Japanese given up on relationships
Discussion
I heard a statistic yesterday that was a bit shocking, even though I had heard the Japanese had turned against marriage but had not realised the true extent of the problem (assuming statistic was accurate).
For those in their twenties, 60% of men and 50% of women currently aren’t married or in a relationship. More shocking: 40%/25% have never been in a relationship!
I am assuming that the figures for the U.K. are very different. Maybe I am out of date though. Is Japan leading the way and other countries will follow or is it just a Japan specific issue?
To put it into context. There are lots of twenty year olds in my team (in Copenhagen) and there is only one who isn’t married or in a long term relationship. My team might be unusual but it is very parent friendly here with the expectation that women will continue to work, child care available and paternity and maternity leave (which is used).
For those in their twenties, 60% of men and 50% of women currently aren’t married or in a relationship. More shocking: 40%/25% have never been in a relationship!
I am assuming that the figures for the U.K. are very different. Maybe I am out of date though. Is Japan leading the way and other countries will follow or is it just a Japan specific issue?
To put it into context. There are lots of twenty year olds in my team (in Copenhagen) and there is only one who isn’t married or in a long term relationship. My team might be unusual but it is very parent friendly here with the expectation that women will continue to work, child care available and paternity and maternity leave (which is used).
Edited by Skeptisk on Tuesday 15th August 10:27
Silvanus said:
Why do you describe it as a problem?
Is it not because fewer relationships and marriages typically coincides with fewer children born?Japans population has fallen for 12 years in a row - half a million last year.
Typically that's not a good thing when it comes to your economy.
Sycamore said:
Silvanus said:
Why do you describe it as a problem?
Is it not because fewer relationships and marriages typically coincides with fewer children born?Japans population has fallen for 12 years in a row - half a million last year.
Typically that's not a good thing when it comes to your economy.
President Merkin said:
Japan has fierce resistance to immigration. if they're not banging each other, then something will have to give before they run out of people to run the place. Absolutely not a teachable figurative.
Probably not banging each other as their private parts are pixilated and it's putting them off.asfault said:
Do they not have even crazier house prices than we do. That's the root cause of it.
Depends which part of Japan you are talking about. there are places away from the major cities in stunning locations that are dirt cheap that would cost a fortune in the UK. There is a preference for city living.President Merkin said:
Japan has fierce resistance to immigration. if they're not banging each other, then something will have to give before they run out of people to run the place. Absolutely not a teachable figurative.
Much as I’m fascinated by Japan and the Japanese I imagine it is an even more difficult place to be an immigrant than elsewhere: society with very rigid rules, impossibility of being accepted if you are not Japanese, racism, exceptionally difficult language to master plus a horrid working culture (any country that has a word for death by overwork should be avoided in my book). Great to visit. To live? No thanks. So even if they did encourage immigration how many would flock there? Sycamore said:
Silvanus said:
Why do you describe it as a problem?
Is it not because fewer relationships and marriages typically coincides with fewer children born?Japans population has fallen for 12 years in a row - half a million last year.
Typically that's not a good thing when it comes to your economy.
Wages not risen since the 90's. Very old population too.
I've watched some Japanese Vloggers and from what they say it's virtually impossible to even date a Japanese women let alone get to a point where you might have kids.
Sycamore said:
Typically that's not a good thing when it comes to your economy.
To be honest I’m sick to death of doing things that are good for the economy. f
k the economy.Great that the Japanese have realised that true happiness comes from doing what to want to do, not what societal norms and peer pressures want them to do.
ChocolateFrog said:
Sycamore said:
Silvanus said:
Why do you describe it as a problem?
Is it not because fewer relationships and marriages typically coincides with fewer children born?Japans population has fallen for 12 years in a row - half a million last year.
Typically that's not a good thing when it comes to your economy.
Wages not risen since the 90's. Very old population too.
I've watched some Japanese Vloggers and from what they say it's virtually impossible to even date a Japanese women let alone get to a point where you might have kids.
Electronicpants said:
President Merkin said:
Japan has fierce resistance to immigration. if they're not banging each other, then something will have to give before they run out of people to run the place. Absolutely not a teachable figurative.
Probably not banging each other as their private parts are pixilated and it's putting them off.
This joke seems to have been lost on people in relationships...
I see this becoming a problem (if it is a problem) for the rest of the developed world. The latest generation to become adults are a funny bunch, which I'm absolutely positive has always been the case, but I've never met a more insular bunch. I don't mean geographically but their world really begins and ends with them. Most of my Son’s friends have been in relationships, but it’s not the same as when I was that age. Their GFs / BFs are more like fashion accessories that anything else.
I also seem a lot of people in their 30s and 40s, who have may have been in relationships before, or maybe not, looking at the ‘dating world’ and seeing such a st show they’re saying, “sod that”.
As for Japan, this is only my impression with working with a Japanese company, not actually living there, so I stand by to be told I'm wrong, but they seem far more interested in perception than reality. All these 'company men' who live in their suits at the office, they don't actually produce much work. It seems impossible to get anyone to take responsibility for anything, mistakes however minor are always swept under the carpet, better that everyone pretends it didn't happen that learn from it, lest someone gets in trouble. They're ranked 23rd out of 36 for productivity in OECD and dead last in the G7.
I also seem a lot of people in their 30s and 40s, who have may have been in relationships before, or maybe not, looking at the ‘dating world’ and seeing such a s
t show they’re saying, “sod that”.As for Japan, this is only my impression with working with a Japanese company, not actually living there, so I stand by to be told I'm wrong, but they seem far more interested in perception than reality. All these 'company men' who live in their suits at the office, they don't actually produce much work. It seems impossible to get anyone to take responsibility for anything, mistakes however minor are always swept under the carpet, better that everyone pretends it didn't happen that learn from it, lest someone gets in trouble. They're ranked 23rd out of 36 for productivity in OECD and dead last in the G7.
Legacywr said:
Electronicpants said:
President Merkin said:
Japan has fierce resistance to immigration. if they're not banging each other, then something will have to give before they run out of people to run the place. Absolutely not a teachable figurative.
Probably not banging each other as their private parts are pixilated and it's putting them off.This joke seems to have been lost on people in relationships...
I lived in Japan for a while, as well as France. France was harder to live in. I was well received although it was an intercompany transfer and my skills were needed there. I was wheeled out in front of Japanese clients with excitement in terms of 'hey we got the foreign expert in because you are so important'
Being an immigrant and the associated biases around it in Japan was glaringly obvious, the French were a lot more subtle and underhand.
Japanese culture is very different and easy to dismiss as 'weird' from their work practices i.e. everyone has to wait for the boss to leave, then their suborindates can, and it trickles down from there. To having toilets that do all manner of things...it took me a few months to work out why the cubicles in the mens toilets had a 12 inch set of tongs hanging in there...
Being an immigrant and the associated biases around it in Japan was glaringly obvious, the French were a lot more subtle and underhand.
Japanese culture is very different and easy to dismiss as 'weird' from their work practices i.e. everyone has to wait for the boss to leave, then their suborindates can, and it trickles down from there. To having toilets that do all manner of things...it took me a few months to work out why the cubicles in the mens toilets had a 12 inch set of tongs hanging in there...
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