This was my first idea when thinking about this problem. I think everything Joey mentioned are great ideas into solving this problem.

I mean that's like, the sort of go-to "goal" of probably every country out there.. I think what Joey suggests is pretty much a solid solution to the problem.. Not just that, but also just trying to improve the work environment.. imo if the work environment is healthy and stress-free, people are more kind, it also sometimes makes people content with long work hours and they might stick with their work hours but also be healthy and optimistic enough to make babies..

I wonder if their housing prices are better though, considering there are less and less people, shouldnt that make apartments cheaper?

it is affordable to start families in japan.

It's not about affordability. The men are betas and the women belong to the streets.

Will never happen with a capitalist party dedicated to neoliberalism at the helm.

Right, then that influences the economy positively too. Instead of the money just going into izakayas’ pockets, it can be spread elsewhere. The work culture is the main problem.

It's tough because there's a stigma to not overworking. But I guess all those salarypeople can take a page off their fellow factory workers and form a labor union. I rarely hear about car factory workers doing long shifts, and they make some of the sturdiest and most reliable vehicles out there.

I hope you know that the work culture is not the biggest problem here? Because most of the world has birth rate problems with other kind of work cultures.

The work culture bit is definitely the major factor but there are more issues too. Their culture still heavily favors a stay-at-home mom to raise the kids. Working women who get pregnant don't advance so they are discouraged to have kids. Company loyalty is favored over family life. And there is the cost of living. Globally, raising a family in developed countries has become so unaffordable that it's an instant dealbreaker. Children = expensive hobby. If one can't even afford a home in this housing crisis, having kids is out of the question.

It’s not only the adults in Japan that have no free time, children in Japan go to cram school after school and have a daily schedule that doesn’t end until 9pm every night. The children here do nothing but study and wind up alone when they reach adulthood because they have no friends and have no idea how to form meaningful relationships.

Right? There's no time or energy to have sex XD

I think it could be both. If you have a foreign population interested in living in Japan, allowing those people to work in more varied fields can take some of the burden off of the local population and would allow higher wages and shorter workplace demands to come in. Japan's available working population just isn't big enough to be able to take a hit like the initial revenue loss of implementing that, at least not without risk that the government will never realistically consider. In turn, you hire more people from overseas to make up the difference and add that safety cushion for the economy to build back up and to let both the foreign market feel more welcome which leads to more business and population, as well as more native people feeling comfortable taking extra time off, settling down, having kids, etc. Foreign business owners could also integrate foreign business practices like optional overtime and higher wages along with Japanese efficiency and hospitality, which could warm people up to it more organically. Of course there's that greater hurdle of cram culture and social expectations of "what makes a valued worker" that drives people to death, but that's a more sociological issue I don't have an answer for other than exposure and mandated reforms. The only way I think Japan will get that though is to lose that necessity, or at least that perceived necessity, and fight it when things get more stable.

@@nateroo1486 A lot of what you're saying is wishful thinking and best case scenarios. A more realistic (albiet still hard) goal is less hours, higher wages. Japanese work culture practically begs you to die for your work.

This is absolutely ridiculous, and that is exactly why not only Japan but all developed countries are struggling. We all think it's because of work and economics, but we never stop to think that our ancestors used to work a lot harder than our current generation, with longer hours and harsh work conditions, and they were a lot poorer. The problem actually is our culture and urbanization. In the old days children are extra set of working hands, today we see them as a burdren.

It is. and it is everywhere.

You misspelled "American."

Unfortunately this style of approach is to any problem in japan. Just increase X without thinking about the reason why X is not enough

​@@SomeRandomJackAssIt's so much more than America in many ways

@@TheAyanamiRei True, but as far as this particular problem goes, America is decades behind Japan. It's absolutely going to get worse before there's any hope of it getting better here. There's no foreseeable solution in American society today. Japan has a solution right there in front of them, it's just hard for the government to acknowledge it. The Japanese are traditionally a very proud people. It hurts immensely to admit when you're wrong regardless of who you are, but it looks like they're budging on this issue. The government is starting to see the writing on the walls. Isolationism can be a boon, but only for a time. Everyone needs help at times.

Also, any foreigner who disrespect to Japan should be blacklist like logan and Johnny

​@@mahendrap1960you need to lay of the coolaid homie

​@@mahendrap1960"Disrespect" isn't the same as pointing out the FACT that Japan's work culture is what's quickly killing the country. Stop being one of those people who defends everything Japanese just because you like some anime they create.

Well, Italy or Spain have a laid-back working culture but their fertility rate is still very low.

@@kairos_fluent Not like Japan not even close. I have lived and worked in Japan and Italy.

So the problem is the work culture... why the fuck being a slave to a corporation more important than having kids?

East Asian cultures tend to be more submissive to authority and have a higher standard for discipline. Which leads to workaholics who can't bring themselves to stand up their boss because they were taught not to and their peers will also judge them for being the only one not putting in the same effort as everyone else. This creates a vicious cycle which is hard to break.@@ArlindoBuriti

can i cheat with married japanese women who work at my workplace?

@@kazumakiryuu2668 You _ought_ not. Though, I suppose it depends on how your partner feels about it. At the very least you shouldn't try to cover it up.

My favorite comment ❤️😂

Women already work. A law that makes it more accessible for them, would actually be beneficial - if it includes stuff like making sure they get payed more, get proper health-care and pregnancy benefits. Not to mention the law is also meant to include more elderly people, which should also help with need of more workers and help family budgets. It sounds counterintuitive, but it could work in theory. By making women less dependent - it gives them more freedom, happiness and choices, especially if the situation of women in workplaces gets better. It rises the family income, it takes the whole bread-bringing from fathers - which allows for better split of house-work between both parents. Does it make some women decide to fully go for their career? Yes. But for others that's the flexibility needed to decide to start family. Stabilising workforce makes workplaces less stressful and cutthroat, potentially making people more happy with their lifes and careers.

If there has ever been a good reason for government and industry to collude is to force people out of the office. Some companies have lights out policies that force employees to clock out as the lights on the building are on a timer, so a similar system can be done to force employees to use their PTO to touch grass essentially

@@LouisSubearth Yeah but what company is going to let that happen? They need those to work or they’ll lose their money

@@PaulBen19 I agree. This solution to Japan's depressed birth rate and widespread psychological depression sounds great, but would itself cause an economic depression. Industry and government leaders would need to have the guts to tank those heavy losses, for however long it takes to right the ship. Japanese cultural dedication to 'not rocking the boat' suggests no radical leadership change can be expected.

More foreigners in Japan will work out right? Its so succesfull in the West, that they have the highest crime rates in the world.

Sounds nice but that would also mean that the companies they work at would have quite the losses too... Which could bring the economic growth down... Sure one company may not have much an effect but a lot of it could be really bad~ some small businesses are already succumbing as well due to not much profit plus the rising costs of things~ if they hired another person with such a wage that might have the opposite effect instead~ ---- Weighing the pros and cons can be such a pain to think about especially if it's in a big scale that affects a lot of things 😅

Wait- people get 10 days off?? I only get 7

It really depends on whether you work at a 'white' company, or a 'black' one. There's almost 3 times the difference in days off. Sorry for the following info-dump. Many companies in Japan have 2 day weekends, Saturday and Sunday. 2 days off per week. That's 52 weeks a year, so 104 days. Statistics show 43%of Japanese workers have Saturday off, and 63% have Sunday off. Most people off on Saturday are also off on Sunday, but not everyone. There'll also be those like me who have shifting schedules who take 2 weekdays off. Combine that with the 16 or so national holidays (in 2023). If a national holiday falls on a weekend, they move it to a weekday, to make sure we get that day off. That's 120 days off. A company with 120 days off every year would be considered a 'white' company. Of course not all companies follow this. Labor laws state that standard working hours must not be above 40 hours per week, 8 hours per day, and there must be 1 day off per week, 4 days off per 4 weeks, minimum. Not every job takes national holidays off, so that's 52 days off minimum. Then there are 'black' companies that go against the law and ask you to come in on your days off, off the books. The 10 days paid leave is legally required on top of that. You get 10 days off after half a year at a company. Every year of employment, your days off per year increases, until the maximum is 20 new days off every year for those who have worked 6.5 years or more. At a 'white' company, HR will insist that employees take those days off. At 'black' companies, they'll insist that employees don't take those paid leave days off. Added all up, that's 140 days off per year for those working 6.5 years at a 'white' company, and 52 days off, if even that, for those working at a 'black' company.

@@erurirideablenyaduckacorn4034 that''s not something you suppose to one up. When covid nearly ended in 2022, my uncle hire me 7 day a week to work for him and I only got day off because we are all got the vi-rus tm, don't know about you, I just hope I got into accident so I don't have to work everyday.

And how would gentrification would solve the problem? I say this because Joey said the solution is having more foreigners.

@@kechidonick Well, if you take the easy explanation, more workforce immigration means more workforce. If those work in Japan that means more people paying taxes and more people living in the country, thus raising the population (a.k.a growth, the religion of politicians). I don't know what you mean by gentrification in this context. If you mean people getting paid more, sure, they'll have more money, but that won't make them have kids in a country well known for not supporting parents how they should. If you mean the real definition of gentrification, thus having poor parts of a city becoming richer, that could also just mean that poorer citizen can't afford to live there anymore and richer citizen build new houses or renovate old ones when they move there, thus not really addressing anything except maybe security, but that's not really a problem in Japan.

It also seems really difficult for foreigners to find a rental.

I have more problems with the fact it requires a bachelor's for the work visa a bigger issue for myself than work culture and learning Japanese, I had family problems that prevented me from getting my degree so I have 0 chance to move unless they change that or I get a spousal visa

I wish I had the knowledge on hand, but there are ways around that in some cases as I have met people who got around it. I would look around the internet. I think if your country allows for work holiday visas you might be able to sidestep that@@princezero0

@@princezero0 You can go to college at any point in life, if youre in the financial situation to.

Or that we are lobbying for a 4 day work week instead of

A lot of Westerners look at how Western Europe is doing right now, and concede that Japan should keep being Japan. They'll figure it out eventually.

Mass migration is a joke. It will destroy japanese culture.

I don't blame them, as a westerner I'd prefer Japan stay Japan. I don't want them importing a bunch of idiots who can't handle the emotional toll of words usually related to truthful statements about anything in general. Aka leftist nutcakes. No touchie my anime.

Exactly Danne, Our KZfaqr is missing the point. Japan wants more JAPANESE people, not just more people. They don't want more foreigners to replace Japanese citizens.

Poland has the attitude, which is great. America is the number 1 economy, but on a social level the most failed nation you can imagine.

But Italy/Spain has a good work-life balance but their fertility rate is still very low.

The part about pay... economics don't work that way. You can't just make it government mandated to pay twice as much without it causing a ton of businesses to go under, others to massively cut staff to a skeleton crew, and the currency to inflate causing losses to savings... it would actually destroy the economy. Dealing with black companies I agree with you on. There needs to be more protection against outright abusive practices.

@@kairos_fluent yeah its the same here in america and you know what the problem is...... FEMINISM. men and women no longer want or have a happy relationship. everyone is out trying to get the bag men and women so now no babies are getting born. this is why women need to stop trying to be men and start acting like women again and do the job they were created for taking care of the family. this is what happens when you screw with gender roles that have existed since the dawn of time. you know which countries dont have this problem? the ones where women do the job they were intended to do.

@@ANPC-pi9vuNobody said twice the amount of pay, he said an hour or two less of work for the same overall pay would help people a lot, don't make shit up to strawman them.

@@ANPC-pi9vu Economics DO work that way. There are plenty of countries around the world where there are a lot of protections for workers, good pays, and not that many work hours relatively speaking, and their economy is still perfectly fine. If a company can't pay their employees properly, it's the company's responsibility. If it goes bankrupt, this means less competition for companies that DO manage to pay their employees properly without going under. Workers should not be the ones paying for executives' bad decisions. But even then, that's not what OP was saying. The pay won't change, just the number of hours. Productivity is not increased when you work your workers to the bone. Giving them a few more hours of leisure per day is not going to have that much of an impact, because they will be well-rested and will be more productive for each hour they work. France understood that, that's why 35 hours a week for a full-time job is the law, there. As far as I know, France is still one of the top economies of the world, member of the G7.

Couldn't agree more.

Exactly, also make education much cheaper who wants to go university

Thats prtty hard tochange with an ultra conservative elder generation in power.

What’s wrong with having a drink with the boss?

​@@TheSupaman98they are being forceful sometimes they humiliate their employees , you have seen zom 100 anime

Easy saying that, but how exactly do you implement that? If you doubled the nation's salaries overnight, things would just get twice as expensive. It's called inflation.

No

Or they support mothers in the workplace, which they don't really.

can i cheat with married japanese women who work at my workplace?

@@kazumakiryuu2668 No. Never cheat. That's bad behavior.

Also, Japan : make more jv movie than children. I mean seriously almost thousands of jv movie came out from Japan every year

@@mahendrap1960 That doesnt really matter, its not like making porn is anywhere near as important as the work-life balance

@@mahendrap1960There’s no problem with that. If anything it should cause more Japanese to have sex, therefore more children.

The first thing that came to my mind is when toddlers try to fit in the shape blocks into the wrong hole. That's japan trying to solve their problem

don't forget employ more elderly. fuck retirement. get those boomers back to work!

I agree. I think that Joey is actually missing this point completely, most women cant work after having kids even if they want to. So creating more opportunities for mothers would fix quite some issues. Of course, they would also need to fix their attitude towards overhours and not taking holidays. But the japanes society simply cant afford it anymore to not have mothers not working.

Why bother popping out babies just to pay strangers to raise them? That is so damn stupid. No, single income households should be the ideal and accommodated so that families can actually function and raise their children.

@@ANPC-pi9vu nooo you dont understand it is """"supressing women""", i.e corporate profits... they need to pay people half while they get more profits. it is very necessary for "the gdp" 🤮

ANPC oh please Japan has a lot weirder stuff than daycare centers In this economy you cant always have that ideal nuclear family

​@@ANPC-pi9vuExcept there's actually statistical data that correlates availability/affordability of childcare to increased fertility rate.

Well i can imagine how u feel but its only in japan this extreme (for a capitalism country) where i life also a capitalism country there a no such problems u even get holidays off to raise the child or only work like half the day if the child is sick u can leave work and go there u wont lose ur job since there is a rule that says u cant be kicked out of a company because ur pregnant etc. Same goes for many neighbour countries of mine maybe not in that extend but they are way better than japan

can't you breastfeed? why give your baby formula?

@@gamermasterL not all women can breastfeed.

Then why did you have a baby? Surely you researched all this before you got pregnant?

@@Hayri2011 @AncaBaciu story is exactly why so many people in developed countries don't have children. The companies get mad when women have babies. The government gets mad when women don't have babies. There's no winning if that's what women get, an absolute shitshow no matter what they do.

Office relationships aren't very successful most of the time though.

@@8qk67acq5 How do they handle breakups? They will have to deal with their exes everyday.

yea like USA new polices letting anyone in from the southern border and the export of trillions of dollars of drugs to end up destroying the low income. Japan is a top nation you're no one

It's not a bug but a feature, inherent to every state.

Bigger government is not going to solve problems caused by big government.

😢👍🏻👍🏻

Working less is good for the health, but wouldn't they need to earn more money to raise kids? Who's paying more for the same / less work?

​​@@kechidonickthat's why higher wages are also needed Edit: and also give bonuses to people with children, maternity/paternity leaves, all the welfare that's needed to start and raise a family

I mean he was born in the West so he thinks diversity is the key to everything, but not all countries are like that

​@@ssarellasexactly... diversity is actually never the key. Diversity, as ironic as it is, kills actual diversity. If every country is a mix of all countries, cultural differences die... for american people this is hard to understand. The solution would be to change the work culture in Japan and try to promote a more healty lifestyle by not idolizing the USA. But thats not going to happen sadly... also by not promoting some of the stupid anime and entertainment tropes like girls being disgusted by anything male and promoting actual social life instead of idol culture. But again, thats not going to happen...

​@@dreadd90His not American.

@@phaseloli6668 i know. Joey is australian.

@@dreadd90 this is a pretty silly statement the overwhelming majority of economist agree that immigration is positive for nations economy, and is the best way to address a declining birth rate of a nation. If Japan wants to fix it that is the best path changing work culture would help, but Japan has a major problem. That’s not just gonna solve it when they have so many old people.

Japan still has far better support than the US. The US has unaffordable university,no universal healthcare,barely any public transportation.

@@hokkaidosnow6643 That's true but I was talking specifically about services for young children. Apparenlty there are a lack of childcare services and theres a lot of pressure to not take parental leave and things like that. The US is way behind most of the developed world when it comes to things like university and health care so being better than the US isn't really something to brag about. I have heard that the work culture in the US is also close to or just as bad as in Japan when it comes to over work and poor work life balance and so on.

can i cheat with married women who work at my workplace?@@moyga

They’re not wrong

@@RoronoaZorosHaki No,immigration was always the susessful fill in historical ,always. look up what i europe happened when war wkilled a lot, immigration filed in and it did work..

They are certainly not wrong. We need some tradition in a world gone mad.

Only western people, Asian don't have problem with Japanese traditional because they share similarities

Just look at Europe, France in particular.

It is different with people fleeing from a country due to war and has to immigrate compared to people in Asia with the same collective background that are willing to immigrate to Japan. Heck all the Asian friends I have in Japan love this country and sometimes feel more Japanese than Japanese people. The problem is how Japan strategies the segregation issue, and treating them as any other human being. Immigration I see it more possible in Japan than in the west.

The problem is hitting the fifth demographic transitional level of civilisation, sure affordability and work culture makes it worse but it seems mostly linked to luxury and education... development and progress itself. The only long-term supplement is immigration which most in such stage or around use. Once everywhere reaches that stage humanity is f@#~'d.

@@ledian5 The issue with that isnt the Asian foreigners tho, it is the western foreigners who go over and want to change everything to their liking even culture.

@@Colourisedspoon can you specify what westerners are changing in Japan?

Turn the tables on 'em. Respond with: "Until your birthrates gone up. It's why I'm here doing your job." You probably aren't there anymore. But it would be funny.

The police (or whatever orgs you are meant to contact about power harassment in the workplace, theft, and physical assaults.) said the same stuff?

That sounds awful. You should contact the police or get the fuck out of there.

if i say Japan is stupid, then will japan get angry with me?

​@@feha92 I mean, the Japanese police is pretty infamous for ignoring such issues, yeah.

their culture is known for their desire to not stand out, so Im not sure what you thought to expect from them xD sucks though, hope you find a place you enjoy

But Italy/Spain have way better work/life balance but their birth rate is low as well.

​@@kairos_fluent Did they make women compete with men for a living? Because that seems to be what caused the birthrate problem in the anglosphere. Women feel like they need to have a career first and that they need to put off having a family even if they want a family, resulting in them hitting a wall in their late 30's where they feel like they are 'ready' but that's not the life they built for themselves and many end up having fertility problems. It feels like the whole modern world is going through an experiment where we all decided to pretend biology isn't real and that sexual dimorphism doesn't matter and now reality is catching up with us.

@@ANPC-pi9vu Italy/Spain in the same boat as everywhere else. You be handing out too many red-pills bro.

​@ANPC-pi9vu According to the CDC, there's a nearly even 50-50 split infertility between men and women (and an additional 20%-30% cited as a mix of both or by unknown problems for further disclosure) I fathom to wonder why you should want the burden to be fertile on the woman and not just the man here. Which of course no one should be placing any burden on anyone for a physiologically unavoidable problem but that should go without saying the kind of ethics we need at the moment for the kind of shame it would otherwise bring. Very likely the factor is something else like having lack of economic independence to build a foundation to start, also likely less personal time vs the greater work hours eating away at personal time, and fewer continuous and multitudinous long-term familial safety nets to incentivise building a family. (It costs a LOT of money to raise a child to age 18 that is put as a burden on both parents.) This is a trend that tracks across the spectrum of developed countries that have adopted the grind-based career model for employees.

@@kairos_fluent A combination of being woke and the fact that it is still too expensive to have kids. There was also a study done where 30% of 20 year olds are unemployed, which means even less money to raise children with. There's no or little affordable housing near job centers, which makes it even worse for the current generation to make money. A better work/life balance doesn't automatically make you rich enough to have kids nowadays.

stealing a pig is your example of a foreigner crime? and too many people in an apartment? these are crimes almost nobody has to worry about, unless youre a struggling farmer, or a greedy landlord.

Stealing pigs? Somehow I _really_ doubt that is a common thing - and most likely made headlines exactly because of how bizarre that sounds. As for cramming too many ppl in an apartment, I do agree that the government is performing a crime when such becomes a necessity. Or maybe the landlords, as a collective. Either way, yeah, it does indicate that reforms are needed in regards to housing, specifically cheap housing for people who are either too poor or too discriminated to get anything better.

​@@adamvifrye2690yes, in a country where crime is rare, stealing a pig or not following regulations is a huge turn off I know you are so disensitized to violent crime because of certain groups of people in certain neighbourhoods of your amazing Western and highly diverse shi- ahem, city, but in a place where people are not as inclined to commit crimes, do you know what happens when even small crimes occur? Outrage. Which happened in the West a few decades ago, until the cities became diverse and had an influx of immigrants to take up the workforce because the population was aging and oh no, the boomers wouldn't get to live off their pensions if the economy collapsed

@@LudwigVaanArthans okay dude, gotta love your nazi speech... but there are non violent crimes which people would consider actually bothersome... whatever, you can go live in your dying ethnostate, in 30 years, your government will buckle under the cost of supporting the old people who make up 50 percenjt of the population.

​@@LudwigVaanArthansIt's the "economic refuges" that cause problems in the west, not the immigrants.

Who cares? Where do you want them to send it, the Moon?

Why do you all want to rise to the top of corporations? What about trade work and farming? You guys are all competing to be at the top of a very shitty pyramid, and that is why they can treat you like you are disposable if you don't adhere to company culture.

can i cheat with married japanese women who work at my workplace?

whats the problem in the man getting money and woman being jobless for a while to raise a child ? women and men nowadays want both things they both want to raise a fuqin child but not sacrifice their career well guess what you have to sacrifice one for the other in japan thats just it its simple really, if you want kids ,woman has to leave work and the man should have enough money saved to raise the child on 1 income , or have the man leave the job i dont care .

About, health care I heard Japanese shy to visit health care center like during 3 years ago

I think this is the take that people should read.

Fails as a way to raise the birth rate. Too many super-old men in Japanese leadership.

And then none of the women will be having children because everyone will be too busy trying to meet the overwhelming demands of Japanese work culture instead of merely most. The push for women to livecand work like men is a major driver of sub replacement birthrates. It's not just a Japan problem.

It's also going to lead to less people having children.

if i say Japan is stupid, then will japan get angry with me?

Literally every developed country has this issue of low birth rates.

@@c.k.1933 Ha and everywhere that does uses immigration from less developed counties to supplement... say... what do you think happens when those less developed countries become developed?

Waiting for the old people to die in the country with the highest average life expectancy is a losing game.

@@V01DIORE yeah lol. This is all just kicking the can down the road. What will happen when all developing countries become developed? Where will they get more immigrants from? Dumb af.

By that time there will be new old people.

y tho?

​@canesvenatici4259 Japan is a very Conservative country. Especially the older generation. They care more about "the old ways" than fixing any of the issues in Japan.

@@floppavevo5920Younger generation doesn’t have any solutions mate. It is why le progressive West has the same birth rates issues lol.

​@@floppavevo5920Japan old tradition is more sensible than zoomer lgtv and child free nonsense

It has become impossible to compete with China and Korea on tech goods.

Especially when said traditions are terrible.

can i cheat with married japanese women who work at my workplace?

Not exactly. It fixes the declining population problem and helps the economy not collapse. Western countries have been doing this forever. Lots of European nations, for example, have birth rates far lower than 2 (which is a bit less than the bare minimum to keep a population stable or growing)

​@MrEriken it doesn't do either. Germany, UK, and France are good examples. The migrants are a larger drain on the economy than a plus. They also increase crime. Not to mention the cultural clashes. You also end up replacing your native population with foreigners and get to the point where certain towns look nothing like they used to. Once again, look at UK, Germany, or France where large segments are slums that look like middle eastern hoods

@@MrEriken Whilst that is true, like the article said in the video, Japan needs to quadruple that number for the economy to be stable again. That's a tall task to ask especially considering how Japan's work culture is. Plus, Joey saying it like its the end all be all is a very naive statement to make

@@DeVoidAS I agree that Joey oversimplifies it. The answer is a combination of policies that make it more feasible for Japanese people to establish families as well as more foreign residents. As someone who has been visiting and living in Japan for almost a decade, I think making it easier for foreigners to come here is the easier of the two, though. As per now, the options to get here are usually either 1) being good at japanese and having excellent programming skills or 2) doing nursing/farm work etc at slave level labour or 3) being basically native at japanese and being a high level manager with 10+ years of prior experience overseas. Many people, especially in India and Southeast Asia would love to move here, but there are big hurdles. Quadrupling the foreign workforce would still be quite less of a percentage if you compare it to European countries such as in North Europe and Germany, though. So its not impossible.

@@MrEriken That's exactly the problem tho. The work culture in Japan has such a bad reputation that it scares off a lot of people from coming to work and live in Japan since the perception is that you'd work extremely long hours with little to no breaks. Not to mention the need for educating the Japanese to be less ignorant when dealing with foreigners coming in the country. So long as those reputations persist it'll still be a massive hurdle to quadruple the amount of foreigners coming in, even if quadrupling it would still make it less than some European countries. That said, As a SEA person and Japanese culture enjoyer myself, I am rooting for Japan though. It seems like a wonderful place to live someday, but it just doesn't seem realistic for my mental health to work and live there, so hopefully they do actually find a way to make it more welcoming for foreigners to come in.

Yes, but if they just keep working people to death, then the population is going to collapse completely. No time for relationships, and even if a couple manages to fall in love and get married, when are they going to raise kids with both them working full time? Why bother popping out a baby just to pay strangers to raise it for you because you are too busy? This is the problem the entire first world is facing.

Short-term useless policy even for taxes, if the population still decreases it'll reach a negative breakeven from the policies. Everywhere that has reached the fifth stage of demographic transition uses immigration from less developed counties to supplement the loss... but say... what do you think happens when those less developed countries become developed? Or perhaps is it that every developed nation leader would be inclined to disallow such from occurring?

​@@V01DIOREwhen all "developing" countries finish developing, capitalism ends, as the "endless growth" model is no longer available. Post consumption societies would emerge.

@@LouisSubearth "developing" countries can't develop because of neoliberal capitalism. There's no "finishing development". If any government do anything anti-imperialist, you get sent back to the stone age by the US Military dropping some freedom in you country. Just look at any country in the Global South that tries to create some sense of national sovereignty.

@@LouisSubearth Hahaha then capitalism suddenly ends? Do you even truly understand what "capitalism" is? Capitalism isn't a mere system that can be interchanged but the greater manifestation of life's feasibility itself, of probability that benefits itself. Nature, evolution, The Blind Watchmaker. It is not because communism is "bad" that it doesn't work but because the conditions of nature disallows such to feasibly exist within human or otherwise. Yes the endless growth system would hit it's wall. What will happen is the system will consume itself, what may be that benefits individuals sought to be grasped, for the same reasons flames burn are people born and for the same reason there won't. Probabilistic collapse, propagation no longer adding cyclically, a reason for the fermi paradox in realisation. People will face the question of the end with all the knowledge developed, perhaps they will seek regression to avoid extinction but there is no overcoming nature in this innately flawed form.

What's the family dynamic? Xenophobia? Or racism to you being non Japanese in blood?

@@Donovarkhallum Her dad was the black sheep of the family because he wanted to move to Canada. And has recently passed away. And from what her mom was saying it Has to do with not being properly introduced at a younger age. So with my gaijin brain it makes me think they don’t want to take any risk? I almost wish it was to do with xenophobia. Might have made things easier 😂

You guys are basically exactly the types of imigrants the government should be accommodating. I think the people who just want open boarders and mass imigration are fools, but selective immigration of those who want to become Japanese citizens and integrate into the culture should be given the opportunity within reason.

@@ANPC-pi9vu Agreed! That’s where the Japanese government needs to go through their policies with more of a magnifying glass. And instead of just throwing money at a wall to see if it sticks. Make some meaningful changes to improve their existing policies.

@@ANPC-pi9vu 100% Else Japan would be like America or even France in the future and some parts of Europe, a total mess.

Doesn't help with some of the Xenophobia that manu older Japanese have (Not that American red states fair any better just look at how they treat minority groups in flordia)

years from now, we'll be getting plenty of reports of people that got into this akiya cheaphouse idea thats all the rage right now. reports of how it was a very bad idea

Japan's immigration policy is not as lenient as they know it's not good to take people in and leave to luck their livelihoods once in. However they don't want to provide a turn key plans for migrants who may not have the much needed labor skills Japan needs to fill in job positions, instead opting for fast tracking visa applicants with the skills they look for, it's the easy way.

We also need to consider that pensions and social security are ponzy schemes that only function if you have constant growth, which was unsustainable to begin with. The system really needs to change at it's core.

Immigrants and migrant workers do work thats less payable than the average native worker that makes the developed world function.

@@traplover6357 How on earth is that a good thing for anyone... Should we bring back slave labor because its "good for the economy"?

can i cheat with married japanese women who work at my workplace?

​@@kazumakiryuu2668 man ive seen you leave this same reply on like 3 different comments. what are you even trying to say here? stop being a weirdo

Yeah, it's completely understandable that they want to keep their own identity. Half the reason people are so interested in Japan is because of these tight restrictions. They don't want the distributon of Tokyo to be everywhere.

its happening europe but they cant deny it or they will deemed to be rasicst

^^^^^^ Absolutely correct. The thing is, the people advocating for mass immigration are usually the same people who either haven’t yet suffered from it, or due to a privileged position won’t and will let everyone else suffer.

People seem hung up on immigration as a magic fix. Meanwhile, it's nothing of the sort. Immigration can't fix a declining birthrate. At best, it conceals the underlying problem until it's too late.

@@jsi1091 Your approach to it is really idealistic and since we are living in imperfect world it would not pan out as you thing it would. In general the majority of immigrants to any country would be from the poorer side of the world since the idea of moving from those provide more potential benefits than negatives. There is no way to approach migration correctly without the integration plan and proper screening of potential citizens, that would be purely beneficial for the country in question. The point that Japan is an island state reinforces that if anything. The point of significantly limited land would be a point for controlled migration not the other way around. The other point in reference to Japan is that its possibly the least prepared county for a cultural clash since the organization in there is flawless. The impact of people who are not adjusted to this would severely hinder counties organization and overall approach to basically everything. This does not mean that I'm against any migration, I'm just pointing out that ESPECIALLY FOR JAPAN (but you can apply this logic to basically any country) its not as simple as just "lets bring people in". Correct approach to migration is a way more costly and complicated process.

@@jsi1091 Bro doesn't know about the existance of the UK

I agree with you and also as a Japanese, I don't know why everyone tries to judge Japan by the values of their own country, especially the West. By Western standards, Japanese life may be crazy. But that doesn't mean we are wrong and unhappy, does it? Different countries have different ways of being, and I don't think it's right to impose values on everything according to your own standards.

Take care of yourself bro.

@@mahendrap1960 I will

It's not that simple actually. Back then maybe those things can help but now, not married become culture... Means there is shifting mind to not having child and pursue self-happines. Kind of why I need to sacrifice myself for my child , I rather using my money to get my own happiness. What they dont realize , maybe Children is one of the biggest source of happiness 😊

​@@fritzone2401and then they abuse their children, where's the happiness there

Japanese birth rate is declining but at least tourism is increasing with lots of jonney coming to visit in Japan

Was this an American company that shifted you to Japan for work ?

@@yashpatel261 no, it was a job I started fresh in Japan

@@PDGY77 wow

Buuuuut bringing in a foreign workforce, driving down wages, destroying the ability for any layman to have a family or own assets, or really do much outside of WORK 24/7 has an amazing boosting effect on profits and GDP.... Yes, I'm sure those companies lining the pockets of every politician would very much like to improve their profits regardless of what it does to a country.

It's not the work culture, Italy and Spain have way more balanced work-life but their fertility rates are so low.

@@kairos_fluent Work culture is an important aspect for Japan specifically; Italy, for example, struggles with opportunities for young people, youth unemployment is quite high, many young people still live with their parents, i.e. their livelihoods are just not suited to starting a family. Japan also has this issue, but I'd argue it's not as pronounced as in the case of Italy.

Last time I checked women (and men) can't be at 2 places at the same time. How would the women have and raise said children if they have to be in the office?

@@kechidonick improving access to social services such as kindergartens would free up more time for women to go to work. It's really not hard to come to these sort of conclusions. After all, women have been going to work despite having children for decades. Improving their conditions would indeed help bolster employment overall.

@@kechidonick Daycares and kindergartens. Even SAH mothers struggle raising kids by themselves, because they need to take care of the house and of themselves, too. Daycares and kindergarten are essential for families. A mother could also have a part-time job, and still be on time to pick her child from daycare and spend time together at home.

What did the earthquake and covid 19 force them to change?

Would more time help if they eran the same regardless? I seen other people complaining about needing more money.

@kechidonick Of course making a livable wage would be a facor when starting a family, because with a family come more expences which one would also need make enough to support their family and household. And the work life balance ties into that as well. You also need to bond and spend time with the family.

Finland's birth rate: 1.37 *Finland is considered to have the best work-life balance in the world Japan's birth rate: 1.34 your thoughts?

@asdfghjjhgf Well considering that Finland has a population of roughly 5 million + and Japan has a population of 125 million + and then apply the birth rate numbers as well as adding a better work life balance in japan we would probably see a boom in child births. Just my thoughts, none of this is concrete and there's probably many other factors that also contribute to birth rate increases.

​@@asdfghjjhgfthe fact that a country with a Population of 120 Million has a smaller birthrate than a country with a Population of 5 Million Is fascinating.

Women who want to start a family and have kids should be incentivized to be housewives untill all the kids are school age, honestly. What is the point in having kids just to hand them off to strangers right from the start? Of course career women aren't having kids even when they have financial ability to do so or government resources for daycare. It's not just a Japan problem, most first world countries have sub replacement birthrates. Japan is just the poster child.

Unfortunately, once a reliance on paid childcare is created, childcare *companies* keep upping their prices until they become leeches riding on the back of the working economy upping prices and hiring less capable staff. It's at the point where childcare centres are closing due to poor staff behaviour and parents can no longer afford childcare. The Government keeps putting money into childcare and... the level of service from childcare companies keeps dropping due to profit taking. This is what happened in New Zealand.

And Japan still has awful birth rates and too many immigrants.

who's paying for that childcare? With who's money?

It won’t motivate women to have kids at all , I actually think it will do the complete opposite 😅

Immigration only contribute to the rich. Cheap workers easy to abuse will the people pay for it.

This. It's not a simple problem tbh, having democrats moving to Japan sounds like an absolute nightmare.

​@@jayp9158 No fucking way you're acting like leftism is a thing entirely contained to the US. Also, the vast majority of Japan's current issues are literally the result of the current right wing government in Japan. Not everything is about "democrats" buddy.

can i cheat with married japanese women who work at my workplace?

​@@kazumakiryuu2668you can. But people will find you.

Not true, child birth rates in japan is 1.3 per woman and in finland it's 1.4.

single motherhood should not be encouraged.

So... again, the problem is irresponsable women... go figure... you sure like to copy american worst values uh

can i cheat with married japanese women who work at my workplace?

also maybe prevention against child/teen-suic1de would be helpfull

A lot of what you said is speculation, stereotyping or just wrong. Not sure how much you’ve been brainwashed by right-wing media, but you’re wrong on a few things: Firstly, you assume that most foreigners entering a country are solely economic migrants who work solely to send money back home to build houses or businesses. However, the motivations behind immigration are diverse and can encompass reasons beyond economic opportunities, including education, family reunification, and personal growth. This oversimplification also fails to acknowledge the positive contributions immigrants often make to a country's economy, culture, and society. Also, you misrepresent the relationship between having a foreign passport and the ease of moving to another country. Your comparison to the situation in North Korea oversimplifies geopolitical complexities, and your assumption that immigrants lack commitment to their adopted country overlooks the personal and emotional ties individuals can develop over time. Basically, you overlook the intricate realities of immigration and its impacts. On your second statement you exaggerate Japan's tax situation and misrepresent the reasons for hiring foreigners, suggesting it's solely due to natives not doing "enough." You assume foreigners pay fewer taxes without considering individual circumstances and oversimplify the talent search process, neglecting globalization's impact. You also overlook demographic challenges and oversimplify complex hiring decisions by attributing them to subjective feelings. You inaccurately portray hiring foreigners as contradictory to Japan's education and high standards, ignoring the benefits of a diverse talent pool. Everything you said lacks nuance. You also oversimplify Japan's economic success by attributing it solely to culture and work ethic, ignoring the complex interplay of historical context, policies, and technological advancements. You stereotype foreign workers, misrepresent economic trends by suggesting that Japan will inevitably face the same challenges as Western countries, and oversimplify the dynamics of unions and protests. You assume Japan's awareness of its economic conditions and simplify the role of conditions in success. Additionally, you offer simplistic solutions to complex issues, such as boosting birth rates and improving job conditions. You have a thing for lacking in nuance and disregard diverse factors shaping economic outcomes, and simplify complex economic and social realities.

There's also gentrification raising prices for the locals.

@@Wieberleden810 There is nothing wrong with speculations or stereotyping when it is true. The real question here is do you or have you even lived here long enough? This isn't even a political agenda throat-pushing bullshit and almost every Japanese or foreigner that lives here will likely have the same opinion. "However, the motivations behind immigration are diverse and can encompass reasons beyond economic opportunities, including education, family reunification, and personal growth. " And that is very little. The demographics say that most of them came from countries that have far lower economics and opportunities than Japan(me included) and that is backed by Govt. data, you can check it on the ethnic groups of Japan in Wikipedia. Based on the general culture of most countries of the foreign people here, I don't think "family reunification" even fits. There is barely a family here and due to the work culture, it's hard to get your ideal job and make your skills grow. Therefore highly skilled workers like that barely go here. So with that generality, it takes out 2 of your points　I believe. The only fair point you made on that specific statement is regarding education. A fair amount of students who came here also stay after graduation as such. So on that point, they likely do contribute to society. "This oversimplification also fails to acknowledge the positive contributions immigrants often make to a country's economy, culture, and society." And specifically in the case of Japan how so? The only main thing they are contributing is supporting the corrupt and stupid system that keeps the many big old Corp. that exist to abuse the system and destroy the country little by little. (Let me know if you are curious about that) "Also, you misrepresent the relationship between having a foreign passport and the ease of moving to another country." How so? When it is technically possible for such a statement OP made. It doesn't matter what grammatical purpose such terms have when you can legally and technically do it. " Your comparison to the situation in North Korea oversimplifies geopolitical complexities, and your assumption that immigrants lack commitment to their adopted country overlooks the personal and emotional ties individuals can develop over time." Well, sad to let you know but this isn't the U.S. where a lot of people are patriotic immigrants or are in any way invested in being emotionally sided to Japan. You likely can see the reason why that's the case. Given their long history at first, Japan also has a distinct culture when compared to most of their foreigners. And that's just one example of it. I have yet to see a patriotic one here that is foreign. If it's not something that huge of a love from the foreign majority then I highly find it unlikely that the exceptions you raised can be relevant enough as to when compared to OP's original point. You likely have misunderstood OP's second statement. What he likely was indirectly referring to was that rather than Japan investing more in their natives, they take the ones from other countries and he has made this point again in his comment. But I find this lacking out of context as dependent of it, will change the course of such conversation dramatically. Japan has its success as a result of its groupism-like culture and as a country and it has its very own problem that also is the main contributor to their failing system today. So OP's comment is not that far away. Especially when we observe Modern Europe. Japan has its problem already and based on the current system that they have, a loose system regarding foreign residence on a massive scale also has devastating consequences. Therefore we watch carefully what's happening and has happened like to some countries in Europe as such, paired with the already homogenous society of theirs I think it is a great thing given their system and all they majorly need to do is to have a healthy and carefully planned relationship with the outside. It doesn't matter what reasons they had to come here when the results are factors regarding your contribution to Japanese society and how you do it as such. The thing is that with all I stated above, I find it quite ironic when you accuse OP of being subjective, etc. You say a lot of "simpli-", "complex", "over-" but you never seem to even care to elaborate even a little to at least give a decent amount of logic against it despite OP's already solid enough comment. A well-speculated stereotyping is way better than unpractical logic. (if you can even say it's a logical one in the first place)

@@Wieberleden810 they ruin everything, I don't need the media to see it in day to day life, its just a fact. If anything, the media hides as much as they can.

What kind of work do you do ?

Healthcare in the US , but my comment on the sausage fest is pertaining to Japan. @@kairos_fluent

Don't most companies at the very least frown upon coworkers dating, if not outright bar couples from working together? Also, when will the wife have time to have kids if she's a career woman? Will you just have kids and hand them off to strangers to actually spend time with them? I definitely think you guys need some sort of change to not just get you more free time away from the workplace, but to also get men and women socializing in person again. Even with gender segrigated schools, I think there should be co-ed cross school clubs and events to help young people socialize and not fear the opposite sex.

all the Japanese people I know have met their partners thru 合コン's - not at work.

Employing more women is what causes Japan and other developed countries to have awful birth rates lol.

I have heard, some cases employed woman divorce their partner which makes family fall a part, some of them will never able to see their children entire, that's why most of man prefer housewife woman where he can work hard to support their families while she can take care of house and families, but due to bad policy on black company, Japanese man couldn't give their time to their families which makes their families fall a part , after she become lonely start to cheating on their partners, cheating is very common in Japan.

Doubling the workforce results in half the wages. It's basic supply and demand. Women entering the workforce is widely seen as a good thing, but it's really just corporate greed disguised as female empowerment.

Single mothers are the most devastating thing to happen to any soceity.

Most of the first world has sub replacement birthrates. Also, it used to be the norm to have single income households. The idea that both parents should have to be working full time is a huge part of why people aren't reproducing as much and are waiting too late in life to even try for a first kid. I think it's great for us women to have equal oportunity to work or have careers, but the notion that it is what is best for us or best for society for all of us to do so is baffling. If anything people should get incentives to marry before having children and to have one of the parents stay home to raise kids at least until they are all school age. Why even bother having kids just to pay strangers to raise them for you because you and your spouse are both too busy and too exhausted?

Employing women is why all developed countries have below replacement birth rates lol. Even in Nordic countries with their great work life balance and social benefits.

A big part of it is also long work hours. Even if they increased wages it's not gonna do a damn thing to birthrates if you don't even have the free time to start a family. Cut down work hours, increase wages to compensate and give people the option to work from home. General changes to work culture also need to be implemented, it needs to be more flexible.

AND very common in literature (if i remembet correctly) is, that mothers, who were technically caring for their children alone, due to an absent father (usually work related), look back at their motherhood time with frustration, regret and very little positive feelings. (It is very common for companies to shuffle employees randomly among their locations. People who own a house and live in tokyo with a family suddenly having to spend years in kansai or even abroad. Something that usually leaves mothers with a lot uncertainty and stress for hundreds of reasons). All that rubbed off on child generations who don‘t feel like fucking up another generation.

It has nothing to do with economics. That's an excuse. The child birth rates in japan is 1.3 and in finland it's 1.4. Poor countries always have the highest child birth rates. The birth rates in japan decreased immediately as womens got more rights and the idea of feminism was introduced. It's not possible to have feminism and high child birth rates.

He's trying to not break any taboos for his mostly Western audience.

@@kairos_fluent yes... Whatever you do, don't state the truth! 😂

@@kairos_fluentnoticed that

I never saw how immigration would do anything to help *Japanese* population

​@@neveronhereXDI mean if they have kids with a japanese🤷

Where is the extra money coming from?

@@kechidonick A better question would be where are the taxes going?

@@kechidonick Easy, if the majority of people in a country can not earn enough to buy or at least rent a house, that country either turn in to a 3rd world economy or things need to change. In some way, wealth needs to be re-distributed. I am not saying I have THE solution as to how, but if top corporate makes enough to buy a house with 1 month's wages, I'd start there.

[ Hits the table ] Thank you!

Dual citizenship should be banned in all nations.

​@@hokkaidosnow6643wtf why

​@@vivvy_0 National Security reasons