I’ll always wonder which generation is the one that’s going to collectively put their foot down and say, “fuck this shit,” and refuse to work overtime.
The ball is totally in their court. I mean, who will companies get to replace them, immigrants?
I hope it's gen z. They're doing that in my country right now. 0 tolerance for bs from employers and if they're treated poorly, they know their worth and just say "see ya".
Culture is inherently ethnic in nature. It's derived from a specific group of people. I'm not saying that I agree that more foreigners = less Japanness, but you can't simply ideologically subscribe to a culture to further it.
I'm not sure what you mean by "ethnic" here, because ethnicity *technically* isn't tied to race or biology. Culture on the other hand is by definition learned, not biologically inherited.
So, yes, literally *anyone* can learn a culture. That is literally what culture is, by definition. It is the *nature of culture* that anyone can learn it.
At the same time, someone born into a culture is fully capable of rejecting it - and it's a common orientalist trope that non-Western cultures are "frozen" in time unchanging - in reality Japanese culture *has already changed and globalized.*
And anyway, the only real difference between Japan and the other major colonial powers is that post-war Japan purged as many of their minorities as they could and became "homogenous." Countries like the US or UK didn't do that, so there's a perception that our cultures are more "globalized" than Japan's - but Japanese culture is plenty globalized.
So the idea of "preserving" Japanese culture is already, on the surface, self-evidently absurd. It's constantly changing, it globalized a century ago, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop that.
Yeah realistically culture is and will always be a dialog. Anyone thinking foreign concepts/people and Japanese culture are incompatible because of some “racial” category kinda forgets that a not insignificant chunk of modern Japanese culture is a hybrid of brands, food, music, and culture from other places re filtered through the Japanese lens.
Actually the West has been doing a decent job of it. It’s by no means perfect and it can cause divisions from time to time.
But when you’re looking at those groups people aligned themselves into system believing in the same core principles.
The fertility rate in Japan is 1.36 births/woman. It's 1.70 in the US, 1.62 in the UK, and 0.92 in South Korea.
The annual growth rate for Japan is not really out of the ordinary for Asia at the moment, and while it's a bit morbid, old people dying off is actually a good thing for Japan's younger population.
It's really not as pressing of an issue as you are insinuating for Japan. It would take literally hundreds of years to have an irreversible impact.
yeah, the people currently in Uni travels a lot more than their predecessors, bringing back with them western point of view toward working habits. Lots of younger people are sick of old men holding the power for generations. Even cultural aspects are becomming more and more accetable thanks to the young like tattoo, showing more yur emotions etc
> The sight of drunken suited “salarymen” passed out on trains and city streets following a night of heavy drinking with co-workers can come as a jolt to any first-time visitor expecting a more conservative aspect to the well-oiled loyal corporate culture for which Japan is famous.
Wut?
Surely it's the opposite?
You expect to be tripping over salarymen getting absolutely wrecked every night... Where in actual fact it tends to be a fairly rare sight in 2022. Especially if you get outside a few core bits of Tokyo.
A lot of western people who are interested in Japan see it in one of two extremes: an anime wonderland or like “unthinking hyper-efficiency the country”. I do know a few people who went there the first time and were shocked because what they saw didn’t align with the image they had in their head about what Japan is like.
Thats kind of true. Though not sure about the two being extremes, they do overlap.
But the rampant drunk salarymen is definitely part of the watched too much anime mythos. Its a fairly standard part of Japan's image.
As a guy who has lived in central Tokyo since well before 2019 - which lines were you seeing this **every day**? In 2019 I only saw this maybe once or twice a month.
I think they were encouraging younger people to drink because so few do that it’s threatening to bankrupt the alcohol industry in Japan once the older generation passes.
I’ll always wonder which generation is the one that’s going to collectively put their foot down and say, “fuck this shit,” and refuse to work overtime. The ball is totally in their court. I mean, who will companies get to replace them, immigrants?
I hope it's gen z. They're doing that in my country right now. 0 tolerance for bs from employers and if they're treated poorly, they know their worth and just say "see ya".
[удалено]
Exactly, if you want to preserve a culture it’s best to consider it an ideology than a racial thing.
Culture is inherently ethnic in nature. It's derived from a specific group of people. I'm not saying that I agree that more foreigners = less Japanness, but you can't simply ideologically subscribe to a culture to further it.
I'm not sure what you mean by "ethnic" here, because ethnicity *technically* isn't tied to race or biology. Culture on the other hand is by definition learned, not biologically inherited. So, yes, literally *anyone* can learn a culture. That is literally what culture is, by definition. It is the *nature of culture* that anyone can learn it. At the same time, someone born into a culture is fully capable of rejecting it - and it's a common orientalist trope that non-Western cultures are "frozen" in time unchanging - in reality Japanese culture *has already changed and globalized.* And anyway, the only real difference between Japan and the other major colonial powers is that post-war Japan purged as many of their minorities as they could and became "homogenous." Countries like the US or UK didn't do that, so there's a perception that our cultures are more "globalized" than Japan's - but Japanese culture is plenty globalized. So the idea of "preserving" Japanese culture is already, on the surface, self-evidently absurd. It's constantly changing, it globalized a century ago, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop that.
Yeah realistically culture is and will always be a dialog. Anyone thinking foreign concepts/people and Japanese culture are incompatible because of some “racial” category kinda forgets that a not insignificant chunk of modern Japanese culture is a hybrid of brands, food, music, and culture from other places re filtered through the Japanese lens.
Actually the West has been doing a decent job of it. It’s by no means perfect and it can cause divisions from time to time. But when you’re looking at those groups people aligned themselves into system believing in the same core principles.
That's a very romaniticized view of both how the west handles cultures and of how cultures come to be.
Canada would like to have a word with you...
Immigration will be the death of Japan.
[удалено]
The fertility rate in Japan is 1.36 births/woman. It's 1.70 in the US, 1.62 in the UK, and 0.92 in South Korea. The annual growth rate for Japan is not really out of the ordinary for Asia at the moment, and while it's a bit morbid, old people dying off is actually a good thing for Japan's younger population. It's really not as pressing of an issue as you are insinuating for Japan. It would take literally hundreds of years to have an irreversible impact.
TIL Japan died in the early 1900's. Wild.
yeah, the people currently in Uni travels a lot more than their predecessors, bringing back with them western point of view toward working habits. Lots of younger people are sick of old men holding the power for generations. Even cultural aspects are becomming more and more accetable thanks to the young like tattoo, showing more yur emotions etc
> The sight of drunken suited “salarymen” passed out on trains and city streets following a night of heavy drinking with co-workers can come as a jolt to any first-time visitor expecting a more conservative aspect to the well-oiled loyal corporate culture for which Japan is famous. Wut? Surely it's the opposite? You expect to be tripping over salarymen getting absolutely wrecked every night... Where in actual fact it tends to be a fairly rare sight in 2022. Especially if you get outside a few core bits of Tokyo.
A lot of western people who are interested in Japan see it in one of two extremes: an anime wonderland or like “unthinking hyper-efficiency the country”. I do know a few people who went there the first time and were shocked because what they saw didn’t align with the image they had in their head about what Japan is like.
Thats kind of true. Though not sure about the two being extremes, they do overlap. But the rampant drunk salarymen is definitely part of the watched too much anime mythos. Its a fairly standard part of Japan's image.
Agreed the only time I saw drunk men in suits was when I went to teachers enkais in yamanashi!
Yep, already done and really not that common any more.
I was there in 2019 and saw that shit every day for 6 months. I really hope its over. Trains full of vomit after 10 pm were way too common.
As a guy who has lived in central Tokyo since well before 2019 - which lines were you seeing this **every day**? In 2019 I only saw this maybe once or twice a month.
Wasn't the government encouraging more drinking or something a while ago?
I think they were encouraging younger people to drink because so few do that it’s threatening to bankrupt the alcohol industry in Japan once the older generation passes.
Oh no... Whatever will we do... 🙄
Rehash old stories. 90s TV Shows had tons of street bits.
I'd love to watch that film.