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Credibility of the author is out the door when they are using strawman comparisons with Japan (Tokyo) indicative of someone who spent a week there as a tourist

Credibility of the author is out the door when they are using strawman comparisons with Japan (Tokyo) indicative of someone who spent a week there as a tourist and had to shoehorn this experience in. It's like a foreigner traveling to America, and by that I mean LA or NYC, and talk about how fashionable people in SoHo were or how vibrant Time Square is, meanwhile 99% of Americans aren't in this way of life. I'm almost certain "in one of Tokyo’s best bars, a team of four people was involved in the preparation of your correspondent’s gin martini" refers to The SG Club, an overpriced tourist trap for tourists who want to feel refined, sophisticated, edgy. As economists say, there are four types of economies: developed, undeveloped, Argentina, and Japan. Not having a permanent place to be during the 9-5PM, whether that is school or work, is a badge of shame in Japanese society. If you read crime reports in Japan, they will almost always mention the persons state of employment. Even the tragedy of the commons / prisoner's dilemma is thwarted in Japan, atleast in a public context. On microeconomics, people are not making decisions that would be deemed economically optimal or even rational from an American lens. The example with the airport and malls being overstaffed. The first part is that both the government and people would rather that people work, rather than rely on government/society, even if it means the enterprise is not operating optimally. This is one reason why, quantitatively atleast, Japan has one of the lowest productivity rates of developed countries. Everyone has to appear working diligently, regardless if they've past the point of productivity or not. For the second part, the mall, in this time and age you can order stuff online. The value proposition of retail is that people want and value human services. Especially if it for higher end products and luxury products, where the retail and customer experience is part of the purchase, which is likely the case for a mall in Japan. Even Uniqlo is a splurge for people to be honest. Furthermore, Japanese people trust humans not computers, and there is an expectation that service be 1:1 and available. Just wait into the author sees the staff ratio in the electronics store, especially in the appliance section. They are dozens of tables where they go through a step by step process with customers, explaining the appliance, delivery process, etc. Part of this is also a desire for human interaction which is relatively limited compared to America where you have no shortage of small talk with randos.

misja111 4y ago
> The example with the airport and malls being overstaffed. The first part is that both the government and people would rather that people work, rather than rely on government/society, even if it means the enterprise is not operating optimally. This. In many EU countries, airports are currently severely -under-staffed. So much so that in several airports scheduled flights had to be canceled. Whatever the cause for low unemployment in Western countries is, it is definitely not the abundance of 'nonsense jobs' like in Japan.
astrange 4y ago
> Not having a permanent place to be during the 9-5PM, whether that is school or work, is a badge of shame in Japanese society. …in some social classes. What are the freeters and retirees doing? Night workers? > This is one reason why, quantitatively atleast, Japan has one of the lowest productivity rates of developer countries. Everyone has to appear working diligently, regardless if they've past the point of productivity or not. This has been changing, it's not as true of newer companies and startups.
- diceduckmonk 4y ago
  > Night workers? Do you mean nightshift workers or mizu shobai workers? If you are talking about nightshift workers, then that's just a matter of semantics (9-5PM == full time employment, even if that means two part time jobs ). As for mizu shobai workers, I think would it be disingenous to suggest this is somehow more honorable and respected by society and older generations/parents than saying being a certified professional. Sure, the male hosts in Shinjuku are making multiples more than a FANG employee in the states, but part of the pay is the judgement by societal at large. Yes, in some social classes being a suit-wearing office worker with a stable income is respected, and in Kabukicho circles drinking with lonely and emotionally vulnerable clients until you cough up blood is respected. Japan's most recent revision to the visas allowed tech workers who make over 20 million yen (~$150k usd) a year to skip the regular lines at the airport, and use the line reserved for government diplomats and ambassadors. The other requirement is that you have a masters degree. Point being, there is a strong emphasis on pedigree in Japan. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/02/17/national/new-visa-categories-graduates-high-earners/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/02/17/national/new-vi... > retirees Retired. But if you're talking about elderly people, Japan also has a larger percentage of the elderly working. https://www.jil.go.jp/english/jli/documents/2022/039-04.pdf https://www.jil.go.jp/english/jli/documents/2022/039-04.pdf > freeters A subset of this will wear it as a badge of honor, but another subset can't get hired. One reason for not being able to get hired is that Japanese companies want to hirer young, straight out of school, and invest in the long term. Freeters are excluded from this cohort, and also because employers feel this is a red flag. Even from Wikipedia, the negative perception from Mass Media and society is clearly laid out, so bringing up freeters and attitudes towards them only furthers my claims. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeter. The ones that are subsidized by their parents are referred to as "Parasite Singles" by the Japanese. > This has been changing, it's not as true of newer companies and startups. Not as true, but still true. White collar workers still have to clock in and clock out. I will believe this when people Wordpress dominance starts trending down and people stop holding meetups in every city. There are even consultancies for Squarespace. Meanwhile, less developed countries in the region such as Indonesia has an order of magnitude healthier startup ecosystem, including more unicorns. Banks and traditional industries have begun their DX (digital transformation) but it's long way to go when the most foreigner friendly bank's website goes down for a day of maintanence every month, and require strange login rules such as usernames having to have no more than 3 consecutives alphabetic or numbers. Meanwhile, passwords can't have special characters.

misja111 4y ago

> The example with the airport and malls being overstaffed. The first part is that both the government and people would rather that people work, rather than rely on government/society, even if it means the enterprise is not operating optimally. This. In many EU countries, airports are currently severely -under-staffed. So much so that in several airports scheduled flights had to be canceled. Whatever the cause for low unemployment in Western countries is, it is definitely not the abundance of 'nonsense jobs' like in Japan.

astrange 4y ago

> Not having a permanent place to be during the 9-5PM, whether that is school or work, is a badge of shame in Japanese society. …in some social classes. What are the freeters and retirees doing? Night workers? > This is one reason why, quantitatively atleast, Japan has one of the lowest productivity rates of developer countries. Everyone has to appear working diligently, regardless if they've past the point of productivity or not. This has been changing, it's not as true of newer companies and startups.

diceduckmonk 4y ago
> Night workers? Do you mean nightshift workers or mizu shobai workers? If you are talking about nightshift workers, then that's just a matter of semantics (9-5PM == full time employment, even if that means two part time jobs ). As for mizu shobai workers, I think would it be disingenous to suggest this is somehow more honorable and respected by society and older generations/parents than saying being a certified professional. Sure, the male hosts in Shinjuku are making multiples more than a FANG employee in the states, but part of the pay is the judgement by societal at large. Yes, in some social classes being a suit-wearing office worker with a stable income is respected, and in Kabukicho circles drinking with lonely and emotionally vulnerable clients until you cough up blood is respected. Japan's most recent revision to the visas allowed tech workers who make over 20 million yen (~$150k usd) a year to skip the regular lines at the airport, and use the line reserved for government diplomats and ambassadors. The other requirement is that you have a masters degree. Point being, there is a strong emphasis on pedigree in Japan. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/02/17/national/new-visa-categories-graduates-high-earners/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/02/17/national/new-vi... > retirees Retired. But if you're talking about elderly people, Japan also has a larger percentage of the elderly working. https://www.jil.go.jp/english/jli/documents/2022/039-04.pdf https://www.jil.go.jp/english/jli/documents/2022/039-04.pdf > freeters A subset of this will wear it as a badge of honor, but another subset can't get hired. One reason for not being able to get hired is that Japanese companies want to hirer young, straight out of school, and invest in the long term. Freeters are excluded from this cohort, and also because employers feel this is a red flag. Even from Wikipedia, the negative perception from Mass Media and society is clearly laid out, so bringing up freeters and attitudes towards them only furthers my claims. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeter. The ones that are subsidized by their parents are referred to as "Parasite Singles" by the Japanese. > This has been changing, it's not as true of newer companies and startups. Not as true, but still true. White collar workers still have to clock in and clock out. I will believe this when people Wordpress dominance starts trending down and people stop holding meetups in every city. There are even consultancies for Squarespace. Meanwhile, less developed countries in the region such as Indonesia has an order of magnitude healthier startup ecosystem, including more unicorns. Banks and traditional industries have begun their DX (digital transformation) but it's long way to go when the most foreigner friendly bank's website goes down for a day of maintanence every month, and require strange login rules such as usernames having to have no more than 3 consecutives alphabetic or numbers. Meanwhile, passwords can't have special characters.