I hate the idea that school bullies have their bad behavior rewarded by becoming even bigger bullies as adults and tormenting people for their entire lives. That's disgusting
The truth is that Japanese culture tends to favor acting polite and friendly, but secretly remember grudges and wrong doings. When the time comes, people will use all those collected grievances against you. It seems like in the countryside there is more freedom, freedom for those people to express their hate.
Asian cultures are like this. I am Asian. I know. Conflict avoidance. You can do something really bad to them and they will just accept it and continue to be polite to you, if not more polite. But the day comes that something terrible happens to you and you desperately need help, they will happily stand by at a safe distance and enjoy your predicament, if not sabotage you even more. We remember things from decades ago and tend to never let it go LOL.
I have been living this exact situation for 10 years now. I moved to Kijimadaira in Nagano, to a house on farm land with no neighbours, but the people who own the adjacent apple farm have made my life hell the entire time. They denied me access to the closest garbage disposal station, I went to one further away but the people from that group got wind of it and demanded money from me. Unfortunately I share a dirt driveway with the apple farmers and they use it as a weapon, I'm not allowed to grade the road after the spring snow melt so it has become a nightmare which the yakuba says nothing can be done. I was forced to sign a police statement saying I would never try to fix the road again. The craziest thing is my attackers are in their 70's and 80's. The respect your elders culture in Japan becomes a haven for old bullies to get away with anything they like as younger people are unable to question their actions.
Not gonna lie, the way Japanese rural communities are described make them sound like a cult. I guess that explains why so many people are leaving those kinds of communities in droves.
I mean, that's rural life pretty much around the globe. I grew up in a small village in Germany and I've never felt as lonely or disconnected as when I moved to a large city. But at the same time, I got to express my individuality and privacy way more in the city.
It is the standard village life. Historically this is how it was in villages around the world. YOU belong to the village, you do not have the right to deviate from the established norms. It worked for thousands of years around the world, but it clashes with modern day individualistic concepts.
I lived in Fukui prefecture for about 6 years, I went back there on holidays recently. I know the degree of collectivism in this area. There was an occasion in 2001 where I became aware of how much the people in Tsuruga despised a 40 year old man for never marrying. I told one of them in Japanese 'It's none of your business'. The lady I told this to was totally shocked at what I said and never spoke to me again. This is a minor incident, but when a person stands up to this sort of collectivism, it inevitably results in social exclusion and bullying. This is rural Japan. I have plenty of other stories, which I won't elaborate on here.
Being gay in japan even in tokyo or osaka is tough but in rural japan it is like living in the muslim middle east ! My best friend is Japanese and gay and it is a miracle he survived life in rural japan. My Japanese wife and I have always supported him and even offered to go back with him to visit his parents for moral support, but every time he goes back there (he is in his late 40s) he becomes straight again. Not for him, because he couldn't care less what people think about him bein g gay, but because he knows that if he "came out" to his town, his aging parents will be ostracized. He has to pretend that he is picky about women. I am vegan and i was ostracized in japan for that. In a freaking Buddhist country where monks used to all be vegans !
I think people are more scared of change than they are of dying out. The ones who want newcomers are often too scared to challenge the status quo since if it goes badly for them, they will be trapped in the town with the spiteful local leadership. The "local leaders" are holding everyone hostage to the detriment of the entire community.
I remember there was a female Japanese influencer that suppose to be documenting her rural life in Hokkaido, yet later she got stalked by the local rural seniors so in the end she had to move away and abandon her belongings.
While reading Jujutsu Kaisen I thought that Kugasaki's backstory is really weird - being fed up with living in a village after the inhabitants bullied her new kind friend and her family to go back to the city. I have NEVER suspected it could be in any way based on reality.
It’s funny and uncommon, but some manga artists do still base parts of their stories on actual experiences, instead of only what they read in other manga.
I’ve heard that Japan is a culture with little tolerance for individual narcissism, but it’s rife with collective narcissism. That seems to make sense.
In other words, we get to watch you, judge you, you have to worship our religion, and devote lots of your time to us. If that doesn't attract new young people, I don't know what will!
In my experience it cuts both ways....a foreigner may face more initial suspision but will also get less pressure to totally comform to social norms as being a foreigner gives you an excuse for being a little different. Some people will be less keen to befriend you while others will relish the chance to make a foreign friend.
I live in a city in Western Japan but also rent an apartment in a small coastal town in Hyogo Prefecture. I am at that apartment only once in a while as I use it as a substitute for a hotel room when I go to the region to pursue my sports activity. One day I got a phone call from the building manager to tell me that the head of the local neighborhood association wanted to speak to me about rubbish disposal. I called the number they gave me, and this old man proceeded to ask me all these questions about why I maintained an apartment there and how I dispose of my rubbish from the apartment. I told him that he has no right to know, both matters do not involve him and that I comply with all recycling laws and also the rubbish segregation and dumping days. He wanted me to join the local neighborhood association which I also declined as I do not live there permanently. I offered to pay the membership fees but did not want anything to do with him or the association nor become a member. He wasn't happy but if I had let him have his way, my gut feeling was that he would have been at my door and harassing me about everything and anything, constantly.
He wanted you to join the local association I am sure. And pay the fees. It could be there are some fees they have to pay for garbage disposal which are taken out of membership fees. I’ve lived in Japan for almost 60 years and I have been a member of these kinds of associations the whole time. They become so strict that if someone leaves the association and doesn’t want to pay, they will tell them that they cannot use the group garbage disposal places. This is actually a topic that is debated at these meetings, the monthly meetings that they have. Some people get really hot under the collar about it. but, even if you leave the association and cannot use the group disposal site, you can still have the garbage picked up at some other designated side but you will need to contact the city office about that.
For instance in my country, Türkiye, it is quiet the opposite. In rural areas, if you are Turkish, they'll most likely to interfere in everything you do, but if you are a foreigner, it is very mostly that, they'll help you, respect your views and leave you be... As I see, it is the same with most countries. Recently there are many foreigners moved to Japan, and they don't have complaints like this much, because locals just respect their way, or simple ignore them.
Rural people feel screwed over by their urban kin politically. So we will pander and roll out the red carpet for foreigners as a middle finger to our own kin. It's actually very irrational behaviour sadly.
Being a foreigner in rural Japan actually allows you some passes to this type of discrimination, why? 1- People don't assume you'll stay there forever 2- People think you won't understand their customs in the first place and brush you aside 3- People have lower expectations and will generally be appreciative that you're in the countryside and take a degree of pity on you. Number 3 is generally what most people get but one thing we all share with moving to the countryside that this video points out is the intense scrutiny you'll experience. A few old ladies are a powerful social network in the countryside and they'll know you're going out with someone or have a new job even before you do most of the time. Lots of people growing up in the countryside in Japan mainly want to leave because of the intense scrutiny they face early on in life but usually return to the countryside as they get older.
If the rural elders keep bullying out Japanese from their towns the government will flood them with foriegn workers and they will then wish for the Japanese to come back
The underpinning reality here is that “rural revitalization” and “rural change,” are essentially the same thing. The reality is that rural traditions and expectations are going to have to change or they’ll simply perish. The urban people and their cities are not the ones vanishing at an alarming rate. Rural communities don’t have the leverage to demand much of anything.
@@TenguMartialArts Well, many rural (and urban) Japanese would rather perish than adapt their culture for survival. That is a fact. As a whole the Japanese are highly resistant to and intolerant of change, even if their survival depends upon in. If they weren't, they wouldn't be in the demographic crisis they are now.
@@alicialopessalles8788 but they aren't thriving? Their birth rate has gone downwards over the years, especially in rural areas. Did you actually watch the video?
Trust me, VERY FEW PEOPLE moving to a "remote" village have bad intentions. They're moving to rural areas because they want to GET AWAY from the craziness in the city. Nearly 100% of them are financially stable because moving takes money AND a marketable skill. No poor/bad dudes are moving to a "rural" area for fun. Japan, you're wayyyyyy over reacting. THINK.
I love how rural people think of city-dwellers are degenerates and themselves as well adjusted. One of the guys in the video got harassed for simply speaking his mind about the association he was in, saying them unable to make real progress and attending to their association as a waste of time. Not saying you can't find narcissistic city-dwellers, but as someone who moved form a small town to a city. these sort of people are more common among rural people than urban ones. In cities if you get rejected like this it's more like "fine guess we didn't click", but in rural places they treat it like some massive act of disrespect. they got so upset about his criticism of their association, they felt the need to bully him. Any association that behaved like this in the city would cease to be quite quickly.
As a rural person, I would like to slightly disagree with you since my town had a couple of years ago several city people moving in explictly for the reason that they could grow and use drugs undisturbed in cheap private houses.😅
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. It's their home, you're not entitled to live there, nor do you have the right to bring your old ways of life there expecting to continue living in the same way. If you come to someone else's home and expect to live there you must assimilate to their culture, abandoning your old ways entirely, lest you be an unwelcome imposition on their culture and ways of living. We have the same issue in Rural America. City people come here with their city lifestyles and ruin everything. Rural people tend to hate urban and city people, myself included.
I’m @@UsDiYoNaas someone from a rural area, that’s not necessarily true. There’s a difference between respecting and learning local traditions, and being involved in community, and people dictating everything you do or say and bullying you for having a different opinion. Also for my area at least, objections to “newcomers ways” sometimes fell under racism or classism. Mild examples of good interactions would be people learning not to have loud parties all hours of the night multiple times a year if they had neighbors nearby, or new people learning you wouldn’t make many friends flying the confederate flag in Yankee territory but people are okay with the don’t tread on me one. Bad examples would be a small town putting a new orchard and farm owner out of business for building a wooden playground at his farm store because they felt it looked cheap and “ruined the area” to have playground equipment. Meanwhile complaining about young families leaving the area. Or complaining about proposals for town allowing affordable housing projects, or disliking having various non American ethnic celebrations that weren’t the classic Polish/Irish/Italian ones (which ironically were all immigrant communities that were looked down on at one point)
Not just Japan it's always like this, Small towns, especially in Mormon stan Alberta know everything about everybody. Or that crazy Island village I lived in Hong Kong. only 7000 or so people, they knew all about me?
@@matthewbarry376 "must subject themselves on compulsory friendship upon entry" doesn't sound any better tbh. But we both know what 'intimate' meant in this context. No need to play dumb.
@@jonirischx8925 I kind of understand the perspective of the town. Basically you have to be willing to continue the town not just come in and supplant the people who are already there. Also the Japanese tend to like their rules and for many city folk they made need this stuff outlined to them in no uncertain terms.
@@matthewbarry376 well i dont. i follow the rules, regulations and laws that the governement states. anything else is just what other people want, not a rule, and if i want to live in a rural area and want to be alone i dont see why i need to have obligatory friendships with people that only seem to want to know things about me to throw them in my face... i understand that people that come from rural areas want to feel protected and want to know everyone arround, i do, in my country happens the same thing, older generations want to feel safe in the villages and know everyone arround, but there are no "rules" for newcommers, if i arrive at a new village to live there i got 2 options, i speak with the locals or i dont, if i do i start to know them and all that, if i dont i dont know them and dont speak with them, easy, what is going to happen is that the community will most likely speak badly about you (oh he arrived but does not speak to anyone, seems to be rude...) but not much can happen with that, everyone allready knows, the portuguese CCTV is an old lady in a window, spying everyone arround, and she will speak badly of people she knows and people she does not know xD
some of their rules might be understandable since rural town are community driven, but I find some of the rule like - Accept that you're being watched and judged - Be willing building intimate relationships raising the red flag immeaditely.
It might be also a wording problem😅. Since if the community is small and everybody knows you, it becomes unavoidable that you're "being watched". A real life example: In my home town, some years ago it became obvious that a certain young man and a certain young woman were dating after man's car started regularly be found in woman's appartment's yard (they didn't usually hang-out with each other or with same people mainly due their 5 year age cap). And nobody had to "spy on" them in order to find this out. Just driving by was enough in order to them "being watched"😅
“Be willing to build intimate [close] relationships” is reasonable. In cities, you try to avoid conflict by not knowing your neighbors well and not interacting too much with people in the street. That doesn’t work in small towns. City dwellers might need the reminder that city strategies don’t work outside cities.
Allowing bullies to have that amount of influence and leadership will just decimate any sort of rural revival in Japan. The closest I can think of is "tenant-owner association" that we have in Sweden. (When we buy an apartment. We don't actually buy the apartment in itself but rather a percentage of the building, sharing common areas with each others, handling the economy, maintenance etc). Sometimes you come across bullies like the ones mention in the video. I my association we have an elderly man that been harassing neighbors and the board of the association for over 20 years now always disagreeing about every little thing. That's one of the reasons I can't be a part of the board myself. I just don't have the energy to deal with a guy like that on a regular basis.
Blir arg av att bara läsa det där. Min påhittade pestlösning vore att hålla alla möten på distans och få alla att gå med på att individuellt stänga av ljudet fråns hans mikrofon och bara ignorera honom utanför röstningar.
typcial japanese culture mentality here. they want people to move to rual japanese towns but impose all these rules. people move to rural towns hoping to get away from city life and people, why would they want to get watched and judged for everything they do. that's insane.
Not really, this kind of rural rules is universal in every countries. In rural areas people will want to know about you, expecting you to be a part of their community like family, and being a hassle into your personal life. This is not only happening in japan but the entire world
@@havefuntazarasu5367 True. When the dark side of Japan spreads on social media, people want to make it's a unique problem in Japan, but in reality, it's no different in any country. For example, Spain and Italy have lower birth rates than Japan, but no one talks about the birth rates in those countries. Media always focuses on Japan's problems
@@user-vz5gi5tw9x Im from Spain, i can confirm this. The town i live in of 70,000 people i see a lot more older people than younger people. Islamic community in Spain is actually having more kids than Spanish people, at a rate of 3 to 1.
@@eurostar0711 islamic group is a different type of problem, they are a culture inside another culture that will eventually destroy the culture they are in
Being Japanese sounds awful. Imagine having to live under the hierarchy of your middle school bully for your entire life. I know they're talking about the countryside in this video, but every aspect of the culture seems drenched with meaningless social rules and blind obedience to hierarchy.
Look at the Kamikazes and Samurais. They crushed their bodies and souls for their "divine" leaders. That's the ultimate blind obedience and devotion to authority, the epitome of the Japanese spirit. After knowing this, I can't give Japanese humans a high level of respect.
Ikeda is basically a microcosm of Japan. The national population is tanking by about a million a year, they need foreign talent and laborers but at the same time don't want them to come. They want tourist money but not the tourists. When you do come, they impose visa rules with a thousand regulations and restrictions and hope you leave when your visa expires in a few years. Foreign residents are subject to layers upon layers of bureaucracy and red tape, barriers at every level, all in native Japanese. This is how they cap the foreign population to less than 2% for 4 decades and counting. This is their strategy.
1) Our way of doing things leads to decline in population and economy. 2) We need more people from outside to fix it. 3) New people must follow our way of doing things. Hmmmm....
6:42 it's wild that an expert on rural living would basically explain some towns are so rude to newcomers that no one has successfully integrated there. "some towns are too rude to move to"
When you're city dweller and move to a village, the local will watch you, and you will be always "outsiders" even though you have live there for decades and pretty active in community. The only ones that exempt from this rule is if the outsiders is a relative to the local, also comes from other village, or if the city dweller comes from same city. Its not just Japan, pretty much every village around the world are like this How do i know? I experienced it myself, and I'm a SEA people, countries that foreigner like to call "friendly". My parents are city dwellers and move to village to be away from buzzling city, before i was born. They're pretty active in community, yet to this day still deemed as "outsiders" despite already lived here for almost 30 years. I grew up being watched by them, they like to say to me "oh, right, your a city dweller" kind like that, despite i born and raised here. Not counting the village children, although its not enough to call it bullying, they still ostracized me and my siblings. Ironically, all of our friends came from other villages while none from our own. Nowadays, they already pretty open despite still ostracized us. My ma used to say that back when they just move, it was extremely hard my father considered to move again. And during years we live, lots outsiders move in, but most can't stand it and leave not long after. We are one of the oldest outsiders here
Lol. Just lie and say you're a rural dweller. I don't think people care as much as you claim they do. Certainly after 30 years of residence, nobody will judge you. They might see a foreigner as a perpetual outsider, but an urban transplant? Lol.
The Ballad of Narayama 「楢山節考」 is a 1983 Japanese film by director Shōhei Imamura, about a remote mountain village in Japan. Although the story centers on 'Obaste', the ritual of abandoning elderly parents in the mountains to die, the most shocking scene is when the village suddenly buries an entire family alive. Brutal.
It's a film, right? not a documentary? just wanted to make sure. I am aware about some of the Japanese brutal history from long ago but I think generalizing all Japanese people or culture based on this extreme rural case is not a fair thing to do. Let along associating it with some film which may not be true. Just saying.
Think that being a gaijin makes it easier to settle in some rural areas (at least certain races...) Most Japanese people don't expect foreigners to understand or follow cultural norms. It's why you get so many people who did a year or two in JET ramble about how rural Japanese people are the nicest in the world: they weren't actually part of that community, they were guests and were treated as such. A native Japanese on the other hand is expected to know not only every aspect of Japanese culture but every single aspect of that tiny little town in the middle of nowhere, even if they grew up in the middle of Shinjuku. And when they inevitably slip up, the usual Mura Mindset arises.
Here in Japan, no one wants to live in the country side. The gov. is actually freaking out because everyone hates the idea of living in the country side.
This is not a Japan problem, this is a rural problem. I've lived in a relatively smaller town in India for a short time and everybody knows everybodys business, judges and tries to dictate your life choices, the local leaders have monopoly on power and the residents feel obligated to obey them out of habit and tradition. These kind of power tripping "adults" need to be humbled and reminded that the urban youth are the future of the country and deserve to live life on their own terms, unless they're harming the region which in this case he absolutely wasn't.
Oof, what you describe sounds like what I experience from moving from a large city in Germany to a small town in the same country. It is always the same crap, no matter what country you are living in.
@@SoramimiKeiki exactly, it's not about the countries its about people who didn't get the chance to meet new people and accept new ideas. Hopefully, we can grow more tolerant to change in the future.
@@user-yh7ix2ow1p I don't think so. The West Tried to be Tolerant. It ended up being taken advantage of. The West is overrun with people who hate it because they were easy money. Tolerance now lead to Tolerance of Evil and Gender insanity and you resisting that is called evil. No. If the West Survives the Migrant Crisis it will be less Tolerant not more especially to foreigners who refuse to embrace their culture. Tolerates the last Virtues of a dying Society --Plato
In theory, yes. That's the dream. The people and the government in the countryside vary a lot from region to region, state to state. In the worst case you can end up living in a county that's run by corrupt cops/ local officials, religious-ethno group, or some sort of crime cartel if you move to the wrong place. This might not even be obvious to someone who's just visiting or passing through. It's easier for a given individual or political factor to have outsized power in the countryside than it is in a metro area.
That's an American phenomenon based on how the country was build, but it is also often false. Because everyone knows everyone, you go to the same church, at the very least the kids go to the same school. It is impossible to not interact with each other, which a healthy community would be doing anyway.
I can definitely confirm that this is true. I live in a region of Japan that is considered rural but still has an industrial hub, which attracts many foreigners to the area. The neighborhood leader is always on the street, giving me rude and judgmental looks. It's embarrassing, and I have no desire to interact with these people because they only care about their image and whether or not you conform to their standards. Living in Japan under these conditions is extremely exhausting. I keep thinking that no place in the world will ever be better than the country where I was born. It seems like all the world's problems are blamed on immigrants who just want to survive and see those around them prosper.
I’ll be honest… I was faced with my fair share of bullying at my rural workplace, but I face it way more in the urban areas and from my coworkers than I ever did at my rural location. I’m simply “foreigner.” No one learns my name or gives me space. No greeting. No honorific. No desk. No decent chair. No shoe cubby. No parking spot. No omiyage when they’re handed out. There’s a weird bullying tactic my workplace has been doing the entire time I’ve been there. They’ve assigned parking spaces to the entire staff except me. They told me to “figure it out.” They gave me a “spot” I could use that double parks and then often have me move my car in the middle of class to let them out. So you’d think next time if I chose a different spot, I wouldn’t need to move right? Wrong. That too is a bad spot apparently. Then I parked somewhere where no one is blocked and someone blocked me in. (I’ve done this at least a dozen times in the past 8 months and I’m only there once a week). They “couldn’t find” the other driver so they made me move. It’s affecting my ability to do my job. I go there today… and I’m not looking forward to it. If someone makes me move my car today, I’ll say no. Assign me a parking space because it’s affecting my ability to teach.
You're being bullied, that behavior is not normal from regular people. Even to non Japanese people. No one in my entire life has ever called me just "foreigner", not even strangers, so if they're doing it to you they're some messed up people who are bullying you.
@@TheNewRobotMasterThere is a chance they’re doing it to avoid saying my name and talk 💩 about me in Japanese… but even though I haven’t studied much, I can understand a little. Which is also kinda why I try to forgive them just in case it’s a cultural thing to call someone by what class they teach. Except for the fact that they don’t call me “foreign languages teacher”(gaikoku-go kyōshi) they just say “foreigner” (gaikoku hito). So maybe I’m making excuses for people and a language that I shouldn’t be. I’m here today. We’ll see if they make me move my car. They had shoes in my cubby again. So they started that 💩 again.
Gaikoku no hito is actually a fairly neutral way to speak of a foreign person. It is still rude to call you that if they know your name. I'll give you the best advice I can. Some people will say "be careful of what you do because you represent your country in Japan" but this is bs. People will think anything they want about you based off of whatever they want. If you feel that place is bullying you, I say find another job and bounce immediately. Just walk away. Don't be in some place where they treat you like that. You're not tied to them, no work contract term is enforceable due to freedom of employment laws, especially because English professor is not considered a position with intimate knowledge of a business.
Yeap! I spent 7 years living in there attending 3 years of school, and 4 of university and I'm not surprised at all by this report. In fact whenever anyone ask me if I've been happy this past 28 years living in Japan I don't hesitate to say that I'm happy because I don't have to suffer the countryside. I can enjoy the tourism, the food and bla bla but establishing social relations with people that insist in keeping a life style of the Jomon period? No way!
@@EastlakeRasta7 You'r right. My take is (Brit: 30 years in country) ... after walking on eggshells since birth it becomes second nature. Then (they may think) when a "clodhopper" comes in it is so obvious - but this "interloper" doesn't notice the loud crunching noise themselves. You know about high- and low-context communication, right? If not, then it might help unlock the Japanese vs English-speaker viewpoint.
If you moved to a small town anywhere in the world, the locals will watch you closely, and of course they will judge you. This was how things were 2000 years ago, and it is still how things are today. When I first came to Japan I lived and worked in a small town. As I became acquainted with people, I was questioned about all aspects of my life, and this information eventually found its way around town. People I had never met asked me if it was really true that I didn't like mayonnaise. I had only shared this dislike with a single person, but word got around pretty quickly. I didn't resent it, and people were free to judge me as they liked, just as I was free to judge them (and there was a lot to judge, pretty much every adult in town had some secret which their neighbors were eager to share with me). The only unusual thing about this story is that things were put into writing. Nowadays I live in Tokyo, and I thought that I would be able to live here anonymously enough. But that has proved to be far from the case, and people here in the metropolis, however much they pretend to be indifferent, are very curious about their neighbors and their goings on. I know that the apartment next door is owned by a rich, married man, and that he keeps it to meet with his secret girlfriend. I know that the the guy who lives upstairs from me was busted for insider trading in another Asian country, and fled to Japan with his ill-gotten gains. Another neighbor is an actress who sends her housekeeper to different stores to buy her booze, and that yet another neighbor pretends to have a medical degree from Harvard, but really doesn't. I don't lose sleep over it.
No wonder a lot of Japanese want to leave. I met several Japanese people who immigrated to the USA and Europe and they all told me they never want to move back to Japan. I wanted to ask why but didnt want to pry. Im starting to understand why though.
@@eurostar0711 All those who left their country of birth because they hate it will say that😂 Above all, this is a small village problem, and similar cases have been happening all over the world since ancient times.
Thank you for this content. I have lived in Japan for twenty years but still can't understand Japanese well enough to comprehend what is being said on TV. Yes, there are dark sides to Japan just like every other country. As a foreigner, I feel my interactions with local Japanese are always pleasant. But my Japanese wife is really exploited by many community groups who expect her to work for free. She often complains and I feel sorry for her.
Yeah... Standard Japanese culture is somewhere between highschool bully and terrible ex-gf.... But they pretend to be nice to your face. Lived here for over 10 years.
One RUclips Caucasian man said he was made to pay some thousands of dollars to the village chief when he started staying in a rural house which he bought. When moving to rural populations, think of horror novels & movies. The villagers could easily gang up against you, especially at night.
Man this is so interesting, it really always devolves to power and control even in secluded communities like this, the idea of bullies being bullies their whole life is probably reinforced because their families have that ""role"" in the community. I initially thought it made sense to have these rules so the community maintains itself but that story about the guy having to do what the leaders thought were useful not what he thought was useful has shown it really is about a small group of people wanting to maintain power over others.
As an introvert, i would love to live somewhere secluded and have my own big yard and a garden. Funny how living in a city will make you feel very isolated despite constantly being surrounded by people.
@@verone272 we're a short hop from the Canadian border and live on a sparsely populated island. It's definitely an introvert's dream, and it took us 35 years to achieve it!
So it's seems the lack of job opportunities is not the main and only reason why young people leaving the countryside behind as soon as possible and never looking back. These old fashioned communities are suffocating, exclusionary and oppressive.
Noo it happened because some Incel couldn't get any midnight sex with the girls. They though he was diseased with TB,. He was 4-f from the army. and so he went columbine with a Remmy Shotgun. This was about 30 years before the first school shooter in Edmonton, Alberta blast him, his ex, and ex's boyfriend with a shot gun. Canada and Japan did it first these crazy incels with guns.
@@becketmarinerMost men including incel thinking that marriage is the only way to have sex lol Marriage as institution only bring misery for both gender. Little they know that 3rd world countries women waiting western men for their best action in bed ❤
so the serial rapist and murderer was bullied for having tuberculosis... but being rejected cuz you have a deadly contagious disease is reasonable. you can't fault a girl for not wanting your aids and dyeing horribly like you. I think you need to pick a better example than Tsuyama cuz it makes you seem like a bad person for sympathizing with such a monstrous guy.
I live in a fishing village on the Pacific coast. Thank you for the excellent content. I'm so glad that, in contrast, I have been treated relatively well here. The locals don't speak English and my Japanese is poor so they don't bother asking me to do mindless stuff. I do help with grass clearing etc and people are always appreciative when I do.
As I see, this is the same in most countries... For instance in my country, Türkiye, In rural areas, if you are Turkish, they'll most likely to interfere in everything you do, but if you are a foreigner, it is very mostly that, they'll help you, respect your views and leave you be...
@@qjtvaddict Nope, there is no ignoring it when it happens. Their Japanese spouse usually cops the brunt as they know the culture and do most of the admin neccesary to daily life. Hubby (usually) gets it from the community AND the wife too.
My wife and i were interested in moving to a rural town in Hyogo prefecture. She works from home and I wanted to start farming. We went to the town hall to meet with the outreach representatives. Before they heard I was interested in farming they were excited to drive us around and show us properties that were only large enough for a house and modest yard (by Japan standards), ignoring the many abandoned properties we were interested. When we told them that I was interested in farming part-time the reaction shocking -they immediately changed their attitude, and there were so many rules about what you could and could not grow we just gave up. Whether it was the property owners who only wanted to sell their land or the farmer's association, the entrenched interests kept the town and now we've got a lovely home elsewhere.
these rural rules are similar to the culture of Japan as a whole. their aging population asks outsiders to come but when the outsiders come they're made to feel unwanted. they should be honest and say that they don't really want you. they just want your money and babies. maybe it's mentioned in this video but i stopped at 2:48.
They don't want your babies either. They want the money of the tourist and the workforce of the immigrants but they don't want them to stay. They want money and slaves .
My parents come from a village and think like the people in Ikeda Town, it wasn't always this way but in the last 10 yrs the village my family is from has became like this. I had a front row seat to see it go down. Initially people were quite welcoming and happy to see more people coming from the cities but after a few years, somethings became clear, the city folk did not want to get their hands dirty, a lot of them tried to work remotely when they could or had their own business ideas that did not play out. They drove up the prices of housing, left waste and their business projects in disrepair all over. They used to be polite but over time they became arrogant and looked down on us particularly 2 hong kong guys who were always extremely smug about their skills in making money the typical hustle culture guys. Imo quite a few city folk tried to help the locals even if they did not farm. They helped to make paper and pottery and set up cashless payment at the farmers market but just need few bad eggs doing something every other day to sour the impression. Some city folk who ran cafes walked up to random gardens they did not own and just pulled out our foods we people grew and they were smiling not ashamed at all. Their logic was the cafe will bring money to the village anyways so who cares? That money went to purchasing those japanese cartoon toys to add to their cafe, over time the city folk kept taking and taking, our farmers are not getting any younger and many of us like myself work in cities now and aren't helping our relatives and parents in the farm. There's more people to feed and too few who want to help or learn how to do it. Even worse, sometimes they have their own terrible ideas about farming and don't listen to us and then wreck the fields with their strange ideas they watched from douyin. Things eventually reached a boilling point and the elders created rules to force the city folk in line like Ikeda Town, and they begin to harass the city folk out. They would scare city folk or make it unbearable to live, i was not around to see the extent but on my way back last year i saw a graffiti that was written in pig blood threatening the city folk to leave or else. Now the city folk in the village is dwindling and they are relocating to a larger town nearby where the rent is cheaper than the big cities but with less anger. Now in the village every new person is required to accept to have no privacy for 3 years at least until the village has determined they are trustworthy and contributing. They are also only allowed to get jobs decided by the village and cannot choose their work. With some exceptions eg they need a rural doctor so they will just let the doctor do his thing but someone who is say a streamer, the village will make him work the fields and he will be supervised and forced out of the house at a set time everyday to work. If they have married women in the village they must give the parent in laws the keys to the house and cannot object to the parents coming as and when. When i look at Ikeda Town i wonder if something similar happened i love our village but it has became a place even i do not want to live or return there for good.
And that's a good thing. The Japanese are not obligated to be friendly to you. You are projecting your disgusting western sensibilities onto them when you bring up things like immigration. They don't want you their, their politicians do.
@@RK-cj4oc Many ways. Smile on your face, speak sweet and then suddenly work against you behind the scenes. Speak rudely to you and suddenly work against you behind the scenes. Break their words and suddenly change their position etc....
The funny thing is that no privacy reflects rural places all over the world it's just an unwritten rule. people gossip and spy you about your life in the countryside of romania too. they just had the dumb courage to write what rural places are actually like because people dont have anything to do in their lives because they are boring or they just dont have enough hobbies to satisfy their attention spans so they have to gossip about other people
@@kurisu100 in japan case, that attitude is not helping the small town growth. it will die in few decades when the town only left with elderly and almost no young ppl
@@lqfr8813 the same applies to towns in America, lots of small towns are dying. This it's basically life long high school l. You're stuck with these people for longer than 4 years.
This is why I hate living in small towns and moved myself from one. People are just drowned in hatred and absence of privacy, everyone is gossiping about who you are and what you do. I’d rather work my ass of and pay a lot of money to my landlord rather than spend less but live in a place like that.
This sounds even worse than the countryside politics that went on when i was growing up in a town with about 1500 people. No wonder a lot these rural towns are slowly dying out. It's a shame.
The problem seems to boil down to how people live in rural areas. Here in the US I live on ten acres and my nearest neighbor is over a mile away….thats my rural life and a lot of folks have that same kind of life out here….in rural Japan your nearest neighbor is generally a few yards away since people there seem to live clustered up in the country the same way they do in the city……(it’s understandable that Japanese is a much smaller country with less “useable” land) close cohabitation sets people up for conflicts like this.
I love the idea of living in rural areas of japan because I love the quiet life there but if these people like to bullies new comers , I would rather not move to Japan. I don't need to live a stressful life .
I live in a rural community in Japan and it's nothing like the examples shown in the video. The difference might be that we built a home on my wife's family farm and her relatives are well known and respected. I've never felt bullied but there is one neighbor who has implied that I should be a suspect when a tractor was stolen from a nearby farm. I remind myself that narrow-minded old men are a global experience. There are family relatives that came to our wedding but in 15 years have never made contact with us or dropped by, so I dont know if it's xenophobia or shyness. Due to this, we have more privacy than I've ever had in my life.
Yeah a little bit of difference between established family and a newcomer....Surely your wife family has nothing to do with your current status. Keep deluding yourself then.
When I lived in rural Kyushu my elderly neighbours would drop by unannounced, and leave trays of strawberries from their farm just inside my front door because no one locks their doors. The sense of community and harmony is based off unspoken etiquette. It’s not for everyone, but if you embrace it for what it is, you meet truly lovely people.
I had to agree :) They might seem extremely intrusive and over the line for people living in the city or growing up influenced with western individualism culture. But they just want to know about who is living next to them because rural people takes care of each other like family. Of course they would want to know about their new family member. I happened to have experienced living among community with similar principal. Despite feeling annoyed at times, particularly when they inquire about what I thought as too personal to share, they were also the first one to response and help, almost unconditionally, in emergency situations. However, bullying and ostracization was not something I can ever agree with. No matter what kind of mistake this newcomer has done according to the rural principals, he is not supposed to be oppressed and alienized. The beauty of rural community lies in working together for the community, taking care of each other, and trust. It is not supposed to be abused for bullying other people. In my previous experience, newcomer who can't adapt to rural principals are sometimes talked about behind their back, may have a harder time when they need to ask about something to the rural people (because they don't know if the newcomer can be trusted or not), may be treated coldly compare to other newcomers succeeded in adapting (well of course, because they also treat the rural in a cold way based on the rural principal, i.e. frequently refusing participation/ invitation), but that's it. No bullying nor harassments.
9:25 Wow to the local leader is trying to bully the restaurant owner. They saw the restaurant thriving, and the local leader wants take it away from them. What a snake.
not going, just remember the lady that was harrased in tsurui in hokaido, the whole town was telling her to sleep with the guy that was the leader of the town and he would write horrible menaces to her, he wasnt even asking her to marry, just wanted to play with her
We've been living in rural Hokkaido for 2 years now and so far it's been okay. We've experienced none of this. The other day a neighbour wanted me to cut more of our shared road's grass but it's a reasonable request.
I guess one reason may be that Hokkaido does not have that long of a history, as it was mostly settled a ~150 years ago, whereas in places on Honshu, this isn't the case.
@Takeruooji That's what I have come to understand as well. Most people in Hokkaido are migrants from elsewhere in Japan and so are generally more accepting of other migrants. Attitudes seem generally more relaxed.
When I lived in Hawaii on Oahu (which is mostly Japanese), I would have loved to have developed some Japanese friendships. But unfortunately they were very insular and even snobbish towards others not like them. They really had zero interest in me. Oh well!
Thank you for this honest explanation on negative cultures within rural Japan. I believe it is Older people refusing to adapt to new ways of life today and expecting younger people to accept that their way, is the only way
It's not a Japan problem, it's a small town problem. This kind of attitude exists in many other places around the world. When bullies are allowed to do what they want, trouble always happens.
The Netherlands own a few small islands on their coast . The islands are inhabited by few small local community’s who have develops there own island identity and customs over centuries . Most only know those island as camping destinations for camping trips . However it’s possible to move there , but it’s difficult , and you must prove you can adapt to local rules and customs to become part of the local community , and not just own property whit hope off selling it of in a short time after obtaining ownership of the property on the island for a profit . This helps local community’s to keep prices low , and not being pushed out of their own homes and local island community’s by rising prices dictated by outsiders moving in . Also prevents people buying property whiteout feeling any responsibility towards local island community’s , their rules and customs and so not being able to be integrated in local island community . This also means their is local community voluntary work for outsiders that have come to the islands to settle by a set of local chores you are expected to sign up for . This includes tasks as , graveyard maintenance , and other local public maintenance tasks that help the local island community’s , and helps new settles to settle in .
That's called assimilating. The one shown in this video is straight up privacy violation and bullying. I appreciate the idea and practice of being a community, but at the end of the day people need their own space in their private lives as well
So let's get this, even if I find the loneliest house in the countryside, the closest village is gonna come knocking on my door to force the local customs upon me?
I think that any newcomers who are forced out of these communities should be given exit interviews so that the government can step in and implement new local leaderships if the old leaders are found to be nasty, insecure and bullying.
Small towns are always an issue. You got the usual problems of one or a few family's that run or own most the businesses. Or they are all involved with local gov and civil service. god forbid its police as well. Just rampant with nepotism, and corruption.
Maybe this is why property is cheap in some areas? I was initially interested in buying property in Japan in the rural area but now realize why some of these places, even though breathtakingly beautiful and property price is dirt cheap, are not being taken. I am Canadian and this bullying won’t fly or be accepted here.
I live in rural Japan and have only had 1 issue with the local kuso baba. But I can see how things are an issue for Japanese people who are unwilling to push back against bullies
You shouldn't push rules or force activities. If things are interesting and relevant, people will naturally gravitate towards it, learn it and preserve it. Otherwise, people will let it die, rot and be forgotten.
I lived in fukui for 4yrs and tbh I saw some ppl having this way of thinking and some not. Thankfully (or not) they kinda left me alone bcz I’m a foreigner.
I recently moved to a very small village on the outskirts of Nikko and have had nothing but positive experiences thus far. I can definitely attest for the "being watched and judged" part. Bringing some snacks fromy your home country as a present to hand over while introducing yourself is a good way to set a favorable first impression. I think that the best way to avoid these toxic communities is to not go too far from the next city.
Japan is a hive of xenophobes. Including resenting thier own countrymen, who move into their area. I think in rural areas everywhere families are most welcome. They support the schools, local business, and keep villages alive.
Expats could build their own village and all live in peace like this one German couple who bought a massive amount of land in Paraguay and is forming a whole village with expats from around the world who just wanna be left alone by their governments.
They are miserable people who only feels happy seeing other in misery and even more happy if they are the cause of it. It gives them a sense of power and achievement which they never could and a sense of superiority which they were never and never will be.
Crazy how Japan built this peaceful country brand when this happens a lot. The respect for the elders is just an excuse to maintain privileges in spite of progress.
This is sad to learn😢. As for those who say it's that way everywhere in the countryside in any country, in my village (France) it is not, fortunately !
Situation: town population dropping drastically japanese response: issue strict edicts controlling people who might want to move there😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Your comment is exactly what feminine behavior looks like ... Here's another example ... Women: We are strong and independent who don't need a man. Also women: Where are all the good men gone? 😅😂🤣
What is "do not bring urban habits".As if rural habits are superior. I understand their concerns but they can beat it. Somebody living in Japan has to live by the Japanese governments not some freaks idea of a community.
I’ve been here 7 years, had one neighbor who was crazy, the rest mind their own business. Japanese don’t like confrontation so stand up for yourself once, and you’ll probably not have to again.
No wonder why a lot of horror anime/games are based in rural Japanese towns…
In the fine print is rule regarding human sacrifices. 😂
First thought was something like Higurashi lol
Beat me to it@@gehenna14
@@gehenna14 Kannibal
In my country we have a saying: "Small town, big hell"
I hate the idea that school bullies have their bad behavior rewarded by becoming even bigger bullies as adults and tormenting people for their entire lives. That's disgusting
Sadly this happens more often than we think..
Retail and warehouse bosses and coworkers in a nutshell, especially if you are a high functioning autistic person
Nip it in the bud.
There aren't many other options.
This is the way of the world. People with dominant personalities are often more successful than the timid.
you hate japanese very much bc of their bullying!!
The truth is that Japanese culture tends to favor acting polite and friendly, but secretly remember grudges and wrong doings. When the time comes, people will use all those collected grievances against you. It seems like in the countryside there is more freedom, freedom for those people to express their hate.
Freedom and unlimited power for a handful modern age feudal lords...
Sounds like China lol
@@mattyghost3409 and the japs projecting their own feelings
That's what every Average Asian Country.
Gossips cultures.
Blind Religious pov.
Asian cultures are like this. I am Asian. I know. Conflict avoidance. You can do something really bad to them and they will just accept it and continue to be polite to you, if not more polite. But the day comes that something terrible happens to you and you desperately need help, they will happily stand by at a safe distance and enjoy your predicament, if not sabotage you even more. We remember things from decades ago and tend to never let it go LOL.
I have been living this exact situation for 10 years now. I moved to Kijimadaira in Nagano, to a house on farm land with no neighbours, but the people who own the adjacent apple farm have made my life hell the entire time. They denied me access to the closest garbage disposal station, I went to one further away but the people from that group got wind of it and demanded money from me.
Unfortunately I share a dirt driveway with the apple farmers and they use it as a weapon, I'm not allowed to grade the road after the spring snow melt so it has become a nightmare which the yakuba says nothing can be done. I was forced to sign a police statement saying I would never try to fix the road again.
The craziest thing is my attackers are in their 70's and 80's. The respect your elders culture in Japan becomes a haven for old bullies to get away with anything they like as younger people are unable to question their actions.
That is some disgusting behavior...
😮
exactly. rules become weapons
Why don't you move ?
Eh, wait them out 😂, you win in the end
Not gonna lie, the way Japanese rural communities are described make them sound like a cult. I guess that explains why so many people are leaving those kinds of communities in droves.
Bro wasn't Japan kinda famous for all the cult It creates, i man it so bad that they grow a fear for trash bags
This kind of reminds me of the Manga Boy's Abyss
That's why they are the setting of most Japanese horror media.
I mean, that's rural life pretty much around the globe. I grew up in a small village in Germany and I've never felt as lonely or disconnected as when I moved to a large city. But at the same time, I got to express my individuality and privacy way more in the city.
It is the standard village life. Historically this is how it was in villages around the world. YOU belong to the village, you do not have the right to deviate from the established norms. It worked for thousands of years around the world, but it clashes with modern day individualistic concepts.
I lived in Fukui prefecture for about 6 years, I went back there on holidays recently. I know the degree of collectivism in this area. There was an occasion in 2001 where I became aware of how much the people in Tsuruga despised a 40 year old man for never marrying. I told one of them in Japanese 'It's none of your business'. The lady I told this to was totally shocked at what I said and never spoke to me again. This is a minor incident, but when a person stands up to this sort of collectivism, it inevitably results in social exclusion and bullying. This is rural Japan. I have plenty of other stories, which I won't elaborate on here.
Please elaborate
Hmm... Well so long as you aren't banned on buying the things you need them telling them to mind their business was definitely deserved~
@@doggypi1532 They definately like to intrude on other people's affairs.
Being gay in japan even in tokyo or osaka is tough but in rural japan it is like living in the muslim middle east !
My best friend is Japanese and gay and it is a miracle he survived life in rural japan. My Japanese wife and I have always supported him and even offered to go back with him to visit his parents for moral support, but every time he goes back there (he is in his late 40s) he becomes straight again. Not for him, because he couldn't care less what people think about him bein g gay, but because he knows that if he "came out" to his town, his aging parents will be ostracized. He has to pretend that he is picky about women.
I am vegan and i was ostracized in japan for that. In a freaking Buddhist country where monks used to all be vegans !
You are such a hypocrite. As a visitor it’s really none of your business to even say ‘none of your business’. 🤷♂️
Rural Logic =
"Let's bully newcomers."
"Wait, why don't we have enough newcomers?"
it's not the same people making both statements
@@daviddavidson1450it definitely is…
@@watermelon520b if that makes you feel better. in reality there is nuance and multiple people in a village have different values
I think people are more scared of change than they are of dying out. The ones who want newcomers are often too scared to challenge the status quo since if it goes badly for them, they will be trapped in the town with the spiteful local leadership. The "local leaders" are holding everyone hostage to the detriment of the entire community.
@@daviddavidson1450 They should still be aware of the fact that it is common, even if they don´t do it themselves.
I grew up in rural Australia and I can tell you this isn't just a Japan thing. This is what rural communities in general are like.
Same here in the USA. smaller suburb citizens would even tell you how to vote.
In Spanish we say “Pueblo chico, infierno grande”… small village, big hell
@@andreialamaiaHueco Mundo 😂
I live in rural Georgia and we mind our own business
@@auroraborealis6009 Western culture is different compared to eastern culture. Wanna proof?
Communism born in eastern hemisphere.
I remember there was a female Japanese influencer that suppose to be documenting her rural life in Hokkaido, yet later she got stalked by the local rural seniors so in the end she had to move away and abandon her belongings.
She is a RUclipsr actually. That story is insane but not surprising.
@@mare4599 name?
@@Zerouxa IIRC her channel name is Rin countryside life
@@mare4599 ok I'll check it out
@@mare4599He's stalking and searching for nude women ❤
As someone who grew up in a small town in the US, this isn’t a Japan problem, this is a small town problem.
Lolol I was gonna say 😂😂😂
I lived in a 70k inhabitants city in Brazil and I think this is the best balance.
@@gteixeirayes 100k~ is the best you have essential services and entrateinment of big cities without being very crowded and expensive
If you see it as a "problem" as many in those small towns will see it as a strength to keep themselves safe and strong.
exactly this, it happens everywhere, not a Japan exclusive thing
While reading Jujutsu Kaisen I thought that Kugasaki's backstory is really weird - being fed up with living in a village after the inhabitants bullied her new kind friend and her family to go back to the city.
I have NEVER suspected it could be in any way based on reality.
Ikr that part seemed so unrealistic to me because i had no idea they treated outsiders that bad in rural japan, now it all makes sense
Dandadan Evil Eye ark is also that haha
I was just about to make the same comment. Didn’t think it was actual general thing over there.
Well unfortunately all stories are based on elements of truth and historical events.
It’s funny and uncommon, but some manga artists do still base parts of their stories on actual experiences, instead of only what they read in other manga.
Well when their little town dies they know who to blame for it
They will probably blame the person who brought “urban habits”….🥲
It's better to than to populate it with immigrants, and end up with the same racial problems that the liberal west is facing.
I don't think they or Japan cares.
pretty sure they would rather the town dies than new comer not following the rules and expectation.
reason and logic doesn't work with certain people.
@@freemanolHey! What's up Supreme Leader Putim Jong UN 😂
So basically, some parts of rural Japan are like HoA's on crack.
😆
Anime is escapist media, Japanese people want to escape their neo-Liberal hell holes. Simple really.
@@Br1cht those towns in japan are on the verge of decay, 1-2 more generations for most of them and they will be abandoned ruins.
@Br1cht japan sucks compared to the us, it's a decaying shit hole.
@@Br1cht There are plenty of safe places in the US, it's not a competition.
I’ve heard that Japan is a culture with little tolerance for individual narcissism, but it’s rife with collective narcissism. That seems to make sense.
Agreed. They are weak people individually but find great strength in the group dynamic
😂 this is well said
@@ETM360 reminds me of that meme "apes, together, strong"
You usually see 10 workers gathering around work that require just one man job
except in the video's example, the individual narcissism was on full blast from the local leaders.
In other words, we get to watch you, judge you, you have to worship our religion, and devote lots of your time to us. If that doesn't attract new young people, I don't know what will!
lol a whole bargain
Basically every religion ever
Sounds like some places in Utah.
ok so don't come to Japan.
@@rowbearly6128 rest, bro.
If this is what they do to their own kind, imagine what they will do to a foreigner.
In my experience it cuts both ways....a foreigner may face more initial suspision but will also get less pressure to totally comform to social norms as being a foreigner gives you an excuse for being a little different. Some people will be less keen to befriend you while others will relish the chance to make a foreign friend.
Yeah, It’s sounds like Jonestown, really cult like. I hope they don’t have a ritual that involves shady beverages.
Good! Keep Japan Japanese, the West is being destroyed by foreigners.
The more Japanese they see you as, the more they will expect from you.
Ok, never go full Japanese. Got it. @@trollingisasport
I live in a city in Western Japan but also rent an apartment in a small coastal town in Hyogo Prefecture. I am at that apartment only once in a while as I use it as a substitute for a hotel room when I go to the region to pursue my sports activity. One day I got a phone call from the building manager to tell me that the head of the local neighborhood association wanted to speak to me about rubbish disposal. I called the number they gave me, and this old man proceeded to ask me all these questions about why I maintained an apartment there and how I dispose of my rubbish from the apartment. I told him that he has no right to know, both matters do not involve him and that I comply with all recycling laws and also the rubbish segregation and dumping days. He wanted me to join the local neighborhood association which I also declined as I do not live there permanently. I offered to pay the membership fees but did not want anything to do with him or the association nor become a member. He wasn't happy but if I had let him have his way, my gut feeling was that he would have been at my door and harassing me about everything and anything, constantly.
He wanted you to join the local association I am sure. And pay the fees. It could be there are some fees they have to pay for garbage disposal which are taken out of membership fees. I’ve lived in Japan for almost 60 years and I have been a member of these kinds of associations the whole time.
They become so strict that if someone leaves the association and doesn’t want to pay, they will tell them that they cannot use the group garbage disposal places. This is actually a topic that is debated at these meetings, the monthly meetings that they have. Some people get really hot under the collar about it.
but, even if you leave the association and cannot use the group disposal site, you can still have the garbage picked up at some other designated side but you will need to contact the city office about that.
This is crazy. If this is how they treat fellow Japanese citizens, I can only imagine how they'll treat foreigners.
For instance in my country, Türkiye, it is quiet the opposite. In rural areas, if you are Turkish, they'll most likely to interfere in everything you do, but if you are a foreigner, it is very mostly that, they'll help you, respect your views and leave you be...
As I see, it is the same with most countries. Recently there are many foreigners moved to Japan, and they don't have complaints like this much, because locals just respect their way, or simple ignore them.
Rural people feel screwed over by their urban kin politically. So we will pander and roll out the red carpet for foreigners as a middle finger to our own kin.
It's actually very irrational behaviour sadly.
No-one gives two cents about foreigners. Why do y'all gotta make yourself the centre of attention?
Of course there is a very simple solution to that: don't migrate over there.
Being a foreigner in rural Japan actually allows you some passes to this type of discrimination, why?
1- People don't assume you'll stay there forever
2- People think you won't understand their customs in the first place and brush you aside
3- People have lower expectations and will generally be appreciative that you're in the countryside and take a degree of pity on you.
Number 3 is generally what most people get but one thing we all share with moving to the countryside that this video points out is the intense scrutiny you'll experience. A few old ladies are a powerful social network in the countryside and they'll know you're going out with someone or have a new job even before you do most of the time.
Lots of people growing up in the countryside in Japan mainly want to leave because of the intense scrutiny they face early on in life but usually return to the countryside as they get older.
If the rural elders keep bullying out Japanese from their towns the government will flood them with foriegn workers and they will then wish for the Japanese to come back
Even tho they're old, they're not wise enough
Why would Foreign Workers live in a Tiny Little Town with NO JOBS?
its very similar in the rural united states...
@@ALTAJR-07 Digital nomads can live in places with no jobs just because they like the place. They are usually also have high income
@@jacobhoffman2553 especially Sweet Home Alabama 🤣
The underpinning reality here is that “rural revitalization” and “rural change,” are essentially the same thing. The reality is that rural traditions and expectations are going to have to change or they’ll simply perish.
The urban people and their cities are not the ones vanishing at an alarming rate. Rural communities don’t have the leverage to demand much of anything.
@@TenguMartialArts Well, many rural (and urban) Japanese would rather perish than adapt their culture for survival. That is a fact. As a whole the Japanese are highly resistant to and intolerant of change, even if their survival depends upon in. If they weren't, they wouldn't be in the demographic crisis they are now.
@@a.girouard2988They'd rather die Japanese than accept the Diversity that has eroded Western Cuture.
@@a.girouard2988 Well, it is good that they are strong-headed. I hope they are able to keep their ways and thrive.
@@alicialopessalles8788 but they aren't thriving? Their birth rate has gone downwards over the years, especially in rural areas. Did you actually watch the video?
@@a.girouard2988 "Japanese would rather perish than adapt their culture for survival" - and that wish will be granted. Simple like that.
Now you know why they sell the houses in rural areas at insanely low prices
And most of the time, it's still not worth it
Trust me, VERY FEW PEOPLE moving to a "remote" village have bad intentions. They're moving to rural areas because they want to GET AWAY from the craziness in the city. Nearly 100% of them are financially stable because moving takes money AND a marketable skill. No poor/bad dudes are moving to a "rural" area for fun. Japan, you're wayyyyyy over reacting. THINK.
I love how rural people think of city-dwellers are degenerates and themselves as well adjusted. One of the guys in the video got harassed for simply speaking his mind about the association he was in, saying them unable to make real progress and attending to their association as a waste of time. Not saying you can't find narcissistic city-dwellers, but as someone who moved form a small town to a city. these sort of people are more common among rural people than urban ones. In cities if you get rejected like this it's more like "fine guess we didn't click", but in rural places they treat it like some massive act of disrespect.
they got so upset about his criticism of their association, they felt the need to bully him. Any association that behaved like this in the city would cease to be quite quickly.
As a rural person, I would like to slightly disagree with you since my town had a couple of years ago several city people moving in explictly for the reason that they could grow and use drugs undisturbed in cheap private houses.😅
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. It's their home, you're not entitled to live there, nor do you have the right to bring your old ways of life there expecting to continue living in the same way. If you come to someone else's home and expect to live there you must assimilate to their culture, abandoning your old ways entirely, lest you be an unwelcome imposition on their culture and ways of living. We have the same issue in Rural America. City people come here with their city lifestyles and ruin everything. Rural people tend to hate urban and city people, myself included.
@@fredrikstein2377it happens in the city in neighborhoods, at least in USA. But usually you can just go a neighborhood over and still have community
I’m @@UsDiYoNaas someone from a rural area, that’s not necessarily true. There’s a difference between respecting and learning local traditions, and being involved in community, and people dictating everything you do or say and bullying you for having a different opinion. Also for my area at least, objections to “newcomers ways” sometimes fell under racism or classism.
Mild examples of good interactions would be people learning not to have loud parties all hours of the night multiple times a year if they had neighbors nearby, or new people learning you wouldn’t make many friends flying the confederate flag in Yankee territory but people are okay with the don’t tread on me one.
Bad examples would be a small town putting a new orchard and farm owner out of business for building a wooden playground at his farm store because they felt it looked cheap and “ruined the area” to have playground equipment. Meanwhile complaining about young families leaving the area.
Or complaining about proposals for town allowing affordable housing projects, or disliking having various non American ethnic celebrations that weren’t the classic Polish/Irish/Italian ones (which ironically were all immigrant communities that were looked down on at one point)
Honestly, I think places like that deserve to become ghost towns
They will. 😂
Basically the Urban area is too Apathetic while the Rural Area is too suffocating. Well done Japan.
live in between lol
Exactly. Excellent summary of Japan's life!
Not just Japan it's always like this, Small towns, especially in Mormon stan Alberta know everything about everybody. Or that crazy Island village I lived in Hong Kong. only 7000 or so people, they knew all about me?
@@becketmariner hi. Thank you for sharing. I'm curious though, ever faced any unpleasant situations in rural Japan though?
🎵🎵Capitalism 🎵🎵 Earth's demise 🎵
"must be willing to build intimate relationships" made my hairs stand on end. Is this a town or a cult?
Being friends is an intimate relationship
@@matthewbarry376 "must subject themselves on compulsory friendship upon entry" doesn't sound any better tbh.
But we both know what 'intimate' meant in this context. No need to play dumb.
@@jonirischx8925 I kind of understand the perspective of the town. Basically you have to be willing to continue the town not just come in and supplant the people who are already there. Also the Japanese tend to like their rules and for many city folk they made need this stuff outlined to them in no uncertain terms.
@@matthewbarry376 well i dont. i follow the rules, regulations and laws that the governement states. anything else is just what other people want, not a rule, and if i want to live in a rural area and want to be alone i dont see why i need to have obligatory friendships with people that only seem to want to know things about me to throw them in my face... i understand that people that come from rural areas want to feel protected and want to know everyone arround, i do, in my country happens the same thing, older generations want to feel safe in the villages and know everyone arround, but there are no "rules" for newcommers, if i arrive at a new village to live there i got 2 options, i speak with the locals or i dont, if i do i start to know them and all that, if i dont i dont know them and dont speak with them, easy, what is going to happen is that the community will most likely speak badly about you (oh he arrived but does not speak to anyone, seems to be rude...) but not much can happen with that, everyone allready knows, the portuguese CCTV is an old lady in a window, spying everyone arround, and she will speak badly of people she knows and people she does not know xD
some of their rules might be understandable since rural town are community driven, but I find some of the rule like
- Accept that you're being watched and judged
- Be willing building intimate relationships
raising the red flag immeaditely.
Gang Bang AV
It might be also a wording problem😅. Since if the community is small and everybody knows you, it becomes unavoidable that you're "being watched". A real life example: In my home town, some years ago it became obvious that a certain young man and a certain young woman were dating after man's car started regularly be found in woman's appartment's yard (they didn't usually hang-out with each other or with same people mainly due their 5 year age cap). And nobody had to "spy on" them in order to find this out. Just driving by was enough in order to them "being watched"😅
The last rule is scary. I hope it doesnt include underage people.
@@MixedChick1In this context, intimate means close, not sexual. It’s the original meaning of intimate.
“Be willing to build intimate [close] relationships” is reasonable. In cities, you try to avoid conflict by not knowing your neighbors well and not interacting too much with people in the street. That doesn’t work in small towns. City dwellers might need the reminder that city strategies don’t work outside cities.
Allowing bullies to have that amount of influence and leadership will just decimate any sort of rural revival in Japan. The closest I can think of is "tenant-owner association" that we have in Sweden. (When we buy an apartment. We don't actually buy the apartment in itself but rather a percentage of the building, sharing common areas with each others, handling the economy, maintenance etc). Sometimes you come across bullies like the ones mention in the video. I my association we have an elderly man that been harassing neighbors and the board of the association for over 20 years now always disagreeing about every little thing. That's one of the reasons I can't be a part of the board myself. I just don't have the energy to deal with a guy like that on a regular basis.
Blir arg av att bara läsa det där. Min påhittade pestlösning vore att hålla alla möten på distans och få alla att gå med på att individuellt stänga av ljudet fråns hans mikrofon och bara ignorera honom utanför röstningar.
Sweden too!!!!
Sweden has HOAs too😅😅😅
In another 20 years you won't have to worry about him because he'll be replaced by Muhammed from Iraq. Enjoy paying jizya though, Swedistanis!
typcial japanese culture mentality here. they want people to move to rual japanese towns but impose all these rules. people move to rural towns hoping to get away from city life and people, why would they want to get watched and judged for everything they do. that's insane.
Not really, this kind of rural rules is universal in every countries. In rural areas people will want to know about you, expecting you to be a part of their community like family, and being a hassle into your personal life. This is not only happening in japan but the entire world
@@havefuntazarasu5367
True.
When the dark side of Japan spreads on social media, people want to make it's a unique problem in Japan, but in reality, it's no different in any country. For example, Spain and Italy have lower birth rates than Japan, but no one talks about the birth rates in those countries. Media always focuses on Japan's problems
@@user-vz5gi5tw9x Im from Spain, i can confirm this. The town i live in of 70,000 people i see a lot more older people than younger people. Islamic community in Spain is actually having more kids than Spanish people, at a rate of 3 to 1.
@@eurostar0711 si estás pensando en escapar a Japón, te estás equivocando de destino. Saludos.
@@eurostar0711 islamic group is a different type of problem, they are a culture inside another culture that will eventually destroy the culture they are in
Being Japanese sounds awful. Imagine having to live under the hierarchy of your middle school bully for your entire life. I know they're talking about the countryside in this video, but every aspect of the culture seems drenched with meaningless social rules and blind obedience to hierarchy.
That's just Japanese in a Nutshell.
And yet the dumb weebs and Japanophiles don't understand that at all.
Look at the Kamikazes and Samurais. They crushed their bodies and souls for their "divine" leaders. That's the ultimate blind obedience and devotion to authority, the epitome of the Japanese spirit. After knowing this, I can't give Japanese humans a high level of respect.
Omg what kind of racism is this. This literally happens everywhere
I’m sure your understanding of Japanese people and culture from a 10 minute RUclips video is DEFINITELY correct and not inaccurate whatsoever.
Ikeda is basically a microcosm of Japan. The national population is tanking by about a million a year, they need foreign talent and laborers but at the same time don't want them to come. They want tourist money but not the tourists. When you do come, they impose visa rules with a thousand regulations and restrictions and hope you leave when your visa expires in a few years. Foreign residents are subject to layers upon layers of bureaucracy and red tape, barriers at every level, all in native Japanese. This is how they cap the foreign population to less than 2% for 4 decades and counting. This is their strategy.
so does this mean, that even to gain a permit for forming a business requires business owner to do bribery for local rulers?
So they're actively destroying their own community in order to deny others their community.
@@kageyamareijikun It really is. Japan might be the only country that withers on it's own.
@@kageyamareijikun Well said. Completely agree.
The U.S. is on the extreme opposite end of the spectrum, allowing those in who look down on us and spit on us.
1) Our way of doing things leads to decline in population and economy.
2) We need more people from outside to fix it.
3) New people must follow our way of doing things.
Hmmmm....
6:42 it's wild that an expert on rural living would basically explain some towns are so rude to newcomers that no one has successfully integrated there. "some towns are too rude to move to"
When you're city dweller and move to a village, the local will watch you, and you will be always "outsiders" even though you have live there for decades and pretty active in community. The only ones that exempt from this rule is if the outsiders is a relative to the local, also comes from other village, or if the city dweller comes from same city. Its not just Japan, pretty much every village around the world are like this
How do i know? I experienced it myself, and I'm a SEA people, countries that foreigner like to call "friendly". My parents are city dwellers and move to village to be away from buzzling city, before i was born. They're pretty active in community, yet to this day still deemed as "outsiders" despite already lived here for almost 30 years. I grew up being watched by them, they like to say to me "oh, right, your a city dweller" kind like that, despite i born and raised here. Not counting the village children, although its not enough to call it bullying, they still ostracized me and my siblings. Ironically, all of our friends came from other villages while none from our own.
Nowadays, they already pretty open despite still ostracized us. My ma used to say that back when they just move, it was extremely hard my father considered to move again. And during years we live, lots outsiders move in, but most can't stand it and leave not long after. We are one of the oldest outsiders here
interesting story. thank you for sharing.
how much of a rouge pitch one must be to label a child born in their village as "city dweller", like it's a genetic inheritance.
Lol. Just lie and say you're a rural dweller. I don't think people care as much as you claim they do. Certainly after 30 years of residence, nobody will judge you. They might see a foreigner as a perpetual outsider, but an urban transplant? Lol.
The Ballad of Narayama 「楢山節考」 is a 1983 Japanese film by director Shōhei Imamura, about a remote mountain village in Japan. Although the story centers on 'Obaste', the ritual of abandoning elderly parents in the mountains to die, the most shocking scene is when the village suddenly buries an entire family alive. Brutal.
Damn!
It's a film, right? not a documentary? just wanted to make sure.
I am aware about some of the Japanese brutal history from long ago but I think generalizing all Japanese people or culture based on this extreme rural case is not a fair thing to do. Let along associating it with some film which may not be true. Just saying.
Think that being a gaijin makes it easier to settle in some rural areas (at least certain races...) Most Japanese people don't expect foreigners to understand or follow cultural norms. It's why you get so many people who did a year or two in JET ramble about how rural Japanese people are the nicest in the world: they weren't actually part of that community, they were guests and were treated as such.
A native Japanese on the other hand is expected to know not only every aspect of Japanese culture but every single aspect of that tiny little town in the middle of nowhere, even if they grew up in the middle of Shinjuku. And when they inevitably slip up, the usual Mura Mindset arises.
no wonder Nobara hated living in the country side
LOL I'd never imagine finding a Jujutsu Kaisen fan here.
FRFR😂
@@hteteaindraykyaw996we are everywhere 😂
Exactly my thought as well hahah... No wonder she is willing to risk her life to leave ASAP.
Here in Japan, no one wants to live in the country side. The gov. is actually freaking out because everyone hates the idea of living in the country side.
This is not a Japan problem, this is a rural problem. I've lived in a relatively smaller town in India for a short time and everybody knows everybodys business, judges and tries to dictate your life choices, the local leaders have monopoly on power and the residents feel obligated to obey them out of habit and tradition. These kind of power tripping "adults" need to be humbled and reminded that the urban youth are the future of the country and deserve to live life on their own terms, unless they're harming the region which in this case he absolutely wasn't.
Oof, what you describe sounds like what I experience from moving from a large city in Germany to a small town in the same country. It is always the same crap, no matter what country you are living in.
@@SoramimiKeiki exactly, it's not about the countries its about people who didn't get the chance to meet new people and accept new ideas. Hopefully, we can grow more tolerant to change in the future.
How are Urban Youth the Future? Most Urban Youth in the West are effectively liberally indoctrinated to hate their own country.
@@user-yh7ix2ow1p I don't think so. The West Tried to be Tolerant.
It ended up being taken advantage of. The West is overrun with people who hate it because they were easy money. Tolerance now lead to Tolerance of Evil and Gender insanity and you resisting that is called evil.
No. If the West Survives the Migrant Crisis it will be less Tolerant not more especially to foreigners who refuse to embrace their culture.
Tolerates the last Virtues of a dying Society --Plato
Same issue in rural Irish villages
As an American this is especially weird because in rural America it's all about people minding their own business
Yea people usually talk about moving out to a more rural area to be left alone.
Same thing in Canada.
In theory, yes. That's the dream. The people and the government in the countryside vary a lot from region to region, state to state. In the worst case you can end up living in a county that's run by corrupt cops/ local officials, religious-ethno group, or some sort of crime cartel if you move to the wrong place. This might not even be obvious to someone who's just visiting or passing through. It's easier for a given individual or political factor to have outsized power in the countryside than it is in a metro area.
That's an American phenomenon based on how the country was build, but it is also often false. Because everyone knows everyone, you go to the same church, at the very least the kids go to the same school. It is impossible to not interact with each other, which a healthy community would be doing anyway.
Yeah nah, rural everywhere had that toxic group lording all over the community. "we're neighbors, you should try to fit in"
I can definitely confirm that this is true. I live in a region of Japan that is considered rural but still has an industrial hub, which attracts many foreigners to the area. The neighborhood leader is always on the street, giving me rude and judgmental looks. It's embarrassing, and I have no desire to interact with these people because they only care about their image and whether or not you conform to their standards. Living in Japan under these conditions is extremely exhausting. I keep thinking that no place in the world will ever be better than the country where I was born. It seems like all the world's problems are blamed on immigrants who just want to survive and see those around them prosper.
Hamamatsu?
@@devilsadvocate3454 Nope. Never been there.
local leaders = feodal lords
Exactly!
I’ll be honest… I was faced with my fair share of bullying at my rural workplace, but I face it way more in the urban areas and from my coworkers than I ever did at my rural location. I’m simply “foreigner.” No one learns my name or gives me space. No greeting. No honorific. No desk. No decent chair. No shoe cubby. No parking spot. No omiyage when they’re handed out.
There’s a weird bullying tactic my workplace has been doing the entire time I’ve been there. They’ve assigned parking spaces to the entire staff except me. They told me to “figure it out.” They gave me a “spot” I could use that double parks and then often have me move my car in the middle of class to let them out. So you’d think next time if I chose a different spot, I wouldn’t need to move right? Wrong. That too is a bad spot apparently. Then I parked somewhere where no one is blocked and someone blocked me in. (I’ve done this at least a dozen times in the past 8 months and I’m only there once a week). They “couldn’t find” the other driver so they made me move. It’s affecting my ability to do my job. I go there today… and I’m not looking forward to it.
If someone makes me move my car today, I’ll say no. Assign me a parking space because it’s affecting my ability to teach.
You're being bullied for sure. I suggest you go and consult the Home Affairs Bureau 人権ホットライン
@@mi-xp2ll I will. Especially if they’re saying negative things about me to my employer.
You're being bullied, that behavior is not normal from regular people. Even to non Japanese people. No one in my entire life has ever called me just "foreigner", not even strangers, so if they're doing it to you they're some messed up people who are bullying you.
@@TheNewRobotMasterThere is a chance they’re doing it to avoid saying my name and talk 💩 about me in Japanese… but even though I haven’t studied much, I can understand a little. Which is also kinda why I try to forgive them just in case it’s a cultural thing to call someone by what class they teach. Except for the fact that they don’t call me “foreign languages teacher”(gaikoku-go kyōshi) they just say “foreigner” (gaikoku hito). So maybe I’m making excuses for people and a language that I shouldn’t be.
I’m here today. We’ll see if they make me move my car. They had shoes in my cubby again. So they started that 💩 again.
Gaikoku no hito is actually a fairly neutral way to speak of a foreign person. It is still rude to call you that if they know your name. I'll give you the best advice I can. Some people will say "be careful of what you do because you represent your country in Japan" but this is bs. People will think anything they want about you based off of whatever they want. If you feel that place is bullying you, I say find another job and bounce immediately. Just walk away. Don't be in some place where they treat you like that. You're not tied to them, no work contract term is enforceable due to freedom of employment laws, especially because English professor is not considered a position with intimate knowledge of a business.
Yeap! I spent 7 years living in there attending 3 years of school, and 4 of university and I'm not surprised at all by this report.
In fact whenever anyone ask me if I've been happy this past 28 years living in Japan I don't hesitate to say that I'm happy because I don't have to suffer the countryside. I can enjoy the tourism, the food and bla bla but establishing social relations with people that insist in keeping a life style of the Jomon period? No way!
My humble opinion after having lived here for 16 years: Japan is heaven as long as you're careful to keep the Japanese at arm's length.
They just don't like obnoxious folks that stand out disturbing the ambience of the surroundings.
THEY are the obnoxious folks. Foreigners are definitely not the problem. Crazy, arrogant Japanese are. @@noodlelicious.
@@noodlelicious. You are right, this is the reason why obnoxious westerners love to criticize them.
@@noodlelicious. Sounds like a society that just grew up walking on glass.
@@EastlakeRasta7 You'r right. My take is (Brit: 30 years in country) ... after walking on eggshells since birth it becomes second nature. Then (they may think) when a "clodhopper" comes in it is so obvious - but this "interloper" doesn't notice the loud crunching noise themselves. You know about high- and low-context communication, right? If not, then it might help unlock the Japanese vs English-speaker viewpoint.
If you moved to a small town anywhere in the world, the locals will watch you closely, and of course they will judge you. This was how things were 2000 years ago, and it is still how things are today. When I first came to Japan I lived and worked in a small town. As I became acquainted with people, I was questioned about all aspects of my life, and this information eventually found its way around town. People I had never met asked me if it was really true that I didn't like mayonnaise. I had only shared this dislike with a single person, but word got around pretty quickly. I didn't resent it, and people were free to judge me as they liked, just as I was free to judge them (and there was a lot to judge, pretty much every adult in town had some secret which their neighbors were eager to share with me). The only unusual thing about this story is that things were put into writing.
Nowadays I live in Tokyo, and I thought that I would be able to live here anonymously enough. But that has proved to be far from the case, and people here in the metropolis, however much they pretend to be indifferent, are very curious about their neighbors and their goings on. I know that the apartment next door is owned by a rich, married man, and that he keeps it to meet with his secret girlfriend. I know that the the guy who lives upstairs from me was busted for insider trading in another Asian country, and fled to Japan with his ill-gotten gains. Another neighbor is an actress who sends her housekeeper to different stores to buy her booze, and that yet another neighbor pretends to have a medical degree from Harvard, but really doesn't. I don't lose sleep over it.
Yes. I am surprised that anyone is surprised by this. 😊
No wonder a lot of Japanese want to leave. I met several Japanese people who immigrated to the USA and Europe and they all told me they never want to move back to Japan. I wanted to ask why but didnt want to pry. Im starting to understand why though.
@@eurostar0711 Racism in Japan is based tho
@@eurostar0711 All those who left their country of birth because they hate it will say that😂
Above all, this is a small village problem, and similar cases have been happening all over the world since ancient times.
its similar to small towns everywhere but taken to the extreme obviously. Its way too toxic
Thank you for this content. I have lived in Japan for twenty years but still can't understand Japanese well enough to comprehend what is being said on TV. Yes, there are dark sides to Japan just like every other country. As a foreigner, I feel my interactions with local Japanese are always pleasant. But my Japanese wife is really exploited by many community groups who expect her to work for free. She often complains and I feel sorry for her.
Do you happen to be a white man
@@peachpink123 Is that relevant? Yes, I am a white man.
@@prieten49how dare you!
@@peachpink123 WTF does his race have to do with anything?
@@a.girouard2988 Welcome to the real world ! Not just Japan btw.... Come out from your cave
I wouldn't last one day there. I demand my privacy.
American
Yeah... Standard Japanese culture is somewhere between highschool bully and terrible ex-gf.... But they pretend to be nice to your face.
Lived here for over 10 years.
One RUclips Caucasian man said he was made to pay some thousands of dollars to the village chief when he started staying in a rural house which he bought. When moving to rural populations, think of horror novels & movies. The villagers could easily gang up against you, especially at night.
In Philippines small towns from distant province tend to be like this. They are nosey and tend to talk to you a lot.
yeah that's why the big houses there have high walls.
But there are no ridiculous written rules like in this video...
Thanks!
Thank you for your support! 😁
Man this is so interesting, it really always devolves to power and control even in secluded communities like this, the idea of bullies being bullies their whole life is probably reinforced because their families have that ""role"" in the community.
I initially thought it made sense to have these rules so the community maintains itself but that story about the guy having to do what the leaders thought were useful not what he thought was useful has shown it really is about a small group of people wanting to maintain power over others.
rural living is an introvert's worst nighmare
As an introvert, i would love to live somewhere secluded and have my own big yard and a garden. Funny how living in a city will make you feel very isolated despite constantly being surrounded by people.
That’s how it is yes
Rural living in Canada is an introverts dream 😂
@@verone272 Yeah, dreaming frozen to death :v
@@verone272 we're a short hop from the Canadian border and live on a sparsely populated island. It's definitely an introvert's dream, and it took us 35 years to achieve it!
So it's seems the lack of job opportunities is not the main and only reason why young people leaving the countryside behind as soon as possible and never looking back. These old fashioned communities are suffocating, exclusionary and oppressive.
This is exactly why and how Tsuyama massacre happens in 1938. Rural Japan can be worst at time.
Noo it happened because some Incel couldn't get any midnight sex with the girls. They though he was diseased with TB,. He was 4-f from the army. and so he went columbine with a Remmy Shotgun. This was about 30 years before the first school shooter in Edmonton, Alberta blast him, his ex, and ex's boyfriend with a shot gun. Canada and Japan did it first these crazy incels with guns.
@@becketmarinerMost men including incel thinking that marriage is the only way to have sex lol
Marriage as institution only bring misery for both gender.
Little they know that 3rd world countries women waiting western men for their best action in bed ❤
so the serial rapist and murderer was bullied for having tuberculosis... but being rejected cuz you have a deadly contagious disease is reasonable. you can't fault a girl for not wanting your aids and dyeing horribly like you.
I think you need to pick a better example than Tsuyama cuz it makes you seem like a bad person for sympathizing with such a monstrous guy.
Japan Fantasy = Anime
Japan in Real Life = ☠️💀☠️
This video clip ain't Japan in real life. You have to start with Japan's history and current unspoken societal rules to get a baseline.
That's the purpose of anime/manga in japan, as an escape from reality
@@HKim0072 It's literal translation of the real japanese news. What are you smoking? A weeb in denial is really hilarious. 😂
Have you seen those animes which take place in rural japanese town? They are typically horror animes. Just saying....😅
@@kurolotus4851 kimi no na wa, mitsuha from rural but mostly nothing happened in rural but town. I do agree with your point though
I live in a fishing village on the Pacific coast. Thank you for the excellent content. I'm so glad that, in contrast, I have been treated relatively well here. The locals don't speak English and my Japanese is poor so they don't bother asking me to do mindless stuff. I do help with grass clearing etc and people are always appreciative when I do.
As I see, this is the same in most countries... For instance in my country, Türkiye, In rural areas, if you are Turkish, they'll most likely to interfere in everything you do, but if you are a foreigner, it is very mostly that, they'll help you, respect your views and leave you be...
A friend of mine told me that she left Japan because she didn’t like how nosy her neighbors were. I thought her answer was so vague but now I get it.
Those westerners buying Akiyas to stay should see this video.
They are resistant due to being oblivious to bullying attempts
@@qjtvaddict Nope, there is no ignoring it when it happens. Their Japanese spouse usually cops the brunt as they know the culture and do most of the admin neccesary to daily life. Hubby (usually) gets it from the community AND the wife too.
You're talking about narcissism among these local leaders.
The case of that resturant is just plain corruption and should land him in jail.
My wife and i were interested in moving to a rural town in Hyogo prefecture. She works from home and I wanted to start farming. We went to the town hall to meet with the outreach representatives. Before they heard I was interested in farming they were excited to drive us around and show us properties that were only large enough for a house and modest yard (by Japan standards), ignoring the many abandoned properties we were interested. When we told them that I was interested in farming part-time the reaction shocking -they immediately changed their attitude, and there were so many rules about what you could and could not grow we just gave up. Whether it was the property owners who only wanted to sell their land or the farmer's association, the entrenched interests kept the town and now we've got a lovely home elsewhere.
these rural rules are similar to the culture of Japan as a whole. their aging population asks outsiders to come but when the outsiders come they're made to feel unwanted. they should be honest and say that they don't really want you. they just want your money and babies. maybe it's mentioned in this video but i stopped at 2:48.
They don't want your babies either. They want the money of the tourist and the workforce of the immigrants but they don't want them to stay. They want money and slaves .
My parents come from a village and think like the people in Ikeda Town, it wasn't always this way but in the last 10 yrs the village my family is from has became like this. I had a front row seat to see it go down. Initially people were quite welcoming and happy to see more people coming from the cities but after a few years, somethings became clear, the city folk did not want to get their hands dirty, a lot of them tried to work remotely when they could or had their own business ideas that did not play out. They drove up the prices of housing, left waste and their business projects in disrepair all over. They used to be polite but over time they became arrogant and looked down on us particularly 2 hong kong guys who were always extremely smug about their skills in making money the typical hustle culture guys. Imo quite a few city folk tried to help the locals even if they did not farm. They helped to make paper and pottery and set up cashless payment at the farmers market but just need few bad eggs doing something every other day to sour the impression.
Some city folk who ran cafes walked up to random gardens they did not own and just pulled out our foods we people grew and they were smiling not ashamed at all. Their logic was the cafe will bring money to the village anyways so who cares? That money went to purchasing those japanese cartoon toys to add to their cafe, over time the city folk kept taking and taking, our farmers are not getting any younger and many of us like myself work in cities now and aren't helping our relatives and parents in the farm. There's more people to feed and too few who want to help or learn how to do it. Even worse, sometimes they have their own terrible ideas about farming and don't listen to us and then wreck the fields with their strange ideas they watched from douyin.
Things eventually reached a boilling point and the elders created rules to force the city folk in line like Ikeda Town, and they begin to harass the city folk out. They would scare city folk or make it unbearable to live, i was not around to see the extent but on my way back last year i saw a graffiti that was written in pig blood threatening the city folk to leave or else. Now the city folk in the village is dwindling and they are relocating to a larger town nearby where the rent is cheaper than the big cities but with less anger. Now in the village every new person is required to accept to have no privacy for 3 years at least until the village has determined they are trustworthy and contributing. They are also only allowed to get jobs decided by the village and cannot choose their work. With some exceptions eg they need a rural doctor so they will just let the doctor do his thing but someone who is say a streamer, the village will make him work the fields and he will be supervised and forced out of the house at a set time everyday to work. If they have married women in the village they must give the parent in laws the keys to the house and cannot object to the parents coming as and when.
When i look at Ikeda Town i wonder if something similar happened i love our village but it has became a place even i do not want to live or return there for good.
My god, where is this? Pig's blood writing... it sounds like something out of a horror film!
I always tell people Japan isnt the glamorous little empire people claim it to be. It's very hard to live in Japan, people are dry, and very awful.
And that's a good thing. The Japanese are not obligated to be friendly to you. You are projecting your disgusting western sensibilities onto them when you bring up things like immigration. They don't want you their, their politicians do.
This is nothing. Come to some village in India, cunning people who will backstab you.
yeah. India is no. 1 in this regard. Especially if you are an attractive woman.
What do you mean with "backstabbing" in this context?
@@RK-cj4oc Many ways. Smile on your face, speak sweet and then suddenly work against you behind the scenes. Speak rudely to you and suddenly work against you behind the scenes. Break their words and suddenly change their position etc....
its india, no one expecting good stuff from it
The funny thing is that no privacy reflects rural places all over the world it's just an unwritten rule. people gossip and spy you about your life in the countryside of romania too. they just had the dumb courage to write what rural places are actually like because people dont have anything to do in their lives because they are boring or they just dont have enough hobbies to satisfy their attention spans so they have to gossip about other people
cause it is the nature of small groups, if you do not like it do not live there.
@@kurisu100 in japan case, that attitude is not helping the small town growth. it will die in few decades when the town only left with elderly and almost no young ppl
That's how living in community works even since we were in primitive life.
@@lqfr8813 the same applies to towns in America, lots of small towns are dying. This it's basically life long high school l. You're stuck with these people for longer than 4 years.
This is why I hate living in small towns and moved myself from one. People are just drowned in hatred and absence of privacy, everyone is gossiping about who you are and what you do. I’d rather work my ass of and pay a lot of money to my landlord rather than spend less but live in a place like that.
This sounds even worse than the countryside politics that went on when i was growing up in a town with about 1500 people. No wonder a lot these rural towns are slowly dying out. It's a shame.
The problem seems to boil down to how people live in rural areas. Here in the US I live on ten acres and my nearest neighbor is over a mile away….thats my rural life and a lot of folks have that same kind of life out here….in rural Japan your nearest neighbor is generally a few yards away since people there seem to live clustered up in the country the same way they do in the city……(it’s understandable that Japanese is a much smaller country with less “useable” land) close cohabitation sets people up for conflicts like this.
I love the idea of living in rural areas of japan because I love the quiet life there but if these people like to bullies new comers , I would rather not move to Japan. I don't need to live a stressful life .
I live in a rural community in Japan and it's nothing like the examples shown in the video. The difference might be that we built a home on my wife's family farm and her relatives are well known and respected. I've never felt bullied but there is one neighbor who has implied that I should be a suspect when a tractor was stolen from a nearby farm. I remind myself that narrow-minded old men are a global experience. There are family relatives that came to our wedding but in 15 years have never made contact with us or dropped by, so I dont know if it's xenophobia or shyness. Due to this, we have more privacy than I've ever had in my life.
Yeah a little bit of difference between established family and a newcomer....Surely your wife family has nothing to do with your current status. Keep deluding yourself then.
as someone who grew up in a very rural area (US) - this list is insane.
When I lived in rural Kyushu my elderly neighbours would drop by unannounced, and leave trays of strawberries from their farm just inside my front door because no one locks their doors. The sense of community and harmony is based off unspoken etiquette. It’s not for everyone, but if you embrace it for what it is, you meet truly lovely people.
I had to agree :)
They might seem extremely intrusive and over the line for people living in the city or growing up influenced with western individualism culture. But they just want to know about who is living next to them because rural people takes care of each other like family. Of course they would want to know about their new family member. I happened to have experienced living among community with similar principal. Despite feeling annoyed at times, particularly when they inquire about what I thought as too personal to share, they were also the first one to response and help, almost unconditionally, in emergency situations.
However, bullying and ostracization was not something I can ever agree with. No matter what kind of mistake this newcomer has done according to the rural principals, he is not supposed to be oppressed and alienized. The beauty of rural community lies in working together for the community, taking care of each other, and trust. It is not supposed to be abused for bullying other people. In my previous experience, newcomer who can't adapt to rural principals are sometimes talked about behind their back, may have a harder time when they need to ask about something to the rural people (because they don't know if the newcomer can be trusted or not), may be treated coldly compare to other newcomers succeeded in adapting (well of course, because they also treat the rural in a cold way based on the rural principal, i.e. frequently refusing participation/ invitation), but that's it. No bullying nor harassments.
9:25 Wow to the local leader is trying to bully the restaurant owner. They saw the restaurant thriving, and the local leader wants take it away from them. What a snake.
not going, just remember the lady that was harrased in tsurui in hokaido, the whole town was telling her to sleep with the guy that was the leader of the town and he would write horrible menaces to her, he wasnt even asking her to marry, just wanted to play with her
We've been living in rural Hokkaido for 2 years now and so far it's been okay. We've experienced none of this. The other day a neighbour wanted me to cut more of our shared road's grass but it's a reasonable request.
I guess one reason may be that Hokkaido does not have that long of a history, as it was mostly settled a ~150 years ago, whereas in places on Honshu, this isn't the case.
@Takeruooji That's what I have come to understand as well. Most people in Hokkaido are migrants from elsewhere in Japan and so are generally more accepting of other migrants. Attitudes seem generally more relaxed.
When I lived in Hawaii on Oahu (which is mostly Japanese), I would have loved to have developed some Japanese friendships. But unfortunately they were very insular and even snobbish towards others not like them. They really had zero interest in me. Oh well!
I like how you cover topics in-depth that not a lot of other channels do by directly translating media aimed at the Japanese. Subscribed!
Thank you for this honest explanation on negative cultures within rural Japan. I believe it is Older people refusing to adapt to new ways of life today and expecting younger people to accept that their way, is the only way
It's not a Japan problem, it's a small town problem. This kind of attitude exists in many other places around the world. When bullies are allowed to do what they want, trouble always happens.
The Netherlands own a few small islands on their coast . The islands are inhabited by few small local community’s who have develops there own island identity and customs over centuries . Most only know those island as camping destinations for camping trips . However it’s possible to move there , but it’s difficult , and you must prove you can adapt to local rules and customs to become part of the local community , and not just own property whit hope off selling it of in a short time after obtaining ownership of the property on the island for a profit . This helps local community’s to keep prices low , and not being pushed out of their own homes and local island community’s by rising prices dictated by outsiders moving in . Also prevents people buying property whiteout feeling any responsibility towards local island community’s , their rules and customs and so not being able to be integrated in local island community . This also means their is local community voluntary work for outsiders that have come to the islands to settle by a set of local chores you are expected to sign up for . This includes tasks as , graveyard maintenance , and other local public maintenance tasks that help the local island community’s , and helps new settles to settle in .
That's called assimilating. The one shown in this video is straight up privacy violation and bullying. I appreciate the idea and practice of being a community, but at the end of the day people need their own space in their private lives as well
So let's get this, even if I find the loneliest house in the countryside, the closest village is gonna come knocking on my door to force the local customs upon me?
Yes, correct. You will also be expected to donate a lot of free labor towards festivals, area projects, etc.
"Boomers want you to work for free" - Undead Chronic
I think that any newcomers who are forced out of these communities should be given exit interviews so that the government can step in and implement new local leaderships if the old leaders are found to be nasty, insecure and bullying.
That sounds great. Central government exit interviews ...wow good idea
Small towns are always an issue. You got the usual problems of one or a few family's that run or own most the businesses. Or they are all involved with local gov and civil service. god forbid its police as well. Just rampant with nepotism, and corruption.
Exactly 💯
@@drewo8209 yes small towns sound good until you live there
Maybe this is why property is cheap in some areas? I was initially interested in buying property in Japan in the rural area but now realize why some of these places, even though breathtakingly beautiful and property price is dirt cheap, are not being taken. I am Canadian and this bullying won’t fly or be accepted here.
Also know if you stay in Japan for more than 180 days your income, pensions, and assets from abroad become subject to Japanese taxation!
Living in these rural towns sound terrifying.
I live in rural Japan and have only had 1 issue with the local kuso baba. But I can see how things are an issue for Japanese people who are unwilling to push back against bullies
You shouldn't push rules or force activities. If things are interesting and relevant, people will naturally gravitate towards it, learn it and preserve it. Otherwise, people will let it die, rot and be forgotten.
almost same situation here in endoesa
rural/suburban or kampong/ndeso so annoying chit chat among villagers
I lived in fukui for 4yrs and tbh I saw some ppl having this way of thinking and some not. Thankfully (or not) they kinda left me alone bcz I’m a foreigner.
I recently moved to a very small village on the outskirts of Nikko and have had nothing but positive experiences thus far. I can definitely attest for the "being watched and judged" part.
Bringing some snacks fromy your home country as a present to hand over while introducing yourself is a good way to set a favorable first impression. I think that the best way to avoid these toxic communities is to not go too far from the next city.
You are watched everywhere in Japan. There are stickers all over Tokyo that basically say "don't commit crimes because someone is always watching"
Japan is a hive of xenophobes. Including resenting thier own countrymen, who move into their area. I think in rural areas everywhere families are most welcome. They support the schools, local business, and keep villages alive.
Expats could build their own village and all live in peace like this one German couple who bought a massive amount of land in Paraguay and is forming a whole village with expats from around the world who just wanna be left alone by their governments.
And in the next generation they will repeat the pattern, because power corrupts.
Are you talkn the one that drains your money and kicks you out once its gone?
@@dadrising6464 No. You buy a piece of land and its yours.
So basically living in big city is harsh but living in the countryside is harsher due to boomer mentality that always wanted to get pleasure…
They are miserable people who only feels happy seeing other in misery and even more happy if they are the cause of it. It gives them a sense of power and achievement which they never could and a sense of superiority which they were never and never will be.
Absolutely 💯
I’ve been in Japan for 15 years and concur
@Rei-m3g Banzai! 🙋🏻♀️
@@Collector_PhilI'm interested: can you share with us your personal experience in rural Japan please?
Yeah! So what!? 🗣
Basically they peaked in middle school and were never able to move on. 🤣
Crazy how Japan built this peaceful country brand when this happens a lot. The respect for the elders is just an excuse to maintain privileges in spite of progress.
This is sad to learn😢. As for those who say it's that way everywhere in the countryside in any country, in my village (France) it is not, fortunately !
Situation: town population dropping drastically
japanese response: issue strict edicts controlling people who might want to move there😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Your comment is exactly what feminine behavior looks like ...
Here's another example ...
Women: We are strong and independent who don't need a man.
Also women: Where are all the good men gone?
😅😂🤣
What is "do not bring urban habits".As if rural habits are superior. I understand their concerns but they can beat it. Somebody living in Japan has to live by the Japanese governments not some freaks idea of a community.
((Acts like bunch of unwelcomimg pricks))
"Oh no, our population is dwindling down! I don't know what happened, what ever shall we do?!?! 🥺🥺🥺"
Maybe they should move in together in large groups capable of defending against local power.
I’ve been here 7 years, had one neighbor who was crazy, the rest mind their own business. Japanese don’t like confrontation so stand up for yourself once, and you’ll probably not have to again.