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Is Japan especially lonely compared to other advanced nations?

by drpgq 10y ago

intopieces 10y ago
The Japanese place very high value on social cohesion. Deviation from the norm - especially emotional - is not accepted or acknowledged. I can't say whether the Japanese are especially lonely. I can say that those who are have little means to express that among themselves. If the topic interests you, check out the Hikkikomori phenomenon, such a the book: "Shutting out the Sun: How Japan created its own lost generation." See also the difficulty that Japanese mental health professionals have in the country. Such places are as discreet as abortion clinics are in the American south.
- lovemenot 10y ago
  That's A bit of an exaggeration. My wife is a mental health professional in Japan. She tells me that about half the people in the general population she speaks to find the topic challenging. Others are fine. Her hospital is not at all hidden away.
  - intopieces 10y ago
    Here's a study from 2013 on the topic. "Review of mental-health-related stigma in Japan" http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pcn.12086/abstract http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pcn.12086/abstrac.... Japan has a long way to go toward accepting mental illness as anything but a character flaw.
sliverstorm 10y ago
There doesn't seem much reason to think it's more lonely on the whole, but I could believe that the lonely in Japan are more isolated than other places.
welanes 10y ago
Haven't spent more than a month there however I always got the sense that it's 'harder' to be Japanese (same goes for Korean) than it is to be a Westerner. Complex social hierarchies, deference to the boss, deference to family and elders, suppressing individualism and the overbearing pressure to conform. Especially though, having to stop at every single pedestrian crossing even though the road is one metre wide and there's not a car or a cop for kilometres. More than a few months of that and - bam - seppuku for me.
- yannyu 10y ago
  I was nearly tackled for jaywalking across an empty traffic light intersection at 3am in Shinjuku. It ended up being a 3 hour ordeal that involved 15 cops and a quick police car ride to my train locker. Worth noting were the 10 obvious foreigners (my friends) that jaywalked ahead of me, which made me think I was singled out because I looked Japanese.
  - swang 10y ago
    I've seen a couple of Japanese jaywalk during my trip. But I guess not at 3am though.
- jessaustin 10y ago
  I've had similar impressions. One gets the feeling that it's glorious to be a rich old dude in Japan, but that does leave lots of other people with the short end...
  - dilemma 10y ago
    Sounds like a lot of other countries.
    - jessaustin 10y ago
      I'm sure that's true, but I'm not saying that e.g. in comparison to my home country, but rather to other foreign countries where I've lived and worked. Japan just seems more like that.
greggman 10y ago
In response to some of the other comments I've been here for 9 years. I see zero problems with people expressing themselves. There are so many events and so many communities for doing anything you want to do. This idea that Weetrrns have that Japanese can't express themselves because of social norms seems like complete bs to me but maybe I'm just not seeing it
geomark 10y ago
I read an interesting article (sorry, don't have the linK) some time ago about a man who cleans houses after someone dies in them. The story was quite sad. He talked about the high percentage of jobs that are old people who died alone out of neglect. He said at first he could barely handle the sadness of it. But eventually he came to feel that he was doing a service to the old people by properly taking care of them and their things after their passing. The unseen part of Japan seems very sad and lonely.

Is Japan especially lonely compared to other advanced nations?

by drpgq 10y ago

Is Japan especially lonely compared to other advanced nations?

The Japanese place very high value on social cohesion. Deviation from the norm - especially emotional - is not accepted or acknowledged. I can't say whether the Japanese are especially lonely. I can say that those who are have little means to express that among themselves. If the topic interests you, check out the Hikkikomori phenomenon, such a the book: "Shutting out the Sun: How Japan created its own lost generation." See also the difficulty that Japanese mental health professionals have in the country. Such places are as discreet as abortion clinics are in the American south.

lovemenot 10y ago
That's A bit of an exaggeration. My wife is a mental health professional in Japan. She tells me that about half the people in the general population she speaks to find the topic challenging. Others are fine. Her hospital is not at all hidden away.
- intopieces 10y ago
  Here's a study from 2013 on the topic. "Review of mental-health-related stigma in Japan" http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pcn.12086/abstract http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pcn.12086/abstrac.... Japan has a long way to go toward accepting mental illness as anything but a character flaw.

sliverstorm 10y ago

There doesn't seem much reason to think it's more lonely on the whole, but I could believe that the lonely in Japan are more isolated than other places.

welanes 10y ago

Haven't spent more than a month there however I always got the sense that it's 'harder' to be Japanese (same goes for Korean) than it is to be a Westerner. Complex social hierarchies, deference to the boss, deference to family and elders, suppressing individualism and the overbearing pressure to conform. Especially though, having to stop at every single pedestrian crossing even though the road is one metre wide and there's not a car or a cop for kilometres. More than a few months of that and - bam - seppuku for me.

yannyu 10y ago
I was nearly tackled for jaywalking across an empty traffic light intersection at 3am in Shinjuku. It ended up being a 3 hour ordeal that involved 15 cops and a quick police car ride to my train locker. Worth noting were the 10 obvious foreigners (my friends) that jaywalked ahead of me, which made me think I was singled out because I looked Japanese.
- swang 10y ago
  I've seen a couple of Japanese jaywalk during my trip. But I guess not at 3am though.
jessaustin 10y ago
I've had similar impressions. One gets the feeling that it's glorious to be a rich old dude in Japan, but that does leave lots of other people with the short end...
- dilemma 10y ago
  Sounds like a lot of other countries.
  - jessaustin 10y ago
    I'm sure that's true, but I'm not saying that e.g. in comparison to my home country, but rather to other foreign countries where I've lived and worked. Japan just seems more like that.

greggman 10y ago

In response to some of the other comments I've been here for 9 years. I see zero problems with people expressing themselves. There are so many events and so many communities for doing anything you want to do. This idea that Weetrrns have that Japanese can't express themselves because of social norms seems like complete bs to me but maybe I'm just not seeing it

geomark 10y ago

I read an interesting article (sorry, don't have the linK) some time ago about a man who cleans houses after someone dies in them. The story was quite sad. He talked about the high percentage of jobs that are old people who died alone out of neglect. He said at first he could barely handle the sadness of it. But eventually he came to feel that he was doing a service to the old people by properly taking care of them and their things after their passing. The unseen part of Japan seems very sad and lonely.