Why Japan's Birthrate is Still Declining (ep.1)
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- Опубликовано: 10 июл 2024
- Japan's birth rate continues to decline and the government has pledged more financial aid to reverse the trend. But many people still hesitate to have children.
In this series, a Japanese journalist Nobita investigates the real reasons behind his nations's crisis and meets with various people on this phenomenon.
■Episode2:
• Why Japan's Birthrate ...
■Episode3:
• How Japan's Marriage H...
■Episode4:
• Japan's Rise of Unmarr...
■Episode5:
• Japan's Virginity Pand...
■Episode6:
• Why Japan's Women Hesi...
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■Typo:
15:56s: women have no 'intention' of ostracizing men
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■Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:24 Change of young people
02:50 Men's views
06:03 Getting passive
08:00 Women's views
13:22 Experts' views
15:27 Daddy's views
18:06 Having a child in Japan
20:51 Moving out of Tokyo
23:03 What needs to change?
25:56 Being pessimistic
26:33 Final thoughts
#JapanBirthrateProblem
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Big thanks to all the interviewees and all the viewers watching this video all the way to the end. Hope you'll enjoy the part 2 as well.
How about we take another perspective. For example, if the problem is the economy, why is it that the average population in developing countries is more stable than developed countries? Does it have anything to do with the culture & religion of a country? nobita can collab with foreign youtubers who live in japan. for example "neo japan".
I believe that the solution to the problems of Japan is entrepreneurship,, particularly home-based entrepreneurship. I think Japanese People are exceptionally good at entrepreneurship, especially if it involves their hobbies or passions.
I think husbands should have a businesses and wives should have home-based businesses. I also think the businesses should not be competing businesses. I think this is the most optimal arrangement.
I think husbands being office workers and wives being housewives is no longer sustainable. I think it is the second-worst arrangement.
I think husbands and wives being office workers is the worst arrangement.
I believe you are correct, Japan has a serious need for small business, funneling everything into big business is one of the major problems. A wife running home business while raising children (within the wider family and community setting) if what the bible urges women to do, the ideal of the inactive housewife (though until the invention of the tv and cleaning appliances they were often anything but inactive) very much comes from aspiring to the nobility of the 19th century (who again were seldom inactive but were often perceived as such, especially within idealisations of lifestyle) with the increasing wealth of the population. Humans have a long history of surviving as a species and thus there are not shortage of lessons which have had to have been forgotten for us to get to this stage.
I'm commenting here so you'll see Nobita. It is normal for a birth decline to happen when life has gotten too comfortable. The more comfort there is, the more births decline, furthermore mutational load increases in the population which leads to misalinged people, who thus do not reproduce for one reason or another. Essentially we are not adapted to this enviornment that we created, it is akin to an animal in a cage, with all the creature comforts it can have. There is no fight, only comfort. Regardless of the daily "struggle" of people, this is still the case. You don't have to really worry about food, shelter or water in a 1st world country like Japan.
If Japan imports foreigners, the Japanese people will disappear, or a civil war will break out sooner or later. Simple as that. South Korea is in a worse situation btw. What Japan should do is help to relocate people into the countryside and slowly get used to larger cities breaking down, that way it would happen without much of an issue. After a population "collapse" of this kind, the population will stagnate most likely, but not die out.
Government incentives to have more kids never work, we saw this in Rome even. Honestly the only thing that truly works is lowering living standards, making life somewhat harder.
from the interviews it seems like the japanese think too much about the future and if they are going to have a hard time
This is a worldwide problem, if society continues to put money/work/productivity first and people (and their relationships) second, this trend will continue and intensify
True! We can't force people to have children.
Correction: it's not a worldwide problem, it's more of a "developed country" problem. Countries in Africa are reproducing left and right.
@@TC-cd5sm This is so true we are actually a few years off from Africa becoming the most populous continent in the world. 2030 is what the UN said if I am correct.
@@TC-cd5smFurther correction: the problem is a result of capitalism having exploited the population too much. You've produced so much wealth for the corporations, but your reward is a humble income. In addition to your small wallet, you must pay for so much just to accommodate having a spouse and financial parasites (children). So much for "developed country" when that title came at the cost of our humanity.
The smart answer, if you decide to continue participating in the money struggle, is to simply not have a spouse and especially not make children.
Maybe one day, we can solve this issue so that we can finally stop viewing having children as losing a lot of what little money you have. But I don't see a resolution taking form until decades later at the earliest.
True but you also need money/work/productivity to support the kids. People are just too tired to do both I think. I know I am.
I've lived in Japan for two years and my best friend said "we aren't having children because we don't see any hope for the future" it's really sad
That's a common saying in America too, and really in a lot of developed countries. I actually have said that myself. It's not like I don't think that there is nothing to live for, but I think a growing number of people just don't have a purpose or see a purpose in their life when all they do is get up, go to work, go to bed, and repeat, and who would want to give that lackluster life to their kids? On top of everything being being so ridiculously priced that its hard to justify spending what you make on those skyrocketed prices. That guy in the video is right by calling kids luxury items.
thats how it is in China and so far starting in America
consequences of secularism
@@GamePhyisician7 ok
@@GamePhyisician7 Exactly. If we are just pieces of flesh made of dead atoms, what is the point of life anyway? Materialism has that consequence as end consequence.
The father who has cerebral palsy and is raising a child is very heartwarming and inspiring. This was an amazing interview.
Good for you! That can't be easy, I have a loved one with CP, but way to go!
@@eetadakimasu risky abbreviation
@@timberlin4075 i just realised CP on this context meant cerebral palsy
@@timberlin4075what else would it stand for? 🧐
What if the child had inherited the condition?
Turns out when you make every aspect of it too troublesome, people stop doing it.
more like making people think is too troublesome.
What’s troublesome about it? If you prefer to tend to your own needs for your whole life, just say it. Instead of pointing blame elsewhere.
@@tiffanymolina1285 ok doofus
@@Wolfrich666 no no, it is troublesome.
@@tiffanymolina1285 did you miss the part about the struggle for people to find time for relationships, the rising costs/stagnate salaries, lack of time for families…the dishonor. There’s plenty troublesome about this. You just haven’t kept up…
It’s understandable how so many of the citizens of Japan aren’t convinced of their country’s moves towards increasing the nation’s birth rates. Hikkikomori culture, hectic work culture, lack of interest in wanting to date or marry and rising costs of raising a family are just some examples as to why it may not be possible. Thanks for the video.
And it's happening around the world too, many see children as a luxury
@@TsugMt Yeah. More than one country have opted to not date, marry, or have any kids.
I think the psychological effect has been inevitable. Marriage is not seen as something that exists for the married couple, but as a way for society to get at them. In liberal society, there is a strong sense that everyone is okay to live for themselves, for the individual, and answer to themselves. It is this type of person who has the means and security to start a family, but will not. But if you get married, this reverses.
Many married people on both sides are being told "you must do this, you must do that, for YOUR family", when in reality it is society's way to withhold its liberal ideals. This withohlding is the stress point, when people are first told to look after oneself, but when you add 1 and 1 together, it is no longer accepted that the couple looks after themselves and each other. Now there's expectations where society attempts to leverage couples who got married to EACH OTHER, in a way, to be married TO SOCIETY.
@@sboinkthelegday3892 I’m not someone who advocates for marriage in general however I’m not gonna condemn someone who chooses to get married either. Society isn’t the final say on what someone chooses to do and yet I believe something needs to be done to get the morale back in it’s citizens.
@@TsugMt but what about India , I'm from there!!😅
I'm a young man in my twenties with cerebral palsy who has given up on dating and I don't think I will have kids, but it was very nice to see the man with Cerebral Palsy and his family. I think that's the first time I've ever seen anyone from Japan with the condition.
Don’t give up! Look at the story of Nick Vujicic, that straight up motivated me to a 100
@@daiishi_kinyoubi I like Nick a lot, actually. Thank you for your kind words!
No, my g. Raise up your value as a man. You are in your 20s! Get a great job, and invest in yourself.
BUT if you truly don’t want a family, watch Coach Greg Adams.
@@hoju510 I'm pursuing a master's degree right now and I'm in an internship helping to document things at the border. I would say that I'm doing all right, but that still doesn't take away from what was said in this video. I really appreciate the advice!
Keep your spirit up and do what you can to improve yourself. The dating market is tough and almost non accessible for 80% of men regardless of other aliments. I would advise spend time research on gender nature and seriously consider if you want to participate in it. The reward may not be as great as you think and the potential loss can be much more than expected. Good luck!
I have two (soon to be three) Japanese children.
Nobita asks why the birth rate is low:
1. Japanese adults will threaten you on the 新幹線 if your children are noisy.
2. Japanese men and women consider children 面倒くさい.
They’ve even blocked the construction of nurseries for children because it would be too noisy.
3. The city of Tokyo is almost entirely anti-children. Beyond a few token places like Disney Sea, everything caters to adults.
4. Many Japanese adults thinks there is no purpose in having children unless their child attends 東大 or another top five university.
5. Japanese leaders like 岸田 will virtue signal about increasing the birth rates but will never make a concrete statement on how society should accept children in grocery stores, trains, and other “quiet” zones. Instead of giving parents the evil eye when their children are noisy, maybe they could accept the sound of children playing.
I suppose this comment will get buried and Nobita will ignore it, but at least you can some information from a parent who is actively trying to undo the Japanese population decline.
Sincerely,
A father of two Japanese boys (and soon one girl)
could you translate the kanji
@@mushmush4980
新幹線 = shinkansen
面倒くさい = mendokusai
東大 = toudai
岸田 = Kishida
I hadn’t thought before about how the “no talking on the metro” would make it difficult and embarrassing to bring young kids anywhere.
@@mainichibenkyou2964 i mean translate not romanize
@@mushmush4980 The shinkansen as in bullet train, mendokusai is something troublesome or burden aka noise, Toudai University is the top school every parent wants their kids to go to, and Kishida refers to Prime Minister virtue signaler himself. Hope that helps, cuz I wondered the same thing but made sense when I saw the OP reply.
In Hawai'i, our grandparents took care of us if our parents are busy. It allows us to develop a stronger bond with our elders, gives the elders an opportunity to teach things as well as keep their cognitive functions active, and allows the parents to have their space.
We are also very closed to our uncles, aunties, and cousins. The aunty and/or uncle can always pitch in to help.
A nuclear family is such a strange concept to me.
In Romania we have both. Nuclear and the bigger family, not always perfect,but it works
@@sirc1446 How it should be, as much as possible. But I’m pretty sure that grandparents everywhere act like babysitters.
I'm part of a nuclear family, but mainly because my family is so small and so spread out over many states that building relationships with distant relatives isn't really possible. Also weirdly enough, I'm a part of a dying bloodline because 90% of my family is over the age of 50, and its only me, my two brothers, my three half-brothers, and my cousin as the "youths". One of my brothers has 2 kids, and I don't suspect the rest of us will have any children. So, our nuclear family is just a result of no kids for a few generations.
This is how Japan and China were, traditionally. Most other countries too. The elders are a necessary component to child raising, that is neglected today in the U.S. and other developed countries.
That clearly was not working, hence why society has moved away from that... Being raised by the elderly is the worst, they experience pain and are tired more often so yes, there will br neglect. Countries with that kind of culture are not doing well anyway🤧
I talked with my Japanese friend about this topic. He said many young people were born during the 30-year economic stagnation period. So they believe that life is already difficult for them.
How much longer do the Japanese have? 100 or 200 years before extinction?
That's interesting. I would have thought growing up like that would help you thrive in that environment, but it makes sense that you'd remember the difficulties of your childhood.
American Millenials had a different kind of problem. We were born during a time of plenty, that we thought would last forever (obviously many people also grew up with difficulties, but in general things were a lot easier) When I hit adulthood, everything was starting to decline, and fast. We were preparing for a world that wouldn't exist when we grew up. I know I could never give my child anywhere near the privileges I had growing up, and the thought is very grim. So most of my friends don't have kids.
@@suzygirl1843 Well the problem with with low birth rates is you have to import a lot of foreign workers which can be a two sided coin. New ideas and decent people can really improve a society but when the birth rates fall so low that you have to import thousands of people in you soon lose your culture and identity. Look what has happened in the West and Scandinavia. They have areas that have been literally taken over by hostile immigrants that even the spineless police are afraid to go. They won't go extinct, it will only degrade over time like it is in the West. that's just my opinion and forecast of it though, I could of course be wrong.
That's what I observed with my friend group. Many of them do want kid and families.... But money is tight. Me and my family are the only ones with kids in our group
@@DravenUrei Maybe that's the REAL issue with First World countries. The educated decisions to NOT produce children amid scarcity of resources vs Third World who produce kids regardless.
I like to think it's a collective way to protest Japan's "Live to Work" culture.
As in "Why should I put my unborn children through the pain of this soulless Orwellian nightmare of a world if it doesn't value human life?"
Maybe some overexaggeration, but you and me both know Japan is not the only society struggling with feeling like we're worth something when all we hear is
"Money, money, more money".
The only reason politicians give for having children is so they can support older people. They're psychopaths.
@@MeMe-lx2jw America's Utopia coming soon
When parents enable their children to become spoilt and entitled to 6 figure 6 feet 6 pack partners that they wont have children until their insane top 10% demands are met. leave while u can
That is the proof that the world was run by money🤑
We have a responsibility to those both above and below us, the failure of others should not justify our own failures.
I agree however that materialism must die.
From personal experience, I'm not from a Japanese family but the reality is mostly same in most countries these days. The time you get to yourself or relaxing just dies off because as parents you are so focused on improving your financial situation because it IS actually hard to sustain another life, especially when you might need to have emergency funds to move away or for health reasons. Most people just aren't born super rich, so you have to work for it. My own parents work day to day even past retirement age because they don't feel secure and our relationship doesn't exist because of it. I haven't spent good quality time with them or other family in over 15 years. I'm also stressed I won't be able to make enough money just living alone and my mental health has gotten bad because of it.
At least to someone like me, people are just more aware of the lack of time and money they have in a lifetime because we have so much information at our fingertips. There's not much we can do about time issues, we cannot slow the days that pass. For money, we stress ourselves out working too much or stay in environments where we cannot live freely or workplaces are just not good enough because we need the money to survive. I might have over 60 years more to live but the last 3 years already came and went, I still have nothing to my life. It's just another reason to work on myself and not be in a rush to have a family. I also have been around enough people in my short lifespan that just aren't good partners for many reasons, you just don't feel secure having to raise a child like that.
I think everyone is making a big mistake in thinking that economic change or giving money will raise the fertility rate. That has not worked in any country. I think in the case of Japan, they should have thought and made a cultural change. Maybe the problem is that the Japanese don't want to bring a child into a society that is very hierarchical and who will then have to work several dozen hours a week under stress and haste just to live in a tiny flat that they will pay off all their lives.
I think an angle that hasn’t been discussed in this video (maybe in part 2) is about community in Japan. The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” can be very true and valuable.
They touched on it a bit with bullying and daycare/babysitter services, but I’m thinking more about support from family and friends. I live outside Japan and often I see couples with kids succeed more when they live close to their extended family, so they can get help with childcare from their parents, siblings, aunties/uncles and cousins. Single friends or family members can also help watch the kids for a few hours while the parents get time to eat, shower and take care of themselves.
Especially in big cities like Tokyo I can imagine that couples with young kids can be isolated from their extended family and find it harder to get support for their childcare, which could be another factor on why they are intimidated by the thought of having kids. I hope it might get covered as a discussion topic in the next video.
That’s sort of a double edged sword. You have support, but you also get nosiness from relatives and general lack of freedom.
There's a video up on RUclips examining why Okinawa prefecture has the highest birthrate in Japan, and in fact second only to North Korea in East Asia. It's not far below 'stable replacement level'.
It follows a 30-something, childless Japanese woman who lives in Tokyo, when she returns home to Okinawa to visit family.
All her sisters, cousins, aunts etc, live within walking distance of each other, and all have 2 or 3 or more kids.
'Community support' and a much less hectic lifestyle were basically the only obvious differences between her and them that could be identified.
@@trawrtster6097 alternative in city is to pay lot of money for childcare and as told , still get mock by other people, not to mention not all people can afford that. People can manage that downside... if upside is big enough. Though that assumes one has those not busy relatives or friends, I bet in Tokyo nobody is like that.
@@effexon If they’re not family members or a handful of the many, many people you could choose to interact with, you can shut them out and choose your people.
My mom’s parents and her sisters all live in Tokyo. So clearly, people do have relatives in big cities too. Honestly, if they’re the people you grew up with, it’s typically fine, but in-laws can be kind of a weird relationship, even if they’re nice people.
There’s also the thing about not wanting certain people’s values to rub off on your kids…
Personal anecdote here, but I agree completely because despite my parents being split, having both sides of my family be close made growing up less isolating than some people I knew. I could visit cousins, aunts/uncles, grandparents all within a 15-20 minute notice on weekends or on vacations. I couldn't imagine only having your parents around with the closest relative being hours away. It's why I'd be hesitant to have children myself, since I'm multiple hours away from my family *by plane* so I'd never want to put a child through such an isolating experience.
I just gave birth to my first child 2 months ago in Japan, and I totally understand why people don't want to do it. Sure they have grants for the actual birth, but we had already spent at least 300,000yen on appointments before the birth. Also my birth was only fully covered because I chose a cheap hospital that offered no pain relief at all, my husband wasnt allowed to be there either so I was alone through the most scary and painful experience of my life. Now I know there are various support systems for kids in Tokyo, but there is a pressure that I should be able to raise my child by myself, because everybody else does it, why can't you? We still want a second child, but if that happens I will definately be moving back to the UK to do so.
Woof. I'd never do that. Gave birth to my half Japanese child in Canada (husband is Japanese). I don't think cutting costs is worth it for no pain relief and no husband present.
It sounds like torture. Especially the no pain relief, it's so painful. I absolutely understand Japanese women are opting out. I'm French so it's not perfect but we have a lot of help and medication during labor. It could be better but I can't complain. Women are not living uterus.❤❤❤
Wow! In Germany, pain relief is absolutely full covered by the mandatory system. And no extra costs for having the father with you for birth. And you even get some assistant after having given birth, a midwife that helps you with the first problems medically. I did not know you were lacking so much behind us in Japan....
I can't imagine going through labour by myself 😢
Oh how times have changed.
I totally get you though, I'm not a woman but I feel that'd be a lot of pain to stand. At least our ancestors had their family and loved ones with them when they gave birth and had the kids being taken care of by everyone in the family, but nowadays we move away from family to start our own, making it harder to raise children and we made it so kids don't die early, but we have all these procedures separating the children from the mom at birth and blocking anyone who isn't working on procedure to be there for moral support.
Rather than the government doing something about it, I believe society should do something about it instead. We've changed too much and we're starting to realize maybe we didn't want this change? While the younger generations are now being born in this high tech world and have disconnected themselves from natural and regular human behavior and feelings more and more.
The family that you highlighted was so inspiring! I love the mom’s optimism and the dad’s determination to improve his mobility. Plus their kid was adorable!
yep
As a woman, there is nothing worse than having a baby. It's like carrying a parasite inside your body, feeding off of your vital energy. A huge burden that no amount of money or man can ever compensate. The sacrifice is not worth it.
Some reasons for Japan's low birth rate are that men on average have low wages in a society with a high cost of living primarily with a partner or children, making men less confident and less proactive in seeking relationships or children. It appears that the cultural and societal expectation that women should take full responsibility for all childcare lowers women's opportunities in the workforce and makes women feel as though they do not want to have kids because they don't want to completely dedicate their lives to it for at least 18 years. It seems that because most people in Japan live in large cities not suited for raising children and with poor facilities to help raise children it also makes the idea of having children less appealing. It seems that high rates of overworking especially for men also make the idea of having relationships or children less attractive. There appears to be a generally defeatist attitude in Japan that Japan is much worse than it is and/or things are guaranteed to continue to become worse, I would imagine that may have something to do with Japan's economy peaking in late 1989 and only becoming worse since then, meaning there are at least two and a half entire generations of people in Japan who have only ever lived in Japan as its economy has continued to worsen. Because of this, it seems that Japanese people assume there is nothing that can be done, and that Japan is done for, yet there are still many things that can be done to improve Japan's economy and improve Japan for those in relationships and those seeking or raising children. I think if Japanese people were more focused on looking at things for what they are and not being overly concerned with what their life will be like in 50 years they will see that Japan is a much better place than they give it credit for. The rates of child abuse, bullying and suicides also make the idea of having a child less appealing as Japanese people assume it is something that will happen to their children. There is also the general lack of communication and high unsaid expectations in Japanese relationships that cause people's relationships to sour making it harder to want or to raise children.
A lot of it can be boiled down to just fear of things in the future rather than thinking about what can be done in the present moment. This doesn't just apply to Japan but to most people in developed countries in general and a lot of it is a big issue in mindset. I can't say I'm much better myself though, I'm always panicking about the future too.
The more the industrial the society the more expensive it is to have children especially in cities versus in farms/rural societies the more children you have the better since it is basically free labor
man its all about the standars of living , a country like india or nigeria birthrate is exploding even if the population is poor and the cost of life is high , but cuz they don't expect a high standars they'll get children , but a in 1st world countries , ppl tend to prioritze themselves over having a family
Well, as a Japanese mom, I think Japanese people usually annoyed by kid’s voice. There was an old couple who have made claim calls for 12 years or so about the ‘noise’ of the park that was next to the children after school to the city hall and a city has finally decided to close the park for kids.
And also the cost for schools are expensive and salary has been almost the same, so some young people don’t want to have kids anymore.
As a man, I don't find japanese laws fair. Women can run away with their kids and trap you into paying child support. Being a mother is not easy but is way better than dying working in place like Japan.
Plus, the women on this video were only worried about being free, doing their hobbies and travel. Why would any traditional Japanese man want to date them in the first place, if they don't want any kind of responsibilities?
This happened at a park near me, too! Old people calling police because of the noise. I hope you can fight that policy.
"There's too much noise at the park near us, what should we do?"
"Close it down."
"Yeah! Good idea! That'll stop the noise!"
This is ridiculous on so many levels. It’s like banning dogs from peeing on a hydrant
Holy shit. Old people in my country would encourage kids to be more noisy and active. Wtf Japan?
Thank you for bringing this to us. I appreciate your hard work.
In all honesty, there needs to be a great incentive by governments in general to convince people to want to have children. Little time for parental leave isn't going to cut it. The mention of money is also important; people need to be paid better. The incentive to giving new parents aid until the baby is a few years old isn't going to help; extend the financial aid until one of many factors happens: The child is of age, parents make better money, child gets a job, etc. Promoting more tax deductibles that contribute to raising children will also help. Long-term is what governments need to think about to promote a boost in birth rates.
Destroy the sex dolls and stop renting women.
@Devil's Logic Should we give money to the artists/animators of Japanese anime studios, and mangakas more than the publishers?
@Devil's Logic That is perhaps, also the reason why Japan's geek industry is getting woke with the excessive censorship. Meaning, if they barely have any outlet for such urges, its pretty easy to guess where they think the urge will go to. Along with sex education, we don't have those in schools here in the Philippines and even now, we still have overpopulation problem.
@Rontypeロンタイップ15イチゴ Uh-oh, that's not good!🥶
Should we warn Ken Akamastu and others in Japan that terrible things (such as ESG, global standard, censorship, ect.) Are happening in Japan?
Also, should we salvage Japan's population and economy?
@@williampearson6299 most women are that way and if you're ugly and short women will reject you we have many women from religious faiths of all type who admit they won't marry ugly or shorter women have cheated on men for centuries, setups, abuse, robbing, lying, sabotaging, misery List goes on even bible and quran talk how women are the problem from start to finish
Yeaaaaah, similar reasons here in the United states. My income is not low and our household income is at the upper threshold of upper middle class (i.e. almost classified being upper class, whatever that means these days). Even with such a "good" income, we would probably expect to have a comparable quality of life to my parents that made a fraction of that with 2 kids and lower paying jobs. The biggest financial hurdles these days that my parents didn't face were sharply rising day care costs (now about as much as a mortgage), college costs (4 year degree is about ~120k), and general cost of living differences. The major one of course is housing, which has risen at a breathtaking rate in just 3 years (roughly 40% jump in price). Having a modest house costs a fortune now. Not to mention food, transportation, retirement, etc. It all feels completely unsustainable. I don't want my children to suffer in such a world where you're expected to work relentlessly to get ahead and it never feels like it's enough.
Absolutely. Times have changed in such a way that it’s more complicated to raise a kid let alone pay for the things needed to sustain having a family plus other expenses.
Thank the Feds for that
@@OnLifeandLove. The feds are not the ones responsible for the unchecked greed, materialism and consumerism that’s now wrecking societies globally. Humanity is sacrificing itself at alter of avarice.
@Tracchofyre I’m convinced unchecked greed, materialism and consumerism are the root causes of the pressures now forcing many to forgo marriages & children. The pressure to “keep up with the Jones” is way more intense than it was 30, 40, 50 or even 60 years ago. Back in those times marketing & advertising could not reach into deep psyche of entire families. Therefore kid could badger parents to bust the budget for name brand items. People pooled resources to get somewhere together rather than demanding their potential partners arrive fully formed financially.
I was working 11 hours/day around 2016/2017 in a renowned Indian IT company. Still was struggling with income. It was my ideal time to give birth as a woman. Why bring a child with these conditions!
What a well done video and very eye opening! Thank you so much for making this
this video was so good and really well made i cant wait for part 2!
I love how media blames men by calling names like herbivores men. Shame
@@asdfghjjhgf The Finland example is based on the fact that Finland has some of the most unmanly men in the world. The women complain ALL THE TIME, and as a foreigner you go there and its crazy easy. Women just grab you, like "god finally fresh meat on the market".
Now think about Japanese men? Same deal here.
But the problem is right about men, because even if you are a low class man, you still contribute to the population.
Then take a look at Japanese women. They are literally delusional.
They want men/husbands to be the sole bread winners, earn exceptionally well - both only work in Japanese work society if you work all the fucking time, and do all the office/work politics as well. (after work drinking etc.)
But then expect you to be modern, meaning being there for her and the children all the time. (what you expect from a modern western relationship)
And also after marriage most Japanese couples stop sex, because most Japanese women either stop it, or are so boring and reactionless in bed, that the guys stop interest in them.
So as a man, you get a 80-100h workweek, a sexless wife to which you have to be faithful to, and need to help out with all the shit your kids do.
All pressure pressure pressure.
Most men in japan just don't wanna be bothered anymore. They just gave up.
@@asdfghjjhgf womanism
I am a proud herbivore with a family
this bugs me the most. They outlaw ANY expression of dissatisfaction, disagreement, or aggression (even for self-defense) yet then call the peaceful, law-abiding men "herbivores". TOTALLY NOT FAIR
Feminism at it's finest😂
The USA has the same problem now and governments all around the world are gonna have to change their policies completely to get people to want to have children and get into relationships and they’ll probably have to give them incentives to do so.
USA "used" to have the same problem, until we let half of South America come in.
They sadly won't change. Too many stubborn people and rich folks want to hold the reigns and keep on making money while screwing everyone else on a national level.
the US plan is to start WW3. a lot of people in American think tanks believe the cause of the baby boom and wealth increase in America was due to the second world war. so fighting WW3 with China/Russia will solve all the economic and demographic woes.
But how does she afford it? Rich family maybe
@@bmuller7471 China wants to start WW3 by invading Taiwan. It is trying to claim the entire South China Sea.
26:42 This woman is single handedly saving Japan's population.
This is an interesting topic, thanks for sharing! 👍
To begin with, the birth of two or more children to a couple has not changed for more than 40 years. The problem is that the negative spiral continues, with more young people not wanting to marry and fewer future fathers and mothers due to population decline. Moreover, Japanese women continue to work due to the labor shortage. Single women do not even have the energy to look for attractive men because the probability is high that a man with a higher income than her is already married.
Bro, you have no idea about japanese women.
They are literally DILLUSIONAL. They wont settle for anything less than perfect, their standard are so absurd, while at the same time being one of the most nagging and clingy women I have ever met.
They literally tell you on a first date that they only date if marriage is on the goal.
At the same time, about 8-12% of japanese woman have done porn at least once (fact statistic look it up), and about 18-20% have done some form of sexual work activity. (all in all)
Which means basically 1/5th chance the women you met is a prostitute (in some form or shape).
While then wanting to date a husband that is going to be the SOLE BREAD WINNER, makes good money, is attentive with family and her, and of course completely faithful (which at least is something they realize is unrealistic, given the previous demands already).
Its all in all an absurd proposition. I understand why japanese men dont wanna date anymore.
Oh dont get me wrong, they sleep with them, the casual actvity is there, but they just dont wanna "buy the cookies" anymore. Leasing/Renting instead of buying is smart.
There is no labor shortage, as there is no limit to how much are how little a country may engage in economic activity. The japanese are being put upon.
Great video Nobita! I love how you always talk to such a diverse range of people. It really helps us in the audience put ourselves in many different shoes and consider things from many different perspectives. Beyond just being informative, your videos always promote compassion and mutual understanding as well, which is awesome. Keep up the good work! I can't wait for part 2.😊
Thanks for watching!!
@@TheJapanReporter Do you think immigration is a good or bad solution to solve Japan’s falling birthrates?
@@TheJapanReporter Don't take advice from this black man, he fled his own country. His idea is that women need to lower their standards and struggle with men is why Africa is in its poor state its in. Lazy African men
Great video. Thank you for your hard work.
Excellent and informative video! Thanks!
Excellent job putting this together Nobita sensei. Love the new Channel Name. Looking forward to part 2~!
I like how Nobita put the negative perception at the beginning and ended the video with something positive.
These videos are really really intresting and it is clear that you put a lot of research and work into it. Thank you so much!
Thank you for giving the ladies a chance to have such a prominent voice in this matter. I was thinking to myself that Hoshino-san was making some good points, but was ultimately misunderstanding where women are coming from. We don't collectively see a man as lesser because he can't make enough money to support a family, he is simply just as much of a victim of the economy as any woman is, and the combination of income that comes with marriage doesn't fix the problem if the woman in question has to stop working indefinitely to become a mother - far from it.
I don't live in Japan myself, but while conditions for starting a family would be more favorable for me where I live, my boyfriend and I are still opting out of it for as long as possible on account of us wanting to use our time and money elsewhere, like travelling and enjoying things we like together, so I can completely sympathize with your interviewees. The government of Japan needs to understand that raising children is a full time job that takes up half of your life, and unless they show they understand this and actively make conditions more favorable, I don't think they can expect any improvements to the birth rate any time soon.
I live in Canada and I also feel like this. The cost of living over the past 10 years has just gotten out of control. Where most people even with decent income will not be able to live a comfortable life if they have children.
man stop lying to yourself ; economy isn't the reason for low child birth , cuz statisticly speaking , all the countries that are having a normal birthrate are 3rd world countries that don't even have a fraction of the economic power of 1st world countries , the biggest reason to low birth rate is cultural and social , humans now wants to live as a yound adult person for as much as they could , they don't want to have resposibilities , when you have kids you can't have that kind of lifestyle ; having kids ( yeah cuz you need at least 2 kids per couple to maintain population and more to grow it ) will put you in a situation where you must care about them more then yourself and ppl arn't mature enaugh to do it in these times
@@alaa341g In 3rd world countries you can get a full meal with vegetables and stuff for $3 usd easily. And if you buy ingredients yourself then you can have it for even cheaper. You can't do this in 1st world countries. Well you can but its hard to do unlike how easy it is to do that in general in 3rd world countries. (Source: me an indonesian eating full meals for around $3 usd or cheaper daily)
@@justapleb7096 yeah but 3$ meal , and you get a salary of 100$ like in most african countries , so its 3% , while in 1st world country , if you just get paid 2000$ which is the minimal , 3% is 60$ , so are you telling me that you can't buy a fucking meal with 60$ ? You can buy 6 meals , macdonalds is less then 4$-6$ the burger everywhere in europe , so like i said , money isn't the problem my dude , they just don't like having kids
@@alaa341g he said the cost of living is the issue not the economy. If the costs inflate disproportionately to the economy, purchasing power goes down. If you can't take care of yourself, you can't take care of others.
The better access to birth control the less children. Give african women free contraceptives and see what happens.
And yet...long work hours, many times unpaid, are still stumulated by the government.
I saw an interview from a male Japanese politician who insisted on taking full father parent leave to help his wife and set an example and he was laughed about.
The big corporate companies earned most of the resources from the society, but don't want to put back enough resources to keep it running which benefiting to the locals in long haul...
That's why normal citizens nowadays don't want their next generation to be work slave in the future anymore
Japan is at 1.2 birthrate, S. Korea is 0.7, in comparison, the United States is 1.7. A country needs a birthrate of 2.1 for the population to grow.
i mean this as nicely as possible, but also as direct. i am not Japanese, but Mexican. in Mexico, family is the center of our culture because it is our support network when it comes to job security and social culture. i grew up with a lot of relatives helping out my mom take care of me and my sister, and i have cousins my age who i can talk about normal generational problems like friends even though technically we are related and these conversations are mainly between friends. japan to me, it seems, despite being a collectivist culture, doesn’t really have a sense of community. maybe it’s because it’s a culture of indirectness and so many social rules, but to bring a child you need to have a lot of support from everyone around you, and i don’t think japan has that.
What if the family is toxic and you have to go no contact?
Still, Japan is a better developed country compared to Mexico seeing as how the birth rate is very high and so is poverty.
@@nathalieli7617 a developing country with strong family values is still miles better than a developed country that urges it's elderly population to die.
@@nathalieli7617 exactly. People are trying to leave Mexico because it sucks so much. Not that many people are classified as illegal aliens from Japan of all places…
@@CordeliaWagner doesn't sound like the majority
Wow you show the situation in a very in depth diverse way
By far, one of the most interesting videos in the channel.
Your videos are informative and give more of insight on Japan's issue's and just more about country in general, Thanks for all the effort you put in.👍
Thank you very much for a wonderful video Nobita san! Love the positive attitude of last interviewee😊✨ And apperance of Emi chan and Yuka chan❤
It would be nice having understanding and supportive wife like mayumi, and at some point we agree that parenting is not just wife focused on child. The husband have role too. It would be great if both of them works together supportive about perantings. But most of problem was worried about how this married are gonna be or going to be. And economic issue. Like unstable financial and environmentally.
It's the same problem as South Korea. Japan NEEDS to change social norms. They can't stubbornly cling to old mentalities and traditions. A total overhaul, such as more focus on mental health, better work culture, and overall better communication is needed. Takes two to raise a family.
Honestly, they just need to start caring about their people's well being in general. Not just mental health and work culture, just the people's well being and ability to live life overall.
When people have the time and the ability to recuperate from being completely overburdened they start caring about their society and putting effort into making it better. Including caring for other people that are suffering.
I'd say it takes way more than two to raise a family, atleast without working yourself to exhaustion.
The old mentalities and traditions are why japan is kept clean, it's population kind, respectful, considerate. Attempt to change things, give people a voice, and all that's going away
@@varsa507 wrong. It keeps Japan from chaning and this is ehy they economy is going down. They are wroking in "old way" and it doesn't make enough profit. Young people are shut down cuz elders don't want change anything. Japanese peoplenare polite, not kind. This is way of Bushido - the same way which is making Japan going down.
It does not take two to raise a child. It takes a mother and father, with the differences that entails.
It seemed that the biggest issue is financial support. Culture will can and will change, but as long as people feel they're too poor to have kids, the birthrate will continue to decline. It will get to a point where Japan has to reform its economy to raise the living standard of young people, or they'll need to provide things like UBI to ensure that if someone becomes a home maker, he or she can get enough income and support to be comfortable taking care of kids.
man this is bullshit , if finance was the reason of low birth rate , then 3rd world countries would go extinct , statisticly speaking , 3rd world countries that have a less then a fraction of the economy of a country like japan ; are have not just good birth rate , but its exploding , take india for exemple , the population is so poor , but look at their birthrate , its all about culture and soceity
Who could have predicted that pushing a materialistic society and not allowing people to have a life out side of their work because productivity and profits must go up would have negative effects
I guess it all boils down to 2 points, money and freedom. Those are the 2 main concerns that give the people reasons not to have kids. But if our parents also thought the same then we wouldn't be here to say this at all 😄
but they will say, im better off not being born and stuff.
I wish they didnt breed🙄🙄🙄🙄
Not being here isn’t a loss.
Actually, *my* parents may not have had a lot of what was considered 'having money' at the time, but they *did* have the money and freedom to at least *expect* what they had to go far enough to own a house and have us few kids and a couple cars and even some better education credentials than they had. It was certainly true to an extent, but the later 70s and Reaganomics were not kind in cost-of-living ways. Still not as bad as for my generation, never mind those after. But I was raised with those kinds of expectations, and people my age who *did* make money are under the misconception that money and security for that are actually about merit and hard work rather than a big dose of luck and circumstance, regardless of how hard one works. They often make policy accordingly, even if they're proof positive that the people born into money are more likely to be rich if they goof off than is most of the rest of the world busting our humps to tread water.
Concentration of wealth is the root problem in this late-stage capitalism out of control scenario, ...to wit the rent's too damn high. And their 'answer' about population is to use religion and demagoguery to try to make a lot of the worst-able or suitable people keep having more kids anyway. (Then try to prevent those kids being educated or aware or for that matter solvent enough to actually improve anything.)
Japan's got an easier out here, even with 'sandwich generations' taking care of both the huge number of elders from previous population booms and also any kids that they try to have . Namely a lot of the towns and countryside are *not* all locked up in the hands of big finance and still too expensive to live there. Housing is cheap enough to give away even, and there's still elders there with pensions and a need for help, and it's a digital economy that doesn't really have to care where your cubicle is.
It's like you can't just breed your way out of the aftereffects of a baby boom. It'll end up a race to the bottom a lot of people clearly don't want to run even if they could. Make something actually doable, appealing and sustainable, on the other hand....
I am the first child of a child of 6, at that time it was normal in my country, we were not rich but we had enough, we did not go on vacations much, we had to do wonders to get by with what we had, but we were happy, my parents worked hard, they made many sacrifices, we both worked but we had a network of relatives who helped us with pleasure because family is family, nowadays no one would be willing to do the same, having children was never cheap at any time in history, but is that people do not want to sacrifice their lifestyle for the family, in Europe many women do not have children not because they do not have money but because motherhood would imply not buying a car every 5 years, not having an apartment in a good neighborhood, no going on vacation to other countries every year and not going to dinner 2 times a week, instead they turn their pets into their children spending almost as much money as it would cost to raise a child.
japanese culture isn't focused on showing love, passion, and affection as much. That's really what people need to pro create.
Lived in Japan for a couple of years. I was shocked when I heard from a couple of parents I met that they don't hug their kids after they grow up. Like around the age 10, they stop hugging their kids. They don't even know why they stop.
Another problem is communication and cheating between couples. What I am about to write down now is completely subjective, I got these info from my experiences and researches:
My first bf was Japanese and he cheated on me. His libido was extremely low and he would never text me first when we dated.
After I broke up with him I looked into these issues. Saw some videos where almost everyone says 70-80 percent of people cheat in Japan. Saw many surveys and researches and talked to my Japanese friends about all this and it all basically confirmed that cheating isn't a big deal in Japan as it is in other countries. (western countries at least) and that Japanese people's libido is much lower than westerners. Around once a week max among young couples for example. They also don't bother reaching out to people much which puts some distance between people's relationships.
My researches were done in Japanese and it has been like 5 years so I can't really link anything right now unfortunately.
Cultural bias.. Japanese didn’t have any problems multiplying and procreating back in the days when the circumstances were more favorable. All developed countries are facing the same problem, irrespective of their way of showing love.
The problem is actually nuclear fallout and the shrinking of the Japanese male's testicles overtime. There's actual documented scientific evidence on this. The Japanese male testicles have been shrinking since the nuclear fallout from Hiroshima and Fukushima has only exacerbated the problem. Japan is polluted with nuclear waste and it's destroying their men balls. In about fifty years they will be the size of sweet peas.
This is the reason that a nation of samurais have turned into one of comic book reading ,hello Kitty loving sissies?
that's not the problem. It's the path most developed countries take regardless of culture.
@@yanshiyason The problem everywhere else is not the same as Japan. The factors that are causing this in Japan are very "Japan things" that we don't have elsewhere, or that we have waaaay less.
The whole debate is alarmingly similar to the one we have in Greece right now. Greece and Italy have the lowest birth rates in Europe (fewer than 1.3 children per woman) and a massive brain drain to Germany and the Netherlands. So what happens is that our governments are trying to raise our birth rates but the monetary incentives are meagre, the cost of living is exploding, salaries are horrendous, and Greeks and Italians work the longest hours in the EU. Very few people my age (28) are leaving their house (the average Greek leaves the nest at 30-ish), let alone getting married and having kids. Fewer and fewer Greeks have the appetite for that, yet boomers are like "we need more children". Yet, my generation will have to service €400 billion in debt (with a GDP of ca €192 billion). I live in Germany now and while here I can dream of a better life and can achieve and exceed my goals now, many of my friends in Greece are still struggling, living with their parents, or single. Many have left themselves. Others are doing well for themselves. None have kids before the age of 30. I can only empathise with the Japanese my age.
Same here in turkey except eu card and its getting worse, you can literally observe in real time how economy collapses
@@joelrcj.775 It's the average number at the population level.
when i stumble upon this channel it's still low in subscriber..i am glad it grow~ good content keep it up!
Japan's working culture is one of the root causes of many trouble there, including this one. People should work to earn a living, not live to work and for work and pretty much nothing else. Japan seemed very promising 10 years ago with their technological advances, specially in robotics and AI, but now it's clear it's not enough. Robots should help increase productivity so people can have more time to do other things with their lifes than just working. This also applies to housekeeping. A woman should not have both the job and the housekeeping burdens upon her (that's why it's understandable that they say adding childcare to that is unthinkable). Such things need to be automated and any task that can't be automated needs to be shared by both parents. Also companies need to become more flexible with them as well. Parents want to spend time with their kids, not leave them to others to do the childcare or have to spend the time doing housekeeping chores instead of quality time with their kids! Robots and AI have the potential to change that and also improve the economy as well! Also, I have seen that since this problem is also common in Korea, another issue that contributes to it is education and culture. Death by overworking (Karoshi) is another issue shared by both Korea and Japan and it's clearly related to this. Many things that need improvements, people should be free to live their lifes, not enslave themselves from education to work to be working as if they were machines! (Something explained by Byung-chul han as "The burnout society"). Alas, all this is just idealistic, needs to become real somehow, but it's not happening. Until that happens, I'm afraid this problem won't be solved.
What is interesting here, or very sad, is that although Japan exports a lot of technological advancements to other countries, they have yet to adopt them themselves. Old bosses for examples who insists people use fax machines for everything, heaps of paperwork, a stamp that acts like your signature like some medieval signature ring, etc. Advancements and reductions of workload are frowned upon "because it disrupts workflow" (of idiots spending their entire evening watching youtube because being there is more important than being productive, and that instead of banging each other).
@@user-qm7jw really? Something's wrong with that statement. Even if working conditions were harder, if the reward was worth it then it was still possible to live. But did they have the same suicide levels back then? Did karoshi even exist back then? I don't think so. Something has changed. If the times are getting better for real and whatever baseline or metric is used to measure what working conditions are "worse" or "better" it should take into account what you can do and what you can actually achieve. If we look at Japan's company culture we see not many new startups are created. The interpretation of that reality is that Japanese people prefer not to take risks. But it seems to me that there is more than just that beyond and it involves their culture and how it is oriented towards work. For instance: lacks support for entrepreneurs and startups. If you try something new, risk capital and fail they take it as a punishment instead of as a chance to learn. On the other hand see how Elon Musk is changing the world. He takes the risk, his new experimental rockets sometimes blow up but he doesn't give up. He takes it as a chance to learn, he works hard to find a way to solve the problems and tries again! The japanese saying that "hard work will beat intelligence" pales to combining harf work with intelligence and learning from failures! Did Toyota learn from their experience with the Hydrogen powered Toyota Mirai? No? It took them several years and a change of CEO to admit that they had invested a huge ammount of money in the wrong tech! Now it will take them longer to build enough electric cars. Meanwhile Elon's first principles way of thinking has made Tesla Model Y a best seller and that has made Elon the richest man on Earth! Back in the 70's it was the other way around, Toyota innovated while USA car maker companies at Detroit failed and went bankrupt and we know how that city ended up.
My conclusion is that even if working conditions are hard, if people get results they can thrive, but if they work hard and it ends up being in vain, then faiure is complete. Work should give enough to live and since life standards have become higher, the same work giving the same results is actually giving less (just see what inflation does, you may get the same salary but you can actually buy less with it, I think that works in a similar way).
Robots and automation is already a thing, but the reality rather than improving the happiness and well-being of humanity as a whole allowing them to work less and enjoy life more, they are being used in a way by corporations for devaluing peoples' contribution and make them struggle even more in life.
Until large businesses and corporations actually reward their staffs reasonably and proportionally to company's success instead of the people at the top making all the money in the world, nothing will ever change. Executives rewarding themselves $20-40 millions annual bonus in the same year which they layoff hundreds of staffs claiming "the company is going through a difficult time" is what is wrong with the world.
@@MarineRX179 Not true. Not quite, not exactly. Robots and automation are still not on the level, not ready for home usage. To actually be able to work less and so have less people literally killing themselves working, way more advanced robots are needed and those are still not mass produced, that's the point it needs to reach. A roomba and similar is not enough, we need a real life version of Jetsons Rosie to do all the housekeeping tasks including ordering the clothes (preferable with the Kon Mary folding method) cooking food, cleaning the house, etc. take care of all those mundane tasks so people can really spend time with their family and do other things. Do we have such a thing in the market already? No, we don't. Boston Dynamics seems to be the closest to developing a universal robot, but it still relies on pre programmed movements to perform actions, it still needs work to improve it into real AI to be able to adapt to real world situations, and that is taking more time than anyone who would have seen it a few years ago would have expected it to take.
Oh, good to have a problem and a solution in one video. At first I was not expecting it to go deeper into those, but I was proved wrong. Well done
This was a great documentary/interview! You showed all sides of the issue and everyone articulated their perspectives well.
I dream of visiting Japan one day with my family, so I hope by then the birth rate has improved 😁
You can do it Japan. Fight!
The money problem is definitely relatable for me, and I'm a woman living in America. I want to have kids, but not so badly that I'd reduce my quality of life just to be able to call myself a mom. Financially, I simply can't afford kids. The stress of such a big burden, and not being able to afford the "best" for my kids, and still not being able to live my life the way I want because I'd constantly be stuck trying to make sure that the child has a roof over their head and isn't starving, that kind of cycle would make me very depressed. So why bother putting my own offspring through that. It sucks but unless I'm rich, middle class or financially free, I won't even dream of kids.
Sounds like self-centered excuses to me. I could understand being nervous or fearful of the pain of birth or of losing your kids before the reach maturity to some accident or crime, but wow. This is such a self-centered excuse.
The middle class isn't having more kids than poor people, in fact, they're having less. Even if you look at the 1% in America they're having kids below replacement level. The truth of the matter is that it's something else keeping people from having kids because if it was just being able to afford them that was the problem then people would have more kids as they earn but money but that's not the case. I think as women started becoming more educated and began entering the workforce society began demonizing being a mother and shaming girls that don't choose to pursue a career. If a girl in high school says she wants to be a stay at home mom then her peers will look down on her for being unambitious and saying she's okay relying on her partner's income.
Would you really have more kids if you had more money or would something else come up to stop you from having them? Current data doesn't support what you claim but I hope that it's true.
@@royarg8603 I'm not sure where you're getting your "truths" and "data" from, but my information is about my own personal experience as someone living my life, and knowing others who feel the same way. Money is the only reason I don't have kids, and I do want to have a kid. Careers are stable money-makers, so at the end of the day, the root cause is still a lack of financial stability. I'm sure the 1% in Japan aren't having more kids than the 1% in America, that still doesn't change the fact that it's much harder for poor/middle class people to afford kids with the rising cost of childcare, inflation and lack of financial stability.
@@StarboyXL9 how is this self-centered? I'm making a conscious desicion not to put my kids through a tough life. You would be selfish and, quite frankly, not very smart, if you think it's okay to have kids when you're still living paycheck to paycheck. Prioritizing my mental health and the health of unborn babies is far from "self-centered excuses."
@Zeldafan1ify no you're definitely self centered. You just want to maintain your lifestyle while having a kid. Well the world doesn't work like that, you sacrifice for your children. And you wonder why western men are dumping women like you for more traditional women in the east
I love your videos. Keep up the excellent work!
Thanks!!
Japan and S. Korea has the same problem, first step to attempt to fix this is to change the corporate working environment. Remote work should be allowed more, this can assist in the cost and attentive needed to raise a child. At least branch out more instead of centralizing in one or two cities. A wise man once said, "work smarter, not harder", adopting the "hard working culture" needs to change, it's not something to be proud of. More companies should offer support and acceptance for women with children or will be bearing children. Women should accept men who will be making less than they do as more women will be joining the workforce and occupy high positions.
I am actually surprised that Japan is even allowing more remote work in the first place (usually, remote works are only reserved for manager level). Given that Japanese companies are very wary about information leakage, they would think that information security would be better if stored in a central hub like the office rather than have it scattered at homes where employees do remote work.
Also, I even believed that Japan is more decentralized than where I live. What a way to get me disillusioned.
The woman at the end that said she continued having children into her middle and late 40s is an inspiration. Women are told that we ideally have about ~15 year window to have children and by our late 30s we might as well give up hope, because it becomes too risky. Its a lot of pressure on women that choose for whatever reason to wait until later for motherhood
Imo women should choose what they want to do and block out societal pressures.
@@masterdecats6418 easier said than done
@@qwertybirds No it's not. Only weak folks care what strangers think about their life choices. It's all in your mind.
@@KB-un3bt lolol
@@masterdecats6418 Biology says otherwise.
Because love is almost nonexistent anymore, only pleasure and betrayal.
If they made the pregnancy and birth process less strict, I would have all my children here.
Exactly! Especially for a country with a decreasing population. They are literally doing a disservice to themselves by making the process so strict vs the US's very loose process for example. That just blows my mind.
The main reasons I think are:
People don't want to loose their freedom
People are too busy
The cost of living is too high
Unlike previous times there is very less society pressure
Absolutely right 👍🏻
Such a great video! Thank you for sharing this. All interviewees gave really good perspective.
I also didn't want to raise children in Tokyo so ended up moving to overseas at the end of 6 mo of pregnancy. If I have to go back to Japan, i would definitely go to my hometown rather than Tokyo.
-Giving birth in Tokyo can be too expensive (¥300,000-1,000,000)
The government and/or your company will pay you back up to ¥470,000 but every checkups, blood work, ultrasound costs ¥1,000-10,000.
-Almost all obstetricians clinics are fully booked in Tokyo, and you have to investigate a lot to find a hospital to give birth as soon as you got pregnant.
-majority of men don't really support their wife to take care of children and do housework due to their work environment.
Technology is well advanced in Japan so it makes some people feel much safer. But to me, the stresses and costs were too much.
Not only in Japan to be honest... The world is too damn expensive it really is not worth to have kids in any part of the world
except the poorest parts of Africa
@@jenss.3613 they're still breeding like rabits over there.
Especially when predators are coddled more and more, and you can’t even guarantee your children’s safety.
@@GiblixStudio And nothing to feed all those babies when they get here…
Been watching you for years Nobita, always interesting and entertaining. I lived in Yokosuka for 4 years fell, in love with Japan and I hope Japan continues and stays Japanese till the end of time. Thankyou for your videos!!
One of the reason in Japan might be a part of culture in Japan that after the woman have baby, it’s difficult for them returning to work then they lose their career forever. But in some other countries woman can still back to work.
I think it's great you also highlighted how unfriendly-to-children environments reduce the desire to raise a kid. After all, a good potential parent wants to provide a happy environment not just at home, where a kid can be a kid. Of course it's not a major factor but it counts.
What concerns me is having children is supposed to be a powerful instinct and a lot of people (myself included) just don't seem to have it anymore. My brain can fire off rationalizations for why I don't marry and have children, but I don't usually think myself out of breathing, eating or sleeping, nor do most people. Most people are very industrious at finding ways to satisfy their other biological needs no matter how unfavorable their situation gets (which is the original point of intelligence), so we might want to look into why reproduction doesn't seem to make the list of urges that are almost impossible to resist anymore.
Because breathing and eating and sleeping are necessary for survival and physical well being, while marriage and children are not. Psychological desires are optional and can be suppressed
@@OnLifeandLove I'm so glad humans have a choice - in the wild, some males are willing to be eaten just to have a chance to mate (eg. praying mantis)
We live in a finite world with finite resources. More is not always better. I think it's also because of instinct that people don't feel like having children anymore. When most people gather to the already overcrowded cities, maybe subconsciously there are thoughts like "let's not add more to this"
I think it is because mens testosterone has been falling for decades. That makes sex drive lower.
@China Chicken Soupnever heard of dad going for milk meme? 😂
The african women who have no education at all have an average of 9 children. Those (in the same countries) who have primary/secondary education have an average of 5 children. And those with universitary degrees have the same ratios than any occidental country. So the problem is the education level? No: the education level is just a consecuence of the wealth position (wealthier people tend to get more education). However, the birth rate amongst the actual rich people is higher than the average everywhere: so if it's not about the money, nor the education level, what's going on here?
People have children only when the cost of having them (not economic, but in terms of "negative impact in your quality of life") is low. If you are a super poor indian or african villager having 10 children won't make your life much worse than it already is, and if you are a rich european you will still enjoy your life while your babysitter takes care of the children when you have a cocktail or want to go to a party. But the middle class people do suffer a high change in their lives, and anyone knows having a couple of children will ruin your hobbies and your wallet for the next two decades. Their reaction is perfectly logical and I think there's no solution for this no matter what politicians do. The only possibility to revert this is that the AI takes all our jobs, we don't work anymore and just get some public rent or income to live, and then we will have again all day long free and will have enough time to take care of family responsibilities and enjoy our hobbies as well.
Good point. Its being programmed to live for the rat race rather than anything substantial. Modernity drunkens our senses
This man, this reporter, he the best damn reporter i seen. His editing is great too. His questions are great too.
His interviews are great too.
Cool video, thanks! In my own experience, I have noticed a trend of Dads being more "hands on" when it comes to parenting. When I moved here in 2009 (a town with a population of around 3,500) with my older daughter there were times where I was literally the only Dad in a PTA meeting with 26 Moms. But with my younger daughter (only six years younger) the split has been about 50/50 throughout. Overall I see the Dads around my younger daughter's generation (now in junior high) being a lot more involved with the PTA and school activities in general than I did only six years prior, so hopefully this trend will continue and eventually become the norm around more places in Japan.
日本28年を滞在してきて。結婚は男性にメリットもない。離婚すれば子供と資産を持っていかれる。親権は父親に与えたら、出生率あがると思う。I have lived 28 years in Japan. There is absolutely zero merit for men to get married. In case of divorce, they lose their kids and a big portion of their life's work. Besides, adultery is extremely high in Japan. Give default custody to men to incentivise them. Give a favourable division to women to force men to treat their wives better. If both parties have soemthing to lose, they will have to work something out
Exactly. Family courts are so biased towards women (in my country, Poland, too)...
I agree. But throughtout the documentary it seems that women always blame the system and make seem that it's unfair to them. They are completely oblivious of the consequences of this things to men lives. I bet a lot of Japanese men committed suicide because it ruined their lives.
Men are adapting to the horrible family laws that affect them. Men are royally screwed in marriage. Not only that, women are, in a way, rewarded for adultery. As of now, it’s not worth it, unless they completely change the laws.
@@dumpsterDeity In practice, that does not work unfortunately. For now, default custody is awarded to the mother, even despite some harmful behaviour. Kids opinion should be heard, but remember parents routinely "coach" their children and claim false allegations 支援措置 of DV to expedite divorce and alienate the other parent.
@@dumpsterDeity I understand your point of view. You need to bring men back to the negotiation table first 1) Men know marriage is an awful deal. Should they divorce, they will permanently lose access to their kids, yet they will still be financially liable. Put yourself in a man's shoes for 2 seconds 2) So, create an incentive for men to get married: default custody. 3) Protect women with a strict division of assets.
Pre WWII, custody reverted to fathers. Natality boomed, society was developing fast, but it was tough on divorced women. Restore the old system but give protection to women. When both parties stand to lose what they value the most, people come together and find a way to make it work for everyone
The economic argument is a convenient excuse. Post WWII, Japan was completely devastated. People still got married and had kids despite incredibly harsh conditions.
One thing for sure, the current system is not working. Things must change
I think socializing being good at it is learned. I both learned to be shy and then a different time in life to be very confident. Also, I think maybe low self esteem and being overworked is causing a good bit of these issues
The world economic system is running based on competitiveness. Time effectiveness+great idea+labor cost+productivity are the main factors. Due to super aging population in Japan, younger generations is really struggling economically ... Money is the real core factor of these social issues
@@calvintang398 root of all evil, huh?
@@kingrobotnik6950 money itself is neutral, it's people's attitudes about money that's the problem
I love when Nobita slips himself in as an interviewee ;)
Every point and opinion in this video really tackles the issues when it comes to the decline. We as the 99% are not the problem when it comes to a birth rate decline.
This isn't a Japanese problem anymore either.
Edit; I would just like to add the couple caring for their child despite being in a wheelchair was really wholesome, I hope they continue together.
This seems like a very good look at a very difficult subject, with all points of view fairly represented.
Great report.
My wife is from Sapporo. We have 5 children (would have had 7, but she miscarried). She is a wonderful mother and wife. My heart goes out to the young people in Japan who yearn for a family of their own.
🙄
Are you Spanish by any chance?🤣
@@theoeguia3302 Not sure where you're going, but no. White dude from rural Alaska.
@@massive_headwound_harry There's a racist stereotype that Hispanic/Latino couples have lots of children, that they "breed like rabbits." They likely asked you that because you have "a lot" of kids (more than three) and then thought that it's much more likely that you were a Hispanic/Latino person than being a White person.
No thanks I don't wish to have kids.
My sister in law (okinawan) are from a family of 7 siblings. My brother and that sister in law just gave a birth to 4th baby. My own sister has 3 kids. They are all in Okinawa. It’s probably the stress, family support, and other social supports that make it better but I personally don’t like this population growth still happening in Okinawa. It’s too many. Too many cars, too many traffic, too little space.
this is a common problem in many other countries also, and gets worse due to inflation
well, japan is notorious for being "elderly oriented" and conditions refusing to change to improve for the younger generations, why should they care if the country doesnt care about them?, hard to live alone, hard to rise through the work ladder, companies stuck with decades old policies and methods, the list goes on.
125 million ppl in such a tiny island is too much. It should keep declining.
skyscrapers, they dont make their own food etc. the real problem is not overpopulation its a severe lack of efficiency.
@SYMX2468 Can't wait for old ppl to vanish. They live too long.
Also a 1 of many factors to consider:
People with mental disadvantages know first-hand how difficult it is to live in Japan compared to other countries where you can say are more 'open'.
One interviewee said that she did not want to pass her genes to her children.
Which one?
would it cause more problem in the long run if mental genes are pass and the place is full of mental handicap
Let government thinking about problem they created. Just enjoy your self
It would have been interesting to see more details on that town/area that managed to get a positive birthrate.
I think that the issues facing Japan are also issues that most of the rest of the world is facing, just to a less intense degree; I think there will have to be more of a dedicated effort to either reduce the cost of living or find a way to raise real wages (making sure they are adjusted for inflation) or this trend will continue.
Good video though, thanks for posting it.
I think it's also because japanese people don't have babysitter/household assistant culture. They choose to raise their kids and do household works on their own and don't depend on someone. It's very hard. We, indonesian, even will think twice to have kids if we have to raise them and do household works by ourself. Luckily, we have babysitter/household assistant culture. We can hire professional babysitter or household assistant without worrying about how society will look us, because it's normal part of our life, and also don't cost so much money (only 100-200 USD per month).
I have often said that the West (where I have lived, and which also has a similar problem) needs to remove its stigma over nannies! They used to be foundational, members of the family. The Rise and Fall of the British Nanny by Johnathan Gathorne-Hardy is an interesting book on this topic.
I guess this means those 2040 estimates were more optimistic than realistic
Im fine dying alone.
I always wonder, with industrialization, we have really brought down price of cars, electronics etc. Why can't we bring down the cost of raising a family, or medicine?
The irony is that as the Economy gets worse, the more people will want/need to make more, as well as their partner, which will only make dating even more discriminatory and little more than a job interview.
Well there are many reasons. But take one big difference between Japan and most European countries. Maternity leave. Women here in Sweden can work, can take maternity leave and then go back to their job without any fear. Whereas in Japan that is not the case. Also in Europe, women are expected to contribute to the work force, they are not expected to simply take care of the children. Also, yes you have well developed infrastructure, but when people are expected to work 50-60-80 hours a week, who has time for marriage? Essentially you need significant cultural changes with regards to your work culture and how society views the role of women. And that's not gonna happen anytime soon.
While most European nations have nice benefits, every country there is below replacement level. Granted, most aren't as bad as Japan, but it's still becoming a problem, especially in former Soviet states where they deal with few births and braindrain.
This is problem is also starting for many other countries also, Japan is just a little ahead of everyone else.
16:57 But if we minimize all wasted time and work more efficiently,
The problem is, the work culture in Japan is proven to be inefficient apart from seniority, also because people often work overtime for no reason and do tasks that don't really need to be done just to show dedication to the company.
The couple with the disabled dude is such a power couple
In the past, people and societies were simple and straightforward. When couples wanted to get married, they just needed to consider maybe 3 factors, but nowadays, they probably need to consider 10. I think as life and people become more sophisticated, peoples' hearts find it harder to experience love and joy. These days, when children want to go cycling in the park, they will need to put on helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, and other protective measures. I thought, how can they enjoy playing if they need to consider so many safety issues? Most of us born in the 70s and 80s did not have to worry too much of these things, and yet we are still alive today. I believe that through the years, as companies need to sell us more products and services, they will have to create more needs first, and in so doing, they also need to create more reasons and beliefs to support these needs. All these beliefs and values have somehow made us too sophisticated and complicated, resulting in us becoming overburdened by decisions and worries.
"These days, when children want to go cycling in the park, they will need to put on helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, and other protective measures. "
I think this in a way is actual a good example of how societal wrongs are the root cause of these problems.
Here in the Netherlands, a nation with one of the highest amount of cyclists percentage wise, pretty much nobody or at least very few people wear a helmet, let alone knee pads or elbow pads. (Obviously outside of those racing or training to race, they are going so fast they need it).
We build our infrastructure to make it both safe and efficient to cycle. We put in the work to research and maintain well designed cities for people to live in, including the ability to cycle. But the countries where that isn't possible they don't care about cyclists or even have a culture of contempt towards them (eg. many places in the US).
The issue with this problem isn't that modern society is complicated, but that so many people didn't care about it that the problem is ignored until the average person without neither authority nor expertise has to deal with it. The culture from the bottom to the top don't care about cyclists, so the people cycling continuously have to protect themselves from all the problems on their own.
So as you see the issue is that society doesn't care about the important things in life: helping people live the best life possible. As a result problems such as toxic cultures, ineffective infrastructure design/management, and other problems are left unresolved and passed on until it reaches the average Joe. The one person without the knowledge or resources to deal with it.
When left with that many problems in their life who would have the emotional bandwidth left to look for a marriage, let alone have children?
@SpiritWolve If you look at the chart provided in the video on the '% of 18-34 yrs old who don't want to get married ', this number was quite consistent from 1982 to 2002. But it shot up exponentially from 2002 to 2022, so it is very clear something major must have happened during this period.
@@wateezit I agree, but I don't see how any of that contradicts my point. I wouldn't say something major has had to happen either. Sudden change is often the result of a tipping point being reached, after which you get a cascade effect like the exponential growth of those who don't want to get married.
While Japan has it worse most western countries are having these birth rate and marriage problems. So unless an event affected every western country in the world it couldn't have been a singular event.
That's why I'm saying it is a systemic/societal issue. Yes, certain events and situations will make it worse. Like for example the work culture in Japan. But those aren't the root cause as they aren't in every western country.
@@hungrymusicwolf you've got a point, cumulative factors prior to 2002 may have played a role, something that happened in the millennium triggered or amplified the momentum.
@@wateezit The internet amplified it, of that I'm almost sure.
If each child gave the household a 30 % tax break until the child was 18 years old, it could alleviate the financial concerns of young families. Having more than three kids would actually make the family a tax recipient, to offset the costs of raising so many kids. When the kids left the house as adults, the tax breaks would go as well.
Would some people abuse the system? Absolutely. But overall I think it could be a net benefit for the society.
i thought they need more tax money to pay for the healthcare and pension for the elders..?
@@second_second_ Oh, they do. That is the immediate problem. That is why they can not implement any long-term solutions, because the pension problems are so severe and politicians only worry about being re-elected.
In the long term the situation is only going to get worse, because there will be fewer and fewer new tax-payers. Having some pain now by subsidizing families could help in the long run.
@Caduzeus In that time, immigration will have to be amplified so low level jobs are filled.
Hungary I think is trying to do similar with tax breaks and I'm pretty sure it's still not working, but I think it did help a little?
I mean women don't even get pain management during labor... the sexism is so strong with Japan...
Hisako sounds like an amazing lady. 12 kids?! That's how many my great grandmother had.
Poor lady...
Poor lady...
@@CordeliaWagnerWhy? She wanted them and it's her choice.
This problem is rooted deeper in the Japanese working culture, so just offering social benefits for couples to have kids is not the solution. Many things must change...
Interesting how all would blame male, female, government, career dedication, low income etc and focus on that and completely forgetting that working together as a team is how real and greater success is made. I wonder when did the idea of companionship got broken and how do we fix it collectively.
Its similar in Taiwan as well . Alot of my friends dont even want to date , they say they are ok not getting married or having kids because they are too busy .