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Japan's 10 most intractable problems

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Everybody knows Japan is in crisis. The biggest problems it faces – sinking economy, aging society, sinking birthrate, radiation, unpopular and seemingly powerless government – present an overwhelming challenge and possibly an existential threat. Less fateful but closer to home is a tangle of smaller worries and anxieties, of which Shukan Josei (March 13) enumerates 10.

Some of them – one-third of single women living in poverty, rising number of children needing protection from child abuse – are in fact far from minor. Others – increase in bicycle accidents, increasing destruction caused by wildlife – do seem at first glance to merit the back burner, although at second glance…

Take destructive wildlife, for instance. Deer, wild boar, monkeys and other creatures who know not what they do cause each year an estimated 20 billion yen worth of damage to crops, national parks, and also to people in the form of personal injury – monkeys especially. Deer nibbling tree bark have turned half of Japan’s national parkland into wasteland, Shukan Josei says, while boar ravage rice paddies. If only the Japanese, like the Europeans, could acquire a taste for eating game! Then hunters would hunt the marauders in greater numbers, and a sustainable balance be restored. But though the Japanese became meat-eaters, their preference remains strictly for domestic livestock.

The trouble with bicycles – convenient, environment-friendly and excellent exercise – is that anyone can ride one; you don’t need a license and there’s no mandatory instruction on rules of the road, which many riders, apparently, don’t know. Besides, few people think of bikes as dangerous, so they’re not given the respect they deserve. Many accidents – Shukan Josei doesn’t tell us how many – involve pedestrians and can be serious. Cyclists draw most of the blame, not altogether fairly. Japan, the magazine points out, is far behind other places, notably Holland and Scandinavia, in creating exclusive bicycle lanes.

There’s actually a silver lining in rising child abuse statistics. At least some of the rise is attributed to neighbors reporting problems, which suggests spreading awareness and also maybe heightened neighborly concern. That’s small comfort to victimized children, of course. Stress and isolation get much of the blame. Child-raising used to be a community responsibility, but communities hardly exist anymore; or the whole extended family got involved, but extended families, too, are almost extinct. Moreover, Shukan Josei adds, public children’s homes tend to be understaffed and rundown, unlike senior citizens’ homes, which benefit from more attention.

Why should one-third of single women be living in poverty? For one thing, most working women – 12 million – are part-time employees, receiving small salaries and few benefits. For another, inheritance laws are skewed in favor of men. Since many single women are single mothers, the impact on children is harsh. “Compared to other developed countries, Japan gives very weak protection to its young generation,” the magazine hears from a lawyer.

Female poverty is a factor in the declining birth rate too. There are 340,000 abortions a year in Japan, many of them presumably on women for whom child-raising is an economic impossibility.

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

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Never understood why game meat is not more popular in Japan. The places where u can find it are crazily expensive

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Negative article to the extreme, wild animals do what wild animals do, deer nibble tree bark, wild pigs forage and dig, hunt the animals cultivate a wild game eating culture. Who put a price on what wild life do, this is crazy.

Child abuse is a problem not only in this country and women being lower paid than men is common around the world.

Cyclists need lessons on proper road rules and manners.

All these issues would be easy to resolve if the motivation and desire to sort them was there.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

If only the Japanese, like the Europeans, could acquire a taste for eating game! Then hunters would hunt the marauders in greater numbers, and a sustainable balance be restored.

And we'd have hordes of fools with shotguns taking pot-shots at anything that moved, including pet dogs & cats, and kiddies on their way to school. Not to mention the intrepid hunters accidentally shooting themselves and each other.

inheritance laws are skewed in favor of men

? The estate goes equally to the remaining spouse and the kids, gender not an issue (afaik). People may write wills leaving everything the eldest son, but that's hardly a problem seated in law. And why should people live in poverty simply because they didn't get an inheritance?

-5 ( +7 / -12 )

Having hiked a great deal in Japan, I considered myself very lucky to see any wildlife. Did see wild boar coming down the road from Mount Maya in Kobe at night, that was an exception.

nibbling tree bark have turned half of Japan’s national parkland into wasteland

Really? Not saying there isn't lots of damage but this sounds highly exaggerated. Is it supposed to be all over Japan? Because the deer populations where I went would have to be very busy to be do this and I saw nothing of the sort. Pretty sure some areas are worse than others and the mag makes it sound like it happens everywhere.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

What's Japan's biggest problem? It's pretty simple: the country is owned and run by a small group of conservative geezers who speak no language other than Japanese and know nothing about the wider world. The majority of these men can be found in the ministries. They form the unelected government of Japan. These are the clowns who, for instance, sit on the Mombusho and preside over an English education system that produces graduates who place LAST in the world on the TOEFL IBT speaking section. That's right: last. These are the clowns who brought you Fukushima Dai-ichi, Monju and Tokaimura. These are the clowns who have turned Japan from one of the world's most beautiful countries into one of its ugliest, through the tools of concrete, dams, retaining walls and tetrapods.

The ministers' partners in crime are the large companies that insist on hiring graduates in mass hiring ceremonies, rather than adopting flexible hiring practices like those of major companies elsewhere in the world. The result is an educational system geared entirely to getting hired straight out of a good school by a large company. For the vast majority of students who fail at this goal, they are ruined by the process. All of their spirit and creativity is beaten out of them (the same, of course, can be said of those who succeed in getting hired by the big companies, but at least they get lifetime employment). The educational system is designed to serve the needs of large companies, not the people of the country. Look at the passive, risk-averse, uncreative graduates of Japan's educational system. What good will they do the country? What good will they do themselves?

It really doesn't matter. Nothing can change this. In a short time, Korean, China, Singapore and Hong Kong will eat Japan for lunch and spit out the bones. Japan has created the perfect perpetual motion machine: a system which produces passive slaves who are trained not to rock the boat. It works until it is too old to work, or gets taken over or bought by a more dynamic and healthy culture. That's all there is too it.

The proof of just how well Japan's educational system works at mid-educating the people is the Shukan Josei article referenced above: Japan is right now in full-spectrum collapse, with an aging population, radioactive food, an unelected government, vast national debt etc, and the author of an article on Japan's biggest problems honestly believes that poor bicycle manners and hungry wild boar merit inclusion in the list of Japan's top 10 problems. That, right there, tells you how badly they have been done in by their government and their educational system.

55 ( +60 / -5 )

Right, either I can't count (or read) or there's something amiss here, as I can only find these problems listed:

sinking economy; aging society; sinking birthrate; radiation; unpopular and seemingly powerless government; and these problems covered in more detail: Single women living in poverty; Increase in reported child abuse; increase in bicycle accidents; increasing destruction caused by wildlife; So where's: ?
-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Frank I completely agree with what you write.

The biggest problem in Japan is education. Although I think that not all the blame can be laid by the small group of conservative geezers. Mums share a lot of the blame for keeping this ridiculous system alive.

I once interviewed a 17 year old girl who apparently wanted to study abroad. In fact she didn't. It was her mother's wish. She knew that it was not going to be possible for her daughter to graduate Japanese High School and wanted to send her to the States. When I asked why she was thinking of doing that, the mother said that her daughter had to graduate university. The kid wasn't interested in study of any kind whatsoever and so I pointed this out to the mother, suggesting that the kid leave school and start work.

End of interview.

The education system in Japan needs to be scrapped and redesigned from the ground up to give children the information and skills they need to survive in today's world.

Education is the biggest problem in Japan today.

4 ( +7 / -4 )

Maria, the number 10 is there. You see, the article lists 2-10, number one being self-deception.

Alex Kerr is much more informative in his book "Dogs and Demons". Good reading!

Wild boars? Seriously?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

@Frank

Granted the avg high school graduate's English ability is sub-par. However, all other subjects are taught quite well. I don't think the entire education system is a failure. Until all university entrance exams test for speaking and listening ability the way English is taught will not change. I also don't see the doom and gloom you are foreshadowing to in the future either. Japan and the Japanese people are incredibly industrious and hard working. They will be just fine.

-14 ( +5 / -18 )

I didn't know nature was a danger to society. I thought it was all the way around.

Deer nibbling tree bark have turned half of Japan's national parkland into wasteland

That's kind of hard to believe.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Every extra Yen I make I change into USD.... why... because there is no way with all of Japan's problems that the Yen will not fall to around Y120 to the USD by 2020. Its my 20/120 prediction and I'll bet most of you agree.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

The Japanese used to eat venison. But at some point in history, the group of uptight oyajis whom Frank Rizzo refers to brainwashed the nation into thinking the population are strictly fish eaters.

So now the Japanese cull 140,000 dear every year, with the carcasses of the vast majority left to rot in the forest. Such a waste of quality free-range meat -- in a nation that loudly complains that it relies too heavily on food imports.

10 ( +10 / -1 )

Japan already has an abundance of relatively low priced game meat... whale meat. The only difference is that it comes from a sea mammal instead of a land mammal.

-6 ( +5 / -9 )

The hand in glove relationship of powerful interests and government that have put their interests ahead of the population at large.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

The main problem with Japan is the vast majority of people seem to have an attitude akin to "Out of sight out of mind." Unless it directly affects them they don't seem to care. I know many people here who would not put one yen in a charity box to help others but want sympathy because they are 'poor' and don't make a lot of money. I didn't hear squat from one single person about the earthquake in Haiti and barely a peep about the one in Chile. People mention Fukushima but I don't think they really feel they should do something to help

0 ( +4 / -4 )

one-third of single women living in poverty

Surprising. Does this include the income/assets of parents with whom the single women may be living?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

The trouble with bicycles – convenient, environment-friendly and excellent exercise – is that anyone can ride one; you don’t need a license and there’s no mandatory instruction on rules of the road, which many riders, apparently, don’t know. Besides, few people think of bikes as dangerous, so they’re not given the respect they deserve. Many accidents – Shukan Josei doesn’t tell us how many – involve pedestrians and can be serious.

How about another perspective:

The trouble with walking – convenient, environment-friendly and excellent exercise – is that anyone can do it; you don’t need a license and there’s no mandatory instruction on rules of the road, which many pedestrians, apparently, don’t know. Besides, few people think of pedestrians as dangerous, so they’re not given the respect they deserve.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

One problem everywhere with eating game is the quality control of the products, etc. Many consumers, in both Japan and abroad, are somewhat detached from nature and expect exactly same quality each time they buy a product. But it is hard to guarantee the same quality with the natural food.

But eating game that is taken on a sustainable basis is very eco-friendly. I personally am always eager to select the wild food from an ethical point of view as well.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

What are the 10 reasons? This article (badly) talks about 4

1 ( +4 / -3 )

How about another perspective:

Yeah I don't think that a pedestrian walking into me would be that big a deal. Even getting barged by someone running probably wouldn't ruin my day (or theirs) that much. However, if a fast-moving, carelessly ridden bike collided with me, the results would be a lot worse.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

why does these single ladies were only work part time? is it because of their education level? or the society thinks women should not work? or there is no good support systems for the single mothers? from many comments I've read these past weeks, it seems that women in Japan merely considered as second class citizens. they can't get the better deal because of the patriachial society in Japan

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

I think an issue that was overlooked and easily trumps the 10 listed above is the "shoganai" mentality that permeates nearly all facets of society here. How "shoganai" can be used so easily to end almost any conversation is truly heartbreaking at times.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

Deer nibbling tree bark have turned half of Japan’s national parkland into wasteland

No. Tree bark nibbling bureaucrats and politicians have turned Japan's national parks into wasteland.

Hey! How come Japanese can tell the damage done by animals but can't tell how much cesium and strontium is in my food?!?

6 ( +9 / -3 )

Frank Rizzo,

Bravo, sir! Bravo. I doubt I could have put that better myself.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

This article is incoherent and does not explain the problems highlighted clearly, let alone the correct number indicated in the heading.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Japanese consumers do not like game meats and yet they crave whale meats, very interesting.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

What about the massive suicide rate??

10 ( +12 / -2 )

Well done Frank!

" and the author of an article on Japan's biggest problems honestly believes that poor bicycle manners and hungry wild boar merit inclusion in the list of Japan's top 10 problems. That, right there, tells you how badly they have been done in by their government and their educational system."

I loved that!

9 ( +10 / -1 )

I'm starting to stop feeling sorry for Japanese these days - esp when so many things are so obvious.

It's just sad and frustrating. But it's easier getting an audience than back in the day when the stock market was booming and everyone thought that Japan was going to surpass the US and be number one! Back then, things like amakudari and concreting everything in sight were seen as good things ..

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Frank.Rizzo.Is.The.Man

Every extra Yen I make I change into USD.... and I'll bet most of you agree.

Only if you happen to be from between the Mexican and Canadian borders. Otherwise that printed paper is fairly useless.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

"Ezo Shika" is quite delicious. I enjoy it in a dish known as soup curry up here in Hokkaido, lots of vegetables in soup curry, too, that's why I eat it, cause the "divine washoku diet" doesn't really contain a lot of vegetables...

I'm starting to stop feeling sorry for Japanese these days - esp when so many things are so obvious. It's just sad and frustrating. But it's easier getting an audience than back in the day when the stock market was booming and everyone thought that Japan was going to surpass the US and be number one! Back then, things like amakudari and concreting everything in sight were seen as good things

Yes... ignorance was bliss, wasn't it??

0 ( +3 / -3 )

@Godan,

The shoganai has come to define the disinterest and resignation I feel many Japanese express. Does anyone talk politics in this country? Seems to me what life consists of here is shopping, working and going to Disneyland. Many people claim they can't change anything anyway (by voting for example) but if you never try, NOTHING will happen. "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

This attitude plus educational failure heavily saturated by Shima Guni Konjo - Island Country Mentality, are Japan's major hurdles for a better future. After 3/11, I do not see that Japan wants to open up, though. Rather, it's embracing the Gaman/Ganbare/Kizuna attitude, turning inwards and patting their own backs. And so, when economy worsens in part thanks to an ageing population that is brought on by lead assed politicians failing to come up with solutions to make these islands sustainable ones, the people looking for fresh ideas are not going to increase. I firmly believe Japan has seen its best days this time around. Maybe in a generation or two, it will get better.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Is the Kuchikomi section of JT where the articles which fail to get published everywhere else come to die? What a ridiculous, borderline surreal 'read' - at what point did deer munching on tree bark become one of Japan's 'most intractable problems'? Once again, this piece beggars belief.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

women's rights in japan is terrible - How many woman CEO's do you see in Tokyo ? About poverty and declining birthrate - well, if you don't take care of the 20-30 year olds. your country will burn to the ground. Sorry to say it !!! But it's going that way.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

What's interesting here is that the comments about this "article" are ten times more interesting, more rational, more informative than the "article " itself.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Mr Frank Rizzo That is the best get to the point write up I have seen for a long time in any of the comments

5 ( +6 / -1 )

oikawaMAR. 12, 2012 - 09:03PM JST What about the massive suicide rate??

apparently that is not a problem

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japan already has an abundance of relatively low priced game meat... whale meat. The only difference is that it comes from a sea mammal instead of a land mammal.

The difference, of course is that game meat (deer, boar, bear) can be hunted locally and doesn't need a subsidized fleet of ships to hunt for them half way around the globe.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Lots of affordable game meat inside/outside Tokyo(which offers all).

I even bought grasshoppers, etc in Tokyo as Onigiri fillers. Ditto for bee larvae, snake-meat, etc it is all available and some areas are famous for them. Game is affordable if you know the right places, I even had a wild-boar nabe.

Now this will raise some ire but I even know places inside Tokyo where you can get aka-niku(dog-meat).

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

why does these single ladies were only work part time?

Most of these 'part-time' workers actually work for 8 hours a day but get less than 200, 000 a month.

Frank Risso definitely said it best; and said it much better than the article did. Poor government, poor education and lack of people who want to make positive changes--these are BIG problems. I strongly dislike the word 'shoganai' because it basically says I am a powerless victim who has no control over things around me; therefore I will do nothing. Unless this attitude changes, Japan is going to find itself far behind other developed nations.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Amazing- noone has mentioned the employment system which is a hobbled together mix of 18th and 19th century employment regulations- certainly finally scrap life time employment, have basic starting payment standards which should be fortnightly but encourage negotiation for any conditions either party wants. Put in real employment benefits with mutual obligation. There is actually no shortage of employment in Japan, its just a mismatch between the work that Japanese will take and work available (one issue) and also the support that Japanese need to take the jobs that available for those more willing- for Chinese who take those jobs at the moment- they have family and community support and willingness to live in cramped conditions that Japanese local just don't have.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There is also one big problem.

Chauvinism. Bad integration into "big" world cause big problems.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

What about the ridiculously high fees for car parking?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

At least AKB48 are cute... at least we have that.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Frank Rizzo and Godan really nailed it.

I think an issue that was overlooked and easily trumps the 10 listed above is the "shoganai" mentality that permeates nearly all facets of society here. How "shoganai" can be used so easily to end almost any conversation is truly heartbreaking at times.

It is the ultimate conversation stopper, isn't it. Nothing I can do about it so I'm not even going to give it consideration. Case closed.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

"Since many single women are single mothers"

Completely untrue ...

"There are 340,000 abortions a year in Japan, many of them presumably on women for whom child-raising is an economic impossibility"

don't "presume", just the facts, please.

D-

Doesn't anybody read anymore ?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Perhaps if the the Japanese System promoted joint parenting, human-rights, parental responsibility, etc...

Many of the social problems they are concerned about and facing, either wouldn't exist, OR at the very least, would be much smaller issues than what they currently are.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

dolphingirlMAR. why does these single ladies were only work part time?

Most of these 'part-time' workers actually work for 8 hours a day but get less than 200, 000 a month.

Frank Risso definitely said it best; and said it much better than the article did. Poor government, poor education and lack of people who want to make positive changes--these are BIG problems. I strongly dislike the word 'shoganai' because it basically says I am a powerless victim who has no control over things around me; therefore I will do nothing. Unless this attitude changes, Japan is going to find itself far behind other developed nations.

8 working hours? unless you are doing freelance, that is too much for a part timer. So women basically really on the lower rung of the work force hierarchy? Having few women as CEO doesn't really mean anything is the majority of women were not acknowledged for their contributions

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Are these newspaper getting more and more western or what? I believe if someone write 10 BEST things that Japan provides, everyone could see its far beyond capacities of other countries (and I'm speaking of economy leaders!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Honda to build new motorcycle plant in Indonesia, GOOD JOBS GO FROM JAPAN IN INDONESIA????

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Take destructive wildlife, for instance. Deer, wild boar, monkeys and other creatures who know not what they do cause each year an estimated 20 billion yen worth of damage to crops, national parks, and also to people in the form of personal injury – monkeys especially.

I saw a documentary on one of the nature channels here in the U.S. recently titled, Wild Japan, and it was very specific about the significant damage that introduced raccoons are doing to the country. However, it also pointed out that people are killing thousands of the critters every year too. Because they have few animals preying on them, though, the numbers taken each year barely dent the population growth, or so the program stated.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

As someone else mentioned above, I also can't see the point of writing an article like this without mentioning the 30,000+ suicides each year since the late 1990s as one of the top ten.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

As someone else mentioned above, I also can't see the point of writing an article like this without mentioning the 30,000+ suicides each year since the late 1990s as one of the top ten.

maybe the author didn't see that as a problem.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Frank Risso

Thank you sir, very well said !!! Please let us hear more often from you :)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There is a #11 - The ever increasing number of tourist. 40 million is going to takes its toll one way or another

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This sounds more like an opinion piece than a news article. And, like many opinions, it doesn't seem to be based on fact.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

 Japan and the Japanese people are incredibly industrious and hard working. They will be just fine.

And you have just epitomized problems 11 & 12.

11 - This is Japan! That is the way we've always done it.

12 - Just ignore the problem. Everything will be fine.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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