The United States of Japan • Hacker News Board

Re: The United States of Japan

#71

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 05, 2018, 9:39 PM UTC

karthikb wrote: post #69

baxtr wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have traveled the world quite a bit, and lately, my impression is: people and cultures are becoming and more similar, probably due to things like social networks that work as amplifier for (mainly western) culture. What I observe: - people dressing/styling similar - same food - same large retail chains - music sounds similar (except for the language) - same TV shows - everybody looking at their smartphones all the…

Social networks, but also automated manufacturing and cheap shipping around the world.

[deleted]

Re: The United States of Japan

#72

Post by dragontamer » Sat, May 05, 2018, 9:39 PM UTC

digi_owl wrote: post #29

dragontamer wrote: post #5

The USA and Japan have a very strange relationship. As far as Asian countries are concerned, Japan has fewer immigrants to the USA than Philippines, China, Vietnam, Korea, and India. But Japan sticks out despite the relatively low migration rate. * The USA in general does have a sense of "the importance of the foreigner" or outsider. Foreigners invite new thought, new culture, and new experiences. * Japan seems to ma…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Japan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa,_Okinawa#United_States...

I mean, the US has a lot of bases around the world. We've got bases in Cuba for example, and that doesn't really foster a good relationship with that country.

Heck, there's an Asian country right next to Japan called "The Philippines" which was a US colony for 40+ years.

Re: The United States of Japan

#73

Post by lostlogin » Sat, May 05, 2018, 9:41 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #53

almostApatriot1 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, Japanese culture has filled a gap. If there were more components to Western Culture outside of America's influence maybe it wouldn't be so prominent. But what, culturally, is coming out of Canada, Europe, Australia, South America, or Asia (outside of Japan)? Not much that is universally appealing.

Europe: lots of music (just the Uk, just some pop: Beatles, Bowie), food, fashion, flowers, movies, books. Canada: music, quite a few good writers for the size of the population, a generally nicer way of life than what I experienced in America. Australia: I've never been there, so not much to comment on. South America: food, dance, music, books. Asia: food, books, dance, and again music. Oh, and you left out Africa c…

Despite Neil Finn’s claims, you can’t really call Crowded house an Australian band when it’s half New Zealanders and places referenced are largely in New Zealand.

Re: The United States of Japan

#74

Post by hrktb » Sat, May 05, 2018, 9:48 PM UTC

almostApatriot1 wrote: post #25

temp-dude-87844 wrote: post #14

The author's basic premise stands: Japan has undergone a post-industrial transition where the sudden prosperity of post-WWII generations was quickly followed by stagnation of those coming of age later; the shrunken opportunities afforded to the younger cohort leads them towards idle leisure, or anxiety-filled corporate drone work. The nature of consumerism has changed: there's still outward signalling but the goals h…

Yes, Japanese culture has filled a gap. If there were more components to Western Culture outside of America's influence maybe it wouldn't be so prominent. But what, culturally, is coming out of Canada, Europe, Australia, South America, or Asia (outside of Japan)? Not much that is universally appealing.

Europe’s electronic music and metal scene, the whole raspberry/arduino single board concept, Hong Kong/China’s action cinema, Korea’s romantic comedies...

That’s just from the top of my head. There’s big swaths of our culture that radiates from all around the world.

Now more often than not it will be cloned/absorbed in the US to the point US people won’t care to know where it comes from (and to be honest it’s not a issue).

Re: The United States of Japan

#75

Post by jacquesm » Sat, May 05, 2018, 10:02 PM UTC

lostlogin wrote: post #73

jacquesm wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Europe: lots of music (just the Uk, just some pop: Beatles, Bowie), food, fashion, flowers, movies, books. Canada: music, quite a few good writers for the size of the population, a generally nicer way of life than what I experienced in America. Australia: I've never been there, so not much to comment on. South America: food, dance, music, books. Asia: food, books, dance, and again music. Oh, and you left out Africa c…

Despite Neil Finn’s claims, you can’t really call Crowded house an Australian band when it’s half New Zealanders and places referenced are largely in New Zealand.

That's a good point. NZ wasn't on the list though so I cheated. Let's add Flight of the Concords then :)

Re: The United States of Japan

#76

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 05, 2018, 10:05 PM UTC

baxtr wrote: post #54

jonathanyc wrote: post #2

A lot more profound than I expected from the title. I recommend reading it if you’ve skipped to the comments :) I was particularly impressed by the comparison the author drew between aspects of Japanese youth culture that developed during the Lost Decade and aspects of “millennial” culture today in the US. I would be interested to see if anyone has developed that further.

I have traveled the world quite a bit, and lately, my impression is: people and cultures are becoming and more similar, probably due to things like social networks that work as amplifier for (mainly western) culture. What I observe: - people dressing/styling similar - same food - same large retail chains - music sounds similar (except for the language) - same TV shows - everybody looking at their smartphones all the…

[deleted]

Re: The United States of Japan

#77

Post by rland » Sat, May 05, 2018, 10:09 PM UTC

dragontamer wrote: post #5

The USA and Japan have a very strange relationship. As far as Asian countries are concerned, Japan has fewer immigrants to the USA than Philippines, China, Vietnam, Korea, and India. But Japan sticks out despite the relatively low migration rate. * The USA in general does have a sense of "the importance of the foreigner" or outsider. Foreigners invite new thought, new culture, and new experiences. * Japan seems to ma…

Just a minor thing: 7-11 is a Japanese company. There are about 20,000 7-11s in Japan (vs 9,000 in the USA).

It surprised me when I went there—they are EVERYWHERE.

Re: The United States of Japan

#78

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 05, 2018, 10:09 PM UTC

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #65

(All hail Lelouch.)

[deleted]

Re: The United States of Japan

#79

Post by kaycebasques » Sat, May 05, 2018, 10:14 PM UTC

> "A drop in fertility is virtually a defining trait of industrialized economies. This isn't a bug; it’s a feature."

Interesting to see programming terminology in a New Yorker article that doesn't seem particularly targeted towards a tech audience.

Re: The United States of Japan

#80

Post by adventured » Sat, May 05, 2018, 10:17 PM UTC

cinquemb wrote: post #66

khawkins wrote: post #61

The economic and demographic points seem to lack perspective in some places and in others are downright conflicting. Take the evidence cited about how NEETs make up 10% of young people. However, the report itself offers one explanation for the numbers. "More than two-thirds of NEETs, in particular young women, are not actively looking for work. The NEET gender gap is larger in Japan than in most other OECD countries…

I think this article is just really trying string together anecdotes to fit a narrative that kind of glamorizes the incentives most people are facing now in the economy. I find the analysis here much better[0]: wrt Japan: "For all its tortured economic history since 1989, Japan has never really had an unemployment problem. Going by its unemployment rate alone, conditions don’t ever appear to be all that out of line.…

> And yet, no wage acceleration can be found anywhere. As detailed yesterday, we find more often than not the opposite indication in some of the more comprehensive data.

And

> There is actually very little employment growth.

Those are both false.

The US has added a million manufacturing jobs since 2011 and the 250,000 added over the last year or so is the most since 1998. The US bled manufacturing jobs non-stop from basically January 1999 to January 2011 (it literally had no positive gain over roughly 12 years). US manufacturing is booming to such an extent right now the production literally can't keep up with demand:

"U.S. Factories Are Showing Signs of Buckling From Demand Surge"

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-02/u-s-facto...

Labor demand is so extreme, we can't find enough truckers and it's holding back the economy:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-09/there-are...

Wage acceleration can in fact be found easily, it's right here:

Chart: https://i.imgur.com/lT00cme.png

"U.S. Private-Sector Wages Lodge Biggest Gain Since 2008"

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-27/u-s-emplo...

The prime age labor force participation rate - a critical metric - has shown a strong improvement in the last two years:

https://i.imgur.com/HcuLQHQ.png

So not only is wage growth accelerating, the strong economy has pulled a lot of prime age workers back into the economy. Nearly a million prime age workers have re-entered the labor force in 2.x years.

The U6 unemployment rate is also back to a normal level.