I remember walking through a store in a Jakarta mall a few years ago. I had no less than 7 employees courteously following me around in case I needed help.
They do that in the USA too, but only if you’re black.
Except at home Depot. Where regardless of race or gender, the employees will actively avoid you.
Typical bule experience lol
They did that to me as well. I could feel the hot air as they were breathing down my neck.
Yes drive down local labour demand with cheap outsourced labor! Japan desperately needs reform, but let’s just fuel the profit machine with fresh exploitable workers instead.
Japan needs its population to bang so that they have labor, but that isn’t happening, so gotta resolve it another way.
And they won’t bang because working conditions are fucked.
There’s no need to improve working conditions if you bring in replacements however.
I heard the whole “drinking after work with your job” culture is slowly disappearing, but not fast enough.
Who has time to start a family when work takes over 2/3rds of your day?
They should just do Friday after work drinks like here in the Netherlands. It’s too much to go out during the week.
They’ve tried to improve working conditions vis a vis anti-karoshi laws and schemes but Japanese social norms would have to change to resolve that (e.g. “face time” and the idea that you shouldn’t leave before your boss.) and that clearly isn’t happening.
I don’t envy the social reception these workers are going to get.
I don’t think it’ll be worse than the Vietnamese get in the Czech Republic. Or Ukrainians. Or people of color. Or basically anyone who is not Czech. Don’t know about other countries, but this situation here becomes really nasty.
I recently visited Osaka for the first time with my 5 year old son. The kids culture is borderline toxic there. It’s hard to explain. In America, if you have a kid and he/she is screaming because they are being a kid. About the mass majority of people are not really bothered by it. I would even say that some people are sympathetic of the parent.
In Osaka, they are so annoyed that your kid exists and takes up space.
Let me give you some examples,: I had a Japanese woman sitting in front my son. She kept glaring at us for hours because my son was using his tray table on his flight to Japan. He wasn’t banging the tray table. Literally just using it.
We tried to go into some nice restaurants but were turned away because they don’t allow kids, like they are dogs.
Seats reserved for kids and elderly on the train were regularly occupied by abled body adults… They would get up for elders but would ignore the kids and continue sitting. This was also true for stroller only elevators.
There is so much to list.
Maybe it’s just Osaka. But I understand why people don’t want to have kids there now.
Having lived there for a few years, I don’t think this describes Japanese child raising culture at all. I’m not sure how you can infer so much about the culture based on a single visit to Japan without any ability to speak the language. You may have just had culture shock.
Op definitely seems to live a Disney life at first glance.
Fortunately my wife speaks the language and was able to get around ok.
The single visit was unimpressive as a parent.
I think it mostly stems from the attitude they gave my son and the unwillingness to not occupy the kids/elderly seats on the train.
There was also a situation when we were at the airport and the wind was so intense that it blew my son’s stroller over along with all our luggage. My son was rolling towards the street. 3 Japanese men stood behind us and stared. 2 of them laughed before proceeding past us without a hint of helping. In America, all 3 men would have helped. In Taiwan they would have done the same thing. I have a video of it since I was taking a time lapse on my 360 camera if you feel it’s not enough proof.
Also, Women often have to give up their careers and be the primary child bearing person when she becomes a mother. Fathers are not required to give up their jobs. Video shown here. https://youtu.be/QNbabCMTFzw?si=hzanmej9l7ECCMgN
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This was an advert I saw when I moved here decades ago - it pretty much sums up the European experience with noisy kids in stores
The US might be an outlier.
But we aren’t kid toxic in europe. Above description is wild to me. And Jakarta is not part of europe.
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Good bot
The US, unless it’s Walmart which is a shit show, people typically wear head phones and do their own thing. A screaming kid is a parent’s problem, not ours. And the average customer is going to just look over and walk away. Maybe a nice grandma might come over to soothe the kid. But too many people are armed and looking for a reason use THEIR GOD GIVEN RIGHT here that you kinda learned to mind your own business.
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It certainly contributes to it. I later found out that this culture is not just specific to strangers but even family members. My mother in law fights to watch my kid. They want to spend time with their grandson and enjoy his company. In Japan, grandparents do not watch grandkids. They sort of have a “you brought it into this world, you take care of it” mentality.
Also the 996 work culture and the females complete dedication to the kids(they must quit their job and only focus on the kids). Even the dad’s don’t take equal weight in child bearing.
I was in Universal Studios and was walking from the parking lot back to our car we saw a couple of kids passed out being carried on the moms back, the oldest kid we saw was probably 7 years old. This petite mom was clearly struggling while the dad was empty handed, not even a backpack on.
The family eventually stopped to readjust. I’m thinking the dad was going to carry the kid the rest of the way… Nope… The dad helped move the kid to the front side of the mom. Dad, still empty handed. Still carrying nothing.
Japan is a terrible place for a family. It’s built into the culture. It’s part of the country’s mentality. They will be extinct very soon.
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