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Turning Japanese: Coping with stasis

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Re: Turning Japanese: Coping with stasis

#71

Post by tsotha »

hollerith wrote: post #70
twblalock wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even during the deepest point of the post-1980s recession, unemployment never exceeded 6%. In fact, the highest level of unemployment Japan has experienced since 1953 was 5.6%: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/unemployment-rate It is interesting that they managed to preserve low unemployment and increase the standard of living during about 20 years of flat economic growth, but they've done it. Part of it can be…

Japanese GDP (PPP) per capita is only about 70% of US GDP per capita . If they have the world's second-highest GDP, that is mostly because they have the developed world's second-highest population.

Actually, they've slipped behind China into the #3 slot.

Re: Turning Japanese: Coping with stasis

#72

Post by jrockway »

hkmurakami wrote: post #3

> And then there’s the view. Whether it’s the outskirts of Queens on the way from New York’s JFK airport, or the fringes of the Los Angeles highway off-ramps by LAX, everything seems a bit run down and decrepit. Even on the train from Narita Airport to Tokyo, you'll pass plenty of comparatively run down "commerce areas" adjacent to small train stops. The buildings are old, and made of nondescript concrete that have b…

The thing that I find most disconcerting when riding the train from Narita are all the gaudy signs that read "本" with the kind of lowest-common-denominator flashing lights and gaudy font that I expect from sex shops or gambling establishments. It's weird to get off a plane, where I previously thought "reading: the activity of the smart and elite" and show up in Narita where it's "reading: the lowest-common-denominator activity that appeals to everyone".

(I get a similar feeling when going to London. I can read all the signs and overhear all the conversations, but everything is ... different. It's weird.)

Re: Turning Japanese: Coping with stasis

#73

Post by tsotha »

jcurbo wrote: post #59
jpatokal wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that line is ridiculous. Tokyo is the only part of Japan that's still growing in population, and that will stall and reverse by 2020. Even in Tokyo, "new and shiny" is concentrated in a few central spots near major train stations. Population in the rest of the country is shrinking, with many places in outright collapse. https://spikejapan.wordpress.com/2014/08/16/yubari-withering...

Bit of a sidebar but I really like Spike Japan. I wish they'd compile all the blog posts into a book.

I just wish he'd keep posting. I got the distinct impression someone complained to his employer, though, and he was told to stop. I used hit that site up all the time looking for a new post.

Re: Turning Japanese: Coping with stasis

#74

Post by jrockway »

RachelF wrote: post #25
hkmurakami wrote: post #3

> And then there’s the view. Whether it’s the outskirts of Queens on the way from New York’s JFK airport, or the fringes of the Los Angeles highway off-ramps by LAX, everything seems a bit run down and decrepit. Even on the train from Narita Airport to Tokyo, you'll pass plenty of comparatively run down "commerce areas" adjacent to small train stops. The buildings are old, and made of nondescript concrete that have b…

You see plenty of industrial areas from the limousine busses, and a few homeless people under bridges. However, if Africa is third world and the US first world, then Japan is one better, in most respects, perhaps, zero'th world.

> a few homeless people under bridges

Reading books.

Re: Turning Japanese: Coping with stasis

#75

Post by tsotha »

thret wrote: post #46
LukeHoersten wrote: post #39

'"Do rich societies really need to get richer and richer indefinitely?" he asks.' They do if they are going to pay off their mega-debt. The real fear is when the GDP drops below the yearly interest payments. I feel the same when I go to nice European countries. "Wow everything is so nice" and then I remind myself that Germany is paying for it all. It's not sustainable. Look at some of the Scandinavian countries for n…

Does anyone actually think the USA will ever pay off its debt?

The way fractional reserve currencies work it's literally impossible for everyone to pay off their debt, and if a substantial portion of people did there would literally be no money.

So... no.

Re: Turning Japanese: Coping with stasis

#76

Post by tsotha »

mlmonkey wrote: post #27
jayfuerstenberg wrote: post #11

Herbivore men in Japanese is not "soshoku danshi", it's "soshoku KEI danshi". Just sayin'.

Does this apply to vegetarian Japanese men? Does this mean vegetarianism is considered a negative (at least among men)?

Kazinator is right. Don't think vegetarian. Think "herd animal sluggishly grazing in the fields".

Re: Turning Japanese: Coping with stasis

#77

Post by tsotha »

drpgq wrote: post #17
carsongross wrote: post #2

Nearly everyone was on the same proverbial page: Japan's population is 98.5 per cent Japanese, as defined by citizenry. While ethnic diversity has its strengths (and some academics point out that, when you analyse the population's regional roots, Japan is quite diverse), a set of common cultural values, instilled from birth, may strengthen resilience in the face of crisis and adversity. Thought-crime in progress, cit…

Well even Robert Putnam has admitted that diversity is overrated.

After delaying publication of his work until he could figure out how to spin it.

Personally I think the Japanese are blessed for having a homogeneous society because it means they don't have to devote time in every discussion to race issues.

Re: Turning Japanese: Coping with stasis

#78

Post by Animats »

There's a new "Cool Japan" venture capital fund.[1] It's run by the government and some big banks. Since their startup late last year, they've bought the world's largest translation/subbing service, a TV channel, and an anime streaming operation, and opened a food court in Singapore. The government of Korea has been spending heavily to promote K-Pop, and Japan is responding.

They take proposals. See their investment criteria.[2]

Someone should propose a robot-run restaurant in San Francisco.

[1] http://www.cj-fund.co.jp/en/ [2] http://www.cj-fund.co.jp/en/investment/flow.html

Re: Turning Japanese: Coping with stasis

#79

Post by rtpg »

Animats wrote: post #78

There's a new "Cool Japan" venture capital fund.[1] It's run by the government and some big banks. Since their startup late last year, they've bought the world's largest translation/subbing service, a TV channel, and an anime streaming operation, and opened a food court in Singapore. The government of Korea has been spending heavily to promote K-Pop, and Japan is responding. They take proposals. See their investment…

what's the story behind the food court?

Re: Turning Japanese: Coping with stasis

#80

Post by rtpg »

jpatokal wrote: post #40
hkmurakami wrote: post #3

> And then there’s the view. Whether it’s the outskirts of Queens on the way from New York’s JFK airport, or the fringes of the Los Angeles highway off-ramps by LAX, everything seems a bit run down and decrepit. Even on the train from Narita Airport to Tokyo, you'll pass plenty of comparatively run down "commerce areas" adjacent to small train stops. The buildings are old, and made of nondescript concrete that have b…

Yeah, that line is ridiculous. Tokyo is the only part of Japan that's still growing in population, and that will stall and reverse by 2020. Even in Tokyo, "new and shiny" is concentrated in a few central spots near major train stations. Population in the rest of the country is shrinking, with many places in outright collapse. https://spikejapan.wordpress.com/2014/08/16/yubari-withering...

I went to Gunma a couple months ago and saw this first hand. Small villages where abandoned housing outnumbered occupied buildings 2 to 1.

In this case it was in a more mountainous area, but there's a lot of community collapse going on (the tsunami probably exacerbated the trend in some areas)

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