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Automation is no cure for Japan. Their influence is waning rapidly, in many sectors. I would say that, with an aging population, Japan is turning into a stale c

Automation is no cure for Japan. Their influence is waning rapidly, in many sectors. I would say that, with an aging population, Japan is turning into a stale country, culture wise and economy wise alike.

smallnamespace 9y ago
That's probably true in many dimensions, but maybe Japanese society values stability and conformity higher than innovation or global influence? Your implicit value judgment very much reflects a Western, linear, 'progress' based view of history, one which not all cultures share.
jackcosgrove 9y ago
It seems Japan is entering a new Edo period, inward-looking and isolated.
- jpatokal 9y ago
  Quite the opposite. Japan has never had more tourists than today: https://d3fy651gv2fhd3.cloudfront.net/embed/?s=japantouarr&v=201708191014v&d1=19170101&d2=20171231&h=300&w=600 https://d3fy651gv2fhd3.cloudfront.net/embed/?s=japantouarr&v... Or more foreign residents: http://stats-japan.com/t/kiji/11639 http://stats-japan.com/t/kiji/11639 The change is particularly visible in the larger cities: for example, it's increasingly rare to find ethnic Japanese behind the counter at a convenience store.
fiblye 9y ago
I think the average Japanese person doesn't care about how stale outsiders think they are, and they certainly don't feel like they need a "cure." If anything, society here is reverting more to a norm after being in a massive economic bubble. Really, it's honestly kind of freaky how often I see western media articles about how Japan needs to act now, or they're doomed to fail and their population will vanish. Yet I see nothing about Bulgaria losing 25% of its population in 25 years or Belgium needing to reevaluate its global image for fear of irrelevancy.
- tanilama 9y ago
  Sure they are. It is always part of their national pride that being the most advanced Asian country and they treat their Asian neighbors as inferior to them, now and advantage is disappearing, their indifference turns into vile. One proof is their opinion towards China and Korea have dived into new lows in recent years.
- matt4077 9y ago
  > If anything, society here is reverting more to a norm after being in a massive economic bubble. So, you're agreeing that Japan is on a long downward slope to economic and technological irrelevance, but you believe the average Japanese would rather accept this than immigration?
  - fiblye 9y ago
    Japan is reverting to a state of being as technologically and economically irrelevant as Western European countries. The most common thing I see on the news and hear people worry about is the violence going on in America and in the increasingly common European terror attacks. The attitude to immigration is only being solidified here, and none of the "but what about your GDP???" stuff matters to anyone but degree mill economists. The country is safe and stable, and population is coming down to a number that's more sustainable for a small, mountainous, mostly non-arable country. That's all that people really care about.
    - matt4077 9y ago
      Here are a few things correlated with GDP. Note that we don't know the direction of causation, so either Japan's GDP is going sideways because corruption is on the rise–or they can expect corruption to rise because the economy is stagnating. low levels of GDP and high levels of corruptions are correlated poverty reduction and per capita income growth performances are correlated economic freedom is correlated with income Rule of law is correlated to GDP per person There is only a partial correlation between democracy and economic growth but stronger correlation between democracy and level of GDP As per capita income increases to around US$5,000 per annum, environmental quality falls, but then from around $8,000 per capita onwards, the environmental quality rises again GDP and happiness is correlated GDP per capita is correlated to percentage of population who donate to charity GDP is correlated to individualism in a country Wealthier countries tend to have less income inequality
kingmanaz 9y ago
Thank goodness Japan doesn't share the West's bizarre fixation on economics. The market is a means to an end rather than an end in itself. If the economy is not furthering the interests of the Japanese people, its the economy which needs to be replaced, rather than the Japanese people.
- tanilama 9y ago
  That is not true. Economy is essential to the well being of the people. And it is not hard to see that once the Japanese people get old enough, the tax on the young people to sustain the old generation will become unbearable, the society is not going to hold itself, and I don't think we will be even talking about Japan at that point because no one would want to live there anymore

smallnamespace 9y ago

That's probably true in many dimensions, but maybe Japanese society values stability and conformity higher than innovation or global influence? Your implicit value judgment very much reflects a Western, linear, 'progress' based view of history, one which not all cultures share.

jackcosgrove 9y ago

It seems Japan is entering a new Edo period, inward-looking and isolated.

jpatokal 9y ago
Quite the opposite. Japan has never had more tourists than today: https://d3fy651gv2fhd3.cloudfront.net/embed/?s=japantouarr&v=201708191014v&d1=19170101&d2=20171231&h=300&w=600 https://d3fy651gv2fhd3.cloudfront.net/embed/?s=japantouarr&v... Or more foreign residents: http://stats-japan.com/t/kiji/11639 http://stats-japan.com/t/kiji/11639 The change is particularly visible in the larger cities: for example, it's increasingly rare to find ethnic Japanese behind the counter at a convenience store.

fiblye 9y ago

I think the average Japanese person doesn't care about how stale outsiders think they are, and they certainly don't feel like they need a "cure." If anything, society here is reverting more to a norm after being in a massive economic bubble. Really, it's honestly kind of freaky how often I see western media articles about how Japan needs to act now, or they're doomed to fail and their population will vanish. Yet I see nothing about Bulgaria losing 25% of its population in 25 years or Belgium needing to reevaluate its global image for fear of irrelevancy.

tanilama 9y ago
Sure they are. It is always part of their national pride that being the most advanced Asian country and they treat their Asian neighbors as inferior to them, now and advantage is disappearing, their indifference turns into vile. One proof is their opinion towards China and Korea have dived into new lows in recent years.
matt4077 9y ago
> If anything, society here is reverting more to a norm after being in a massive economic bubble. So, you're agreeing that Japan is on a long downward slope to economic and technological irrelevance, but you believe the average Japanese would rather accept this than immigration?
- fiblye 9y ago
  Japan is reverting to a state of being as technologically and economically irrelevant as Western European countries. The most common thing I see on the news and hear people worry about is the violence going on in America and in the increasingly common European terror attacks. The attitude to immigration is only being solidified here, and none of the "but what about your GDP???" stuff matters to anyone but degree mill economists. The country is safe and stable, and population is coming down to a number that's more sustainable for a small, mountainous, mostly non-arable country. That's all that people really care about.
  - matt4077 9y ago
    Here are a few things correlated with GDP. Note that we don't know the direction of causation, so either Japan's GDP is going sideways because corruption is on the rise–or they can expect corruption to rise because the economy is stagnating. low levels of GDP and high levels of corruptions are correlated poverty reduction and per capita income growth performances are correlated economic freedom is correlated with income Rule of law is correlated to GDP per person There is only a partial correlation between democracy and economic growth but stronger correlation between democracy and level of GDP As per capita income increases to around US$5,000 per annum, environmental quality falls, but then from around $8,000 per capita onwards, the environmental quality rises again GDP and happiness is correlated GDP per capita is correlated to percentage of population who donate to charity GDP is correlated to individualism in a country Wealthier countries tend to have less income inequality

kingmanaz 9y ago

Thank goodness Japan doesn't share the West's bizarre fixation on economics. The market is a means to an end rather than an end in itself. If the economy is not furthering the interests of the Japanese people, its the economy which needs to be replaced, rather than the Japanese people.

tanilama 9y ago
That is not true. Economy is essential to the well being of the people. And it is not hard to see that once the Japanese people get old enough, the tax on the young people to sustain the old generation will become unbearable, the society is not going to hold itself, and I don't think we will be even talking about Japan at that point because no one would want to live there anymore