Comments by "Commentary Talk" (@commentarytalk1446) on "What do Japanese Hate about Japan? 【Part 2】" video.

@user-qm7jw That's very true: South Korea came to the same conclusion: Lack of resources, then invest in the quality of the people to succeed and they have done so too. South Korea and Japan seem like high quality countries to live in vs the vast majority in the world today. The problem with these videos "Why x HATE y?" on youtube is they feed social media POLARIZATION and feed any malcontents who have an axe to grind to try to feed BS into social media about a given subject. Again as with any culture, there's problems: But this will be blown out of all proportion in the echo chamber that the problems of Japan are the worst in history etc. Well just do a video about "Why x HATE US?" or any other country... In fact looking at quality of life index scores and talking to people who live in Japan, it rates very highly. A big problem is a lot of "Gaijin" feel they can comment on a different culture and feel they "know it all". Again another failing of social media discussion. I've taught students for a good number of years: If only they had the values of students in Japan!
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@shamkand That is a very balanced view you have in my opinion and agree with the concept. Given there's almost 8 billion humans my only bit of useful constructive input to your sound reasoning would be: 1. Low population density = More Individualistic society 2. High population density = More collective society My personality is on one extreme so I would opt to live in low population area to avoid people. But if I visited a city I would much prefer collectivist society so can follow rules clearly and know what to do. Thank you for your constructive idea.
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@ga14th_d05 Personally agree about over-time vs efficiency and life-work balance is the biggest problem in Japan. But I think the respect culture is healthy too even if there's areas it is not. It's needed: In West excessive individuality has eroded performance in schools which then feeds into next gen of workers. Asia has good values and will thrive as such.
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@shamkand Well that is under the assumption someone or some people actually have a better solution that is also practical to implement. Until that is the case change might lead to massive "unintended consequences" via "Centralized Planning" (eg communist pogroms). The shoe on the other foot: At least Japan has a hard work ethic unlike many cultures even if the over-time vs efficiency ratio is not productive.
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I don't think the use of the English word "HATE" is very helpful, especially on social media. It's a power emotion and the lack of words to describe in a short easy to use word eg Dislike is conflated with the much stronger HATE. It's polarizing and for interviews you translated as "Don't like". Try to ask questions with: * Don't Like * Would prefer was better * Aspect that could or need to be improved * Compares less favourably to other countries Etc. On social media it is too easy to turn sensational and then from that into a "slanging match". As to the views: The biggest one is the pressure Japanese put on themselves and each other in the public space. It's much easier to only care about yourself but then public/civic spaces end up like a lot of Western places where people are rude, have no standards, don't take more care to treat each other with respect and all the things that ironically make Japan seem so attractive to live in: Safe, Well Ordered, Good Service, Things do what they say they do and work etc ! Either a society ends up too individualistic or it ends up too collective it seems. Not sure if there is a solution to high population density? The area I definitely agree with: Over-time is not a virtue. People need healthy work-life-balance. I had jobs where taking a holiday was a nightmare also (not in big chunks very easy, lack of cover also, booking up favourable times was v hard etc).
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@ga14th_d05 There's pros and cons to it all. On the one hand excessive hierarchy becomes stifling on the other hand older people are actually respected and they in turn (a lot of them) wish to carry on working and saving to help their kids/grandkids after they die and not think about retirement. The West by contrast is excessively "Youth Culture" orientated and so many parents don't control their kids or teach them to be respectful to adults (for their own good and societies in the end). In the end the next generations from E. Asia/SE Asia will be much higher competence/capability levels than a lot of Western Nations as a result.
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@ga14th_d05 Depends on culture and industry. Protocol or expressive-emphasis both have their use cases.
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@yl1101 That is a fascinating outcome you mention. I've wondered about it myself. I do think you're generally right: The high standard setting in Japan means they end up after experiencing other nations, favouring Japan's system more - though prior to that the inclination towards wishing for a more "relaxed attitude" or the appearance of having more fun must seem attractive as perceived in other cultures - especially by the young. It is not easy to set high standards and stick to them, but it might in the end be worth it? As for moving to other nations, there's possibly a combination of factors affecting that in addition to the quality measure above. It's a complex discussion point and perhaps becomes too in-depth for comment sections to do justice to? With that said a percentage of Japanese people as with any given culture will wish to escape Japan, perhaps feeling as outliers so those sorts of people are also interesting to talk to. I think Takashii has done a few videos on such people too! One personal opinion I can share: Being younger I would not like the Japanese system but becoming older I see more and more merit in how it works. That is my personal view.
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