At 4:13, we made an error regarding depreciation and appreciation. The Plaza Accords were designed to weaken the American dollar relative to the Yen, boosting demand for U.S. exports. We are dumb and somehow didn't catch the visual error, and we are sorry!
I was just wondering - going from 239¥ per $ to 128¥ per $ means that the Yen has appreciated in strength, meaning it becomes less attractive for US companies to import Japanese goods as they receive less Japanese goods per $ spent.
Why did Japan agree to these accords when they would clearly hurt their economy? Did the US threaten them with sanctions or tariffs? Surely eating a 10 or 20% tariff would have had less of an impact than allowing the yen to appreciate that much.
@@jt92Japan would never be allowed to continue its economic boom since it was allies with the US. China doesn't have this problem. That's the difference.
I live in Japan. Their reluctance to think outside the box is extraordinary. And they never discuss the crushing public debt on the news because their media doesn't want to offend the governing elite. The population doesn't seek information, so they linger in a state of inertia. They spend all their time at work, shuffling paper from one side of their desk to the other. For example, teachers need to go to work even during school holidays. And all of their software is clunky and buggy; they have no sense of intuition when building websites, etc. And they're hostile to foreigners when it comes to renting out apartments and a lot of that kind of stuff, even some low-budget car rental companies refuse to lease cars out to non-Japanese speakers -- I don't even think it's racism, it's simply because they have their way of doing things and they don't have the mental dexterity required to accommodate people with different expectations and ways of doing things. They're ossified. I don't know how they can snap out of this torpor.
With regards to car rentals, I think it's just that no staff speak english. It's not like many speak english at the higher end shops either, but they have some pieces of paper with english and those translate devices they speak into. I don't think most of it is malicious, they simply would rather not embarrass themselves or their customer, or their boss.
@@jole0 Thank you for highlighting this. That's why I was careful to state that I do not think it's due to racism. They lack the flexibility to change their systems and ways. In the West, we tend to think the customer is king (well, that's what we say), but they seem to prioritise The Process. Within The Process, there is a great deal of care shown to the customer, extreme politeness, and probably the best customer service available anywhere, but the customer must follow The Process. Individuals are subordinate to procedures, so it's almost impossible to change anything once it's in place. Add to this the ageing population and a Confucian culture that reveres the elderly, and you have a recipe for chronic economic stagnation and technological atrophy.
Most people there also avoid any discussions regarding politics or anything serious as they perceive it as annoying and a nuisance that is disturbing harmony. They just continue to shuffle their papers at work ( 99% of times a completely useless task that could be automated by software, not even talking about AI ) and after that dive into escapism of which there is a plethora of options in Japan. Nothing changes.
Japan had overextended itself and suffered for it, but given it's demographic situation, Japan's current existence seems like the best case scenario for countries whose demographics are declining.
Really?? That's what you took from the video.?? Not the US forcing japan to artificially devalue it's currency to support american exports and bring down japanese exports??
@@yatarookayama8329 Is that even possible? Like even if Japan had the most efficient farms on the planet, would that even be enough to feed all of Japan comfortably without net food or fertilizer imports? Also in what world could Japan become energy independent? None of the materials needed for any mode of energy production exist in Japan in sufficient quantities without imports.
Thank you so much! Real estate speculation is (in my view) a terrible terrible thing. Land is a non productive asset and constrained. In lieu of checks and balances it can lead to extremely negative outcomes. Henry George and Adam Smith both wrote about this, but for some reason modern capitalists ignore there warnings.
@@2and20 "For some reason" because they are in it, and if the system changes they might not come out on top. If their even is a top once workers get it
Someday a nation will be clever enough to make laws that effectively prohibit real estate speculation forever, and those people will enjoy a very very long period of prosperity.
Unfortunately, no one will try to fix the system until it reaches its limits. The middle class, with its power families and its accomplices. There is a pattern in human history where this problem escalates into war before it becomes visible. No one fixes the system until it reaches a critical point or until it reaches them. Henry George is not perfect, but he has raised the issue. Many have ignored the structural problems of the system because they do not seem to be an immediate problem and they seem to be hindering progress.
So i just checked Wikipedia, it said the Plaza accords were to make the American dollar depreciate relative to the Yen which made the US exports more attractive . This is the exact opposite of what this video claims at 4:13 so yeah ooops, slight mistake.
I show this content and creator itself only copy paste naration without proper depth analysis and proof reading.. Shame on you for misleading by rack up money from adsense and viewers
The biggest lesson to learn here is that America is no ones friend. Scared of the japanese technical prowess and literally bullying them into devaluing their currency, simply because they couldn't compete. That was the cause of th domino effect.
That was your take away??? Not the multitude of missteps taken? In any case, without USA. There isn't a peak for Japan to drop off from. The technology, manufacturing power all came from America. You would think Japan would know better, allying with USA even till today despite 2 atomic bombs dropped on by them. USA occupied Japan yet the Japanese are in general grateful to American. I don't think China is grateful to Japan for occupying them.
It seems that you forgot that they could refuse to sign the accord. They didn't get pressured into signing. At the time they thought it would be beneficial to them to aid their biggest trading partner which is the US. The real cause of the bubble is created by the Japanese policy makers.
This is such an incorrect statement. Due to the US, Japan was able to rise out of its destroyed empire (and before you tell me that USA attacked Japan, 1) Japan began the war, and 2) Japan colonized many countries which they exploited so many from, so not US fault for its destruction) due to the USA due to them providing loans which are way below market-rate at that time, allowing them to increase their GDP massively (similar to Marshall Plan in Europe). After these loans were granted, Japan could become the superpower that it is today, and all this tanks to US. When the US asked Japan for the $ to depreciate comparatively to 円, it could have said “no”. But… this would negatively affect their country even more, as this would hinder their economy (due to sanctions etc.) America is to thank for Japans wealth, not the fault for its fall now. It was living in a bubble, similar to S-Korea. Before you say “you don’t know about Japan” I live here and see everyday life, know the ins and outs etc.
To be fair, Zaibatsu as shown here is not very accurate. What made Zaibatsu (and now Keiretsu) different from a big comglomerate company is the bank inside the subsidiaries. For instance Mitsubishi has Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Mitsui and Sumitomo have Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. The bank inside the Holding is the core of the links. Plus, these 3 Keiretsu account already for 30% of Japan GDP. No other country (maybe Korea ?) shows this level of dependancy on so few companies.
It's so refreshing and beneficial to watch a video like this as a Chinese person. Over the past 15 years, the Chinese have been busy with real estate speculation, and young people are forced to bear lifetime loans from banks. This has caused weak domestic demand and dragged the economy into a situation Japan has been facing for years. Humans never took a lesson from history.
Thank you so much for the comment! We are contemplating making a video on the situation in china. One of the biggest things we have been trying to communicate on our channel is that real estate speculation is one of the most dangerous activities for an economy.
@@oakridgemall-8jl2h9f we had made a video on Canada, Australia and the US (which can be seen on our channel). We have also made a video on Brexit (i.e. the UK). We are contemplating California and other countries too. Thank you for the suggestions!
@@2and20The problem China is facing is way more challenging. The population is rapidly aging, the birth rate is plunging, and the international environment is getting tougher with the looming Trump presidency. seems like the whole country has been taken hold by defeatism.
It's true, Japan has some of the coolest tech, like those robotic bicycle parks, but when it comes to stuff like online banking, it can feel like you're stepping back in time. It’s frustrating how much they still rely on paper for things. You'd think with all the innovation they’d have caught up in these areas too. It’s kind of a love-hate situation-such a futuristic vibe in some places, and then this old-school lag in others.
Yes...work culture needs drastic change in Japan. It's almost 2025. Stop the old and wrong work culture. Also dont force employees to work overtime. In certain sectors...introduce 4 day work week, invest advanced R&D, let companies fail who can't perform and new companies rise. These are some of the solutions. AI can help japan a lot.
I read Japanese job adverts and they trumpet "112 DAYS HOLIDAY EACH YEAR!!!!!111!!" Yet, read further, and what they mean is a normal Mon-Fri week, with 52 weekends off, and 8 additional days. "112 DAYS HOLIDAY A YEAR" actually means..... *EIGHT* days. :P
wrong. Japan's economy is in decline not because of the working environment, but rather because the Japanese have stopped working. The average Japanese person currently works less hours than the average for OECD countries. When the Japanese economy was booming, such as during the period of high economic growth and the bubble economy, Japanese people worked far more than they do today. And as Japan's working environment improved, the economy declined, and so did the birth rate. The more Japan imitates the West, the worse the situation will get. Former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was right when he said that "Japan has no resources, but the people are its resources, so the Japanese must work hard". The only way to maintain the Japanese economy is for the Japanese to keep working.
Today is japans worst generation. As Japanese, I am so pissed off at Japan, the people and the government for being so lazy, stupid, and not getting us out of deflation and lost decades. I am awaiting news that Japan is back and is set to dominate once again, I am sick of hearing news of declining population, sluggish growth, export decline shit
Not just that, Americans government in the 80s interfear Japan's economy so basically if America haven't interfear it's trade economy. Japan wouldn't be in this situation
This video is pretty good overall but fell a bit sideways at the end - immigration is not a solution to Japan’s stagnant economy. Currently the country is issuing working permits to a large number of southeast Asian workers and this is visible. But low wage workers do not prop up an entire economy. Immigration of different talents like tech (hardware and software) with much higher paying jobs will help but still can only do so much - the triumvirate as you called out largely still exists. I told a Japanese friend unless you current ruling generation all die you will see no change. The culture also by design discourages out of the box thinking. An old saying goes the nail that stands out needs to be hammered down To me the second point is the lion share of the problem
Thank you for the thoughtful comment! I agree on both points and if you watch our last video which is on immigration you would see that we are aligned in our thinking.
But tech does not pay too well in Japan, my company hires a lot of foreigners, mostly Chinese and Korean new grads with CS degree and they all start wtih about 3 million JPY a year, which is above national average I suppose, but most of them easily bullied into 50+ hours of overtime with no compensation. Our free overtime policy is 40 hours and HR can work the other 10+ hours into things like extra days off, so in the end of the day if you count their hourly earning they aren't doing so great.
Software engineer in Japan here, 100% agree but the thing is tech workers like me get paid very little compared to back in the UK. Our jobs ain't seen as prestigious like in the states either. As the only foreigner in my company the younger workers tell me all their problems and you can see how the older generation is pushing their weight on them. What's being said about the recent immigration is also true, those that are coming here do not respect the culture at all. I was on a train coming back from finishing a JLPT and although the Japanese levels of everyone on the train was fairly high the people didn't care about Japanese norms, eating on the train and playing UA-cam videos on full volume.
Awesome video @2and20 thanks for sharing! Love your content Interesting insights on Japan, such an iconic place, the working age population segment was such an important metric for their overall population. Keeping it coming with the content & best of luck on the channel!!
Thank you so much for the kind words! And we are happy you enjoyed the video. If there are topics that you think we should explore moving forward please let us know :-)
Amazing video! Was in Japan last year, lovely country but clearly needs to reform the work culture and get rid of bureaucratic outdated processes. Immigration is one answer but I worry that the respect and charm of Japan will vanish
Japanese government needs to incentivize their local population to have kids through reduce taxation and stimulus. Else you will have continue to have a very small working force propping up the increasing larger retired population.
Ya they need to do much much more. I was in Japan recently, and even as someone who worked in finance, the working culture was shocking to me. How are young people expected to have kids when they work like dogs, don’t get paid enough and more
@2and20 agreed the fact that they even have a terminology for working so hard you fall asleep at your desk is crazy. It's not overly uncommon for people to die at work. It's a disaster.
You think it’s that simple? Japan is alienated and demoralised. 70% of men have no interest in relations with women, they lock themselves up in rooms for years on end and 100,000 people voluntarily disappear each year without a trace. Throwing money will not stop the inevitable. It is a social problem that is beyond the Japanese government’s ability to fix it
I lived and worked in Japan for several years at a top company. I can say confidently that incentive programs won't fix the birthrate - it has been tried in Japan and elsewhere. There needs to be a massive shift in social norms and policies to make it acceptable for people to go home at a reasonable hour and have a life. There also needs to be a concerted effort to move people out of Tokyo and into prefectures with a lot more space. Lastly, Japan needs to reform its social practices regarding women and their place in the family if they want to get young women excited about the idea of raising children.
this video is outdated, Japan's situation today is different than what it was based on your video. Almost every point other than the population decline has already been addressed. Inflation is steady at more than 2 percent, zombie companies are now being forced to survive or go bust, wages are increasing at the levels they were before the bubble, interest rates are climbing. slowly but steadily Japan's economy is getting better. Do some proper research next time
Kind of a trash time to post the story. Having even listened to it yet, but the fact that Japan's economy has done better this last year than it has in either 25 before it shows that they might finally be turning the page.
Japan is like A Brave New World since the 80s. You have to be skeptical of countries with thriving entertainment industry. It's often to distract its people from real problems.
Because our definition of cutting-edge tech has moved from hardware based to software based. Japan is great in hardware engineering, but they missed the boat and stifled innovation in software development. The past 30 years has shown how quickly software can scale on a global stage over hardware
This isn’t the whole story. Even in regard to hardware, Japan is not competitive in key markets like chip and gpu making. Heck, they are behind in evs too. This isn’t the 80s anymore. Hardware demands have changed
@@tariqbroadnax1675 chip and gpu hardware is driven by software innovation. Had Japan pivoted to software, they would have seen the need for chips and retooled
Growth isn't always something good. You can't see the stability and relatively equal quality of life they have? You don't have abandoned neighbourhoods or rotting slums in Japan like there is in neoliberalist USA. Their economy has challenges but it is far from awful. Managing those problems is far better than finding use in keeping high numbers of your population in painful poverty. Model of infinite growth isn't sustainable, even worse when it is fast and consistent growth - extract every tiny bit of value to the bone and the faster you extract the sooner you get to the breaking point. Last time this was done was how capitalists found themselves in the gallows at the hands of fascists and communists. Correct criticisms but the emotions are too american-centric.
@@2and20 sure but people don't have to live in them like it is in the US, people are adequately housed elsewhere. There are still plenty of unseen homeless but even their living standards are by far better than the rotting zombies in america streets. But swathes, I can't agree, random lots in the countryside is not the same as a dead city blocks because of callous administration.
Ya we should have been more clear on this. If you watch our last video we discuss immigration extensively and our view is the same as yours. We are not suggesting a ton of low skill immigration, we think that is a dangerous strategy. We moronically assumed that people would have watched our last video and understood our position, hence why we didn’t flesh it out in more detail here
@shatzofhudson When it accepted millions of immigrants from Syria, Turkey, Iraq, etc especially in the 2010s. Primarily in western and Northern europe. One of the main justifications was that it would help supplant Europe's aging workforce but it turned out to not help the economy as almost all the immigration was low skill work and the unemployment rate was very high. Furthermore it massively increased crime rates and decreased social trust.
I'd be interested to know if the Japanese blame the Plaza Accords for the economic disaster or the government's misguided policies in response to the Accord's effects.
I bet most have no idea about any of this, just like most folks around the world don’t know much about their own countries policies. That said, when I asked folks when I was in Japan they blamed the government
It's hard to blame the Plaza Accords when the US could have simply banned Japanese exports or ended their military alliance instead. The Plaza Accords were certainly too punishing in the form they took, but the US could have opted for a much, much darker outcome.
In Japan, there is almost no criticism of the Plaza Accord, not only by ordinary people but also by economic experts. This is just the beginning of a real estate bubble. We conclude that many of the troubles are the result of failures by Japanese politicians and bureaucrats. Some of them believed that it was immoral to make money through investment, and that the lower stock prices and land prices fell, the better people's lives would be, and so a disastrous financial tightening policy was implemented.
So you chose to completely skip the Plaza accords. Because before that, it was exports that was behind the strong economy. After the accords, it was forced supply of credit.
@@sunny3907 Americans had a point in complaining that Japan was unfair because Japan only exported and did not import. Therefore, the Japanese were able to accept America's demands and welcomed the proposals to raise living standards by increasing cheap imports. The problem is that exporting companies were hurt by the strong yen, and in response, Japan implemented policies that were biased towards monetary easing. As a result, a real estate bubble occurred. This is a failure on the Japanese side and is not directly related to the Plaza Accord.
Great video but maybe abit too negative? Japan still an advanced, high income country with a widely admired culture. Demographics is its biggest issue but far from alone in the developed world on that front or in east Asia in particular. The level of immigration needed to offset the low birthrate would be near impossible to achieve culturally for an East Asian state.
I am sorry to tell you this bud but everybody knows for a fact for a long time that Japan is not advanced anymore. They were couple decades ago however everything vanished after they decided that they should not change a strategy and all their "advanced technologies" are nothing more than just a pieces of metal compared to what china and us produce. People be using fax here which is absolute bizarre.I disagree about high income as well, because average income of around 1500 usd is considered to be pretty less compared to the rest of the world.
The best part is when you warn Canada and Australia this will happen to them. Australia has the worse economy thanks to useless oversize government. We have a housing ponzi scheme and mining as a side hustle. Difference is we have record breaking population growth because the government decided that the housing ponzi scheme must continue.
Government manipulation of economic markets always ends in disaster. Japan's first major mistake was listening to the corrupt Federal Reserve cartel and following the road to serfdom, practiced in America today.
While the japanese economy in gdp terms fell alot, for most people in Japan this is not so bad. The focus on GDP growth ignores the good parts of Japan as a country. Today there is quite affordable housing on most cities, excellent public transport and cheap high quality food. While the Japanese working culture is a bit too much, for many people in Asia, being able to work in Japan is seen as a great opportunity. With some modifications I think the Japanese economy is showing how a country can have high standards of living without having a constantly growing GDP.
Fortunately there is a new generation of younger Japanese that are challenging the traditional norms - when it comes to work, social and more. We see a lot of it in the arts, literature, music and films. It’s not perfect but they’re somewhat self aware
Japan's economic stagnation has continued for 30 years, so both the government and the people have gotten used to it and there is no longer any movement to resolve the issue. Most of the people have jobs and homes to live in, so there are no riots, and the LDP government continues despite its unpopularity.
@@2and20 The recent result of the election showed that LDP is no longer the ruling party since other parties also gained proportional votes and power to join the policy-making process.
You're right that Japan's economy has been in stagnation for decades, largely due to factors like an aging population, low birth rates, and slow technological growth. The government has struggled to spark meaningful change, but many people still have stable jobs and housing, which has kept social unrest low. The LDP's grip on power, despite its unpopularity, can be explained by a lack of viable alternatives and a deeply ingrained political system that favors stability over bold reforms. The situation feels more like acceptance than active problem-solving at this point.
if you travel to Japan is still one of the most unique country in the world, the transportation, the food, the culture, the city Tokyo, the Kyoto is beautiful and the people are very respectful 🙏. All countries in the world have their own economic issues and is tough.
Imagine if we had a single world economy. And finally moved towards a global state. Our sights and resources could then be focused on much greater things than petty wars and trying to keep certain countries in the third world to be exploited for cheap labor.
Japan's economy is fine, still 4th in the world. Their debts are in yen, so are effectively debt free. And they are letting in more foreigners than ever (seriously, it's all Chinese and Indians over there IYKYK), they'll be fine.
Another factor is that Japan is in USA's shoes - with china and S. Korea manufacturing, they took the market that made Japan rich just like how Japan took manufacturing from USA.
It's wild how the NikkeiIt's wild how the Nikkei's crash in the 90s shifted everything. Would the economy have been different if they'd acted faster? 💸
@@2and20 Yes, I am georgist but also trying to learn othe currents of thought, like Austrian etc. To me the Japanese crisis is very clear, money printing and unwillingness to let business fail, coupled with privatization of land rents. Solution: gold standard and LVT.
Amazing video. I lived in Japan during this time and this is exactly how it went down. The scary part? Looks a lot like the USA of today. Viya con dios friends.
It seems that it all started with huge trade imbalance between US-Japan trade that has been going for years The imbalance is reflected in Yen's value appreciating so much that the BOJ have to cut rates to ver y low levels which i believe is destabilizing it encourages speculation over production, penalizes savers and encourages bank to take risker activities. Didn't the fed a reach a similar situation with QE, with a high inflation consequences compounded by covid?
Because of centralised industrialization. Declining population is the norm for cities. When your population is focussed only on the city for resource generation, expect birth decline... Need to spread the love for there to be kids
Excellent overview especially highlighting how Canada and Australia seem to be going down this path. Canadas productivity crisis can also be summed up by monopolies protected by the government (bipartisan as both parties do this) and therefore leaving little incentive to invest in R&D and innovation. The speculative nature of housing in Can and Aus also siphons capital that could go towards businesses but instead goes to housing t whose appreciation is tax exempt therefore incentivizing all households to simple buy a house. That’s is until the music stops and the game of musical chairs ends and no one wants to buy or overpriced house and the industries are cutting jobs due to low revenues. Can and Aus will be joining Japan in the next decade as the only countries to have a 200%+ debt to GDP ratio. And all three will eventually default and face a crisis like Greece did in 2008.
And yet there are still people out there who, for whatever reason, think a stronger currency is good...when your entire economy depended on exports. Also not to mention, this video gloss over the reason why "wages didn't rise". For the longest time, Japan didn't really have inflation. Quite the opposite, cost of living remain the stagnant. Wages in other nations "rose" but that's also because cost of living there also rose.
11:09 I had to look up what "amakudari" means. Turns out this is the Japanese word for something we already have in America. We call it the "revolving door" - the practice of regulators leaving government jobs and getting jobs at the companies they regulated.
I understand information would be hard to come by. But can you do - to the best of y'all knowledge- a video on the prospects of the future Chinese economy in regards to Real Estate prices, GDP per capita and adoption of industrial technology amidst a rapidly aging/declining demographics?
Yes we have something in the works! China is tricky situation because of the planned economy and insane amount of stimulus the CCP can inject into the economy.
This indicates that you have been misled. China's economy increases by the total GDP of South Korea every two years. This is why China is accelerating the development of high-tech and phasing out backward production capacity. The only difference lies in the misunderstandings caused by exchange rate adjustments, which have led to the fabrication of a series of stories.😓
The US has 'invested' in plenty of regime change operations that have toppled democratically elected governments and infested the region with CIA-backed right-wing dictators. Please do not 'invest' in South America and leave the rest of the world alone too
Japan currently has a labor shortage in comparison to its industrial size, which has led to debates regarding immigration. However, in the near future of despair, when many human jobs will be replaced by AI due to the development of technology, if Japan maintains its industrial scale and suffers from an even more severe labor shortage than it currently has, the situation will be reversed. It will be a chance. In other words, in such an era, there would be chaos all over the world, but Japan, in contrast, could be one of the rare countries best able to take advantage of the benefits of AI technology while limiting the rise in unemployment. What do you think of this claim?
Japan's economy has been artificially bolstered by the fact that they spend less than 1% of their GDP on military. The US acts as Japan's security blanket and Japan took advantage of it.
If it did not foster innovation then why are japanese cars the most sough after and highest selling? Why are japanese companies the ones we keep buying from? Nintendo, sony etc. Your analysis is wrong.
Didn’t know cars and game consoles were the only criteria for innovation. Japan was ranked 4th in global innovation in 2007 its now ranked 13th. I believe your analysis is wrong. Just search up Hanko as further evidence.
@@2and20 Its not the only criteria but its a big part of it. Bullet trains, metro systems, IT companies Japan is still the tech hub, it is not THE tech hub nowadays but its still pretty good. 13th is a pretty great posistion. Japans fall off is certainly not because of its lack of innovation but due to foreign intervention and worsening demographics. In fact its highly innovative culture is why it didn't fall off even worse than it shouldv'e.
@@udit9257 As someone who lives in Japan, for 23 years now, is interested in this topic and has worked in/with the IT services sector I have been consistently perplexed at how Japanese has innovated and continues to in certain limited sectors, but completely fails to in others or fails to apply/extend it's innovations to the global market. Similarly, technologies that have long ago been adopted and heavily utilized in everyday life in other countries are not adopted here or only very slowly. Overall Japanese business owners are not as focused on growth which is refreshing but also (usually) not sustainable, there is strong resistance to change and a strong appreciation of retaining cultural practices with a respect for doing certain things the (often arguably harder) old school way. Japan plods it's own often curious path at which I used to be often frustrated, but am now finding myself more and more grateful and admiring.
Japenese cars are definetly falling behind the curve compared to most automakers in terms of inovation. Nintendo latest game console used outdated hardware on release, so 7 years later its a very old and is not what I would call inovative. For Sony I would like you to say something the Japanese parts of Sony has done that you can think of in recent years. Cause both Sony entertainment (movies, music) and Sony interactive entertainment (Playstation) are both based in the US, which are what most people think when Sony is mentioned nowadays. Cameras are the one area were Sony (and other japanese companies) are still proving dominant and inovative.
Japan in the 80s was wild. So many high quality anime projects were made, but an even larger amount of garbage anine was also funded since even the dumbest projects could get finding so you have a weird mix.
Great video man! especally i like last phrases, it's really true that if some stragegy work in past, this doesn't mean that it will work in present or in future.In my country many people think about Japan as a example of perfect economy, but when i ask some persons - can you tell me one Japanese company, which was founded in last 30 years and became world famous, people say something like Toyota, Sony or Honda...
Just come back from Japan fantastic place economy still looks huge people outside of Japan are just guessing all the doom and gloom people still look like they are ok designer cloths lots of cars eat out every night there made work culture is slowing ohh and they have 30 percent of people cheat on there spouses
@@Woolong-ql1jhI would really love to hear your perspective on the Japanese economy. Since you live their (at least, that's what I got from your comment), I am always open to hear your own experiences and opinions.
Some of your footage seems jumpy/stuttering. Check what FPS your footage is vs the timeline. Any 24p footage will probably need to be interpolated to 30/60fps otherwise your editing software might just be repeating frames unevenly.
Its possible it came from the source that way. I only noticed it because in a prior life i was really into media production. I doubt it bothers viewers so not worth spending too much time to look into. Great vid overall 👍
Blade Runner debuted in 1982, seven years before Japan hit its all time highs economically. Also, ask yourself why the Japanese were sending capital abroad, Rockefeller Center, instead of investing it in their awesome economy? Pump and dump with a core of companies surviving and thriving like Toyota. China has peaked and we are witnessing its own Japanification.
Lol no. China anticipated what USA would try to do to it, and was way ahead. They are leading in almost all major high tech technologies ( and in 5-10 years, in ALL) and building strong economic/financial block with most of the world. It is the USA that will be left with it's weak and stagnant allies.
Westoids in the 2000s: China has peaked and is about to imminently collapse Westoids in the 2010s: China has peaked and is about to imminently collapse Westoids in the 2020s: China has peaked and is about to imminently collapse
Japan was litteraly forced at gunpoint to destory their economy for decadess becouse they were to good. This is a sad reality of any nation that looses a war.
sounds like usa back stab its ally in the back when their economy was getting too strong. Then the subsequent overcorrection of monetary policy and counter overcorrection of that lead to the lost decade. After that fallen, china then take its place. You would think usa would take this chance to fix its badly managed domestic manufacturing sector after that currency battle. Too bad they chose to waste that tariff protection on dish out stock dividend and stock buyback instead of innovating on product. Look at how bad harvy davidson compare to its international competitor. A product that rest on the protection of tariff for too long is doom to rot from within.
I'd say, everywhere else besides Tokyo prefecture is not doing so well. It's mainly the governments fault for concentrating everything into Tokyo. I think they're planning to fix population decline by accepting more foreigners. No idea how that will work out since it values its culture too much.
Japan is the world's most smartest nation that's they are into saving culture than accepting unfamiliar immigrants... I feel sad for Japanese girls who aren't marrying for careers...
They've increased work visas in recent years to my understanding, I don't see how they could've done much different through out with immigration, one would have to recognize the barriers, there's 100 different reasons why mass immigration was and isn't feasible for Japan, the most basic thing being the language, people can't just move there and become proficient in Japanese, so you'd have to make the assumption that you can live and work there by speaking English, which is quite the assumption, a posibility I assume if you're very desired, or some menial passer-by job, it's all just not compareable to the US, there'd be a typical claim that one needs immigration as to retain welfare, say eldercare, but in EU countries the immigrants tend to get citizenship, so this is obviously peak stupidity as every immigrant, as they get old or sick, would they themself demand more than what they could've contributed so it's all a joke.
Arggggg! I'm tired of these videos that concentrate on the asset numbers and fail to see the high quality and stability of life here, which has been constant throughout the so called lost decades. An overheated market gains trillions of dollars in unreasonable asset values, so setting the peak as the baseline and crying about trillions from the peak is totally ridiculous. Despite all this "stagnation", Japan's economy ran at healthy surplus every year until the 2011 tsunami hit, and the main reason for subsequent deficits has been the need to import coal and gas after suddenly shutting all the nuclear power plants. Yes, there are issues, but they are nowhere as bad as these videos make out
dude, i know someone who used to live there, and it's way worse than you'd think, if they were more open to new solutions, they could fix their population decline which is set to lose 30 percent of their people by 2050
At 4:13, we made an error regarding depreciation and appreciation. The Plaza Accords were designed to weaken the American dollar relative to the Yen, boosting demand for U.S. exports. We are dumb and somehow didn't catch the visual error, and we are sorry!
I was just wondering - going from 239¥ per $ to 128¥ per $ means that the Yen has appreciated in strength, meaning it becomes less attractive for US companies to import Japanese goods as they receive less Japanese goods per $ spent.
Why did Japan agree to these accords when they would clearly hurt their economy? Did the US threaten them with sanctions or tariffs? Surely eating a 10 or 20% tariff would have had less of an impact than allowing the yen to appreciate that much.
@@jt92maybe having military bases established on home soil plays a huge role
It’s okay. Good video and thanks for catching your mistake 😊
@@jt92Japan would never be allowed to continue its economic boom since it was allies with the US. China doesn't have this problem. That's the difference.
I live in Japan. Their reluctance to think outside the box is extraordinary. And they never discuss the crushing public debt on the news because their media doesn't want to offend the governing elite. The population doesn't seek information, so they linger in a state of inertia. They spend all their time at work, shuffling paper from one side of their desk to the other. For example, teachers need to go to work even during school holidays. And all of their software is clunky and buggy; they have no sense of intuition when building websites, etc. And they're hostile to foreigners when it comes to renting out apartments and a lot of that kind of stuff, even some low-budget car rental companies refuse to lease cars out to non-Japanese speakers -- I don't even think it's racism, it's simply because they have their way of doing things and they don't have the mental dexterity required to accommodate people with different expectations and ways of doing things. They're ossified. I don't know how they can snap out of this torpor.
The Japanese purposely crashed their economy. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
With regards to car rentals, I think it's just that no staff speak english. It's not like many speak english at the higher end shops either, but they have some pieces of paper with english and those translate devices they speak into.
I don't think most of it is malicious, they simply would rather not embarrass themselves or their customer, or their boss.
@@jole0 Thank you for highlighting this. That's why I was careful to state that I do not think it's due to racism. They lack the flexibility to change their systems and ways. In the West, we tend to think the customer is king (well, that's what we say), but they seem to prioritise The Process. Within The Process, there is a great deal of care shown to the customer, extreme politeness, and probably the best customer service available anywhere, but the customer must follow The Process. Individuals are subordinate to procedures, so it's almost impossible to change anything once it's in place. Add to this the ageing population and a Confucian culture that reveres the elderly, and you have a recipe for chronic economic stagnation and technological atrophy.
It’s just too hard and they can’t be fucked.
Most people there also avoid any discussions regarding politics or anything serious as they perceive it as annoying and a nuisance that is disturbing harmony. They just continue to shuffle their papers at work ( 99% of times a completely useless task that could be automated by software, not even talking about AI ) and after that dive into escapism of which there is a plethora of options in Japan. Nothing changes.
Japan had overextended itself and suffered for it, but given it's demographic situation, Japan's current existence seems like the best case scenario for countries whose demographics are declining.
Really?? That's what you took from the video.??
Not the US forcing japan to artificially devalue it's currency to support american exports and bring down japanese exports??
Japan is back to normal now
1.2%
It has fight off recession now they need to bring back the yen stronger than before
To do that they need to dump more us treasures
Japan mostly needs 2 things energy and Food independence and that will take at least another 20-25 years to 2050 !
@@yatarookayama8329 Is that even possible? Like even if Japan had the most efficient farms on the planet, would that even be enough to feed all of Japan comfortably without net food or fertilizer imports? Also in what world could Japan become energy independent? None of the materials needed for any mode of energy production exist in Japan in sufficient quantities without imports.
Love this channel! It’s rarely pointed out just how catastrophic rampant real estate speculation is for an economy.
Thank you so much!
Real estate speculation is (in my view) a terrible terrible thing. Land is a non productive asset and constrained. In lieu of checks and balances it can lead to extremely negative outcomes.
Henry George and Adam Smith both wrote about this, but for some reason modern capitalists ignore there warnings.
@@2and20 "For some reason" because they are in it, and if the system changes they might not come out on top. If their even is a top once workers get it
Someday a nation will be clever enough to make laws that effectively prohibit real estate speculation forever, and those people will enjoy a very very long period of prosperity.
Unfortunately, no one will try to fix the system until it reaches its limits. The middle class, with its power families and its accomplices. There is a pattern in human history where this problem escalates into war before it becomes visible.
No one fixes the system until it reaches a critical point or until it reaches them. Henry George is not perfect, but he has raised the issue. Many have ignored the structural problems of the system because they do not seem to be an immediate problem and they seem to be hindering progress.
So i just checked Wikipedia, it said the Plaza accords were to make the American dollar depreciate relative to the Yen which made the US exports more attractive . This is the exact opposite of what this video claims at 4:13 so yeah ooops, slight mistake.
Yes I know :(. Me dumb
yeah i was like...
I show this content and creator itself only copy paste naration without proper depth analysis and proof reading.. Shame on you for misleading by rack up money from adsense and viewers
Yes this was missed. It’s the opposite but the graphics later showed that the yen needed to appreciate against the dollar
The biggest lesson to learn here is that America is no ones friend.
Scared of the japanese technical prowess and literally bullying them into devaluing their currency, simply because they couldn't compete.
That was the cause of th domino effect.
Appreciating, not devaluing.
That was your take away??? Not the multitude of missteps taken? In any case, without USA. There isn't a peak for Japan to drop off from. The technology, manufacturing power all came from America. You would think Japan would know better, allying with USA even till today despite 2 atomic bombs dropped on by them. USA occupied Japan yet the Japanese are in general grateful to American.
I don't think China is grateful to Japan for occupying them.
The world is learning and acting accordingly
It seems that you forgot that they could refuse to sign the accord. They didn't get pressured into signing. At the time they thought it would be beneficial to them to aid their biggest trading partner which is the US. The real cause of the bubble is created by the Japanese policy makers.
This is such an incorrect statement. Due to the US, Japan was able to rise out of its destroyed empire (and before you tell me that USA attacked Japan, 1) Japan began the war, and 2) Japan colonized many countries which they exploited so many from, so not US fault for its destruction) due to the USA due to them providing loans which are way below market-rate at that time, allowing them to increase their GDP massively (similar to Marshall Plan in Europe). After these loans were granted, Japan could become the superpower that it is today, and all this tanks to US. When the US asked Japan for the $ to depreciate comparatively to 円, it could have said “no”. But… this would negatively affect their country even more, as this would hinder their economy (due to sanctions etc.)
America is to thank for Japans wealth, not the fault for its fall now. It was living in a bubble, similar to S-Korea. Before you say “you don’t know about Japan” I live here and see everyday life, know the ins and outs etc.
1:26 The US saw the Zaibatsu structure and thought “yeah we could use some of that back home”
South Korea saw it and said "hold my beer"
@@SuperSmashDolls The two Koreas with their own type of dystopias: 💀
To be fair, Zaibatsu as shown here is not very accurate. What made Zaibatsu (and now Keiretsu) different from a big comglomerate company is the bank inside the subsidiaries. For instance Mitsubishi has Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Mitsui and Sumitomo have Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. The bank inside the Holding is the core of the links.
Plus, these 3 Keiretsu account already for 30% of Japan GDP. No other country (maybe Korea ?) shows this level of dependancy on so few companies.
So you’re telling me the downfall began with a “little” intervention from the US…
Did you missed 90 percent of video?
@@jovansingh2134People will ignore the other 90% if it reinforces their pre-existing beliefs.
Sadly, no one wants to learn.
Always the case
It's so refreshing and beneficial to watch a video like this as a Chinese person. Over the past 15 years, the Chinese have been busy with real estate speculation, and young people are forced to bear lifetime loans from banks. This has caused weak domestic demand and dragged the economy into a situation Japan has been facing for years. Humans never took a lesson from history.
Yes, I do see the same happening to China as well. And unfortunately, that's the best case scenario.
Thank you so much for the comment! We are contemplating making a video on the situation in china.
One of the biggest things we have been trying to communicate on our channel is that real estate speculation is one of the most dangerous activities for an economy.
@@2and20 Have you make videos on California, Canada, Portugal, Belgium, Sweden, UK?
@@oakridgemall-8jl2h9f we had made a video on Canada, Australia and the US (which can be seen on our channel). We have also made a video on Brexit (i.e. the UK). We are contemplating California and other countries too. Thank you for the suggestions!
@@2and20The problem China is facing is way more challenging. The population is rapidly aging, the birth rate is plunging, and the international environment is getting tougher with the looming Trump presidency. seems like the whole country has been taken hold by defeatism.
Yeah Japan is so weird. They have robotic bicycle park but horrendous online bank. They still enforce paper documentation.
Yeah..... everything is still done by fax. It's bizarre.
And you need to bring your seal, right
It's true, Japan has some of the coolest tech, like those robotic bicycle parks, but when it comes to stuff like online banking, it can feel like you're stepping back in time. It’s frustrating how much they still rely on paper for things. You'd think with all the innovation they’d have caught up in these areas too. It’s kind of a love-hate situation-such a futuristic vibe in some places, and then this old-school lag in others.
Yes...work culture needs drastic change in Japan. It's almost 2025. Stop the old and wrong work culture. Also dont force employees to work overtime.
In certain sectors...introduce 4 day work week, invest advanced R&D, let companies fail who can't perform and new companies rise. These are some of the solutions. AI can help japan a lot.
I read Japanese job adverts and they trumpet "112 DAYS HOLIDAY EACH YEAR!!!!!111!!" Yet, read further, and what they mean is a normal Mon-Fri week, with 52 weekends off, and 8 additional days. "112 DAYS HOLIDAY A YEAR" actually means..... *EIGHT* days. :P
Some Japanese really like overtime because the pay isn't very good. So the extra money really helps.
@@JourneyTHistory Then increase the Pay
Let's start with 5 day work week, yes legally Japan is still having 6 day work weeks and Saturday is being treated as a company welfare.
wrong. Japan's economy is in decline not because of the working environment, but rather because the Japanese have stopped working. The average Japanese person currently works less hours than the average for OECD countries. When the Japanese economy was booming, such as during the period of high economic growth and the bubble economy, Japanese people worked far more than they do today. And as Japan's working environment improved, the economy declined, and so did the birth rate. The more Japan imitates the West, the worse the situation will get. Former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was right when he said that "Japan has no resources, but the people are its resources, so the Japanese must work hard". The only way to maintain the Japanese economy is for the Japanese to keep working.
Today is japans worst generation. As Japanese, I am so pissed off at Japan, the people and the government for being so lazy, stupid, and not getting us out of deflation and lost decades. I am awaiting news that Japan is back and is set to dominate once again, I am sick of hearing news of declining population, sluggish growth, export decline shit
sadly, it seems like the only way for the Japanese government to abandon their archaic ways of doing things is for the country to go bankrupt.
そんな日本の事憂いてるなら政治家になってよ
So basically just like Germany, where politicians are busier suing average citizens who speak out against them and their policies…
Not just that, Americans government in the 80s interfear Japan's economy so basically if America haven't interfear it's trade economy. Japan wouldn't be in this situation
@@user-vz5gi5tw9xでもそういうのが起こらないのですよ。外国に逃げるしかない。
Another great video! You deserve WAY more subs!
Thank you! This means a lot to us! If you liked it please share with others who you think would appreciate this sort of analysis :-)
As a Canadian I can whole-heartedly agree that being in a small box is a recipe for future disaster.
Japan is a dying country from Military, Economy, and Technology. US just won't let them thrive or grow as a country
nothing to do with the US.
Its 90% Japan’s mistakes 10% plaza accord
If only japan hadn’t listened to the US
If Japan hadn't, the US would have implement what Trump will do in January.
@ChristopherGaming02 Hey bud, stick to gaming. You have no clue why Japan stagnated
Comon we all know that Japan is US's lapdog.
@@Mr.Jim89 No reason to be disrespectful
@@aryanparikh9085 Uninformed opinions don't deserve respect like op's for example
This video is pretty good overall but fell a bit sideways at the end
- immigration is not a solution to Japan’s stagnant economy. Currently the country is issuing working permits to a large number of southeast Asian workers and this is visible. But low wage workers do not prop up an entire economy. Immigration of different talents like tech (hardware and software) with much higher paying jobs will help but still can only do so much
- the triumvirate as you called out largely still exists. I told a Japanese friend unless you current ruling generation all die you will see no change. The culture also by design discourages out of the box thinking. An old saying goes the nail that stands out needs to be hammered down
To me the second point is the lion share of the problem
Thank you for the thoughtful comment! I agree on both points and if you watch our last video which is on immigration you would see that we are aligned in our thinking.
But tech does not pay too well in Japan, my company hires a lot of foreigners, mostly Chinese and Korean new grads with CS degree and they all start wtih about 3 million JPY a year, which is above national average I suppose, but most of them easily bullied into 50+ hours of overtime with no compensation. Our free overtime policy is 40 hours and HR can work the other 10+ hours into things like extra days off, so in the end of the day if you count their hourly earning they aren't doing so great.
Software engineer in Japan here, 100% agree but the thing is tech workers like me get paid very little compared to back in the UK. Our jobs ain't seen as prestigious like in the states either. As the only foreigner in my company the younger workers tell me all their problems and you can see how the older generation is pushing their weight on them. What's being said about the recent immigration is also true, those that are coming here do not respect the culture at all. I was on a train coming back from finishing a JLPT and although the Japanese levels of everyone on the train was fairly high the people didn't care about Japanese norms, eating on the train and playing UA-cam videos on full volume.
@@yifanpan2138national average household income is 5.2 M yen.
Awesome video @2and20 thanks for sharing! Love your content
Interesting insights on Japan, such an iconic place, the working age population segment was such an important metric for their overall population.
Keeping it coming with the content & best of luck on the channel!!
Thank you so much for the kind words! And we are happy you enjoyed the video. If there are topics that you think we should explore moving forward please let us know :-)
Amazing video! Was in Japan last year, lovely country but clearly needs to reform the work culture and get rid of bureaucratic outdated processes. Immigration is one answer but I worry that the respect and charm of Japan will vanish
Totally! I was there too recently. I love the country and much of the culture; however, I think the experience for locals is very different
Experience from Europe, immigration is not the answer
Still one of the safest places in the world
They used to say that about Sweden.
@@oakridgemall-8jl2h9fand then the Muslims appeared
For now.....
Japanese government needs to incentivize their local population to have kids through reduce taxation and stimulus. Else you will have continue to have a very small working force propping up the increasing larger retired population.
Ya they need to do much much more. I was in Japan recently, and even as someone who worked in finance, the working culture was shocking to me. How are young people expected to have kids when they work like dogs, don’t get paid enough and more
@2and20 agreed the fact that they even have a terminology for working so hard you fall asleep at your desk is crazy. It's not overly uncommon for people to die at work. It's a disaster.
Absolutely! When I was there I definitely saw my fair share of workers sleeping in public. Sad indeed
You think it’s that simple? Japan is alienated and demoralised. 70% of men have no interest in relations with women, they lock themselves up in rooms for years on end and 100,000 people voluntarily disappear each year without a trace. Throwing money will not stop the inevitable. It is a social problem that is beyond the Japanese government’s ability to fix it
I lived and worked in Japan for several years at a top company. I can say confidently that incentive programs won't fix the birthrate - it has been tried in Japan and elsewhere. There needs to be a massive shift in social norms and policies to make it acceptable for people to go home at a reasonable hour and have a life. There also needs to be a concerted effort to move people out of Tokyo and into prefectures with a lot more space. Lastly, Japan needs to reform its social practices regarding women and their place in the family if they want to get young women excited about the idea of raising children.
Great video! I learned a lot. 👍
Thank you so much for the comment! Means a lot, especially from a long time subscriber!!!
this video is outdated, Japan's situation today is different than what it was based on your video. Almost every point other than the population decline has already been addressed. Inflation is steady at more than 2 percent, zombie companies are now being forced to survive or go bust, wages are increasing at the levels they were before the bubble, interest rates are climbing. slowly but steadily Japan's economy is getting better. Do some proper research next time
nice propaganda dude - but JP is in a recession
Kind of a trash time to post the story. Having even listened to it yet, but the fact that Japan's economy has done better this last year than it has in either 25 before it shows that they might finally be turning the page.
❤
possibly the best content creator focused on economics.
loved it.
Wow that’s high praise! Thank you so much, means the world :)
Japan is like A Brave New World since the 80s.
You have to be skeptical of countries with thriving entertainment industry. It's often to distract its people from real problems.
I dont understand how japan were still pioneers in tech during the 90s then?
Because our definition of cutting-edge tech has moved from hardware based to software based. Japan is great in hardware engineering, but they missed the boat and stifled innovation in software development. The past 30 years has shown how quickly software can scale on a global stage over hardware
This isn’t the whole story. Even in regard to hardware, Japan is not competitive in key markets like chip and gpu making. Heck, they are behind in evs too. This isn’t the 80s anymore. Hardware demands have changed
@@tariqbroadnax1675 chip and gpu hardware is driven by software innovation. Had Japan pivoted to software, they would have seen the need for chips and retooled
アメリカのダークサイドでは？
We made a video recently about it! Check it out on our channel :)
Yeah but they don't have our drug problem, or our rising crime rate
My friend, crime is significantly increasing. You can learn Japanese to be able to understand the news
Growth isn't always something good. You can't see the stability and relatively equal quality of life they have? You don't have abandoned neighbourhoods or rotting slums in Japan like there is in neoliberalist USA. Their economy has challenges but it is far from awful. Managing those problems is far better than finding use in keeping high numbers of your population in painful poverty. Model of infinite growth isn't sustainable, even worse when it is fast and consistent growth - extract every tiny bit of value to the bone and the faster you extract the sooner you get to the breaking point. Last time this was done was how capitalists found themselves in the gallows at the hands of fascists and communists. Correct criticisms but the emotions are too american-centric.
There are literally swathes of abandoned cities and homes in Japan…
@@2and20 sure but people don't have to live in them like it is in the US, people are adequately housed elsewhere. There are still plenty of unseen homeless but even their living standards are by far better than the rotting zombies in america streets. But swathes, I can't agree, random lots in the countryside is not the same as a dead city blocks because of callous administration.
Deflation still a problem in 2024? Japanese people will definitely tell you otherwise...
I was searching for a while for a good summary of what exactly seems to be Japan's problem (without it being a documentary of 1 or 2 hrs).
Thanks!
I agree with everything in this video except for the point on immigration. Europe tried mass immigration and it failed massively.
Ya we should have been more clear on this. If you watch our last video we discuss immigration extensively and our view is the same as yours. We are not suggesting a ton of low skill immigration, we think that is a dangerous strategy.
We moronically assumed that people would have watched our last video and understood our position, hence why we didn’t flesh it out in more detail here
@@2and20 Hey it's alright, it's a good video overall don't be too harsh on yourselves.
When and how did Europe "try mass immigration"?
@shatzofhudson When it accepted millions of immigrants from Syria, Turkey, Iraq, etc especially in the 2010s. Primarily in western and Northern europe. One of the main justifications was that it would help supplant Europe's aging workforce but it turned out to not help the economy as almost all the immigration was low skill work and the unemployment rate was very high. Furthermore it massively increased crime rates and decreased social trust.
@@shatzofhudson the last 20 years...and it went terrible
Hold on, the workforce is shrinking, yet those workers find it *harder* to get jobs? That's MADNESS!
I'd be interested to know if the Japanese blame the Plaza Accords for the economic disaster or the government's misguided policies in response to the Accord's effects.
I bet most have no idea about any of this, just like most folks around the world don’t know much about their own countries policies. That said, when I asked folks when I was in Japan they blamed the government
It's hard to blame the Plaza Accords when the US could have simply banned Japanese exports or ended their military alliance instead. The Plaza Accords were certainly too punishing in the form they took, but the US could have opted for a much, much darker outcome.
In Japan, there is almost no criticism of the Plaza Accord, not only by ordinary people but also by economic experts. This is just the beginning of a real estate bubble. We conclude that many of the troubles are the result of failures by Japanese politicians and bureaucrats. Some of them believed that it was immoral to make money through investment, and that the lower stock prices and land prices fell, the better people's lives would be, and so a disastrous financial tightening policy was implemented.
So you chose to completely skip the Plaza accords. Because before that, it was exports that was behind the strong economy.
After the accords, it was forced supply of credit.
@@sunny3907 Americans had a point in complaining that Japan was unfair because Japan only exported and did not import. Therefore, the Japanese were able to accept America's demands and welcomed the proposals to raise living standards by increasing cheap imports. The problem is that exporting companies were hurt by the strong yen, and in response, Japan implemented policies that were biased towards monetary easing. As a result, a real estate bubble occurred. This is a failure on the Japanese side and is not directly related to the Plaza Accord.
Why South Korea's economy is bad
Great video but maybe abit too negative? Japan still an advanced, high income country with a widely admired culture. Demographics is its biggest issue but far from alone in the developed world on that front or in east Asia in particular. The level of immigration needed to offset the low birthrate would be near impossible to achieve culturally for an East Asian state.
Thank you!
Possibly. Japan is in a decent spot but we think of Japan as lost potential.
I am sorry to tell you this bud but everybody knows for a fact for a long time that Japan is not advanced anymore. They were couple decades ago however everything vanished after they decided that they should not change a strategy and all their "advanced technologies" are nothing more than just a pieces of metal compared to what china and us produce. People be using fax here which is absolute bizarre.I disagree about high income as well, because average income of around 1500 usd is considered to be pretty less compared to the rest of the world.
The best part is when you warn Canada and Australia this will happen to them. Australia has the worse economy thanks to useless oversize government. We have a housing ponzi scheme and mining as a side hustle. Difference is we have record breaking population growth because the government decided that the housing ponzi scheme must continue.
Government manipulation of economic markets always ends in disaster.
Japan's first major mistake was listening to the corrupt Federal Reserve cartel and following the road to serfdom, practiced in America today.
Sounds a lot like Germany now
Immigration isnt a cure all. Actually, it doesnt necessary solve the foundational problem.
コメント見たから、数人がこういう方言った「日本の低迷経済的に言った人が現在的見ないで、思いずにで」僕外人たちの感情は日本人に対しては日本国失敗ことは過去だったか今現代日本が回復だった、でも日本人の生活状態の現在興味ない長所だけど探して、世界の経済が未来に直進してなんて日本状態このままいる? 政府、政治、統治、政権、こういうまだまだ言及ない)しかし僕いわゆることがちゃんと正しいこと訳では無い、日本嫌いない、日本人と国家を蔑まない。ところで、僕は日本、和国、倭、"Will arise againいつか。。。(これだけです)
While the japanese economy in gdp terms fell alot, for most people in Japan this is not so bad. The focus on GDP growth ignores the good parts of Japan as a country. Today there is quite affordable housing on most cities, excellent public transport and cheap high quality food. While the Japanese working culture is a bit too much, for many people in Asia, being able to work in Japan is seen as a great opportunity.
With some modifications I think the Japanese economy is showing how a country can have high standards of living without having a constantly growing GDP.
denial is your middle name.
Central planning sooner or later ends up in disaster, something statists always fail to realize.
Isn’t Nikkei growing like crazy?
Why does no one make a video of the darkside of usa?
Check out our videos! We did haha
Fortunately there is a new generation of younger Japanese that are challenging the traditional norms - when it comes to work, social and more. We see a lot of it in the arts, literature, music and films.
It’s not perfect but they’re somewhat self aware
True, but hikikomorism has been around for decades. And other countries are following suit.
Japan's economic stagnation has continued for 30 years, so both the government and the people have gotten used to it and there is no longer any movement to resolve the issue. Most of the people have jobs and homes to live in, so there are no riots, and the LDP government continues despite its unpopularity.
Very astute point, I wonder how long the LDP can cling on though. Seems like the people are reaching a tipping point
In Japan's latest election, the Liberal Democratic Party has lost its majority
@@2and20 The recent result of the election showed that LDP is no longer the ruling party since other parties also gained proportional votes and power to join the policy-making process.
You're right that Japan's economy has been in stagnation for decades, largely due to factors like an aging population, low birth rates, and slow technological growth. The government has struggled to spark meaningful change, but many people still have stable jobs and housing, which has kept social unrest low. The LDP's grip on power, despite its unpopularity, can be explained by a lack of viable alternatives and a deeply ingrained political system that favors stability over bold reforms. The situation feels more like acceptance than active problem-solving at this point.
if you travel to Japan is still one of the most unique country in the world, the transportation, the food, the culture, the city Tokyo, the Kyoto is beautiful and the people are very respectful 🙏.
All countries in the world have their own economic issues and is tough.
Imagine calling Kyoto a "village".
@ imagine all the people livin life in peace
@ imagine all the people livin life in peace
@@raumfahreturschutze lmao
@@Andre-yb1me Imagine all the Africans and Muslims moving in.
Imagine if we had a single world economy. And finally moved towards a global state. Our sights and resources could then be focused on much greater things than petty wars and trying to keep certain countries in the third world to be exploited for cheap labor.
Banger!
Japan's economy is fine, still 4th in the world. Their debts are in yen, so are effectively debt free. And they are letting in more foreigners than ever (seriously, it's all Chinese and Indians over there IYKYK), they'll be fine.
Another home run 2 & 20, you really hit this one out the park. Keep up the great work, love your videos.😊
Thanks so much!! Really appreciate it!
Another factor is that Japan is in USA's shoes - with china and S. Korea manufacturing, they took the market that made Japan rich just like how Japan took manufacturing from USA.
It's wild how the NikkeiIt's wild how the Nikkei's crash in the 90s shifted everything. Would the economy have been different if they'd acted faster? 💸
A land value tax would fix this
Are you a georgist? I agree with the land value tax. I believe it is the most intelligent tax, but for some reason it is very uncommon.
@@2and20 Yes, I am georgist but also trying to learn othe currents of thought, like Austrian etc. To me the Japanese crisis is very clear, money printing and unwillingness to let business fail, coupled with privatization of land rents. Solution: gold standard and LVT.
@@rolandcoeurjoly7115 I agree with much of your take. I need to reflect more on the benefits of a gold standard though.
Amazing video. I lived in Japan during this time and this is exactly how it went down. The scary part? Looks a lot like the USA of today. Viya con dios friends.
Appreciate the positive feedback!!! Fingers crossed the US (and others) don’t fall into this trap. It’s absolutely avoidable :)
It seems that it all started with huge trade imbalance between US-Japan trade that has been going for years The imbalance is reflected in Yen's value appreciating so much that the BOJ have to cut rates to ver y low levels which i believe is destabilizing it encourages speculation over production, penalizes savers and encourages bank to take risker activities. Didn't the fed a reach a similar situation with QE, with a high inflation consequences compounded by covid?
Free Japan from US Hegemony!
4:13 the script (not just the visual) is also missleading. The JPY had to appreciate, not depreciate as per your video.
Look at our pinned comment, we addressed this!
“The Japanese yen needed to depreciate relative to the US dollar”
An empire at work 😅 you can be free until you challenge the USA model!
But Japan's economy is wonderful today or at least it's heading to something wonderful.
the issue is demographics, not enough kids in Japan.
Because of centralised industrialization. Declining population is the norm for cities. When your population is focussed only on the city for resource generation, expect birth decline...
Need to spread the love for there to be kids
Awesome content!
Very informative.
Thanks!!
Please do one on the direction Australia is heading.
Thank you! We really appreciate it :)
Excellent overview especially highlighting how Canada and Australia seem to be going down this path.
Canadas productivity crisis can also be summed up by monopolies protected by the government (bipartisan as both parties do this) and therefore leaving little incentive to invest in R&D and innovation.
The speculative nature of housing in Can and Aus also siphons capital that could go towards businesses but instead goes to housing t whose appreciation is tax exempt therefore incentivizing all households to simple buy a house. That’s is until the music stops and the game of musical chairs ends and no one wants to buy or overpriced house and the industries are cutting jobs due to low revenues.
Can and Aus will be joining Japan in the next decade as the only countries to have a 200%+ debt to GDP ratio. And all three will eventually default and face a crisis like Greece did in 2008.
Canada, California, UK are in worse situations.
Thank you for the kind words!!!
Canada is just awful
And yet there are still people out there who, for whatever reason, think a stronger currency is good...when your entire economy depended on exports.
Also not to mention, this video gloss over the reason why "wages didn't rise". For the longest time, Japan didn't really have inflation. Quite the opposite, cost of living remain the stagnant. Wages in other nations "rose" but that's also because cost of living there also rose.
11:09 I had to look up what "amakudari" means. Turns out this is the Japanese word for something we already have in America. We call it the "revolving door" - the practice of regulators leaving government jobs and getting jobs at the companies they regulated.
I understand information would be hard to come by.
But can you do - to the best of y'all knowledge- a video on the prospects of the future Chinese economy in regards to Real Estate prices, GDP per capita and adoption of industrial technology amidst a rapidly aging/declining demographics?
Yes we have something in the works! China is tricky situation because of the planned economy and insane amount of stimulus the CCP can inject into the economy.
This indicates that you have been misled. China's economy increases by the total GDP of South Korea every two years. This is why China is accelerating the development of high-tech and phasing out backward production capacity. The only difference lies in the misunderstandings caused by exchange rate adjustments, which have led to the fabrication of a series of stories.😓
什么?!
The US needs to invest in South America like Japan.
The US has 'invested' in plenty of regime change operations that have toppled democratically elected governments and infested the region with CIA-backed right-wing dictators. Please do not 'invest' in South America and leave the rest of the world alone too
Japan currently has a labor shortage in comparison to its industrial size, which has led to debates regarding immigration.
However, in the near future of despair, when many human jobs will be replaced by AI due to the development of technology, if Japan maintains its industrial scale and suffers from an even more severe labor shortage than it currently has, the situation will be reversed. It will be a chance.
In other words, in such an era, there would be chaos all over the world, but Japan, in contrast, could be one of the rare countries best able to take advantage of the benefits of AI technology while limiting the rise in unemployment.
What do you think of this claim?
Almost a century later, the subjects of Yamato still cannot put down the crack pipe of Shōwa statism (國家主義, Kokkashugi).
Japan's economy has been artificially bolstered by the fact that they spend less than 1% of their GDP on military. The US acts as Japan's security blanket and Japan took advantage of it.
They literally can't. It's in their constitution.
If it did not foster innovation then why are japanese cars the most sough after and highest selling? Why are japanese companies the ones we keep buying from? Nintendo, sony etc. Your analysis is wrong.
Didn’t know cars and game consoles were the only criteria for innovation.
Japan was ranked 4th in global innovation in 2007 its now ranked 13th.
I believe your analysis is wrong. Just search up Hanko as further evidence.
@@2and20 Its not the only criteria but its a big part of it. Bullet trains, metro systems, IT companies Japan is still the tech hub, it is not THE tech hub nowadays but its still pretty good. 13th is a pretty great posistion. Japans fall off is certainly not because of its lack of innovation but due to foreign intervention and worsening demographics. In fact its highly innovative culture is why it didn't fall off even worse than it shouldv'e.
@@udit9257 As someone who lives in Japan, for 23 years now, is interested in this topic and has worked in/with the IT services sector I have been consistently perplexed at how Japanese has innovated and continues to in certain limited sectors, but completely fails to in others or fails to apply/extend it's innovations to the global market. Similarly, technologies that have long ago been adopted and heavily utilized in everyday life in other countries are not adopted here or only very slowly. Overall Japanese business owners are not as focused on growth which is refreshing but also (usually) not sustainable, there is strong resistance to change and a strong appreciation of retaining cultural practices with a respect for doing certain things the (often arguably harder) old school way. Japan plods it's own often curious path at which I used to be often frustrated, but am now finding myself more and more grateful and admiring.
Japenese cars are definetly falling behind the curve compared to most automakers in terms of inovation. Nintendo latest game console used outdated hardware on release, so 7 years later its a very old and is not what I would call inovative. For Sony I would like you to say something the Japanese parts of Sony has done that you can think of in recent years. Cause both Sony entertainment (movies, music) and Sony interactive entertainment (Playstation) are both based in the US, which are what most people think when Sony is mentioned nowadays. Cameras are the one area were Sony (and other japanese companies) are still proving dominant and inovative.
@@udit9257they also still heavily rely on fax machines
Great channel got a sub!
Thank you! Happy to have you on board :)
the situation in japan back then eerily similar to the 2008 crash...
Japan in the 80s was wild. So many high quality anime projects were made, but an even larger amount of garbage anine was also funded since even the dumbest projects could get finding so you have a weird mix.
So basically, it outshined its master and was forced to bend the knee as a result.
12:26 “a costly mistake” I have a strong suspicion it isn’t the Japanese making the mistake in the long run…
No promotion without gray hairs.
Nice work ! 😀👍
Appreciate it! Means a lot since we are a small channel!
the last sentence of the reason japan economy recessed is no arguing a fkn far cry reference lmao
Great video man! especally i like last phrases, it's really true that if some stragegy work in past, this doesn't mean that it will work in present or in future.In my country many people think about Japan as a example of perfect economy, but when i ask some persons - can you tell me one Japanese company, which was founded in last 30 years and became world famous, people say something like Toyota, Sony or Honda...
Thank you so much for the positive feedback! And absolutely, the economy is stale and hasn’t progressed for decades :)
Here to support the algorithm
minute 4:15 is wrong the yen needed to appreciate relative to the dollar no depreciate
Ugh :/
@@2and20 great video though, minor mistake
I was wondering if i was dumb till i check this comment
Just come back from Japan fantastic place economy still looks huge people outside of Japan are just guessing all the doom and gloom people still look like they are ok designer cloths lots of cars eat out every night there made work culture is slowing ohh and they have 30 percent of people cheat on there spouses
You were just a tourist. You don't know how we suffer over here.
@@Woolong-ql1jhI would really love to hear your perspective on the Japanese economy. Since you live their (at least, that's what I got from your comment), I am always open to hear your own experiences and opinions.
@ab-3983 sorry, no time. I have to work like a slave to feed myself
Some of your footage seems jumpy/stuttering. Check what FPS your footage is vs the timeline. Any 24p footage will probably need to be interpolated to 30/60fps otherwise your editing software might just be repeating frames unevenly.
Any examples/time stamps for what you mean?
8:18 is one example. See how its a periodic jump about every second?
@@Baronvonbadguy3 Maybe I don't see but on all of our animations we use posterize time at 12 FPS so maybe it's that?
Its possible it came from the source that way. I only noticed it because in a prior life i was really into media production. I doubt it bothers viewers so not worth spending too much time to look into.
Great vid overall 👍
Thank you, appreciate the feedback though :)
Japan’s 90s is China tomorrow 😂 economy stagnant
Blade Runner debuted in 1982, seven years before Japan hit its all time highs economically. Also, ask yourself why the Japanese were sending capital abroad, Rockefeller Center, instead of investing it in their awesome economy? Pump and dump with a core of companies surviving and thriving like Toyota. China has peaked and we are witnessing its own Japanification.
Lol no. China anticipated what USA would try to do to it, and was way ahead. They are leading in almost all major high tech technologies ( and in 5-10 years, in ALL) and building strong economic/financial block with most of the world.
It is the USA that will be left with it's weak and stagnant allies.
Westoids in the 2000s: China has peaked and is about to imminently collapse
Westoids in the 2010s: China has peaked and is about to imminently collapse
Westoids in the 2020s: China has peaked and is about to imminently collapse
Japan mostly needs 2 things energy and Food independence and that will take at least another 20-25 years to 2050 !
Japan was litteraly forced at gunpoint to destory their economy for decadess becouse they were to good. This is a sad reality of any nation that looses a war.
Typo at 0:42, the year in x-axis should be 1990 and not 1900
I thought we fixed that! Ugh! Thanks for pointing it out
sounds like usa back stab its ally in the back when their economy was getting too strong. Then the subsequent overcorrection of monetary policy and counter overcorrection of that lead to the lost decade. After that fallen, china then take its place. You would think usa would take this chance to fix its badly managed domestic manufacturing sector after that currency battle. Too bad they chose to waste that tariff protection on dish out stock dividend and stock buyback instead of innovating on product. Look at how bad harvy davidson compare to its international competitor. A product that rest on the protection of tariff for too long is doom to rot from within.
Superb video
I'd say, everywhere else besides Tokyo prefecture is not doing so well. It's mainly the governments fault for concentrating everything into Tokyo. I think they're planning to fix population decline by accepting more foreigners. No idea how that will work out since it values its culture too much.
it's already too late
Japan is the world's most smartest nation that's they are into saving culture than accepting unfamiliar immigrants... I feel sad for Japanese girls who aren't marrying for careers...
mr. unknown indian
Japan has no dark side. Imperial Japan is the greatest.
I’m sure you’d be glad to say that with your face shown?
They've increased work visas in recent years to my understanding, I don't see how they could've done much different through out with immigration, one would have to recognize the barriers, there's 100 different reasons why mass immigration was and isn't feasible for Japan, the most basic thing being the language, people can't just move there and become proficient in Japanese, so you'd have to make the assumption that you can live and work there by speaking English, which is quite the assumption, a posibility I assume if you're very desired, or some menial passer-by job, it's all just not compareable to the US, there'd be a typical claim that one needs immigration as to retain welfare, say eldercare, but in EU countries the immigrants tend to get citizenship, so this is obviously peak stupidity as every immigrant, as they get old or sick, would they themself demand more than what they could've contributed so it's all a joke.
so everything happened was an aftermath of that mentioned meeting! meaning, its not Japan's fault! right?!
Japan was kneecapped by the Plaza Accord.
Arggggg! I'm tired of these videos that concentrate on the asset numbers and fail to see the high quality and stability of life here, which has been constant throughout the so called lost decades. An overheated market gains trillions of dollars in unreasonable asset values, so setting the peak as the baseline and crying about trillions from the peak is totally ridiculous. Despite all this "stagnation", Japan's economy ran at healthy surplus every year until the 2011 tsunami hit, and the main reason for subsequent deficits has been the need to import coal and gas after suddenly shutting all the nuclear power plants. Yes, there are issues, but they are nowhere as bad as these videos make out
dude, i know someone who used to live there, and it's way worse than you'd think, if they were more open to new solutions, they could fix their population decline which is set to lose 30 percent of their people by 2050