Well, thanks Marxy, I'll get Hisae to translate some of the comments there and get back to you. Let me remind you that the challenge is to find a blog that complains about Japan as much as yours does. That means more than the odd grouch, but a consistent campaign of systematic complaint. Anyway, I'll check them out with real interest.

Could I just say, though, that Glitchslapping Bobby D is not always the most reliable source of information about Japan, educational though his blog can be (the recent entry on the firebombing of Tokyo was an eye-opener). He does slip, and badly. Two days ago he told us to check an entry he made one year ago about the video game Katamari Damashi, boasting that "just for the record, I wanted to say here, once and for all, that the concept of superflatness has FINALLY made it into video game form... (Remember kids, you heard it here first.)"

Anyone who knows anything about either video games or superflatness knows that the two were already very familiar with each other back in 1997, eight years ago, with Parappa The Rapper. I'd have thought someone with Bobby's Jinglish skills would know that even the name "Parappa" comes from the words "paper thin" -- in other words, almost literally "superflat".

I'd have commented on his site, but when you hit the comment button there you just get a "Blog not found" message. And now he seems to be here, I thought I'd pass the message through you.

Posted by: Momus at March 13, 2005 5:34 PM

Okay, we're working through these one by one:

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/hira333/20050207

The blogger is going through the newspapers. He quotes a novelist saying "The mental disease in Japan is the worst in the world recently because of the stress of child-rearing, and increasing depression, with mothers who beat their children. There's also dependency on gambling and other things. Many people isolate themselves, and suicides have increased to over three million". But the blogger responds that Japan is not an uncomfortable social environment for people, that places are starting to resemble each other thanks to information density, and that the worsening of various social issues is simply Japan coming into line with the rest of the world, and that Japan is over-reacting. The blogger concludes that Japan needs to find new ways to deal with these problems, and particularly to escape the stress that causes schoolkids to get ulcers. Sooner or later, says the blogger, children in other countries will go through the same problems as Japanese kids, and by that time Japanese kids will have got over the problem. Japanese adults are now talking about a "Tokyo Mental Health Revolution", but they should go down into the deepest hell and climb out the other side, says the blogger, so that things improve quickly.

Hisae's commentary: He's not attacking Japan, just analysing problems. It's not like he hates Japan and loves other countries.

http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/gakutaro/diary/200501250000/

It's a university website. A man doing a master's course is talking about the news. The police announced that there are many gropers on the trains, so they want more women's only carriages. This guy says it's true. It would be too easy to ignore the chikkans on the train, but to just say "Let's get women's only trains" is also too easy and leads to discrimination... against men! He wants fewer women-only carriages!

Hisae's commentary: This blog is not very clever writing, I don't know why this one is picked up!

Posted by: Momus at March 13, 2005 6:05 PM

Next up:

http://blog.livedoor.jp/hirox1492/archives/10732223.html

This blog talks about NEETs -- those Not In Employment, Education or Training. The blogger equates NEETs with hikikomoris. When NEETs start to work, says the blogger, Japanese society goes bad. Now there are more criminals in Japan, and the percentage of people who go un-arrested for crimes other than theft is 39.6%, in other words, 6 in 10 walk free. For theft, only 2 in 10 get arrested. The numbers of people arrested decreases each year, says the blogger, which is one of the reasons Japan is getting more dangerous. People steal because they don't have money. If you can get something legally, you won't take it illegally. He changes the subject. There are 60 million isolated (hikikomori) in Japan. Many people think young people should work, but I wonder (says the blogger) what would happen if 60 million NEETs all started to work? If NEETs work, what will be left for the rest of us? NEETs who lose their jobs and just go back to living with their parents. The rest of us, though, are in a much worse situation if we lose our jobs. We have rent to pay. All that's left, if that happens, is to borrow money, go bankrupt, or become a criminal. But employers prefer to use NEETs as part-time workers, because they have a surplus pool of labour and can get recruits even if they reduce the salary...

Momus' commentary: Marxy and Robert, these are people looking at social problems in Japan, generally responding to articles in the papers, proposing solutions to problems. Nobody here is finding fault with the deep structures of Japanese society: gender roles, rigid and authoritarian government, the education system, a rift between government and the people, yakuza control of entertainment, terminal cultural decline, or anything like that.

Posted by: Momus at March 13, 2005 6:29 PM

Apparently, you and Hisae had nothing to do this afternoon or your sole wish in life is to defeat me.

these are people looking at social problems in Japan, generally responding to articles in the papers, proposing solutions to problems.

The only difference between my critique and their critique is that you refuse to take mine seriously for whatever reason. They may not blame deep structures, but that's partially because these critiques aren't particularly sophisticated. Blogger One isn't going into the reasons for the increase in suicides other than "stress of child-rearing". What stress? How has this stress increased? Why has it increased?

Sooner or later, says the blogger, children in other countries will go through the same problems as Japanese kids, and by that time Japanese kids will have got over the problem.

Why would Japanese kids be going through problems before other nations? Isn't Japanese mental health treatment years behind Western? Don't Japanese people not have mental problems because their society runs perfectly and they don't have nagging pangs of individuality? Aren't we all on Prozac because of Plato?

This NEET guy is an old curmegeon bemoaning the youth generation's lack of responsibility and financial dependence on their parents. Doesn't sound like a vote of confidence in the new generation.

Posted by: marxy at March 13, 2005 7:35 PM

Apparently, you and Hisae had nothing to do this afternoon or your sole wish in life is to defeat me.

It's still morning here in Europe. We were lying in bed having a good laugh at some of these grumpy blogs. The chikkan guy made us laugh a lot with his conclusion that it was "too easy" to add women-only carriages, and that therefore there should be fewer of them!

But I do think it's pretty important to get a Japanese perspective on Japanese questions, don't you? I mean, perhaps that's the only legitimate perspective in the end.

The only difference between my critique and their critique is that you refuse to take mine seriously for whatever reason.

That's simply not true. These people are talking about current difficulties. You are talking about fundamental structural problems. This difference in attitude is very clear when the Japanese commentators say that when things get worse in Japan, they're really just falling into line with the way things are in the rest of the world, or that Japan will be the first nation to surmount its problems and pass through them.

That last perspective is interesting. Britain used to feel this way about the problems of industrialisation, since it's generally thought to be the nation where industrialisation began (and the country Marx and Engels studied to see where it would go). I'd say that what Britain was to industrial modernism, Japan is to postindustrial postmodernism. That's why we're all watching the Slow Life movement with such interest (and the NEET phenomenon is not unrelated to the Slow Life thing). Japan might lead the way for the whole world to get beyond unrealistic and unsustainable projections of endless growth and expansion.

The Japanese idea that Japan is ahead of the West is a very common one. Japanese women I've known tend to see Japanese women as ahead of Western women, not behind them (a perspective I agree with). Artist Takashi Murakami built the idea into his Superflat ideology: "That's why Japan is the future, isn't it? We don't need religion, just the big power of entertainment."

It's not just Japanese saying this kind of thing. Berlin magazine de:bug (our most advanced music and digital culture mag here) has a Japan theme issue this month, and talks about how Japanese technology (quite simple things like electronic toilets) are the future for the West too.

Posted by: Momus at March 13, 2005 8:00 PM

nick wrote: Hisae's commentary: He's not attacking Japan, just analysing problems. It's not like he hates Japan and loves other countries.

and i say: can't you say the same thing about what david is doing on his blog, nick?

Posted by: r. at March 13, 2005 9:34 PM

nick said: Anyone who knows anything about either video games or superflatness knows that the two were already very familiar with each other back in 1997, eight years ago, with Parappa The Rapper. I'd have thought someone with Bobby's Jinglish skills would know that even the name "Parappa" comes from the words "paper thin" -- in other words, almost literally "superflat".

and i say: nick, it is PRECISELY because of my japanese skills that i didn't choose to cite "parappa". why? well, while what you say about the meaning of the word "parappa" is SEMANTICALLY accurate ("paper thin"), the nuance that you (or is it hisae -an expert on hip-hop no doubt- that i really should be addressing this to?) are missing is that this basically means that this rapper is a "pantywaist" or that he isn't "hardcore" or even "a featherweight" if you will.

so sure, while his handle might appear to you two bedbugs over there to have something to do with superflatness, it is in NAME only i'm afraid. now obviously what i'm going for is an aesthetic manifestation of the phenomenon of 'superflatness'. i don't really care what name it goes by on the box, what i care about is how the game actually FUNCTIONS. since it may have been a while since you've actually played this game, nick (you HAVE played this game, right?) perhaps i should give you a visual refresher...

http://katamaridamacy.jp/download/wp_jacket/wp_jacket_s.jpg

now here is a TEXT-based refresher, taken of course from your own article on superflatness...
http://www.imomus.com/thought280600.html

"...paintings deal with two dimensional spatiality rendered somewhere between traditional Japanese painting and modern anime. The phrase, though coined by Murakami for his art, has recently drawn attention from young scholars due to its connotations: 'devoid of perspective and devoid of hierarchy, all existing equally and simultaneously." BT Monthly Art Magazine, Japan, Issue 5, May 2000

so based on this little working definition, i see the 'katamaridamashi' visual milieu -where bovines 'stick' to rainbows and then rainbows get 'stuck' to oh, say...the Eifel tower and then to a fugu-fish and so on ad absurdum- being much nearer to the murakami/hiroppon concept than anything even slightly related to the visual world of "parappa", not to mention the ACTUAL way the game FUNTIONS...

just for your benefit, nick here's a link to a google image search (in japanese) for "parappa"

http://images.google.co.jp/images?hl=ja&inlang=ja&lr=&ie=Shift_JIS&q=%83p%83%89%83b%83p

now i'll ask the kids out there to join in and to compare for themselves another google image search (again in japanese) for "katamaridamashi"

http://images.google.co.jp/images?hl=ja&inlang=ja&lr=&ie=Shift_JIS&q=%89%F2%8D%B0

and now it should be pretty clear that i've deflated your understudied little crit of my posting on video games, which if you think about it is a pretty laudable feat in and of itself, since everything you brought up as evidence was superFLAT right from the git-go...heck, i guess now you've been imploded!

the highest of fives,
bobby

Posted by: r. at March 13, 2005 10:06 PM

Robt, you've havering, man! (As we say in Scotland, home of fine malt whiskies.) Parappa is superflat, as Murakami defines it, since he has "a two-dimensional spatiality". He's a 2D character, the first of a line of pomo-retro 2D characters that goes through Paper Mario to Katamari Damacy and marks a stage of self-consciousness in computer games in which their creators abandon the race to every bigger bit-rates and better rendering and revisit former restrictions in the realisation that they provide charm and identity. The same thing happened when synthesiser makers found that emulating orchestras was a less desireable feature for synths than emulating... old synths, even if that meant returning to monophonic sound (chords being the 3D of music, in this metaphor). How you see bovines sticking to rainbows as "more superflat" than a character who's actually flat I don't know, but no doubt you will elucidate with more vehemence than logic in some fitter place. We should take this discussion elsewhere. I plan to blog about this tomorrow or the next day on Click Opera. Because in my reading there's a common ancestor for all these games, a true pioneer which should get more credit than it does, a kind of Abraham of superflatness. All will be revealed soon.

Posted by: Momus at March 13, 2005 10:30 PM

fine. if we are to assume that is true, then what you are saying makes even YOUR 'parappa' citation factorial, so i'll agree to your cease-fire for the sake of this thread and david's sanity (although i was about to say something about 'katamaridamashi' being a kind of 'structurally functioning' superflatness while 'parappa' is just a kind of lower-level manifestation of it) and wait for you to come down off mt. arat with your next CO brainchild and enlighten the tribe...but even thought i hold some of the same doubts abraham himself held, and so i'll quote "Can a [brain]child be born to a man who is a hundred years old?" knowing your mental virility as i do, i've no doubt you'll form some interesting pearls of wisdom on your blog...i take consolation in the fact that i could function as your grain of sand...your irritant...at the very least.
oyasumi from the land of canaan,
robert

Posted by: r. at March 13, 2005 10:59 PM

nick,
i KNOW i said goodnight and all, but if you'll allow me...
it just occured to me to issue the "momus challenge" to you (keep in mind this DOESN'T free you up from the current "marxy challenge" which you are still under at my behest), since after all turnabout IS fairplay.

Your Mission, Should you choose to accept it:

"the momus challenge"
the challenge is to find a blog that praises Japan AS MUCH AS Clique Opera does.

happy hunting!

medium-high five,
robert

Posted by: r@r.edu at March 13, 2005 11:08 PM

This discussion is a wee bit silly (but I guess that's the point, no?): is it not completely obvious that both positions are two sides of the same orientalism coin?
Only outsiders / expats can have such romantic / disappointed romantic opinions, people who grew up in the society in question are just too busy living.

Something else, has anyone here read "Imagining Japan" by Robert Bellah? It contains some pretty convincing analysis of the genesis of the differences & similarities of western & japanese culture...

Posted by: der at March 14, 2005 12:10 AM

is it not completely obvious that both positions are two sides of the same orientalism coin

I'll buy this argument.

Posted by: marxy at March 14, 2005 12:16 AM

katamary demacy [as its called here in the states] is a fukin amazing game. the rest of this coversation is shiet. why are you guys trying to prove the other is wrong? thats crazy. it's impossible, unless one of you have extreme weak convictions. if so, please surrender now.
like marxy is actually going to convince momus that japan isn't perfect, and momus is actually going to convince marxy that japan IS perfect. crazie.

Posted by: trevor at March 14, 2005 1:57 AM

It's very neat to say:

is it not completely obvious that both positions are two sides of the same orientalism coin? Only outsiders / expats can have such romantic / disappointed romantic opinions, people who grew up in the society in question are just too busy living.

It renders a tidy division between gaijin and Japanese, with orientalism only on the gaijin side. The thing is, as I show above (citing a Japanese blogger saying that Japanese problems now are the world's problems in the future, and citing a German magazine saying Japanese technology now is the world's technology in the future), the "orientalist" gaijin are often on the same page as the Japanese themselves. Japan has, in the dozen years I've been visiting it, become noticeably more orientalist in its attitude to itself (and, more recently, to other Asian countries).

I'm actually rather amazed by how Japan romanticizes its own uniqueness. I don't think it's a bad thing, I think this is narcissism with good reason. But I do think it bespeaks a certain self-alienation, the same kind we all feel when we regard ourselves in a mirror. And what is Japan's orientalist view of itself? It resembles my attitude more than Marxy's. It's idealising, it projects Japan into the future, as Murakami does, not the past, as Marxy does.

Marxy's negative view correlates, in fact, better with old-fashioned universalistic liberalism than with pomo orientalism. He thinks there are "universal human rights" which should be applied in Japan, he thinks there are "absolute" (though liberal) standards of, for instance, business practise which the Japanese are going to have to adopt or fail. This is not orientalism but the "genteel ethnocentrism" of universalistic liberalism. That mentality is benign when it's in the hands of a MacArthur, malign when it's a Truman dropping bombs. And all too often, Truman and MacArthur come marching into a culture in lockstep, bombs and constitutions being brandished simultaneously. That is not orientalism.

Posted by: Momus at March 14, 2005 9:15 AM

Trevor, good comment.
Marxy, does the bad really outweigh the good for you here in Japan? If so, I feel bad for you.
I am wondering though... (im not being facetious) why do you stay here? Are you not able to leave Japan? Seems like you must be counting the days until you are released.

I also, find many things frustrating here. I am from NYC, but have lived in Europe as well. I have been involved with Japan since 1990, and I love it just as much as I did back then. Im living here because I was honestly sick of NYC and needed a break for a while. For me the good vastly outweighs the bad here though. I love the people, the fashion, the food and the overall energy here. (more than the current energy in the US)

There are negatives to all cultures. Sounds like you find more of those negatives here than the other places you have lived. Why stay?

Again, im not trying to provoke you or use the "you dont like it, GET OUT!" excuse. I am honestly wondering if you had the opportunity to relocate tomorrow, would you?

(i apologize for the lack of "ism"s in my post, I hope this doesnt discredit my post) ;)

Posted by: Rrose Selavy at March 14, 2005 9:22 AM

ahem, i say again...

nick wrote: Hisae's commentary: He's not attacking Japan, just analysing problems. It's not like he hates Japan and loves other countries.

and i say: can't you say the same thing about what david is doing on his blog, nick?

'problems' (as they appear from the inside and/or outside) in the social/political fabric of a country, race (the japanese race, the HUMAN race), etc. have had a conspicuous history of NOT fixing themselves, wouldn't you say, nick? usually to effect any real changes, a sober assessment of the good as well as the bad is needed. you'd deny us our Marxes, our Althussers?

i'm sure it is easy to poo-poo universalistic liberalism as "old-fashioned". indeed it may have seen better days...but there are still countless real-life situations in which even a modicum of "universal" standards (political, social) can do more good than harm.

is japan showing us a workable model for multi-racial relationships? probably not.

is japan showing us a workable model for social welfare? better that that being shown in the u.s., but not as good as some european countries.

is japan showing us a workable model for peace? yes, i think so. one of the best so far.

what about the issue of rights for gays? probably much worse than the u.s., not as good as some european countries.

the list goes on and on.

it IS very possible to compare the shortcomings and strengths of japan against other systems, and pick, choose, and tinker in order to improve on things. for you, nick, i don't know how much that freedom or responsibility means. for someone that is disenfranchised, i'm sure they might have different views.

i wish we had a dozen more people like david working on defining japan's socio-political profile.

Posted by: r. at March 14, 2005 10:51 AM

Marxy, does the bad really outweigh the good for you here in Japan? If so, I feel bad for you.

Sigh... On a weekly basis, I still have to deal with the "Love Japan or Get Out" crowd. As I have said before, I personally like living in Japan - a lot. But I live a very privledged life as a student paid to learn at a leisurely pace. I receive all the benefits of living here, and as a foreigner, I have to pay very few social taxes. I can read and speak with no problems. I can't complain.

However, I do not believe that my enjoyment of Japan has anything to do with the daily grind of usual Tokyo life. I may be living the slow life, but those with jobs are not.

Whether the goods still outweigh the bads here, certainly the bads number much more than they did five to ten years ago. No analysis solely looks at the current state of an object - we look at growth and growth rates. My critique always comes from this position: what we all like about Japan is sinking and being replaced by nothing.

The Japanese people and ill-informed German magazines may believe that the Japanese are still the world's most advanced people, but there is an astounding amount of counterevidence to this. The myth that the Japanese value "quality of life" over economic progress is just a myth. Certainly, France and Italy and Old Europe have less work hours, more vacation, more environmentally-friendly packaging, more social welfare programs.

A metaphor: if Japan is a big company, Momus and I (and many others) all own stock in it. As a shareholder, I am worried about the current direction of the management. They refuse to solve the problems for fear of losing power. Everything is breaking apart at the seams. This company was a leader is consumer electronics and hi-tech and good design, and now American companies like Apple and Tivo have the world's most advanced products. Momus meanwhile is ignoring all the internal problems and going about his PR work unabated.

Now, his criticism would be: only the Japanese hold stock in Japan! And maybe so, but why would you do PR for a company you don't own stock in?

After all is said and done, the most aggrevating thing is that because I'm one of the few people on the blogosphere doing this kind of critique, everyone assumes that I am making up this criticism of Japan out of thin air. There are a wealth of academic works which come to similar conclusions and the Revisionist school now dominates Japanese studies. I'm the easy target for browbeating because I'm a young nobody, but I would find Momus having a harder time convincing Chalmers Johnson or Ross Mauer that everyone in Japan is living a charming life in perfect harmony with nature.

Posted by: marxy at March 14, 2005 11:13 AM

That's why we're all watching the Slow Life movement with such interest (and the NEET phenomenon is not unrelated to the Slow Life thing). Japan might lead the way for the whole world to get beyond unrealistic and unsustainable projections of endless growth and expansion.

The connection between NEET and Slow Life is shaky, because the freeter are generally relying on their parents' generation's financial security in order to live the capital-intensive Slow Life. They are not creating a new employment system as much as dropping out of the current one - something they can only do because their parents are wealthy. This is what the grumpy guy is complaining about: these are spoiled brats refusing to work.

Doesn't Slow Life have much better governmental support in Europe? The last thing the Japanese government seems to want to do is make caps on working hours.

Momus lives the Slow Life in Japan. A vast majority of Japanese cannot.

Posted by: marxy at March 14, 2005 1:19 PM

momus: as cute as your idea of challenging people to find webpages critical of Japan is, it's hardly a model for determining whether or not there are a number of Japanese people who feel that there are indeed deep rooted problems with "the system" here. I'd suggest you spend more time talking to people in business, normal folks with jobs, people of various age ranges, reglar folk here in Japan. People who post regularly to the Web are not by any means statistically representative of the populace here.

r & momus: I cant weigh in on whether parapa or katamari damashi is more "superflat", largely because I dont care. I dont believe in the underlying concepts to begin with. I would like to point out that momus's justification for a "trend" towards "superflatness" contains an underlying mis-understanding of the videogame industry. For one, "quirky" or pseudo-retro games are only a small percentage of published titles. I have not looked at Famitsu in a while so I dont know the sales numbers for Katamari, but I do recall that Parapa did not actually sell very well at all. As for creators abandon[ing] the race to every bigger bit-rates and better rendering and revisit former restrictions in the realisation that they provide charm and identity, you should talk to some people involved in the actual programming end of the business. The problems they worry about are not charm and identity, but the difficulty in programming for new systems.

no one asked me, but: I've kind of noticed that the expat "japan love it or leave it" crowd consists almost entirely of people who are short-termers, regular visiters or long term residents who 1) have no vested interest in the society, 2) no marketable skills besides teaching english, 3) nothing to go "home" to anyways. Pretty much every foreign resident who has been here a few years or intends to say for a numer of years, who has a permanent job or family here, is able to accept and enjoy life while still being aware of various problems with life here.

/end

Posted by: Chris_B at March 14, 2005 1:25 PM

I should really keep out of this discussion because I'm tired of it.

Two nights ago, in a small restaurant I had a discussion with an interesting married couple who were both shinshu priests and anti-war activists. They run an NGO which opposes the Yasukuni visits.

This is all by the way, because the topic of Japan's economy came up in my discussion with the woman. There was an almanac in English on the table beside us and when I explained what an almanac is, she wanted to check the ranking of economies. As of 2004, Japan is now #3 (after the USA and China) in overall GDP. As for GDP/capita Japan has fallen to #12. I doubt it was ever in the top 5 in GDP/capita, but I'm sure it must have been well-placed in the top ten for quite some years. She was extremely disturbed by this information and sweat began to pour from her face.
Her reaction "uso bakkari iwarete-iru ne!".

Now what surprised me so much about this exchange, was that someone who was quite obviously left-wing (her idea is the slow-life is tottemo bourgeios) and extremely anti-status quo/LDP would be so disturbed by the fall of Japan's economic might.

Posted by: sparkligbeatnic at March 14, 2005 1:34 PM

A littel context to the above comment may be seen in this picture of the restaurant:

http://flickr.com/photos/sparklig/6367657/

Title of the book is:

Hisen to Bukkyo (Buddhism and Pacifism)

Amongst other things this restaurant is a bit of a hang out for offbeat Jodo-shinshu clergy and academics. It attracts many foreigners because it's a truly vegan restaurant.

Posted by: sparkligbeatnic at March 14, 2005 1:46 PM

I should really keep out of this discussion because I'm tired of it.

My feelings exactly.

Thanks for sharing that story. Very interesting.

As of 2004, Japan is now #3 (after the USA and China) in overall GDP.

Really?? I thought Japan was still a strong #2. If this is true, this is really interesting. Isn't China "100 years behind" the US?

Now what surprised me so much about this exchange, was that someone who was quite obviously left-wing (her idea is the slow-life is tottemo bourgeios) and extremely anti-status quo/LDP would be so disturbed by the fall of Japan's economic might.

First of all, I also think the "Slow Life" is a bourgeouis lifestyle. If you're making 170,000 a month from your construction job, you aren't kicking back on the weekends at Cafe Apres Midi.

Seems to me that the Japanese do not understand how their country ranks compared to the outside world. It appears to me that they generally assume that everyone must be as terrible as English as they are. (Nope, they are the #35 best in Asia!)

As much as I'd like Japan to start focusing on quality of life issues instead of economic progress, economic progress has been the end-all-be-all indicator of "success" for the last half-century.

No one wants Japan's economy to deteriorate - the Left just want a different allocation of funds.

Posted by: marxy at March 14, 2005 3:55 PM

no one asked me, but: I've kind of noticed that the expat "japan love it or leave it" crowd consists almost entirely of people who are short-termers, regular visiters or long term residents who 1) have no vested interest in the society, 2) no marketable skills besides teaching english, 3) nothing to go "home" to anyways.

There's also another class of people happy to exploit their position as Westerners in the current Japan and don't want things to change.

Posted by: marxy at March 14, 2005 3:58 PM

Really?? I thought Japan was still a strong #2. If this is true, this is really interesting. Isn't China "100 years behind" the US?

This is something I'd expect you to know, Marxy, off the top your head, given your senmon. I was surprised to read this too. It was the main American almanac. I've got a recent Economist almanac at home and will check it again this evening. I was under the impression Japan is still #2 in terms of overall scale of the economy. But it also has the second largest population of all the "rich" countries, by far, which is basically what does it for the GDP. The GDP/capita, is really the kicker, though, for quality of life. And a very important factor, which is not included in these statistics is income distribution and gap. I'd still say that overall quality of life, or quality of society is better than the USA, partly (perhaps mainly) because of the more equitable distribution of wealth in Japan.

But I'm sure most Japanese would be shocked to hear that Japan comes in at #12 in GDP/capita.
They just can't deal with the fact that places that have gotten their act together economically like Ireland (#4 in GDP/capita) and Canada (#6 or 7) are much higher on that list.

Posted by: sparkligbeatnic at March 14, 2005 4:19 PM

Having checked the ever-handy Wikipedia I see that the ranking depends on whether you normalize for purchasing-power parity, in which case, China is indeed # 2:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29

In terms of raw GDP, Japan is still #2:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29

Of course if you count the EU as one entity it's bigger even than the USA, with or without PPP normalization.

Here's the list of GDP/captia (PPP normalized)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita
(Japan at #16 as of 2005)

And GDP/capita (raw)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29_per_capita
(Japan at #10)

Problems with using the GDP as an index of quality of life are widely recognized. A more comprehensive index is the UN Human Development Index:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Human_Development_Index#Top_thirty_countries
(Japan just slightly below the US on this index. Both significantly below Canada)

Posted by: sparkligbeatnic at March 14, 2005 4:39 PM

In terms of quality of life in Japan, there are not so many places that seem attractive living options to me. Basically it's down to Kyoto or Tokyo. Preferably Kyoto which is rich (per capita!) in both contemporary and traditional cultural opportunities as well as easily accessible outdoor opportunities as well as lots of green spaces within the city itself. Tokyo seems livable too, given a good cash flow.

Posted by: sparkligbeatnic at March 14, 2005 4:45 PM

No one wants Japan's economy to deteriorate - the Left just want a different allocation of funds.

I have a slightly slanted view of the Japanese Left, because somehow most of the left-wingers I met in my first few years here were slow-life, left-winger, green semi-vegetarians. I know Kyoudai professors who would be quite happy to see the economy return to third-world levels, provided it would mean shutting down nuclear reactors and abandoning air-conditioning.

Of course, I've met a much broader sample of the Japanese population since then.

Posted by: sparkligbeatnic at March 14, 2005 4:57 PM

Thanks, Sparklig, for the stats, which confirm that I'm sitting in the capital of the richest country of the richest bloc of states in the world (Berlin). And to think that the mags here are vaunting Japan as the future of Europe!

Okay, tracking back through some of these other comments. Robt asked (twice) "Isn't David not attacking Japan, but analysing problems, like the Japanese bloggers?"

I answered this by saying that David (David being Marxy, of course) is challenging deep structures whereas the Japanese are addressing the problems of the day. Marxy answered it himself by agreeing to characterise his approach as a kind of negative orientalism to my positive one. "I'll buy that!" he said.

a sober assessment of the good as well as the bad is needed. you'd deny us our Marxes, our Althussers?

A Marx on his own is fine. A Marx freely embraced by the people of a country is fine. A Marx marched into a country from another one alongside a Stalin is not. The recent history of Japan shows precisely this happening, though. George Washington marched in with his constitution (full of Enlightenment ideas about the universal rights of man) alongside the flashing of atomic bombs (also the result of the Enlightenment, and a terrible lesson that the brightest light can lead to the deepest darkness, and knowledge to terrible brutality). In my view it is this experience (combined with a longstanding suspicion of foreign ideologies) which has made the Japanese both narcissistic and passive-aggressive. This suspicion is actually a valuable enzyme in Japan's "body", one I wish people like the Thais and the Balinese had.

it IS very possible to compare the shortcomings and strengths of japan against other systems, and pick, choose, and tinker in order to improve on things. for you, nick, i don't know how much that freedom or responsibility means. for someone that is disenfranchised, i'm sure they might have different views.

On a personal level, that's exactly what I have done (and I am disenfranchised in Japan). But I'm not a big reader of newspapers, and I'm not a big voter. In my experience, you change things by getting on a plane and going somewhere very different. The difference is little to do with the government, it's to do with culture at the deepest, most fundamental level. How do the people here feel about life? How does their language, their religion impact? What is their basic orientation, their way of being?

Robt: i wish we had a dozen more people like [Marxy] working on defining japan's socio-political profile

Marxy: what we all like about Japan is sinking and being replaced by nothing.

That juxtaposition says it all. When "defining Japan's socio-political profile" is declaring everything good "sinking and being replaced by nothing" (with all stats cited and snaps posted lending support to this thesis), what value does it have? There is no empiricism without ideology. An empiricism which declares itself ideology-free and universally valid is a kind of imperialism of the mind. I'm surprised, considering we all pose her as lefty, that more people on these threads don't share my suspicion of liberalism's "genteel ethnocentrism" and don't have a better understanding of ideology.

Marxy does not speak for me when he says "what we all like about Japan is sinking and being replaced by nothing". It's not the impression I get at all. What I like about Japan -- it's way of being -- is being valued more highly all the time, both in Japan and abroad. The German magazine article I cited is not ill-informed. We will all be using electronic toilets in the West one day. The Japanese camera I used in a German cafe yesterday amazed the waiter and delighted a German child. No European or Chinese or American company makes a camera like it. My 12 year old nephew plays Japanese computer games every free moment and dreams of visiting Japan, not America. (Paper Mario is his favourite game, by the way.) Japanese people are involved in the most advanced culture in all the major cities of the West, particularly the avant culture. I've talked before here about the Japanoise influence on the US indie scene (Black Dice et al). I could also cite promising emerging American artists like... Marxy! The funny thing is that Marxy as a human phenomenon totally confirms my arguments rather than his own!

I really can't go with the "holding stock in Japan" metaphor. Japan for me is a way of being, not a way of making money.

I would find Momus having a harder time convincing Chalmers Johnson or Ross Mauer that everyone in Japan is living a charming life in perfect harmony with nature.

That's not what I'm saying. But "Japan is sinking and all the things we like about it being replaced by nothing" is what you're saying.

Chris B: I'd suggest you spend more time talking to people in business, normal folks with jobs, people of various age ranges, reglar folk here in Japan.

I really don't like London. Should I go round London talking to "normal folks with jobs" about whether I'm right that their way of being is wrong? My experience is that people all over the world think where they live is the best place in the world. The Japanese are the only ones I actually agree with!

I don't think Slow Life is "bourgeois". All kinds of Japanese like relaxing and appreciate traditional Japanese lifestyles. Slow Life values fit very well with the NEET and furita lifestyles, or with unemployment, for instance, just as they fit with the avant garde architecture of Shigeru Ban, making houses out of cardboard tubes. Even if Slow Life were "bourgeois", that wouldn't be a reason to dismiss it. The class with the wealth and leisure to innovate will probably brainstorm ideas that help everyone eventually.

Posted by: Momus at March 14, 2005 5:39 PM

momus said: In my experience, you change things by getting on a plane and going somewhere very different.

Where I'm from we call that running away from your problems. Its a valid choice sometimes. I can think of a couple of countries that have been started that way. However it seems to me you employ the same technique in your responses to what others say. Your side trip into talking about London completely dodged my point. If you are want to know if some Japanese people see things like marxy does, I suggest you spend some time with "normal" people here.

sparkling: normalization of GDP is indeed a problem. I rather like The Economist's Big Mac Index. As of Dec 16,2004, Japan comes in at #13 implying that the Yen is somewhat undervalued to the US$ coming in at #7. This also means that a Japanese consumer should theoretically have more purchasing power, at least if they only eat at McDonalds. They have not done a full survey on Japan since 2002. I look forward to the next one.

Posted by: Chris_B at March 14, 2005 6:53 PM

oh and by the way, "holding stock" is actually a good metaphor considering that cross shareholding agreements are the norm here and the TSE has so little liquidity.

Posted by: Chris_B at March 14, 2005 6:59 PM

First of all, great stats, Sparkligbeatnic. I didn't know that China had already surpassed Japan on GDP rankings. If I remember correctly, Japan peaked in GDP/capita in the mid-90s, and I'm not surprised that a lot of European countries top it in QoL-type rankings. Japan's income inequality is probably lower than most places, but has been steadly increasing since the 70s. (And as I've stated before, income equality has more to do with the leveling of the war than particular Japanese social policy or culture.)

In terms of quality of life in Japan, there are not so many places that seem attractive living options to me. Basically it's down to Kyoto or Tokyo.

I just got back from Kyoto and was very impressed with it. But I had to wonder: why did no one learn the lessons of Kyoto and apply them to the other cities? Even the 20th century buildings are more attractive than those of Tokyo. I also find it disappointing that the government never developed other cities as national centers. Japan would be a lot better off if Tokyo weren't the magnet pulling the entire country's young people out of the prefectures into it. They've talked about moving the government capitol to Gifu-ken and it's not a bad idea in hindsight.

Then Momus said all this:

I answered this by saying that David (David being Marxy, of course) is challenging deep structures whereas the Japanese are addressing the problems of the day.

I actually agree with you there. My critique attacks the structures as the root cause of the superficial problems, opposed to the Japanese bloggers who blame "the West" or "kids these days" or something else external. In my view, most of Japan's ills are related to the fundamental arrangements of society (mostly the education system and reward systems), which no longer fit with today's social circumstances.

I think Momus and I both want Japan to adopt a Slow Life-style orientation, but I'm not convinced they're better here than anywhere else. Certainly, Americans live more comfortably on the aggregate.

The ridiculous thing is that Japan work hours have barely dropped even though most companies make much less product than in the past. Enforcing shorter working hours would solve a whole slew of social problems. Japanese work efficiency is abismal, somewhere around Italy's. Make people go home, take time off, be with their wives, be with their kids. Japan could take the lead in QoL but they don't. I suspect it's an issue of power and tradition.

A Marx on his own is fine. A Marx freely embraced by the people of a country is fine. A Marx marched into a country from another one alongside a Stalin is not.

Marx is a guy who made up an incredibly insightful way to analyze society, and the idea that one need be from a culture to analyze it is insane. Marx never took over a government - power-hungry assholes like Mao and Lenin did. I know you don't agree with my analysis of Japan, but I'm pretty tired of being told that I'm not even allowed to critique.

The Japanese camera I used in a German cafe yesterday amazed the waiter and delighted a German child. No European or Chinese or American company makes a camera like it. My 12 year old nephew plays Japanese computer games every free moment and dreams of visiting Japan, not America.

Haven't the Japanese had a corner on the camera market for decades now? I'm not saying they don't make anything top notch, I'm saying they make less. Remember when the "Walkman/Discman" was the generic term for a portable music player? Remember when the Japanese invented the VCR? Tivo is way ahead of Japan's hard disc recorders (which I've never seen the Japanese actually use), especially with this new Net Flix deal that will download movies straight to the Tivo.

I really can't go with the "holding stock in Japan" metaphor. Japan for me is a way of being, not a way of making money.

First of all, the metaphor is not about making money, but I don't have to remind you that you have made much money and social/cultural capital from Japan. Your persona is tied up enough with Japan that an uncool Japan would not be in your best interest. I am also tied up and don't want to see Japan fall. I am just not naive about the current state of the company.

You seem to like Japan as most Tokyoites like Kyoto: as an imaginary playground, a weekend retreat, but not a real place.

Posted by: marxy at March 14, 2005 7:11 PM

Japan would be a lot better off if Tokyo weren't the magnet pulling the entire country's young people out of the prefectures into it.

Japan might, but Tokyo wouldn't! And what, exactly, would be the "magnet" pulling those kids back to the prefectures? Slow life? Personally, I prefer to live my slow life in a big city, and I think most kids would too.

The ridiculous thing is that Japan work hours have barely dropped even though most companies make much less product than in the past.

But the trend is towards part-time work, isn't it? Towards furitas and NEETs and hikikomori. Away from the "company for life, life for company" culture of the past, ne?

You do seem to be pinning a lot of hopes on the Tivo system, do you have shares in it? I now download ad-free TV to my computer via Bit Torrent. The Tivo phase has been skipped altogether. If I were Tivo, I'd be very worried about people like me. Disintermediators who don't need another silver box.

As for Japan as a "weekend retreat", I wish! With flight times of ten hours on either end, though, I wouldn't have much time left for shopping in Aoyama.

Posted by: Momus at March 14, 2005 8:37 PM

Oh yeah, and if I were Tivo I'd be extremely worried about Bill Gates' latest mission, IPTV:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4334421.stm

Posted by: Momus at March 14, 2005 8:43 PM

Japan might, but Tokyo wouldn't! And what, exactly, would be the "magnet" pulling those kids back to the prefectures? Slow life? Personally, I prefer to live my slow life in a big city, and I think most kids would too.

I like that Tokyo is central, but I get really depressed everytime I leave town and realize that the prefectures are populated primarily by the elderly. Once the WWII generation dies, the countryside will be ghosttowns.

But the trend is towards part-time work, isn't it? Towards furitas and NEETs and hikikomori. Away from the "company for life, life for company" culture of the past, ne?

Yes, but they are not creating a viable and responsible alternative work system. They are just dropping out, and the hegemonic work system continues unabated. If you join a serious company now, you will be required to work as hard, if not harder, than employees in the 70s, even though there is no particular need for this kind of effort. If the NEET start forcing employers to take more relaxed stands towards their employees, that would be a huge success. I have no seen evidence of this so far.

I now download ad-free TV to my computer via Bit Torrent. The Tivo phase has been skipped altogether.

At the moment, Tivo is a pretty amazing service and certainly defeats anything the Japanese have in terms of television. However, I agree with you - this is an intermediate stage. Pretty soon there will be something akin to an Apple iTelevision Store where you download your favorite program for $2.99. The NetFlix Download system is pretty close to that - direct movies by demand. Maybe someone else will top it, but it's not like the Japanese are even at Tivo level or Bit Torrent level, they're barely at iPod level.

Posted by: marxy at March 14, 2005 8:56 PM

this comment by nick is telling...

>In my experience, you change things by getting
>on a plane and going somewhere very different.
>The difference is little to do with the
>government, it's to do with culture at the
>deepest, most fundamental level.

...in that it typifies something that someone with too much leisure time and just enough affluence to be culturally mobile (but not quite enough to retire anywhere) might write.

it is as if you hadn't noticed, nick, the continuing shrinkage of the not-yet-nearly-global socio-politial world that has been happening since the fall of the berlin wall as america tightens its grip on an admittedly 'slippery globalism' via a not-so-subtle politial and slightly-more-insidious cultural hegemony.

sure, speaking selflessly as you do, while you enjoy your golden years over the next two decades or so, i'm sure you can manage to avoid whatever it is you don't like about wherever you happen to be (japan included, since nothing is perfect) by just hopping on that next plane a la 'dekappu' in 'catch me if you can'.

meanwhile, thanks to a politically volitile mise-en-scene, naturally the number of points at which you may safely 'touch-down' will contine to decrease, but why should you care? that's a problem for 'locals', right? if they get caught in the exhaust while you are doing your 'flyover' then too bad for them.

sure, we all pick our OWN fights...you've said it as much before. but did they (insert any special intrest group you wish in any country) really pick theirs? of course not. and isn't the selfism behind the politial version of sex tourism that you seem to be playing going to leave an indelible mark on your claim to fame as indie music's last great renaissance man?

the crux of the irony is this: some people would kill to have even a modicum of the potential political power you choose to squander, and some have even died (or were killed--read up on the death sentence in japan) BECAUSE they don't have it.

of course that DOESN'T mean that you, nick currie, the man sans the bothersome 'problem' of national politics, and the people/groups with various problems that you are jetting by don't still have one thing in common. but if we judge the situation by your lack of actions, then it looks like 'humanitarianism' has gone the way of the dodo.

by that i mean of course humanitarianism in its most vital form: a socio/economical/political crit (like what marxy is trying to do), related activism (heaven forbid you pick up the 'cause' of any of the disenfranchised here in japan and write one of your brilliant essays in support of it), and political reform of [again any country].

>I'm surprised, considering we all pose her as
>lefty, that more people on these threads don't
> share my suspicion of liberalism's
>"genteel ethnocentrism" and don't have a better >understanding of ideology.

i'm well aware of this ideological slant. but simply stated, your 'ideology' in japan is YOU (mine is ME too + investing MYSELF in this country by trying to really LISTEN to what it is saying, rather that TELL it what it is saying), and if you are cool with that i'm cool with that too...as long as you don't try to convince the rest of the world out there that everything in japan is just peachy, as is so often the case on your blog. and while i ALSO find many of the things that you say are great and wonderful about japan great and wondeful, i wonder why is it that you simply can't bring yourself to type the words...

"japan, as much as i love it, may actually have some serious issues to deal with"

...just try typing it once, nick. we promise not to tell your acolytes! yeah, i'm sure it'll hurt a little at first, but after the first few letters, it will get easier. but the truth is, you can't bring yourself to do it, can you? at least, not on your OWN blog, anyway. and that is why i have decided to drawn the line in the virtual sand, so to speak.

and so, the japanese INhumanitarian man of the year award goes to...

sure, i wish the japan that you paint in such pastel tones really WERE the whole story, but it isn't, a fact which you are surely aware of, and the duplicity of your 'imaginativly hazy' reporting to people who aren't here to judge things first hand by themselves -but seem to take what you say as the gospel truth- is disheartening.

i don't think marxy/david is doing the kind of blogging he is doing in some kind of effort to develop some kind of 'negative cult of personality', because if he is, he is going about things the wrong way. as is readily apparent from your blog, one catches more flies with honey. it probably pays better too...

a tangent in what has become a series of tangents has me writing now that sometimes your blogging reminds me of a kind of twisted version that famous "go west, young man" quote by john b. l. soule back in 1850s america, which made opaque the real dangers of the wild west, and wound up sending a lot of gullible, impovrished souls galloping over the plains, into a big hollywood sunset, and to their untimely deaths, all in the name of...what, fame and fortune?

my point of contention would be that the momusian version of the copy would read "I'VE gone east, young men, it is EDEN...and don't you DARE try and claimjump, since i've staked-out everything already!" granted it isn't all that punchy, but it has the same effect...as your blog. david and i would be the scalp-taking indians (from different tribes) on the warpath in this bloated little analogy. yep, we've got our ears to the ground over here.

anyway, let me get back to the story...

even though you'll always be a star forever (in my book at least) you will, despite what they say about only the good dying young, one day no longer be with us. having shuffled off this mortal coil, you will doubtless be outlived by the lingering japanese problems that your happy-go-lucky globehopping...GOSH...didn't seem to fix! who'd have thunk it?!?

oh, sorry, i almost forgot to mention another group that will be left behind--a generation of japanese (with their icky problems) that COULD have been helped by their counterparts, i.e. a generations of fine, young, articulate minds that unfortunately bought into your 'everthing is coming up rosy' schtick lock, stock, and barrel...and as a result wound up NOT doing a lot of MUCH NEEDED critical writing about japan.

actually, not that i think about it, thank GOD that the japanese bloggers out there that i unearthed can't really read english, otherwise they might be tempted to believe your silver-tongued blogging themselves and wind up quitting their dissent (both locally, and with the big picture) as well!

oh, and i'm still waiting to see you try and shoot THIS blog down as an answer to your 'marxy challenge'

http://www.ppjaponesia.org/

for folks out there who are pressed for time, here are abstracts of some of the NON-issues at stake on this page:

The Okinawan Anti-base Movement
Article 9 in Jeopardy
SDF in Iraq
Japan's Deteriorating Labor Market
Korean council for Women drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japanﾊ
Japan Committee for Negros Campaignﾊ

and now, given the abovementioned topics, it's time for a contrastive quote by nick...

>On a personal level...I am disenfranchised in
>Japan).

um-hummm...do go on! oh, you mean you are in japan AS someone who is disenfranchised...not in japan as someone who as been disenfranchised by BEING in japan. well, it isn't "i have a dream" but it IS a start. keep trying!

go east indeed!

hey, don't fret nick, most of this is written in plain english or in translated form. of course, i wouldn't dare to ask you to break with tradition, and so i'd like to invite you to have your girlfriend read it for herself and perhaps give us her feedback.

in other news...

>A Marx on his own is fine. A Marx freely
>embraced by the people of a country is fine. A
> Marx marched into a country from another one
>alongside a Stalin is not.

and a system-questioning marxY marched into japan from a country that has ITSELF been politically torn asunder by last year's election and offering his honest take on things apparently isn't 'fine' either.

other tid bits and odds and ends follow:

nick said...

>What I like about Japan -- it's way of being --
>is being valued more highly all the time, both
>in Japan and abroad.

and robert asks: ok, nick, i'm game! by all means, please tell us what you like about japan. that certian je ne sais quoi that is being 'valued more highly all the time' by enlightened minds the world over...

>We will all be using electronic toilets in the
>West one day.

wow, i have to admit i simply didn't see that one coming! i guess the revolution won't be televised AFTER all! it will be...err...flushed! i have to start reading up on the aesthetics of centripetal force. touche.

>The Japanese camera...

obviously the hypercapitalistic consumerism beind things like that nifty camera and the 'oto-hime' (the stealth-toilets, here is here is a URL
http://www.shimokan.com/toilegiji.htm btw/i did an art installation parodying the need to use one of one of these last year in tokyo) that nick mentions is THE way to go, and is no doubt "being valued more highly all the time...abroad" in places like the third world where using a 1500 dollar (u.s.) electonic-sound device/super deluxe heated toilet to cover up the sound of your own pissing and shitting and farting so that you don't offend the person next to you is right up there on the list with say...the hunger problem. glad we've got our priorities straight.

and finally...

nick said:

>I really can't go with the "holding stock in
>Japan" metaphor. Japan for me is a way of being,
> not a way of making money.

oh, i see. so please tell us how much money you DIDN'T make in japan by having, as it says on your webpage's bio...

>1996: A string of hit singles in Japan with
>Kahimi Karie

...are the royalty checks not coming in anymore? the last time i went and sang karaoke, i remembered what you told me and looked up a few of the hits you penned for her. lo and behold, they were STILL on the karaoke playlist. were is that money going? i'm serious here!

so either you are quite literally 'invested' in japan up to your teeth, or else you should have written...

>Japan for me is a way of being,
> not a way of making money ANYMORE

sure, mika leigh akutsu, bless her heart, paid you 1000 bucks back in the late 90s to be a star-FOREVER, so how can we blame you for not wanting to trouble with penning the "Stars Forever 2 --Where Are They Now?" sequel that finds out how her life has changed since then...and that...heck, i'll go ahead and say it, perhaps even champions a few of her 'causes' what ever they might have been.

(hey that would be an interesting PHD dissertation, marxy. you could use all the folks from nick's album as case studies to prove or disprove the things that you are saying about japan with your theories...isseki-niccho!!!)

but then again nick, FOREVER probably DOES seem like an awfully long time have to have to keep writing and re-writing that bothersome follow-up story on japan. after all, the jet is already fueled and ready for take off, so...bon voyage!

Posted by: r. at March 14, 2005 9:04 PM

marxy said: Enforcing shorter working hours would solve a whole slew of social problems. Japanese work efficiency is abismal, somewhere around Italy's. Make people go home, take time off, be with their wives, be with their kids. Japan could take the lead in QoL but they don't. I suspect it's an issue of power and tradition.

Danger Will Robinson! Look at the problems France is having with an enforced 35hr work week. I agree that the work efficiency here is abismal, but the goal of most companies is not efficiency but government mandated job creation. The current path is about stability rather than efficiency. Efficiency (other than the Toyota Way) is linked in most people's minds to risutora and foreign business methods which are "bad for society".

Remember when the Japanese invented the VCR?

Was that ironic? You do know that VCRs were an American invention?

Momus: see http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_9308.html Its in English but the back links are in Japanese. Try one of the online translations or get your room mate to read it to you. Above and beyond that, Yahoo BB! and Usen have been offering IP video services for a while now. Cant comment on the quality since I find local TV to be too boring to pay for.

Actually there is no "trend" towards furita/NEET/hikkomiri. Those are statistical anomolies considering that large companies hiring patterns are on the increase for several years now. I'm not even going to touch your endorsement of Bit Torrent.

Posted by: Chris_B at March 14, 2005 9:10 PM

r: you forgot some of the proposed constitutional changes to make Shinto a state religion and to limit the freedom of the press. ^_^

Posted by: Chris_B at March 14, 2005 9:22 PM

I agree that the work efficiency here is abismal, but the goal of most companies is not efficiency but government mandated job creation.

Okay, so give them jobs and have them go home at 5:30 every day.

You do know that VCRs were an American invention?

I didn't know that. I extrapolated the idea of Japanese invention from the Japanese VHS/Beta battle of JVC vs. Sony. The Japanese were at least the first to market, no? They were not first with Digital TV recorders.

Cant comment on the quality since I find local TV to be too boring to pay for.

I find good reruns on cable channels, but man is Japanese network TV bad. I had a brief love affair with it in the late 90s, but get super bored after five minutes now. But hey, thank you, TV, for writing every single word spoken on the bottom of the screen.

Actually there is no "trend" towards furita/NEET/hikkomiri. Those are statistical anomolies considering that large companies hiring patterns are on the increase for several years now.

You're telling me there aren't more freeters than there were in the 80s?

Posted by: marxy at March 14, 2005 9:23 PM

marxy wrote: But hey, thank you, TV, for writing every single word spoken on the bottom of the screen.

I'm told thats so the show can be followed in noisey public places or if the sound is down. I've also heard that it follows the thing where the narrator tells us what were going to see, then we see it, then the narrator tells us again formula of dorama shows which comes from the kabuki tradition. Who knows what the real reason is.

You're telling me there aren't more freeters than there were in the 80s?

Oh come now, you know better than that. Thats like saying that there is a strong trend towards janitors in Silicon Valley being poor by comparing their present day incomes to that of the millionaires of the .com boom. Since the furita/NEET/hikkomori thing only came to media attention rather recently, its hard to say that it is an increasing economic trend. As for companies hiring more part timers, that is kind of an inevitable consequence of the increase in low end service businesses. Again, its too soon to say its a trend since the companies which hire part timers now may well take on sei-shiin(sp?) staff later on.

Posted by: Chris_B at March 14, 2005 9:33 PM

getting WAY off-topic, but:

i'm told thats so the show can be followed in noisey public places or if the sound is down. I've also heard that it follows the thing where the narrator tells us what were going to see, then we see it, then the narrator tells us again formula of dorama shows which comes from the kabuki tradition. Who knows what the real reason is.

It's a pretty recent phenomena, so I don't accept the traditional cultural explanations. I've heard that nobody could really understand what Downtown was saying on "Hey Hey Hey" so they used the words to punctuate the punchlines, but then stations started assuming that nobody understood anything and then proceeded to write every single word down.

Posted by: marxy at March 14, 2005 9:45 PM

about the japanese subtitles on tv...i heard from a person at NHK that as a side-effect, it was helping to increase reading literacy among teens...but he didn't say why it started in the first place. actually, i really enjoy the subtitles in japanese. they helped me learn to read the language (at a 'level-1' level, for what ever THAT is worth...)

Posted by: r. at March 14, 2005 10:03 PM

one catches more flies with honey

That's absolutely my philosophy, Robt. My Japan-boosting (in KK songs, in US press articles, on my blog, wherever) has helped Japan's tourism and culture industries more than the negativity of the gaijin who fill the Japan Today bulletin boards with reams of homesick crap.

Posted by: Momus at March 15, 2005 12:04 AM

"Sigh... On a weekly basis, I still have to deal with the "Love Japan or Get Out" crowd. As I have said before, I personally like living in Japan - a lot. But I live a very privledged life as a student paid to learn at a leisurely pace. I receive all the benefits of living here, and as a foreigner, I have to pay very few social taxes. I can read and speak with no problems. I can't complain."

Then dont complain.
The Japanese can take care of themselves. I dont mind hearing your opinions on things (I enjoyed the posts on the subway teddy bear ads... nice... ) but I just think some of your negativity sounds bitter.

"My critique always comes from this position: what we all like about Japan is sinking and being replaced by nothing."

Speak for yourself. Many of the things I like about Japan are growing and thats the reason I live and work here.

Its funny thats the same reason I gave my friends for growing tired of NYC. Its all subjective though I guess.

"no one asked me, but: I've kind of noticed that the expat "japan love it or leave it" crowd consists almost entirely of people who are short-termers, regular visiters or long term residents who 1) have no vested interest in the society, 2) no marketable skills besides teaching english, 3) nothing to go "home" to anyways.

There's also another class of people happy to exploit their position as Westerners in the current Japan and don't want things to change."

For the record, I have most of my financial investments in Japanese industry, I dont teach English, and (for as much as I love it here) am anxious to now get back to my homeland to work.

It was good to read you played the party for OK Fred. I know sometimes there is much to complain about, but I like hearing about the good times here too.
Marxy, dont lose sight of em.

Posted by: Rrose Selavy at March 15, 2005 12:09 AM

Rrose Selavy: I can only speak for myself, but I like living here, thats why I stay. Don't mean that every day is cherry blossoms and sake, but I choose to stay here. Looks to me like r and marxy have chosen to be here as well (I could be wrong about that).

Posted by: Chris_B at March 15, 2005 12:20 AM

Then dont complain.
The Japanese can take care of themselves. I dont mind hearing your opinions on things (I enjoyed the posts on the subway teddy bear ads... nice... ) but I just think some of your negativity sounds bitter.

Most of blog isn't "complaining" as much as "critique." This blog mixes academic analysis, historical lessons, personal anecdotes, humor, and persuasive essays and it's easy to get lost and forget where the subjectivity and objectivity start and stop. Bitter seems to indicate cynicism, and I'm not cynical. I think problems can be solved, and forgive me if I sometimes want to open a discussion up about things not working well. Because I am often the first one to breach subjects, some people see me as a complainer, but I'm just trying to provide another view of Japan that is not easily visable to those reading the press release.

When you see me hurling Maltov cocktails at the neighborhood kouban, you can lecture me "The Japanese can take care of themselves." But if the goal is discussion and information, where's the sin in raising questions? I may sound bitter, but I would hope people don't think I'm lying about what I write about to forward an agenda.

Posted by: marxy at March 15, 2005 12:39 AM

mr. robert, having written: one catches more flies with honey

prompted mr. currie to write: That's absolutely my philosophy, Robt. My Japan-boosting (in KK songs, in US press articles, on my blog, wherever) has helped Japan's tourism and culture industries more than the negativity of the gaijin who fill the Japan Today bulletin boards with reams of homesick crap.

and in turn, this prompted mr. robert to write: i couldn't agree with you more, nick. i've enjoyed your stimulating writing for going on about three years now, your engaging conversations during our tour, and i have probably read and re-read everything you have ever written more times than i should admit. in the process, i have been profoundly affected by your thinking, and should probably take this opportunity to say "thanks" for being a good meme-daddy (and i don't mean that in the "whose your meme-daddy, bi*tch?" kind of way) from the bottom of my heart. arigato.

but now that you have proved yourself as the uncontested, indefatigable "up with (japan and its) people" blogger (otsukare!), don't you think you have in the process also given yourself in the process a sort-of cushion that will reduce the impact of any grief that you are given for taking a quick dip or two into a more judicious blogging style regarding japan's shortcomings?

naturally i'm not asking you to bitch about life a la the BBs of Japan Today (which i do agree are filled with reams of utter kaka by folks who are more or less the dregs of humanity - real uzomuzo types), i'm simply asking for you to grace a few down-and-out groups over here (as you can see from my arguments, my beefs are mostly social, NOT superstructural ECONOMIC) that probably COULD actually use the power and voice of your "Japan-boosting" pen.

this would be a most worthy way of fulfilling your self-appointed role as a kind of alt.ambassador for japan's tourism and culture industries. this new tenor would, in any event, probably motivate new people to join in the ongoing "japan as aesthetic pep-rally" that is Click Opera. there are some flies buzzing around out there that like vinegar as much as honey, sir!

Posted by: r. at March 15, 2005 12:40 AM

well said r!

Posted by: Chris_B at March 15, 2005 12:53 AM

Chris_B (who is hereby officially invited to come over and have single malt anytime at my flat) wrote:

>Looks to me like r and marxy have chosen to be
>here as well (I could be wrong about that).

in my case you are on the money. i'm here indefinitely. first and foremost is finishing up work on my phd, which will take another year or three. i've been flirting with the idea of, after finishing, spending another period of research (i did one when i was in my early 20s) in europe somewhere...perhaps paris or amsterdam. but japan is a kind of leitmotiv, and so i will always be drawn back. as fate would have it, my mother, who is now living in atlanta, will move to shanghai in a few months, so i'll probably be flip-flopping between there and tokyo for the next year or so, until she gets settled in. for the moment, i've finally begun my chinese studies in earnest...

as for david, i've no idea what he has up his yukata's sleeve, but i hope he will grace us with a full, sophomore release as soon as possible!

Posted by: r. at March 15, 2005 12:56 AM

I may sound bitter, but I would hope people don't think I'm lying about what I write about to forward an agenda.

I dont think you have an agenda, I was just honestly wondering why you are here in Japan. I got a bitter feeling from alot of your posts rather than a "critique" or someone who thinks these problems can be solved. (as you said) It seemed as though you had to stay here for work, or family but didnt want to be here.

Its interesting how we all percieve cultures differently. Its subjective, I know... I wonder how much our reasons for living here (what kind of work, family, hobbies etc..) directly influence our views on the society here?

I do enjoy your posts... keep them up.

Posted by: Rrose Selavy at March 15, 2005 1:40 AM

i'm simply asking for you to grace a few down-and-out groups over here (as you can see from my arguments, my beefs are mostly social, NOT superstructural ECONOMIC) that probably COULD actually use the power and voice of your "Japan-boosting" pen.

http://www.viceland.com/issues/v10n8/htdocs/moo.php

Posted by: Momus at March 15, 2005 3:23 AM

hip, slick, and...about time! but you are kind of missing the point. it isn't just what you write, but WERE you write it. now that i think about it, perhaps i wasn't clear enough. let me see, where was that line i typed? oh, here it is...

i said: this new tenor would, in any event, probably motivate new people to join in the ongoing "japan as aesthetic pep-rally" that is Click Opera.

well, it looks like i was pretty clear. posting on VICE, where the Nerf-like version of the usually hard-hitting penmeister known as momus (that we know and love) writes to pay the rent, is no DICE.

but this is a very, very positive prelude. bochi-bochi denna...

Posted by: r. at March 15, 2005 3:38 AM

whoops, that should have been "WHERE you write it"
my pen slippeth over...
hi-five to nick,
r.

Posted by: r. at March 15, 2005 3:40 AM

Holy Crap!
So I didnt really follow the logical 'flow' of the comment threads well, but I thought I would put my "stank on it" nonetheless. So we all know that Japan == "hallmark of American indy culture". which is unfortunate cuz it leaves all those genuinely interested stigmatized as "sub-pop indy freaks". smeh. I did get the impression that the comment posters here, agree that we are observing the final days of traditional japanese culture. I think anyone that has watched or studied the Japanese metamorphosis would've extrapolated this long ago. All we have to do is read Allen Kerr's "Dogs and Demons", and observe the new trends of japanese corperate culture (which IMHO, was the last safe haven for the japanese culture.). Anyway thats all I gotta say. I am drunk, oh and:
P.S. Momus, your handle reminds me of of Momo-chan from "Long Vacation"...there's your dorama synchronicity.

Posted by: stephen at March 15, 2005 9:08 AM

OMFH sooo drunk...soooo lame:
s/Allen Kerr/Alex Kerr
/me bows his head in shame.
12 steps I SWEAR!

Posted by: stephen at March 15, 2005 9:23 AM

I wouldn't mention Alex Kerr around Momus. It's not just the conclusions that bother him, it's the facts.

Posted by: marxy at March 15, 2005 11:23 AM

stephen,
be careful sir, a few more typos like that, and mothers against drunk blogging are going to knock on your door...

Posted by: r. at March 15, 2005 12:27 PM

I did get the impression that the comment posters here, agree that we are observing the final days of traditional japanese culture. I think anyone that has watched or studied the Japanese metamorphosis would've extrapolated this long ago.

You define "traditional Japanese culture" as extending from the goddess Amaretsu to the salaryman, and tell us that it's ending. So tomorrow is the first day of the rest of Japan's life, eh? These definitions and divisions are arbitrary. The present always looks more blurry than the past, but that doesn't mean that it won't one day look just as defined, and just as Japanese. Perhaps you'll be around in 2050 to tell us that "self-replicating softbots are the last gasp of traditional Japanese culture".

Posted by: Momus at March 15, 2005 4:40 PM