The Japan Thread

[Australia Sucks]

This is just a wealth and recency bias. And if you argue that the asians are wealthy, or somewhat wealthy, they are still nationally second fiddle and have been defeated by the other groups, thus maintaining the identity.

Do you think that if in 50 years time the Chinese economy eclipsed the American economy and China also gained more cultural prestige that the Chinese would stop the in group preferences and act the same way white people act now?

Somehow I doubt it. I feel like the behavior is deeply culturally ingrained. If you disagree make a logical argument for why.

 

[Australia Sucks]

Life without kids and a legacy is the hardest sell, though deep down I think we all know it's mostly vanity, since we're all dead in the long run and the point of this life is the next.

The problem with this idea is that nobody knows objectively beyond all reasonable doubt that there is a next life and if there is a next life what it is like. So I assume you are just acting on the frame of reference of Pascal's wager.

 

[Australia Sucks]

Have fun talking AT someone I guess. But it's still a better deal than a UK fatty.

The thing is that women are always difficult and illogical (and have always been that way) no matter which country you go to. It is the nature of women.

Sure the flavour of the exact manner of how women are difficult changes depending on the country but its still problematic nonetheless.

The real problem is that society has taken away mens authority and operates on the basis that women are equal to men when we all know they are clearly not. Back in the day men had the authority to say "shut the fuck up bitch and go make me a sandwich" whereas these days you have to actually argue with your wife because society doesn't support you.

The only way the female problem can be solved is if society goes full Taliban. Most Christians other than the conservative/ultra Orthodox Christians have completely cucked out on the feminism issue almost to the point where Islam is becoming a more viable religion that Christianity and I saw this as an unbiased Agnostic person.

 

[Blade Runner]

Somehow I doubt it. I feel like the behavior is deeply culturally ingrained. If you disagree make a logical argument for why.

They'll be softened but mostly you'll be right. What I think you are missing here is that the only reason they are now on top is more because the top group historically and civilizationally just failed, so they inherit a lot by just being close and taking advantage of their collectivism, which still holds them back a bit. There are subcultures in America that are like this, where they end up just getting more powers based on numbers or collectivism, and act like they are as competent, but they aren't. Not that it doesn't' count, it just means they don't have as high of a ceiling.

The problem with this idea is that nobody knows objectively beyond all reasonable doubt that there is a next life and if there is a next life what it is like.

I know beyond a reasonable doubt. Knowing is experience, so it won't (possibly) mean much to you. I trust various holy people that would be confused even by the question, since they already experience the age to come, in some capacity. The word doubt wouldn't even make sense to them at this point.

Sure the flavour of the exact manner of how women are difficult changes depending on the country but its still problematic nonetheless.

Yes, a lot of people miss this point and you and I point it out quite a bit. We could call it 6 of one, and half dozen of the other.

Again, marriage was always a bad deal in some maximum freedom or materialist world dream for a man, but the society made it work for guys with substantial tradeoffs that were actually good for human beings, stuff they don't provide (at all - or worse, abuse the man) anymore.

For example, a man could rationalize sticking with one woman because he got her as a virgin, she was young and he got some good years, and he knew also that children and family were going to be more important and longer lasting, anyway. He could rationalize having helpmate that though she needed a lot of attention, would do other things around the house and/or make parts of life easier. Now you get battles, little or no cooking, no young women, no virgins, etc. Any reason to get married is gone, especially when you throw law on top. People will look at you sideways if you want JUST a young woman, and it's literally retarded to have to explain that to them. The problem, as AS states, is that the society is a bunch of women type thinkers, and that does a normal or traditional man absolutely no good.

 

[RedLagoon]

We're stopping over in Japan for a vacation we had some very positive interactions with Japanese outside of Japan after dealing with too many rude Aussies over the years.

I think I'll just find it out eh?

Vacation didn't happen yet, question still stands.

 

[Laner]

Heading to Japan tomorrow, if anyone wants to meet up let me know. I'll be there most of October.

 

[Cooper]

 

[Laner]

Since we are here dealing with some family issues, we decided to put our son into school for a few weeks while here. Its been a great experience and none of us are excited about returning to the Canadian school system.

We are in a big city in Tokyo and his school is about 600 kids from K-6. We had to have a meeting at city hall with the education minister and he did the Japanese thing where he filled out forms, asked questions and made sure everything was in order as to not inconvenience the school principle. After that, we headed over to meet with the principal of the school and the grade 4 teacher. Same thing, questions and they did lots of paperwork. They were excited to have him.

Of the whole school, he is the only non Japanese kid. He is a minor celebrity at the moment, and kids are knocking on our door constantly. The way Japanese school works is they all meet at a muster point in the mornings and walk together to school (no adults). Home time is a free for all, with kids making their way home (no adults) for 2 or 2.5 hours. By 530 they are all home for dinner. The girls tend to go study and the boys are just running around the neighborhood. They pool their money for snacks. Japan really encourages independence of their children, and because of its incredible safety, they have their children do a lot of important family tasks as well as enjoy freedom away from parental eyes. It's been cool to run into my 9yo son and his group of friends while out and about in Tokyo.

Education wise its about 1 year ahead of Canada, 2 years in math. The biggest difference though is fitness. They have gym or fitness 3 or 4 times a day - whenever the gym is free it seems they can grab another 15 min of fitness. His school in central Vancouver is 45min per week. Sports day was last week and if anyone has the chance to attend one, its incredible - also sad to remember times in the west when we celebrated speed and strength of our youth.

For anyone relocating to Japan with a family you will be pretty happy with the elementary education. High school will be pretty different, however. For anyone trying to decide and find themselves here, put your kids in school for a few weeks. Its a great experience and my son doesn't want to leave.

 

[Eagle3]

I'm glad things are working out for you and your family, Laner.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of work do you do in Japan and how did you get the job to work in Japan?

Asking because I'd love to settle in Japan too but I'm not sure if I have the skillset to do so.

 

[Australia Sucks]

With the yen being as weak as it is an the lower levels of inflation in Japan compared to most countries the relative cost of living in Japan is making it a cheap retirement destination (outside of Tokyo). If you exclude Tokyo Japan is now almost comparable to some third world countries in terms of cost of living for a foreign retiree.

There is a whole forum about retiring in Japan.

RetireJapan

Personal finance, investing, and retirement for residents of Japan

www.retirejapan.com

As a foreign retiree in Japan (excluding Tokyo) you get first world safety, functionality, etc at almost third world prices, the catch is you will be a social outcast and never properly accepted into society. You will probably have to hang out with other expats even if you speak fluent Japanese.

 

[SkiPro]

Since we are here dealing with some family issues, we decided to put our son into school for a few weeks while here. Its been a great experience and none of us are excited about returning to the Canadian school system.

We are in a big city in Tokyo and his school is about 600 kids from K-6. We had to have a meeting at city hall with the education minister and he did the Japanese thing where he filled out forms, asked questions and made sure everything was in order as to not inconvenience the school principle. After that, we headed over to meet with the principal of the school and the grade 4 teacher. Same thing, questions and they did lots of paperwork. They were excited to have him.

Of the whole school, he is the only non Japanese kid. He is a minor celebrity at the moment, and kids are knocking on our door constantly. The way Japanese school works is they all meet at a muster point in the mornings and walk together to school (no adults). Home time is a free for all, with kids making their way home (no adults) for 2 or 2.5 hours. By 530 they are all home for dinner. The girls tend to go study and the boys are just running around the neighborhood. They pool their money for snacks. Japan really encourages independence of their children, and because of its incredible safety, they have their children do a lot of important family tasks as well as enjoy freedom away from parental eyes. It's been cool to run into my 9yo son and his group of friends while out and about in Tokyo.

Education wise its about 1 year ahead of Canada, 2 years in math. The biggest difference though is fitness. They have gym or fitness 3 or 4 times a day - whenever the gym is free it seems they can grab another 15 min of fitness. His school in central Vancouver is 45min per week. Sports day was last week and if anyone has the chance to attend one, its incredible - also sad to remember times in the west when we celebrated speed and strength of our youth.

For anyone relocating to Japan with a family you will be pretty happy with the elementary education. High school will be pretty different, however. For anyone trying to decide and find themselves here, put your kids in school for a few weeks. Its a great experience and my son doesn't want to leave.

I love these on the ground reports. Thanks @Laner

 

[Let God Arise]

With the yen being as weak as it is an the lower levels of inflation in Japan compared to most countries the relative cost of living in Japan is making it a cheap retirement destination (outside of Tokyo). If you exclude Tokyo Japan is now almost comparable to some third world countries in terms of cost of living for a foreign retiree.

There is a whole forum about retiring in Japan.

RetireJapan

Personal finance, investing, and retirement for residents of Japan

www.retirejapan.com

As a foreign retiree in Japan (excluding Tokyo) you get first world safety, functionality, etc at almost third world prices, the catch is you will be a social outcast and never properly accepted into society. You will probably have to hang out with other expats even if you speak fluent Japanese.

I didn't know it's possible to retire to Japan. Maybe one of their warm southern islands with nice beaches?

 

[Cooper]

Since we are here dealing with some family issues, we decided to put our son into school for a few weeks while here. Its been a great experience and none of us are excited about returning to the Canadian school system.

We are in a big city in Tokyo and his school is about 600 kids from K-6. We had to have a meeting at city hall with the education minister and he did the Japanese thing where he filled out forms, asked questions and made sure everything was in order as to not inconvenience the school principle. After that, we headed over to meet with the principal of the school and the grade 4 teacher. Same thing, questions and they did lots of paperwork. They were excited to have him.

Of the whole school, he is the only non Japanese kid. He is a minor celebrity at the moment, and kids are knocking on our door constantly. The way Japanese school works is they all meet at a muster point in the mornings and walk together to school (no adults). Home time is a free for all, with kids making their way home (no adults) for 2 or 2.5 hours. By 530 they are all home for dinner. The girls tend to go study and the boys are just running around the neighborhood. They pool their money for snacks. Japan really encourages independence of their children, and because of its incredible safety, they have their children do a lot of important family tasks as well as enjoy freedom away from parental eyes. It's been cool to run into my 9yo son and his group of friends while out and about in Tokyo.

Education wise its about 1 year ahead of Canada, 2 years in math. The biggest difference though is fitness. They have gym or fitness 3 or 4 times a day - whenever the gym is free it seems they can grab another 15 min of fitness. His school in central Vancouver is 45min per week. Sports day was last week and if anyone has the chance to attend one, its incredible - also sad to remember times in the west when we celebrated speed and strength of our youth.

For anyone relocating to Japan with a family you will be pretty happy with the elementary education. High school will be pretty different, however. For anyone trying to decide and find themselves here, put your kids in school for a few weeks. Its a great experience and my son doesn't want to leave.

Is bullying of foreign students no longer a thing in Japanese schools? I have a friend who is half Japanese half French who has had a horrendous experience growing up there, to the point where his parents sent him to boarding school in France.

Supposedly, even full-blooded Japanese kids who lived abroad for an extended period and come back are bullied. Perhaps their school culture has mellowed somewhat?

 

[Blade Runner]

With the yen being as weak as it is an the lower levels of inflation in Japan compared to most countries the relative cost of living in Japan is making it a cheap retirement destination (outside of Tokyo). If you exclude Tokyo Japan is now almost comparable to some third world countries in terms of cost of living for a foreign retiree.

There is a whole forum about retiring in Japan.

RetireJapan

Personal finance, investing, and retirement for residents of Japan

www.retirejapan.com

As a foreign retiree in Japan (excluding Tokyo) you get first world safety, functionality, etc at almost third world prices, the catch is you will be a social outcast and never properly accepted into society. You will probably have to hang out with other expats even if you speak fluent Japanese.

Are the women in Japan like the Chinese, working and then acting like men care about their job when they are 30+? Is it western in that way as well? That is, women work and it's not that the men don't inspire or instill attraction in them, it's more that they have followed "careers"?

 

[RedLagoon]

Since we are here dealing with some family issues, we decided to put our son into school for a few weeks while here. Its been a great experience and none of us are excited about returning to the Canadian school system.

We are in a big city in Tokyo and his school is about 600 kids from K-6. We had to have a meeting at city hall with the education minister and he did the Japanese thing where he filled out forms, asked questions and made sure everything was in order as to not inconvenience the school principle. After that, we headed over to meet with the principal of the school and the grade 4 teacher. Same thing, questions and they did lots of paperwork. They were excited to have him.

Of the whole school, he is the only non Japanese kid. He is a minor celebrity at the moment, and kids are knocking on our door constantly. The way Japanese school works is they all meet at a muster point in the mornings and walk together to school (no adults). Home time is a free for all, with kids making their way home (no adults) for 2 or 2.5 hours. By 530 they are all home for dinner. The girls tend to go study and the boys are just running around the neighborhood. They pool their money for snacks. Japan really encourages independence of their children, and because of its incredible safety, they have their children do a lot of important family tasks as well as enjoy freedom away from parental eyes. It's been cool to run into my 9yo son and his group of friends while out and about in Tokyo.

Education wise its about 1 year ahead of Canada, 2 years in math. The biggest difference though is fitness. They have gym or fitness 3 or 4 times a day - whenever the gym is free it seems they can grab another 15 min of fitness. His school in central Vancouver is 45min per week. Sports day was last week and if anyone has the chance to attend one, its incredible - also sad to remember times in the west when we celebrated speed and strength of our youth.

For anyone relocating to Japan with a family you will be pretty happy with the elementary education. High school will be pretty different, however. For anyone trying to decide and find themselves here, put your kids in school for a few weeks. Its a great experience and my son doesn't want to leave.

Thanks for sharing this, this is very helpful for us.

 

[Laner]

Is bullying of foreign students no longer a thing in Japanese schools? I have a friend who is half Japanese half French who has had a horrendous experience growing up there, to the point where his parents sent him to boarding school in France.

Supposedly, even full-blooded Japanese kids who lived abroad for an extended period and come back are bullied. Perhaps their school culture has mellowed somewhat?

Bullying exists everywhere for similar reasons - pecking order. My son certainly has a target on his back as he sort of slipped into being 'cool' without the pecking order. So given enough time, he will have to show his mettle and if he fails this, he would most likely have a brutal time in school. If he passes, he would most likely just find himself somewhere comfortable. For now, he is in a good spot.

I'm glad things are working out for you and your family, Laner.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of work do you do in Japan and how did you get the job to work in Japan?

Asking because I'd love to settle in Japan too but I'm not sure if I have the skillset to do so.

We are just here dealing with some family issues so I am just working on things for back in Vancouver when I return.

The job market seems pretty healthy here and wages are going up. For now the borders are still fairly stubborn in regards to mass immigration and the Japanese are pretty desperate to find internal solutions rather than external solutions (importing India - though this is still happening illegally due to relaxed visas with India).

The best way forward in Japan would be to start a business. The taxes are pretty favorable here and the money can be great for entrepreneurs. Working for a salary, not so much. Though the value here is phenomenal, even in Tokyo. I am buying T bone steaks here for 1/3 the cost of Canada. Groceries and food in general are costing us about 50% - 70% of Canada. A family can still live comfortably on a single salary and most do. Almost all the kids at my son's school have stay at home moms.

 

[Australia Sucks]

Bullying exists everywhere for similar reasons - pecking order. My son certainly has a target on his back as he sort of slipped into being 'cool' without the pecking order. So given enough time, he will have to show his mettle and if he fails this, he would most likely have a brutal time in school. If he passes, he would most likely just find himself somewhere comfortable. For now, he is in a good spot.

The good thing about being a foreign kid (westerner, middle easterner, Latino etc) you are most likely bigger than Japanese kids so that coupled with if you do any martial arts training as a kid you after a few schoolyard fights the Japanese kids won't mess with you.

 

[Australia Sucks]

Are the women in Japan like the Chinese, working and then acting like men care about their job when they are 30+? Is it western in that way as well? That is, women work and it's not that the men don't inspire or instill attraction in them, it's more that they have followed "careers"?

I haven't been to Japan but based on Japanese women I have met in Australia (negative self selection bias admittedly) and stories I have heard talking to Japanese men in Australia I would guess the average Japanese woman aged 18 - 25 is going to be pretty westernized at this point in terms of mentality although they aren't going to be fat or short haired like western women and are still somewhat less likely to have tattoos, but yes the careerism and delaying marriage aspects are pretty similar to the west at this point. And careerism for women is even more non-sensical in Japan than the west given how low Japanese salaries are. I would be interested to hear if my gut instinct corresponds to reality from guys like Laner that actually have boots on the ground.



Although the median salary in Japan is around $3000 USD per month that is skewed upwards due to an aging population and high paying legacy jobs of a bygone era which are gradually disappearing. Most women under 30 in Japan even with a university degree will likely be earning something like $2000 USD per month or less.

You can see according to the table below women aged 25 - 29 in Japan are earning a median salary of ¥3.0 million per month and for women aged 20 - 24 that figure is a median of ¥2.18 million per month.

This data is for 2024.
https://blog.gaijinpot.com/what-is-the-average-salary-in-japan/

Although what is interesting about the below table is that male earnings peak at age 55 - 59 (middle manager salary men, etc) whereas female earnings peak out at age 25 - 29, suggesting after that age women are getting married and having children and just working part time or in jobs with lower responsibility.

 

[RedLagoon]

The good thing about being a foreign kid (westerner, middle easterner, Latino etc) you are most likely bigger than Japanese kids so that coupled with if you do any martial arts training as a kid you after a few schoolyard fights the Japanese kids won't mess with you.

I doubt it.

 

[Based_Christian_Dude]

Corbett did a report about Japan and the new mRNA vaccines in development. A little concerning, but there's some Japanese protesting this.

Episode 466 – Japan Rising | The Corbett Report

corbettreport.com