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Why are the Japanese so Lonely? | Salari

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You are in the read-only mode. Close
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[recording] "I wanna remember what... it was like to feel, and to love, and to laugh..."
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[ambient music]
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We live in a time where we are more connected than ever.
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Thanks to the internet we're able to communicate with people all across the world instantaneously for seemingly no cost.
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Social networks, direct messaging, video call apps and even email have ushered in a period of time where
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regardless of where we are, we have the tools to connect with others whenever we want.
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If you were alive in the 90's, these technologies felt almost like science fiction.
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The kind of things you'd only see in movies but... here it is now, and we barely notice that the future had arrived.
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As fantastical as these ideas seemed back then, it was exciting to think that, someday, this technology would be available to us,
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but with little to no [??]
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With the exception that you're giving away data to marketing companies, in exchange to use it.
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We would be able to live in a world were not only could we see loved ones in their flesh but over a screen.
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Distance wouldn't be a problem anymore.
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However this isn't the world that we got, and for many,
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those methods of digital communication have become a bleak symbol of distance
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rather than a tool to complement one's life.
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The world has become a smaller place because of these advancements in technology.
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We have the ability to be connected to other via digital signals and hardware, but
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modern conditions have changed that technology from something that augments people's lives into a substitute.
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Consider that from when you're a child, you spend years within your family,
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go to school and create bonds with new people.
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You get to spend time with them on a daily basis, and grow alongside them.
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These bonds feel like they'll last forever but, eventually, you discover that most of them don't.
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We eventually leave school to enter the work force, everyone goes their separate ways,
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sometimes to different cities or even countries, leaving behind family
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and the bonds that we spend decades forming.
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Communication technology was supposed to help us maintain these bonds and, to some extent, to they do,
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but its value pales in comparison to the sense of community that you once had.
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Our bonds start fading and your day-to-day life is to blame.
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This isn't your fault though.
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Jobs are artificially scarce to protect the bottom-line of corporations, so we have to travel afar.
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We're expected to take on multiple roles in the workplace and often work far more than
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the assigned forty hours a week, because otherwise your paycheck will be too light or
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it will jeopardize your chances at a promotion.
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Over a third of your day is spent on the workplace.
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Longer if you take into account commute times.
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By the time you're home, you're exhausted, and all you want to do is eat, seat in front of the TV and
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maybe play a game to pass the time.
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Then, go to bed and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.
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when the weekend arrives you're too tired to do anything significant.
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You go out, maybe you make some new friends every now and then
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but you never truly become close to them.
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Or you end up staying at home, trying your best to de-stress from the week that you've had,
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scrolling through social media feeds, seeing the lives of those you were once closest to,
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how they've changed and grown, and a sadness sets in because you wish you were there to see it.
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You wish that they didn't have to leave. You wish that you didn't have to leave.
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You wish you weren't alone.
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[music]
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Loneliness is a growing problem around the world.
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Despite the fact that we have so many ways of communicating with each other, we've grown evermore
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alienated from our own communities due to the unreasonnable demands of modern life.
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Younger generations who are currently in the work force have been hit particularly hard by this.
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Many have found that they need to support oneself financially before catering to their emotional needs,
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hence the notion of "self-care" has become so prominent. But that in itself
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is a task, transforming what was once a natural part of life
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into a form of labor.
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Various governments across the developed world have even started to take actions to combat loneliness,
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which has been described by former U.S surgeon general Vivek Murthy as a growing health epidemic,
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that's associated with the reduction in lifespan, similar to smoking fifteen cigarettes a day.
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In my homecountry of the UK,labour MP (Member of Parliament) Jo Cox, who represented my small hometown of Batley
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established the Commission on Loneliness, which investigated ways to reduce loneliness across people of all ages.
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In 2018, conservative MP Tracey Crouch was given the newly created title of Minister of Loneliness,
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but she resigned from her role one year after being given the title and is yet to be replaced.
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Although combating loneliness was one of Cox's top priorities in office, she was tragically murdered
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by a right-wing extremist in 2016, and the commission, like many other social programs
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under the conservative government, was no longer a priority.
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When discussing countries that have a problem with loneliness and isolation, there's one country
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that's often brought up : Japan, and for good reason. A growing number of people
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live alone in Japan. Among the thirty-six developed nations of the organization of
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economic cooperation and developement, or OECD, Japan is seventh in the world.
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Germany, Norway, Denmark, Austria, France and the Netherlands are all ahead of Japan
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in this respect, but it's worth taking into consideration that all of these countries rank high
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on the United Nations Happiness index, whereas Japan is one of the lowest on among developed countries,
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with highest standards of Human Rights, at rank 62.
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In this video, we will explore the various factors that have contributed to
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the social and financial issues plagued in Japan;
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how in the absence of human connexion and intimacy, markets have manifested
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to fill this gap in ways so personal that it is hard to imagine,
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how the burden of endless productivity has overtaken every aspect of people's lives,
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and the history of economic failures which left many workers without social mobility or financial stability.
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Later on we will look at the people whose lives have been potentially irreparably damaged
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by the demands of late stage capitalism and the growing amount of lives tragically lost
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due to stress, hardships, and solitude.
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Let us look at why the people of Japan have foundthemselves under neon loneliness.
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From an early age, people in Japan are thought that dedicating oneself to work and education is extremely important.
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Schools operate for around six and a half hours a day for five mandatory days a week.
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However, most schools are open on saturday for optional classes, which students are encouraged to attend
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and the majority do. The japanese governement is even pushing to make the six days school week a standard,
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despite being lowered to five days a week back in 2002.
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Thankfully, schools in Japan recognize many national holidays and summer vacation lasts around 40 days,
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but the time taken up by school takes away vast amounts of time from the formative years of children and teenagers.
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Student are also encouraged to join afterschool clubs, which can be beneficial to socialization,
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but homework is assigned to them as early as the first grade,
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taking even more time away from their personal life.
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It's also worth taking into consideration that it's common for many students to have long commute times
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to and from school, taking even more time out of their day.
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All of these factors can make it harder to form friendships and even relationships
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among all the students.
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Japan has a more formal approach to communication compared to most countries.
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Openness about one's emotions isn't necessarily discouraged but avoided.
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The time to develop friendships in general also takes longer than it does in a counrty like america.
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Outside of school, many elementary students spend the vast majority of their time with their parents,
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most often their mother, and there is little importance given to playtime,
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especially with peers the same age as them.
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Japan has a notoriously grueling work culture.
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Eversince the aftermath of World War 2, the country has had an intense focus
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on strengthening the economy, and later on it developed a focus on personal growth
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within one's career, so they can attain financial stability, in hopes of someday getting married
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and making a family.
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As time has progressed thought, much like the west, the demand of the japanese workplace have increased
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to the point of endangering the lives of workers.
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In many workplaces, it is expected that employees only live once the boss leaves
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and is impolite to leave before any of your colleagues do.
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Convenience stores even sell clean shirts for those who haven't had the chance to go home.
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Over a fifth of japanese workers work over heighty hours of overtime a month,
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usually unpaid.
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One in ten workers clock in over one hundred hours, and on average japanese workers
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use only fifty percent of their annual entitled leave,
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averaging to only eight point eight days.
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Many people in Japan are literally working themselves to death.
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There's even a word for it: "Karōshi", which one hundred and ninety one people
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died from in 2016.
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The majority of them died most commonly from heart attacks, strokes and even starvation.
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On July twentyfifth two thousand thirteen, thirty-one year old NHK journalist Miwa Sado
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died from congestive heart failure after working one hundred and fifty-nine hours
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and thirty seven minutes of overtime.
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Sado's death was not made public until four years after she passed.
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According to NHK, this was at the request of her parents.
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A month prior to her death, Sado emailed her father saying :
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[see text above]
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She died alone. She collapsed in her bed, in her apartment, with her mobile phone still clutched in her hand.
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[See text above]
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Japan has a great emphasis on productivity throughout a person's life
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and work is considered one of the pillars of leading a fulfilling life.
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It is part of what's called "ikigai", a concept with no direct english translation, but means "a reason for being",
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"iki" meaning "life" and "gai" meaning "value" or "worth".
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It contains four principles, all of which overlap each other like a Venn diagram.
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It includes what you're good at, what you love, what the world needs and what you can be paid for.
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But what is notworthy here is that all of theses principles are related once again
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to productivity and work.
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And therein lies the flaw with this concept, because of with many people in Japan
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and even across the world, what you get paid for isn't always fulfilling but a means to an end.
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According to a 2019 study by Randstat Workmonitor, among the thirty-four countries surveyed
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Japan had the lowest job satisfaction in the world, with thirty percent of workers
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claiming to not be satisfied or neutral and twenty-one percent claiming to be dissatisfied.
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This isn't all too surprising, given the many amount of hours that people dedicate to work.
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But there are other factors to be considered here other than the lack of free time.
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Like many other developed capitalist countries, wages have been seeing a steady decline
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compared to the cost of living.
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Many companies have been making efforts to curve the excessive amount of work
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people have been doing the past few decades, but due to the drop in productivity,
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this has resulted in stagnating wages.
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Alongside this, permanent employment, or "seishain" (正社員), has become increasingly uncommon
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and moving towards temporary or "non-seishain" work, leading people to feel
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that there isn't enough stability in their work for them to consider meeting a significant other,
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settling down or even starting a family.
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Unsurprisingly, when a human need remains unfulfilled, a gap in the market is created.
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And companies in Japan, both big and small have leapt at the opportunity to take advantage of this.
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It's well known that host and hostess bars are a popular fixture in japanese nightlife.
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Originally there was just hostess bars where young women would spend time with men in there downtime,
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talking and flirting, refilling their drinks, lighting cigarettes and singing karaoke.
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It could be said thought that hostesses are like a modern version of geishas.
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Physical contact and sexual discussions aren't allowed in most clubs
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but redlight district versions of these clubs do exist, known as "sepu kyabakura".
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Host clubs, the male counterpart of hostess clubs, operate in a similar fashion.
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The hosts tend to flirt more with their clients than female hosts do,
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and often more entertainment, such as performing magic tricks, dancing
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or even comedy skits.
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These clubs have existed for a long time though, as early as the sixties,
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and Japan's culture of hosting gests existed long before these with the aforementioned geishas.
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In the past few years, maid cafes have also become a popular fixture in japan.
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They operate in a similar way to hostess bars but are designed to appeal to more
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younger clientele, especially otaku, an often pejorative term given to people
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usually young males, who consume large amounts of media related to anime and manga.
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Unlike hostess bars, maid cafes operate much like regular cafes,
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albeit with a more fantasy-like aesthetic.
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Maids are usually very young cute women who dress up in french maid outfits,
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and cater to their clients needs from serving food, offering over-the-cloth massages,
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entertainment and even spoonfeeding them.
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We also refer to their clients as "master" or "mistress".
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There's strictly no touching and photography is often forbidden in most maid cafes.
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The maids themselves will usually adopt a personality trait that you will find in an anime or manga,
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of which there are many types, but the majority of these are ironically two-dimensional.
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Many otaku however are drawn to these well-defined personality-types, since they're familiar and predictable.
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But that familiarity could potentially have its drawbacks.
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People are emotionally complex, and when you're trying to develop a relationship with another person,
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it's unfair to assume that they fit into a niche like fictional characters do.
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In japanese culture, friendships and relationships generally take a longer time to foster when compared
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to western countries, largely due to formalities and expectations people are expected to abide by there.
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When it comes to situations where they find themselves in large groups such as school
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or workplace or even social events such as weddings, formalities and rituals are in place
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which don't allow for much interaction with strangers, taking away the pressure
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of making small talk with strangers or people you barely know.
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Outside of this though, many people prefer hanging out in groups rather than a coupling.
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This alleviates the potential for more personal discussions and
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offers security so they don't have to worry about what people outside of their group think of them,
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especially if they're involved in an activity.
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Group activities are obviously extremely popular in Japan, given the famously lively nightlife
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available in major cities there, what with the abundance of clubs and bars and obviously karaoke.
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This kind of socializing in and off itself is great, since it allows one to express themselves
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among a group of people that they're familiar with, but it doesn't offer much space
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for far more personal interactions.
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Certain actions within relationships carry far more gravitas in Japan when compared with other countries.
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For example, an invitation to your house isn't something that is taken lightly.
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There's a sense of obligation to it, and it's not something that's commonly offered
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to someone that you're not too familiar with.
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