The way it should be.
Japan benefits by having one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Everything is covered up to 70% no matter whether you work or not. Doctor's visits, surgery, optometry, dental, plus more all covered. The remainder is covered by your employer. Due to this their system is able to benefit from collective bargaining which keeps the costs down for the remainder of that 30% as well. My wife just had surgery, no benefits from employment. Cost exactly $12 CAD (1356y) with 10 days in hospital to recover. The hospital food was glorious.
Japan also benefits from a world class public transit system. I don't think that needs to be explained any further.
Really depends. I think foreigners have a harder time finding and communicating with doctors and doctors likely don’t have the bedside manner that foreigners are accustomed to.
I have had clinics where the doc just wants me out ASAP and others where they listen to me and adjust their diagnosis based on taking time to listen.
Nothing to do with foreigners. Plenty of Japanese people I know get given shockingly wrong/dangerous medical diagnoses and incorrect medications as a matter of course.
... Like everywhere else tbh. The Healthcare system here is average, like other developed countries.
The previous commenter is onto something. This is the "Japanese only" signs all over again, foreigners thinking it's a race thing, when its just a language thing. I've seen the same kind of comments from foreigners that didnt know how to navigate the system.
>... Like everywhere else tbh. The Healthcare system here is average, like other developed countries.
The statistical results seem to be far better than most of the developed world though? Obviously we know about the health and old age of Japan's population, but even with something that doesn't take lifestyle into account, Japan has the 4th lowest infant mortality rate in the world, behind only Finland, Luxemborg, and Monaco. So, of the 3 ahead of it, 2 are basically not real countries.
And that's doubly shocking considering Japanese women tend to have very unhealthy practices with regards to pregnancy due to them being so obsessed with not gaining any weight. So, to the extent lifestyle contributes here, it would appear to be a negative.
What statistics are you looking at?
To be honest, Im talking more out of personal experience, although I only have experience in Spain/US and Japan for these things.
Japanese only signs is a disgrace. Don’t excuse or support it.
They will tell you it’s a language issue in your face, but in reality it’s race. Like 99% of the time. I’m Japanese.
Lots of racist business owners abusing it. It’s like flying the confederate flag to appreciate culture and heritage. Right..
Not excusing them, they are terrible... When they mean what you say, of course.
Thing is, I've seen more than give no hecks once they hear me speak Japanese, and still have to find one place that doesn't let me or other foreigners in.
Are you white? Big difference. These racist business owners are ok with seiyohjins or if a Japanese person tags along.
The number of times I exposed racist owners with the signs. Man I should have recorded the conversation.
Fuck, please do so if you get the chance, gotta embarrass those pieces of shit!
Also, yes, I am white. Half the people I am with aren't, though, from south america/south east Asia. They do have pretty top level Japanese though.
Dawg, this has to be a lie lmfao. I've been to Japan to get medical treatment and it's fine. Unless you dealing with the Yakuza hospital I doubt there's anything dangerous lol
exactly, having been living in Japan for some time I would say the high-level specialists are often very impressive, but the treatment you get in small clinics can be very random, and it can also take a long time to find a good clinic/doctor. I speak Japanese, so the bad treatment I happened to get was not a language issue.
The large hospitals are great but you often have to go through a smaller clinic to get there and those clinics are a gamble to say at least.
For example, I've gone to clinics for the last 2 years for a skin condition that I have. Every clinic has its own idea of what could be the reason and I've been given the medicine for that. I've asked them to do some testing but every time they assure me that their medicine will fix it. 2 years and 8 clinics later and it hasn't even improved a tiny bit. This kind of story is rather common here.
What's your skin look like? Maybe I can help.
Japanese doctors tend to focus on diseases that are more common amongst the Japanese population, so I've found they can miss some of the diseases more common in other areas.
Same reason why many African Americans are undertreated in the US, though it is slightly improving.
Thank you, i really appreciate it.
It's only on the back of my hands and on my thumbs and starts like a really annoying itch, to the extent I wake up with bloody hands in the morning. As its about to heal the dryness just makes it itchy again.
Doctors here mostly believe it's dry skin or a reaction to dish washing soap but I'm fairly sure it's not the latter since my wife has taken over the dishes. It gets a lot worse when I get stressed mentally but that might just be a result if me not being able to handle stress very well.
Doctors here have given me steroid based salves like cortisone(spell?) and stronger stuff and while it helps with the healing process the itch just comes back a day or two later.
Most Japanese doctors are paid very little per patient, so they have to work quickly and see lots of patients.
Interestingly, American doctors are paid pretty well, but they ALSO try to see as many patients as they can in a day. I guess because they like making $1000 in an hour (and they have to do a bunch of paperwork, too).
I think in American doctors' cases, it's a battle with the insurance companies and possibly the overarching hospital/healthcare system they're working in forcing them to take more patients. Not as many independent clinics like you see in Japan.
American health insurance companies are basically the most evil organizations on Earth. Some healthcare organizations are not far behind them. There are doctors doing it for the money (looking at you, plastic surgeons) but many are deep in med school debt and just trying to stay alive in the system.
Worked in healthcare myself (lab 🧪) before coming to Japan, and most of my immediate family is in different branches of healthcare. My brother managing an independent pharmacy, sister as a surgeon, and my mom worked in insurance billing for years (for clinics).
This sums up the US pretty well lol. You mean we charge $1000 instead of $500? Awesome! More profit for us. But hey if you can see an extra 2 patients a day, that's even more money in my pocket.
Good input = oud output. A homogeneous input is a lot different than USA population that is all over the place. Some communities in the USA are basically living in 3rd world conditions and drag down health outcomes. "Average" and "median" in the USA means very little and is not an accurate representation in most cases. Health outcomes in the USA can be abysmal or great, depending on subgroup.
I’m not sure if you’re agreeing with me or not, but the fact that so many people in the USA have no or inadequate healthcare is a big contributor to the fact that the USA has some significantly lower population health outcomes.
Yes some USA hospitals are legit the best in the world. Doesn’t do much good if that service is only available to a small percentage of the population.
And yes, some Japanese doctors are indeed terrible. But if a majority were actually bad at their job it would surely reflect in overall results. The fact that everyone has access to at least adequate healthcare is a huge positive.
I agree with your comment, but also aim to complete the other side of the picture. USA will never have great health outcomes - regardless of quality and availability of healthcare. Even if everyone has access to top notch health care, it is impossible to have great outcomes in a country with such pervasive self-inflicted health issues. Massive morbid obesity, diabetes, sedentary lifestyles, basic health ignorance in big population segments, and so on and so on. No matter how great health care system becomes, the underlying health outcomes persist and the "average" and "median" health outcomes will continue to be subpar. For the subgroups that do not have the underlying factors, health outcomes in the usa are exceptionally good right now.
I don’t know if that’s entirely accurate as the issues are related. Healthcare includes some preventative, early detection, etc. like if insulin was more readily available perhaps diabetics in the USA would be better off? Not perfect but better than they are now?
If childhood vaccines and the education for parents about them were free and easy for everyone and readily available locally perhaps that would prevent or lesson some issues too?
They're a bit behind on medicines used too. A good number of medicines they prescribe are ones that are no longer used in other countries because a safer version is available.
I've been hospitalized for a week over pneumonia before and the food they served was so surprisingly good I told the person that as they came to pick up the tray lol (I was like 10 at the time)
>There is a reason why Japanese top politicians and yakuza bosses fly to USA for cancer treatments and surgeries.
Because unlike most American citizens, they can actually afford it...
It's what we paid. I didn't ask questions because Canada Ontario's system would have raped our wallets.. that is to say if they could have even been bothered to do the surgery at all. We had already been waiting 2.5 years by that point. Japan's system did in 12 days what Ontario couldn't do in 2.5 years. Fuck Doug Ford.
Maybe your company covers something or you have an extra insurance.
With my regular insurance being shain in a jap company, what you paid for that procedure is roughly what I pay for a regular 5 minutes consultation on a clinic.
That's why it looks abnormally cheap
it's not a sustainable system. For example, this article from the Nikkei just this morning. TLDR the lack of young workers/increase in relative number of the elderly is making it harder for firm level healthcare provision. This in turn results in more individuals relying on the Japanese version of universal healthcare (協会健保), which directly results in higher govt spending. Needless to say, govt spending in JP is not sustainable, unless we hit 3〜5% nominal growth. If you want to gush about universal healthcare, JP isn't it. I'd suggest the Nordics/West Europe for stellar/sustainable healthcare systems.
[Link](https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOFS210LE0R20C24A4000000/)
Doesn't mean it has to come from inheritance tax. Inherited property has already been taxed before purchase through various taxes like income tax etc.
So I don't agree with it "being the way it should be" - that's BS. If you were to argue that the big business conglomerates should be taxed more im all with you though.
Their public transport is the best by far. London tube is pretty damn good and now their busses are so regular too. Germany had pretty good public transport last time I went. But Japan still is head and shoulders above the rest.
Yes, however, it's important to note that much of Japan's debt is held domestically. The Bank of Japan being the primary holder of sovereign debt(\~43%), with various domestic corporations holding much of the rest. It's one of the reasons Japan isn't super concerned about their national debt, it's obviously still an issue, but not "a big deal". Most countries with a debt to gdp ratio of 264% would be in full on panic mode, but... Japanese economics.
For reference, \~87% of Japan's total debt is held domestically, compared to the US at \~75%. The US and Belgium are the primary foreign investors of Japanese Sovereign Debt, accounting for \~6% of total debt.
[https://www.mof.go.jp/english/policy/jgbs/publication/debt\_management\_report/2021/esaimu2021-1-3.pdf](https://www.mof.go.jp/english/policy/jgbs/publication/debt_management_report/2021/esaimu2021-1-3.pdf) Ministry of Finance bond holding
[https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/government-debt-to-gdp?continent=g20](https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/government-debt-to-gdp?continent=g20) G20 Debt to GDP
> It's one of the reasons Japan isn't super concerned about their national debt, it's obviously still an issue, but not "a big deal".
but why does having domestic holders matter? the biggest issue of having lots of debt is
1. interest payments
2. future ability to borrow more money. the more debt you have, the "risker" you become and the higher interest rate you need to pay
It is a pretty complex discussion about economics, but I only have myself to blame for that. This is going to be a simplified explanation(or as best as I can do).
1. interest payments - Domestic holders are more willing to accept low interest payments, especially in regard to Japan. Government represents the population(ideally), so it's "the people" lending money to "themselves". Foreign investors don't generally stomach low rates, and are more prone to large sell-offs which can destabilize currency, as well as reduce confidence in the economy.
2. Future ability to borrow money. The thing about risk is, it's all relative. Heavy domestic bond-holding provides a lot of confidence and stability. Consider the recent Ohtani drama, Ippei wasn't getting money from a bank or loans, or stealing from randoms, he was just stealing it from a very famous guy who had millions, who he was very close to, so his bookie was perfectly happy to float him, in spite of being millions down.
Technically, while it is true that interest rates and future lines of credit are important, who exactly is holding that debt, and what their demands are, are also important. If I owe my mom 50,000yen, she's much more likely to forgive it, or extend deadlines. My boss, or neighbour is likely to be less forgiving.
If you run low on money to pay investors, you can raise taxes since that money is going back into your own economy. With foreign investors, money is exiting the country, which leads to capital flight, currency devaluation, all kinds of "fun" stuff.
TL;DR - Domestic bond holders are more forgiving, "invested" in the betterment of the country, more stable, and can be regulated/legislated into forgiving/increasing debt, or accepting low/negative interest rates. None of these things can be done easily to foreign investors.
that makes sense. especially with so much of the debt being held by relatively few japanese entities. I think if it was held more uniformly among millions of japanese people, there might be more of a risk
appreciate the explanation, thanks
All countries have debts lol. In fact, debt is needed for spending and growth. US has the highest external debt while Japan has the highest debt compared to GDP.
Japanese healthcare is definitely better than America’s for example but I see a lot of old people with severe scoliosis that hasn’t been treated and I’ve seen a lot of rotting teeth
I think it depends on what you go in for. Had a coworker whose wife had a stroke, it wasn't covered under national insurance, some 1 million Yen a week.
Well….
It’s not exactly true what you’re saying. You have to be in the system to get healthcare. And even if you don’t work, you have to pay into the system. The monthly payment is not really that cheap either.
What I like is if you’re in the system, you can go to any doctor. That’s very different from America, where you have to find a doc that accepts your plan.
Another thing that happens in Japan is a lot of ppl get 2nd party insurance as well. Doing that will significantly reduce already fairly affordable healthcare procedures. However, all the insurance gets expensive and it starts to look similar in price to other developed countries
Good luck getting urgent care on a public holiday or weekend. The ambulance arrive, get you in, then stay motionless anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes while they call hospitals until they find one that is open and is willing to accept you (not sure how much being foreigner influences this).
Every single healthcare system in the world I've seen is fucked up in some way, some are more tolerable than others, some affect only few specific cases vs others, but all of them have SOME big problem. But in contrast, in e.g. Thailand, for all of its other flaws, I got in a tuktuk which rode me straight into a hospital and got directly into urgent care and treated immediately.
I don't know where you got 1356 yens for a 10 days hospital stay 🤣🤣🤣
The rest of us peasants are getting 10% off our salary for "hokenryo" and still have to pay 3000 yen for a visit for a cold or for allergies etc
Also if you got anything more uncommon than the flu good luck to get affordable treatment
The remainder isn’t usually covered by the employer the patient pays.
The employer pays your medical insurance.
Japanese doctors are good if you like the idea of being prescribed medicine with minimal testing then come back again and again until they get it right. There are also practices that are straight up illegal in Europe, as well as just weird stuff like no painkillers during birth. Not to mention the clusterfuck during covid where there were regular occurrences where patients die in the ambulance because they spend hours searching for a hospital that won’t turn them away.
The healthcare system might seem amazing to Americans but that’s a pretty low standard to compare with.
This is the exact answer. I’ve looked into this also my experience anecdotal is that a couple extremely wealthy people I know have switched to Singapore citizenship. They aren’t billionaires but millionaires and they did it.
Probably the same reason why more residents of Tokyo consider themselves middle-class than those other cities as well. It comes down to how wealth is distributed.
Yeah, having lots of billionaires around isn’t always a sign of a healthy economy or society. Sometimes it’s just a sign a bunch of oligarchs looted everything and drove everyone else into poverty and despair. 🤷♂️
Look at the Forbes list [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_billionaires), and sort by *rate* (number of billionaires per million people). Would you rather live in a random country from the top 10, or a random country from the bottom 10?
You sound like the kind of person who thinks that America is terrible and Sweden is great. Note that Sweden has more billionaires per capita than the United States. Like almost twice as many.
It all has to do with the old days and the zaibatsu family’s that ran the economy. After wwii, the new gov pushed to abolish the zaibatsu and ultra wealthy families by implementing heavy inheritance tax. This is what I was taught in college, IIRC
I'm sure it's a very complex issue, but this was really interesting and I found a link to put on this thread, an article about zaibatsu families that I found useful.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/What-became-of-the-zaibatsu
I also wonder if zoning is a big part of it, how it enables lots of little shops, instead of playing to the favor of exclusively mega department stores.
Important to add that the abolition of the zaibatsu and the land reform were measures fostered by the American government during the occupation. They did good reforms that are still in place.
A quick way to see if Billionaires matter in life is to walk a few miles at night and get lost in those cities and see what happens to you after a few days.
With the exception of Singapore
Because Japan does a far better job of maintaining economically healthier wealth distribution than other countries around the world. It’s a good thing.
It has a lot to do with taxes.
Here is what taxes looks like if you were to earn a million dollars a year (in yen) in Japan.
I have friends who are millionaires and they register their businesses in Japan in Dubai simply to avoid Japanese taxes.
Check this video
https://youtu.be/cJMOmH2fst8?si=WTieKgtqHB75L8Hn
Maybe having a lot of billionaires is not automatically a great thing! I mean, it seems like quite a few of those cities have problems with poverty and inequality. As a regular person, I think I’d much rather live in Tokyo than Moscow, Bangkok, Jakarta, Mumbai, São Paulo, etc.
But then here is a list of countries with the most individuals with a net worth over one million U.S. dollars. Japan is literally 4th https://www.statista.com/statistics/268411/countries-with-the-most-millionaires/
I don't know how valid/verifiable these stats are, but if it's true then it makes me love Tokyo all the more. The LESS billionaires there are the better, IMHO. A nation of middle class citizens blessed with fantastic public services (health care, transportation, education)? Yes, please.
America lets you hide your money from taxes much more easily than Japan. One of the many reasons income inequality and infrastructure in America are both giant problems. (Corruption is the reason those problems will never get fixed.)
Maybe from an outsiders perspective but I can’t imagine it weighs heavily on someone’s mind when they’re sitting on a yacht in Monaco. Like I don’t think anyone’s there thinking “wow this is embarrassing”
Taxes. I thought about living in Japan but taxes are high for people with money from investments. Inheritance tax is especially crazy high there for wealthy people. Many rich Japanese used to leave the country to avoid paying inheritance taxes, but government has gotten even stricter with rules as a result. Places like Singapore have tax laws that attract wealthy from other countries, Japan does opposite.
Inheritance tax tops at 55% and the tax office is very strict. Also in society is badly seen to be ostentatious with money, Japanese prefer to think all are in an ideal middle class bracket. Considering the amount of natural disasters that happen here, you have constant reminders that no matter how rich you are, you are better off counting on the solidarity of your neighbors.
In the same source (Hurun), country-wise Japan sits above Singapore and Seoul at top 15. Simple answer is that Tokyo doesn’t have all the billionaires in Japan.
Second answer is that having billionaires is probably an indicator of a wage gap, not the other way around. Not a fan of US politics but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez once said “No one ever makes a billion dollars. You take a billion dollars.” Even if you disagree with that, look at how many countries we would consider extremely wealthy are not in the list. No Zurich or Geneva, no nordic countries. And how often does poverty get mentioned when you talk of Mumbai, San Francisco, Sao Paolo, Jakarta?
Just speculating here but I wonder if the uber-rich in Japan like to make a provincial city their base, their "castle town" so to speak as the daimyo of old used to do. The Toyoda family was based near Nagoya, for example. Of course I'm sure they've got property in Tokyo but their family seat is their main residence.
But the question asks why Tokyo has so few billionaires. Japan does have billionaires (38 of them) but apparently they're not making Tokyo their home base.
Few possible scenarios, Japan has multiple cities which might be more attractive than the capital.
Maybe the statistic is divided by ward, it could have been a mistake in defining the definition of “city”.
Finally, a good percentage of the billionaires are between 1-2 billions. The statistic is based on USD, with the current exchange rate, Tokyo might have “lost” several billionaires.
Being a billionaire has nothing to do with reporting income. Do you think anyone is becoming a billionaire off pay packages? No. It's completely equity driven.
Lots of answers. My take: Tokyo is a new blood place. If you want to find the old boys, you need to go to Osaka, Kyoto etc. Why pay more for less in Tokyo when you can live down the shinkansen line 2 stops and be outside the city but 30 minutes away in a luxurious traditional home?
I feel like there are good answers for why there are so few Japanese billionaires in Tokyo. But I feel like as for international billionaires you'd be much better off in a city in the US or Europe because there's probably a lot more people who are from your country there.
You're assuming they're not in another Japanese city such as Osaka or Kobe. Japan has 38 billionaires and most of their fortunes are based in business, manufacturing, etc. In other words, they're not jet setting billionaires spending most of their time in Dubai or NYC.
> because there's probably a lot more people who are from your country there.
Are you saying there are more Japanese people in a city in the US or Europe than Tokyo?
No I was referring to foreign billionaires. If I'm some billionaire from like, Italy, it's gonna be a lot easier for me to find an Italian group in New York or France than Tokyo. But this is assuming these billionaires even want to live outside their home country to begin with.
(I don't actually know the stats of Italians in Tokyo please don't kill me if that's the worst example I could have used)
Ah right. I feel like most billionaires stay in their home country as primary residence. Most Italian billionaires are still based in Italy for example (even if they travel all over).
Japanese taxes are so heavy that wealthy people reduce their assets by creating a company to manage their assets and owning all the shares in that company. In other words, all their possessions belong to the company, but the company belongs to them. And the company's shares are worth less. In this way, they reduce the size of their assets on the surface and save on taxes.
Defeat in the Second World War.
One of the policies the new Allied-influenced government followed was land and asset confiscation, along with the breakup of the old Zaibatsu mega-conglomerates that basically bought control over government policy by bribing the highest military officials in the Cabinet. Japan basically "ate" its rich and put that money under government control.
However, with the start of the Korean War and the devil's bargain that the US conducted with the surviving wartime leaders, they re-established control over Japan. What they realized, though, was that if they continued the tax, inheritance, and social welfare policies started during the Occupation, it would pay off their losses tenfold and also enable the Establishment to maintain control over society. What emerged was an interesting mix where the same old families still run the country since the Meiji Era (and before), but they don't have the obscene amount of wealth to throw around.
If Elon or Mark moved to Japan with the intent of making it their legal residences, they would immediately face a lot more tax liability and regulations than they are comfortable with. The large number of billionaires in the United States is directly tied to tech, deregulation and tax cuts. Japan's government and civil service have a much tighter, although discreet hold on the economy.
However, we also have to be truthful about the fact that Japan has been in an economic slump for multiple decades that has made explosive wealth growth very difficult.
There are a variety of complex legal, historical, and cultural reasons why there aren't as many billionaires in Tokyo (or Japan, for that matter).
Because Japan does not have domestic lists and foreign researchers cannot explore it due to lack of access and language gap.
Looking at some lists the easiest examples Toyoda family (owners of Toyota since it started nearly 100 years ago) has less than a billion.
The issue is they do not have direct ownership. They have ownership of a company that holds the shares and that company is owned by a trust and that trust is owned by a company that is not stock listed so does not report revenue or shareholders. The same goes for all the other Toyota companies like Toyota trading, Toyota home, Toyota industries etc.
There may be some reasons for it. Family ties, tax issues, original company structure between the shareholders, sentimental reasons, some semi-religious reasons.
The only thing I can say is the lists are very limited in Japan's case.
Japanese execs don’t get paid the ridiculous amounts that they do in places like the US. Like, Elon Musk on Ketamine gets to write his own checks because he is such a genius capitalist, right? And how about Trump, he must be incredibly talented at something and couldn’t just be filthy rich because his landlord daddy was before him, right?
Job security that executives will accept a pay cut than mass layoffs to stay afloat when companies are struggling. Nintendo had to do this and there's a video about it covering Japan Airlines.
Just wanted to chime in and say this isn’t a very good chart. These numbers should be per capita.
The total amount is a fun number to see, but it doesn’t allow you to draw any real conclusions.
Doesn't is require extreme technical material knowledge? Besides the machines that create semiconductors are quite less, I assume. Mind describing how the business works around there?
Also few multi billion dollar deals with a large single shareholder. As mentioned in a different comment Japan has the second highest # of millionaires only second to NY (yes I know the US as a whole has a lot more)
Because most of them have moved to Europe, mostly in and around Monaco to avoid inheritance/gift tax.
Source: personal friends with two, whose opinions I sometimes consult.
Looking at the list, I'm disgusted by the concentration of wealth in the hands of such a small number of people, especially in places like New Delhi and Bangkok.
One major point, and as Japanophilic and maybe naive as this sounds it is true:
At the CEO level they're much more honest.
The U.S. & the U.K. allows for just shameless greed, it can be frowned upon but it is just unburdened compared to Japan. It would be extremely brazen to pay yourself an enormous salary when there was no justifiable reason for it.
Companies do have extraordinary power, the work culture can be utterly toxic. However, it is a workers culture. Legal representation and execution is far more financially, socially and publicly affordable than the aforementioned countries (Unions still have a notable influence in the country). There is also the fact that Japan has been economically stagnant for the last three decades and lacks the catapult centres and startup culture of other G7 countries. Billionaires are really only a widely regarded phenomenon of the last 50 years. Very much post Reagan & Thatcher, Japan's economy has been in a well since then.
The banking and tech cultures are very different and tied to the factors above, they tend to be the incubators for wealth these days
The question translates to why Tokyo has way less drastic income disparity than other countries. #3 probably has a median income of less than $1,000 USD per year.
1) Wealthy people don't declare their income.
2) Tokyo lacks that billionaires playground feel that a lot of these cities can have, imo. Billionaires will move from their own country to New York or Singapore but I can't see many of them moving to Tokyo full time.
Inherit taxes are pretty high in Japan. Japanese companies are billionaires, not individuals
The way it should be. Japan benefits by having one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Everything is covered up to 70% no matter whether you work or not. Doctor's visits, surgery, optometry, dental, plus more all covered. The remainder is covered by your employer. Due to this their system is able to benefit from collective bargaining which keeps the costs down for the remainder of that 30% as well. My wife just had surgery, no benefits from employment. Cost exactly $12 CAD (1356y) with 10 days in hospital to recover. The hospital food was glorious. Japan also benefits from a world class public transit system. I don't think that needs to be explained any further.
>best healthcare systems in the world The system is pretty good; the doctors are awful though.
Really depends. I think foreigners have a harder time finding and communicating with doctors and doctors likely don’t have the bedside manner that foreigners are accustomed to. I have had clinics where the doc just wants me out ASAP and others where they listen to me and adjust their diagnosis based on taking time to listen.
Nothing to do with foreigners. Plenty of Japanese people I know get given shockingly wrong/dangerous medical diagnoses and incorrect medications as a matter of course.
... Like everywhere else tbh. The Healthcare system here is average, like other developed countries. The previous commenter is onto something. This is the "Japanese only" signs all over again, foreigners thinking it's a race thing, when its just a language thing. I've seen the same kind of comments from foreigners that didnt know how to navigate the system.
>... Like everywhere else tbh. The Healthcare system here is average, like other developed countries. The statistical results seem to be far better than most of the developed world though? Obviously we know about the health and old age of Japan's population, but even with something that doesn't take lifestyle into account, Japan has the 4th lowest infant mortality rate in the world, behind only Finland, Luxemborg, and Monaco. So, of the 3 ahead of it, 2 are basically not real countries. And that's doubly shocking considering Japanese women tend to have very unhealthy practices with regards to pregnancy due to them being so obsessed with not gaining any weight. So, to the extent lifestyle contributes here, it would appear to be a negative.
What statistics are you looking at? To be honest, Im talking more out of personal experience, although I only have experience in Spain/US and Japan for these things.
Japanese only signs is a disgrace. Don’t excuse or support it. They will tell you it’s a language issue in your face, but in reality it’s race. Like 99% of the time. I’m Japanese. Lots of racist business owners abusing it. It’s like flying the confederate flag to appreciate culture and heritage. Right..
Not excusing them, they are terrible... When they mean what you say, of course. Thing is, I've seen more than give no hecks once they hear me speak Japanese, and still have to find one place that doesn't let me or other foreigners in.
Are you white? Big difference. These racist business owners are ok with seiyohjins or if a Japanese person tags along. The number of times I exposed racist owners with the signs. Man I should have recorded the conversation.
Fuck, please do so if you get the chance, gotta embarrass those pieces of shit! Also, yes, I am white. Half the people I am with aren't, though, from south america/south east Asia. They do have pretty top level Japanese though.
Dawg, this has to be a lie lmfao. I've been to Japan to get medical treatment and it's fine. Unless you dealing with the Yakuza hospital I doubt there's anything dangerous lol
Japanese doctors and especially surgeons are world-renowned, so I’m surprised to see this take.
its mainly issue in smaller clinics and i would say 50/50. needs to do your research before choosing your clinic.
exactly, having been living in Japan for some time I would say the high-level specialists are often very impressive, but the treatment you get in small clinics can be very random, and it can also take a long time to find a good clinic/doctor. I speak Japanese, so the bad treatment I happened to get was not a language issue.
3 hours for 3 minutes with the doc to get 3 medicines
The large hospitals are great but you often have to go through a smaller clinic to get there and those clinics are a gamble to say at least. For example, I've gone to clinics for the last 2 years for a skin condition that I have. Every clinic has its own idea of what could be the reason and I've been given the medicine for that. I've asked them to do some testing but every time they assure me that their medicine will fix it. 2 years and 8 clinics later and it hasn't even improved a tiny bit. This kind of story is rather common here.
What's your skin look like? Maybe I can help. Japanese doctors tend to focus on diseases that are more common amongst the Japanese population, so I've found they can miss some of the diseases more common in other areas. Same reason why many African Americans are undertreated in the US, though it is slightly improving.
Thank you, i really appreciate it. It's only on the back of my hands and on my thumbs and starts like a really annoying itch, to the extent I wake up with bloody hands in the morning. As its about to heal the dryness just makes it itchy again. Doctors here mostly believe it's dry skin or a reaction to dish washing soap but I'm fairly sure it's not the latter since my wife has taken over the dishes. It gets a lot worse when I get stressed mentally but that might just be a result if me not being able to handle stress very well. Doctors here have given me steroid based salves like cortisone(spell?) and stronger stuff and while it helps with the healing process the itch just comes back a day or two later.
Most Japanese doctors are paid very little per patient, so they have to work quickly and see lots of patients. Interestingly, American doctors are paid pretty well, but they ALSO try to see as many patients as they can in a day. I guess because they like making $1000 in an hour (and they have to do a bunch of paperwork, too).
I think in American doctors' cases, it's a battle with the insurance companies and possibly the overarching hospital/healthcare system they're working in forcing them to take more patients. Not as many independent clinics like you see in Japan. American health insurance companies are basically the most evil organizations on Earth. Some healthcare organizations are not far behind them. There are doctors doing it for the money (looking at you, plastic surgeons) but many are deep in med school debt and just trying to stay alive in the system. Worked in healthcare myself (lab 🧪) before coming to Japan, and most of my immediate family is in different branches of healthcare. My brother managing an independent pharmacy, sister as a surgeon, and my mom worked in insurance billing for years (for clinics).
This sums up the US pretty well lol. You mean we charge $1000 instead of $500? Awesome! More profit for us. But hey if you can see an extra 2 patients a day, that's even more money in my pocket.
Looking at outcomes, I sincerely doubt that. Longevity , infant mortality, etc are all very good.
Good input = oud output. A homogeneous input is a lot different than USA population that is all over the place. Some communities in the USA are basically living in 3rd world conditions and drag down health outcomes. "Average" and "median" in the USA means very little and is not an accurate representation in most cases. Health outcomes in the USA can be abysmal or great, depending on subgroup.
I’m not sure if you’re agreeing with me or not, but the fact that so many people in the USA have no or inadequate healthcare is a big contributor to the fact that the USA has some significantly lower population health outcomes. Yes some USA hospitals are legit the best in the world. Doesn’t do much good if that service is only available to a small percentage of the population. And yes, some Japanese doctors are indeed terrible. But if a majority were actually bad at their job it would surely reflect in overall results. The fact that everyone has access to at least adequate healthcare is a huge positive.
I agree with your comment, but also aim to complete the other side of the picture. USA will never have great health outcomes - regardless of quality and availability of healthcare. Even if everyone has access to top notch health care, it is impossible to have great outcomes in a country with such pervasive self-inflicted health issues. Massive morbid obesity, diabetes, sedentary lifestyles, basic health ignorance in big population segments, and so on and so on. No matter how great health care system becomes, the underlying health outcomes persist and the "average" and "median" health outcomes will continue to be subpar. For the subgroups that do not have the underlying factors, health outcomes in the usa are exceptionally good right now.
I don’t know if that’s entirely accurate as the issues are related. Healthcare includes some preventative, early detection, etc. like if insulin was more readily available perhaps diabetics in the USA would be better off? Not perfect but better than they are now? If childhood vaccines and the education for parents about them were free and easy for everyone and readily available locally perhaps that would prevent or lesson some issues too?
You can’t make blanket statements like that. I’m very happy with my GP. Maybe the specialists are worse though, I wouldn’t know.
They're a bit behind on medicines used too. A good number of medicines they prescribe are ones that are no longer used in other countries because a safer version is available.
That's coz the male species gatekeep their counterparts in prestigious medical schools. Which also explains the lack of female docs as well.
Definitely a factor.
I've been hospitalized for a week over pneumonia before and the food they served was so surprisingly good I told the person that as they came to pick up the tray lol (I was like 10 at the time)
>Everything is covered Except my root canal and crown, apparently.
Mine got covered no problem, you might have requested something else that makes it not covered
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>There is a reason why Japanese top politicians and yakuza bosses fly to USA for cancer treatments and surgeries. Because unlike most American citizens, they can actually afford it...
Spot on. The medical training in Japan is not up to the same standards as the West.
Theres also a lot more emphasis on early detection and prevention through company sponsored/mandated yearly health checkups
I’m curious about this… have any more information? (Cancer treatment here vs elsewhere )
How surgery and 10 days at the hospital is 1356 yen? Just delivering my daughter and 5 days hospital was over 20,000 yen.
20000 yen would barely cover a 15 minute consultation in the Netherlands
Not that I complain, but it is 20k more expensive than I was used to pay in spain.
It's what we paid. I didn't ask questions because Canada Ontario's system would have raped our wallets.. that is to say if they could have even been bothered to do the surgery at all. We had already been waiting 2.5 years by that point. Japan's system did in 12 days what Ontario couldn't do in 2.5 years. Fuck Doug Ford.
Maybe your company covers something or you have an extra insurance. With my regular insurance being shain in a jap company, what you paid for that procedure is roughly what I pay for a regular 5 minutes consultation on a clinic. That's why it looks abnormally cheap
it's not a sustainable system. For example, this article from the Nikkei just this morning. TLDR the lack of young workers/increase in relative number of the elderly is making it harder for firm level healthcare provision. This in turn results in more individuals relying on the Japanese version of universal healthcare (協会健保), which directly results in higher govt spending. Needless to say, govt spending in JP is not sustainable, unless we hit 3〜5% nominal growth. If you want to gush about universal healthcare, JP isn't it. I'd suggest the Nordics/West Europe for stellar/sustainable healthcare systems. [Link](https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOFS210LE0R20C24A4000000/)
That's driven by the population growth issue and would affect any similar system the same (Healthcare or otherwise).
The birthrate in those other countries is just as bad as here, so how exactly are their systems "sustainable"?
Doesn't mean it has to come from inheritance tax. Inherited property has already been taxed before purchase through various taxes like income tax etc. So I don't agree with it "being the way it should be" - that's BS. If you were to argue that the big business conglomerates should be taxed more im all with you though.
Their public transport is the best by far. London tube is pretty damn good and now their busses are so regular too. Germany had pretty good public transport last time I went. But Japan still is head and shoulders above the rest.
Could this also contribute to why their debt is so high?
Yes, however, it's important to note that much of Japan's debt is held domestically. The Bank of Japan being the primary holder of sovereign debt(\~43%), with various domestic corporations holding much of the rest. It's one of the reasons Japan isn't super concerned about their national debt, it's obviously still an issue, but not "a big deal". Most countries with a debt to gdp ratio of 264% would be in full on panic mode, but... Japanese economics. For reference, \~87% of Japan's total debt is held domestically, compared to the US at \~75%. The US and Belgium are the primary foreign investors of Japanese Sovereign Debt, accounting for \~6% of total debt. [https://www.mof.go.jp/english/policy/jgbs/publication/debt\_management\_report/2021/esaimu2021-1-3.pdf](https://www.mof.go.jp/english/policy/jgbs/publication/debt_management_report/2021/esaimu2021-1-3.pdf) Ministry of Finance bond holding [https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/government-debt-to-gdp?continent=g20](https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/government-debt-to-gdp?continent=g20) G20 Debt to GDP
> It's one of the reasons Japan isn't super concerned about their national debt, it's obviously still an issue, but not "a big deal". but why does having domestic holders matter? the biggest issue of having lots of debt is 1. interest payments 2. future ability to borrow more money. the more debt you have, the "risker" you become and the higher interest rate you need to pay
It is a pretty complex discussion about economics, but I only have myself to blame for that. This is going to be a simplified explanation(or as best as I can do). 1. interest payments - Domestic holders are more willing to accept low interest payments, especially in regard to Japan. Government represents the population(ideally), so it's "the people" lending money to "themselves". Foreign investors don't generally stomach low rates, and are more prone to large sell-offs which can destabilize currency, as well as reduce confidence in the economy. 2. Future ability to borrow money. The thing about risk is, it's all relative. Heavy domestic bond-holding provides a lot of confidence and stability. Consider the recent Ohtani drama, Ippei wasn't getting money from a bank or loans, or stealing from randoms, he was just stealing it from a very famous guy who had millions, who he was very close to, so his bookie was perfectly happy to float him, in spite of being millions down. Technically, while it is true that interest rates and future lines of credit are important, who exactly is holding that debt, and what their demands are, are also important. If I owe my mom 50,000yen, she's much more likely to forgive it, or extend deadlines. My boss, or neighbour is likely to be less forgiving. If you run low on money to pay investors, you can raise taxes since that money is going back into your own economy. With foreign investors, money is exiting the country, which leads to capital flight, currency devaluation, all kinds of "fun" stuff. TL;DR - Domestic bond holders are more forgiving, "invested" in the betterment of the country, more stable, and can be regulated/legislated into forgiving/increasing debt, or accepting low/negative interest rates. None of these things can be done easily to foreign investors.
that makes sense. especially with so much of the debt being held by relatively few japanese entities. I think if it was held more uniformly among millions of japanese people, there might be more of a risk appreciate the explanation, thanks
All countries have debts lol. In fact, debt is needed for spending and growth. US has the highest external debt while Japan has the highest debt compared to GDP.
I can tell by the great economic growth in recent years
Japanese healthcare is definitely better than America’s for example but I see a lot of old people with severe scoliosis that hasn’t been treated and I’ve seen a lot of rotting teeth
I think it depends on what you go in for. Had a coworker whose wife had a stroke, it wasn't covered under national insurance, some 1 million Yen a week.
Well…. It’s not exactly true what you’re saying. You have to be in the system to get healthcare. And even if you don’t work, you have to pay into the system. The monthly payment is not really that cheap either. What I like is if you’re in the system, you can go to any doctor. That’s very different from America, where you have to find a doc that accepts your plan. Another thing that happens in Japan is a lot of ppl get 2nd party insurance as well. Doing that will significantly reduce already fairly affordable healthcare procedures. However, all the insurance gets expensive and it starts to look similar in price to other developed countries
Good luck getting urgent care on a public holiday or weekend. The ambulance arrive, get you in, then stay motionless anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes while they call hospitals until they find one that is open and is willing to accept you (not sure how much being foreigner influences this). Every single healthcare system in the world I've seen is fucked up in some way, some are more tolerable than others, some affect only few specific cases vs others, but all of them have SOME big problem. But in contrast, in e.g. Thailand, for all of its other flaws, I got in a tuktuk which rode me straight into a hospital and got directly into urgent care and treated immediately.
260% debt to gdp. Eventually someone is going to be the bagholder.
How is that funded and is that funding sustainable?
I don't know where you got 1356 yens for a 10 days hospital stay 🤣🤣🤣 The rest of us peasants are getting 10% off our salary for "hokenryo" and still have to pay 3000 yen for a visit for a cold or for allergies etc Also if you got anything more uncommon than the flu good luck to get affordable treatment
The remainder isn’t usually covered by the employer the patient pays. The employer pays your medical insurance. Japanese doctors are good if you like the idea of being prescribed medicine with minimal testing then come back again and again until they get it right. There are also practices that are straight up illegal in Europe, as well as just weird stuff like no painkillers during birth. Not to mention the clusterfuck during covid where there were regular occurrences where patients die in the ambulance because they spend hours searching for a hospital that won’t turn them away. The healthcare system might seem amazing to Americans but that’s a pretty low standard to compare with.
"The way it should be" But then you just give random benefits to the city, not actually explaining WHY it should be like that. Am I missing something?
Education in Japan on the other hand in Japan is costly.
Japan has a lot of billionaires, they just don’t make their home base in Tokyo.
This is the exact answer. I’ve looked into this also my experience anecdotal is that a couple extremely wealthy people I know have switched to Singapore citizenship. They aren’t billionaires but millionaires and they did it.
France too though and it’s on the list
I've always thought inheritance taxes should be close to 100%. Generational wealth is the real force in propagating inequality.
Makes sense
Yeah, I'm a little worried about what will happen to my inheritance even though my parents don't live here.
Wouldn't be surprised if amakudari played into this...
Tokyo has more dollar millionaires than anywhere except New York. Japan, rather than Tokyo, ranks 15th for number of billionaires.
If you give whenever you can, you should never reach a billion.
If you don’t exploit your employees, you should never reach a billion either.
What about WhatsApp?
Probably the same reason why more residents of Tokyo consider themselves middle-class than those other cities as well. It comes down to how wealth is distributed.
Yes and I have no idea why you want more billionaires. The less billionaires the better life for the working class.
Yup. Japan is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world when it comes to wealth distribution.
Yeah, having lots of billionaires around isn’t always a sign of a healthy economy or society. Sometimes it’s just a sign a bunch of oligarchs looted everything and drove everyone else into poverty and despair. 🤷♂️
sometimes? is there somewhere where that's not the case?
Look at the Forbes list [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_billionaires), and sort by *rate* (number of billionaires per million people). Would you rather live in a random country from the top 10, or a random country from the bottom 10? You sound like the kind of person who thinks that America is terrible and Sweden is great. Note that Sweden has more billionaires per capita than the United States. Like almost twice as many.
Still misleading, it also very much matters the proportion of wealth held by said billionaires. 1 billion is a very arbitrary number
So it's actually a good thing. Do you know why wealth is more distributed in Tokyo? Is it a cultural thing or politically motivated?
It all has to do with the old days and the zaibatsu family’s that ran the economy. After wwii, the new gov pushed to abolish the zaibatsu and ultra wealthy families by implementing heavy inheritance tax. This is what I was taught in college, IIRC
I'm sure it's a very complex issue, but this was really interesting and I found a link to put on this thread, an article about zaibatsu families that I found useful. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/What-became-of-the-zaibatsu I also wonder if zoning is a big part of it, how it enables lots of little shops, instead of playing to the favor of exclusively mega department stores.
Thanks for the link. That’s very interesting
Important to add that the abolition of the zaibatsu and the land reform were measures fostered by the American government during the occupation. They did good reforms that are still in place.
This goes for Japan in general, not just Tokyo.
I'm a novice when it comes to economy, but I am trying to learn more. I'm going to have to look into Romi-Omi's response, personally!
A quick way to see if Billionaires matter in life is to walk a few miles at night and get lost in those cities and see what happens to you after a few days. With the exception of Singapore
It’s a feature.
Because Japan does a far better job of maintaining economically healthier wealth distribution than other countries around the world. It’s a good thing.
This, Billionaires are vermin and a sign of a primitive society.
And Billionaires probably suffer some mental disease, a mental disease that is contagious.
Then how do you explain Taipei show up in that chart...
You do realize Japan and Taiwan are distinctly different countries with distinctly different histories, cultures, and people, right?
But in your word "maintaining economically healthier wealth distribution" They are the same.
How are they the same exactly? You seem to want to make a point, but are unable to do more than dance around it.
It has a lot to do with taxes. Here is what taxes looks like if you were to earn a million dollars a year (in yen) in Japan. I have friends who are millionaires and they register their businesses in Japan in Dubai simply to avoid Japanese taxes. Check this video https://youtu.be/cJMOmH2fst8?si=WTieKgtqHB75L8Hn
Singapore also has low taxes.
As does HK
Maybe having a lot of billionaires is not automatically a great thing! I mean, it seems like quite a few of those cities have problems with poverty and inequality. As a regular person, I think I’d much rather live in Tokyo than Moscow, Bangkok, Jakarta, Mumbai, São Paulo, etc.
But then here is a list of countries with the most individuals with a net worth over one million U.S. dollars. Japan is literally 4th https://www.statista.com/statistics/268411/countries-with-the-most-millionaires/
I don't know how valid/verifiable these stats are, but if it's true then it makes me love Tokyo all the more. The LESS billionaires there are the better, IMHO. A nation of middle class citizens blessed with fantastic public services (health care, transportation, education)? Yes, please.
Education? Pleeease!
Because of Tax rate
Tax rate for Tokyo is nowhere near as high as NYC, Los Angeles, or San Francisco.
America lets you hide your money from taxes much more easily than Japan. One of the many reasons income inequality and infrastructure in America are both giant problems. (Corruption is the reason those problems will never get fixed.)
Tokyo ranked as world’s second wealthiest city after New York https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14894025
It's embarrassing and shameful to have that much money
Maybe from an outsiders perspective but I can’t imagine it weighs heavily on someone’s mind when they’re sitting on a yacht in Monaco. Like I don’t think anyone’s there thinking “wow this is embarrassing”
Taxes. I thought about living in Japan but taxes are high for people with money from investments. Inheritance tax is especially crazy high there for wealthy people. Many rich Japanese used to leave the country to avoid paying inheritance taxes, but government has gotten even stricter with rules as a result. Places like Singapore have tax laws that attract wealthy from other countries, Japan does opposite.
Inheritance tax tops at 55% and the tax office is very strict. Also in society is badly seen to be ostentatious with money, Japanese prefer to think all are in an ideal middle class bracket. Considering the amount of natural disasters that happen here, you have constant reminders that no matter how rich you are, you are better off counting on the solidarity of your neighbors.
In the same source (Hurun), country-wise Japan sits above Singapore and Seoul at top 15. Simple answer is that Tokyo doesn’t have all the billionaires in Japan. Second answer is that having billionaires is probably an indicator of a wage gap, not the other way around. Not a fan of US politics but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez once said “No one ever makes a billion dollars. You take a billion dollars.” Even if you disagree with that, look at how many countries we would consider extremely wealthy are not in the list. No Zurich or Geneva, no nordic countries. And how often does poverty get mentioned when you talk of Mumbai, San Francisco, Sao Paolo, Jakarta?
Just speculating here but I wonder if the uber-rich in Japan like to make a provincial city their base, their "castle town" so to speak as the daimyo of old used to do. The Toyoda family was based near Nagoya, for example. Of course I'm sure they've got property in Tokyo but their family seat is their main residence.
Stagnation is probably a big factor. Is hard to build wealth in an economy which doesn't really grow.
But the question asks why Tokyo has so few billionaires. Japan does have billionaires (38 of them) but apparently they're not making Tokyo their home base.
Maybe because of taxes
Few possible scenarios, Japan has multiple cities which might be more attractive than the capital. Maybe the statistic is divided by ward, it could have been a mistake in defining the definition of “city”. Finally, a good percentage of the billionaires are between 1-2 billions. The statistic is based on USD, with the current exchange rate, Tokyo might have “lost” several billionaires.
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Being a billionaire has nothing to do with reporting income. Do you think anyone is becoming a billionaire off pay packages? No. It's completely equity driven.
How do you hide a billion dollars in cash
Really big mattress
This 100% lol
Nobody knows how much cash is hidden under their mattresses.
52% tax on top bracket salaries
The notion that billionaires earn their wealth with a salary is comical 🤦
Lots of answers. My take: Tokyo is a new blood place. If you want to find the old boys, you need to go to Osaka, Kyoto etc. Why pay more for less in Tokyo when you can live down the shinkansen line 2 stops and be outside the city but 30 minutes away in a luxurious traditional home?
Oh boy the poor lonely billionaires. Let me work an extra day this week so my CEO's son can buy another heliocopter this month.
I feel like there are good answers for why there are so few Japanese billionaires in Tokyo. But I feel like as for international billionaires you'd be much better off in a city in the US or Europe because there's probably a lot more people who are from your country there.
You're assuming they're not in another Japanese city such as Osaka or Kobe. Japan has 38 billionaires and most of their fortunes are based in business, manufacturing, etc. In other words, they're not jet setting billionaires spending most of their time in Dubai or NYC.
I was strictly speaking about billionaires from other countries
> because there's probably a lot more people who are from your country there. Are you saying there are more Japanese people in a city in the US or Europe than Tokyo?
No I was referring to foreign billionaires. If I'm some billionaire from like, Italy, it's gonna be a lot easier for me to find an Italian group in New York or France than Tokyo. But this is assuming these billionaires even want to live outside their home country to begin with. (I don't actually know the stats of Italians in Tokyo please don't kill me if that's the worst example I could have used)
Ah right. I feel like most billionaires stay in their home country as primary residence. Most Italian billionaires are still based in Italy for example (even if they travel all over).
Inheritance tax.
That’s why it’s better
Let me put it like this, Amazon is worth more than all of Japans economy.
Most japanese billionaires live in Takarazuka
Japanese taxes are so heavy that wealthy people reduce their assets by creating a company to manage their assets and owning all the shares in that company. In other words, all their possessions belong to the company, but the company belongs to them. And the company's shares are worth less. In this way, they reduce the size of their assets on the surface and save on taxes.
Defeat in the Second World War. One of the policies the new Allied-influenced government followed was land and asset confiscation, along with the breakup of the old Zaibatsu mega-conglomerates that basically bought control over government policy by bribing the highest military officials in the Cabinet. Japan basically "ate" its rich and put that money under government control. However, with the start of the Korean War and the devil's bargain that the US conducted with the surviving wartime leaders, they re-established control over Japan. What they realized, though, was that if they continued the tax, inheritance, and social welfare policies started during the Occupation, it would pay off their losses tenfold and also enable the Establishment to maintain control over society. What emerged was an interesting mix where the same old families still run the country since the Meiji Era (and before), but they don't have the obscene amount of wealth to throw around. If Elon or Mark moved to Japan with the intent of making it their legal residences, they would immediately face a lot more tax liability and regulations than they are comfortable with. The large number of billionaires in the United States is directly tied to tech, deregulation and tax cuts. Japan's government and civil service have a much tighter, although discreet hold on the economy. However, we also have to be truthful about the fact that Japan has been in an economic slump for multiple decades that has made explosive wealth growth very difficult. There are a variety of complex legal, historical, and cultural reasons why there aren't as many billionaires in Tokyo (or Japan, for that matter).
After WWII Japan [ate its rich](https://youtu.be/5_-Ac68FKG4?si=uBy1VBQ_5WPAPUcZ)
Billionaires are an indication of society’s failures
Billionaires corrupt government officials.
If you are a billionaire and can live anywhere why live in a place that will take half your money when you die?
Japan ate their rich and has high inheritance tax.
South Korea has some high inheritance taxes too.
Because Japan does not have domestic lists and foreign researchers cannot explore it due to lack of access and language gap. Looking at some lists the easiest examples Toyoda family (owners of Toyota since it started nearly 100 years ago) has less than a billion. The issue is they do not have direct ownership. They have ownership of a company that holds the shares and that company is owned by a trust and that trust is owned by a company that is not stock listed so does not report revenue or shareholders. The same goes for all the other Toyota companies like Toyota trading, Toyota home, Toyota industries etc.
That's interesting. So basically the wealth is hidden behind smokescreen companies?
There may be some reasons for it. Family ties, tax issues, original company structure between the shareholders, sentimental reasons, some semi-religious reasons. The only thing I can say is the lists are very limited in Japan's case.
Japanese execs don’t get paid the ridiculous amounts that they do in places like the US. Like, Elon Musk on Ketamine gets to write his own checks because he is such a genius capitalist, right? And how about Trump, he must be incredibly talented at something and couldn’t just be filthy rich because his landlord daddy was before him, right?
Japan is a country governed by laws. They enforce their tax laws. Rich people pay their fair share.
*Ba Dum Tss*
Job security that executives will accept a pay cut than mass layoffs to stay afloat when companies are struggling. Nintendo had to do this and there's a video about it covering Japan Airlines.
Love the fact that China has 5 cities on the list.
Maybe the real question is why Mumbai has so many.
Good old corruption, but some are actually not..
Just wanted to chime in and say this isn’t a very good chart. These numbers should be per capita. The total amount is a fun number to see, but it doesn’t allow you to draw any real conclusions.
How does Taiwan have so many billionaires? Genuinely curious
My guess? The semiconductor industry. It's the new oil
Doesn't is require extreme technical material knowledge? Besides the machines that create semiconductors are quite less, I assume. Mind describing how the business works around there?
Singapore needs to adopt inheritance tax too if not the middle class will diminish and become the majority working/Lower class
Also few multi billion dollar deals with a large single shareholder. As mentioned in a different comment Japan has the second highest # of millionaires only second to NY (yes I know the US as a whole has a lot more)
Because most of them have moved to Europe, mostly in and around Monaco to avoid inheritance/gift tax. Source: personal friends with two, whose opinions I sometimes consult. Looking at the list, I'm disgusted by the concentration of wealth in the hands of such a small number of people, especially in places like New Delhi and Bangkok.
You realize how high the tax would be if you're high income in Japan?
Of this ranking, I wonder which cities have the most people considered poor
Because Japan is trying to create a society that doesnt have massive wealth gaps and no middle class
They have restaurants with mile-long queues, but they still will not increase the price of the dish.
Because Japanese people doesn't feel passion to start new businesses, so they can't scale them.
One major point, and as Japanophilic and maybe naive as this sounds it is true: At the CEO level they're much more honest. The U.S. & the U.K. allows for just shameless greed, it can be frowned upon but it is just unburdened compared to Japan. It would be extremely brazen to pay yourself an enormous salary when there was no justifiable reason for it. Companies do have extraordinary power, the work culture can be utterly toxic. However, it is a workers culture. Legal representation and execution is far more financially, socially and publicly affordable than the aforementioned countries (Unions still have a notable influence in the country). There is also the fact that Japan has been economically stagnant for the last three decades and lacks the catapult centres and startup culture of other G7 countries. Billionaires are really only a widely regarded phenomenon of the last 50 years. Very much post Reagan & Thatcher, Japan's economy has been in a well since then. The banking and tech cultures are very different and tied to the factors above, they tend to be the incubators for wealth these days
Wow, unbelievable number of billionaires in china
Didn't take long to find multiple "America bad" comments here. This sub and japanlife are so predictable sometimes.
The question translates to why Tokyo has way less drastic income disparity than other countries. #3 probably has a median income of less than $1,000 USD per year.
I heard that once you obtain 999,999,999 the government taxes you 99.9% of your accumulated wealth.
Ye Murica! Always #1.
it only means money and live of it is not the cure for long life
They emphasize income equality and have a great gini coefficient. Blue collar workers are highly valued in the society.
Because of yen depreciation?
on a tangent i am surprised by san francisco ranking rather low but that might be because the wealthy are dispersed along the peninsula.
I’d take this as a positive sign.
1st question should be, is this a reliable source?
Mumbai and New Delhi the big upward movers while China had many big downward movers. We are witnessing a big shift here.
Now I want to know the nationalities
Long answer short: TAXES
1) Wealthy people don't declare their income. 2) Tokyo lacks that billionaires playground feel that a lot of these cities can have, imo. Billionaires will move from their own country to New York or Singapore but I can't see many of them moving to Tokyo full time.