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>That's obviously false. No it isn't. The culture shock for a westerner is no more than you'd find going to any other country in the far east. Sure, you'll f

by gozur88 11y ago

>That's obviously false. No it isn't. The culture shock for a westerner is no more than you'd find going to any other country in the far east. Sure, you'll find it less in countries with which you share a cultural heritage. That's sort of obvious and irrelevant. Is Japan any weirder than China, or Vietnam, or Thailand? No. >From the mere fact that you can go back and find your laptop you left for a couple of hours in a public square... Not actually true. At least, not true enough that you'd want to chance it in real life. >...attitudes towards work Less foreign to me than attitudes in most of Europe. >...marriage Not strange at all. >parents Only strange if you'd never been anywhere else in Asia. >individualism Again, no more foreign to me as much of Europe. >size of the average house That's just Tokyo. And London, too, for that matter. >That's not how it works. It's not a simple act of deducting people. The demographic changes that would have be in work for decades to make the population shrink by 35 million would also mean that the remaining 90 million million will be much older (in average) than back in the past when they were 90 million again, and this also has effects in society, economy, pension systems, etc. Which I didn't think I had to spell out. Yes, it will cause some difficulties. No, that doesn't mean they can't take it in stride. Again, Japan is a wealthy country, and these are problems that can be papered over with wealth. Will Japan's GDP be smaller as a result? Sure. Does it matter? No. What matters is GDP per capita.

lionhearted 11y ago
Jumping in and having spent time in all those countries (I'm in China right now), I think Japan does have some uniqueness as a country that, until the Allied occupation which didn't last long, never was under a Western form of government or ideology (colonialism, communism, or Christianity / Islam). Thus they retain some traditional forms that tend to get destroyed when a country is colonized or goes under a Western ideology. Beyond that, I don't disagree with you but worth keeping in mind.
coldtea 11y ago
Now you say that the cultural shock for a westerner "is no more than you'd find going to any other country in the far east". The problem is I never said it wasn't and that Japan is somehow more shocking that other far east places. You were the one that attempted to trivialize it, saying that the shock would be the same for Japan "as for anywhere". In fact I specifically mentioned several places that would be more foreign to a westerner and some that wouldn't, not just Japan. At least now you seem to concur that Japan would be as foreign as those "far east" places. >Which I didn't think I had to spell out. Yes, it will cause some difficulties. No, that doesn't mean they can't take it in stride. Again, Japan is a wealthy country, and these are problems that can be papered over with wealth. You said: "they'll be a lot better for it, too", when in fact there will be ONLY difficulties. What would be better about an aging and shrinking population, plus economic difficulties? More parking space? That they can "paper over these problems with wealth" (and for a country with a huge national debt and an problematic economy compared to the eighties early nineties), doesn't diminish the problem. It's just another way to say it would be costly. If you mean that they'll survive and still exist, yeah, duh.
- gozur88 11y ago
  >The problem is I never said it wasn't and that Japan is somehow more shocking that other far east places. Well, if you're agreeing with me we have nothing to argue about. My point was about media and peoples' reaction to it in the west.

by gozur88 11y ago

lionhearted 11y ago

Jumping in and having spent time in all those countries (I'm in China right now), I think Japan does have some uniqueness as a country that, until the Allied occupation which didn't last long, never was under a Western form of government or ideology (colonialism, communism, or Christianity / Islam). Thus they retain some traditional forms that tend to get destroyed when a country is colonized or goes under a Western ideology. Beyond that, I don't disagree with you but worth keeping in mind.

coldtea 11y ago

Now you say that the cultural shock for a westerner "is no more than you'd find going to any other country in the far east". The problem is I never said it wasn't and that Japan is somehow more shocking that other far east places. You were the one that attempted to trivialize it, saying that the shock would be the same for Japan "as for anywhere". In fact I specifically mentioned several places that would be more foreign to a westerner and some that wouldn't, not just Japan. At least now you seem to concur that Japan would be as foreign as those "far east" places. >Which I didn't think I had to spell out. Yes, it will cause some difficulties. No, that doesn't mean they can't take it in stride. Again, Japan is a wealthy country, and these are problems that can be papered over with wealth. You said: "they'll be a lot better for it, too", when in fact there will be ONLY difficulties. What would be better about an aging and shrinking population, plus economic difficulties? More parking space? That they can "paper over these problems with wealth" (and for a country with a huge national debt and an problematic economy compared to the eighties early nineties), doesn't diminish the problem. It's just another way to say it would be costly. If you mean that they'll survive and still exist, yeah, duh.

gozur88 11y ago
>The problem is I never said it wasn't and that Japan is somehow more shocking that other far east places. Well, if you're agreeing with me we have nothing to argue about. My point was about media and peoples' reaction to it in the west.