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Besides being a beautiful website, I was rather touched by their call to action: "Seeking stability only clouds your soul. Fear of failing only kills the seeds

Besides being a beautiful website, I was rather touched by their call to action: "Seeking stability only clouds your soul. Fear of failing only kills the seeds of innovation. We must create a more exciting future where people feel free to dream and leap into a world of possibilities. We must create a freer future where people are eager to truly live." It's hard not to love Nintendo. Also TLDR for those that didn't scroll through the whole thing, this family wants to use their wealth to fund business ventures in Japan. For those unfamiliar, Japan has had a so-called "Great Stagnation" since the 90s. Population has declined, GDP growth is slow and puttering, and some are saying that Japan has lost the edge it had in the 80s. This sounds like the Yamauchi family's attempt to bootstrap and create an ecosystem of ventures to reinvigorate entrepreneurship in Japan and their way of giving back.

hnlmorg 6y ago
I love Nintendo as much as the next guy but they're hypocrites when they come to comments like the above because they're second only to Disney with regards to how aggressively they chase after their IP. So many fun indie projects have been taken down because of Nintendo. And we're not even talking about commercial games but stuff kids have thrown together as tribute to Nintendo and have put online. YouTube reviews, Twitch streams, etc all need prior agreement from Nintendo otherwise they'll come after you (and if you're lucky, they'll just take a share of your advertising revenue). Nintendo have a massive fan base but they sure don't allow those fans to get creative. Sega, by contrast, are the complete opposite and not only allow fan projects to exists but even allow them to operate commercially on a small scale. edit: this comment is generating a lot more interest than I'd expected from my throwaway remarks and as a result a lot of the replies have missed the point of what I was complaining about. So I'll take some time now to expand on them a little more: - this isn't just a "Japanese thing", Nintendo of America are just as bad. They issue hundreds of DMCA takedowns. - this isn't a typical gaming thing either. I'm not going to pretend that all other companies are angelic but Nintendo seem uniquely proactive with chasing after their fan base even when those fans are just recording themselves playing games. Which leads me onto my 3rd point: - Nintendo are not just trying to protect their IP. Nintendo offer a partner program that costs to be a part of and if you're not on there than your YouTube and Twitch channels can get DMCA'ed if they feature Nintendo games. Even retro gamers playing titles released 30+ years ago have been targeted. So this is often less about protecting IP and more about profiting on retro gamers hobby channels. Nintendo's actions with the rest of the gaming community is quite unlike anything other gaming studios do. And I say this as someone actively involved in the retro gaming and streaming community. So many of my friends have ended up putting all of Nintendo's first party games on a "no play list" for their Twitch channels because of this. They've never had an issue with any other studio and they certainly don't run their channels for profit either (very few retro games on Twitch make money from their hobby). It's also hard to see how someone streaming a play through of a Nintendo game harms Nintendo as a company or their IP. And to be clear, I do still like Nintendo in the general sense. I might not agree with how they treat their fans (particularly the retro gamers, streamers, reviewers on YT) but I do still enjoy their games. I just know better than to stream myself playing them. I guess that makes me a little hypocritical too.... :)
- chrisco255 6y ago
  Yeah, I get that. I feel like the trademark and copyright system is set up that way where lawyers are incentivized to defend IP. Some consider it a must, to protect those IPs. At any rate, I would love to see something like a decentralized Disney or Nintendo spring up in the world. Like a decentralized universe of open source characters that people could interact with and riff on. Something like what happens with memes like Pepe already, but more Disney/Nintendo-esque. I wonder if that couldn't be organized with a DAO for the community to contribute to and fund the artists that build the characters and universe. Anyways, random thoughts.
  - onethought 6y ago
    But isn’t it the strict control of brand and image that make those characters so enjoyed. If you let anyone do anything they can change/misrepresent the brand in an irreversible way... just like Pepe...
    - barneygale 6y ago
      Those characters are enjoyed because of the strength of the games that feature them. Nintendo's recent abuse of DMCA is only hurting that legacy. As the grandparent pointed out, Sega are nowhere near this litigious.
      - onethought 6y ago
        Yes, and segas Characters are no where near as strong/popular. It almost strengthens my point
        hnlmorg 6y ago
        I think that's more true in America than it is the world over. Even in Europe where Mario is still iconic, it's not as pronounced as in America. Furthermore it wasn't always that way. Particularly in the 90s and 00s when games were really mascot heavy.
        6y ago
Clewza313 6y ago
> We must create a more exciting future where people feel free to dream and leap into a world of possibilities. Unfortunately this is standard marketing pablum for Japanese companies, with "future" (mirai) and "dream" (yume) both being particularly common tropes. Alan Booth talks about this back in 1995 in Looking for the Lost: > I passed through the pavilion's Dream Tunnel into the World of Dream and from there to the Parades of Dream and Play. ... Technology, specifically the technology of Mitsui, Toshiba, and the rest beyond his wildest, yes, dreams, can help you fly again. "Love, love, love!" sings a choir as we file out of the pavilion. "You can reach the sky, if you only try!" https://books.google.com/books?id=Lh4jEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT312 https://books.google.com/books?id=Lh4jEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT312
- chrisco255 6y ago
  It might be a trope but coming from Nintendo it means a lot more. Can't say how many wonderful memories I've had exploring the worlds that Nintendo has dreamed up.
  - bobthechef 6y ago
    Those were...games...
    - farrelmahaztra 6y ago
      In childhood especially, the line between the virtual and the real is flimsier than you think.
      - rchaud 6y ago
        Nintendo for some reason appears to have this effect on the generation that grew up w/ Super Mario World, Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong. I played these games at friends' houses back then and didn't see the appeal. Games like Need for Speed, Mortal Kombat or Goldeneye 007 felt more real, less 'kiddie' oriented. But these games aren't really spoken of much these days, while Nintendo originals definitely are.
raelmiu 6y ago
I agree. This synergy between the design and the message really appealed to me.
piokoch 6y ago
"Besides being a beautiful website". I think my beauty standards are terribly outdated since the last thing I would say about that website is that it is beautiful. Let me list my concerns: 1. It plays sound in the background 2. It is horrible cluttered, the only missing thing are those '90 animated torches and blinking text (but those moving blocks are even more annoying, what is an achievement in itself) 3. It is totally unreadable. Grey text on the black background, text is shifted, so reading requires keeping ones head bent over to the right. I can't imagine that someone with bad eyesight would be able to read the text. Fun fact: the designer know that this sucks so there is some "switcher" that let you make text straight. One more fun thing: this switcher in barely visible for me when page loads, since "view" text is displayed on top of yellow "3D castle" on the left that cast grey shades, that are almost the same as grey color used for text. 4. You can't mark text, it is somehow blocked, so if you want to copy paste something (for instance to translate), it is not possible. No idea what could be the purpose for doing this. 5. Ctrl F for searching does not work, found text is not highlighted If this is "innovation" and "creativity" and the way to "improve society" that this website keep chanting in every sentence I would say, thanks a lot for your corpo PR talk, you make into HN top page, good job, but better go back to making money and please leave society alone (and don't go into website building business, pleassssse).
- jhrmnn 6y ago
  Isn't it clear that the website is to be taken as a piece of art besides also having some information content?
- throwaway69123 6y ago
  Your love art galleries, full of over priced posters
- chrisco255 6y ago
  If you open the menu you can switch to the boring straightline view.
  - lupire 6y ago
    This goes beyond cute pixel art. Reading text without straining your neck muscles and pinching nerves is boring now?
Black101 6y ago
> Besides being a beautiful website And at first glance, it appears to work fine even with javascript disabled.
- playpause 6y ago
  What do you mean by 'at first glance'? With JS disabled I just get an empty black page.
  - Black101 6y ago
    oops... you are right, my JS was accidentally left enabled
blueblisters 6y ago
It's so rare to hear about Japanese startups - either becoming successful within Japan or outside. Are other mature East Asian countries going through a similar phase?
- throwaway2037 6y ago
  Are you unfamiliar with Rakuten? It's like Amazon for Japan. Some people might also consider Softbank (the mobile phone division) and SBI Securities (its securities division, under 'Strategic Business Innovator Group'). How about Line? It's the biggest mobile chat app in Japan. Other people can comment more on this one: The number of small start-up game studios must be astonishing. Japan seems to have an endless appetite for video games! For publishing, they will team-up with a major, like Sony.
  - istanfield 6y ago
    I work at Rakuten and my perception is that they do not really value engineering much. It is just a cost to be minimized.
- graderjs 6y ago
  Korea has many startups. There's rumors of a startup scene in China. /S Greater China has lots: HK (tho not a country in itself, but a special region of China) has some. Republic of China Taiwan has lots. Singapore has a huge amount. There's also a lot of people doing more "craft based" or "small business" startups in all those areas, such as cafes, organic or urban farms, manufacturing of various kinds. Tho that is not the same as VC funded tech startups, some of these things do go that way. There's lots of delivery and gig economy startups. Lots of payment startups. Much of the innovation in social and payment that occurred in the last 6 years has been lifted out of East Asia and copied by startups everywhere. A good resource for "out of the Anglosaxon / SV" bubble is TechInAsia. https://www.techinasia.com/ https://www.techinasia.com/ The interesting thing about reading startup perspectives in Asia, is they are very aware of what happens in SV. An awareness that doesn't, unless you are an analyst at one of the big international VCs, go both ways. Also interesting to note the culture in these places around entrepreneurship, it's very normal for people to consider having their own business. HK has one of the highest "company per capita" rates in the world, tho surely some of that is due to its special economic statuses. I don't know as much about other East Asian cultures, but ethnic Chinese culture is very "entrepreneurial", as in, many people have shops and businesses of various kinds. At least to me it seems to be an acceptable or desirable thing to do at a higher rate than the traditional Anglosaxon culture I also spent a lot of time in.
graderjs 6y ago
Sometimes the comments make you happy you read them. Yours did! Thank you! :) ;p
bobthechef 6y ago
Sounds like your typical reheated, cluster-of-blandly-positive and vague feel-good marketing. Not sure what exactly you're so enamored with, or what you're projecting here. (Also the phrase "giving back" implies you've been doing something unjust. You only give back after you've taken. But all just business practice is about fair exchange, so there's nothing to "give back".)
- prewett 6y ago
  That's a pretty zero-sum outlook on giving back. Another way of looking at it is that people invested in us before we had any potential (parents and teachers, at the very least), the Yamauchi family wants to do the same for others. They are giving because they received, not because they've taken.
kspacewalk2 6y ago
>This sounds like the Yamauchi family's attempt to bootstrap and create an ecosystem of ventures to reinvigorate entrepreneurship in Japan and their way of giving back. And it also sounds like their attempt to make more money. Let's just not lose sight of reality amidst all the fluff.
throwaway2037 6y ago
As a non-native who has lived in Japan for many years, but then moved to another country in Asia... I disagree with the regular stream of negative English language news about Japan. It is still a wonderful culture, people, and country. And ignore the "GDP" stuff. You will read the same about Italy in English language newspapers. And (South) Korea. Both are also beautiful countries with great food and very high quality of life. I look at overall GDP less than GDP-per capita. The best metric in my mind is historical median salary. This gives a great idea of how middle class people live. As long as it holds steady and inflation is zero, then quality of life does not decline. The truth is that Japan has microscopic growth (~1% per year) combined with annual population decline of ~0.5% per year. Those two together should mean quality of life is still increasing a little bit each year. And, yes, each year that I return to Tokyo, I feel it is still improving.
- nine_k 6y ago
  I happen to know a few Italians, and unfortunately cannot agree about the quality of life. Likely it's way better than in places like Congo — no wonder! But compared to more northern Europe and the US, the difference is rather stark. Look at the unemployment figures, for instance. Still, of course, great people, great culture, great potential. Same with Japan: wonderful culture, nice people, but the problems are real. And somehow, I suppose, they are rooted in the same great culture as the nice things :-/
  - pokot0 6y ago
    Lower classes in Italy are not as much penalized as in the US. Eviction takes YEARS and it's just impossible in some situations (kids in the house), healthcare is free for all, personal debt is not as aggressive as here, unpaid debt is a nightmare to go afer. So unemployment figures are not really that important to gauge quality of life. We had many scandals where people just didn't want to get hired and do small works off the books instead because life was just better like that. You can be broke and still have a wonderful life in Italy. If you are smart and you want to get rich: much easier in the US. Also about your Italian friends: Italian love to complain! If you ask them, they'll tell you. They will complain about everything all day with you. And then leave and go drink a nice aperitivo with their friends and enjoy the evening. It's very different from the US style of projecting an idyllic image of your life when you are with others, and then go home and drink whiskey until you forget you are alive. (Source: Italian living in US for 10 years)
lupire 6y ago
It's the Japanese version of "changing the world with disruptive incredible journeys".
Atreiden 6y ago
We need to get past using GDP as a measure of success, quality of life, etc. Its a measure of gross product, which includes negative externalities. A company pollutes a nearby river and manages to avoid responsibility, so public funds are required to clean it up. The money the company made by polluting, as well as the cost of cleanup, both contribute positively to GDP. GDP can in some ways be thought of as a measure of conversion of natural resources into monetary capital. Given the declining state of the environment and unsustainability of many commercial practices, we're at a point where we should start considering this a negative. We need a new measure that factors in negative externalities and utilization of finite natural capital.
- pokot0 6y ago
  This! Thank you for writing this diwn so clearly!
- ttul 6y ago
  If externalities were properly accounted for in GDP, it would not be growing so rapidly. That would be a start.
- runeks 6y ago
  > GDP can in some ways be thought of as a measure of conversion of natural resources into monetary capital. How so? When I pay my accountant to do my taxes, it adds to GDP. How is this “conversion of natural resources into monetary capital”?
  - criddell 6y ago
    If I pay you $1 trillion to write a song and you pay me $1 trillion to draw a picture, we have just increased the GDP by $2 trillion yet nobody is better off.
    - xyzzyz 6y ago
      You would never do it, though, because you’d owe whole bunch of money to the government.
bsanr2 6y ago
They're pulling an Eden of the East, with Banjo as Mr. Outside. Neat.
thrweoiu235324 6y ago
> For those unfamiliar, Japan has had a so-called "Great Stagnation" since the 90s. Population has declined, GDP growth is slow and puttering, and some are saying that Japan has lost the edge it had in the 80s. This is more or less the story of Europe, however in the case of Japan, the central Bank (BOJ) actively conspired to kill (aka reform) the Japanese economy by creating a boom-bust cycle out of bank lending quota manipulation. It all sounds "conspiratorial" but is well documented in "Princes of the Yen" (anything questioning illegitimate power today, is automatically a "conspiracy"...). It's really quite sad to see the country which set the model for Asia being destroyed like this.
m0llusk 6y ago
> It's hard not to love Nintendo. The most brief review of the actions of their legal team will or at least should turn you completely cold to them. Nintendo is a classic example of a corporation behaving as a psychopath.
- arcturus17 6y ago
  > The most brief review of the actions of their legal team will or at least should turn you completely cold to them. No, actually it won't have this effect on many reasonable and intelligent people. Because for the most part Nintendo are only trying to protect their intellectual property, and it's easy to see why they would want to do that. Few people really care that they're aggressively crushing the latest fan-made Pokémon game.
a94d5dc743 6y ago
Man, your world must be really screwed up if you "love" corporations
a94d5dc743 6y ago
Man, your world must be really screwed up if you "love" corporations!

hnlmorg 6y ago

I love Nintendo as much as the next guy but they're hypocrites when they come to comments like the above because they're second only to Disney with regards to how aggressively they chase after their IP. So many fun indie projects have been taken down because of Nintendo. And we're not even talking about commercial games but stuff kids have thrown together as tribute to Nintendo and have put online. YouTube reviews, Twitch streams, etc all need prior agreement from Nintendo otherwise they'll come after you (and if you're lucky, they'll just take a share of your advertising revenue). Nintendo have a massive fan base but they sure don't allow those fans to get creative. Sega, by contrast, are the complete opposite and not only allow fan projects to exists but even allow them to operate commercially on a small scale. edit: this comment is generating a lot more interest than I'd expected from my throwaway remarks and as a result a lot of the replies have missed the point of what I was complaining about. So I'll take some time now to expand on them a little more: - this isn't just a "Japanese thing", Nintendo of America are just as bad. They issue hundreds of DMCA takedowns. - this isn't a typical gaming thing either. I'm not going to pretend that all other companies are angelic but Nintendo seem uniquely proactive with chasing after their fan base even when those fans are just recording themselves playing games. Which leads me onto my 3rd point: - Nintendo are not just trying to protect their IP. Nintendo offer a partner program that costs to be a part of and if you're not on there than your YouTube and Twitch channels can get DMCA'ed if they feature Nintendo games. Even retro gamers playing titles released 30+ years ago have been targeted. So this is often less about protecting IP and more about profiting on retro gamers hobby channels. Nintendo's actions with the rest of the gaming community is quite unlike anything other gaming studios do. And I say this as someone actively involved in the retro gaming and streaming community. So many of my friends have ended up putting all of Nintendo's first party games on a "no play list" for their Twitch channels because of this. They've never had an issue with any other studio and they certainly don't run their channels for profit either (very few retro games on Twitch make money from their hobby). It's also hard to see how someone streaming a play through of a Nintendo game harms Nintendo as a company or their IP. And to be clear, I do still like Nintendo in the general sense. I might not agree with how they treat their fans (particularly the retro gamers, streamers, reviewers on YT) but I do still enjoy their games. I just know better than to stream myself playing them. I guess that makes me a little hypocritical too.... :)

chrisco255 6y ago
Yeah, I get that. I feel like the trademark and copyright system is set up that way where lawyers are incentivized to defend IP. Some consider it a must, to protect those IPs. At any rate, I would love to see something like a decentralized Disney or Nintendo spring up in the world. Like a decentralized universe of open source characters that people could interact with and riff on. Something like what happens with memes like Pepe already, but more Disney/Nintendo-esque. I wonder if that couldn't be organized with a DAO for the community to contribute to and fund the artists that build the characters and universe. Anyways, random thoughts.
- onethought 6y ago
  But isn’t it the strict control of brand and image that make those characters so enjoyed. If you let anyone do anything they can change/misrepresent the brand in an irreversible way... just like Pepe...
  - barneygale 6y ago
    Those characters are enjoyed because of the strength of the games that feature them. Nintendo's recent abuse of DMCA is only hurting that legacy. As the grandparent pointed out, Sega are nowhere near this litigious.
    - onethought 6y ago
      Yes, and segas Characters are no where near as strong/popular. It almost strengthens my point
      - hnlmorg 6y ago
        I think that's more true in America than it is the world over. Even in Europe where Mario is still iconic, it's not as pronounced as in America. Furthermore it wasn't always that way. Particularly in the 90s and 00s when games were really mascot heavy.
      - 6y ago

Clewza313 6y ago

> We must create a more exciting future where people feel free to dream and leap into a world of possibilities. Unfortunately this is standard marketing pablum for Japanese companies, with "future" (mirai) and "dream" (yume) both being particularly common tropes. Alan Booth talks about this back in 1995 in Looking for the Lost: > I passed through the pavilion's Dream Tunnel into the World of Dream and from there to the Parades of Dream and Play. ... Technology, specifically the technology of Mitsui, Toshiba, and the rest beyond his wildest, yes, dreams, can help you fly again. "Love, love, love!" sings a choir as we file out of the pavilion. "You can reach the sky, if you only try!" https://books.google.com/books?id=Lh4jEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT312 https://books.google.com/books?id=Lh4jEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT312

chrisco255 6y ago
It might be a trope but coming from Nintendo it means a lot more. Can't say how many wonderful memories I've had exploring the worlds that Nintendo has dreamed up.
- bobthechef 6y ago
  Those were...games...
  - farrelmahaztra 6y ago
    In childhood especially, the line between the virtual and the real is flimsier than you think.
    - rchaud 6y ago
      Nintendo for some reason appears to have this effect on the generation that grew up w/ Super Mario World, Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong. I played these games at friends' houses back then and didn't see the appeal. Games like Need for Speed, Mortal Kombat or Goldeneye 007 felt more real, less 'kiddie' oriented. But these games aren't really spoken of much these days, while Nintendo originals definitely are.

raelmiu 6y ago

I agree. This synergy between the design and the message really appealed to me.

piokoch 6y ago

"Besides being a beautiful website". I think my beauty standards are terribly outdated since the last thing I would say about that website is that it is beautiful. Let me list my concerns: 1. It plays sound in the background 2. It is horrible cluttered, the only missing thing are those '90 animated torches and blinking text (but those moving blocks are even more annoying, what is an achievement in itself) 3. It is totally unreadable. Grey text on the black background, text is shifted, so reading requires keeping ones head bent over to the right. I can't imagine that someone with bad eyesight would be able to read the text. Fun fact: the designer know that this sucks so there is some "switcher" that let you make text straight. One more fun thing: this switcher in barely visible for me when page loads, since "view" text is displayed on top of yellow "3D castle" on the left that cast grey shades, that are almost the same as grey color used for text. 4. You can't mark text, it is somehow blocked, so if you want to copy paste something (for instance to translate), it is not possible. No idea what could be the purpose for doing this. 5. Ctrl F for searching does not work, found text is not highlighted If this is "innovation" and "creativity" and the way to "improve society" that this website keep chanting in every sentence I would say, thanks a lot for your corpo PR talk, you make into HN top page, good job, but better go back to making money and please leave society alone (and don't go into website building business, pleassssse).

jhrmnn 6y ago
Isn't it clear that the website is to be taken as a piece of art besides also having some information content?
throwaway69123 6y ago
Your love art galleries, full of over priced posters
chrisco255 6y ago
If you open the menu you can switch to the boring straightline view.
- lupire 6y ago
  This goes beyond cute pixel art. Reading text without straining your neck muscles and pinching nerves is boring now?

Black101 6y ago

> Besides being a beautiful website And at first glance, it appears to work fine even with javascript disabled.

playpause 6y ago
What do you mean by 'at first glance'? With JS disabled I just get an empty black page.
- Black101 6y ago
  oops... you are right, my JS was accidentally left enabled

blueblisters 6y ago

It's so rare to hear about Japanese startups - either becoming successful within Japan or outside. Are other mature East Asian countries going through a similar phase?

throwaway2037 6y ago
Are you unfamiliar with Rakuten? It's like Amazon for Japan. Some people might also consider Softbank (the mobile phone division) and SBI Securities (its securities division, under 'Strategic Business Innovator Group'). How about Line? It's the biggest mobile chat app in Japan. Other people can comment more on this one: The number of small start-up game studios must be astonishing. Japan seems to have an endless appetite for video games! For publishing, they will team-up with a major, like Sony.
- istanfield 6y ago
  I work at Rakuten and my perception is that they do not really value engineering much. It is just a cost to be minimized.
graderjs 6y ago
Korea has many startups. There's rumors of a startup scene in China. /S Greater China has lots: HK (tho not a country in itself, but a special region of China) has some. Republic of China Taiwan has lots. Singapore has a huge amount. There's also a lot of people doing more "craft based" or "small business" startups in all those areas, such as cafes, organic or urban farms, manufacturing of various kinds. Tho that is not the same as VC funded tech startups, some of these things do go that way. There's lots of delivery and gig economy startups. Lots of payment startups. Much of the innovation in social and payment that occurred in the last 6 years has been lifted out of East Asia and copied by startups everywhere. A good resource for "out of the Anglosaxon / SV" bubble is TechInAsia. https://www.techinasia.com/ https://www.techinasia.com/ The interesting thing about reading startup perspectives in Asia, is they are very aware of what happens in SV. An awareness that doesn't, unless you are an analyst at one of the big international VCs, go both ways. Also interesting to note the culture in these places around entrepreneurship, it's very normal for people to consider having their own business. HK has one of the highest "company per capita" rates in the world, tho surely some of that is due to its special economic statuses. I don't know as much about other East Asian cultures, but ethnic Chinese culture is very "entrepreneurial", as in, many people have shops and businesses of various kinds. At least to me it seems to be an acceptable or desirable thing to do at a higher rate than the traditional Anglosaxon culture I also spent a lot of time in.

graderjs 6y ago

Sometimes the comments make you happy you read them. Yours did! Thank you! :) ;p

bobthechef 6y ago

Sounds like your typical reheated, cluster-of-blandly-positive and vague feel-good marketing. Not sure what exactly you're so enamored with, or what you're projecting here. (Also the phrase "giving back" implies you've been doing something unjust. You only give back after you've taken. But all just business practice is about fair exchange, so there's nothing to "give back".)

prewett 6y ago
That's a pretty zero-sum outlook on giving back. Another way of looking at it is that people invested in us before we had any potential (parents and teachers, at the very least), the Yamauchi family wants to do the same for others. They are giving because they received, not because they've taken.

kspacewalk2 6y ago

>This sounds like the Yamauchi family's attempt to bootstrap and create an ecosystem of ventures to reinvigorate entrepreneurship in Japan and their way of giving back. And it also sounds like their attempt to make more money. Let's just not lose sight of reality amidst all the fluff.

throwaway2037 6y ago

As a non-native who has lived in Japan for many years, but then moved to another country in Asia... I disagree with the regular stream of negative English language news about Japan. It is still a wonderful culture, people, and country. And ignore the "GDP" stuff. You will read the same about Italy in English language newspapers. And (South) Korea. Both are also beautiful countries with great food and very high quality of life. I look at overall GDP less than GDP-per capita. The best metric in my mind is historical median salary. This gives a great idea of how middle class people live. As long as it holds steady and inflation is zero, then quality of life does not decline. The truth is that Japan has microscopic growth (~1% per year) combined with annual population decline of ~0.5% per year. Those two together should mean quality of life is still increasing a little bit each year. And, yes, each year that I return to Tokyo, I feel it is still improving.

nine_k 6y ago
I happen to know a few Italians, and unfortunately cannot agree about the quality of life. Likely it's way better than in places like Congo — no wonder! But compared to more northern Europe and the US, the difference is rather stark. Look at the unemployment figures, for instance. Still, of course, great people, great culture, great potential. Same with Japan: wonderful culture, nice people, but the problems are real. And somehow, I suppose, they are rooted in the same great culture as the nice things :-/
- pokot0 6y ago
  Lower classes in Italy are not as much penalized as in the US. Eviction takes YEARS and it's just impossible in some situations (kids in the house), healthcare is free for all, personal debt is not as aggressive as here, unpaid debt is a nightmare to go afer. So unemployment figures are not really that important to gauge quality of life. We had many scandals where people just didn't want to get hired and do small works off the books instead because life was just better like that. You can be broke and still have a wonderful life in Italy. If you are smart and you want to get rich: much easier in the US. Also about your Italian friends: Italian love to complain! If you ask them, they'll tell you. They will complain about everything all day with you. And then leave and go drink a nice aperitivo with their friends and enjoy the evening. It's very different from the US style of projecting an idyllic image of your life when you are with others, and then go home and drink whiskey until you forget you are alive. (Source: Italian living in US for 10 years)

lupire 6y ago

It's the Japanese version of "changing the world with disruptive incredible journeys".

Atreiden 6y ago

We need to get past using GDP as a measure of success, quality of life, etc. Its a measure of gross product, which includes negative externalities. A company pollutes a nearby river and manages to avoid responsibility, so public funds are required to clean it up. The money the company made by polluting, as well as the cost of cleanup, both contribute positively to GDP. GDP can in some ways be thought of as a measure of conversion of natural resources into monetary capital. Given the declining state of the environment and unsustainability of many commercial practices, we're at a point where we should start considering this a negative. We need a new measure that factors in negative externalities and utilization of finite natural capital.

pokot0 6y ago
This! Thank you for writing this diwn so clearly!
ttul 6y ago
If externalities were properly accounted for in GDP, it would not be growing so rapidly. That would be a start.
runeks 6y ago
> GDP can in some ways be thought of as a measure of conversion of natural resources into monetary capital. How so? When I pay my accountant to do my taxes, it adds to GDP. How is this “conversion of natural resources into monetary capital”?
- criddell 6y ago
  If I pay you $1 trillion to write a song and you pay me $1 trillion to draw a picture, we have just increased the GDP by $2 trillion yet nobody is better off.
  - xyzzyz 6y ago
    You would never do it, though, because you’d owe whole bunch of money to the government.

bsanr2 6y ago

They're pulling an Eden of the East, with Banjo as Mr. Outside. Neat.

thrweoiu235324 6y ago

> For those unfamiliar, Japan has had a so-called "Great Stagnation" since the 90s. Population has declined, GDP growth is slow and puttering, and some are saying that Japan has lost the edge it had in the 80s. This is more or less the story of Europe, however in the case of Japan, the central Bank (BOJ) actively conspired to kill (aka reform) the Japanese economy by creating a boom-bust cycle out of bank lending quota manipulation. It all sounds "conspiratorial" but is well documented in "Princes of the Yen" (anything questioning illegitimate power today, is automatically a "conspiracy"...). It's really quite sad to see the country which set the model for Asia being destroyed like this.

m0llusk 6y ago

> It's hard not to love Nintendo. The most brief review of the actions of their legal team will or at least should turn you completely cold to them. Nintendo is a classic example of a corporation behaving as a psychopath.

arcturus17 6y ago
> The most brief review of the actions of their legal team will or at least should turn you completely cold to them. No, actually it won't have this effect on many reasonable and intelligent people. Because for the most part Nintendo are only trying to protect their intellectual property, and it's easy to see why they would want to do that. Few people really care that they're aggressively crushing the latest fan-made Pokémon game.

a94d5dc743 6y ago

Man, your world must be really screwed up if you "love" corporations

a94d5dc743 6y ago

Man, your world must be really screwed up if you "love" corporations!