for Japan itself. I can't go to Japan to interview people and ask questions to them, but I can watch you doing it.
Other than that we can only have superficial thoughts with what other people say on the internet. I live among Japanese people in Canada and I just don't understand many things about them, at the same time it's so hard to approach and have a conversation with them, but now I go to your channel and start to understand the way they think and can decide on a better approach to connect to them. 有難うございます
as European I can tell you only one thing .. be very careful which foreigners you let into your country
Having a few rotten apples in a sack is inevitable. At the end of the day it's about seeing if the pros of having foreigners in your country outweigh the cons.
Exactly. Europe made the mistake and opened the borders. Now the foreigners generate even more costs and became a problem unsolvable with "humanistic" measures. Open borders arent the solution. Its just an easy way out for the elites, meaning they can continue to raise costs and prices to show growth on the stock market. Its all on the costs of the middle class in the end.
Yeah - you really don't want any brown ones, amiright????
@TheRealJohnHooper Don't want to be shamed - don't be racist. Simple.
As an European racist.
The feeling I’m getting from this video is “I want kids, but it’s become raising a family is expensive that it’s almost impossible to do so.”
As a society we have more then ever before but people seem to can't afford it. What a time we live in.
@@samraarvin because the standard of living has increased so the costs of raising a kid to have that standard of living is higher as well, sure if you only gave your kid the bare necessities it would prolly be affordable but that is def gonna make the kid resent you when they see other children living much better, the real problem is that money is accumulating to the top so the wealth and income gap is widening.
That's just an excuse. Even in shitty countries like Africa, people have children.
This is not a Japan issue, this is a world wide, mostly first world problem. You know who doesn't have this problem? 2nd and third world countries who breed uncontrollably and then expect foreign aid or illegaly immigrate to other country expecting handouts. The peoples of those nations can't afford to have children because we're all too busy taking care of some guy who has 15 wives and 30 children.
its the reality everywhere. kids cost money and as the cost to quality of life continues to escalate exponentially, the desire to have kids will shrink.
as a foreigner I never want Japan to fade away, the country as a whole is so dope from nature to just mannerism, but man the working lifestyle is just so damn brutal
nah itsa fairytale bout workhours. they work just as regular ppl 40 hours\week. just whinning much.
@Joe-no7gs I used to work in Silicon Valley. Ten years ago, I took a year-long contract and worked in Shinjuku. I never wanted to work in Japan again. We work a lot in the US but can plan our lives. Working until nine at night in Japan and then drinking with the boss is expected.
Don't describe a country as "dope" ffs
@@AbelMusaBitch tf? What's wrong with the word 'dope' when describing a country?
@@AbelMusa Dope is a popular, well-known expression. Sure it sounds a bit weird when talking about a country, but it still means what it means, which is positive. You can't control how people choose to express themselves.
The point about having a way to learn Japanese when living in Japan is a big one. As an American, a Japanese language tutor costs about $50 an hour. It's a complex language from an English speakers standpoint and requires a lot of class time. One of the biggest barriers to me was when I tried to learn was it just got too expensive and I didn't really see an avenue to immigration. As an engineer by trade, it wasn't a lack of jobs, but unless I had planned to do this since early college where I might have studied overseas I just couldn't find a pathway to make the move.
I love Japanese culture and would love to do more than just visit on travel, but bringing my professional skills over there seemed impossible.
There is no path to employment for my career either and I gave up, I just went to visit and that taught me everything I needed to know - I'm actually glad there was no path for my career choice for employment in Japan. Being stuck in a beautiful but lonely conformist hellscape where you'll never be a part of the community because your foreign-ness consistently sets you so far apart, is a reality I didn't need to live. Besides other countries are much more friendlier to work and career in and the work culture Isn't So torturous.
I'm Beyond glad my sister finally saw the light and is coming home, it saved me the trouble of having to move, career and live there just to be close to her and her children.
50 bucks per hour??? Why...? It's barely 25 here
tutor for what? Languages don't have complicated topics that need to be explained. Books and RUclips are more than enough to explain grammar and proper pronunciation. I think you're over complicating things. Use your smart phone to study alphabet and vocabulary. That alone will get you very far.
@Diablo-bb1nj I can get it for about $30 in group sessions of 8-16 people. Private is 50 same if private online. The distance to nearest tutor was 1 hour 15min so gas makes it about even.
Just watch tons of Anime. You will learn fast.
今回のトピックは非常に良い思います！親戚のおじさんも孤独死しましたし、先輩のお母さんも孤独死しました。深刻な問題だと思います❕だから連れ添いは 大事なんですよ！
without a companion life can be very lonely
One thing that is constantly on my mind is that no one would want to be the kind of parent who is never at home, and only goes home to sleep, because the children will be alone for the most part, it's kind of sad but, if anyone has experienced this in their childhood, I think it's one of the reasons they would not want to have kids. And since in Japan you are morally obligated to stay at work until superiors leave, and also go out with the members to drink, that is a lot of time that is not shared with the family. That is just sad.
Work life balance is still not a thing in Japan.
@@raipier you will note that americans get 2 wks of vacation and define themselves by their jobs. europeans get maybe twice as much if not more and scarcely ever define themselves by their occupations.
Yup. Planet is overpopulated. Evidence is in how hard it is to provide for all the needs of a modern child
woman with kids shouldnt work
@@Bbenkosky BS kids only need a samll wuantity of water n food compared to adult
I wanted you to ask a young mother what she thought! My Japanese friend in Japan, college educated in the USA & bilingual, did not "qualify" for daycare after her first baby and was unable to return to work (no daycare = no work! There is some sort of "point system" and their household had too many points). Her husband works long hours and 6-7 days a week and isn't available to help with the child or housework even though he wants to. On top of all the chores, she's making elaborate lunches and is required to fill out a daily "log" for her son before school. Basically she's always exhausted. Until Japan starts supporting women and employers start allowing women & men time off in the evenings and on weekends to help with family life- their birth rates will continue to sharply decline. Bringing in foreigners isn't the only solution, but there are so many cultural issues at play that there will not be an easy solution. Giving families more money might help a little, but a huge (and swift) culture shift is needed.
Countries have tried all kinds of incentives and none of it works. On the woman's side, a career makes them put marriage off until later or not prioritize it at all. On the men's side, they spend their younger years in freedom but struggle with women until they establish themselves in their 30s/early 40s. By this time, the married life can't compare to the single life and women panicking to find a husband before her eggs dry up can' compete with younger women.
No you exist to make other people rich. This is human society since the beginning of time. Yet you keep producing children to benefit the ruling class because?
cathy, in your own post you gave several answers to the problem, and they have nothing to do with "Japan starts supporting women and..."
Henry Thoreau said, "Sometimes experience means you've been doing it wrong longer." He was right.
Damn that’s crazy! Well there’s too many elderly people and they get everything first. If the govt would change that, then it might help
In Japan, there is a noticeable problem in society: it has evolved into a purely work-oriented society.
How can we expect average or low-income earners to dedicate enough time to their children, family, or reproduction when they have long working hours, minimal vacation time, and potentially social obligations towards their business partners and colleagues? The working hours are excessively long, and vacations are too short. While most Japanese people earn more compared to other countries, they also have higher expenses.
Personally, if I were in their shoes, I wouldn't feel inclined to consider having children either. In my opinion, only well-off individuals can afford to have children without much concern, as they can handle a parent being absent from work for a few weeks or months or even partially or fully devoting themselves to household duties for the family.
Furthermore, the immigration of foreigners will not significantly alleviate the situation.
It is necessary for there to be a change in the excessively intense work culture, which is far from promoting a healthy and social environment within Japanese society. Without reforms that prioritize leisure time and improved salaries, as an impartial observer, I unfortunately see little hope for Japan.
It's truly unfortunate because Japan possesses a fascinating culture and traditions.
Why do you think the birth rate in Finland, which is said to have the best work-life balance in the world, is lower than in Japan?
@@user-qm7jw Most likely similar to Sweden... We don't see the benefits of kids, we aren't told of it.. in my 40s i realize the value of having kids, wish i had em 15 years ago.. When you grow older you will be more and more lonely, i see it in my parents now arounds 70 yo.. friends pass on, no parents left and all they got is their pretty meager retirement and if they are lucky, they have kids and grandchildren.
The value in that cant be measured by much else.. 50 or 100 years back having kids was in a way to secure your elderly years from being miserable. A bit family can take care of you. Take care of the farm or livelyhood your family has. We don't have work anymore that we consider passing on to our children.. who tf wants to pass on a ordinary clerk job or a sec guard or a mailman job to their kids?
Finland probably has the same problem as Sweden, people are so comfy and will be comfy all their life until they die of old age, even without children. Why bother wasting so much of your life on children when you can spend it on yourself!?.. well thats what i think the mentality is anyway.
You can see it in that japanese girl on the right when he interviews the couple.
@@user-qm7jwno one wants to fuck in that freezing cold xD also Finland takes care of their elderly so people don't need kids to do it
@@Haz-Zzz My perception is this is driven mainly by women in the developed world. Women are more concerned about their independence than being mothers. In my experience most men still want children, the overwhelming majority I would say. Economic hurdles are obviously a concern but even couples that could afford kids don't want more than 1 or 2 at the most. Women never want to give up their professions even if they can completely afford to. At the end of the day as long as women don't view being a full-time mother as a worthwhile pursuit we will continue to see a massive decline in birthrates all across the developed world. It's a crisis not just in Japan but almost every first world country.
It may be a uninformed opinion, but I truly believe the prosperity of Japan is going to happen when they invest in making rural areas as important as the city areas. As more young adults get olds, they often want to return to a simpler time in their lives. I hope that younger Japanese families take it upon themselves to move out of the city and focus on simpler living. The mechas will always exist. It will always be a meat grinder.
You can look at historical text that shows most ancient civilizations larger cities usually had the same problems you listed of long hours and little pay. Good observation though. Also, Takashii-san is an incredible interviewer.
The gentleman at 4:45 has a lot of interesting things to say, i wish i could listen to him speak for hours.
You are a great interviewer, for real. Be proud of your ability to make any type of persona comfortable in your presence
A true professional 🤌
I was really expeting the older man to have different responses, but you can tell because of his travel experiences he really has an intelligent worldview. Really impressive to see some of the older generation in Japan with an open mind.
Side note: Anyone looking to do an interview w/me in Osaka?
which is really sad bc most would have these preconcieved ideas about the elderly, I only wish that curse fades away soon...
@@xeli3046 well i mean, elderly people don't have much time left...so naturally that curse will fade lol
I actually disagree with him. I think the Japanese circle should extend and people should be more open to having grandparents raise the kids while parents work. So the tight knit community is actually essential.
The reason India, for one, is growing is because it's acceptable to live in your parents'house after marriage and have them raise the really young kids if you both work. At all income levels.
being an educated Japanese boomer he probably has not lived in areas/times in the US and Germany that were hit hardest by "diversity", likely he lived in nicer/whiter areas. Most of the West has demographically changed significantly just over the last 2 decades, there are places in Germany that were Germany in the 90's that are majority foreign today
@_that_dam_baka_ hm, I get where you're getting at, though it's easier said than done. It depends on a lot of things.
I heard that working lots of hours in Japan even when there is no work to do, is a thing. No one can raise a family like that. People wouldn't have the time and energy to have kids. If that is the case, the culture would have to drastically change to allow people live some sort of life other than sacrificing their lives to a company.
My experience doing business in Japan was long ago in the early 1990s, but I sure noticed that the professionals I worked with put in extreme hours at work, but often the time was not effectively used. Massive meetings with three times more participants than a similar meeting in the US. Subordinates spending lots of time trying to guess what the bosses wanted rather than getting clear direction. Offices with everyone sitting in cramped spaces so they couldn't think or be efficient (many US companies have adopted this bad idea since then). In the 1990s Japan was top dog in electronics design and manufacturing, top dog in automobiles and so on. Now Japan isn't the leader in ANY industry. Sad to see.
@@johnhorner5711 Toyota still killing it. Anime is a huge industry. Their is loads of good industry in Japan.
@@SpoiledBadgerMilk China and Korea are making better quality manga than Japan. Japan better step up otherwise they will lose their throne.
@@SpoiledBadgerMilk Anime is doing well, but it is a fairly small niche. Toyota has lost a lot of market share to Hyundai/Kia and now to Tesla. Toyota was the eco-car leader, but now is scrambling to catch up on electric cars. Meanwhile, Japan once led in all consumer electronics categories, semiconductors, laptop computers and photography. Today they have been completely pushed out of the cell phone market, and cell phones have gobbled up all of what used to be separate devices (phones, cameras, videocameras, hand held games, CB radio, tape recorders, etc.).
@johnhorner5711 have you seen Toyota sells. Or sony's sells for their camera division. Their tvs are toe to toe with likes of samsung and lg. You don't have to sell the most to be the best. Kia and Hyundai suck ass. Kia you can use your key phob to start another person's car. Hyundai are easy to car jack. Toyota doesn't want to invest in all electric because japanese are not stupid. Electric cars produce the same of co2 its just transported to the power station instead of the tail pipe. Are highly toxic for the environment to make and takes over 30,000 gallons of water min to put a car battery fire out. Toyota has the right idea hydrogen powerd cars are the real future. Plus any car today can be modified to run hydrogen. Plus you can get rid of catalytic converters evap canisters and the married of censors and computer that have made cars so expensive.
Awesome video Takashi. thanks.
I think the older interviewer makes a strong point about having more social services for learning the language. The reality of the situation is that if you are not near fluent you cannot survive in Japan. I have been here for a year and a half and only have found a handful of "free options" however even these options are difficult to access. Its not like Japanese is really spoken outside of Japan, and not enough Japanese speak English in the business world.
Even my friends in language schools have not progressed enough to find jobs in their fields. Language schools are not affordable / have small success rates it seems
Didnt realize it was this big of an issue. Interesting stuff
Not sure how well Duolingo is developed for Japanese, but I felt it gave a really good grounding in Russian and Italian for me.
@@patrickbarks997 It's not that good. It's alright for vocabulary but grammar and such can be hit or miss.
@@77Friction Nobody speaks English, nor do they want to. Especially outside major cities.
I won't go there simply because of the cultural difference between mine and theirs. I imagine they might perceive me as underclass or foolish because I'm not highly educated and make too many mistakes. The language barrier is the tip of the iceberg.
The older gentleman was really impressive. He seems to not only care but also understand the issues very well. At least to this American he does. 🙏
he understand bc he said he lived in USA and Germany and he really went out of his comfort zone unlike other who only stayed in they own bubble and never learn
@@aaronton2703 because the USA is a sterling example of a cultured, well-mannered, orderly society /s
@@BOZ_11 well if he was living in Western Europe he would still end up with mindset that he is right now
@@aaronton2703 Europe has the same problem as Japan, except Japan is about a decade ahead on the falling population curve.
The West has just as bad a problem of declining birthrates.
It just steals and braindrains other countries for migrants and workers so it helps it mitigate it.
I lived in Japan for six years and while I love the country, I do think its a country stuck in cultural stagnancy. Its work culture is relentless, its social culture is so regimented as to be stunted and its cultural adherence to societal harmony has become an silent excuse to ignore widespread problems.
They are much how the British were in the 19th century.
So where did you move to? You find it better? Or you realize there is a different set of issues.
@@f430ferrari5 What does that have to do with Japan? I'm talking where I lived, not where I ended up.
@@stevenguitink5947 it’s just a simple question. Seems you’re having trouble answering?
@@f430ferrari5 nope. I just don’t see what my home country has to do with the topic of this video.
its interesting seeing the difference between my country, Canada, and Japanese attitudes toward immigration. Canada faced similar concerns of a declining young workforce and now brings in 300,000 - 500,000 immigrants a year. My perception of the attitude here is that many people are against bringing more immigrants now because the cost of living has increased greatly, and infrastructure cannot support the surge in population.
"Are you not culturally enriched?"
mass migration is never the answer because it isn't fixing the fundamental problems. If people aren't having as many children because housing has got too expensive and salaries can't keep up, then bringing in more people will only make the issue worse, but add its own problems.
Instead, they should focus on population stability - not growth, not decline. That should be the end goal for all countries. Not continuous growth. And they should do this with social policies like maternity leave / support, child benefits etc - so that people can afford to have children.
Migration is the cheapest and laziest way for the rich. Why? look at migration is not a top average country. Because the USA, Canada, England collects the cream. the best of the best. Look at Greece, Russia and other countries. Russia is especially interesting now because they suffer from a shortage of population and admit a lot of migrants. Look at what this translates into. Christianity becomes Islam and the stabbing begins. If you think that when there are more than 50% of migrants, the government and the police will control everything, this is not the case. she will let blood and acresia spill so that the cauldron does not break. And then the moment will come when the migrant will end. Already, more than 50 countries need migrants. and the countries where the most people are born are 20-30. We will have a war for migrants as colonies. We're going to have a water war. But everything will be quiet. How is the war in Israel now? Will Japan be able to participate in this race? I don't think so. after all, migrants are often poor, cheap people. And in Asia, everything is very bad (they don't like China) and India and other Indochina have strong relationship problems. Imagine that the Japanese police will start beating 5 people and they will do little. It will be a reality. You see this a lot in the United States.
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
Canada needs immigration that’s for sure but not in the way we see it today! And let’s be honest the housing crisis is real
This is a growing world wide issue. Its hard enough to support yourself. Harder to support another. You get older and maybe you can support a child. Unless you get lucky through circumstance, kids are a huge risk and responsibility. If you have kids you want them to have at least a better life or experience than you did.
That's exactly what I think and I couldn't express it in words better than you did; thanks!
“Better life” = easier, more comfortable, more conveniences, materially wealthier = worse life. Very few people want their kids to have the necessary hardships and challenges that forge competent adults.
Strange that in this era of plenty, where we have more technology than ever, people struggle so hard just to get by. Having children anywhere in the globe becomes more difficult in times such as these.
@@JHimminy I'm pretty sure that what most people mean by 'a better life' is being financially secure.
@McShag420 Unfortunately. The pandemic made it worse. World events are making it worse. In many places minimum wage is the norm. You can waste time and money on a 4 yr college degree and make at most double minimum wage, while there are jobs that you can do for similar pay without college. Everything is significantly more expensive. Finding work is harder, you need experience to get the jobs you want, but you cant get the experience because it is already a requirement for said jobs. So many problems, and additional negative circumstances only makes it tougher. So many problems in the world would disappear over night if people could more easily afford basic needs.
the older man said it perfectly and I saw it clearly while visiting Japan. Americans want to socialize and expand who they know while japanese people stick to themselves and have their group. It makes it very difficult to meet people in Japan along with the language barrier. Great interviews!
To be completely fair that is a very narrow view based on the people you've seen lots and lots of Americans are just like that too.... typically more in the rural areas. And by rural I don't mean necessarily low population areas, just outside the metro areas. Also rural americans rely more on family and less on the government not entirely so but it is the trend.... due to the type of society Japan has I think it would be better to build on thier strengths rather than to tear down the good things Japan has. So, strengthening the family reliance would be a good thing, enabling lower working hours, and increasing wages... would all be things that Japan should be working towards that would increase the birth rate.
not true. I lived there for two years and had many japanese friends. seems like you expect people to come to you
@@UnDeAdSpRaYe Made plenty of friends, just harder to talk to people in the day to day. But Covid and language barrier had alot to do with it. Also everyone has different experiences so
That man is only speaking about stereotypes. As far as I observe, generally speaking, Americans are far more conservative sticking to their own groups, despite their society being multi-racial and they have plenty of chance to expand. Japanese want to expand yet their society is homogeneous, they do not have many chances unless they go out of Japan.
@@UnDeAdSpRaYe I doubt you have real friends.
My wife and I both visited Japan a little over a month ago, and we both fell in love with the country and its people. We've both been very interested in Japan through food and anime for a long time so it was a dream come true to visit. One thing we did notice while we were there was a lack of young adults with children. Where we live, we're use to the sights and sounds of kids laughing and playing in the neighborhood or at the stores or park/public areas. That was something that was almost completely missing in all three cities we visited (Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo). It does make me sad to know there is a missing generation of future Japanese people to carry on it's beautiful culture. I've seen many videos of older craftsman and artisans that have carried on their crafts for generations, and there simply aren't enough younger people to fill in the gap. The only caveat to this is that HORDE of students that visited Kyoto while we were there. We happen to be there while many schools were having their end of year trips. Still, they were mostly middle and high school kids. I could count on one hand the amount of times we saw younger children.
While I do think one solution is allowing more foreigners, I think also there needs to be a shift of the work culture that helps foster relationships outside of work relationships. There are many work culture things that just don't make sense in this day in age (staying late with the boss even if all your work is finished, having to go out for drinks with coworkers on a regular basis, needing to stay in the office even if you've completed all your work early, the NEED to have to work in the office, etc). It all makes it seem very inflexible for having a life outside of work. I've heard that long hours keep many people from being interested in investing time into romantic relationships. I think the fact that there are so many different ways of being with people that are unique to Japan (people rental services/maid cafes/host bars/etc.) is symptom of people not finding fulfilling relationships, so they find other (easier and quicker) ways of connecting with people.
There are even breakup services
It was a very long comment, thought I wouldn't read it, but happy I did.. you made it very complete, think it's a nice point of view. About artisans it's something that is getting lost everywhere I would say as people don't want to take over because of the nowadays circumstances and philosophy and the difficulty of that work too.
@@jeromeg.8461 also most youthful generations would rather reach for higher paying jobs, and seeking false lives though peoples social media often gives unnatural presures, simular with how porn has along with models and the expectations of working and using most of your money on high grade consumer products cause issues.
Your paragraph should be talk to one of these guys videos
I completely agree. Especially considering that people in other countries like the us don't have such working conditions, so why would they want to move to and work in japan? If the work culture changes it will not only make it more accessible for foreigners looking to move to and work in japan, but it will also help the japanese population as well.
Keep up the good work! These are excellent interviews and quite thought provoking.
Great video. Very interesting to see and hear Japanese people discuss this issue. I want Japan to thrive and worried about the decline in population.
The solution to the problem would most likely mean a massive shift in Japanese culture which would change its identity. The things Japan is known for would get lost. That probably scares people.
I’ve never been to Japan and i see how clean and friendly everyone is and i know that if they start opening their boarders that’s going to start dying. Look at Europe. They opened the floodgates to refuges and now it’s an absolute shithole. Rapes skyrocking, riots constant, murders up, etc. I believe Japan will start to decline into a bad place to live.
The old man really make some really good points there. The interviews was very good all around. Keep up the good work, Takashi man! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm from the USA and I know the cost of living is different, but even here it is very difficult to even afford to have child these days. With wages stagnating and the cost of living skyrocketing, the prospect of bringing a child into this world is very daunting to say the least. There were some great points brought up in this video. It seems many individuals want to focus on building their careers to gain more financial stability before considering parenthood. I think in general, the longer this decision is put on the back burner, the less likely people will be interested in having children all together. So that just compounds an already complex issue! All very interesting perspectives. Thanks for sharing!
As a father of two children...unless you are very well to do financially and mentally you're never 100% ready for a child. You have to work the child(ren) in if you really want one but it's totally worth the sacrifice imho.
The govt is going to make us dependent on them that is why AI is the focus in so many of these tech companies
@@grQTbVMrZ True
thank you guys, it's so interesting for a westner to listen to you, it's so inspiring the manners that you have and the way you talk about things.
I am from Italy, we are facing very similar issues purchase power reduced so much in the last 50 years such as birth rate and hope for a better future.
I would not reccomend to import foreigners, but if you really have to please be carefull who you let in and yes to have a society we need shared rules. If you go to new york and los angeles you will see what extremist multi culturalism leads too: no rules and widespread insecurity of those who respect laws, actually laws are protecting criminals and punishing honest citizens.
I would suggest to preserve your beautiful uniqueness, the world needs your contribution in the next centuries
I really wish to visit Japan with a guide one day!!!
As someone that would be interested in moving to Japan, maybe the biggest issue would be the work culture. Having to stay long hours, even if you're done with your tasks, and then going out regularly with your colleagues, not taking your vacation days, just to look like a team player and not be forgotten when the possibility for promotion comes... It's no wonder infidelity rises when due to missing so many hours from home, couples get estranged and lose intimacy. Maybe that's starting to change a bit, and hopefully it will change more in the future.
Just go work for a foreign company and skip that bs
Yes there should be maximum allowed working hours. And if working more need to be good extra pay. (That's how it is here, and that's how i also make good money with overtime and going abroad.)
my two sons both live in japan and work for themselves , it is possible to be an independent entrepreneur in japan
@@lawrenceberman595 entrepreneur yes, independent no, because every sane business depends on quality relationships.
Dont come. we are full.
I am also a Japanese youth.
I personally feel that people having been born in Showa Era tend not to be as open-minded as the ones having been born in Heisei and Showa people tend to press their ways of thinking on youger generations and try not to listen to what younger people think. This tendency prevents Japanese society from developing, I think.
The old man in the video who lived in America is quite exceptional.
That's curious. As I understand, Showa Japan underwent miraculous rapid transformation -- the whole population did an overnight unified 180, changed the entire country, and created the post-war Miracle. But you say Showa Japanese are resistant to change?
I wonder whether either Meiji Restoration or the Economic Miracle would be possible in an ethnically mixed country. That's why as an American living in a country on the verge of race war, I don't lecture Japan on diversity. It makes me sick when I hear American progressives lecturing Japan on race when my country is about to re-elect the KKK Grand Dragon president to save 'White America' from the Great Replacement. My country was integrated by slavery, not by racial justice.
It seems to me that Japan needs a New Miracle to survive. But please don't think the American way is the right way for Japan.
@Againsttransvestites I'm sure what I will say will make you angry, but whoever has influenced you online, Japan cannot allow those kind of influences. I hope @itsuhitokomura7607 can see that his country is doomed if they try to racially integrate while letting people scream about transgendered immigrants on Japanese social media. And the same goes for the BLM hustlers profiteering off of racial injustice. Japan cannot let trolls spread anti-Japan propaganda or anti-immigrant propaganda online while trying to integrate the country.
@@bokumo7063
If you come to Japan and talk with elderly people there (although many of them can't speak English), you will see how they are obsessed with Showas ways of thinking.
Or you will see middle aged workers trying to force younger workers to work overtime without getting paid.
Maybe Showa people are obsessed with their ways of thinking because they succeeded using those ways.
Way to HYPOCRITICALLY attack American progressives when it is CUNTSERVATIVES who would re-elect a KKK Grand Dragon.@@bokumo7063
There is nothing special nor important about any group of people's "way of thinking", just because it's label a certain generation or culture or tradition or habit. Everybody is forced into the world without their consent and therefore their opinion is just as important as anyone else's. This is an Antinatalist Fact.@@itsuhitokomura7607
I love your channel. Thank you for making great content. When I visited Tokyo in January, I saw mothers with babies everywhere. I hope this means the population will grow again.
I follow another Japanese RUclipsr. He and his wife have three kids. He's mentioned that, because Japan's population skews older, political power lies with middle-aged and old people. The Government is thus more likely to respond to their needs and tends to neglect the needs of young families. He said that they are looking to relocate to a different country, in part because of some health challenges and in part to escape natural disasters, but also because he feels unsupported in his own country.
The US skews younger but the political class is very old so I’m not sure what the RUclipsr is saying is right.
But regardless, what an awful situation modern politics are, people just take it for granted that it’s a game of us vs them so it’s incumbent on each of us to become part of a tribe and make sure its representatives get ahold of power. People just assume that it’s impossible for government to protect each and every one of us but instead it can only protect a single tribe at the expense (sacrifice) of others and since we don’t want to be sacrificed, it’s in our best interest to find a common enemy within us to offer up in the altar: the rich, the young, the elderly, etc.
Sad.
@@kazuouaIt's not that the people in positions of power are old, but that the people who vote for them are old. So it's much easier to get voted into office in Japan if you cater to the needs of the elderly. In the United States a lot of politicians run on the "shit's too expensive for young people" platform and get voted in for it (even if they don't do anything about it).
@@kazuouait is literally the fault of rich people that the populations are declining, that’s why everyone said that the cost of living is too high.
Shogo?
@@SilverHawk214 Yes
Cost of living vs free time is crucial for building families. If the economy dont allow this balance then its close to impossible to have a family as a middle or lower income household.
Work culture would need to change and respect workers free time and still pay well.
Discussion about how to make new friends and have new relationship that the older gentleman touched on is also true and important.
Japan and many other countries will need to face these things.
its woman foult they dont want to be stay at home wifes
Feminism + contraception + environmental chemicals + "adult entertainment industry" + LGBTQ = extinction. The Amish, who avoid those things, have a high fertility rate. Most people blame the financial aspect, but that's the least of the problems.
@@MuslimMMA97 nice troll account bruh. You should leave them for longer so its not so obvious that's its a fresh account. It literally says joined 4 days ago lol
Not having a 10% consumption tax would greatly help with the cost of living in Japan. Governments will pursue every option, but cutting taxes, a large part of household budgets are tight.
@@Arazand so? im right,woman dont want to be stay at home wifes and leave the fun
It’s bad in the US too. Things you would expect to be in place for raising a family are being eroded. It’s a huge risk to have a child with someone.
Especially for a man in the US. If his wife decides to divorce, he can lose his kids, home, half or more of income, etc for the rest of his life. Only around 20% of marriages succeed in the US anymore...
a side effect of dating culture being toxic.
@@AarenYASS gotta get that child support
poor US man they need Jesus all people are just selfish people there
It's hard, because it's two fold. While the economics behind having kids is already tough, because of sexual liberation everyone doesn't feel the need to stay loyal anymore.
By the time people really want to settle down, it's essentially just too late because they wanted to only have experiences and not think about a future.
Some would say it's not wrong to think that way--and I agree--but, only to a certain extent. There has to be a time when an adult just has to make decisions. THAT'S what I think is the real issue, no responsibility or avoidance of it.
Anyone can have kids right now but it's so many things, layers preventing them from doing so.
Their own thoughts, actually dating, becoming a relationship, married, attempting to make kids.
Each layer is a HUGE hurdle to overcome that many can't even overcome one layer much less all of them!
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
I hope Japan can fix this problem because I'm genuinely fascinated by Japan and really respect their manners and culture.
They’re planning to just continue decreasing unfortunately you can always live there I wouldn’t recommend anyone to reside in Japan anymore especially if you’re a foreigner going over there to commit useless crimes
@@terrahwonnehHave you lived there? Know from experience?
they are over populated...and thats being fixed by the dieing off
Your comment makes no sense, whatsoever! 🤷♂@@terrahwonneh
The third older gentleman, was a surprise his thoughts and explanation was very interesting it would be great to hear more about.
It's sad that in correlation with the decreasing population a lot of the care put into preserving Japanese culture also diminishes. As more and more people are leaving or unable to take on the job of caring for those things the loss of many beautiful and meaningful places continues.
Takashi NEVER MISSES. Hits trending hot and obscure topics smoothly and to the point.
My kid just turned 1 here. Been here 6 years without a single pay raise. With inflation it's impacting being able to save money and turning into a paycheck-to-paycheck situation. Many foreigners are at the mercy of recruiting companies for work, and those companies can be quite heartless and take a huge chunk for themselves, leaving you with the leftovers. And in my opinion, with the economy is as it is, it is more difficult to become a full time employee and have job security so my feeling is that while foreigners are needed, their ability to move up the ladder might be quite difficult.
Let’s be honest. Most foreigners in Japan are functionally illiterate. Imagine not being able to read and write at a junior high school level in English and expecting to advance in the workplace in an English speaking country. It took me 15 years of diligent study before I could get my teaching license from a Japanese university, but once I did my salary tripled and my benefits increased. I now have 40 paid holidays on top of national holidays and 2 days off a week. I also receive a severance package of $150,000 USD upon retirement. As far as inflation goes it’s worse in Canada, where I’m from. Speaking of Canada, home ownership is out of reach for the working class. The average cost of a home in Toronto is 1.2 million. The average cost of a home in Tokyo is $350,000. We bought our home in 2020 for $150,000. It’s a 3 bedroom home on a 1/4 acre lot 50 minutes from Ikebukuro, the heart of Tokyo. The same home would have cost 10 times that in Canada for the land alone.
视频里的老先生对日本社会的现状和存在的问题有着清晰深刻的认识，这种做法非常值得每个人学习。当多数人都意识到问题的存在时，整个社会才有进步的可能。同时也感谢博主的精彩采访，希望你的频道越来越好！🎉
Great insight yes but i don't think he's measuring where this is going to lead, the generation of the girl interviewed is going to watch their country disappear without being able to do anything about it, japan is not in the outro with a possible second episode it's at the final credit rolls, people just doesn't seem to fully admit or even realise that, maybe the shock of knowing you're really doomed is too much to handle for them.
I can relate to many of those thoughts as Germany sits in a similiar position. We have less kids because it is expensive, you work long hours and when you finally are off work you are too tired for kids. Life gets more expensive and tiring while the money you get for raising kids isnt much of a support. Our government tells us that foreign workers are the key but they open the borders for many people who do not in fact contribute to economy and also many people dont integrate well. I think some people do well and learn our language but also a lot dont and they even dont work here. So if Japan tries to grow it should carefully choose who should join their society. Some people are quite rude and dont have any manners, this will destabilize Japan and be a social burden
Open the doors to immigration, if not with highly selective methods, can be dangerous and lead to disorders and chaos like in France and most of Europe. Japan will lose his identity and safety.
True
Australia, USA, Singapore are amongst countries which don't have problems with immigrants because, like you suggested, those who were able to immigrate are top talents in their home country. These countries have this choice of choosing who to let in as foreign workers and who to reject because many people want to immigrate to these countries.
Germany doesn't have this opportunity because it simply isn't an attractive land-contrary to the belief of many Germans who think everyone would love to move to Germany. The truth is Germany is not people's second or even third or fourth or fifth choice. That's why Germany is forced to let anyone in who meets the very bare minimum requirements and has been hoping that by allowing refugees from war torn countries in they will fill in the shortage of skilled labour forces because the situation is already getting very desperate there. Germany should focus on asking themselves why no foreign talents want to move there and improve on that. The same can be said about Japan but since they aren't keen on letting anyone in they will probably have it even worse.
I've heard that Germany will become Islamic in a few years. Good luck with that
Well people with proper education should be accepted unlike the illiterate Islamic refugees Europe accepts. There is a huge difference there.
the 3rd interview was really great. that guy has been all over and had really good insight
Great insight yes but i don't think he's measuring where this is going to lead, the generation of the girl interviewed is going to watch their country disappear without being able to do anything about it, japan is not in the outro with a possible second episode it's at the final credit rolls, people just doesn't seem to fully admit or even realise that, maybe the shock of knowing you're really doomed is too much to handle for them.
Interesting the 2 girls @4:15 said that a TV shows promote that it's ok to not marry and not have children.
The very existence of your country is in jeopardy and you take advice from mainstream media.
This makes me incredibly sad. I know Japan isn't all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows, but I always felt it would be a country that stood the test of time. The issue with not earning enough money to support oneself is a worldwide problem. People are having such a hard time supporting themselves that they can't even think of having children....
That's just an excuse. Even in shitty countries like Africa, people have children.
It's because of rent. And the Buy to Let loan.
And the buy to Let loan also drives up housing prices
Rich people benefit from covid the most. They have personal doctors and massive profit gain.,,
Japan eventually will learn to accept foreigners and become less racist. Overall, the world population is growing. So, decline of population of developed countries isn't a problem at all. Nothing to be sad about
The same problem exists in all developed countries that the incentives are set against having children. The expense of children is simply too high and the expectation that both parents hold full time careers just to scrape by in life makes having kids much too hard for many people to manage. They need to encourage the birth of additional children by making it economically beneficial for families to be larger.
Do you think its just because the lack of having money? even if I have enough money to get married and start a family I don't want to do it until I make sure there is an asset protection policy, because if my wife commits infidelity/cheats on me then she could just take half of my money easily
The 2 world biggest problems: cheats/divorce and abortion. When society will understand to listen to their partner (otherwise It leads to cheats/divorce) and when society will understand that abortion is a murder all the world will lead to the brightest future.
Paradoxically higher birth rates are characteristic of poorer economies. So probably if the Japanese economy declines, the birth rate will increase.
@@adrianong33Thats’s just your way of looking at it, which might or might not be the most common one. It’s almost 8mpossible to predict but it’s sorta safe to assume money and time are big problems. Especially in Japan with its declining economy, and overwork problems; aside from all the other problems like alcoholism, and elderly respect culture that contribute to the first points.
@@Luis-fd2bi Yeah but people keep saying its due to lack of money right? thats why japanese government keep giving money and baby bonuses, well here's the thing, I already have enough money but I won't get married. You know why? because i don't want to marry and get cheated on and lose it all in a divorce. Just giving more money is not going to work because people that already have enough money still does not want to marry and have kids because of it. Focus on the root problem.
In Brasil, it is very common for people to get marry and have children young, while also keeping their jobs and progressing on their careers. We usually take one or two years of "break" in order to raise the kid, then we let them with family members (most of the times retired grandpas or grandmas) or in caretakera during the week while we work and study, then in the weekends we get to be with our family and friends. I guess that could be a way to japanese people, specially woman, to raise a family while still taking care of work. However the work culture in japan is much more "extensive" than in Brasil, where people will rather take long vacations or focus on personal projects rather than spending hours in some company.
True. Same in NZ
Parents have families but juggle the responsibilities and work as a couple to make it work. I think a lot of Japanese we fed the idea from their own country that it’s infeasible to work and have a family, that you can’t do both but it’s being down nearly everywhere else in the world, just not so much in Japan.
@@donii7092 they think like that because of their very long work hours. If you don't have time for yourself everyday, it would be very difficult to think about having a family. You'll always think you don't have time for it
@@Estheim We in NZ work very long hours too but our government has strong welfare benefits for growing and struggling families. I’d say the Japanese government was lacking in the family support side . They’ve only started their family support initiative so we’ll see over time how that works out for them
In the US, employers are intolerant of work history gaps. Feminism and gender quotas have opened up hiring for some (not all) returning mothers, but if a man leaves a good job for family duties he is locked out and labeled a loser.
@@Estheim Japan, from the videos i have been watching, has it really crazy,, once you are done working, and you have to show up early and leave late, you can be expected to go out to drink with your boss, whether you want to or not, or be labeled not a team player. so you are kind of stuck for all day from waking till you stumble in after the train, thats kind of uniquely intense. (honestly, i like my boss, but good grief that would be pure hell after i blew through every single conversation topic by the second day.)
I like how honest and close to me the most answers were. We all need stability in a good way to be sure that our children will have a decent life and education. 素晴らしいインタビューです、どもありがとうございます。
most of adults / old japanese Ive met were not really confortable having foreigners coming. When I was there lots of people were asking me why I was learning japanese because Ill have to go away. When I was saying I wouldn't mind staying, lots of japanese were unconfortable with the idea of myself staying
It is telling that the Japanese have a special word for anyone who is not Japanese "Gaijin".
It translates to outsider but it is better translated to "mudblood" as in Harry Potter.
There are societal changes needed that don't happen because supporting them can result in being made an outsider.
Actually "Gaijin" is a short version of "Gaigokujin" wich means foreigner but some people use it as an isnult
Like many places in Asia, I believe there is no ground in Japan to have a diverse community yet. Not only about the job vaccancies, but also the key values they stick to would be affected by the foreign cultures. Opposition against the immigration policies can be easily found in that case. But as the gentleman living in German before said, it is inevitable. And when there are more and more people choose to travel and settle in other countries, the idea of Japanese people would be changed, paying less attention to the 'tradition' or 'norms' which their parents stand to.
Come on you imigrant. Other country same beacuse job. Economy.
@@MarcelSt Good to know but also sad.
I'm japanese
I wanted to get married until I was 25 or 26 after graduating from college.
However, when I got a job, I learned that it was difficult to get a raise in salary.
When I realized that I could not support my wife and children with this salary, I gave up on getting married.
I'm 35 years old now, but I have no intention of getting married. I enjoy being alone.
I'm from Italy and here we are facing similar problems. The Italian proverb "Tutto il mondo è paese" can be translated as "The whole world is a small town": this proverb means that people, regardless of where they are from, tend to exhibit similar characteristics and I've never found this to be so much true as in these last years. The old and rich high-classes become ever richer while us, the young ones, will suffer the decline. It pains me that me and my fiance will most likely never be able to afford raising even a single child.
_I am from india and i have money but no one want to marry me 😂😂__
AI is going to replace you and most others very soon, so you won't even have to worry about finding a job, just a good doorway or alley to live in.
Sad 😢
If you speak english, move somewhere else
This topic makes me sad for Japan. I’ve been so fortunate to have traveled to Japan over the last 20 years a few times. There are so many wonderful things about Japan, and Japanese people. I agree though, the population shrinking so rapidly and the increased debt burden is a really bad combination for the future.
I was just in Osaka, Mie, Gunma & Tokyo. I saw lots of Japanese couples with babies and children. I just got back to California last night(hate the 12 hour flights). I also went to a few Kendo Dojos in Nara and I saw lots of young children and kendo parents holding babies during practice. So I don’t feel Japan population is in any danger. Looks well and flourishing!
Developed economies are working to squeeze every possible working hour out of their employees, and companies are looking to squeeze every last dollar out of consumers. Everything from rent, food, cars etc is vastly more expensive now than it was even 10 years ago, but wages have not changed much. This is all done in the name of greed to maximize profits, but ultimately will lead to economic collapse when there are no more consumers to perpetuate the economy since people can't afford, or do not have the time to have kids.
There is also a very real dep 0 pulation agenda.
It's not just greed, it's political power to keep population enslaved to their ideologies.
Yeah, but that's how developed economies got to be "developed economies." A lot of countries where the birthrate is only limited by famines, poverty-driven murders or civil wars never develop an economy that raises the standard of living for their would-be consumers. Often, 90% of the workers are agricultural workers in countries plagued with widespread starvation. Japan's highly developed economy produces way more than it's population can consume and thus has a lot of quality goods to export.
or wait 100 years later so the richest people in the world can only marry a few people, then distribute his wealth and decentralize the wealth of the richest people in the world.
They wouldn't be 1% richest no more if they're the only people around.
karma for inflation and government not helping and only lobbies the rich.
Each are their own hero in their own story ~forgot the author.
Yes, this is what they WANT. They couldn't defeat Japan or the West with warfare, so they're using demographic and economic terrorism combined with state-sponsored Ethnic Cleansing rebranded in truly Orwellian terms as "Immigration".
Very interesting video! I’m from the US, Southern California to be exact. I see it happening here too. These are some things that I’ve personally been seeing:
-A lot of women I know either say they want kids much later in life when they feel stable, or don’t want kids at all.
-Things have gotten incredibly difficult and unstable, with skyrocketing costs and interest that constantly outpaces increases in income. People I know are more focused on themselves out of necessity and just trying to make it.
-I also think social media has influenced a lot of people to focus on themselves in many ways and to have fun when they are young. They seem to be pretty satisfied with this and thinking they don’t need children to be happy.
-Because of the difficulties we are facing, many people seem to have a pretty negative view of the future and don’t want to bring kids into it.
-A lot of women around me in the 25-18 age range are incredibly awkward socially. I’m talking about intelligent, attractive, educated, well dressed women who oddly have very poor social skills. This is with other women and their friends as well. They say 1-2 things very briefly then abruptly end and have very long stretches of silence. People younger and older than this seem to better social skills.
-More guys seem to be withdrawing from the real world and spending more time online. When I see these kind of guys socialize, it’s just with other guys and they are very awkward around women.
-I hope no one is offended by this. It’s just what I’ve personally experienced through my interactions with friends, coworkers, girlfriends, family, people I interact with through work, etc. Others might have the exact opposite experience
Where are these awkward girls hanging out man! NOT in Miami that's for sure.. Lol :(
@@gabhug9338 Exactly its all womens fault. Feminism and birth control became widespread in the 70s and ever since then we have women running around having sex with as many men as possible in their 20s and being too stupid to understand that the male attention disappears when they hit the wall. So then they turn 30 and the male attention dries up and suddenly they realize they have no eggs, nobody will marry them, they're going to be alone for decades until they die. Realizing that makes them literally go crazy and they have to be medicated and drink huge amounts of boxed wine just to function.
I’m a teacher and you’re totally on point. It’s the effects of helicopter parents, rising crime and kids growing up with social media all coming to fruition…
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
This is from a paper back in 2019 pre covid so i dont know how accurate it is currently, but projections probably havent changed much. it stated that by 2050, Japan's population will have lost a quarter of its population even counting new births. in 2019, japans population was something like 126mil. meaning roughly 94 mil by 2050. for perspective, thats almost the entire population of canada just dissapearing.
Not shocking enough.
Although you present it well, for shock value.
TL;DR
It'll turn around.
Maybe.
No need to be too worried about it.
Still some time left to change things, until 2050.
Societal collapse is imminent if women do not start prioritizing family over work and if men grow some balls and start relationships with intent to marry.
That's not only in Japan. But South Korea, Germany, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, France, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Portugal etc. All of the West is collapsing and we only look at getting more money and material wealth.
OMG Only 27 years time
What's wrong with some population decline besides an over abundance of old people? Aren't the consequences of overpopulation much worse?
People overreact to population decrease immensely.
The only reason why a smaller population scares people is because the current economies we have right now are meant for a large number of people. They fail to understand that with a smaller population, the economy will eventually change to accommodate a smaller number of people.
Plus, having less people on this earth is a good thing. Fewer people means fewer resources, fewer carbon emissions, and fewer conflicts between groups of people.
Idk what the big deal is.
Thank you for the Japanese subtitles. I use it for improving my Japanese comprehension.
🤣🤣🤣
20 years ago I tried to work in Japan, but the policies made it impossible, even though I already spoke a little Japanese and had excellent credentials. Now I am 50 years old and of course to old for such a move, but the policies back then are now coming back to haunt Japan, such a wonderful country but at the back of the 90s the look into the future dimmed for politicians and the economy. The longer you wait to solve a problem, the more extreme the turn around has to become, 20 years ago with just a little more open politics could have helped Japan a lot in many ways.
You say that but Japan has done a decent job of preserving its homogeneity and cultural values. I don't think any other sizeable country has ever achieved that. Japan has repeatedly proven it can incorporate and innovate on foreign influences while retaining a core "Japaneseness" at the heart of everything it does. All of us who lived there have experienced the ugly parts - the xenophobia, the incessant bureaucracy - but that core identity it has preserved is the very thing that makes it the most fascinating, magical country in the world.
@@hugoclarke3284 So basically you are admitting Japan has racist policies, and most probably racists themselves.
@@likearollingstone007 The most popular politicians in world are demagogues. Racism has long driven US presidential elections in the US. It's what makes conservatives popular. In other countries, it may be ethnic or religious hatred etc. Genderism is popular. Japan is no different than any where.
If every one in world were same except eye color, it would be blue eye vs green eye vs brown eye people. Politically, the vast majority of people on earth are political sociopaths. They have very numbed consciences.
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@@hugoclarke3284 That's nice and all, but won't help with the overaging and massive decline in birth rates. Compromises have to be made somewhere.
I appreciate that none of the responders blamed "selfishness" or "self-absorption" for the decline in population. I think there are many, *many* other factors that influence whether a person wants/can afford to have children (intense work culture, one gender taking the brunt of the work over the other, soaring cost of living, quality of life, etc.). So many of the responders in this video came across as thoughtful and informed. Thank you for sharing.
Its definitely 100%, selfishness.
Mofos in Korea we're having 5 children while in a famine and developed countries with all the wealth think they need even more wealth.
There's not many other factors the new generation is all about self.
@@LarryBonson Exactly, does this person think our ancestors had It easy? Hell nah, they pushed through for the betterment of society, but these modern fools think their own life comes before the human race.
@@LarryBonson Selfishness is exactly to bring more people in this terrible world.
@@godnyx117 please elaborate. There's no logic in this argument.
Thank you Takashii for sharing this video! Very informative! I have been reading about population decline in Japan,
Good video transition from 9:33-9:34!
Living in Canada my whole life with Taiwanese parents, I think one thing that could help the Japanese people (asides the wages) is maybe expanding their mindset, like the wise gentleman mentioned. I stayed in Malaysia 1 month for cancer treatment, but during that short time, I was キャパオーバー! Just seeing how things work in a different culture opened my eyes to different ways to do things in life. That's why seeing stubborn middle aged asian people around me change when they experience different cultures in Canada makes me believe that sometimes, all it takes is a little perspective shift!
Thank you Takashi for interviewing people of different ages, not just the very young. It's good to have different perspectives!
Love this topic! I am very curious to know what Japanese people think of very pressing issues in their country. During my time abroad in Japan, I got to take a Japanese Culture class, where we learned a lot about the many issues in Japan. This is one issue in the Demographic Crisis in Japan. Do you think you could talk about the other parts of this issue? They are the aging population, population imbalance (everyone wants to go to the cities and away from the rural towns), and the stress on the welfare structure. When I was learning about these topics, I did not get to really get any Japanese opinions on topics like these. Would love to see more topics like this. Keep it up!
I think the reason why the birthrate in Japan is declining is because it could be work and life balance. Many Japanese people who are married sometimes prioritize work too much and tend to get divorced because of that. I think if we improve the work culture and time a little more, it’ll create more stability for families. If people have to work overtime, I think they should get paid more so then they can provide stability for their family a lot easier.
Recently, there have been many crimes committed by foreigners in Japan, and it seems that Japanese people discriminate against foreign men and use violence against them.
But Japanese people are kind to foreign women.
@@vifcozeven likely foreign women are likely criminals?
I agree with you.
When family life is prioritized on the same level as work we will see an increase in the birth rate.
Why add more responsibilities and over time by having children when you are already working overtime at work. Getting home at 8-12pm every night. Who will take care of the kids if both parents are working?
The brith rate is similar in Italy, where they do not prioritize work.
Just wait till feminism reaches japan and you'll have ZERO kids anymore in the entire country.
Everyone was so well informed and gave great answers!
As for accepting more foreigners, Japan first needs to address their issues with people who have already been living there for generations trying to get into Japanese society.
I was in Seoul in Feb and I saw a lady struggling to carry her luggage down the stairs in subway. I offered her help and carried her luggage a few meters. The lady was quite surprised and appreciated it and also told me that its very uncommon in Korea that a stranger do that.
creep
@@waefawawrgaw2835well that kind of response explains exactly why it's uncommon. Apparently just being considerate of others and offering to help is "creepy".
Wtf does this have to do with Japans population crisis lmfao 🤣
@elphie2390 if you actually took the time to watch the whole video, and paid attention the whole way through, there was a comment made about sincerity in japan and how there is not enough of it
@@elphie2390 it does.
great interview.
I'm a foreigner who has lived in Japan on-and-off since 2007. I've seen in the last 16 years that more foreigners are living here. This is nice to see. .. however, I have seen the decline in some manners from some foreigners who have moved here.
It's a small thing but I feel like it's a bit of a shame. I hope that foreigners can adapt and give quality service and manners.
Yep. the sad thing is, the as more and more foreigners live in Japan, the very Japan that they were attracted to in the first place gets eroded.
I think it will be a BIG issue. The difference between the Japanese manner of thinking (my burden/trouble cannot be society's issue) is so very different from that of the rest of the world that it will collide. In order to maintain that Japanese vision, I think the foreign newcomers will have to be policed very strictly. Because, sadly enoough, there are a lot of people / cultures that simply do not want to understand that you don't talk loudly in a train, throw your litter in the street,...just to name of a couple of easy examples.
It’s because too many people that move to Japan don’t want to be Japanese, but they expect everyone else to be so that the culture remains the same. Doesn’t work that way, though. You have to contribute to the kind of society you want to live in.
Japan is a very specific kind of culture, and people love the country for that. But it will only be gradually watered down by immigrants who don’t want to be Japanese. And that happens when the immigrants go from wanting to live in Japan because they love it to wanting to go there for opportunity. These 20 year olds will be shocked when one day their country doesn’t feel like the place they grew up in while sit at home alone. But they will have been responsible.
I was literally looking through the comments to see if someone typed this befire I did. I sincerely hope Japan doesn't become ruined over the course. I've seen this happen in other places, in my travels to many countries, and it's so depressing.
Actually most of the foreigners with bad manners are merely tourists. They don't have residence visas.
The unfortunate thing is this is a downward spiral. Fewer young people means they will pay more in taxes to support social programs for more old people than previous generations were used to supporting. This in turn causes more young people to have even less children prolonging this cycle.
Yes, this is the main problem. Of course no one is going to address it in this way because it goes against the majority. Selfish people living off others.
The issue is that the government has been allowed to run a ponzi scheme (welfare system) robbing people of their valuable resources.
Im paying for social security that ill never receive
Wonderful video. I would add that the issue with having a family and balancing expenses and debts are becoming almost impossible without government or federal assistance throughout the global theater. There is not a high enough incentive to have a family, and also, the inception of the internet and social media has created more introverted societies, and removed the old ways of engaging on a personal/physical level. Most of our young generations are growing up with TikTok vids and gaming, than outside chores and get togethers with friends.
I hope Japan solves this problem. Beautiful country and culture. I hope you find a way to adjust some points.. Regards from Brazil🇧🇷
They wont. Many countries will have this problem and they will NOT solve it. Look at the divorce rate. Look at what age most people marry. Look at body counts most females have (thats important) BEFORE they find "the one". Look at the infidelity rates in a marriage. Look at what now men are saying about marriage. More and more men no longer want to get married. Why would they? Too easy women who will do it for free, no ring, heck not even a dinner. Just come over.
I just hope they won't do what western Europe has done and import people from third world to "fix the situation" and make it worse.
Not anytime soon, especially Japan. With modern real estate state kids are luxury.
Pergunta--Question---- Do Japanese Brazilians in Brazil.face same problems?
Japan is dead already. Government gives no fucks about population.
As a friend told me, and I agree, the lack of sufficient money compared to prices and work hours/free time are the greatest factors.
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
Takashi-san I find your channel super interesting and thought provoking, really like your interview style, not aggressive and let people express their viewpoint. The elderly man had so much insight, unfortunately no one in power seems to be listening. Keep going - fantastic!!👏
Yes, that fading thing does give one the chills. Lived here 30 years and notice the difference. Love this kind of program very relatable and welcoming. If you need a 78 year old assistant, do let me know. Thanks.
Why is everyone ignoring the most obvious fact? 75% of women are on birth control globally, this is the MAIN reason!!! Everyone blames reasons such as feminism (which is a reason too) along with inflation and people not having the money... but people forget that up until recently almost everyone in the world was incredibly poor and still had many children. Birth control is the number 1 issue in the world today. I'm a true supporter of inventions and technology, but if I could get rid of just one invention in human history it would be birth control. (Which can also cause permanent infertility issues in women)
I like how they are all too polite to answer :D
Short and simple answer: "My salary doesn't allow me to have kids and even if it did in order to maintain my job I need to spend the majority of my time at work."
That's it, people. People need a better salary and actual time to build their family. And you cannot do it without either of these things.
time and money, not what a ton of people have anymore.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 What does Biden have to do with Japan? Or any other country in the world that faces the same issue?
There is a world outside of America mate
Toxic work culture is an issue in Japan, I find that a lot of my friends who taught English in Japan love Japan, but could never adjust to work culture, cost of living in a major city, and the ostracized feeling of being a foreigner in Japan. Mind you, every country seems to be falling apart. Things are not looking too good here in the lucky country either.
I am really not sure if lack of money is the issue. Previous generations in many countries has way less money than us. My parents in PL earned aroun 1/20 (5%) of my current salary, yet it didn't stop them and many people in their sutuation from having kids.
I'd rather say that the cause is a combination of: culture, conformity, accessible cotraception, lack of time (applies especially to Japan & highly taxed European countries) and fear (everyone tries to be a perfect parent this day and doesn't want to have kids if his house is too small, etc.)
@@sernik_z_rodzynkami Did you account for inflation when calculating your parents salary? Because just 20 years ago what my parents could buy for 10 euros and what I can buy for 10 euros are totally different things. In fact arguably in many countries the buying power of the currencies of that time compared to now is so different. That despite our salaries looking bigger in number, they are actually smaller in value.
"If the habitat is favorable, the cell will choose to reproduce. If its habitat is not sufficiently favorable or nurturing, the cell will choose immortality." I think this dialogue from the movie "Lucy 2014" applies to this phenomenon too. There is something wrong with our society that makes the youth choose to not or have fewer children. This is caused also because the youth are aware and tries to be smart on their life choice.
Except that is not true. The problem is the habitat being way too favorable actually. In places where the habitat is actually unfavorable(like extremely poor countries) it's where reproduction happens the most, because it's the easiest way to survive, and because sexuality is more valuable. In japan there is so much sexualization around you, and it's so easy to reach it that it loses it's value.
@@upsxace the people in poor countries are not aware that the environment in unfavorable. In biology, species are divided into r and K type of reproduction. Species that fall into the r side have as much offspring as possible, putting very little investment into each one. The vast majority of those offspring will die, and the rest will barely survive. K type species have very few offspring, putting intense effort and lots of investment into each one. Most of these offspring will survive to adulthood. Humans are the most K oriented species, and yet some humans tend towards r, when its a matter just trying to survive as those in the poorest countries. Other humans, those in more successful societies past the barely surviving stage, trend towards the most extreme K, so much so that it basically can reach 0 offspring. They want their offspring to have so much investment, and want to give them so much ability to do more than survive, it becomes almost impossible.
I think so too financially speaking it's not viable to rent somewhere affordable yet alone being able to afford to have kids. Many people don't want kids due to the cost and knowing they would not be able to do well by their kids if it means risking becoming homeless and having to choose between paying for utilities or food or rent. There needs to be a foundation of support to ensure that people are able to have kids as without it, it won't happen.
Like going back to the 60s you can easily support a family of 3 kids or more on a single income of even a basic job like working in a supermarket as a cashier. Now it's not possible due to wages not matching and lagging significantly behind inflation. So the only way now to cut the slack is to gradually increase wages above inflation every year over time and create government support schemes that will make it economically a possibility to be able to afford children, be it through tax breaks, removal of VAT on children products, social housing for families, benefits given to kids.
It's the finances that are what is wrong with society at the moment and with those changes highlighted above we will see more kids being born again. That requires at the very minimum the basics of housing, food, clothing, medical care, and utilities to not be a financial concern.
I think in a way both is right. There has been a widening gap between the level of general wealth in society and the expectations people have for their lives. While most people can’t complain, they simply want more, „yolo“. They don’t see kids as a integral part of their happiness, or they do much too late (when they might not be able to have kids anymore, especially women). I think individualism and hedonism plays a part in this, but on the other side also our financial system, which naturally and invariably increases the wealth gap between rich and poor over time. The effect is, some people never feel ready to have kids, and some (on the lower income range) objectively never will be.
@@upsxace Poorer countries have high birth rates because citizens there lack education and don't have access to basic contraceptives. Secondly, poorer people have different standards for raising kids. This is why even in developed countries with declining population, the poorer sections of society tend to have higher birth rates. Poor people don't care if their kid gets properly educated, fed or clothed. They don't care if the kids gets to enjoy a decent standard of living because they as parents don't enjoy a decent standard of living themselves. They don't care if their kids grow up to be responsible adults and do respectable jobs. In general, it's cheap to raise a kid when you think your responsibility ends with feeding the kid twice a day, and the system (aka govt) will take care of everything else. Unfortunately, middle class don't have that luxury because they neither have govt support nor can they sacrifice their standard of living.
I have a Friend who really wanted to live in Japan. He is well educated and he found well paid work. But the offices in Japan threw every rock in his way that they could to the point where he left again and went to Thailand where he was happily accepted. There he also found well payed work and has a Wife and Kids now.
THIS! This right here. Old Japanese were protected by the US and allowed to manipulate the Yen since we needed a bulwark in Asia against communism. Yet, old Japanese fools are deluded into thinking that they alone built Japan. BS! Old people's ways are killing Japan. Not sorry I left where I make so much more money in Vietnam where I have a much better life. Maybe retire in Japan, but I'll never work again for a Japanese outfit.
That would happen to Osakans too if an Osakan works in a Tokyo-based company or similar one.
It's tough being foreigner in Japan, when i was a kid I want to live in Japan but not anymore 😂
Good. No one needs garbage outsiders. Go home.
Hello Takashii, Alfie from the USA, in California.
9:24 I agree with her 100%! American's do have considerations and sincerities to the general public. But, I feel foreigners understanding Japanese Manners and mannnerisms is essential. Preserving Japanese way of life, I feel, is a very important, and that can only be done with foreigners adopting the Japanese way of life.
That is what I am worried about, So many foreigners moving to Japan and then it is not Japan anymore. Is this not a worry among the Japanese people?
Takashi San, thank you for this video. It was very eye opening to see the Japanese people’s responses and thoughts. This problem is very concerning to me, even though I am a foreigner living in Japan with my family. I am hoping that Japan can fix this problem before it’s too late. Great video though. Great content.
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I would love to see Japan. The people seem very friendly extremely intelligent. I hope things are going well for them. I am in Nashville Tennessee in the USA
That was such an interesting interview, the interviewees were truly engaging unlike some other interviews I’ve watched before. I especially enjoyed listening to the older gentleman and his perspective on the subject. Great job, Takashii
Some very well thought out responses. Especially the first and third interviews. I have always had a desire to go to Japan. As a child I just loved learning about the country. I still hope to visit one day.
Many countries are having the same issues with an ageing population due to lower birth rates. In New Zealand we faced the issue 30 odd years ago (I think as the Second Gentleman interviewed here mentioned, Japan is only now catching up and facing the same issue). We opened up immigration in a big way. It has its pros and cons. We tightened it up not too long ago. it’s such a complex issue and I don’t think we’ll ever go back to the high birth rates of the Boomer and even Gen X (my generation),.. and things like affording superannuation and caring for the older population will be an issue for some time longer… so we will need to ride things out until Gen X depart the mortal coil before things even out.
And keep in mind p
Boomer boom birthrates happening because of loss of ww2 and massive development of medicine and industrialization around the world make people have more children than generation before and after them.
Thank you for your efforts, I am writing to you from Turkey and I am a RUclipsr in Turkey.
My husband and I are thinking about living in Japan. Trying out short term, but even thinking to stay long term. Something that is so hard for foreigners is securing a visa! My hope is that access to visas can become easier to obtain, but in the meanwhile for Japan to still hold onto their culture and history.
When you find a job in Japan, your boss would handle your visa
@@blume0121nd everything else. Bosses are so kind in Japan they help you get a foot into your very own grave. 😅
I'm having this issue too. I found a Japanese language school in Kyoto, so I can secure a visa for 2 yrs and work some (28hr weekly). I work remotely and would like to retain my job and income. Having a Japanese based job would secure a work visa, but it would also cut into my income and work freedom. I hope they implement a work aboard visa like several other countries have introduced. Lived in Japan briefly in Kyoto and Matsuyama and loved every second of it, everyone were so friendly, warm, and open.
If you are American, the easiest way is to join the military even as a nurse or a technician and they are allowed to be stationed in Japan. Your earrings won’t change and be paid in USD and can bring a spouse.
are you learning the language as well"?
I know a family that had twins in Japan but, left because his children were being bullied so bad (mother is Japanese, father white/Latino). They didn't live in Tokyo, they lived somewhere in the countryside. He was shunned by the Community because he, the father was half Latino. I know this is a random case but, these problems do have lasting effects. I also feel for the mother, I can't imagine how she is feeling. Her own people won't recognize her children, nor her husband.
Being latina/latino in japan is especially hard. My mexican mother lived by the ports in mexico where there was many japanese merchant sailors (in her area she also had few jp transfer students in her schools, one she became friends with). My mother said the jp merchants treated mexicans very poorly since they looked down on them and tried to not let their kids interact anyone not jp. The comparison she gave me was how extreme white americans see/treat the chinese (production workers) and black people (abominations), which absolutely blew my mind. Her friend even got ported back to jp when her father found out she was friends with mexicans at her school.
Not every japanese person is like this obviously, but there's a deep history. It was HUGE thing when Precure added in a latina girl as one of the precure members, considering all this.
no it makes sense. For them to discriminate is as natural as it was for, say, a white in the past to consider blacks as slave class. We just can't help it. Animal psychology (including humans) is about how to secure oneself, even at the cost of others. Therefore, with time, with some shooting/killing, with some matyrs, or in Japan's case, just the natural course of dying out of older generations for 2 to 3 generations, this discrimination will go away. This an speed up due to unforseeable circumstances, ofcourse.
@@liateapot2313
I'm Japanese, but most Japanese have never interact with Latin Americans in the first place, so we don't know anything about them. So we don't look at them favorably or negatively, so there are very few Japanese who look down on Latin Americans. Bullying can happen in Japan whether you are Japanese, Caucasian, or Asian, so it is unlikely that the kids were bullied because they were Latin Americans, especially since Japanese children would know nothing about a country on the other side of the globe.
@@liateapot2313 Wow. History really does shape a lot of a racial divides. I grew up in the South part of the US but, then moved up North. When, I moved to Washington I grew up with Latinos/Latinas. I made friends even if they didn't speak English but, I do realize that Americas are more forward that Japanese. It's just sad that the racial issues still persist.
They don't see Latino, most don't even know what that is especially the older generation. They just see foreigner and "foreigner bad".
Great interview! If the work culture became more efficient and less demanding, people would actually have some time for themselves or dating and be able to consider having kids. If nothing else, it would be nice to see the quality of life improve by addressing a major issue like that.
Exactly this! Literally just said this. The work culture needs to be addressed first and foremost before anything else can be.
Japan ranks 27th in the world for hours worked per annum. There's a reason Japan Rail cites the hour between 5~6pm as the busiest in train stations throughout Japan...That's when MOST people are returning home from work.
@@aeishthnyda people have no time to marry and have kids because they are too busy at work? that means they dont have enough money to begin with. But what about people like me who have enough money but still doesn't want to marry and have kids? You know why? fix your divorce laws first because i dont want to get married and then get cheated on and lose all my money in the divorce. Focus on the root problem.
Why do you think the birth rate in Finland, which is said to have the best work-life balance in the world, is lower than in Japan?
@@jjj2303 Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer...
Great video
Watching from Australia. A good solution to increase the birth rate would be to have more vacation leave, weekends off to socialise and for the government to give tax cuts/incentives for married people to have more children. Also, having a relaxing holiday at a place like Byron Bay, NSW. Lots of international tourists go there, it's a very relaxing place, which would help people get in the mood. 😊
Yeah that is one of their biggest issues. Their work life is brutal with extremely long hours and employers expecting you to do more than the job even requires. It's their own fault. Not to mention the people are so reserved that they don't often go out flirting and trying to date. Women are more independent so they don't even bother looking for a man and if they do, the man has to earn MORE than her so they get picky and choosy.
The problem is the best society that lends to having children is probably Sweden. And even they have very low birth rates. So clearly these things aren't the problem.
Poor people have the most children :), because they have more time or less options (which argument you prefer), so there's something to what you say. Modern societies has the issue with women working. If both sexes are working, who has time to raise a family? Both men and women working has just created issues, its created an increasing wealth gap, more consumerism, more resource intensive holidays (traveling overseas as opposed to your back yard), more food waste, more garbage, more plastic waste, etc...
@@wombat5252 The birth rate in Spain and Italy is lower than in Japan. Please throw away the wrong stereotypes and look at the reality.
@@시청용계정-c1c What's the percent of your elderly? last time I remember about japan, the population consists 69% of elderly, not might be too accurate but you get the point, in the next 20~30 years they all die off, then suddenly the population is like a city.
Even if cost of living gets better by those times, kids wont be in the average working age in another 18 years.
I was stationed in Okinawa for 3 years with my wife. The prioritization of manners and organization in the culture was very impressive to me. It sucks to see Japan's population is declining. I really hope we can find a solution to this problem. Our world needs more people that prioritize positive values.
wish sure, it been like this over a decade counting this decade over 2 or even 3 maybe
WHAT? The world already has more than 8 billion people, millions who live in poverty, disease, and illiteracy. AI and robotics are already rapidly replacing human workers. So, why the hell does already far too crowded Japan need more hungry mouths?
They're coming out of a period of subjugation. Hell, even their constitution was written by the US and specifically items were written in by a feminist Jewish lady that have been very destructive to their traditional families.
The thing is that those susceptible to this stuff will not breed but those resistant to it will. Their children will then have children of their own and eventually, assuming they do not fall into the trap of immigration, they will rise stronger for going through that bottleneck.
10:44 NAILED IT! The last two interviewees nailed the issues excellently. That's root cause of many if not all major world problems: wealth inequality/imbalance. Working too much because the pay is so little, the cost of living is too high, which leaves less time for socializing, which drops business traffic at once typical social gathering places(outside of bars, and night clubs) social skills atrophy, communities diminish/isolate, economy suffers(which also has the bonus value of negatively affecting our collective ability to connect meaningfully with other humans). Overworking doesn't benefit civilians, nor doe it socially optimize opportunities to build bonds of friendship, nor romance, and creating a healthy family. Things can get better when the existence of life is not dominated living to work below cost of living jobs, so one can barely stave off the wolves of poverty and all its massive stresses.
"hat's root cause of many if not all major world problems: wealth inequality/imbalance." it's false. Wealth is going up, infant mortality is going down, everything is getting better. The real problem of poor countries is too high birth rate , too much corruption and a retrograde mentality with little inclination to study and work.
Well said.