What social issues would people in your country be interested in? I think it would be interesting to compare this to different countries. But the kind of Japanese news that English-speaking media outlets talk about tend to be quite limited. So if you want to learn Japanese with me, I will send you Japanese lessons where I teach you the kind of Japanese that real-life Japanese people speak. Click here and subscribe bit.ly/2Lwd01P
i live in northern ireland, so I'd say that the main political issue (aside from COVID related issues) is the threat brexit poses to our economy. Not very interesting
It is fascinating to me the phenomenon of shut-ins (引きこもり). Maybe it is not as prominent as it seemed, and certainly there are similar situations in Western countries. But it is concerning when considering the negative population growth rate in Japan. I don't have many skills, but I wonder if it is something a westerner could help with? I have always dreamed of working in Japan, but I'm a little older to begin as ALT, not to mention my student loans burden.
The issue with NHK sounds very familiar to anyone living in the UK. Here we have the BBC, we have to pay a fee for "TV license" which was supposed to ensure that the BBC is able to run without advertisements. I don't have exact statistics but general consensus seems to be that not that many people actually watch the BBC, most people aren't bothered by advertisements (hell, some of them are actually entertaining), and most people don't actually watch TV itself but rather use apps like Netflix to get their shows. I'm curious how people in Japan respond to NHK fees though, because over here most people just refuse to pay the TV license fee. I don't think they have any actual legal authority to chase you up if you refuse to pay.
Minimum wage and the housing market are a couple big issues in Canada, and the US as well by extension. The buying power of the dollar has been rapidly decreasing since around 1970, yet the lower class is expected to be able to afford things just the same.
It is actually a serious problem though. Although from what I’ve learned it’s pretty much the adults fault as usual. Basically they ignore the situation or cover it up. Which the leads to suicide of the young people they cannot afford to die. Its like there shooting themselves in the foot.
@@Floridamangaming729 I guess it's a deeply ingrained social issue as well. Don't get me wrong, I love japan, but I don't think the societal culture is too great. There's a saying in japanese that says 「出る釘は打たれる」(The nail that sticks out gets hammered down) that is often used to explain japanese behaviour and why bullying is such a big problem. There's a big conformity culture in japan where you have to be like the crowd, so that leads to more problems because nobody wants to also stick out by helping the bullied people. Therefore, kids get bullied and no one does anything at all. This is prevalent in western culture as well but more in japanese culture.
2:20 We have the exact same issue here in Britain in regards to the BBC. Everyone who owns a TV, a computer or even a phone, has to pay what's called the TV license, which is essentially a tax to fund the BBC. Everyone has to pay it even if they don't use their services.
All people in the United States pay a tiny amount of money for our public broadcasting service, but it's not enough, so PBS has to spend a lot of time on telethons, trying to get people to donate money to keep them going. A lot of money donated comes from right-wing organizations, but it doesn't seem to be affecting the programming.
I really like to see the more political side of Japan. Possibly because Japanese people clearly don’t like to talk about it. (I guess that’s a cultural thing?)
@PP I think it's because it will damage unity along the people, especially if you live in a country that is almost homogeneous and in a strong tradition and culture environment. They even still have an emperor.
Leopold thats a very dumb comment. Politics is the most important aspect of any human life. Global warming, war, economic inequalities, social reform so many things are more important than you worrying about dividing someone.
@@Name-jw4sj Division causes those issues in the first place. Japan is the safest country in the entire world while cities are burning in your country lol
@@Name-jw4sj Talk about the issues, not the politicians take on it, then people will be less offended/surprised. It also helps avoiding "automatic alignment on party lines" when people can agree with on side on some issues and others on other issues. And well, when people are not interested, they're not interested, too, which is a pity but is also their right. If you can refrain from insulting them, it might help, too.
@Leopold Japan is suffering an economic and demographic decline far more severely than North America or Western Europe. Of course, the West has plenty of problems, but claiming that Japan has no "political problems" is utterly ridiculous, specially from a country that is not only facing a steep decline from its domestic situation, but also being encroached by China and threatened by North Korea, and while still being subservient to the United States. Being passive all the time can be suicidal.
The guy at 2:40 seems to be the deepest thinker. I think it's great that he's thinking about maintaining Japan's standard of living and the bigger picture and not just the day to day.
He's got it smack on, young people are the most affected yet they don't vote or think that matters , but they sure do whinge on SNS and wonder why things don't change or go their way
As for the man at 3:48, whether or not Silla did invade in the far past (which doesn't quite seem accurate or to the same extent as Japanese colonization), part of the issue today is the lack of acknowledgement and education about Japan's colonization in their history textbooks, etc. - to the extent that they don't seem to know much about why tensions are high between the two countries. It's really fascinating to see people's perception of relevant news though. Great video.
I am half japanese and none of my friends in Japan knew about what we did the Korea, and the rest of eastern Asia, I did inform them and recommended them to look into it
On point! Atrocities caused by Imperial Japan back in World War II should be acknowledged by the Japanese people. In Filipino history textbooks, the four year course of Japan's invasion of our country led to inhumane acts like r*pe and s*xual slavery (see: comfort women). They organized a new government structure and assigned a puppet Filipino President of the Republic at that time.
forreal, the fact that japan has a memorial shrine dedicated to war criminals is a huge point of tension. the things japan has done and left unacknowledged are still remembered by my grandparents who experienced occupation firsthand. it's not some distant past that no one is affected by anymore.
Well, there are 2 couples who mentioned childcare center issues and an early childhood teacher who mentioned how there is many qualified people who did not consider her profession. Both problem could contribute to low birth rate in Japan. Where i live, we have shortages of staff for childcare centers is still and issue even though we hire foreigners from China and the Philipines. I can't imagine what it's like in japan if they are only hiring Japanese for that position.
You've been doing a really good job with your content, Yuta! I think a lot of your subscribers, (me included), are very interested in learning about Japanese topics that can't be read about, but can only be understood by talking to a Japanese person. Thanks for another great video.
@Septimus Productions 2 different family in a single city may have very different rule, view, common sense, ect. Then think about Florida and Washington, and now we talk about 2 different country from different side of the world. Each nation have their own culture, norm, politics, geography, race, and lot of ect. One should never think that everything work same to everyone.
Absolutely agree with the guy who said that the government is not doing well and it’s not changing because young people aren’t voting. You can apply that almost everywhere. The world should be on a very different path by now and it isn’t because of this. The older generations are still in full control of our futures and are destroying it.
@GihKaL Where is the left? Nobody is advocating for universal healthcare in the US. One of the guys in this video shows his horror in the fact that the US doesn't have single-payer health insurance. Koreans love their low co-pay national insurance, too. That's not even a leftist ideology in the developed world, as long as you have a body, and a job you can lose.
As a half-japanese person who grew up in the west, the only guy that actually gave me some hope is the bright jacket at 02:40 Either way this is only a zoom in on the population's thinking, but still, would like to expect more but it's very "さすが" - of course some of them would say that.
Ssofia it means “as expected” that’s what they meant after the hyphen - “of course some of them would say that” =) as in everyone is giving a bit of a safe answer.
Yeah, it was kind of disappointing. I get the strong impression from stuff like this and the Japanese media I consume that there is a strong preference for a negative peace that maintains an injustice rather than the conflict and responsibility of change.
It always surprised me that Japanese aren't very protective when it comes to privacy in media. Using real names and pictures is usually a no-go where I'm from (The Netherlands), and based on Japanese culture I'd expect at least a similar treatment. Except it's more the opposite imo.
Sounds like it really depends on which media you're talking about. TV and movie stars are like the "normal" celebrities with their information out in the open while internet creators and celebrities rarely expose anything about themselves, even if they appear in front of a camera they won't show their face or just wear a mask.
I think this specific one was interesting. In the US, we think it’s important to say people’s names because it doesn’t remove their tragedy from the situation. They don’t turn into a statistic right away. Indeed, there are many times when the families of those victims become the target of attacks, like the families of the victims of Sandy Hook, but I don’t think that those families want us to forget about their children either, though that’s only what I think.
@@feelingpeachi3 That's an interesting point. I was thinking of the US as well actually, because it's interesting how there's this similarity between two cultures that are opposites in so many ways.
@@feelingpeachi3 except in Japan it goes being getting death threats. When your involved in those incidents even by accident, you and anyone related to you become shunned by most of society. It gets harder to find a job because of your reputation. That's why she thought it was wrong of them to reveal names because of how harshly it affects their everyday lives beyond the tragedy.
Please enlighten us? If Korea is still holding resentment towards the Japanese due to WW2 then Koreans need to re-evaluate their standings in society. Koreans has a dark history too, especially during the Vietnam war where Koreans did exactly what they accuse Japanese of doing to them.
Ali I agree. China got screwed over much worse than Korea by Japan, yet the Chinese government doesn’t see the need to constantly bring it up. If anything the Chinese government is trying to strengthen ties with Japan. There’s no reason Korea should be constantly bringing up the past. Asia should work together, not distance themselves.
LittleWhole i understand what you mean, but “the chinese government is trying to strengthen ties with japan”?? what? no! there is still a lot of hostility between china and japan regarding issues like the senkaku islands and comfort women
@@Name-jw4sj It's not just about Japan's actions during WWII. A huge part of the problem is that the Japanese government, to this day, actively denies any wrongdoing during that period. Compare this to Germany, which has owned up to and apologized for the Holocaust. The groups they persecuted are generally content not to hold grudges because they know that Germany recognizes its past actions as wrong and is actively working to make sure those actions aren't repeated. As a Jew, I would certainly be a lot less happy with modern Germany if they continually denied the atrocities of past Germany. Modern Japan IS continually denying the atrocities of past Japan and I don't think it's unreasonable for Koreans to be upset about that. As sad as it makes that one girl to see Japanese flags being burned, it makes the person burning that flag a lot sadder to hear the Japanese government insist that the Japanese army didn't brutalize their ancestors when they absolutely did.
@@LL-bl8hd A couple, but they spoke about it in the sense of kids bullying each other or adults being bullied in the work place. I don't recall anyone mentioning suicide either. The case with Hana Kimura was largely driven by folks on social-media and it ended in death. I don't think those people talking about bullying were talking about her but rather bullying in general.
From the clothing, lack of masks, and the old man describing the Soleimani assassination as recent, I'm guessing this was filmed in January of this year.
@@MisterJang0 Yeah, I mean jokes aside the guy was talking a LOT about escaped prisoners and stuff like that... and seemed a little *too* excited to talk about this topic. It feels almost like she's embarrassed by him talking about this, or he's talking about something that could genuinely land one or both of them in a lot of trouble.
4:07 I understand that the past is the past but settling something with money wont fix the relationship between Korea and Japan. The things Japan did towards Korea is not that long ago and there are still people who experienced the things Japan did. I'm from the Netherlands and we colonized Indonesia for a long time, there is still resentment left from Indonesia but the fact that the Netherlands recently apologized will maybe take away some of that resentment. Japan may have settled it with money but have they apologized for what they've done. I also understand that the people who have done those things may not be alive anymore but honestly it's just symbolic for a country to apologize. Thats my opinion.
Yayoi are koreans that came to Japan and dominated native Jomons, Moderns Japanese Yamato are 80 to 90 percent Yayoi ancestry and 20 percent Jomons ancestry if that person is from northern Japan
You probably meant Yayoi (the Yamato are the result of mixing between Yayoi and Jomon). The theory about the Proto-Japonic people migrating from Korea is among the most accepted ones but from what I understood, both Japanese and Korean people (due to nationalism) think this was a military conquest and don't realize these people were just a prehistoric nomadic tribe who migrated thousands of years ago, so they often tend to mix it with more recent historical events.
@@aioee877 The modern Koreans aren't ancestors of the Yayoi, both people lived alongside and influenced each other, the Proto-Koreanic people originated from Siberia and Manchuria while the Proto-Japonic (Yayoi) people originated in Southeast Asia, they ended up encountering in Korea while were migrating, the Yayoi migrated in Japan and mix with the Jomon, while the Koreans stayed in Korea.
I second the comments above, and I think that person was just being pedantic. There are serious grievances on the Korean/Chinese side that the Japanese government never really serious addressed except for briefly in the 90s, and the massive difference is that the modern Japanese state is for a large part built on the foundations of the imperial state and it's such a sad tautology to draw between Japanese Imperialism and pre-historic human migration
I second the comments above, and I think that person was just being pedantic. There are serious grievances on the Korean/Chinese side that the Japanese government never really serious addressed except for briefly in the 90s, and the massive difference is that the modern Japanese state is for a large part built on the foundations of the imperial state and it's such a sad tautology to draw between Japanese Imperialism and pre-historic human migration
Interesting! While a lot of these issues are pretty different, I think the pension and teaching issues are pretty relatable to the US. We’ve seen a decrease in funding for schools over the past few years, especially the salary for teachers. While not the exact same, it’s fascinating to know that others are having the same struggle.
The opinions on history/Korea were really interesting from a German point of view. Sadly they don't seem to be really knowledgeable about the underlying problems that cause the strained relationship. I would like them to watch the movie Shusenjo by Miki Dezaki. ドイツから見ると、歴史や韓国についての意見が興味深いでした。しかし、悲しほどその問題点とお互いの良くない関係の原因が分からなさそうです。ミキデザキ監督の映画しゅせんじょをおすすめします。
Yeah, that movie was very interesting and I really enjoyed it. But at the same time, I was so depressed at the fact that our government is a cult and so immature even though I already knew that... I'm so worried about our future.
@@user-kf5ty3rb8jn I studied also a lot of written material and reviewed various sources for university, so I am quite familiar with the topic. I just thought that UA-cam wasn't the platform for academic texts^^ Of course the movie has subjective elements but also shows different sides of the argument and where they stem from. I don't think that there is something like "objective material" as everyone who is studying a topic has a certain agenda. But if you would like to read some older texts I would recommend reading Yoshimi Yoshiaki.
At 1:30「僕は参加しない方、、かな」 gets translated as "I think it's better not to participate". Shouldn't it be "I don't think I would participate" or something like that? Or does he imply 「がいいと思う」after the 「方」？ Pretty sure he doesn't. Thanks for the video :)
The translation's right. You can interpret 「僕は」in this case as "I think/As for me/In my opinion". The subtle stress is there implying so. It's not as much as he's talking about himself per se, it's more on his position on the matter.
As a Japanese, I thought that too. seems that he didn't clear his opinion about hong kong thing, and only stated in As-for-me style, which is very popular one in Japan.
That video was super interesting. When i was abroad studying in japan i was always interested into how japanese view world problems since they sometimes have pretty unique and sometimes narrow minded insights on the topics. My research topics were always shakaimondai related in japan like for example the apathy of voters in japans elections
+1 to the guy talking about NHK. They came and pestered me when I barely spoke any Japanese and didn't know what they were talking about, and finally came back with English pamphlets. I told them I didn't watch it and they said it was illegal not to pay. If only I had the good sense to pretend not to be home when they came by!
Mutt Fitness it sounds like NHK is very similar to the BBC in that they have a weird monopoly on broadcasting and that you have to pay if you meet their sometimes weird definitions of broadcasting.
I take it you don't see many people standing out in near freezing temperatures a lot. It's a perfectly normal thing to do (bobbing up and down) to stay warm and she's probably just looking around to stay busy and signal she would like to get moving soon.
3:55 what’s talking this guy? Silla (One of the ancient Korean kingdoms) invaded Japan? That’s not true , he’s been reading too much far -right material.
@@iagree8628 they did apologize but if I am not mistaken, they took the apology back the year after and also took down multiple comfort women statues all over asia.
@I agree So? My post is about this guy false statement about Silla. We are not talking about the confort woman issue which happened a thousand years later. I don’t find the logical/historical connection with the FALSE statement about Silla.
Silla is one of the three kingdoms of Korea (along with Goryeo and Baekje). It was conquered by Goryeo a thousand years ago, it existed. Basically he's going really far back in ancient history.
Propaganda by the extreme right of Japan. Silla never had any confrontation with Japan with the expection of the Battle of Baekgang, which took place in the Korean peninsula not in Japan. He could also be refererring to the Yayoi. It is commonly believed (although still heavily debated) that the Yayoi (who shared common ancestry with proto-Koreans) come from the Korean Peninsula and migrated to the Japanese peninsula circa 1000 BCE. It is believed that the migration of the Yayoi led to the decline of the Jomon population. The dude fails to recognize though, that most modern Japanese are descendants of Yamato people who genetically are mostly Yayoi. Anyhow, he is comparing something that MAY have happened 3000 years ago, versus something that happened less than 100 years ago.
cool topic, i'd like to see more about social problems. but it surprised me that apparently only one man mentioned working long hours. working your lives away in the age of automation - why does that seem normal to people? it's insane.
From my experience in Japan there needs to be improvement on the knowledge about mental illnesses and reduction in harassment at the workplace. My time on the JET program was full of harassment that led me to a severe depression which I started having counselling and medication for from June 2019 and has been continuing until this day even after I returned to my home country.
I'm sorry you went through that. I just wanted to say it. I hope you stay strong! I'm a person with mental illnesses as well, so you're not alone, if it makes you feel any better. I hope you soon find tranquility and recover soon as well. I send you positive vibes. I think you're very strong and brave to comment about this openly. Thank you for that because we need to start addressing mental health illnesses as a issue worldwide. . Ps: I'm sorry if it's weird for you to read this from a complete stranger who you'll possibly never meet. Also, thank you for sharing.
@Reis Bedir There were many things that happened I’ll just describe what I can remember Screamed at over the microphone during Board of education meetings telling me that stuff like "this is Japan you can't have your culture here, Why did you come to Japan if you're going to bring your culture, we don't want you here get out" this was a response to me literally doing nothing while other people in the meeting were talking, playing on their phone etc. It was also pretty bad at school where the students would grope me and make fun of me by doing a stupid accent (a behaviour that they copied from a Japanese teacher btw) That same teacher also treated me like a lesser human, would refuse to listen to my opinion on anything because only Japanese people know how to teach English (her English was abysmal btw and we only communicated in Japanese apart from when she was being condescending, although I could not understand a word of her English so I could hardly call it "communication") she would constantly accuse me of things, saying that I’m the reason why the students English education suffering even though in her classes I would pretty much just stand still (I was less than a human tape recorder). She would complain about me to other staff in the school directly in front of me so she could try to get them to attack me (this was backed up with other teachers concerned about my well-being). And she reported me multiple times to the board of education for petty reasons and all they would do is give her a pat on the back, tell her what a great teacher she is and then attack me saying I’m a bad influence and that I need to be more subservient or get out. This teacher (along with others) would also physically and verbally harass students such as dragging special needs kids out of the classroom kicking and screaming, telling students they won't amount to anything and screaming at them for 30+ minutes during class (classes were 45 minutes btw). Just watching a child scream in pain or get abused like that can be traumatising. And to top it all off other ALTs would often joke about how funny it was for me to get "pwned" in meetings are claiming that everything that happened to me was my fault and I "need to improve". I also managed to get into a relationship that was physically, sexually, and psychologically abusive filled with gaslighting and other terror. Managed to get out of that after a few months though. This all continued for about 2 years 8 months until I finally put in my letter of resignation and left Japan possibly never to return. This experience changed me from having a love of Japan and wanting to live there forever to warning people not to go there and figure out something in their home Country instead. At least one positive came from it that I have now decided to pursue psychiatry as a career so I can help others that have been through horrible experiences like mine.
@@123mrflibble That doesn't sound like you had a good experience at all I'm sorry to hear all that. I know those sorts of issues are a lot more common over there but I think you just got really unlucky and I don't think you should hold it over the whole country of Japan, just the individuals you were placed with. There are bullies and narcissists in such positions all over the place unfortunately and nothing is done about it.
The man at 4:00 said that the Silla kingdom occupied Japan. But I couldn't find any records of such an incident. So is what he said indeed true? Does anyone know?
lol, obviously no, after all it's a middle age history, when country like Japan & Korea hadn't even exist. After all, the Silla people are basically nowadays Japanese Yayoi ethnic which are now called Yamato people
It's interesting how people talk about Korea issues and it mirror's the train of thought on Japanese TV. "Why can't they just forget about that stuff and be friends with us so I can enjoy Kpop?" well because Japan wants to pretend that they never did bad things or understand why they were bad. Many Koreans who moved to Japan during the occupation of Korea are also treated poorly and were never accepted as citizens of Japan as they came from the occupied colonies and are seen as lesser. Japan might have better relations with its neighbours if they talk openly about the past and stop pretending they didn't do anything bad. Japanese tend to be bought up with a superiority complex too and we see it in that guy's opinion of Hong Kong. He sees those Chinese people as savages destroying the city and not as people standing up for their rights against a government that wants to make criticising the government illegal.
Well.. The past is in the past. people talking about korean issue are mostly just using the present day perspective because not all of them are historians and they doesnt have anything against the korean either because the girl who like K-Pop is just a young person and young people usually only put the "todays" first rather than the past because it is the one that effect them directly, just like what they said, the past stays in the past (i heard japan paid quite big amount of money too to repaid the damage, opening up social programs and other stuff). Its not that they dont believe they have done bad things in the past, they just tired of bringing it up everytime they have international event. Besides, its ok to be proud of your own country for once in a while. But even though the government did so, the daily workers doesnt seems to care about it until the country keep on spending money for years to apologize with their taxes money. When it comes to war, everybody did nasty stuff. Its just wrong to keep on bringing up old wounds and turns it over again and again, because that'll be what we called a discrimination. Why do we have to keep bringing it up if we can just be friends together? Besides, there's no point on getting offended towards another country, take indonesia for example, They dont burn the Netherland flag, The malaysian doesnt burn indonesian flag, none of them keeps crying for war reparation money in recent years or getting offended by colonizer's flag, We dont even tear down the colonization era landmarks(Portugese and the Netherland's fortresses, japanese war tunnels, the japanese's execution well in my city, Netherland's prison, Their goddamn flag, Airplanes and so on) are now BOOM, they are monuments and they are protected under the indonesian law. The past is in the past, we can learn from it, we can remember it but there's no point in getting offended by an old rotten wound. P.S I'm sure someone will bring this up later on.. Yes, Indonesian only has a problem with the communist ideology but the biggest problem we have with it is mainly connected to the religion side of it rather than just the mutiny and the indonesians are having none of it, We just cant welcome it because communist doesnt believe in god and they still is. So now it wasn't just an issue in the past but it is still an issue for today but then again.. The people doesnt even care about it anymore, we got much more trouble right now than bickering about the things happening in the 1960s.
While I agree Japan shoud admit to its wrong-doings in the past (which it partially did), I also really don't think the way korea is going about it is good, and i feel like they are stirrring up unnecessary conflict and because of this more koreans are starting to be racist towards Japanese than the other way around.
There should be time limit on pursuing this matter, else future generation will be paying debts forever, progress will be hampered. Should American, Australian make further compensation to natives? Should Europe be making amendments to Germany and China for clearly unfair surrender conditions? Should Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom pay for all expliotation made on colonies? Should murderer's all future generation be servants to victims forever? Should corporations and people filing for bankrupcy, including all decendants, repay all money (inflation and interest accountable). People know that there is scope and timeframe on responsiblity and justice (from someone who is currently citizen of a former British colony that was previously invaded by Japan). Also Korean seems okay with their 3rd president being former officer in Imperial Japanese army. He can claim being 'victim of circumstance' while Japanese decendants can't. Japan being truthful about their past is a different matter. WW2 is too close a history to be either ignored or distorted. Disturbingly, it solely due to political reasons. It's too serious of a topic to discuss here.
@Miguel L. A major landslide and flood just happened, killing 50. Every year, Japan is hit by many earthquakes, typhoons and snowstorm. Conflict with neighbouring country over fishing rights in surrounding waters. Pollution from neighbouring country. War threats from neighbouring country. Japan's peace came from continued effective effort, not a privilege.
I'm from iran, just bcs u asked: issues that our people are interested in are mostly political or economic, like IRAN's relationship with usa or economic problems like low salaries and high price of cars and electronic stuff, I mean everything is getting so expensive here:| PS: it was interesting that a Japanese guy said about murder case on IRAN XD
I really feel sad for it, that the relationship between Japan and S. Korea apparently can be so bad sometimes, that even ordinary people perceive it and feel uncomfortable with it. There is so many great things in both countries that especially the younger generations I see, really appreciate of each other and want to enjoy from each other.
@Leopold The people affected by Japanese colonization are still alive today. Their lives were destroyed by the Japanese. You can't tell people to just get over being stripped of their livelihood.
The saddest part about this is no japanese school that teaches about WW2 history of Japan, so all modern japanese go to Korea or China and wonder "Why you hate bruh?"
@Leopold agree, Japan has to let it's "pride" behind and just admit that it did the horrible things. It's like if Germany were still denying the holocaust.
While I was in S-Korea, they were feuding with Japan, because they never received apologies or contribution to the camps of Korean women used as slave prostitutes. These women are still alive today. Japan claims they cooperated willingly. Occupational past remains a sensitive part of the relationship.
I always enjoy these videos. This one was especially interesting to me. I'm an American woman who used to live in Japan but continue to follow Japanese news.
I was kind of missing a few interviews, that’s why I decided to make some on my channel (coming), bringing my flavor to it, stay strong with Yuta but feel free to check me out
IT IS indeed japanese culture to KEEP the problem under their own rugs and not to talk about it to anyone. Its almost like racism in USA, until people died publicly.
@@wendigo6667 didn't notice there was a comment, now that I think about it its difficult to apply directly, maybe like evo said it can only be done by regulation or maybe worker with minimum wage gets subsidies or something
Remember that they probably have to pay high payroll taxes for that healthcare. Not saying that's not worth it, but a 10% sales tax on top of that probably hurts.
@@burnsloads Not to mention that the vast majority of Americans have both....the horror story of "I had a freak accident which led me to getting bankrupted by medical bills" is extremely rare. And often those individuals are helped by their community or charity.
to gloss over them, some of the main differences are all ～ない turn into ～へん (as long as they're the negative of a verb, you wouldn't say じゃへん instead of じゃない), だよ turns into やで, 本当に is ほんまに, 面白い is おもろい, etc... Maybe Yuta could make a video with more intricate explanations! *wink wink*
Interesting. I often wondered why the news there highlights auto accidents. I simply don't bother opening or trying to read the title. Traffic issues, although relevant, are smaller issues. It's a common thing unfortunately as the population grows. I think like the last Gentleman.
Hi Yuta! Can you please do a reaction video on the American cartoon show South Park mocking Japanese culture and language ? It would be interesting to see if you think that it is highly offensive or actually funny .
It's funny how a couple of people seem really concerned in retirement cost and retirement life in general... We don't have this concern in Europe, and I don't believe they have it in the US either; interesting...
I believe the concern is more like the aging population that is not being equally replaced by younger generations, They currently have the largest proportion of elderly than any country in the world. There are more elders than young people due to the low birth rate and fertility issues + social issues. That eventually in a few decades will result in being way more pensionists than working youth, so there will not be enough workers to produce a stable economical state. That will put a serious strain in the economy and it will not likely bounce back. The solutions will be 1. birth more children. 2. allow a bigger flow of immigrands by then to cover the need of working force. In any case they are in a tight spot if things remain as is. (You can find more info on the matter if you google: Elder to youth proportions in Japan, Aging of Japan, Japan age distribution. )
The demonstrations in France against the retirement reform pushed by the government contradict the idea that "We don't have this concern in Europe". French people (in general) do worry about not having enough to live decently in retirement, or not being able to retire until a much later age; they just still hope that a good chunk of it will come from the retirement system and not just from personal savings.
Good thing someone mentioned the bullying I've noticed that (aside from students) many of the workers bully their co-workers. I had read several stories about these issues in Japan and most of the people don't give attention to.
So they were worried/interested in legit social issues. I envy those people. We in the west get worked up over issues that are meaningless or aren't even issues to begin with (like the need to wear a mask during quarantine, the ethnicity of actors portraying characters in entertainment, etc.).
I can say every video you upload is your best one yet, and always be surprised when you one-up yourself the next video. I hope to keep seeing your videos for a long time to come. :)
3:49 "past is past"? Funny. Do an interview on Japanese war crimes and ask this guy about his opinion again. Bet he'll be speechless, or in complete denial.
@@MisterJang0 Yes they are dead. They probably died peacefully of old age or some attendant condition, but their victims died by MURDER and TORTURE, something that their surviving family and friends had to live on with for the rest of their lives. Nazi crimes can't be let go when they're still forcefully covered up by the Japanese government and education system, along with Japan's rise in right-wing nationalism that only exacerbates East Asian relations (not saying that the current tensions are only their fault).
2:13 I felt the one with the NHK-fees. In Austria we must also pay GIS to the stations, just to have a TV, no matter if you actually watch their programs, or just play games on it.
there are good reasons for that. USA is not an ethnic nation, so what brings them together? Human nature is like that, you must find something in common with other people in order to feel that you are together in something.
Judging from the clothes, no mention of the pandemic, references to the Iranian murder and the sales tax increase, this must have been shot in January.
Hi Yuta, can you please consider adding Japanese subtitles to your videos for people learning Japanese. Other than that, this video was very interesting.
My belated comment : The extremely low birth rate and the exceedingly high お年寄りpopulation . Some label these as “social issues” but frankly these are the country’s survival issue........ Japan’s negative population growth year after year in the very very long run may mean the country can extinct....... .
I would love to see more videos like this, and maybe ask those you interview about what they think about issues in other countries (such as gender equality), and how they feel about it in Japan, too.
It's funny, as a Japanese-American living in the US, most of what they talked about are such non-issues compared to some of the main issues that afflict the US even before the COVID Pandemic, from rampant inequality to lack of healthcare to massive student debt to institutional racism. Part of it is that Japan has a better social safety net, but also the Japanese are (for the most part) incredibly docile as a society. Issues that are deep, structural, cultural are rarely discussed with any depth if at all.
The hong kong guy speaks like its not a big deal to live under the ccp iron fist. Typical passivity you see a lot in japan, which is an actual problem there.
Do you think its possible he just didn't know the extent? There's plenty of awful things going on in the world that we only have the vaguest knowledge of. Obviously the huge protest took place, but when doesn't that happen in countries with shitty governments? But I think most of us are pretty oblivious to the extent that foreign UA-camrs are getting arrested... our boy Yuta would disappear from the face of the Earth if he did a video like this there.
I don’t think it has anything to do with being Japanese. We have people opposing important protests here in the US as well. Some people would prefer order is kept rather than important social issues be solved.
1:32 Yes, it's really concerning to see bully is such a big problem in Japan, when people are generally polite to each other. That's also the reason. They dont usually point out other's fault. They don't report to teachers immediately
Seems to make sense to me, especially when he mentioned that it happened among adults too. I have read/watched so many cases of suicide at the workplace due to bullying (worldwide, not only in Japan). This really has to stop. I just want to earn my money. The company needs me as much as it needs you.
Yuta: What issues are people in your country interested in? Me:.....*looks at various riots, covid spread, and election year* ......I don't think we wanna go there....
Very interesting topic! Sometimes I have wondered about what were the big social questions in Japan and also other asian countries. Those questions make us feel closer and share common points.
I remember that many western people feared a WWIII after the killing in Iran from the US, though that was in early January, right? I wonder if the interviews were all made back then since no one talks about the corona situation there. Great interview, though!
What social issues would people in your country be interested in? I think it would be interesting to compare this to different countries.
But the kind of Japanese news that English-speaking media outlets talk about tend to be quite limited.
So if you want to learn Japanese with me, I will send you Japanese lessons where I teach you the kind of Japanese that real-life Japanese people speak. Click here and subscribe bit.ly/2Lwd01P
i live in northern ireland, so I'd say that the main political issue (aside from COVID related issues) is the threat brexit poses to our economy. Not very interesting
Freeing non-violent drug offenders, The increasing cost of living, and healthcare reform.
It is fascinating to me the phenomenon of shut-ins (引きこもり). Maybe it is not as prominent as it seemed, and certainly there are similar situations in Western countries. But it is concerning when considering the negative population growth rate in Japan. I don't have many skills, but I wonder if it is something a westerner could help with? I have always dreamed of working in Japan, but I'm a little older to begin as ALT, not to mention my student loans burden.
The issue with NHK sounds very familiar to anyone living in the UK.
Here we have the BBC, we have to pay a fee for "TV license" which was supposed to ensure that the BBC is able to run without advertisements. I don't have exact statistics but general consensus seems to be that not that many people actually watch the BBC, most people aren't bothered by advertisements (hell, some of them are actually entertaining), and most people don't actually watch TV itself but rather use apps like Netflix to get their shows.
I'm curious how people in Japan respond to NHK fees though, because over here most people just refuse to pay the TV license fee. I don't think they have any actual legal authority to chase you up if you refuse to pay.
Minimum wage and the housing market are a couple big issues in Canada, and the US as well by extension.
The buying power of the dollar has been rapidly decreasing since around 1970, yet the lower class is expected to be able to afford things just the same.
*UA-cam captions:* "Hey guys it's Utah."
🤣😄😄🤣
I love when he jumps for do his intro
😂😂
Hi Utah, its Hellahessy
Omg he even sounds like he says Utah. XD
The gentleman who talked about bullying is so wholesome ☺
It is actually a serious problem though. Although from what I’ve learned it’s pretty much the adults fault as usual. Basically they ignore the situation or cover it up. Which the leads to suicide of the young people they cannot afford to die. Its like there shooting themselves in the foot.
@@Floridamangaming729 I guess it's a deeply ingrained social issue as well. Don't get me wrong, I love japan, but I don't think the societal culture is too great. There's a saying in japanese that says 「出る釘は打たれる」(The nail that sticks out gets hammered down) that is often used to explain japanese behaviour and why bullying is such a big problem. There's a big conformity culture in japan where you have to be like the crowd, so that leads to more problems because nobody wants to also stick out by helping the bullied people. Therefore, kids get bullied and no one does anything at all. This is prevalent in western culture as well but more in japanese culture.
I know right?
Not as much psychical bullying as of late, but SNS and passive aggressive ways of bullying are still a huge problem here in Japan.
@@ourboy6878 Is that saying similar to how we say "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" in the U.S.?
2:20 We have the exact same issue here in Britain in regards to the BBC.
Everyone who owns a TV, a computer or even a phone, has to pay what's called the TV license, which is essentially a tax to fund the BBC. Everyone has to pay it even if they don't use their services.
Fun fact: BBC can't do anything with people that don't pay since they don't have any authority whatsoever.
@@obedhernandez4533 Exactly but they often target elderly people who are easier targets, which is disgusting
All people in the United States pay a tiny amount of money for our public broadcasting service, but it's not enough, so PBS has to spend a lot of time on telethons, trying to get people to donate money to keep them going. A lot of money donated comes from right-wing organizations, but it doesn't seem to be affecting the programming.
We have to pay for something similar here in Norway.
But it’s not a tax. If it was, rich people wouldn’t be charged the same as poor people.
This is incredibly interesting to see what issues people are worried about there.
they are japanese.. they r worry about everything.., this is why their government are mad either try to solve problem just do rule with madding law..
@@campkira nothing happens cause not enough people vote and engage in poltiics so conservatives that dont bring any change are voted in by elders
I really like to see the more political side of Japan. Possibly because Japanese people clearly don’t like to talk about it. (I guess that’s a cultural thing?)
@PP I think it's because it will damage unity along the people, especially if you live in a country that is almost homogeneous and in a strong tradition and culture environment. They even still have an emperor.
Leopold thats a very dumb comment. Politics is the most important aspect of any human life. Global warming, war, economic inequalities, social reform so many things are more important than you worrying about dividing someone.
@@Name-jw4sj Division causes those issues in the first place. Japan is the safest country in the entire world while cities are burning in your country lol
@@Name-jw4sj Talk about the issues, not the politicians take on it, then people will be less offended/surprised. It also helps avoiding "automatic alignment on party lines" when people can agree with on side on some issues and others on other issues. And well, when people are not interested, they're not interested, too, which is a pity but is also their right.
If you can refrain from insulting them, it might help, too.
@Leopold Japan is suffering an economic and demographic decline far more severely than North America or Western Europe. Of course, the West has plenty of problems, but claiming that Japan has no "political problems" is utterly ridiculous, specially from a country that is not only facing a steep decline from its domestic situation, but also being encroached by China and threatened by North Korea, and while still being subservient to the United States. Being passive all the time can be suicidal.
The guy at 2:40 seems to be the deepest thinker. I think it's great that he's thinking about maintaining Japan's standard of living and the bigger picture and not just the day to day.
He's got it smack on, young people are the most affected yet they don't vote or think that matters , but they sure do whinge on SNS and wonder why things don't change or go their way
problem with higher edu
@Leopold Is that a bad thing?
@Leopold Yeah they should, but they don't, hence the need for the protests.
@@mfearlydoom3790 that is why it should be ALM, not BLM
As for the man at 3:48, whether or not Silla did invade in the far past (which doesn't quite seem accurate or to the same extent as Japanese colonization), part of the issue today is the lack of acknowledgement and education about Japan's colonization in their history textbooks, etc. - to the extent that they don't seem to know much about why tensions are high between the two countries. It's really fascinating to see people's perception of relevant news though. Great video.
I am half japanese and none of my friends in Japan knew about what we did the Korea, and the rest of eastern Asia, I did inform them and recommended them to look into it
@@iagree8628 They do? What do they say about it? Textbooks from which grade?
@@iagree8628 yes they do, the problem is that it doesnt include even half of how bad it was.
On point! Atrocities caused by Imperial Japan back in World War II should be acknowledged by the Japanese people. In Filipino history textbooks, the four year course of Japan's invasion of our country led to inhumane acts like r*pe and s*xual slavery (see: comfort women). They organized a new government structure and assigned a puppet Filipino President of the Republic at that time.
forreal, the fact that japan has a memorial shrine dedicated to war criminals is a huge point of tension. the things japan has done and left unacknowledged are still remembered by my grandparents who experienced occupation firsthand. it's not some distant past that no one is affected by anymore.
What about you Yuta?
What Social issues are you interested in
You subscribing to his e-mail group.
His social issues involve peole not speaking Japanese. If you'd like to learn more, subscribe to his email group!
People not knowing how to Japanese
these replies are hilarious lmao
I'm surprised none of them mentioned the low birthrate issue...
Well, there are 2 couples who mentioned childcare center issues and an early childhood teacher who mentioned how there is many qualified people who did not consider her profession. Both problem could contribute to low birth rate in Japan.
Where i live, we have shortages of staff for childcare centers is still and issue even though we hire foreigners from China and the Philipines. I can't imagine what it's like in japan if they are only hiring Japanese for that position.
@@wahidpawana424 One would think with less children, there's less need for staff at childcare centers?
Its not an issue unless you are some kind of capitalist Jew
@@BioChemistryWizard low birth rate will become a major issue when there is not enough youth to replace the older people in the workplace
Or the environment or LGBT rights
You've been doing a really good job with your content, Yuta! I think a lot of your subscribers, (me included), are very interested in learning about Japanese topics that can't be read about, but can only be understood by talking to a Japanese person. Thanks for another great video.
This video was remarkably interesting to me, I think for this exact reason!
i was surprised to see just how much japanese and american people differ in terms of the average person's political and social views
U mean american by 2 continents?
@@ShuOgawa American is a suffix usually used for USA, and i think this is what he meant
Americans often seem suprised that the rest of the world doesn't think or act they way they do
@Septimus Productions 2 different family in a single city may have very different rule, view, common sense, ect. Then think about Florida and Washington, and now we talk about 2 different country from different side of the world. Each nation have their own culture, norm, politics, geography, race, and lot of ect. One should never think that everything work same to everyone.
@Leopold
"People are surprised nobody cares about any other America besides the USA"
Implying anyone cares about the US....
Great idea for a video (also provides a lot of ideas for future videos, right?!)
Fax machines are the only important issue.
* sends you a fax telling you you're doing doing great *
I thought CCP nerfed them long time ago? :)
@@alhira5098 Girl what
Not really, fax machines are super popular in Japan and are still used regularly. One out of every three Japanese homes has a fax machine.
Absolutely agree with the guy who said that the government is not doing well and it’s not changing because young people aren’t voting. You can apply that almost everywhere. The world should be on a very different path by now and it isn’t because of this. The older generations are still in full control of our futures and are destroying it.
You need compulsory voting.
@GihKaL Where is the left? Nobody is advocating for universal healthcare in the US. One of the guys in this video shows his horror in the fact that the US doesn't have single-payer health insurance. Koreans love their low co-pay national insurance, too. That's not even a leftist ideology in the developed world, as long as you have a body, and a job you can lose.
you need to educate yourself
those "The older generations" is the new generations lol
@@andrewstupak6668 bernie sanders was advocating for that
As a half-japanese person who grew up in the west, the only guy that actually gave me some hope is the bright jacket at 02:40
Either way this is only a zoom in on the population's thinking, but still, would like to expect more but it's very "さすが" - of course some of them would say that.
What is the meaning of the word that you wrote in kanji?
Ssofia
it means “as expected” that’s what they meant after the hyphen - “of course some of them would say that” =) as in everyone is giving a bit of a safe answer.
Ssofia in romaji it is “sasuga” , meaning what the person above me wrote!
Yeah, it was kind of disappointing. I get the strong impression from stuff like this and the Japanese media I consume that there is a strong preference for a negative peace that maintains an injustice rather than the conflict and responsibility of change.
It always surprised me that Japanese aren't very protective when it comes to privacy in media. Using real names and pictures is usually a no-go where I'm from (The Netherlands), and based on Japanese culture I'd expect at least a similar treatment. Except it's more the opposite imo.
Sounds like it really depends on which media you're talking about. TV and movie stars are like the "normal" celebrities with their information out in the open while internet creators and celebrities rarely expose anything about themselves, even if they appear in front of a camera they won't show their face or just wear a mask.
@@juch3 I wasn't referring to celebrities and more about everyone else; my comment was based off off the girl talking about Kyoto Animation.
I think this specific one was interesting. In the US, we think it’s important to say people’s names because it doesn’t remove their tragedy from the situation. They don’t turn into a statistic right away. Indeed, there are many times when the families of those victims become the target of attacks, like the families of the victims of Sandy Hook, but I don’t think that those families want us to forget about their children either, though that’s only what I think.
@@feelingpeachi3 That's an interesting point. I was thinking of the US as well actually, because it's interesting how there's this similarity between two cultures that are opposites in so many ways.
@@feelingpeachi3 except in Japan it goes being getting death threats. When your involved in those incidents even by accident, you and anyone related to you become shunned by most of society. It gets harder to find a job because of your reputation. That's why she thought it was wrong of them to reveal names because of how harshly it affects their everyday lives beyond the tragedy.
I like how he smoothly translate any sentence to learn Japanese with Yuta! =D
"I don't know why the relationship [between Japan and South Korea] is so bad..."
I have a few guesses.
Please enlighten us? If Korea is still holding resentment towards the Japanese due to WW2 then Koreans need to re-evaluate their standings in society. Koreans has a dark history too, especially during the Vietnam war where Koreans did exactly what they accuse Japanese of doing to them.
Ali I agree. China got screwed over much worse than Korea by Japan, yet the Chinese government doesn’t see the need to constantly bring it up. If anything the Chinese government is trying to strengthen ties with Japan. There’s no reason Korea should be constantly bringing up the past. Asia should work together, not distance themselves.
LittleWhole i understand what you mean, but “the chinese government is trying to strengthen ties with japan”?? what? no! there is still a lot of hostility between china and japan regarding issues like the senkaku islands and comfort women
@@Name-jw4sj It's not just about Japan's actions during WWII. A huge part of the problem is that the Japanese government, to this day, actively denies any wrongdoing during that period.
Compare this to Germany, which has owned up to and apologized for the Holocaust. The groups they persecuted are generally content not to hold grudges because they know that Germany recognizes its past actions as wrong and is actively working to make sure those actions aren't repeated.
As a Jew, I would certainly be a lot less happy with modern Germany if they continually denied the atrocities of past Germany. Modern Japan IS continually denying the atrocities of past Japan and I don't think it's unreasonable for Koreans to be upset about that.
As sad as it makes that one girl to see Japanese flags being burned, it makes the person burning that flag a lot sadder to hear the Japanese government insist that the Japanese army didn't brutalize their ancestors when they absolutely did.
There's still low lying resentment of Japan in China, but it's generally overlooked for the sake of trade.
This must have also been filmed before the Hana Kimura incident. I wonder if that would have been mentioned if the video was filmed again today.
Well a few people talked about bullying.
@@LL-bl8hd A couple, but they spoke about it in the sense of kids bullying each other or adults being bullied in the work place. I don't recall anyone mentioning suicide either.
The case with Hana Kimura was largely driven by folks on social-media and it ended in death. I don't think those people talking about bullying were talking about her but rather bullying in general.
From the clothing, lack of masks, and the old man describing the Soleimani assassination as recent, I'm guessing this was filmed in January of this year.
No shit; he said it was before corona...
Soon its gonna be Haruma Miura topic.
The girl in 4:25 looks super nervous for some reason.
@Leopold since he mentioned this was about before corona, that makes sense i think
The guy was talking about his concern for escaped prisoners and she was nervous because she's an escapee too.
@@MisterJang0 JAIL
@@MisterJang0 Yeah, I mean jokes aside the guy was talking a LOT about escaped prisoners and stuff like that... and seemed a little *too* excited to talk about this topic.
It feels almost like she's embarrassed by him talking about this, or he's talking about something that could genuinely land one or both of them in a lot of trouble.
I think maybe she's just not used to public interview or an introvert
This was a fantastic topic to see, very interesting.
A good number of those are very good things to focus on like work overtime, relations with Korea and privacy
4:07 I understand that the past is the past but settling something with money wont fix the relationship between Korea and Japan. The things Japan did towards Korea is not that long ago and there are still people who experienced the things Japan did. I'm from the Netherlands and we colonized Indonesia for a long time, there is still resentment left from Indonesia but the fact that the Netherlands recently apologized will maybe take away some of that resentment. Japan may have settled it with money but have they apologized for what they've done. I also understand that the people who have done those things may not be alive anymore but honestly it's just symbolic for a country to apologize. Thats my opinion.
3:48 When did Silla colonize Japan? Is he talking about the theory that the Yamato migrated to the archipelago from the Korean peninsula?
Yayoi are koreans that came to Japan and dominated native Jomons, Moderns Japanese Yamato are 80 to 90 percent Yayoi ancestry and 20 percent Jomons ancestry if that person is from northern Japan
You probably meant Yayoi (the Yamato are the result of mixing between Yayoi and Jomon).
The theory about the Proto-Japonic people migrating from Korea is among the most accepted ones but from what I understood, both Japanese and Korean people (due to nationalism) think this was a military conquest and don't realize these people were just a prehistoric nomadic tribe who migrated thousands of years ago, so they often tend to mix it with more recent historical events.
@@aioee877 The modern Koreans aren't ancestors of the Yayoi, both people lived alongside and influenced each other, the Proto-Koreanic people originated from Siberia and Manchuria while the Proto-Japonic (Yayoi) people originated in Southeast Asia, they ended up encountering in Korea while were migrating, the Yayoi migrated in Japan and mix with the Jomon, while the Koreans stayed in Korea.
I second the comments above, and I think that person was just being pedantic. There are serious grievances on the Korean/Chinese side that the Japanese government never really serious addressed except for briefly in the 90s, and the massive difference is that the modern Japanese state is for a large part built on the foundations of the imperial state and it's such a sad tautology to draw between Japanese Imperialism and pre-historic human migration
I second the comments above, and I think that person was just being pedantic. There are serious grievances on the Korean/Chinese side that the Japanese government never really serious addressed except for briefly in the 90s, and the massive difference is that the modern Japanese state is for a large part built on the foundations of the imperial state and it's such a sad tautology to draw between Japanese Imperialism and pre-historic human migration
Interesting! While a lot of these issues are pretty different, I think the pension and teaching issues are pretty relatable to the US. We’ve seen a decrease in funding for schools over the past few years, especially the salary for teachers. While not the exact same, it’s fascinating to know that others are having the same struggle.
The opinions on history/Korea were really interesting from a German point of view. Sadly they don't seem to be really knowledgeable about the underlying problems that cause the strained relationship. I would like them to watch the movie Shusenjo by Miki Dezaki.
ドイツから見ると、歴史や韓国についての意見が興味深いでした。しかし、悲しほどその問題点とお互いの良くない関係の原因が分からなさそうです。ミキデザキ監督の映画しゅせんじょをおすすめします。
Yeah, that movie was very interesting and I really enjoyed it. But at the same time, I was so depressed at the fact that our government is a cult and so immature even though I already knew that... I'm so worried about our future.
@@user-kf5ty3rb8jn I studied also a lot of written material and reviewed various sources for university, so I am quite familiar with the topic. I just thought that UA-cam wasn't the platform for academic texts^^ Of course the movie has subjective elements but also shows different sides of the argument and where they stem from. I don't think that there is something like "objective material" as everyone who is studying a topic has a certain agenda. But if you would like to read some older texts I would recommend reading Yoshimi Yoshiaki.
6:38 Aww, look at his sad face and forced laugh after told him they are not gonna need child support any time soon.
Reminds me of my buds who want a kid but their wives don't.
I like how the older people are interested in the relationship Japan has played in the past.
At 1:30「僕は参加しない方、、かな」 gets translated as "I think it's better not to participate". Shouldn't it be "I don't think I would participate" or something like that? Or does he imply 「がいいと思う」after the 「方」？ Pretty sure he doesn't.
Thanks for the video :)
The translation's right. You can interpret 「僕は」in this case as "I think/As for me/In my opinion". The subtle stress is there implying so.
It's not as much as he's talking about himself per se, it's more on his position on the matter.
As a Japanese, I thought that too. seems that he didn't clear his opinion about hong kong thing, and only stated in As-for-me style, which is very popular one in Japan.
正確な翻訳が「I lean towards not participating, I guess?」だと思うのですが。
That video was super interesting. When i was abroad studying in japan i was always interested into how japanese view world problems since they sometimes have pretty unique and sometimes narrow minded insights on the topics. My research topics were always shakaimondai related in japan like for example the apathy of voters in japans elections
Really interesting!! Thank u!!
+1 to the guy talking about NHK. They came and pestered me when I barely spoke any Japanese and didn't know what they were talking about, and finally came back with English pamphlets. I told them I didn't watch it and they said it was illegal not to pay. If only I had the good sense to pretend not to be home when they came by!
They go door to door to make you pay for tv?
Mutt Fitness it sounds like NHK is very similar to the BBC in that they have a weird monopoly on broadcasting and that you have to pay if you meet their sometimes weird definitions of broadcasting.
I've heard a long time ago that not paying these taxes is illegal but not imposed. Dunno about today.
@@MuttFitness Yeah, but you can shoo them away. I don't watch TV, so I tell them that, and they leave me alone.
Judging by 1Q84, the NHK fee collectors are really stubborn.
I'm really liking the content you're posting these days uta, they're really eye opening. Keep up the good work!
4:29 is she okay? Girl looks freaked out. They also look cold as hell so that could be it but still.... she looks like she's terrified 😨
I also noticed this..She probably has social anxiety issues.. most Japanese have this problem, so I have heard
I noticed too
I take it you don't see many people standing out in near freezing temperatures a lot. It's a perfectly normal thing to do (bobbing up and down) to stay warm and she's probably just looking around to stay busy and signal she would like to get moving soon.
Probably social anxiety cuz it's not just a conversation she is also being filmed
@@spelcheak well like I said in my comment cant tell if she's cold or is legit terrified. She looks more terrified
3:55 what’s talking this guy? Silla (One of the ancient Korean kingdoms) invaded Japan? That’s not true , he’s been reading too much far -right material.
it's silly indeed, the Silla kingdom was just a kingdom back then, Korea was still not existed back then.
If you need to bring up some event from 2000 years ago for your whataboutism it's really getting ridiculous.
Right? Actually it was Japan which had some bases in Baekje which then got destroyed by Silla. But Silla did not invade Japan!
@@iagree8628 they did apologize but if I am not mistaken, they took the apology back the year after and also took down multiple comfort women statues all over asia.
@I agree So? My post is about this guy false statement about Silla. We are not talking about the confort woman issue which happened a thousand years later. I don’t find the logical/historical connection with the FALSE statement about Silla.
Someone can explain what is the guy at 3:48 talking about ? What is Silla ? Japan has never been colonised so I don't understand
Propaganda
@@aaronjeung2210 ah okok thanks :) Still no idea what is silla tho ^^
Silla is one of the three kingdoms of Korea (along with Goryeo and Baekje). It was conquered by Goryeo a thousand years ago, it existed. Basically he's going really far back in ancient history.
Propaganda by the extreme right of Japan. Silla never had any confrontation with Japan with the expection of the Battle of Baekgang, which took place in the Korean peninsula not in Japan. He could also be refererring to the Yayoi. It is commonly believed (although still heavily debated) that the Yayoi (who shared common ancestry with proto-Koreans) come from the Korean Peninsula and migrated to the Japanese peninsula circa 1000 BCE. It is believed that the migration of the Yayoi led to the decline of the Jomon population. The dude fails to recognize though, that most modern Japanese are descendants of Yamato people who genetically are mostly Yayoi. Anyhow, he is comparing something that MAY have happened 3000 years ago, versus something that happened less than 100 years ago.
I absolutely love these videos. I do love learning conversational Japanese
cool topic, i'd like to see more about social problems. but it surprised me that apparently only one man mentioned working long hours. working your lives away in the age of automation - why does that seem normal to people? it's insane.
Because they are bored at home and they have no hobbies in general (Japanese men)
@@Србомбоница86 Note really true. A lot of Japanese people have hobbies even though they don't have much time for it.
From my experience in Japan there needs to be improvement on the knowledge about mental illnesses and reduction in harassment at the workplace. My time on the JET program was full of harassment that led me to a severe depression which I started having counselling and medication for from June 2019 and has been continuing until this day even after I returned to my home country.
I'm sorry you went through that. I just wanted to say it. I hope you stay strong! I'm a person with mental illnesses as well, so you're not alone, if it makes you feel any better. I hope you soon find tranquility and recover soon as well. I send you positive vibes. I think you're very strong and brave to comment about this openly. Thank you for that because we need to start addressing mental health illnesses as a issue worldwide.
.
Ps: I'm sorry if it's weird for you to read this from a complete stranger who you'll possibly never meet. Also, thank you for sharing.
Sorry if this is too personal but I’m curious as to how exactly you got harassed? You don’t have to answer if it brings back bad memories.
@Reis Bedir There were many things that happened I’ll just describe what I can remember
Screamed at over the microphone during Board of education meetings telling me that stuff like "this is Japan you can't have your culture here, Why did you come to Japan if you're going to bring your culture, we don't want you here get out" this was a response to me literally doing nothing while other people in the meeting were talking, playing on their phone etc.
It was also pretty bad at school where the students would grope me and make fun of me by doing a stupid accent (a behaviour that they copied from a Japanese teacher btw)
That same teacher also treated me like a lesser human, would refuse to listen to my opinion on anything because only Japanese people know how to teach English (her English was abysmal btw and we only communicated in Japanese apart from when she was being condescending, although I could not understand a word of her English so I could hardly call it "communication") she would constantly accuse me of things, saying that I’m the reason why the students English education suffering even though in her classes I would pretty much just stand still (I was less than a human tape recorder). She would complain about me to other staff in the school directly in front of me so she could try to get them to attack me (this was backed up with other teachers concerned about my well-being). And she reported me multiple times to the board of education for petty reasons and all they would do is give her a pat on the back, tell her what a great teacher she is and then attack me saying I’m a bad influence and that I need to be more subservient or get out.
This teacher (along with others) would also physically and verbally harass students such as dragging special needs kids out of the classroom kicking and screaming, telling students they won't amount to anything and screaming at them for 30+ minutes during class (classes were 45 minutes btw). Just watching a child scream in pain or get abused like that can be traumatising.
And to top it all off other ALTs would often joke about how funny it was for me to get "pwned" in meetings are claiming that everything that happened to me was my fault and I "need to improve".
I also managed to get into a relationship that was physically, sexually, and psychologically abusive filled with gaslighting and other terror. Managed to get out of that after a few months though.
This all continued for about 2 years 8 months until I finally put in my letter of resignation and left Japan possibly never to return.
This experience changed me from having a love of Japan and wanting to live there forever to warning people not to go there and figure out something in their home Country instead. At least one positive came from it that I have now decided to pursue psychiatry as a career so I can help others that have been through horrible experiences like mine.
@@123mrflibble That doesn't sound like you had a good experience at all I'm sorry to hear all that. I know those sorts of issues are a lot more common over there but I think you just got really unlucky and I don't think you should hold it over the whole country of Japan, just the individuals you were placed with. There are bullies and narcissists in such positions all over the place unfortunately and nothing is done about it.
oh,obviously this interview recorded 2019 or january this year.
and they are speaking in kansai dialect as you recorded this in OSAKA?
Yeah, it’s probably from the beginning of January since the last man mentioned the assassination of Soleimani
The man at 4:00 said that the Silla kingdom occupied Japan. But I couldn't find any records of such an incident. So is what he said indeed true? Does anyone know?
lol, obviously no, after all it's a middle age history, when country like Japan & Korea hadn't even exist. After all, the Silla people are basically nowadays Japanese Yayoi ethnic which are now called Yamato people
@@renaldisaputra91 The Japanese islands are separate from the Korean peninsula. So did the Silla kingdom occupy any of the Japanese islands?
Was this filmed in winter?
Yes.
It's interesting how people talk about Korea issues and it mirror's the train of thought on Japanese TV. "Why can't they just forget about that stuff and be friends with us so I can enjoy Kpop?" well because Japan wants to pretend that they never did bad things or understand why they were bad. Many Koreans who moved to Japan during the occupation of Korea are also treated poorly and were never accepted as citizens of Japan as they came from the occupied colonies and are seen as lesser. Japan might have better relations with its neighbours if they talk openly about the past and stop pretending they didn't do anything bad.
Japanese tend to be bought up with a superiority complex too and we see it in that guy's opinion of Hong Kong. He sees those Chinese people as savages destroying the city and not as people standing up for their rights against a government that wants to make criticising the government illegal.
Well.. The past is in the past.
people talking about korean issue are mostly just using the present day perspective because not all of them are historians and they doesnt have anything against the korean either because the girl who like K-Pop is just a young person and young people usually only put the "todays" first rather than the past because it is the one that effect them directly, just like what they said, the past stays in the past (i heard japan paid quite big amount of money too to repaid the damage, opening up social programs and other stuff). Its not that they dont believe they have done bad things in the past, they just tired of bringing it up everytime they have international event. Besides, its ok to be proud of your own country for once in a while.
But even though the government did so, the daily workers doesnt seems to care about it until the country keep on spending money for years to apologize with their taxes money.
When it comes to war, everybody did nasty stuff. Its just wrong to keep on bringing up old wounds and turns it over again and again, because that'll be what we called a discrimination. Why do we have to keep bringing it up if we can just be friends together?
Besides, there's no point on getting offended towards another country, take indonesia for example, They dont burn the Netherland flag, The malaysian doesnt burn indonesian flag, none of them keeps crying for war reparation money in recent years or getting offended by colonizer's flag, We dont even tear down the colonization era landmarks(Portugese and the Netherland's fortresses, japanese war tunnels, the japanese's execution well in my city, Netherland's prison, Their goddamn flag, Airplanes and so on) are now BOOM, they are monuments and they are protected under the indonesian law.
The past is in the past, we can learn from it, we can remember it but there's no point in getting offended by an old rotten wound.
P.S
I'm sure someone will bring this up later on.. Yes, Indonesian only has a problem with the communist ideology but the biggest problem we have with it is mainly connected to the religion side of it rather than just the mutiny and the indonesians are having none of it, We just cant welcome it because communist doesnt believe in god and they still is. So now it wasn't just an issue in the past but it is still an issue for today but then again.. The people doesnt even care about it anymore, we got much more trouble right now than bickering about the things happening in the 1960s.
While I agree Japan shoud admit to its wrong-doings in the past (which it partially did), I also really don't think the way korea is going about it is good, and i feel like they are stirrring up unnecessary conflict and because of this more koreans are starting to be racist towards Japanese than the other way around.
There should be time limit on pursuing this matter, else future generation will be paying debts forever, progress will be hampered. Should American, Australian make further compensation to natives? Should Europe be making amendments to Germany and China for clearly unfair surrender conditions? Should Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom pay for all expliotation made on colonies? Should murderer's all future generation be servants to victims forever? Should corporations and people filing for bankrupcy, including all decendants, repay all money (inflation and interest accountable).
People know that there is scope and timeframe on responsiblity and justice (from someone who is currently citizen of a former British colony that was previously invaded by Japan).
Also Korean seems okay with their 3rd president being former officer in Imperial Japanese army. He can claim being 'victim of circumstance' while Japanese decendants can't.
Japan being truthful about their past is a different matter. WW2 is too close a history to be either ignored or distorted. Disturbingly, it solely due to political reasons.
It's too serious of a topic to discuss here.
@@vapingcat1885 I've met my fair share of the radically right-wing Japanese youth.
@Miguel L. A major landslide and flood just happened, killing 50.
Every year, Japan is hit by many earthquakes, typhoons and snowstorm.
Conflict with neighbouring country over fishing rights in surrounding waters.
Pollution from neighbouring country.
War threats from neighbouring country.
Japan's peace came from continued effective effort, not a privilege.
There are two comments from the same person saying hi, mom come pick me up I'm scared
xD I refreshed the comments and my comment deleted .
now I can see my comment ._.
This is very interesting thank you for sharing Yuta!
I'm from iran, just bcs u asked: issues that our people are interested in are mostly political or economic, like IRAN's relationship with usa or economic problems like low salaries and high price of cars and electronic stuff, I mean everything is getting so expensive here:|
PS: it was interesting that a Japanese guy said about murder case on IRAN XD
4:15 feels like the girl is about to run away
I really feel sad for it, that the relationship between Japan and S. Korea apparently can be so bad sometimes, that even ordinary people perceive it and feel uncomfortable with it. There is so many great things in both countries that especially the younger generations I see, really appreciate of each other and want to enjoy from each other.
@Leopold The people affected by Japanese colonization are still alive today. Their lives were destroyed by the Japanese. You can't tell people to just get over being stripped of their livelihood.
The saddest part about this is no japanese school that teaches about WW2 history of Japan, so all modern japanese go to Korea or China and wonder "Why you hate bruh?"
@Leopold agree, Japan has to let it's "pride" behind and just admit that it did the horrible things. It's like if Germany were still denying the holocaust.
Lol Japanese school teaches WW2 history
While I was in S-Korea, they were feuding with Japan, because they never received apologies or contribution to the camps of Korean women used as slave prostitutes. These women are still alive today. Japan claims they cooperated willingly. Occupational past remains a sensitive part of the relationship.
I always enjoy these videos. This one was especially interesting to me. I'm an American woman who used to live in Japan but continue to follow Japanese news.
nobody mentioned the issue of:
Godzilla
godzilla is the hero bro he isnt a issue.
Vagrant yea what a normie!
Jk I love you.
Godzilla is only going to be an issue in August.
This was very interesting, thank you for making this video. ありがとうございます。
I miss Osaka :(
Go there then 😊
I love your channel. Very informative and interesting. I've been binge watching! Its takes my mind off the problems of the world. Thank you!
people be like "i don't understand why South Koreans don't like us" bro did you ever learn what japan did there not so long ago x'D
what is that?
More of this please!
I was kind of missing a few interviews, that’s why I decided to make some on my channel (coming), bringing my flavor to it, stay strong with Yuta but feel free to check me out
Great video Yuta.
6:15 so cute
it's really interesting to watch your video's...almost all are very relatable...keep up the good work!
I'm just happy Japan doesn't seem to be having too much trouble with a blown out culture war like what America is facing.
That doesn't mean those problems don't exists.
Also we can't think those people represent the opinion of all Japan.
IT IS indeed japanese culture to KEEP the problem under their own rugs and not to talk about it to anyone. Its almost like racism in USA, until people died publicly.
This was really good content
The guy who talk about spending tax on minimum wage, you got my respect
Can you explain how a minimum wage is funded by taxes?
Wendego666 uhh the taxes pay the government officials who pass legislation for minimum wage? I’m really reaching here XD
@@wendigo6667 didn't notice there was a comment, now that I think about it its difficult to apply directly, maybe like evo said it can only be done by regulation or maybe worker with minimum wage gets subsidies or something
Very enlightening. Thanks for sharing. God bless
person: *complaining abt 10% sales tax*
americans: ahaha at least you guys have healthcare
Remember that they probably have to pay high payroll taxes for that healthcare. Not saying that's not worth it, but a 10% sales tax on top of that probably hurts.
I don't think you know what healthcare means.... health insurance is not healthcare.
Naren Pradhan those taxes are like taking a cut to the arm to prevent losing your legs
@@burnsloads Not to mention that the vast majority of Americans have both....the horror story of "I had a freak accident which led me to getting bankrupted by medical bills" is extremely rare. And often those individuals are helped by their community or charity.
@@zosimustarkas_vt i would pay high taxes like everyone in the country rather than die because I don't have health insurance
4:13 What is that sound? Is so... relaxing xd
that was actually interesting, you should do more of these instead of only asking them about westerners. thanks.
This is really interesting 🤔
What are the differences in Osaka dielect?
to gloss over them, some of the main differences are all ～ない turn into ～へん (as long as they're the negative of a verb, you wouldn't say じゃへん instead of じゃない), だよ turns into やで, 本当に is ほんまに, 面白い is おもろい, etc... Maybe Yuta could make a video with more intricate explanations! *wink wink*
Thanks for this video! It was really interesting!
Interesting. I often wondered why the news there highlights auto accidents. I simply don't bother opening or trying to read the title. Traffic issues, although relevant, are smaller issues.
It's a common thing unfortunately as the population grows.
I think like the last Gentleman.
So interesting! Great video💓
Hi Yuta!
Can you please do a reaction video on the American cartoon show South Park mocking Japanese culture and language ? It would be interesting to see if you think that it is highly offensive or actually funny .
This is pretty informative, i love it!
Some of them piqued my interest too, so I'm on my way looking about it on Google~ 🤔
"If you want to learn about issues in Japan, you have to learn Japanese"
What do I watch your videos for.
Should do more interview like this. Very interesting and lots of different worries.
It's funny how a couple of people seem really concerned in retirement cost and retirement life in general... We don't have this concern in Europe, and I don't believe they have it in the US either; interesting...
might be the average age they live upto and retirement pay structures
I live in the states we do definitely have those concerns as well here especially when they continually propose to cut social security.
I believe the concern is more like the aging population that is not being equally replaced by younger generations, They currently have the largest proportion of elderly than any country in the world. There are more elders than young people due to the low birth rate and fertility issues + social issues. That eventually in a few decades will result in being way more pensionists than working youth, so there will not be enough workers to produce a stable economical state. That will put a serious strain in the economy and it will not likely bounce back. The solutions will be 1. birth more children. 2. allow a bigger flow of immigrands by then to cover the need of working force. In any case they are in a tight spot if things remain as is.
(You can find more info on the matter if you google: Elder to youth proportions in Japan, Aging of Japan, Japan age distribution. )
Im pretty sure that depends on the country since here in Finland the retirement problem is actively discussed
The demonstrations in France against the retirement reform pushed by the government contradict the idea that "We don't have this concern in Europe". French people (in general) do worry about not having enough to live decently in retirement, or not being able to retire until a much later age; they just still hope that a good chunk of it will come from the retirement system and not just from personal savings.
wow this was really interesting
You ought to do an expose on NHK. You could call it something like "Welcome to the NHK."
Good thing someone mentioned the bullying I've noticed that (aside from students) many of the workers bully their co-workers. I had read several stories about these issues in Japan and most of the people don't give attention to.
So they were worried/interested in legit social issues. I envy those people. We in the west get worked up over issues that are meaningless or aren't even issues to begin with (like the need to wear a mask during quarantine, the ethnicity of actors portraying characters in entertainment, etc.).
They talked about masks in a previous video. The character thing too.
I can say every video you upload is your best one yet, and always be surprised when you one-up yourself the next video. I hope to keep seeing your videos for a long time to come. :)
3:49 "past is past"? Funny. Do an interview on Japanese war crimes and ask this guy about his opinion again. Bet he'll be speechless, or in complete denial.
The vast majority of Japanese people who participated in the war are dead. Let it go.
@@MisterJang0 Yes they are dead. They probably died peacefully of old age or some attendant condition, but their victims died by MURDER and TORTURE, something that their surviving family and friends had to live on with for the rest of their lives. Nazi crimes can't be let go when they're still forcefully covered up by the Japanese government and education system, along with Japan's rise in right-wing nationalism that only exacerbates East Asian relations (not saying that the current tensions are only their fault).
@@mellowhead
Japan can try to sweep it under the rug as much as they want, but it doesn't stop everyone else around the world from knowing about it.
2:13 I felt the one with the NHK-fees.
In Austria we must also pay GIS to the stations, just to have a TV, no matter if you actually watch their programs, or just play games on it.
1:23 Yeah let's blame the ones who have the guts to stand up against Chinese Communist Party
so interesting!
Japanese people: bullying, Americans: THE ENTIRE IDENTITY OF OUR NATION
To be fair, they are a really homogeneous society and xenophobic in general, so their identity is not even a concern to them
there are good reasons for that. USA is not an ethnic nation, so what brings them together? Human nature is like that, you must find something in common with other people in order to feel that you are together in something.
@@randjan8592 uP
文化の様子はともなく、他の物があって欲しいんものが、例えば、差別の状況が日本人に与える影響やら社会の関係やらユタさんに色々でたっぷりの物をカバーしように頼みたいんものだ。ユタさんが流行の取材をすることに決めたなら気が済むよ。新型コロナや他のものに関する日本の様子をカバーし続けて感謝しています。様々な人々の意から見ると奥深いと思うけどさ、日本と韓国の関係あると違い問題点はちょっと敏感な科目ものがあるよ。
ほんとこういう動画は参考になる。
Are you Japanese? Some of the structures you're using I haven't seen before
@@白い紙-v1e もちろんいいですね。
@@LeM502 OK....
Judging from the clothes, no mention of the pandemic, references to the Iranian murder and the sales tax increase, this must have been shot in January.
Hi Yuta, can you please consider adding Japanese subtitles to your videos for people learning Japanese. Other than that, this video was very interesting.
i think you could try turning on the automated subtitles?
My belated comment : The extremely low birth rate and the exceedingly high お年寄りpopulation . Some label these as “social issues” but frankly these are the country’s survival issue........ Japan’s negative population growth year after year in the very very long run may mean the country can extinct.......
.
I would love to see more videos like this, and maybe ask those you interview about what they think about issues in other countries (such as gender equality), and how they feel about it in Japan, too.
It's funny, as a Japanese-American living in the US, most of what they talked about are such non-issues compared to some of the main issues that afflict the US even before the COVID Pandemic, from rampant inequality to lack of healthcare to massive student debt to institutional racism. Part of it is that Japan has a better social safety net, but also the Japanese are (for the most part) incredibly docile as a society. Issues that are deep, structural, cultural are rarely discussed with any depth if at all.
American news tends to be much more partisan and dramatized and that carrys over into the public discussion.
2:56
pretty much everywhere except europe and north america : Am I a joke to you?
The hong kong guy speaks like its not a big deal to live under the ccp iron fist. Typical passivity you see a lot in japan, which is an actual problem there.
Do you think its possible he just didn't know the extent? There's plenty of awful things going on in the world that we only have the vaguest knowledge of.
Obviously the huge protest took place, but when doesn't that happen in countries with shitty governments? But I think most of us are pretty oblivious to the extent that foreign UA-camrs are getting arrested... our boy Yuta would disappear from the face of the Earth if he did a video like this there.
I think I get what he is talking about though, but I don't necessarily agree with it personally.
@@cyqry No, he wouldn't.
I don’t think it has anything to do with being Japanese. We have people opposing important protests here in the US as well. Some people would prefer order is kept rather than important social issues be solved.
1:32
Yes, it's really concerning to see bully is such a big problem in Japan, when people are generally polite to each other. That's also the reason. They dont usually point out other's fault. They don't report to teachers immediately
Seems to make sense to me, especially when he mentioned that it happened among adults too. I have read/watched so many cases of suicide at the workplace due to bullying (worldwide, not only in Japan). This really has to stop. I just want to earn my money. The company needs me as much as it needs you.
Yuta: What issues are people in your country interested in?
Me:.....*looks at various riots, covid spread, and election year* ......I don't think we wanna go there....
Very interesting topic! Sometimes I have wondered about what were the big social questions in Japan and also other asian countries. Those questions make us feel closer and share common points.
Ugh she said kyoani and my heart broke.
I remember that many western people feared a WWIII after the killing in Iran from the US, though that was in early January, right?
I wonder if the interviews were all made back then since no one talks about the corona situation there.
Great interview, though!
Yuuta said at the start, it was before coronavirus exploded, they even talked about HK protesteers
It's kinda fun that we worried about *that* back in the day
Blame the media, making a nuclear mountain out of a sparkler molehill.