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Your title is very deceiving, just like you are. Your accent is beyond irritating. Whoever subs to this one, needs some serious waking up. I saw this video on the recommended vids and watched it but to see that this weirdo is only going on and on about nothing basically. You got a heads up.
@EconomicsExplained, you need to work on your flow. While listening, it feels like the narrative is on x2 speed. Clearer and slower pronounciation of words will improve experience for non-native speakers like me. This is just a friendly observation. Thanks for the content!
i saw recent video interviewing citizens on current state of Japan. They are actually doing good preventing massive inflation on goods and real estate. However, Japan is the oldest in South East Asia or even the rest of the world in terms of falling birth rates due to overwork. Foreign workers also likely to introduce innovation that Japan is severely lacking.
My take as a CPA (background in economics): everyone is hyper-obsessed with Japan's plateaued growth, without realizing that they enjoy a very high standard of living, very high per-capita GDP, and much lower inflation than other countries. And really, growth for growth's sake is not really that important once you've achieved the upper echelon of economic performance.
Unfortunately, living standards are no longer high due to inflation and the value of the yen plummeting, all the while wages are stagnant. It's very difficult for Japanese to even travel or study abroad these days because airline fares have shot up 30-40% in yen.
@@j.y.8054 While nothing you have said is incorrect, that usually not what people refer to when discussing Living Standards. Healthcare, accommodation, access to clean and cheap food, water, electricity, all come before luxuries. Its true that the Middle and Upper Class of Japan have a worse living standard then the Middle and Upper Class of the US. But the Lower class, the masses that these metrics are based around, has EASILY one of the most comfortable lives on the planet. Its not the best, I'll admit that. But no other nation on earth could be stagnant for 20 years and not have mass protests due to the living standards collapsing to the point where even basic accommodation becomes unaffordable.
@@Peregrine1989 I would argue that poor people in japan doesn't live comfortably in Japan. Unreported homelessness is a big problem in Japan. Underage prostitution, criminal gang debt trap, etc. The reason you think that living standard for lower income people is higher in Japan is because you didn't know about Unreported hidden crimes that usually occurred.
It bugs me that the title of this video is something weird is happening in Japan- when in reality something weird is happening with the rest of the world and Japan is actually doing something responsible both for themselves and the planet.
The talk about QoL is owning and buying things, or is it everyone living in a nice place? I saw this video yesterday and it bothered me all day. I get they have their problems but even if they have their problems, it's still nice. No joke, I might prefer being homeless in Japan than lower middle class elsewhere in the world.
I am now living in Japan lived in Western Europe. As the statistics says, the salary in Europe was higher but didn’t feel a rich country as a citizen. Increase of living costs, high crime rate, e.t.c. On the other hand, except for the salary, living in Japan is like a being in a real home. Delicious and cheap food, reliable public order, low unemployment . It’s true that Japan is struggling with problems though, this nation is still a powerhouse and has a potential to regrow.
It's no longer a power house, population is declining rapidly, economy is dead, military power is dead living under US protection and you want me to believe Japan is still a power house? What a joke 😂
The zoning in Tokyo is really fascinating. Just walking around it feels so alive and integrated. Even in residential areas you’ll find shops, and in busy areas you’ll find quiet residential houses. I personally love the atmosphere and convenience of Tokyo.
@@Quickmf56 There is but it’s much more loose than western zoning. It feels like the city grows in a much more natural way rather than being confined by government planning.
Arguably only tenable in a more or less homogeneous society. In the US, we have tent camps popping up in all sorts of random places anyway (a little too organic, lol), and most NIMBYs would flip out if the wrong people moved too close to their business or similar.
@@InvestmentJoy but then with the abundance of cars and road infrastructure, NIMBY'ism and rednecks taken away, and you get basically balanced neighborhoods where shops install themselves near people, public transport is in plentiful supply and people don't madly need their own house, own pool, own driveway and own bunker full of guns to protect themselves from dooms day. 😄
As a norwegiam who has lived in Japan, there are many good points here. While the slow growth of the economy might look bad on economic figures, it does not matter much to most people in Japan as they are already living quite well and most goods they consume are produced locally. I think many other countries should look to Japan as a way to live with low growth, but still high quality of life. Things like smaller homes might look worse on paper, but Japanese homes are very well built to use to space availible, and it is so cheap to eat out that almost all social gatherings happens outside the home. That was a big differnce coming from western Europe, where workers are paid so well that it does not make economic sense to have very cheap food, but Japan can handle that without larger issues. The work culture in Japan is also changing as alot of the extra hours were not value generating, but part of a culture of staying at work for long, even if you finished all your tasks.
but also the Japanese working style is less pigeonholed into defined boxes/roles, and workers move more organically from project to project, department to department. So you'd end up with workers with experience in all areas of the business.
@@Snoop_Dugg It is true that, traditionally, Japanese companies are focused on generalists rather than specialists. It's reflected in their lifetime employment hiring practices (this is changing, but the change is glacial), which involves hiring fresh university grads in bulk without regard for what they actually studied or got their degrees in. So Japanese workers are moved around within the company from the very start of their careers to supposedly gain experience on how the entire company operates and be molded into what the company needs them to be. So a worker can experience different departments/projects as you say, but this is entirely because the company assigned/ordered them to do that, not because they have the freedom to explore internal options on their own accord. One of the downsides of this system is that it is designed to have workers accumulate superficial levels of knowledge since they only have a few years at each position. It is especially inefficient when Japanese workers have overseas assignments. For example, just as the local office in the US has taught an expat Japanese worker how things work locally and develop local business relationships they are transferred back home after two years and replaced with another new Japanese expat and the whole introduction cycle has to repeat again.
Its a libertarian channel so he will exclude all factors outside free market fantasy, being able to walk outside at night as a woman is not considered.
From my perspective as a middle-class Japanese family living in Japan, it is true that the economy has been stagnant for 20 years and is slowly declining further. However, prices have not fluctuated much, and salaries have risen slightly in line with the fluctuations. I don't know about other countries, but if I can maintain this situation, no more, no less, I'm fine with it. I believe that long term stability is the only way to have a better outlook on life and to be happy in the future. Life is not a gamble.
These economics type people seem to get it in their head that if a number isn't going up, it must be bad, and we're all suffering from it despite countries like Japan clearly showing how wrong they are
@@YeahImRose If a country is completely self sufficient, then yes, numbers could be stagnant and the way of life would remain the same forever. However, we live in an international world where countries compete with each other for goods and resources, including manpower and the rights to produce goods for companies abroad. This means that if the numbers does not go up within Japan, while the rest of the world goes up, eventually Japanese companies can no longer afford to import goods or compete internationally, which would be crippling.
@noxnox7445 thank you for your perspective! as someone living in the West, may I ask about happiness? I know crime and homelessness are low but you hear about things like jouhatsu and inemuri and see a lot of japanese tv shows and films showing people feeling disillusioned.
@@RM-ip3ob There are probably a few people in every country who are disillusioned with their country. I believe that happiness is the ability to continue living one's daily life without any inconvenience. It is true that we have become so accustomed to the peace and comfort that we take for granted that it is difficult to feel happiness, but once you travel or live in another country and see it for yourself, you will appreciate how blessed you are to be able to live in Japan without any inconvenience. Of course, other countries have their good sides, but they also have their bad sides. If you want luxury, you need money and time without limit, but whether that will satisfy your happiness is another story. Jouhatsu is for people who are tired of their relationships and want to start a new life in a new place, and isn't that the form of happiness they want? I think there are people in other countries who are living their lives in a new place in the same way, and I don't think it is a problem unique to Japan. I don't know what is wrong with inemuri.... If you change your mindset, you can save time by sleeping on the move. And I've done this myself. I think there are numerous things that people in the west are telling Japan with a different agenda by making it overly staged to disillusion them.
@@noxnox7445 The Japanese government disagree with you , so is the stats. Japanese economy is a disaster, so they devalue the yen so much that it loses over 30% of the value. If Japan is a isolated country like North Korea, you'll probably pull it off but Japan isn't, Japan relies heavily on imports, especially raw materials. At this moment, Japanese companies are taking the lost, and they will eventually put that on Japanese household if no changes are made. We can see domestic cars are rising about 10% this year, and second cars almost don't devalue. Yes I agree it feels very satisfied living in Japan, but I know it won't last forever. Hat's off to Japan for keeping this throughout past 20 years. But it's a dead end and the government are trying to change it by expanding NISA and criticizing companies with ridiculous PBR ratio. That being said, I've invested heavily in Japan, I hope Japanese won't go against making their companies more competitive.
Honestly, I think, Japan, as a country suffering frequent earthquakes, should not establish so many nuclear plants in the first place, just imagine if there is another 2011 calamity.
I think we also have to understand the shortcomings of GDP. It can be made to look larger just by just starting a lot of construction projects, or even taking on debt. It really is not saying a lot about how efficient the economy is operating.
I live in Japan and work in Japan as a foreigner. Foreigners are everywhere now in Tokyo and elsewhere.. obviously still a small percentage ... but convienent stores have foreigners working there, unthinkable 15 years ago. I just don't agree with this video --- I have been trying to move from poorer asian countries all my life as a teacher. I made way more money in Vietnam and China, but I hated it there - pollution, government nonsense, loud, motorbikes, food safety being awful. I know this is an economics channel, but some things are hard to measure by money. Japan is special, it always has been, it attracts people in part for that reason. Of course the irony is, what we all love about Japan simply won't survive if tomorrow 10% or more of Japan were migrants. Japan is a great place, I make far less money, even considered poverty level in US, but I won't get shot, people follow the rules, and its ---- get this crazy idea ---- NICE.
you seem blinded. dont think there are special rules for a country. with time everything will follow rules and there won't be any specialty. having an old population, and value of yen is dropping because other countries are progressing while japan is not will drive imports which japan depend 100% on as in energy and raw materials, lol it sound so bad man, how can you say it is fine. although it isnt the worse because of all the good things japan make right but still bad things have to be resolved or it will outweight the good one day.
@@DayAndNightTo2099 "Don't think there are special rules for a country" --- why not? culture is everything - German and Japanese culture for example, show time and time again they are able to define the typical rules of economics - because they a strong work ethic, among other unique cultural traits --- Africa is loaded with resources, and yet not a single one has managed to anything with them --- culture plays a role
@wingwaabuddha you misunderstood me, yes because of their culture and work ethics (good side of japan), things like old population and yen value dropping (nad side of japan) is not destroying the economy. However i meant there are no special rules for bad things to not be bad like old population which is a problem you seem to ignore
Many foreigners have left Japan or regret moving to Japan. This truth is not hidden anymore. Too stressful working culture and not many locals speaks English as not all foreigners speaks Japanese. A high percentage of locals are still racist towards foreigners who live there.
@@aeri878 Disagree but even if im wrong ---- you say racism towards foreigners? I don't think so - but frankly, there should be. Foreigners (of any nationality) add no cultural benefit to Japan --- zero. Sure we add a workforce, but how do we make the streets - cleaner? safer? quieter? we don't - its a unique culture that ironically I'm making worse just by being here.
Dude I live in Japan and the living standards for the working class are way higher than the U.S on average. It might not be the case if you take a small demographic of rich tech workers in California as an example, but here regular people actually have access to quality public education, transportation, healthcare, affordable groceries, housing and general public infrastructure.
It also depends on where you live in the US, like what state or even city. I absolutely hated living in a large city. Smaller homes, too many people, literally everything. The only benefit is higher wages, but it's not enough to outweigh the other. I'm middle class and towards the lower end of it salary wise, and I don't struggle at all to have a good life. My own house with a large yard. I could never do the closet sized apartment. But I do love how respectful the Japanese people are to each other in every way.
@@Joker-no1uh Is probably not for everyone. I personally hate the alienated American suburban life model where you barely leave your home and you need a car to get literally anywhere.
So Japan’s economy is functioning well despite decades of stagnation, and only having issues because the rest of the world insists on growth for growth’s sake, weakening the Yen. Sounds to me like the problem is the world, not Japan. I hope in my lifetime I can live in a country that isn’t obsessed with constant growth. Growth is the economists’ “turtles all the way down” - always demanded but never truly justified. If anything, continuous growth is causing the decimation of our planet.
Spoken from a very privileged position, it’s easy to be satisfied with what you have when you have a lot, but for many developing countries and poor people in developed economies, growth is the only way for them to live their lives any other way than in abject poverty.
I feel like this is a very nuanced issue, with both arguments making sense, as yes, growth is required to a certain point, but beyond that point, it's a matter of profit. The problem is that this "point" is different for everyone as everyone has their own reasons as to why they think the point lies where it is
@@tropinnka While I dont disagree with your take , the point is , as of right now not every country needs growth . There is alot of countries that needs growth , some more than others but there are also others that just need to chill out on growth and focus more on being stable and substainable , take care of the enviroment instead of making more junk
I believe that the worsening US-Dollar--vs-JP-Yen has most to do with currency speculators than any economic fundamentals. These speculators have just been using the ever-increasing Fed rate (necessary to tamp down ever-increasing inflations in the US) to pressure the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to raise its interest rate to make their profits. The BoJ, to its credit, refuses to punish Japanese consumers to satisfy the speculators' greed. The US dollar will come down when the Fed starts to reduce its rate, in 2024 or risks choking the American economy.
You did not mention the tradewar between US, Americans have compressed the Japanese technology advancement in different ways, also the currency rate. These are the true underlying reasons.
@@JohnGAndino I can assure you Japan is doing very well as an American with a Japanese spouse and have access to Japanese culture daily. What’s not gonna age very well is your silly comment that you couldn’t help yourself from making but that’s okey because 80% are similar to you so at least your not alone ✌️🤡
I spent a year in Japan in 2009/10. GDP growth is nonsense. As a person, there was nothing you could really want for; if someone said Japan will stay as it is forever, most Japanese and the few others in Japan would be intensely relaxed.
The problem for Japan is that the world will not stay like this forever, so Japan will not be like this forever. They were the kings of tech back in the 80`s. Everything was turning Japanese in the 1980`s : Pac Mac, TVs, boom boxes, walkmans, VCR , Toyotas, fax machines , cameras ( the ones with a film you had to develop). Well, Now almost 35 years later they still are leader in the car industry, the other tech they reigned supreme is obsolete. And new countries have overtaken the new tech. Cellphones, computers, etc. None of that is made in Japan. Even, Chinese and Hindus are producing cars now and exporting them. Besides, Japan is not a country keen to receive immigrants, so USA, Canada and Australia can add more tech savvies from other countries to their I.T. industries to compete with China and to a lesser extent with Europe and India. The Japanese still make good car, though. My car is Japanese.
@@josevilas4927 and all of that will exacerbate as the population growth collapses. If they don't change their immigration policy (not saying they should), then they must take seriously the birthrate problem, and it sure doesn't seem like they are (trying to mitigation social pressures on having families have been limp-wristed efforts at best, nibbling at the edges instead of dealing with roots). Its arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
@@themadmallardthat's never going to happen. The birth rate is low but it is not negative. The population will shrink until the birth rate and death rate are equal, but they will not have an increasingly aging population forever. That's not how these things work.
The problem is the aging population. You can't have most of the younger population working to care for the retired mostly funded the state or their pension/ cash savings nest. An aging population as an ever larger share of the voting public drives politicians and companies to serve them over an ever narrow younger population. Japan is also dominated by some large exporting giants (Sony/Toyota etc) to whom its foreign sales dominate its success and where the home market is presumed profit safe and therefore not worthy of productivity attention (bar some local weak competition). Unlike the powerful German mittlesand medium sized companies that compete with other European competitors but who also export to maintain the investment they need to remain a player even at their smaller scale, Japan has lots of insular medium-"small" sized firms that have no foreign competition and therefore they own the home market. Foreign entrants are rare and find it hard to enter what is a conservative buyer (both culturally and due to risk adverse experience in considering a better option). This is true in China but the market is so big that even a sliver of an ever expanding market makes that less important (unless you fail to sell at all due to bad products or the Chinese beat you at your own game or you presume you are too far ahead to be beaten). At the same time many issues can be solved. Presenteeism is not driving productivity and never has (the US workforce is just realising this post Covid), female worker participation rates are still low (and we can presume the gender page gap is no different to the west even in a tight labor market) . State cash can solve that with childcare and tighter labor laws on working hours. At the other end is the lack of emigration of the best young workers to better jobs outside Japan and fewer enlightened firms in Japan offering a view of what a modern employer (not just wages or fostering blind company loyalty). Few workers move jobs for better results (so why would home companies compete for them?), many firms (same in SK) are the attractive employers who garner the best applicants but in reality the SMEs hoover up the rest and rest on the laurels presuming they are the best
when the Japanese economy was growing non-stop Japan was pressured by the US into signing the Plaza Accord and thus crippling its own economy and entering into a major recession today known as the Lost Decade. Not happy with that, the US went ahead and simultaneously placed 100% tariffs on Japanese electronics. Tariffs Japan wasn't even allowed to match or even retaliate in any way.
If the economic boom like before comes, Japan will no longer need to follow America. This is because there are export destinations such as China, India, and South Korea, not just the United States as in the past.
During my time in Japan, I was struck by Tokyo's intriguing urban planning. Just wandering the streets, you feel the vibrant blend of uses. Amid bustling districts, pockets of tranquil homes persist. And shops sprinkle even quiet neighborhoods, creating an integrated mosaic. This organic mix makes the city feel truly alive.
I can't remember if you brought it up but, in my opinion, an underrepresented issue in Japan is their view on failure. In America, we view failure as a part of the process. Someone starting a company and failing is mocked but not looked down on, if that makes sense. In Japan, failing is viewed much more negatively, and someone is very unlikely to try starting a company or even modifying their own company for fear of failure.
This is accurate based on my observations. I think it is the biggest thing holding back innovation in Japan; the fear of failure and therefore fear of taking risks.
Another and more likely way of seeing it is not a fear of failure but more of minimizing waste from failure. They have a saying: measure twice, cut once. Why waste money making failed products when the same money could've gone into better preperation and planning? Think someting like the aircvraft industry and how they spend spend billions making sure their planes fly well and not crash.
This is good, because when you have people blaming the process then you have little or no accountability. Failure needs to hurt because failure affects much more than just that entrepreneur's ego.
Yeah, Japan as well as it looks on paper has some culture problems that are absolutely insane.. On top of my head.. They basically don't think mental health is a thing.. Staying on job and appearing busy while also being required to go out to drinks everyday with coworkers is another.. Third they barely speak English at all.
i don't know where you belong to but this is like the most known fact as i see around the world. it is because east asians like conserving what's good and taking responsibility. you fail without disrupting the order without any visibility then you emerge as someone trustworthy and successful. usa has "i can do whatever i want and i will just put consequences to somewhere far away from myself" mindset, because there is abundant richness in that geography no one cares about waste or how things affect others because people only care about themselves. think about it, if japanese were really afraid of failure how come they're so successful at almost every area ? it's not fear of failure, it's sense of worth and protecting it by showing consequences. because it is kinda unspoken many foreigners can not understand what's going on.
I’m Italian and I think Italy is not that far as a comparison: We have had an economic boom in the 80s, then flatlined. Today, even if our economy is surely not regarded as a strong one and our GDP is pretty low , our standards of life is above average… No one ends up homeless. Yeah, we complain about salary but we all go for our little “aperitivo” in the evening. During summer no one is in the city but everyone is on a beach , lake or mountain. If rather be a poor in Italy than a lower-middle class in the US
Despite the challenges faced by every sector of the Japanese economy and the need for improvement in our work culture (which has improved significantly in the past decade), I believe that we enjoy a stable and prosperous democratic society and I am proud to be Japanese. Thanks for the coverage of Japan!
Does it matter to Japan if the population decreases? NO because the development of AI and bots will replace the human labour force. :) I countries import people, then import more social, housing and resource problems.
@@francisravenscroft-dw6giIn the 60s science fiction and TV promised us robots that would do all the work and give humans more leisure time. I'm still waiting.
Agreed, not being a Japanese, I think Japan has been quite successful in maintaining national economic health and navigating various social issues, and there’s no reason not to be proud of being a Japanese. GDP growth is just one measurement of economic success, an obsession on one number will not be beneficial in the long term.
Bit of a nitpick or question: is market cap really an appropriate proxy for the "worth" of a company? If we look at the actual value of production and sales, is TSLA really worth more than Toyota?
Very good point. Tech companies and billion $ unicorns are often ridiculously overvalued, and their market cap can be quite volatile. One stray tweet - and bam! 😂
Market cap in a liquid market is the truest mathematical measure of what people will pay for each share and how many shares there are. Your question is really "are markets right about the worth of companies" which is a wider, somewhat interesting question (and anyone able to answer it would make themselves very rich indeed)
@@gigitrixthe answer is obviously "not all the time" given the numerous scams in the past based on hyping a company just to discover it's completely empty and worthless
Nothing can appropriately proxy for the worth of anything. Even more so for companies. Only guesses exists, Market Cap being one of them. If you ever in your lifetime discover and reliable, certain, worth evaluation system, PLZ TELL ME FIRST. you and me will become filthy rich.
Basically, that information is given only to those shareholders who are invited to that part of the shareholder's meetings. They often don't divulge everything to most, but just general revenue and profits by quarter. But keep in mind debt can be hidden in the fine print, so are these companies really making a profit? And stock prices have nothing to do with profit. Uber has literally never turned a profit, but their stocks sell right now for $58 a share. A CEO and chairman of the board of a company could be a billionaire on paper, but in reality own nothing more but the largest stake in a company that is drowning in debt and fundamentally unprofitable. He is a billionaire because enough people decided that his failure was "cool" enough to buy for share of, and nothing more. This is just one more aspect of modern economies being built on consensus reality.
I'm a foreign Software Engineer working in Tokyo and I've never worked more than 40 hours a week. Salaries in my field are comparable to what you would earn Australia and Western Europe. There's some truth in terms of how large the homes and apartments are, but if you're making 15~20M+ JPY you won't be living out of a shoebox.
They save stuff on floppy discs. Theres just one company refurbing discs in America (because there isn't enough demand to make new ones)and thier main market Japan. Floppy. Discs.
@@anonmouse15 I'll go back to 1999 but only if I can also take SSD's with me. I'm tempted to say broadband as well but that led to social media being way more prevalent.
@@deanchur Sorry mate, you take 1999 as it was or not at all. No USB or SSDs. On the plus side, you would be oblivious of these things in the first place.
Japan will be the first to recover from its demographic crisis of any country going through this change. By the time that happens maybe elder scrolls six will be out.
Interestingly the situation in Japan is fairly normal for the nation. If you look at Japanese history in aggregate, a pattern emerges. Japan tends to stagnate in technology for decades or centuries until something dramatic happens and they rapidly modernize often far faster than anyone else in the world, before stagnating again. The best example of this is the stagnation under the Tokugawa shogunate and then rapid modernization into the Empire of Japan, where Japan got stuck in 1925 until 1945 at the end of WW2. Then they rapidly modernized again and now are stuck again. I suspect here in anothet couple decades something will happen and Japan will again rapidly modernize getting to the bleeding edge before stagnating again.
It's only based on one example (or "notable" like you said). I'd like to know about the others especially given that they weren't in the context of a global economy. I want to believe the pattern is indeed a real thing but I'll have to look at more examples.
@Bozebo Not really. Most countries especially western ones have a very steady progress of technical knowledge. Japan during the 1500's got the knowledge of how to manufacture guns from the Dutch and for awhile were actually making better firearms than the Europeans, but then they just stopped. The rest of the world caught up, invented new types of firearms, and then surpassed them. By the time Admiral Perry showed up in the 1800's the Japanese hadn't innovated on their firearms in nearly 200 years. That's odd. Then they did it again in the 1900's with a brief aberration in the adoption of tanks but again developed bleeding edge tanks in the 1920's and then just stopped innovating. It wasn't until the war was nearly over in 1944 that we see the Japanese even toying around with newer tank designs. It's a notable pattern unique to Japan as far as I can tell.
There's a significant factor to account for - voluntarity. They didn't shift to modernization on their own, but we're forced by dire situation or circumstance. As soon as the pressure was gone, they stagnate again. That's akin to a hardworking person, who's also lazy and tending to procrastinate. Another (worse) analogy is cart. As it get's pulled by good engine, the cargo accumulates and isn't shed (because of inclusivity and tradition). Over time the clutter accumulates and speed drops. It's not that engine is worse. The weight (deadweight?) is pulling it down. Once some accident or external factor breaks the structure, it's setup up from scratch again, with minimalistic specs and requirements. Thus - the cart is fast and efficient again (for a while).
For a lowly consumer and worker, some aspects of Japan sound great: almost no interest, cheap property, everything cost the same as 20 years ago, and still a global high quality of life. Sure the economy doesnt grow but it hasnt gotten any worse either. For macro economics and business owners, its sounds like a nightmare, for me, its great. No opportunities for great advancement but no opportunities to failing. I during Covid I was working hard like I always did but I got laid off anyway, couldnt get a job for months, huge life shifts, and a lot of suffering and depression. I rather have what Japan has now to avoid losing it all again. In this race in life only so many people can stand at the podium and the world is ever more created and utilized only for those winners. This just tells me the pursuit of a better economy and growth is not to my benefit as a citizen in a rabidly growing economy of the USA. Its another reason we should start measuring the economy with other metrics, ones that measure the health and happiness of citizens.
I'm a Canadian, specifically living in the bubble economy of Toronto. Just came back from Japan, and it did truly feel like at least 2010s, and maybe even early 2000s in terms of prices of goods. I was in Heaven, because everything felt so affordable! Compare that to Toronto, where prices just go up for the sake of going up (housing, rent, electricity and gas rates, internet and cellphone rates, insurance, food, tip at restaurants...). It made me feel like Canadian/American companies are all just greedy and jacking prices compared to Japan.
While the Japanese ARE very conservative, they have also had two big off-setting characteristics as a nation: -They are extremely team-driven. They have a sense of greater-good and need to work in groups that is staggering compared to a more independent/me-first attitude like America. Neither is "bad" as such, but it gives them a real edge in complex operations with lots of moving parts like an industrial economy. -They have an almost fetish for precision. There is real pride (or shame) in not making something as good as you possibly can, and taking care of the tools that make it. It shows up in their art, their manufacturing, everything. Definitely a big advantage over China, where the mantra is more like "fake it until you make it".
tbf I like the different flavours of humanity. It's kinda nice to see the character of a country being reflected in their culture and media that they create. Fake it till you make it has its benefits, good enough is efficient, perfection marks the limit and individualism is more experimentative. And the world's needles cycles through these params based on which approach has the time to shine
Definitely the communal aspect is part of it. As someone who is born and partly raised in Japan. I just hate western individualism. As**** everywhere in our society. It's toxic, but we're too dumb to realize. So western society deserves to go down the drain.
"-They have an almost fetish for precision. There is real pride (or shame) in not making something as good as you possibly can, and taking care of the tools that make it. It shows up in their art, their manufacturing, everything. Definitely a big advantage over China, where the mantra is more like "fake it until you make it"." This is totally not weird or orientalist to say about a country at all.
First of all don’t say China is fake till you make it, Japanese are indeed very fake if you know honme and tatame. All the great news about Japan is all surface, what really lies beneath this fake country is nationalism and fake smiles. Things that work and work against them.
Your comment on the housing isn’t quite true. Tokyo is full of tiny low cost apartments with no amenities, but anywhere outside of Tokyo has lots of large living space and affordable homes. I don’t even mean countryside. There are tons of great cities in Japan to live in.
I am in Hiratsuka (arround 300000 habitants ) right now. Appartment for one person with Fuji views for 250 euros per month. In Spain that almost cant get you a room in a 45000 thousand people city .
"Quality of life is not as high". I have lived in the US and currently live in Japan. I disagree with this statement, unless your definition of "quality of life" is "having a ton of money".
@@toomanymarys7355tf you on about? jp doesn’t not accept fat ppl, they simply have healthy cuisines, walkable cities with trains as the main transport, resulting in less fat ppl.
That's generally in Okinawa where the vast majority of octagariens live due to high seafood diet, good warm weather, and more relaxed pace of lifestyle. But moreover, you're missing the bigger picture of quality of life, and not just longevity of life. Many seniors in Japan live on limited social pension system despite the decent socialized healthcare, and the lack of young workers to pay into the existing social systems and replace their aging seniors is becoming so much of a problem that importing workers is becoming more and more of a problem but Japan still limits work visas because of existing xenophobia and racism.
@@arcturionblade1077they should be xenophobic and racist. Why should they destroy their country to make magic numbers go up for someone's investment portfolio? It's a tiny island nation. They will wether the storm and have a more reasonable population at the end.
@@toomanymarys7355 Its a bit of both. Healthcare is decent quality and has high availability. Companies also get tax benefits for healthier employees long term so this encourages preventative health interventions.
Whenever these type of videos come out, there's two types of people in the comments: People who think Japan is a perfect utopia, and people who think Japan is secretly a dystopian hellhole, instead of a country that does some things really well and some things not so well. Their housing is extremely affordable, their food culture is amazing and affordable, the public transportation is the best in the world, and affordable. You can actually survive on their minimum wage, even in Tokyo. Everything is also ridiculously efficient. But there's also issues with their horrific work culture, sexism, xenophobia, corruption, and just a general disdain for anything or anyone outside of the box. We can certainly take may lessons from Japan while leaving their worst aspects behind.
When "Their housing is extremely affordable, their food culture is amazing and affordable, the public transportation is the best in the world, and affordable. You can actually survive on their minimum wage, even in Tokyo. Everything is also ridiculously efficient." is what is at stake I can understand if they are protective of that from outsiders who have failed to build the same that might disrupt it.
@@Unimportant That's true, but skilled and highly educated workers are more likely to adopt cultural practices to blend in with society, since that helps them further their career and life prospects. It's not like they would be taking in mass amount of refugees like Europe has.
@@Unimportant lol as a Canadian I get this. We're currently getting crushed by spiraling housing costs, expensive yet garbage food, and borderline non-existent public transportation while the price of cars shoot to the moon. I can see Japan's hesitation to open their doors to our potential issues, even though Canada has some good points too.
I was about to post something similar before I found your comment. Japan's legal system is also terrifying -- people think the Ace Attorney games are a cartoon legal system, but they're calling out actual problems in their courts. And they're mild and sanitized compared to the real thing. I love so much of what Japan does well, and yet I wouldn't want to live there. They have a long way to go, but I do hold out some hope that they could get there. Unfortunately they are culturally so heavily against change that it may take a very serious shock to make it happen, and that's not something to wish for. :( Also not tooting America's horn -- we have a lot of work to do too -- but I'd still prefer living here.
It was just like the typical videos I've seen and I was disappointed. The media often talks about Japan's low production efficiency, but in terms of working-age population, Japan is almost the same as Germany. Japan has continued to implement labor reforms and improvements since the bursting of the bubble economy, and the results of these efforts are reflected in OECD data. Furthermore, despite Japan having the fastest aging population in the world and a declining birth rate, It is a miracle that Japan is ranked among the top economic powers.
However, japanese hi-tech companies is becoming eminent. For example, TOSHIBA in today is the only one giant which handle one of the most advanced block chain tech-stacks and QKD tech-stacks. All of analysts in bloch chain sector predict that TOSHIBA will invent the first quantum block chain in our world. Another example is NEC, NEC has State-of-the-art conventional semiconductor computing \the state-of-the-art photonic computing\the state-of-art quantum computing. In American, or the world expect japan , there is only one company has this kind of tech power, named IBM.
Excellent explanation of real estate, but you neglected a couple of important points: first, buildings (houses, apartments, etc.) depreciate instead of appreciate. That is, unlike the US or Australia, buildings depreciate in the same way cars do. While the land itself will retain or increase in value, the building doesn't. This drives down housing prices and makes renting far more attractive. I'm finishing the construction of my own home, and I can tell you firsthand it's not an investment vehicle. It is, however, an amazingly affordable home in great city within walking distance to a major train station, small mountains, and a beach (albeit a concrete-lined one (this is Japan, after all)). My home is tiny (120m2) compared to those in the US, but so is my mortgage: 0.59% percent. The second point about housing is one that you hinted at: public transportation. Convenient, reliable, clean, and affordable public transportation keeps housing prices low because workers have many more acceptable options. The effect of this is increased by the policy that companies pay for their workers commutation. About technology: Japan did NOT adopt computers before other countries and still lags behind in general CS literacy. Japanese COMPANIES led in some areas of technology and produced consumer products (video game consoles, VCRs, phones), but that is not the same as "adopting computers" in the same way that the west did. This, combined with crippling foreign language deficiencies, are a primary cause of the current stagnation. One minute browsing any of native Japanese websites like Rakuten or Merucari will make it painfully obvious that there is no local web design talent. Japan has only one social media company, Line, and the user base is miniscule. I teach in a business school and NOBODY is interested (or capable of) building apps. They all want to work for some conglomerate and let "the computer nerds" do the "computer stuff" because the alternative (starting your own company) means they'll never get the chance to get permanent employment and the benefits that come alone with the long, long hours required.
No, the building itself does depreciate in the US too. It's just that land value shoots up faster than building depreciation due to restrictive zoning resulting in artificial scarcity.
@@sor3999 It's a matter of degrees. Apparently it's common for people in Japan to tear down the home on whatever property they buy and build new. As an educated guess houses in Japan have a 20 year expected lifespan, so are likely going to be built with that in mind. Meanwhile, in the US a plumbing fitting* is seen as suspect if it only comes with a 25 year warranty. * Sharkbite.
When it comes to technology Japan has always valued hardware over software. The big companies like Sony were hardware focused while software development is looked down upon in their tech sector and that became an issue when most of the biggest tech companies worldwide are software based. Japan has ignored software despite it becoming more important over the past 30 years (even when Bill gates became the richest man in the world) which is why they are so far behind even though they used to appear so far ahead.
While the assesment of the japanese being behing in software is generally true (although they have some of the best and largest game companies worldwide), I do disagree abit on the web design. While the web design is very different from what people are used to in the west, this is more of a cultural thing. The japanese could design web pages like the west, but they prefer the more "busy" looking interface where they have everything on one page. This is a design which was more common in the west in early 2000, and as with other things Japan has been stuck with it. Its older population having things like they are used to is also a part of it.
My wife is Japanese. I work remotely in the US and make about 90man/month take home. We decided to get a next to nothing home in Japan and live the simple life. Only problem is I stand out like a sore thumb but atleast the internet is fast. BTW everything mentioned in this video is accurate.
In Japan, some of the smaller cities, you can see young people working in relaxing jobs, slow driving and they don't earn much. These people are just living the moment, chill weather, low stress, affordable food, healthy and fresh seafood
The problem is that GDP is a very poor indicator of wellbeing: $1000 in computers from the 1980s bring much less benefits than $1000 in computers from the 2020s. GDP brings the false impression that goods and services values stay "the same" no matter how much time passes. One better way to measure wellbeing would be how many hours of work are needed to afford for rent, taxes and daily expenses.
There was a video made by TAKASHiii from Japan asking people why they think Japan is so cheap. He asked a construction worker "When and why do you think things will turn around" and the construction worker's response was that he didn't think it was declining in the first place. He said that the economy was improving, but not fast. It's very very slow in comparison to other places like China which makes people think that Japan is now poor. I'd rather be in a slow burn increase than a turbulent economy personally
That's odd considering a large portion of their homeless are ex-construction workers laid off after the 80s boom. He's probably one of the out of the touch people who's been lucky to keep their job and not notice all their peers being laid off somehow.
Noticeable fact in that video - that person was the oldest male responder. He's the winner of birth lottery (gender and year). It's not verified, but there's a high probability that he was a full time (lifetime) employee, with seniority based salary (higher for longer employment, non-representative of performance) in a classical 70s working environment. That guys answers are as relevant to average YT viewer, as 1%-ers or legacy Ivy league students views an career and company loyality.
While it's true that the wages of Japanese workers has stagnated over the years, so have the wages of Australians and many other nations, but the difference here is that Japan had low inflation so that lack of wage growth was not as bad comparatively. This is similar with GDP, it's again true that the Japanese economy has been stagnant but GDP per capita has grown by about as much as most developed nations and more than some other developed nations. Japanese overworking is also misunderstood. It's true that it happens but it's not the norm, on average the Japanese actually work fewer hours per year than the US and Australia do.
@EconomicsExplained, I think there was a mistake in the currency conversion around 13m0s; 10,000JPY is roughly 70USD today (at a rate of ~ 142JPY:1USD), not 200USD.
One can talk forever about their stagnation but if you really know japan you would know they have a very high quality of life and not having inflation is amazing.
The real issue with Japan is this: every time they seem to be getting their footing and experiencing solid GDP growth and a healthy birth rate, a kaiju shows up and smashes half of Tokyo. They are dealing with a shortage of Oxygen Destroyers and hence this problem won't be solved anytime soon.
Japan is the only country where I can own 13 houses and feel safe at the same time. Everything here is AFFORDABLE...good balance. Been here 24 years and love it.
Quality of life is way better in Japan than in America. I think some points in the video are off, it really just does come down to salary and more importantly language as the main reason migration here is out of whack. Affordable public transportation in a CLEAN, SAFE, and quiet area is available to most in the country. It is shockingly quiet compared to places like NYC where you have people blasting bass and everything is horribly overpriced. Anywhere else, you need a car to travel in the US too. An average person can afford a new home in their 30s in central Tokyo, but good luck on an average salary affording to buy ANYTHING let alone rent in Manhattan, lol. Salaries are lower overall, but the cost of living is like half of what is back in the states somewhere like NYC. It's also much more friendly to foreigners these days, it's very easy to make friends compared to 10 years ago.
For those of us who have spent a lot of time in Japan know that despite the worrying data, that looks bad by traditional western standards, Japan is an amazing place. High standard of living, excellent infrastructure, great education system, a vibrant culture, etc. Sure there are elements of the culture that look onerous and inhumane - the long work hours, the smaller housing accommodation, the extreme pressure on students - but that’s a relative measure. For example people from Singapore have some of those same aspects but see both the work hours and pressure on students as virtues.
Japanese development is one of the miracles in human history. How can they not collapse like the other countries after a tremendous economic crisis. And there are not many people studying this phenomenon.
On another point the housing bubble seems very similar to what is happening in Canada the USA and other developed countries it may be our turn to face the Asian Financial Crisis of housing, Japan has a distinct advantage in it's stagflation as a relative cheap affordable alternative with lower risk of downside growth and more upside potential. I give Japan an 8/10 on the development index and 10/10 on the potential recovery
Japans' problems are numerous, but it's still the place I want to live. Life is one of tradeoffs and I think the benefits of living there outweigh the problems. I value stability, safety, and public transport a lot more than I value a stupid high salary
Paul Krugman? Seriously? The guy that in the early 2010s openly praised Argentina and Venezuela economic policies? The guy that openly supported "let's print money, nothing bad will happen, look how great it is in south america"? THAT GUY?
@@idrathernot_2 As someone that actually has to live in Argentina, everytime I remember his open support to the peronist regime while living from the comfort of New York, I get angry. And let's not even talk about his "star student" that actually served as minister of economy and COMPLETELY DESTROYED whatever was left of the currency, the budget, and the reserves. There's nothing that pisses me off more than a socialist or a MMT imbecil# that preaches for more poverty while living in a first world country. Hate them with a passion. They're mercenaries of poverty and dictatorships.
I lived in Japan for years and was worried going this video would misrepresent the issues in Japan in a way I've seen many times before, or leave things out. But no, you hit everything. Super awesome breakdown. Thanks for providing this crucial information to your audience!
Agreed. I have worked in Japan since 1998 and this is spot on. Of course there could be depth added to certain points but as an overview it is quite good.
@@bobbab5759What advice would you give to a 40 year old guy interviewing with a company in Tokyo right now? Is now a terrible time to move to Japan? I'm married to a Japanese citizen and have lived there before, back in 05. We've been feeling like it might be time to move back but I've started feeling a bit nervous hearing about some of the troubles lately.
Everything except the part about rent :p Which is undervalued by around 20% because they don't count the fact that the landlord will keep the deposit, and they don't count reikin neither
@@WesTheWizard What really matters is your personal situation and whether there is more benefit to you in JP or wherever you are now. While the vid is quite accurate, JP is also a stable, and safe democracy and Tokyo is a wonderful city. Would I start my career here as a US citizen and white collar worker? No. Go to college here? No. Come over as a tech worker on a local salary? No. But I moved back at 42 because I was offered a transfer back on an good salary in a US company and my wife had a job waiting for her in a great automotive company. So, for us it made sense. I would suggest you put thought into your banking and investment sit before you leave the US (if you are American). Good luck!
As someone who has spent a lot of time in japan i can say that the japanese do not want immigration and are overall happy with thier country. They dont need fixing
'Stagnation', or 'Stabilization'? I think the first takeaway from Japan is that a stable economy doesn't necessarily mean one that grows endlessly but one that can maintain and sustain itself at the same level over time.
Well talk about their cars, recent daihatsu safety scandal shows japan have some problem as they need to resort to these cost cutting measures that kills people . Not to mention takata airbags, kobe steel, there are tons of these. They do a lot of data falsification. I'm not sure how sustainable it is.
My Sony Ericsson cellphone is still working today. My Sony iem's sound better than the hyped chi-fi's. My Fujifilm X100S is extraordinary and my family appreciate the memories with it. My Toshiba hard drives work fine. My Vaio laptop is long lasting. My Canon and Fujifilm film cameras are working perfectly. I miss my Sharp SH-06D smartphone, I need a new battery for it. I love my mangas and I don't get many comic books anymore. The thing is that Japan isn't competing technologically, or culturally. but if I get those things working for me through many years, I can only imagine that Japanese people have higher standards of life, not slaved to technological obsolescence as it is usual with Chinese and U.S. products. The only exception maybe is my Kindel ebook which still works.
Over 250% debt to gdp isn't sustaining itself. It can get away with it at the moment as the central bank of Japan and other institutions own half of the debt but as the population continues to age without allowing mass immigration to replace that working population, the country is doomed.
I recently saw a video from the 1960s about Japan where they mentioned Japan invests more back into their industry than any other nation in the world. Things really have changed. That said high salaries aren’t necessarily better if housing and other things are more expensive too. And how is quality of life better by buying a new iPhone or Mac each year? Or renovating the kitchen every few years despite it working fine. There are things in life more important than making as much money as possible and spend it on things you throw away in a year or two. And it’s kind of hard to celebrate that Japan has inflation when it’s hit us Europeans so hard. I just read about heating costs going up 30% in one year in a city where it is currently -43 centigrades. In that temperature heating isn’t a luxury. You’ll day pretty fast without it.
I went to Japan for a year in highschool. When i returned to Germany, I saw the misery of living in Germany. The average "poor" person in Japan is so much more wealthy than the average "poor" person in Germany. In Germany, you can tell if people are poor. In Japan, it's way harder. I saw far less homeless people in Japan, and the ones that i saw, where way tidier than the ones i saw in Germany. I think that most japanese people live the average life. In Germany, you have more rich but also more poor people in whose middle the average lies. This allows the japanese society to be even more homogeneous than they already are. They can afford the same things, do the same things and think the same way about things. I felt like this led to a happier society because everyone understood eachother and was happy with being average. There were less arguments, manners would be followed more closely and everything would work much smoother. Eating out was also much cheaper in Japan and the quality seemed much higher. Dishes were prepared from zero (in germany most normal restaurants will have some components of their dishes be initially frozen and just reheated) and felt well balanced. In Japan, almost all people can afford eating out regularly, going on vacation, spending money on entertainment and having trendy wardrobes. I also saw that school in Japan can be extremely stressful. But at the same time, its also way more fun than my school in Germany could ever dream of. We had so many events, and so many different club activities. It was insane.
@@blakespower Japan isn’t socialist. Nor are they a paradise. But money is more equally spread. I just think that it’s easier to get along with people if they have a lot in common with you. Japan has its problems but i think that the pros far outweigh the cons. Living in Japan feels more pleasant than living in Germany, at least for me.
It was the US that clipped the wings of Japan…. They were not allowed to create global OS even though they were Head in early 80s. You missed that. Now they are doing the same thing to Germany
Japan's overwork was a 80s problem. Not today. Though the legend persists. Statistically, the number of hours worked in Japan has fallen the past 20 years to 1740hrs/yr/worker and is below USA at 1760hrs. Not that I think raising hours a ton is a sane path. Germany sits at a mere 1350hrs. Investment in productivity increasing tech is the way forward.
Germany was productive thanks to its access to cheap russian gas. Now that it has lost that (and made the idiotic decision to completely get rid of all its nuclear power plants), expect a massive recession and a significant fall in productivity.
@@8qk67acq5 I used the PWT data for "Average Annual Hours Worked by Persons Engaged". Couldn't find details on their methodology but it is very unlikely that Japan got steadily more misleading data each year for several decades. And there hasn't been some explosion of under the table work in Japan. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a 5% underreport, even 10%. But that still is way under the 2100hrs south korea does today ... or the 2900!!!hrs they did in the late 80s.
@@randomlycasual4941 Wages are stagnant but cost of living has fallen a ton. Compartively, in Canada, wages have gone up a tiny bit but cost of living has doubled.
Working in a public IT company in Japan, I'm concerned about the country's trajectory. Policy decisions favor older demographics at the expense of the younger generation essential for future economic growth. Our IT sector lags behind the US, UK, Australia and China, limited by a localized focus on Japan's declining population. Encouraging young professionals to work here remains challenging due to language barriers, bureaucracy, a weakening yen, and low salaries compared to developed nations like Singapore, the UK, the US, and China. Nevertheless, Japan's unique culture and high quality of life keep me here, but I hope for a brighter economic future before I lose my patience and move to the US.
@@葉冠宏-y4x the average salary in China now 2023 is around $4,214 and the average salary in japan 2023 is $3564 so yeah lower than china if you google it
I wouldn't even consider moving to the US, there are far better countries to go to if you want to leave Japan. Going from Japan to the USA Is like going from a decent house and good neighborhood to living in a trash can.
@@YabaiModding Indeed, if we’re talking about quality of life, the U.S. can be quite challenging, especially with a low salary. However, working in the IT sector there would be a significant advantage, given their pioneering role in many of the latest technologies that are revolutionizing the human race. To me, the U.S. seems quite bipolar, being extremely good in some aspects and very bad in others. I hope that if I move to the U.S. in the future, I’ll find myself on the better side of this spectrum. We’ll see. I still love Japan, though. Haha.
I mean most EU economies aren't really doing any better, don't get why Japan gets all the attention regarding economic stagnation. And countries like China and Korea will have it way worse in the future regarding stagnation and demographic decline going by numbers.
It is not a matter of doing better or worse, it is about the fact that Japan has been ahead in time of the other developped countries, and analysing the challenged faced by the japanese economy today might give us a glimpsed to what awaits the others, especially the US, Western Europe and South Korea.
I agree. Much of the Western media is very obsessed with Japan. In fact, Japan's birth rate is the highest in East Asia, but there is a stereotype that Japan has an overwhelmingly low birth rate in the world.
Long working hours and high suicide rates have improved considerably over the past decade, and both are now on par with European levels. The war in Ukraine and the U.S.-China conflict have brought capital that had been flowing out to China back into Japan. The pandemic has also provided an opportunity to spread modern information technology within Japan as well as to sell content industries such as anime and manga outside of the country. I predict that the 2020s will be a bright time for Japan. The downward trend again will be when the political situation in China changes and capital starts to flow out again.
Evaluating that Japan has not grown in 30 years is proof that we are only looking at the surface. Due to the rapid appreciation of the yen, Japanese companies have sought overseas markets and invested worldwide, resulting in almost no increase in Japan's domestic GDP. has contributed to the increase in (The United States and Germany also contributed to China's GDP increase) Developed countries are currently withdrawing from China, but Japan's revival will lead to a weaker yen. It depends on how much you can return to your country by using it.
Japan has a rather high technological adaptation. They have the best railways, intercity transportation and generally, Japanese electronics have been at the forefront of innovation. Not to mention their devices are better and longer lasting than most produced anywhere else. Perhaps, it may be some sort of technological advancement like state of the art microchips that has kept them where they are.
I've never quite been convinced by the argument that the economy needs to grow constantly to sustain us. I mean why? If we have enough food and products and services... where is the need? Given the population remains the same size, why more?
Low birth rate is the doom of a society after that there is an exodus which makes it worse and the entire thing collapses. China is near that which is another reason they want taiwan for the women. An entire new population to test and try policies out. That one child policy failed them badly.
because despite growth is not cure-all, stagnation is kill-all. long-term stagnant economies like Japan or Europe are set to be rendered irrelevant, which will make them experience the same effects like middle-income-trapped countries do: brain-drain, increasing dependence on neighbours (not only those that outproduce them, but also resource-rich developing economies) and thus slow decline in comparative standard of living. Truth is that the oldest post-growth economy is Argentina, and you can't overlook it if you try to predict how this trend will affect the population. Those promoting pro-stagnation mindset just handle the future of your country to others. TL;DR: degrowth is a death cult
growth for growths sake isn’t necessarily a good thing. Producing anything has to take from something. No one is gonna be laughing at Japan when in 50 years they still have an abundance of nature, a low population & clean air
That's a funny thing to say about Japan, isn't it? I mean they are the prime example of growth for growths sake which led to the bubble which led to today
And yet Chinese malls are dead and closed, while malls in Japan are filled with shoppers, and there are no closed stores. China is going down the toilet, and Japan is looking very robust indeed. There's actually nothing wrong with not growing. And given the population decline across the globe, massive changes will soon hit economies, as housing stocks take a plunge, and the drivers of growth have gone.
I am speaking from the perspective of a quasi-outsider as someone who has been to Japan for prolonged periods and has friends who have lived in Japan in the past, but part of the problem is that Japan doesn't WANT migrants. They love tourists but they don't want outsiders coming and setting up permanent residence in their home. I was only ever treated well because I was very visibly an outsider and spoke broken Japanese but Americans I've known who've lived there for more than a year report a different experience with neighbors and coworkers.
I've lived in Japan for 10 years. I've never experienced any hate in Japan. I do get weekly reminders that I am not from Japan however. 95% of people are actually very normal and will treat non-Japanese people in the same way as they treat Japanese people if they feel they can communicate with them. The problem is that Japanese society is very "discerning" and that everyone looks at every person and immediately attempts to fit them into a social group so that they know how to interact with them. Gender, age, disability, dialect, etc. are all a part of how people immediately try to identify you. People from Osaka are considered "funny" for example. Tokyoites are considered "cold and unfeeling". Burakumin and Yankees are far more discriminated against than foreign people, but foreign people get lumped into the same category as children, the very elderly and disabled people
Nor should they want migrants. Western nations who were not all that culturally dissimilar to Japan in the past have all learned how dangerous it can be to introduce cultural tensions into your nation by importing massive amounts of immigrants. Now it's too late for them to reverse the trend, and their cities become more foreign every year while they wrestle with the political mayhem it has caused.
I just wanted to take a moment to say how amazing your video was! I was really impressed with the quality of the footage, the editing, and the overall presentation. You did a great job of explaining the topic in a clear and concise way, and I learned a lot from watching your video. I also really appreciated the way you made the video engaging and entertaining. You kept my attention throughout the entire video, and I never felt bored or lost. I would definitely recommend your video to anyone who is interested in learning more about the video.
There is more to life than “make green line go up.” Japan and its culture seem to have a better balance of growth and how to actually live life than the west’s endless consumption
That things remain stable in Japan is pretty much a testament to their culture and ethics around work. If things take a downturn the executives are more likely to take a pay cut than having the workers fired. Even though there are homeless Japanese it's still easy for them to retain their dignity as it's easier for them to get access to facilities were they can get cleaned up than compared to most other countries. The flexibility of the people from top to bottom ensures that on a societal level the people remain mostly content regardless of what happens economically to them. A stark difference from the countries that have a lot of welfare programs that encourages people to beg and feel entitled to things.
The benefit of their racism is a One Nation One People outlook on life. They feel a massive societal obligation to one another as well as massive personal responsibility to their society, country, and therefore each other.
There are facilities everywhere in most countries, but most homeless just want to keep doing drugs. Even in Japan. And yet, jp has the same leeches that refuse to work because they can get by on welfare fueling their porn addiction.
I'm a Japanese person living in Japan, and I feel that it's safer now than it was in the 80s and 90s, and it's more economically and culturally affluent. It is wrong to judge only by economic numbers. Until 30 years ago, Japanese people worked hard from morning until night, but now they have fewer working hours, less time to study, and more freedom. It is natural that GDP will increase if the number of production workers increases, and Japan's elderly have money and receive pensions, so I think it is only a small number of young people who have become poor.
yeah I also have made up mind to move to Japan. I think Japan is now in the new phase of transition where they are expected to proceed to next phase in terms of many ways
One of the things that brasses me off the most about the productivity paradox is that better technology was supposed to make us more productive and therefore we could have more leisure time. Can anyone genuinely claim that they are working less than before?
I am a mexican living in Japan, my income is barely higher that it was in mexico, not really a deal, the yen is just to cheap, and life is expensive, not the place to make any money, but at least I can live happily with my family without worrying about crime, and a good quality life
Japan simply focuses on what is important, UTILITY is way better than NETWORTH. I mean, think about it for a second, is Tesla more beneficial to humanity than Toyota?? Ofcourse not, yet Tesla has a higher Networth than Toyota. We have alot to learn from Japan. It is the utility that matters not what the ultra rich think something is worth
I hope Japan does well. I pray their work culture gets a major update (especially in the anime industry, which has a major crisis with how terrible the working conditions are) so people can make a proper living and can have relationships again. It's unfortunate what's happened there, but in some ways, it's on them. They're going back to old habits of centuries past.
the anime industry is not special, it's just easier to hear about in the west as the product is so present in other countries. That kind of overworking is standard among a wide range of industries. It's just a lot quieter when you're an overworked office worker.
Excellent video chock full of interesting insights. If I could share one bit of feedback on the production, it would be to SLOW...DOWN! I know we can adjust the playback speed, but for dense information like this, I would suggest a bit of a slower paced delivery, just a bit more pauses to separate thoughts
International companies are copying Japan's model of salary and benefit. The average professional in Japan is not paid very well compared to their counterparts working in the same sector in another developed country. However, their benefits and social safety nets are exponentially better. For example: As an IT dept manager and cross team lead, I don't have to worry about the cost of living or safety issues in Japan at all. The wage is 2/3 or 1/2 compared to a similar position in Europe but in exchange, I had: cheap, good food, state of the art public transport system outside my doorstep, free education and healthcare for the whole family, affordable housing in some of the most desirable locations on Earth. If I were to become a naturalized Japanese citizen, there would have been more added benefits. The company takes care of its employees and the employees are happy to improve their productivity. This is not often covered in depth and presented to the West by UA-camrs because not many of them are actually professionals in any field or manage to climb the corporate ladder in Japan.
I think the reality for most workers is that they are making around 2/3 equivalent yearly salary to the US or EU, and also working many more hours. Do you think that the benefits most people enjoy as a worker in Japan are worth the overtime?
@@maikerusazarando857 Given the current state of the global economy, it seems that even the US workers are forced to work longer hours. In 2022, our US team clocked in more hours than our domestic team. In the long run, everyone will work like people in Japan, we are used to the stress and the long hours, we'll be ok. 2/3 salary but housing is 1/2 price, 1/4 - 1/3 cost for food, all other costs come in around either 1/2 of 2/3 of the price. And don't worry, we have decent vacation time, too, this isn't the crazy 80s 90s.
@@maikerusazarando857The Japs aren't particularly productive on a per capita basis. They do work lots of hours though unnecessarily most of the time just to save face.
How big is your apartment? What percentage of your income is spent per square meter of living space? Because you can also have cheap, good food, great public transportation, free education und healthcare in many European cities, while also having public parks and greater living space.
@@activationfunctionagreed. Wages in Japan are cheaper compared to the west, but housing and many other stuff is also cheaper so the real quality of life is comparable to Western Europe
The culture and stability of Japan has been an inspiration for people around the world. This shows up the failure of countries that exist, not for their people, but for gov't power.
Interesting how economists call steady (not increasing) economic output "stagnation". Economies must for some reason always grow. There seems to be no economic theories for harmonious shrinkage.
Japan's technological stagnation has a source people regularly gloss over. Demographic decline, technological innovation is driven by young, intelligent, ambitious people.
0:48 I think it’s because Japan has it going on! Old people are making homes available for young people. It’s clean. People are nice. Everyone is eating and can enjoy the surroundings- did you see the landscape? Japan deserves a we have it together award 🏆
The city is clean. There are many tech companies, even if not top of the world. The food is delicious and the number of Michelin stars is the highest in the world. The city is safe and the people are calm. What else you want?
Go to ground.news/explained to see through media bias and know where your news is coming from, and get 30% off an annual subscription through our link.
I want you to make a video on why India's GDP per capita does not reflect its Stock Market size, Startups/Unicorns, Tertiary Education, Patents, etc..
Your title is very deceiving, just like you are. Your accent is beyond irritating. Whoever subs to this one, needs some serious waking up. I saw this video on the recommended vids and watched it but to see that this weirdo is only going on and on about nothing basically. You got a heads up.
@EconomicsExplained, you need to work on your flow. While listening, it feels like the narrative is on x2 speed. Clearer and slower pronounciation of words will improve experience for non-native speakers like me. This is just a friendly observation. Thanks for the content!
You missed a way to increase GDP! Inflation!
i saw recent video interviewing citizens on current state of Japan. They are actually doing good preventing massive inflation on goods and real estate. However, Japan is the oldest in South East Asia or even the rest of the world in terms of falling birth rates due to overwork. Foreign workers also likely to introduce innovation that Japan is severely lacking.
My take as a CPA (background in economics): everyone is hyper-obsessed with Japan's plateaued growth, without realizing that they enjoy a very high standard of living, very high per-capita GDP, and much lower inflation than other countries. And really, growth for growth's sake is not really that important once you've achieved the upper echelon of economic performance.
Unfortunately, living standards are no longer high due to inflation and the value of the yen plummeting, all the while wages are stagnant. It's very difficult for Japanese to even travel or study abroad these days because airline fares have shot up 30-40% in yen.
@@j.y.8054 While nothing you have said is incorrect, that usually not what people refer to when discussing Living Standards.
Healthcare, accommodation, access to clean and cheap food, water, electricity, all come before luxuries.
Its true that the Middle and Upper Class of Japan have a worse living standard then the Middle and Upper Class of the US. But the Lower class, the masses that these metrics are based around, has EASILY one of the most comfortable lives on the planet.
Its not the best, I'll admit that. But no other nation on earth could be stagnant for 20 years and not have mass protests due to the living standards collapsing to the point where even basic accommodation becomes unaffordable.
@@Peregrine1989
Japan and protests rarely belong in the same sentence. But you have a point.
@@Peregrine1989 I would argue that poor people in japan doesn't live comfortably in Japan. Unreported homelessness is a big problem in Japan. Underage prostitution, criminal gang debt trap, etc.
The reason you think that living standard for lower income people is higher in Japan is because you didn't know about Unreported hidden crimes that usually occurred.
It's the same as how people say bad things about the ottoman and eastern roman empires, which just happily existed for hundreds of years
I lived in Japan. Their goal isn't growth, it's a stable society that benefits all.
It bugs me that the title of this video is something weird is happening in Japan- when in reality something weird is happening with the rest of the world and Japan is actually doing something responsible both for themselves and the planet.
The talk about QoL is owning and buying things, or is it everyone living in a nice place? I saw this video yesterday and it bothered me all day. I get they have their problems but even if they have their problems, it's still nice. No joke, I might prefer being homeless in Japan than lower middle class elsewhere in the world.
i dunno man, sounds kinda woke to me
/j
I find it very comfortable to live here. I don’t really care much about the idea of economic growth as long as I can live a comfortable life.
@@hugo9846at least in Japan you can afford food on a ¥500 budget if need be.
I am now living in Japan lived in Western Europe. As the statistics says, the salary in Europe was higher but didn’t feel a rich country as a citizen. Increase of living costs, high crime rate, e.t.c.
On the other hand, except for the salary, living in Japan is like a being in a real home. Delicious and cheap food, reliable public order, low unemployment .
It’s true that Japan is struggling with problems though, this nation is still a powerhouse and has a potential to regrow.
No the birth rate is the really problem in japan that they can't fix easily and if they dont hurry up they will have a difficult time in the future
Increased crime in western europe ? 💀 so the us is prb like a warzone
It's no longer a power house, population is declining rapidly, economy is dead, military power is dead living under US protection and you want me to believe Japan is still a power house? What a joke 😂
The zoning in Tokyo is really fascinating. Just walking around it feels so alive and integrated. Even in residential areas you’ll find shops, and in busy areas you’ll find quiet residential houses. I personally love the atmosphere and convenience of Tokyo.
So like, there’s no zoning?
@@Quickmf56 There is but it’s much more loose than western zoning. It feels like the city grows in a much more natural way rather than being confined by government planning.
Arguably only tenable in a more or less homogeneous society. In the US, we have tent camps popping up in all sorts of random places anyway (a little too organic, lol), and most NIMBYs would flip out if the wrong people moved too close to their business or similar.
Tokyo is like many areas of Texas : minimal zoning requirements
@@InvestmentJoy but then with the abundance of cars and road infrastructure, NIMBY'ism and rednecks taken away, and you get basically balanced neighborhoods where shops install themselves near people, public transport is in plentiful supply and people don't madly need their own house, own pool, own driveway and own bunker full of guns to protect themselves from dooms day. 😄
As a norwegiam who has lived in Japan, there are many good points here. While the slow growth of the economy might look bad on economic figures, it does not matter much to most people in Japan as they are already living quite well and most goods they consume are produced locally. I think many other countries should look to Japan as a way to live with low growth, but still high quality of life.
Things like smaller homes might look worse on paper, but Japanese homes are very well built to use to space availible, and it is so cheap to eat out that almost all social gatherings happens outside the home.
That was a big differnce coming from western Europe, where workers are paid so well that it does not make economic sense to have very cheap food, but Japan can handle that without larger issues.
The work culture in Japan is also changing as alot of the extra hours were not value generating, but part of a culture of staying at work for long, even if you finished all your tasks.
but also the Japanese working style is less pigeonholed into defined boxes/roles, and workers move more organically from project to project, department to department.
So you'd end up with workers with experience in all areas of the business.
@Snoop_Dugg can you tell me more? We Americans end up with information silos precisely because of the lack of organic movement.
Spot on. Infinite growth will run the planet into the ground - we -need- to move to a system where growth is not necessary for a content populace.
@@Snoop_Dugg It is true that, traditionally, Japanese companies are focused on generalists rather than specialists. It's reflected in their lifetime employment hiring practices (this is changing, but the change is glacial), which involves hiring fresh university grads in bulk without regard for what they actually studied or got their degrees in. So Japanese workers are moved around within the company from the very start of their careers to supposedly gain experience on how the entire company operates and be molded into what the company needs them to be. So a worker can experience different departments/projects as you say, but this is entirely because the company assigned/ordered them to do that, not because they have the freedom to explore internal options on their own accord.
One of the downsides of this system is that it is designed to have workers accumulate superficial levels of knowledge since they only have a few years at each position. It is especially inefficient when Japanese workers have overseas assignments. For example, just as the local office in the US has taught an expat Japanese worker how things work locally and develop local business relationships they are transferred back home after two years and replaced with another new Japanese expat and the whole introduction cycle has to repeat again.
Its a libertarian channel so he will exclude all factors outside free market fantasy, being able to walk outside at night as a woman is not considered.
From my perspective as a middle-class Japanese family living in Japan, it is true that the economy has been stagnant for 20 years and is slowly declining further.
However, prices have not fluctuated much, and salaries have risen slightly in line with the fluctuations.
I don't know about other countries, but if I can maintain this situation, no more, no less, I'm fine with it.
I believe that long term stability is the only way to have a better outlook on life and to be happy in the future.
Life is not a gamble.
These economics type people seem to get it in their head that if a number isn't going up, it must be bad, and we're all suffering from it despite countries like Japan clearly showing how wrong they are
@@YeahImRose If a country is completely self sufficient, then yes, numbers could be stagnant and the way of life would remain the same forever.
However, we live in an international world where countries compete with each other for goods and resources, including manpower and the rights to produce goods for companies abroad.
This means that if the numbers does not go up within Japan, while the rest of the world goes up, eventually Japanese companies can no longer afford to import goods or compete internationally, which would be crippling.
@noxnox7445 thank you for your perspective! as someone living in the West, may I ask about happiness? I know crime and homelessness are low but you hear about things like jouhatsu and inemuri and see a lot of japanese tv shows and films showing people feeling disillusioned.
@@RM-ip3ob There are probably a few people in every country who are disillusioned with their country.
I believe that happiness is the ability to continue living one's daily life without any inconvenience.
It is true that we have become so accustomed to the peace and comfort that we take for granted that it is difficult to feel happiness, but once you travel or live in another country and see it for yourself, you will appreciate how blessed you are to be able to live in Japan without any inconvenience. Of course, other countries have their good sides, but they also have their bad sides.
If you want luxury, you need money and time without limit, but whether that will satisfy your happiness is another story.
Jouhatsu is for people who are tired of their relationships and want to start a new life in a new place, and isn't that the form of happiness they want?
I think there are people in other countries who are living their lives in a new place in the same way, and I don't think it is a problem unique to Japan.
I don't know what is wrong with inemuri....
If you change your mindset, you can save time by sleeping on the move. And I've done this myself.
I think there are numerous things that people in the west are telling Japan with a different agenda by making it overly staged to disillusion them.
@@noxnox7445 The Japanese government disagree with you , so is the stats.
Japanese economy is a disaster, so they devalue the yen so much that it loses over 30% of the value.
If Japan is a isolated country like North Korea, you'll probably pull it off but Japan isn't, Japan relies heavily on imports, especially raw materials.
At this moment, Japanese companies are taking the lost, and they will eventually put that on Japanese household if no changes are made. We can see domestic cars are rising about 10% this year, and second cars almost don't devalue.
Yes I agree it feels very satisfied living in Japan, but I know it won't last forever.
Hat's off to Japan for keeping this throughout past 20 years. But it's a dead end and the government are trying to change it by expanding NISA and criticizing companies with ridiculous PBR ratio.
That being said, I've invested heavily in Japan, I hope Japanese won't go against making their companies more competitive.
Japan indeed had a rough start in 2024. I wish all the best upon those who have been affected by the earthquake and aircraft accident.
What a miracle and testament to great safety standards that all the jet passengers survived though.
and the rampage in the moving train.
because their principles haven't yet been compromised and they stand high on it
Honestly, I think, Japan, as a country suffering frequent earthquakes, should not establish so many nuclear plants in the first place, just imagine if there is another 2011 calamity.
Japan has been a rough spot for investing into for more than the past decade😂
I think we also have to understand the shortcomings of GDP. It can be made to look larger just by just starting a lot of construction projects, or even taking on debt. It really is not saying a lot about how efficient the economy is operating.
It can also look bigger by just lying, ie China
Anything that makes the line go up must be good. Whether it is printing money, or bringing in other peoples and replacing your own.
Adding population is Canada's system for adding GDP ... the GDP/capita is shite though.
a great example is Canada. GDP growth is increased via money printing and mass immigration to drive up housing.
@@Idiomatick Line go up!
I live in Japan and work in Japan as a foreigner. Foreigners are everywhere now in Tokyo and elsewhere.. obviously still a small percentage ... but convienent stores have foreigners working there, unthinkable 15 years ago. I just don't agree with this video --- I have been trying to move from poorer asian countries all my life as a teacher. I made way more money in Vietnam and China, but I hated it there - pollution, government nonsense, loud, motorbikes, food safety being awful. I know this is an economics channel, but some things are hard to measure by money. Japan is special, it always has been, it attracts people in part for that reason. Of course the irony is, what we all love about Japan simply won't survive if tomorrow 10% or more of Japan were migrants. Japan is a great place, I make far less money, even considered poverty level in US, but I won't get shot, people follow the rules, and its ---- get this crazy idea ---- NICE.
you seem blinded. dont think there are special rules for a country. with time everything will follow rules and there won't be any specialty. having an old population, and value of yen is dropping because other countries are progressing while japan is not will drive imports which japan depend 100% on as in energy and raw materials, lol it sound so bad man, how can you say it is fine. although it isnt the worse because of all the good things japan make right but still bad things have to be resolved or it will outweight the good one day.
@@DayAndNightTo2099 "Don't think there are special rules for a country" --- why not? culture is everything - German and Japanese culture for example, show time and time again they are able to define the typical rules of economics - because they a strong work ethic, among other unique cultural traits --- Africa is loaded with resources, and yet not a single one has managed to anything with them --- culture plays a role
@wingwaabuddha you misunderstood me, yes because of their culture and work ethics (good side of japan), things like old population and yen value dropping (nad side of japan) is not destroying the economy. However i meant there are no special rules for bad things to not be bad like old population which is a problem you seem to ignore
Many foreigners have left Japan or regret moving to Japan. This truth is not hidden anymore. Too stressful working culture and not many locals speaks English as not all foreigners speaks Japanese. A high percentage of locals are still racist towards foreigners who live there.
@@aeri878 Disagree but even if im wrong ---- you say racism towards foreigners? I don't think so - but frankly, there should be. Foreigners (of any nationality) add no cultural benefit to Japan --- zero. Sure we add a workforce, but how do we make the streets - cleaner? safer? quieter? we don't - its a unique culture that ironically I'm making worse just by being here.
Dude I live in Japan and the living standards for the working class are way higher than the U.S on average. It might not be the case if you take a small demographic of rich tech workers in California as an example, but here regular people actually have access to quality public education, transportation, healthcare, affordable groceries, housing and general public infrastructure.
It also depends on where you live in the US, like what state or even city. I absolutely hated living in a large city. Smaller homes, too many people, literally everything. The only benefit is higher wages, but it's not enough to outweigh the other. I'm middle class and towards the lower end of it salary wise, and I don't struggle at all to have a good life. My own house with a large yard. I could never do the closet sized apartment. But I do love how respectful the Japanese people are to each other in every way.
@@Joker-no1uh Is probably not for everyone. I personally hate the alienated American suburban life model where you barely leave your home and you need a car to get literally anywhere.
So Japan’s economy is functioning well despite decades of stagnation, and only having issues because the rest of the world insists on growth for growth’s sake, weakening the Yen. Sounds to me like the problem is the world, not Japan. I hope in my lifetime I can live in a country that isn’t obsessed with constant growth. Growth is the economists’ “turtles all the way down” - always demanded but never truly justified. If anything, continuous growth is causing the decimation of our planet.
Spoken from a very privileged position, it’s easy to be satisfied with what you have when you have a lot, but for many developing countries and poor people in developed economies, growth is the only way for them to live their lives any other way than in abject poverty.
I feel like this is a very nuanced issue, with both arguments making sense, as yes, growth is required to a certain point, but beyond that point, it's a matter of profit. The problem is that this "point" is different for everyone as everyone has their own reasons as to why they think the point lies where it is
@@tropinnka While I dont disagree with your take , the point is , as of right now not every country needs growth . There is alot of countries that needs growth , some more than others but there are also others that just need to chill out on growth and focus more on being stable and substainable , take care of the enviroment instead of making more junk
I believe that the worsening US-Dollar--vs-JP-Yen has most to do with currency speculators than any economic fundamentals. These speculators have just been using the ever-increasing Fed rate (necessary to tamp down ever-increasing inflations in the US) to pressure the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to raise its interest rate to make their profits. The BoJ, to its credit, refuses to punish Japanese consumers to satisfy the speculators' greed. The US dollar will come down when the Fed starts to reduce its rate, in 2024 or risks choking the American economy.
That is the destiny of those with the helix shaped gene
You did not mention the tradewar between US, Americans have compressed the Japanese technology advancement in different ways, also the currency rate. These are the true underlying reasons.
Servitude to the US comes ahead of national interest to them.
Japan is not broken. They are not just a country of mere numbers. They are a country of people with very good human values. They will be just fine
Yeah, except for their quickly aging population and racism.
Right now this didn’t aged well
@@JohnGAndino I can assure you Japan is doing very well as an American with a Japanese spouse and have access to Japanese culture daily. What’s not gonna age very well is your silly comment that you couldn’t help yourself from making but that’s okey because 80% are similar to you so at least your not alone ✌️🤡
@@JohnGAndino explain
Cult has took over Japan. They killed president Abe who was himself Japanese nationalist, refusing to acknowledge atrocities against Korea
I spent a year in Japan in 2009/10. GDP growth is nonsense. As a person, there was nothing you could really want for; if someone said Japan will stay as it is forever, most Japanese and the few others in Japan would be intensely relaxed.
The problem for Japan is that the world will not stay like this forever, so Japan will not be like this forever. They were the kings of tech back in the 80`s. Everything was turning Japanese in the 1980`s : Pac Mac, TVs, boom boxes, walkmans, VCR , Toyotas, fax machines , cameras ( the ones with a film you had to develop). Well, Now almost 35 years later they still are leader in the car industry, the other tech they reigned supreme is obsolete. And new countries have overtaken the new tech. Cellphones, computers, etc. None of that is made in Japan. Even, Chinese and Hindus are producing cars now and exporting them. Besides,
Japan is not a country keen to receive immigrants, so USA, Canada and Australia can add more tech savvies from other countries to their I.T. industries to compete with China and to a lesser extent with Europe and India.
The Japanese still make good car, though. My car is Japanese.
@@josevilas4927 and all of that will exacerbate as the population growth collapses. If they don't change their immigration policy (not saying they should), then they must take seriously the birthrate problem, and it sure doesn't seem like they are (trying to mitigation social pressures on having families have been limp-wristed efforts at best, nibbling at the edges instead of dealing with roots). Its arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Right up until they realise they're all old and nobody is left to work and pay taxes to keep it that way 'forever...'
@@themadmallardthat's never going to happen. The birth rate is low but it is not negative. The population will shrink until the birth rate and death rate are equal, but they will not have an increasingly aging population forever. That's not how these things work.
The problem is the aging population. You can't have most of the younger population working to care for the retired mostly funded the state or their pension/ cash savings nest. An aging population as an ever larger share of the voting public drives politicians and companies to serve them over an ever narrow younger population. Japan is also dominated by some large exporting giants (Sony/Toyota etc) to whom its foreign sales dominate its success and where the home market is presumed profit safe and therefore not worthy of productivity attention (bar some local weak competition). Unlike the powerful German mittlesand medium sized companies that compete with other European competitors but who also export to maintain the investment they need to remain a player even at their smaller scale, Japan has lots of insular medium-"small" sized firms that have no foreign competition and therefore they own the home market. Foreign entrants are rare and find it hard to enter what is a conservative buyer (both culturally and due to risk adverse experience in considering a better option). This is true in China but the market is so big that even a sliver of an ever expanding market makes that less important (unless you fail to sell at all due to bad products or the Chinese beat you at your own game or you presume you are too far ahead to be beaten). At the same time many issues can be solved. Presenteeism is not driving productivity and never has (the US workforce is just realising this post Covid), female worker participation rates are still low (and we can presume the gender page gap is no different to the west even in a tight labor market) . State cash can solve that with childcare and tighter labor laws on working hours. At the other end is the lack of emigration of the best young workers to better jobs outside Japan and fewer enlightened firms in Japan offering a view of what a modern employer (not just wages or fostering blind company loyalty). Few workers move jobs for better results (so why would home companies compete for them?), many firms (same in SK) are the attractive employers who garner the best applicants but in reality the SMEs hoover up the rest and rest on the laurels presuming they are the best
when the Japanese economy was growing non-stop Japan was pressured by the US into signing the Plaza Accord and thus crippling its own economy and entering into a major recession today known as the Lost Decade. Not happy with that, the US went ahead and simultaneously placed 100% tariffs on Japanese electronics. Tariffs Japan wasn't even allowed to match or even retaliate in any way.
If the economic boom like before comes, Japan will no longer need to follow America. This is because there are export destinations such as China, India, and South Korea, not just the United States as in the past.
That's a pretty wild oversimplification
@@Panpanuser1748👉🐵👈
@@act-pq1wj Japan's assets have been harvested by the United States, and Japan's GDP will be surpassed by India next year.👎
"Japan is the country that has been living in the year 2000 since the 1970's" holy...... this is the best quote to describe a country
"Greetings from....THE FUTURE!!!!"
Indian scammers👆
That line doesn't make sense...I'm confused.
@@KhoiruunisaRF they were ahead in tech, but stayed there unfortunately. They got comfortable.
Really? That sounds like opinions from people who has never been to Japan and ONLY seeing economical number of stats.
the younger work culture in japan is shifting. they know that being overworked isn't beneficial to the society at all.
During my time in Japan, I was struck by Tokyo's intriguing urban planning. Just wandering the streets, you feel the vibrant blend of uses. Amid bustling districts, pockets of tranquil homes persist. And shops sprinkle even quiet neighborhoods, creating an integrated mosaic. This organic mix makes the city feel truly alive.
Excellent explanation of real estate
Good performance
so as always, it's the government's fault (for high real estate prices)
nice
I can't remember if you brought it up but, in my opinion, an underrepresented issue in Japan is their view on failure. In America, we view failure as a part of the process. Someone starting a company and failing is mocked but not looked down on, if that makes sense. In Japan, failing is viewed much more negatively, and someone is very unlikely to try starting a company or even modifying their own company for fear of failure.
This is accurate based on my observations. I think it is the biggest thing holding back innovation in Japan; the fear of failure and therefore fear of taking risks.
Another and more likely way of seeing it is not a fear of failure but more of minimizing waste from failure. They have a saying: measure twice, cut once. Why waste money making failed products when the same money could've gone into better preperation and planning? Think someting like the aircvraft industry and how they spend spend billions making sure their planes fly well and not crash.
This is good, because when you have people blaming the process then you have little or no accountability.
Failure needs to hurt because failure affects much more than just that entrepreneur's ego.
Yeah, Japan as well as it looks on paper has some culture problems that are absolutely insane.. On top of my head.. They basically don't think mental health is a thing.. Staying on job and appearing busy while also being required to go out to drinks everyday with coworkers is another.. Third they barely speak English at all.
i don't know where you belong to but this is like the most known fact as i see around the world. it is because east asians like conserving what's good and taking responsibility. you fail without disrupting the order without any visibility then you emerge as someone trustworthy and successful. usa has "i can do whatever i want and i will just put consequences to somewhere far away from myself" mindset, because there is abundant richness in that geography no one cares about waste or how things affect others because people only care about themselves.
think about it, if japanese were really afraid of failure how come they're so successful at almost every area ? it's not fear of failure, it's sense of worth and protecting it by showing consequences. because it is kinda unspoken many foreigners can not understand what's going on.
I’m Italian and I think Italy is not that far as a comparison:
We have had an economic boom in the 80s, then flatlined. Today, even if our economy is surely not regarded as a strong one and our GDP is pretty low , our standards of life is above average…
No one ends up homeless. Yeah, we complain about salary but we all go for our little “aperitivo” in the evening. During summer no one is in the city but everyone is on a beach , lake or mountain. If rather be a poor in Italy than a lower-middle class in the US
Despite the challenges faced by every sector of the Japanese economy and the need for improvement in our work culture (which has improved significantly in the past decade), I believe that we enjoy a stable and prosperous democratic society and I am proud to be Japanese.
Thanks for the coverage of Japan!
Does it matter to Japan if the population decreases? NO because the development of AI and bots will replace the human labour force. :) I countries import people, then import more social, housing and resource problems.
@@francisravenscroft-dw6gi Well it's much more an economy issue
@@francisravenscroft-dw6giIn the 60s science fiction and TV promised us robots that would do all the work and give humans more leisure time. I'm still waiting.
Agreed, not being a Japanese, I think Japan has been quite successful in maintaining national economic health and navigating various social issues, and there’s no reason not to be proud of being a Japanese. GDP growth is just one measurement of economic success, an obsession on one number will not be beneficial in the long term.
There is a lot to be proud about in Japan. In the West the politicians are destroying every last ounce of such things in service of the line going up.
Bit of a nitpick or question: is market cap really an appropriate proxy for the "worth" of a company? If we look at the actual value of production and sales, is TSLA really worth more than Toyota?
Very good point. Tech companies and billion $ unicorns are often ridiculously overvalued, and their market cap can be quite volatile. One stray tweet - and bam! 😂
Market cap in a liquid market is the truest mathematical measure of what people will pay for each share and how many shares there are. Your question is really "are markets right about the worth of companies" which is a wider, somewhat interesting question (and anyone able to answer it would make themselves very rich indeed)
@@gigitrixthe answer is obviously "not all the time" given the numerous scams in the past based on hyping a company just to discover it's completely empty and worthless
Nothing can appropriately proxy for the worth of anything. Even more so for companies.
Only guesses exists, Market Cap being one of them.
If you ever in your lifetime discover and reliable, certain, worth evaluation system, PLZ TELL ME FIRST. you and me will become filthy rich.
Basically, that information is given only to those shareholders who are invited to that part of the shareholder's meetings. They often don't divulge everything to most, but just general revenue and profits by quarter. But keep in mind debt can be hidden in the fine print, so are these companies really making a profit? And stock prices have nothing to do with profit. Uber has literally never turned a profit, but their stocks sell right now for $58 a share.
A CEO and chairman of the board of a company could be a billionaire on paper, but in reality own nothing more but the largest stake in a company that is drowning in debt and fundamentally unprofitable. He is a billionaire because enough people decided that his failure was "cool" enough to buy for share of, and nothing more.
This is just one more aspect of modern economies being built on consensus reality.
I'm a foreign Software Engineer working in Tokyo and I've never worked more than 40 hours a week. Salaries in my field are comparable to what you would earn Australia and Western Europe. There's some truth in terms of how large the homes and apartments are, but if you're making 15~20M+ JPY you won't be living out of a shoebox.
Thx for sharing bro 💯
living in the early 2000 doesnt sound so bad compared to now.
They still using fax machines in Japan so idk how good that is. Imo its time for upgrade.
I'd be thrilled to live permanently in 1999.
They save stuff on floppy discs.
Theres just one company refurbing discs in America (because there isn't enough demand to make new ones)and thier main market Japan.
Floppy.
Discs.
@@anonmouse15 I'll go back to 1999 but only if I can also take SSD's with me.
I'm tempted to say broadband as well but that led to social media being way more prevalent.
@@deanchur Sorry mate, you take 1999 as it was or not at all.
No USB or SSDs.
On the plus side, you would be oblivious of these things in the first place.
Japan will be the first to recover from its demographic crisis of any country going through this change. By the time that happens maybe elder scrolls six will be out.
Evidence?
@@tann_manhe has none, elder scrolls six will never come out
How?
🙏
So it is written...
I really enjoyed traveling in Japan. Such a peaceful country and people.
i wonder why and how. hhmmmmmmm
more like they want to left alone from gaijins
@@caniz80 depends. I went places not many tourists go and many people i interacted with there were really interested in me and where we came from
Interestingly the situation in Japan is fairly normal for the nation. If you look at Japanese history in aggregate, a pattern emerges. Japan tends to stagnate in technology for decades or centuries until something dramatic happens and they rapidly modernize often far faster than anyone else in the world, before stagnating again. The best example of this is the stagnation under the Tokugawa shogunate and then rapid modernization into the Empire of Japan, where Japan got stuck in 1925 until 1945 at the end of WW2. Then they rapidly modernized again and now are stuck again. I suspect here in anothet couple decades something will happen and Japan will again rapidly modernize getting to the bleeding edge before stagnating again.
Isn't that similar in the history of most countries (or long term cultures)?
It's only based on one example (or "notable" like you said). I'd like to know about the others especially given that they weren't in the context of a global economy. I want to believe the pattern is indeed a real thing but I'll have to look at more examples.
@Bozebo Not really. Most countries especially western ones have a very steady progress of technical knowledge.
Japan during the 1500's got the knowledge of how to manufacture guns from the Dutch and for awhile were actually making better firearms than the Europeans, but then they just stopped. The rest of the world caught up, invented new types of firearms, and then surpassed them. By the time Admiral Perry showed up in the 1800's the Japanese hadn't innovated on their firearms in nearly 200 years.
That's odd. Then they did it again in the 1900's with a brief aberration in the adoption of tanks but again developed bleeding edge tanks in the 1920's and then just stopped innovating. It wasn't until the war was nearly over in 1944 that we see the Japanese even toying around with newer tank designs. It's a notable pattern unique to Japan as far as I can tell.
There's a significant factor to account for - voluntarity.
They didn't shift to modernization on their own, but we're forced by dire situation or circumstance. As soon as the pressure was gone, they stagnate again. That's akin to a hardworking person, who's also lazy and tending to procrastinate.
Another (worse) analogy is cart. As it get's pulled by good engine, the cargo accumulates and isn't shed (because of inclusivity and tradition). Over time the clutter accumulates and speed drops. It's not that engine is worse. The weight (deadweight?) is pulling it down. Once some accident or external factor breaks the structure, it's setup up from scratch again, with minimalistic specs and requirements. Thus - the cart is fast and efficient again (for a while).
@@w花b its literally not based on one example lol
For a lowly consumer and worker, some aspects of Japan sound great: almost no interest, cheap property, everything cost the same as 20 years ago, and still a global high quality of life. Sure the economy doesnt grow but it hasnt gotten any worse either. For macro economics and business owners, its sounds like a nightmare, for me, its great. No opportunities for great advancement but no opportunities to failing. I during Covid I was working hard like I always did but I got laid off anyway, couldnt get a job for months, huge life shifts, and a lot of suffering and depression. I rather have what Japan has now to avoid losing it all again. In this race in life only so many people can stand at the podium and the world is ever more created and utilized only for those winners. This just tells me the pursuit of a better economy and growth is not to my benefit as a citizen in a rabidly growing economy of the USA. Its another reason we should start measuring the economy with other metrics, ones that measure the health and happiness of citizens.
Go work 80 hrs a week then.
With one of the highest suicide rates in the world and a notoriously tough work culture, I'm not sure Japan is a good example of that criteria.
@@hello855you will be surprised, that US has higher suicide rate than Japan 😅
Where did you get the idea the US has a rapidly growing economy? They have big booms and bigger busts.
Then what is that number? What is that number compared to Americans?@@hello855
I'm a Canadian, specifically living in the bubble economy of Toronto.
Just came back from Japan, and it did truly feel like at least 2010s, and maybe even early 2000s in terms of prices of goods. I was in Heaven, because everything felt so affordable! Compare that to Toronto, where prices just go up for the sake of going up (housing, rent, electricity and gas rates, internet and cellphone rates, insurance, food, tip at restaurants...). It made me feel like Canadian/American companies are all just greedy and jacking prices compared to Japan.
While the Japanese ARE very conservative, they have also had two big off-setting characteristics as a nation:
-They are extremely team-driven. They have a sense of greater-good and need to work in groups that is staggering compared to a more independent/me-first attitude like America. Neither is "bad" as such, but it gives them a real edge in complex operations with lots of moving parts like an industrial economy.
-They have an almost fetish for precision. There is real pride (or shame) in not making something as good as you possibly can, and taking care of the tools that make it. It shows up in their art, their manufacturing, everything. Definitely a big advantage over China, where the mantra is more like "fake it until you make it".
tbf I like the different flavours of humanity. It's kinda nice to see the character of a country being reflected in their culture and media that they create.
Fake it till you make it has its benefits, good enough is efficient, perfection marks the limit and individualism is more experimentative.
And the world's needles cycles through these params based on which approach has the time to shine
Definitely the communal aspect is part of it. As someone who is born and partly raised in Japan. I just hate western individualism. As**** everywhere in our society. It's toxic, but we're too dumb to realize. So western society deserves to go down the drain.
"-They have an almost fetish for precision. There is real pride (or shame) in not making something as good as you possibly can, and taking care of the tools that make it. It shows up in their art, their manufacturing, everything. Definitely a big advantage over China, where the mantra is more like "fake it until you make it"."
This is totally not weird or orientalist to say about a country at all.
@@20035079 What's weird? Different countries have different national characters. Should we lie simply to prefer some PC ideal?
First of all don’t say China is fake till you make it, Japanese are indeed very fake if you know honme and tatame. All the great news about Japan is all surface, what really lies beneath this fake country is nationalism and fake smiles. Things that work and work against them.
Your comment on the housing isn’t quite true. Tokyo is full of tiny low cost apartments with no amenities, but anywhere outside of Tokyo has lots of large living space and affordable homes. I don’t even mean countryside. There are tons of great cities in Japan to live in.
I am in Hiratsuka (arround 300000 habitants ) right now. Appartment for one person with Fuji views for 250 euros per month. In Spain that almost cant get you a room in a 45000 thousand people city .
"Quality of life is not as high". I have lived in the US and currently live in Japan. I disagree with this statement, unless your definition of "quality of life" is "having a ton of money".
Japan's life expectancy is 84.62 years, don't fix what ain't broken
It's that high mainly due to the unacceptablility of obesity. Not because it has amazing healthcare.
@@toomanymarys7355tf you on about? jp doesn’t not accept fat ppl, they simply have healthy cuisines, walkable cities with trains as the main transport, resulting in less fat ppl.
That's generally in Okinawa where the vast majority of octagariens live due to high seafood diet, good warm weather, and more relaxed pace of lifestyle. But moreover, you're missing the bigger picture of quality of life, and not just longevity of life. Many seniors in Japan live on limited social pension system despite the decent socialized healthcare, and the lack of young workers to pay into the existing social systems and replace their aging seniors is becoming so much of a problem that importing workers is becoming more and more of a problem but Japan still limits work visas because of existing xenophobia and racism.
@@arcturionblade1077they should be xenophobic and racist. Why should they destroy their country to make magic numbers go up for someone's investment portfolio? It's a tiny island nation. They will wether the storm and have a more reasonable population at the end.
@@toomanymarys7355 Its a bit of both. Healthcare is decent quality and has high availability. Companies also get tax benefits for healthier employees long term so this encourages preventative health interventions.
Whenever these type of videos come out, there's two types of people in the comments: People who think Japan is a perfect utopia, and people who think Japan is secretly a dystopian hellhole, instead of a country that does some things really well and some things not so well. Their housing is extremely affordable, their food culture is amazing and affordable, the public transportation is the best in the world, and affordable. You can actually survive on their minimum wage, even in Tokyo. Everything is also ridiculously efficient. But there's also issues with their horrific work culture, sexism, xenophobia, corruption, and just a general disdain for anything or anyone outside of the box. We can certainly take may lessons from Japan while leaving their worst aspects behind.
When "Their housing is extremely affordable, their food culture is amazing and affordable, the public transportation is the best in the world, and affordable. You can actually survive on their minimum wage, even in Tokyo. Everything is also ridiculously efficient." is what is at stake I can understand if they are protective of that from outsiders who have failed to build the same that might disrupt it.
Well said
@@Unimportant That's true, but skilled and highly educated workers are more likely to adopt cultural practices to blend in with society, since that helps them further their career and life prospects. It's not like they would be taking in mass amount of refugees like Europe has.
@@Unimportant lol as a Canadian I get this. We're currently getting crushed by spiraling housing costs, expensive yet garbage food, and borderline non-existent public transportation while the price of cars shoot to the moon. I can see Japan's hesitation to open their doors to our potential issues, even though Canada has some good points too.
I was about to post something similar before I found your comment. Japan's legal system is also terrifying -- people think the Ace Attorney games are a cartoon legal system, but they're calling out actual problems in their courts. And they're mild and sanitized compared to the real thing. I love so much of what Japan does well, and yet I wouldn't want to live there. They have a long way to go, but I do hold out some hope that they could get there. Unfortunately they are culturally so heavily against change that it may take a very serious shock to make it happen, and that's not something to wish for. :( Also not tooting America's horn -- we have a lot of work to do too -- but I'd still prefer living here.
It was just like the typical videos I've seen and I was disappointed.
The media often talks about Japan's low production efficiency, but in terms of working-age population, Japan is almost the same as Germany. Japan has continued to implement labor reforms and improvements since the bursting of the bubble economy, and the results of these efforts are reflected in OECD data. Furthermore, despite Japan having the fastest aging population in the world and a declining birth rate,
It is a miracle that Japan is ranked among the top economic powers.
However, japanese hi-tech companies is becoming eminent. For example, TOSHIBA in today is the only one giant which handle one of the most advanced block chain tech-stacks and QKD tech-stacks. All of analysts in bloch chain sector predict that TOSHIBA will invent the first quantum block chain in our world. Another example is NEC, NEC has State-of-the-art conventional semiconductor computing \the state-of-the-art photonic computing\the state-of-art quantum computing. In American, or the world expect japan , there is only one company has this kind of tech power, named IBM.
Excellent explanation of real estate, but you neglected a couple of important points: first, buildings (houses, apartments, etc.) depreciate instead of appreciate. That is, unlike the US or Australia, buildings depreciate in the same way cars do. While the land itself will retain or increase in value, the building doesn't. This drives down housing prices and makes renting far more attractive. I'm finishing the construction of my own home, and I can tell you firsthand it's not an investment vehicle. It is, however, an amazingly affordable home in great city within walking distance to a major train station, small mountains, and a beach (albeit a concrete-lined one (this is Japan, after all)). My home is tiny (120m2) compared to those in the US, but so is my mortgage: 0.59% percent.
The second point about housing is one that you hinted at: public transportation. Convenient, reliable, clean, and affordable public transportation keeps housing prices low because workers have many more acceptable options. The effect of this is increased by the policy that companies pay for their workers commutation.
About technology: Japan did NOT adopt computers before other countries and still lags behind in general CS literacy. Japanese COMPANIES led in some areas of technology and produced consumer products (video game consoles, VCRs, phones), but that is not the same as "adopting computers" in the same way that the west did. This, combined with crippling foreign language deficiencies, are a primary cause of the current stagnation.
One minute browsing any of native Japanese websites like Rakuten or Merucari will make it painfully obvious that there is no local web design talent. Japan has only one social media company, Line, and the user base is miniscule. I teach in a business school and NOBODY is interested (or capable of) building apps. They all want to work for some conglomerate and let "the computer nerds" do the "computer stuff" because the alternative (starting your own company) means they'll never get the chance to get permanent employment and the benefits that come alone with the long, long hours required.
No, the building itself does depreciate in the US too. It's just that land value shoots up faster than building depreciation due to restrictive zoning resulting in artificial scarcity.
@@sor3999 It's a matter of degrees. Apparently it's common for people in Japan to tear down the home on whatever property they buy and build new. As an educated guess houses in Japan have a 20 year expected lifespan, so are likely going to be built with that in mind. Meanwhile, in the US a plumbing fitting* is seen as suspect if it only comes with a 25 year warranty.
* Sharkbite.
When it comes to technology Japan has always valued hardware over software. The big companies like Sony were hardware focused while software development is looked down upon in their tech sector and that became an issue when most of the biggest tech companies worldwide are software based. Japan has ignored software despite it becoming more important over the past 30 years (even when Bill gates became the richest man in the world) which is why they are so far behind even though they used to appear so far ahead.
Wow, you guys know your stuff! As a Japanese, I am truly impressed. Not too sure about the web designing bit though.
While the assesment of the japanese being behing in software is generally true (although they have some of the best and largest game companies worldwide), I do disagree abit on the web design. While the web design is very different from what people are used to in the west, this is more of a cultural thing. The japanese could design web pages like the west, but they prefer the more "busy" looking interface where they have everything on one page. This is a design which was more common in the west in early 2000, and as with other things Japan has been stuck with it. Its older population having things like they are used to is also a part of it.
USA is funny on paper such a giant economy, but in reality it feels like a developing country.
My wife is Japanese. I work remotely in the US and make about 90man/month take home. We decided to get a next to nothing home in Japan and live the simple life. Only problem is I stand out like a sore thumb but atleast the internet is fast. BTW everything mentioned in this video is accurate.
In Japan, some of the smaller cities, you can see young people working in relaxing jobs, slow driving and they don't earn much.
These people are just living the moment, chill weather, low stress, affordable food, healthy and fresh seafood
Low T
japanese food is not necessarily healthy, monosodium glutamate (aji no moto), preservatives, animal feed full of chems
The problem is that GDP is a very poor indicator of wellbeing: $1000 in computers from the 1980s bring much less benefits than $1000 in computers from the 2020s. GDP brings the false impression that goods and services values stay "the same" no matter how much time passes.
One better way to measure wellbeing would be how many hours of work are needed to afford for rent, taxes and daily expenses.
If this channel has taught me anything it is that nobody can predict the future, least of all economists.
There was a video made by TAKASHiii from Japan asking people why they think Japan is so cheap. He asked a construction worker "When and why do you think things will turn around" and the construction worker's response was that he didn't think it was declining in the first place. He said that the economy was improving, but not fast. It's very very slow in comparison to other places like China which makes people think that Japan is now poor. I'd rather be in a slow burn increase than a turbulent economy personally
That's odd considering a large portion of their homeless are ex-construction workers laid off after the 80s boom. He's probably one of the out of the touch people who's been lucky to keep their job and not notice all their peers being laid off somehow.
They're in a slow grind down a demographic/debt suicide
its nothing wrong with it, laid it people will either find a career path @@sor3999
Noticeable fact in that video - that person was the oldest male responder. He's the winner of birth lottery (gender and year). It's not verified, but there's a high probability that he was a full time (lifetime) employee, with seniority based salary (higher for longer employment, non-representative of performance) in a classical 70s working environment.
That guys answers are as relevant to average YT viewer, as 1%-ers or legacy Ivy league students views an career and company loyality.
Of course, let’s always just compare to China while ignoring Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore next door and then keep praising Japan’s economy, lol.
While it's true that the wages of Japanese workers has stagnated over the years, so have the wages of Australians and many other nations, but the difference here is that Japan had low inflation so that lack of wage growth was not as bad comparatively.
This is similar with GDP, it's again true that the Japanese economy has been stagnant but GDP per capita has grown by about as much as most developed nations and more than some other developed nations.
Japanese overworking is also misunderstood. It's true that it happens but it's not the norm, on average the Japanese actually work fewer hours per year than the US and Australia do.
@EconomicsExplained, I think there was a mistake in the currency conversion around 13m0s; 10,000JPY is roughly 70USD today (at a rate of ~ 142JPY:1USD), not 200USD.
Yeah I live in Japan rn. I would be RUINED if that was the case.
That's true. I haven't sent my JPY back home to the States for years now since the yen is worth so little.
Aliexpress product's are more expensive
One can talk forever about their stagnation but if you really know japan you would know they have a very high quality of life and not having inflation is amazing.
Oh no the Channel just explained that life quality is low in Japan. Maybe it is a BS Channel
@@ToriZealot Statistic often fail to describe reality
@@Obbliteration especially when statistics are arbitrary
The real issue with Japan is this: every time they seem to be getting their footing and experiencing solid GDP growth and a healthy birth rate, a kaiju shows up and smashes half of Tokyo. They are dealing with a shortage of Oxygen Destroyers and hence this problem won't be solved anytime soon.
This is so weeby and gross.
@@jasonhaven7170did he get some facts wrong?😐
It's weeby and gross. @@SigFigNewton
@@jasonhaven7170 you are so humorless and stale
@@jasonhaven7170ok you got to use those descriptors twice in a row.
Japan is the only country where I can own 13 houses and feel safe at the same time. Everything here is AFFORDABLE...good balance. Been here 24 years and love it.
Quality of life is way better in Japan than in America. I think some points in the video are off, it really just does come down to salary and more importantly language as the main reason migration here is out of whack. Affordable public transportation in a CLEAN, SAFE, and quiet area is available to most in the country. It is shockingly quiet compared to places like NYC where you have people blasting bass and everything is horribly overpriced. Anywhere else, you need a car to travel in the US too. An average person can afford a new home in their 30s in central Tokyo, but good luck on an average salary affording to buy ANYTHING let alone rent in Manhattan, lol. Salaries are lower overall, but the cost of living is like half of what is back in the states somewhere like NYC. It's also much more friendly to foreigners these days, it's very easy to make friends compared to 10 years ago.
For those of us who have spent a lot of time in Japan know that despite the worrying data, that looks bad by traditional western standards, Japan is an amazing place. High standard of living, excellent infrastructure, great education system, a vibrant culture, etc. Sure there are elements of the culture that look onerous and inhumane - the long work hours, the smaller housing accommodation, the extreme pressure on students - but that’s a relative measure. For example people from Singapore have some of those same aspects but see both the work hours and pressure on students as virtues.
Japanese development is one of the miracles in human history. How can they not collapse like the other countries after a tremendous economic crisis. And there are not many people studying this phenomenon.
On another point the housing bubble seems very similar to what is happening in Canada the USA and other developed countries it may be our turn to face the Asian Financial Crisis of housing, Japan has a distinct advantage in it's stagflation as a relative cheap affordable alternative with lower risk of downside growth and more upside potential. I give Japan an 8/10 on the development index and 10/10 on the potential recovery
Infinite growth is unsustainable anyway. Nothing wrong with a stable economy.
Japans' problems are numerous, but it's still the place I want to live. Life is one of tradeoffs and I think the benefits of living there outweigh the problems. I value stability, safety, and public transport a lot more than I value a stupid high salary
Paul Krugman? Seriously? The guy that in the early 2010s openly praised Argentina and Venezuela economic policies? The guy that openly supported "let's print money, nothing bad will happen, look how great it is in south america"?
THAT GUY?
it's a youtube educational video, some editor found a random source that looked credible and added it to the script
@@Draconic_Aura It wasn't random, this guy is definitely a fan of Paul Krugman. And to be clear, I don't mean it in a good way.
Didn't he say that internet will fail?
Not once has Krugman ever been right about a single thing. The man could tell me it's raining and I'm gonna assume he's pissing on me.
@@idrathernot_2 As someone that actually has to live in Argentina, everytime I remember his open support to the peronist regime while living from the comfort of New York, I get angry. And let's not even talk about his "star student" that actually served as minister of economy and COMPLETELY DESTROYED whatever was left of the currency, the budget, and the reserves.
There's nothing that pisses me off more than a socialist or a MMT imbecil# that preaches for more poverty while living in a first world country. Hate them with a passion. They're mercenaries of poverty and dictatorships.
I lived in Japan for years and was worried going this video would misrepresent the issues in Japan in a way I've seen many times before, or leave things out. But no, you hit everything. Super awesome breakdown. Thanks for providing this crucial information to your audience!
Agreed. I have worked in Japan since 1998 and this is spot on. Of course there could be depth added to certain points but as an overview it is quite good.
@@bobbab5759What advice would you give to a 40 year old guy interviewing with a company in Tokyo right now? Is now a terrible time to move to Japan? I'm married to a Japanese citizen and have lived there before, back in 05. We've been feeling like it might be time to move back but I've started feeling a bit nervous hearing about some of the troubles lately.
Everything except the part about rent :p Which is undervalued by around 20% because they don't count the fact that the landlord will keep the deposit, and they don't count reikin neither
@@WesTheWizard What really matters is your personal situation and whether there is more benefit to you in JP or wherever you are now. While the vid is quite accurate, JP is also a stable, and safe democracy and Tokyo is a wonderful city. Would I start my career here as a US citizen and white collar worker? No. Go to college here? No. Come over as a tech worker on a local salary? No. But I moved back at 42 because I was offered a transfer back on an good salary in a US company and my wife had a job waiting for her in a great automotive company. So, for us it made sense. I would suggest you put thought into your banking and investment sit before you leave the US (if you are American). Good luck!
we know japan also dont like to hear negatif issue like this but its important to know so we can help japan
As someone who has spent a lot of time in japan i can say that the japanese do not want immigration and are overall happy with thier country. They dont need fixing
'Stagnation', or 'Stabilization'?
I think the first takeaway from Japan is that a stable economy doesn't necessarily mean one that grows endlessly but one that can maintain and sustain itself at the same level over time.
bingo, the obsession with growth is a cancer. Capitalism sucks.
Well talk about their cars, recent daihatsu safety scandal shows japan have some problem as they need to resort to these cost cutting measures that kills people . Not to mention takata airbags, kobe steel, there are tons of these. They do a lot of data falsification. I'm not sure how sustainable it is.
Its not maintaining itself though, its receding.
My Sony Ericsson cellphone is still working today. My Sony iem's sound better than the hyped chi-fi's. My Fujifilm X100S is extraordinary and my family appreciate the memories with it. My Toshiba hard drives work fine. My Vaio laptop is long lasting. My Canon and Fujifilm film cameras are working perfectly. I miss my Sharp SH-06D smartphone, I need a new battery for it. I love my mangas and I don't get many comic books anymore. The thing is that Japan isn't competing technologically, or culturally. but if I get those things working for me through many years, I can only imagine that Japanese people have higher standards of life, not slaved to technological obsolescence as it is usual with Chinese and U.S. products. The only exception maybe is my Kindel ebook which still works.
Over 250% debt to gdp isn't sustaining itself. It can get away with it at the moment as the central bank of Japan and other institutions own half of the debt but as the population continues to age without allowing mass immigration to replace that working population, the country is doomed.
I recently saw a video from the 1960s about Japan where they mentioned Japan invests more back into their industry than any other nation in the world. Things really have changed. That said high salaries aren’t necessarily better if housing and other things are more expensive too. And how is quality of life better by buying a new iPhone or Mac each year? Or renovating the kitchen every few years despite it working fine. There are things in life more important than making as much money as possible and spend it on things you throw away in a year or two. And it’s kind of hard to celebrate that Japan has inflation when it’s hit us Europeans so hard. I just read about heating costs going up 30% in one year in a city where it is currently -43 centigrades. In that temperature heating isn’t a luxury. You’ll day pretty fast without it.
I went to Japan for a year in highschool. When i returned to Germany, I saw the misery of living in Germany. The average "poor" person in Japan is so much more wealthy than the average "poor" person in Germany. In Germany, you can tell if people are poor. In Japan, it's way harder. I saw far less homeless people in Japan, and the ones that i saw, where way tidier than the ones i saw in Germany.
I think that most japanese people live the average life. In Germany, you have more rich but also more poor people in whose middle the average lies. This allows the japanese society to be even more homogeneous than they already are. They can afford the same things, do the same things and think the same way about things. I felt like this led to a happier society because everyone understood eachother and was happy with being average. There were less arguments, manners would be followed more closely and everything would work much smoother. Eating out was also much cheaper in Japan and the quality seemed much higher. Dishes were prepared from zero (in germany most normal restaurants will have some components of their dishes be initially frozen and just reheated) and felt well balanced. In Japan, almost all people can afford eating out regularly, going on vacation, spending money on entertainment and having trendy wardrobes.
I also saw that school in Japan can be extremely stressful. But at the same time, its also way more fun than my school in Germany could ever dream of. We had so many events, and so many different club activities. It was insane.
ah living in a socialist paradise my mediocrity is better than yours
@@blakespower Japan isn’t socialist. Nor are they a paradise. But money is more equally spread. I just think that it’s easier to get along with people if they have a lot in common with you. Japan has its problems but i think that the pros far outweigh the cons. Living in Japan feels more pleasant than living in Germany, at least for me.
It was the US that clipped the wings of Japan…. They were not allowed to create global OS even though they were Head in early 80s. You missed that. Now they are doing the same thing to Germany
Japan's overwork was a 80s problem. Not today. Though the legend persists.
Statistically, the number of hours worked in Japan has fallen the past 20 years to 1740hrs/yr/worker and is below USA at 1760hrs.
Not that I think raising hours a ton is a sane path. Germany sits at a mere 1350hrs. Investment in productivity increasing tech is the way forward.
I think a major problem is wage stagnation which hasn’t moved in 30 years
Germany was productive thanks to its access to cheap russian gas. Now that it has lost that (and made the idiotic decision to completely get rid of all its nuclear power plants), expect a massive recession and a significant fall in productivity.
@@noseboop4354 Killing the nukes was stupid but I doubt that causes a recession.
@@8qk67acq5 I used the PWT data for "Average Annual Hours Worked by Persons Engaged". Couldn't find details on their methodology but it is very unlikely that Japan got steadily more misleading data each year for several decades. And there hasn't been some explosion of under the table work in Japan.
I wouldn't be surprised if there were a 5% underreport, even 10%. But that still is way under the 2100hrs south korea does today ... or the 2900!!!hrs they did in the late 80s.
@@randomlycasual4941 Wages are stagnant but cost of living has fallen a ton. Compartively, in Canada, wages have gone up a tiny bit but cost of living has doubled.
Working in a public IT company in Japan, I'm concerned about the country's trajectory. Policy decisions favor older demographics at the expense of the younger generation essential for future economic growth. Our IT sector lags behind the US, UK, Australia and China, limited by a localized focus on Japan's declining population. Encouraging young professionals to work here remains challenging due to language barriers, bureaucracy, a weakening yen, and low salaries compared to developed nations like Singapore, the UK, the US, and China. Nevertheless, Japan's unique culture and high quality of life keep me here, but I hope for a brighter economic future before I lose my patience and move to the US.
language barriers, bureaucracy, a weakening yen, and low salaries compared to developed nations like "China"? Hmm...
@@葉冠宏-y4x the average salary in China now 2023 is around $4,214 and the average salary in japan 2023 is $3564 so yeah lower than china if you google it
@@葉冠宏-y4xthe big cities in china are very developed and have world class amenities and transport. China definitely is developed
I wouldn't even consider moving to the US, there are far better countries to go to if you want to leave Japan. Going from Japan to the USA Is like going from a decent house and good neighborhood to living in a trash can.
@@YabaiModding Indeed, if we’re talking about quality of life, the U.S. can be quite challenging, especially with a low salary. However, working in the IT sector there would be a significant advantage, given their pioneering role in many of the latest technologies that are revolutionizing the human race. To me, the U.S. seems quite bipolar, being extremely good in some aspects and very bad in others. I hope that if I move to the U.S. in the future, I’ll find myself on the better side of this spectrum. We’ll see. I still love Japan, though. Haha.
I mean most EU economies aren't really doing any better, don't get why Japan gets all the attention regarding economic stagnation. And countries like China and Korea will have it way worse in the future regarding stagnation and demographic decline going by numbers.
It is not a matter of doing better or worse, it is about the fact that Japan has been ahead in time of the other developped countries, and analysing the challenged faced by the japanese economy today might give us a glimpsed to what awaits the others, especially the US, Western Europe and South Korea.
I agree. Much of the Western media is very obsessed with Japan. In fact, Japan's birth rate is the highest in East Asia, but there is a stereotype that Japan has an overwhelmingly low birth rate in the world.
@@시청용계정-c1c I mean 1.3 is still very low...
I am surprised you did not mention the Plaza Accord's impact on the stagnation of the Japanese economy
それと、日米半導体協定ですね。それらにより、日本は多くの高度技術者や技術の海外流出をさせられました。
Long working hours and high suicide rates have improved considerably over the past decade, and both are now on par with European levels. The war in Ukraine and the U.S.-China conflict have brought capital that had been flowing out to China back into Japan. The pandemic has also provided an opportunity to spread modern information technology within Japan as well as to sell content industries such as anime and manga outside of the country.
I predict that the 2020s will be a bright time for Japan. The downward trend again will be when the political situation in China changes and capital starts to flow out again.
as a cr-z enthusiast, it hurts to see it called a civic
Evaluating that Japan has not grown in 30 years is proof that we are only looking at the surface.
Due to the rapid appreciation of the yen, Japanese companies have sought overseas markets and invested worldwide, resulting in almost no increase in Japan's domestic GDP. has contributed to the increase in
(The United States and Germany also contributed to China's GDP increase)
Developed countries are currently withdrawing from China, but Japan's revival will lead to a weaker yen.
It depends on how much you can return to your country by using it.
Japan has a rather high technological adaptation. They have the best railways, intercity transportation and generally, Japanese electronics have been at the forefront of innovation. Not to mention their devices are better and longer lasting than most produced anywhere else. Perhaps, it may be some sort of technological advancement like state of the art microchips that has kept them where they are.
I wouldn't trust Sony, though. The power brick included with my phone cooked the fingerprint sensor to death.
yeahh ofc japan is asia future ,even know china are trying to pass japan and then usa ,japan still need to find they line and spirit
I've never quite been convinced by the argument that the economy needs to grow constantly to sustain us. I mean why? If we have enough food and products and services... where is the need? Given the population remains the same size, why more?
Low birth rate is the doom of a society after that there is an exodus which makes it worse and the entire thing collapses. China is near that which is another reason they want taiwan for the women. An entire new population to test and try policies out. That one child policy failed them badly.
because despite growth is not cure-all, stagnation is kill-all. long-term stagnant economies like Japan or Europe are set to be rendered irrelevant, which will make them experience the same effects like middle-income-trapped countries do: brain-drain, increasing dependence on neighbours (not only those that outproduce them, but also resource-rich developing economies) and thus slow decline in comparative standard of living. Truth is that the oldest post-growth economy is Argentina, and you can't overlook it if you try to predict how this trend will affect the population. Those promoting pro-stagnation mindset just handle the future of your country to others.
TL;DR: degrowth is a death cult
Japan being in the year 2000 since the 1970s and still being there is such a great phrase
i loved it too!
More like 2024 since 1970
growth for growths sake isn’t necessarily a good thing. Producing anything has to take from something. No one is gonna be laughing at Japan when in 50 years they still have an abundance of nature, a low population & clean air
That's a funny thing to say about Japan, isn't it? I mean they are the prime example of growth for growths sake which led to the bubble which led to today
The first generation of American investors who experience no real estate appreciation are going to feel so lied to
And yet Chinese malls are dead and closed, while malls in Japan are filled with shoppers, and there are no closed stores.
China is going down the toilet, and Japan is looking very robust indeed.
There's actually nothing wrong with not growing. And given the population decline across the globe, massive changes will soon hit economies, as housing stocks take a plunge, and the drivers of growth have gone.
Honestly stagnation should be the end goal of every economic model.
Stability is all that matters
I live in Japan and I tell you we are not doing that bad
10k yen is less than 100 usd (about $70). Maybe you mistook the value of that note to be what it was during the housing bubble?
Yes, you are correct, I was going to say the same thing.
I was about to comment the same thing. The yen has dropped a lot over the last two years, it hasn’t even been 100 yen to a dollar since around 2013.
I would rather live in a country with a stagnant economy than a rotting rootless culture.
I am speaking from the perspective of a quasi-outsider as someone who has been to Japan for prolonged periods and has friends who have lived in Japan in the past, but part of the problem is that Japan doesn't WANT migrants. They love tourists but they don't want outsiders coming and setting up permanent residence in their home. I was only ever treated well because I was very visibly an outsider and spoke broken Japanese but Americans I've known who've lived there for more than a year report a different experience with neighbors and coworkers.
And? You're a White American, you're likely racist. It's karma.
Not all countries are made up of immigrants like the United States. Japan, like most other countries, is a nation-state.
I've lived in Japan for 10 years. I've never experienced any hate in Japan. I do get weekly reminders that I am not from Japan however. 95% of people are actually very normal and will treat non-Japanese people in the same way as they treat Japanese people if they feel they can communicate with them.
The problem is that Japanese society is very "discerning" and that everyone looks at every person and immediately attempts to fit them into a social group so that they know how to interact with them. Gender, age, disability, dialect, etc. are all a part of how people immediately try to identify you. People from Osaka are considered "funny" for example. Tokyoites are considered "cold and unfeeling".
Burakumin and Yankees are far more discriminated against than foreign people, but foreign people get lumped into the same category as children, the very elderly and disabled people
Nor should they want migrants. Western nations who were not all that culturally dissimilar to Japan in the past have all learned how dangerous it can be to introduce cultural tensions into your nation by importing massive amounts of immigrants. Now it's too late for them to reverse the trend, and their cities become more foreign every year while they wrestle with the political mayhem it has caused.
Makes sense considering how small Japan is compared to America
"Immigration is only upside for the receiving country" you mean aside from ethnically replacing the original population?
I just wanted to take a moment to say how amazing your video was! I was really impressed with the quality of the footage, the editing, and the overall presentation. You did a great job of explaining the topic in a clear and concise way, and I learned a lot from watching your video.
I also really appreciated the way you made the video engaging and entertaining. You kept my attention throughout the entire video, and I never felt bored or lost. I would definitely recommend your video to anyone who is interested in learning more about the video.
I think we are underestimating the potential of digital and electronic economies.
Japan is awesome.
imo, Japan is just unique.
There is more to life than “make green line go up.”
Japan and its culture seem to have a better balance of growth and how to actually live life than the west’s endless consumption
Yeah? Have you lived in Japan? 🤔
Oh don't you worry, Japan is gonna start importing the 3rd world to make the line go up just like the rest of the west is. They've said so recently.
Nah, Japan is known for all work work, work
@@MusehanaHRihanna fans, every one
True, Japan has the lowest crime rate, lowest homeless population, and highest life expectancy in the world.
That things remain stable in Japan is pretty much a testament to their culture and ethics around work. If things take a downturn the executives are more likely to take a pay cut than having the workers fired. Even though there are homeless Japanese it's still easy for them to retain their dignity as it's easier for them to get access to facilities were they can get cleaned up than compared to most other countries.
The flexibility of the people from top to bottom ensures that on a societal level the people remain mostly content regardless of what happens economically to them. A stark difference from the countries that have a lot of welfare programs that encourages people to beg and feel entitled to things.
The benefit of their racism is a One Nation One People outlook on life. They feel a massive societal obligation to one another as well as massive personal responsibility to their society, country, and therefore each other.
There are facilities everywhere in most countries, but most homeless just want to keep doing drugs. Even in Japan.
And yet, jp has the same leeches that refuse to work because they can get by on welfare fueling their porn addiction.
Racism? Try nationalism.
Maybe perpetual growth isn’t something to shoot for… just a thought
I know, right? Maybe stability ISN'T a BAD THING!
I'm a Japanese person living in Japan, and I feel that it's safer now than it was in the 80s and 90s, and it's more economically and culturally affluent.
It is wrong to judge only by economic numbers.
Until 30 years ago, Japanese people worked hard from morning until night, but now they have fewer working hours, less time to study, and more freedom.
It is natural that GDP will increase if the number of production workers increases, and Japan's elderly have money and receive pensions, so I think it is only a small number of young people who have become poor.
yeah I also have made up mind to move to Japan. I think Japan is now in the new phase of transition where they are expected to proceed to next phase in terms of many ways
the 80s was the better japan
One of the things that brasses me off the most about the productivity paradox is that better technology was supposed to make us more productive and therefore we could have more leisure time. Can anyone genuinely claim that they are working less than before?
I am a mexican living in Japan, my income is barely higher that it was in mexico, not really a deal, the yen is just to cheap, and life is expensive, not the place to make any money, but at least I can live happily with my family without worrying about crime, and a good quality life
Japan simply focuses on what is important, UTILITY is way better than NETWORTH. I mean, think about it for a second, is Tesla more beneficial to humanity than Toyota?? Ofcourse not, yet Tesla has a higher Networth than Toyota.
We have alot to learn from Japan. It is the utility that matters not what the ultra rich think something is worth
I hope Japan does well. I pray their work culture gets a major update (especially in the anime industry, which has a major crisis with how terrible the working conditions are) so people can make a proper living and can have relationships again. It's unfortunate what's happened there, but in some ways, it's on them. They're going back to old habits of centuries past.
the anime industry is not special, it's just easier to hear about in the west as the product is so present in other countries. That kind of overworking is standard among a wide range of industries. It's just a lot quieter when you're an overworked office worker.
The quality of info graphics on this one is next level
Excellent video chock full of interesting insights. If I could share one bit of feedback on the production, it would be to SLOW...DOWN! I know we can adjust the playback speed, but for dense information like this, I would suggest a bit of a slower paced delivery, just a bit more pauses to separate thoughts
International companies are copying Japan's model of salary and benefit. The average professional in Japan is not paid very well compared to their counterparts working in the same sector in another developed country. However, their benefits and social safety nets are exponentially better. For example: As an IT dept manager and cross team lead, I don't have to worry about the cost of living or safety issues in Japan at all. The wage is 2/3 or 1/2 compared to a similar position in Europe but in exchange, I had: cheap, good food, state of the art public transport system outside my doorstep, free education and healthcare for the whole family, affordable housing in some of the most desirable locations on Earth. If I were to become a naturalized Japanese citizen, there would have been more added benefits. The company takes care of its employees and the employees are happy to improve their productivity. This is not often covered in depth and presented to the West by UA-camrs because not many of them are actually professionals in any field or manage to climb the corporate ladder in Japan.
I think the reality for most workers is that they are making around 2/3 equivalent yearly salary to the US or EU, and also working many more hours. Do you think that the benefits most people enjoy as a worker in Japan are worth the overtime?
@@maikerusazarando857 Given the current state of the global economy, it seems that even the US workers are forced to work longer hours. In 2022, our US team clocked in more hours than our domestic team. In the long run, everyone will work like people in Japan, we are used to the stress and the long hours, we'll be ok. 2/3 salary but housing is 1/2 price, 1/4 - 1/3 cost for food, all other costs come in around either 1/2 of 2/3 of the price. And don't worry, we have decent vacation time, too, this isn't the crazy 80s 90s.
@@maikerusazarando857The Japs aren't particularly productive on a per capita basis. They do work lots of hours though unnecessarily most of the time just to save face.
How big is your apartment? What percentage of your income is spent per square meter of living space? Because you can also have cheap, good food, great public transportation, free education und healthcare in many European cities, while also having public parks and greater living space.
@@activationfunctionagreed. Wages in Japan are cheaper compared to the west, but housing and many other stuff is also cheaper so the real quality of life is comparable to Western Europe
The culture and stability of Japan has been an inspiration for people around the world. This shows up the failure of countries that exist, not for their people, but for gov't power.
Interesting how economists call steady (not increasing) economic output "stagnation". Economies must for some reason always grow. There seems to be no economic theories for harmonious shrinkage.
Japan's technological stagnation has a source people regularly gloss over. Demographic decline, technological innovation is driven by young, intelligent, ambitious people.
0:48 I think it’s because Japan has it going on! Old people are making homes available for young people. It’s clean. People are nice. Everyone is eating and can enjoy the surroundings- did you see the landscape? Japan deserves a we have it together award 🏆
The city is clean. There are many tech companies, even if not top of the world.
The food is delicious and the number of Michelin stars is the highest in the world.
The city is safe and the people are calm.
What else you want?