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Having lived about half my life in the US, and the other half in Japan, I can say that the stereotype that Japanese is some sort of super high-tech place just isn't true. Maybe it was 20 years ago, but in many ways, the Japan of 20 years ago isn't much different than the Japan of today. A few examples: low rate of smartphone adoption, almost all transactions still done in cash, slow trains aside from the poster-boy shinkansen, etc.
Having said that, I would still much rather live in Japan than the US, but not necessarily because of the level of technology.
Not sure where you are getting this information but the vast majority of Americans have a negative view of Japan's lifestyle (the work hours and small house stereotype) and just about every other country in the world (especially if the country is non-Western). Some conservatives in Europe and America envy Japan's immigration policies though since they want to restrict the flow of non-Western and non-white immigrants.
Technology wise, Japan excels in industrial technology such as robotics, metallurgy, high precision tools, and material sciences but lags in software and pharmaceuticals (although it isn't bad). Japanese technology tends to favor whatever can employ the most people so they tend to focus on whatever will employ the most which means factories and industrial based technology. Technology based on computer programming tend to employ very few people but have some of the highest profit margins. Industrial based technology isn't very popular field in the US and much of the West anymore and the profit margins are low so once again few Americans envy Japanese technology since Japan isn't leading in the technologies that the US excels at (particularly online computing, software, and pharmaceuticals).
Japan is by far the world leader in technology and has huge buildings.
They eat very healthy food and live longer then the rest of the world.
Do you think Americans and Europeans secretly envy their lifestyle? Maybe they are a model of what a society should be like.
Just throwing this idea out there and you guys can toss some ideas back. Sort of like playing catch.
Not at all. Japanese work either the longest hours in the world, or they are in the top 5 most worked people in the world. They take the fewest vacations, even the vacations they get they are reluctant to take them because it would make you seem like you're not so dedicated to "the team", a culture that strives uniform conformity and mutes individual expression, unquestioned submission to authority figures, cramped and expensive housing.
Now for some good points. The food tastes good, at least the stuff that's been made for me at friends' homes, a very long lifespan (combination of genetics and diet, you ain't gonna live to be 100 just because you live in Japan), if you're into that sort of thing the entertainment. Most people are not into Japanese entertainment besides other Asians. Considering that roughly 75% (+/- 5%) of Japan's foreign population comes from Eastern and Southeastern Asia, I think that speaks volumes. Me, personally, no amount of anime in the world is gonna convince me to move to Japan. It's already bad enough Americans get the short end of the stick when it comes to vacations, when the Japanese have it more rough than us. Every Japanese I know that lives here wants to stay here, not go back. But, there are some Westerners that can make it work. Japan is like nursing school. Most come in thinking they'll make it because they're very smart, 3/4 of the class drops out before graduation. Japan probably has the highest turnover of Westerners in the world. If you were raised monoculturally and monolingually, these are additional challenges placed on you to overcome, and they are incredibly difficult (I speak from first-hand experience)
I can agree that most white people who come to Japan, even if they're enthusiastic at first, seem to eventually become very bitter. Most Asians, especially Singaporeans, seem to adjust much better and stay here long-term (most Korean and Chinese seem to eventually return to their home country).
I don't think most Americans envy the Japanese lifestyle at all. Tiny homes/apartments and terrible work environments are enough to keep most Americans from wanting that type of lifestyle. We might admire their technology, but that's it and it's not like the US lacks in that department. Japan is an interesting country, but they don't have much I envy.
Not at all. Japanese work either the longest hours in the world, or they are in the top 5 most worked people in the world. They take the fewest vacations, even the vacations they get they are reluctant to take them because it would make you seem like you're not so dedicated to "the team", a culture that strives uniform conformity and mutes individual expression, unquestioned submission to authority figures, cramped and expensive housing.
Now for some good points. The food tastes good, at least the stuff that's been made for me at friends' homes, a very long lifespan (combination of genetics and diet, you ain't gonna live to be 100 just because you live in Japan), if you're into that sort of thing the entertainment. Most people are not into Japanese entertainment besides other Asians. Considering that roughly 75% (+/- 5%) of Japan's foreign population comes from Eastern and Southeastern Asia, I think that speaks volumes. Me, personally, no amount of anime in the world is gonna convince me to move to Japan. It's already bad enough Americans get the short end of the stick when it comes to vacations, when the Japanese have it more rough than us. Every Japanese I know that lives here wants to stay here, not go back. But, there are some Westerners that can make it work. Japan is like nursing school. Most come in thinking they'll make it because they're very smart, 3/4 of the class drops out before graduation. Japan probably has the highest turnover of Westerners in the world. If you were raised monoculturally and monolingually, these are additional challenges placed on you to overcome, and they are incredibly difficult (I speak from first-hand experience)
This is a bit of an outdated statistic and the vast majority of Japanese workers don't work those hours. It isn't because the work hours for those jobs have improved but more for the fact that a significant portion of the Japanese work force are temp employees and often work part time hours.
Regarding the Japanese work environment reminds me of when I lived in Central Ohio back in the 90's. We had a Honda assembly plant nearby. We had a Japanese family next door and the man of the house worked at the plant. They were from Osaka as I recall.
He was out of the driveway weekdays at 5am and not back till 8 or 9 pm. When they had something urgent going on he slept on a cot at the plant and would stay there a week or more until they were back to a more normal schedule.
There was a Japanese style restaurant in the area which the men frequented on a regular basis. They could really put away the beer. For some reason they loved Budweiser which I was told was expensive back home. They also had lady friends, local Asian women and not their wives, who were their "companions" at some of their drinking parties.
It didn't seem like the wives did much socially with their husbands. The woman got together and did their own thing and the men likewise.
Last edited by msgsing; 08-07-2015 at 05:59 PM..
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