I have seen many videos and posts that Japan is a very punctual place, where everything goes by order, everyone manages time very efficiently, etc. But is it really true or am I seeing just a perception of a limited group of people?
Posted Apr 24, 2023, 7:16 PM UTC
No, there is a lot to like about Japan but it's a varied and complex home to 125 million whole human beings and you can find almost anything there if you look for it. Some things you see in videos are just stereotypes.
You know people there commit suicide because of overwork, right? Like, it's a serious issue there. In addition, they are very much against anything that differs from the norm, and especially against foreigners (which usually differ in every way from their norm)
High suicide rate makes me believe it's not all rainbows and sunshine.
Far from it. There is a lot good, but they are very socially conservative people. Gay marriage is illegal, women are often treated poorly, work culture is very toxic and can be abusive, no culture/society is perfect.
There are aspects to Japan that are great; their public services are pretty good, particularly for their efficiency and cleanliness. It's far from perfect, though.
Work culture in Japan is awful, especially if you work at a big company. Super-overtime is commonplace to meet tight deadlines, and work-life balance is horrible. The suicide rate among adults is high, and death by exhaustion due to overwork was notable enough that there is a word for it (though the government has supposedly taken measures against it). A lot of media glorifies the high school years because they're the time when a person has the most freedom.
Japanese culture can be PROFOUNDLY racist as well, even when it's not malicious. If you are a foreigner in Japan, you are on a list, and people will regard you with anything from "exotic awe" to "side-eyes" to "outright beligerence". Some establishments will refuse to serve you if you aren't pure-blooded Japanese. Even half-Japanese people, who were born in Japan, get this treatment, especially if they have non-Japanese traits like brown or blond hair.
The Japanese criminal justice system has a 99% conviction rate. There are two aspects to this. First, they do convict a good number of people who are otherwise innocent. A large part of this is a cultural problem with appeal to authority; the person with authority is respected more than the person without, and thus unless evidence is provably against them the person with authority is considered "correct", even if they're lying or falsifying evidence. This also allows authority figures with plausible deniability to avoid conviction. But on the other hand, this doesn't account for the 99% conviction rate entirely. The other aspect is that the authorities will never pursue a case if they're not convinced they can get a conviction off the bat. If you're the victim of a petty crime, the cops aren't likely to do anything about it.
I could go on, really. Point is, there are a lot of problems.
I’ve read that the work in Japan isn’t actually that hard and they don’t do that much. They do however stay in the office all day because it’s polite to stay until the boss leaves. The reason the boss stays late? He doesn’t want to see his wife and kids.
Yes, they’re in the office a lot, but that doesn’t mean they are always working.
Nothing is perfect. Keep in mind since the aftermath of ww2 Japan has been on its best behaviour and most accepted public appearance. Maybe they have changed. Maybe their putting on a mask like the rest of us.
Nope the trains are on time, no garbage anywhere, people are helpful/friendly/polite, subways are clean and and the carriages are always quiet (unwritten 'don't talk on cell phone on train' rule), ridiculously low theft rate (my 'boss' at the ski loge would leave the cash register drawer open with customers wandering around the store - my friend forgot a new laptop on the train in Tokyo, waited for it to come back around the loop and then got it - so many more stories)
But it's not perfect. My Japanese friend once told me "I hate the trains, because they are perfect and I am not". Very high suicide rates, very long work hours, not much romance.
It's good and bad, but I really do love that country.
There is some truth to that, but it isn't a magical utopia. Bureaucracy is a nightmare. People ask their supervisor for the smallest of unregularities. It can really slow things down and make things more stressful.
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It’s not perfect, it just does some things better than most countries
Oh god no. If you think Japan is perfect, you don't know anything about Japan. They are a nation that has been stuck in the year 2000 since 1970. Also, they are so image and perception obsessed, that it brings a lot of other issues.
Fun fact: They have a nearly 99% conviction rate on criminal charges, but also because they wrongfully convict a lot because their society places so much social value on the authority being correct, thus charges can only exist because there is guilt.
You are basically judging a nation as being perfect because the trains run on time.
This is a good TLDR of Japan's bureaucracy, especially in business. They were considered ahead of their time and that led to their economic boom but then Japan ended up stagnating since they were unwilling to adapt. Now, Japanese company are also notorious for their rigidness
Another fun fact is how racist and xenophobic they are. Some restaurants/bars will explocitly reject entry if you're not Japanese and owning property there is extremely hard if you're a foreigner (or even a non-ethnic Japanese citizen). My sister had the pleasure of getting the good old "go back to your country" lots of times when she lived there