Japan a Shrinking country

[Barklessdog]

Saw a special on Japan and statistics are startling.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldtonight/2009/09/is_japan_a_dying_nation.html

As I reported on Wednesday, on current trends, the population of Japan will have halved by the end of the century.

It is, literally, a country that is slowly dying.

According to one United Nations estimate, it'll need to import 17 million foreign workers over the next 40 years, just to keep its economy afloat and provide enough carers to look after the elderly. (By 2050, there will be more than a million Japanese over the age of 100.)

I'm no social psychologist, so I wouldn't dare to come up with an explanation for why Japanese couples aren't having enough babies. But one theory is that Japanese women are increasingly reluctant to marry, because they think Japanese men have shown themselves unable to adapt to the needs of a new, more flexible society - and have retreated into a fantasy world of comics, video games and animated pornography where they feel less threatened.

The special I saw on Current TV that said they are shutting down schools, play grounds are empty classes are getting smaller & smaller. Both Men & Women work so hard & long, children are not an option for many.
They are also one of the most closed (racist) societies so importing foreigners is not being welcomed by the majority.

They also have the highest suicide rate. They said on average three people a day throw them selves in front of trains. Suicide, they said, was not frowned on by society.
They also have the least amount of sex for any country. The report that I saw, said their population will decrease by two-thirds by 2050 and their GNP will be 0 if things continue at the current rate.

[hieronymous]

My wife is Japanese, and she's really funny, she claims to hate Japan and Japanese culture, she much prefers America. So this is her favorite statistic! She heard one that at some point there will be 2 Japanese people!

I am half-Japanese, which can be an advantage in Japan, especially since biracial people have become more accepted there in the past 10-20 years - there are some hot half-Japanese celebrities on TV! And maybe it wasn't quite so weird for a "non-Japanese" person to be speaking Japanese, especially in school. But out on the street, I definitely always felt "non-Japanese" - got stared at, people would refuse to speak Japanese with me, etc. The whole "in-group/out-group" thing is built into Japanese society, so not being Japanese is definitely as out-group as you can get! Actually, some of the people who would get discriminated against the most were Japanese-Americans! So it's not only race, it's cultural/ethnic as well.

But there are definitely some cool basses in Japan! Both imported vintage stuff and stuff like Fender Japan!

[gweimer]

I still have a yen (bad pun...) for an Atlansia bass.

[jmcgliss]

So having young girls wear porkchops on foreheads in ring with Kimodo dragon is not mating ritual?

[Aussie Mark]

Will this drive up the price of soiled white cotton panties?

[Lightyear]

My wife is Japanese, and she's really funny, she claims to hate Japan and Japanese culture, she much prefers America. So this is her favorite statistic! She heard one that at some point there will be 2 Japanese people!

I am half-Japanese, which can be an advantage in Japan, especially since biracial people have become more accepted there in the past 10-20 years - there are some hot half-Japanese celebrities on TV! And maybe it wasn't quite so weird for a "non-Japanese" person to be speaking Japanese, especially in school. But out on the street, I definitely always felt "non-Japanese" - got stared at, people would refuse to speak Japanese with me, etc. The whole "in-group/out-group" thing is built into Japanese society, so not being Japanese is definitely as out-group as you can get! Actually, some of the people who would get discriminated against the most were Japanese-Americans! So it's not only race, it's cultural/ethnic as well.

But there are definitely some cool basses in Japan! Both imported vintage stuff and stuff like Fender Japan!

My daughter is into a lot of popular Japanese culture.  She taught herself quite a bit of the languge with books and tapes as well as downloading tons of Japanese TV shows.  My wife found a way to subscribe to a couple of the mags she really likes.  It's funny that you mentioned the mixed race thing because it seems like every teenage girl in the magazines is trying to look caucasion/American.

When she was about 14 we were on top of Pikes Peak and there was a samll group of Japanese college kids there as a group - they about fell over when she spoke to them in Japanese - evidently they had not run into many people that could speak any Japanese and they impressed that she had taught herself - not that she was overly fluent but she was least at a conversational level.

[OldManC]

One of my old bandmates did his Mormon mission in the Nagoya area. By the time he left he spoke really fluently and ended up minoring in Japanese in school and returning a few times to teach English and do music stuff. By the time he went back he'd grown his hair back out and enjoyed the attention he got being a 6' 4" blonde, long haired gaijin who sounded like he was born there. He played guitar in an otherwise all Japanese bluegrass band (of all things)! He teaches Japanese at a high school in Boise Idaho of all places, and goes back almost every summer on someone else's dime. He loves Japan and the Japanese.

My brother-in-law also did his mission in Japan and ended up marrying a girl from over there. They lived there for a few years as well but came back to the States when their kids got to school age. He has advanced degrees in Japanese and will soon be a University professor in it. Say what you want about the idiosyncrasies of the culture, but almost every guy I've known who did their mission there has never been able to get it out of their system. It's sad to think it could all be gone in a few generations.

[hieronymous]

It's sad to think it could all be gone in a few generations.

That's interesting - I think it could actually be a good thing, because it could force the culture to acknowledge "outside" influences, which have actually been there for centuries - China and Korea had profound impact on Japanese culture some 1500 years ago, but unfortunately the tendency to deny this is still strong. Being open about diversity would more honestly reflect reality, and would help better deal with the trend towards more and more non-Japanese in Japan.

And don't get me wrong - I love Japan - I was born there and have spent almost ten years of my life there. The Japanese language is cool because it is a combination of Chinese and the native Japanese language, with both writing systems in use side by side - difficult to learn but fascinating once you pass a certain point. But certain aspects of the society seem to be crumbling, with a lot more weird, violent crimes in recent years...

[Highlander]

A cultural loss diminishes all of us...

Unfortunately, Britain is showing what happens when cultures mix in an uncrontrolled fashion - when you paint, if you mix up too many colours, all you end up with is a mess...

[Lightyear]

Years ago a coworker of mine had a nephew that was a very highly paid investment banker working in Japan.  He was african American and he spent about a dozen years living there.  My friend told me that his nephew was moving back to the states as he was in his mid thirties and wanted to get married and start a family.  Mind you this was in early nineties but my friend said that while he had plenty of girlfriends/companionship that none of them wanted to marry him.   

[jmcgliss]

Japan seems like a sno-globe to me. With every shake you can immerse yourself in historical sites and culture, the women, the language, manufacturing, guitar shops, tuner cars, culture shift, wacky game shows, etc. I envy those who've had the opportunity to live there for a time.  Then again, I hear the demands of business meetings and sake drinking can be rough.

[Barklessdog]

It took our company three years to be accepted by a Japanese company, and it was only because we had a Japanese friend who got us in the door. Very difficult to work with them.

[hieronymous]

It took our company three years to be accepted by a Japanese company, and it was only because we had a Japanese friend who got us in the door. Very difficult to work with them.

It's all who you know! Personal contacts are way more important in Japanese society, even amongst Japanese people.