Comments by "Gordon Graham" (@gordonbgraham) on "Why this 16 year old Japanese girl became homeless" video.

  1. I highly doubt anyone thinks Japan has no social issues.
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  2.  @RobinsonJackson-xf9bf  It’s not even close. I was born and raised in Toronto but have lived in Japan for more than 30 years. Crime, drugs and homelessness are far higher in Canada. Japan has an estimated 3,500 homeless among a population of 125 million while Canada has an estimated homeless population of 300,000 among 40 million. Look up child prostitution rate by country. 1 Sri Lanka 2 Thailand 3 Brazil 4 the United States 5 Canada
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  3.  @afizi1213  You assume they don't. I've lived in Japan since 1988 and have raised 5 kids here. I run a youth ice hockey program and have taught at a high school of 1500 students for more than 30 years. Love and care for our children in Japan is paramount.
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  4.  @RobinsonJackson-xf9bf  What’s your country? Lets compare crime rates
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  5.  @JackHarker386  Unless you’re a victim of it or your insurance is impacted by it, or your daughter can’t walk home at night or your kids get hooked on drugs etc etc etc
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  6.  @SweetZombiJesus  go on any video about Japan, even the most innocuous and you’ll find the comment section littered with references to “karoshi” “ hikkikomori” WW2 atrocities “Nanking” “suicide” and on and on
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  7.  @m-m-m-8  Japan ranks 27th in the world in suicide rate at 15.3 persons per 100,000. By comparison America’s is 16.1 and Korea’s is 28.5. Even position is misleading as Japan’s rate is far closer to Poland’s at 11 than Lesotho’s at 72, Poland ranks 50th.
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  8.  @NickolaySheitanov  Japan is going to make it a minimum of 7 years in prison for simple possession this year. There will be charges even for saying something positive about smoking weed online. I'm not sure why the draconian measures for a drug that is not half as bad as alcohol which the government sponsored a campaign in order to boost falling sales among young people. Imagine sending someone to rot in prison for 7 years while actively promoting a drug that is far more destructive.
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  9.  @ii4826  90% of homeless are men over 50
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  10.  @Wayward9  The work-life balance? Japan ranks 31st in the world for hours worked per annum according to OECD’s comprehensive data. That data is corroborated by Japan Rail’s data which shows train stations throughout Japan are busiest between the hour of 5~6pm, indicating that’s when MOST Japanese are returning home. The fact is most Japanese work 40 hours a week with a lot of national holidays.
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  11.  @m-m-m-8  Keep in mind that "place" is somewhat misleading as Japan's rate of 15.1 persons per 100,000 is much closer to Poland's at 11 per 100,000 which ranks 50th than it is at Lesotho's at 72.1 which ranks 1st. Of course, even one is too many, which is why Japan does consider it a problem. I find that foreigners love to refer to Japan's suicide issue as an example of Japan having severe social issues, when most people making such comments are oblivious to the fact that the suicide rate is likely higher in their own country. As you've noted, people need to educate themselves before spreading misleading information online.
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  12.  @d3thkn1ghtmcgee74  I've lived in Japan since 1988 and have raised 5 kids here. I've also taught at a high school of 1500 kids for more than 30 years. The term "burakumin" came up in the rare earth video. I asked my own kids, two of whom were teenagers and one in his early 20s, none of them had heard the term. I asked the kids in each of my 16, classes of 40 students. Not one ever heard the term. Maybe update your knowledge on current Japan, "burakumin" is an outdated term. I suggest reading Sugimoto, the foremost expert on Japanese society and where "rare earth" got the term...but neglected to note that it's out of date...showing a dusty old ledger with names is not evidence of current use. The video is misleading, which is why people pick up on anachronistic terms and peddle that piffle on the Internet as though it's relevant to present day Japan....It's not.
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  13.  @d3thkn1ghtmcgee74  Death due to work related stress in America. Same thing without a name affixed to it. Over 250,000 per annum. The fact is most Japanese work 40 hours a week. Japan ranks 31st in the world for hours worked per annum according to OECD’s comprehensive data
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  14.  @d3thkn1ghtmcgee74  While there are negative aspects of life in Japan, there’s far more positive ones than dazzling lights and anime. Universal healthcare, affordable housing, an education system that places their students in the top 5 in international testing among high school students in math science and literacy, extremely low crime rates, efficient infrastructure and a cohesive society that isn’t at odds with each other politically, socially and culturally to name a few. I’d suggest it’s these that dazzle Westerners more than the bright lights of Shinjuku and Shibuya.
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  15.  @sailingadventurer  Interesting analogy
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  16.  @sailingadventurer  What data was available in 1950. I’m going to hazard a guess that very few countries kept such data, Japan being a dominant industrial and economic power had the administrative capacity to monitor such things. I would expect them to be at the top of the list and particularly ahead of predominantly Catholic nations in which suicide is considered a mortal sin and as such would more likely than not be covered up. I think data from the past 20 years is more reliable.
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  17.  @captainvanisher988  As far as I can tell, boys still like girls and girls still like boys (or gays and lesbians being who they are like boys and girls respectively). It seems, as it always has been, that good looking popular boys and girls date more than others.
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  18.  @sonicstep  What do you mean by “rigid” school curriculum? I’ve been a high school teacher at a Japanese high school for more than 30 years and have raised 5 kids who are either in or have been through the public school system. I’d like to know what you mean by “rigid” curriculum.
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  19.  @shylapollard5165  what is the suicide rate? Where does it rank in comparison to other countries?
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  20.  @sailingadventurer  The major cause of death in Japan?!! It’s not even in the top ten.
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  21.  @m-m-m-8  Just type in suicide rate by country, you can find OECD’s comprehensive data on the subject. I don’t know what “top of the statistics” means exactly. What statistics? Top of the statistics is such a vague term. Having lived in Japan since 1988 and having raised 5 kids here, I’m also quite interested in Japan’s social issues.
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  22. 90% of homeless in Japan are men over 50
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  23.  @ALLKASDLLS-mg4lu  or working hours when Japan ranks 31st in the world for hours worked per annum, or suicide rate when Japan ranks 27th in the world, people tend to fetishized the good and bad of Japan disproportionately
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  24.  @gillyuk1013  Japanese society is nested in the group. The quintessential group is the family. Mother rules the household. Father gets an allowance like a 15 year old boy. Mother makes all the decisions regarding money, the kids education where they will spend their vacation how much papa gets for his allowance and all major purchases such as homes and cars. Anyone who has lived in Japan for any length of time understands that women rule society. Men are mules who are tasked with bringing home the bacon.
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  25.  @_rymak_2044  Sometimes it's pleasantly surprising...like when finding out Japan is not all karoshi and suicide
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  26.  @m-m-m-8  I looked at some of the factors in suicide on OECD’s page. One notable increase is in the rate of suicide in those over the age of 70, that is even more dramatic by age 80. Japan has the largest percentage of people over the age of 80 in the world. Perhaps the decline in the past few decades has been a result in improved healthcare for the elderly as well as an increase in community services for the elderly.
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  27.  @d3thkn1ghtmcgee74  According to the National Institute of Health and the WHO it’s 150,000 to 200,000 per annum. It’s the 5th leading cause of death in America. Japan ranks 27th in the world for suicide rate at 15.3 per 100,000. America’s suicide rate is 16.1 per 100,000. “Burakumin” is an anachronistic term that is only kept alive by foreigners who like to cast aspersions at Japan. Very few Japanese under the age of 30 have ever heard of it. Manual labourers with no skills are looked down upon in all nations and cultures. You simply pilfered the term "burakumin" from one of the 5 videos that ripped off Yoshio Sugimoto's "An Introduction to Japanese Society". Sugimoto is the foremost expert on Japanese society and admits that "burakumin" is an out of date term...but you wouldn't know it if you watched those videos. What you're doing here is exactly the opposite of the weeb thing, which is exaggerating the negative aspects of Japan...most of which have little or nothing to do with the lives of the majority of Japanese.
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  28.  @d3thkn1ghtmcgee74  Don’t believe that Rare Earth video, it’s full of misinformation. Read Sugimoto
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  29.  @user-qm7jw  exactly, Westerns think the Japanese work 60 work weeks, have higher suicide rates than their countries and work longer hours than they do and are all stoic robots
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  30.  @d3thkn1ghtmcgee74  Yes, books like Sugimoto’s An Introduction to Japanese Society, which details the plight of the burakumin caste, and how the practice of companies keeping such lists no longer exists. Where did you get the idea people still discriminate on the grounds of someone’s “burakumin” work or name? Can you give me some verifiable examples?
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  31.  @Aleera616  The flip side being Westerners who think it’s all karoshi and suicide
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  32.  @amaruandujar  There’s an estimated 300,000 homeless in Canada, an estimated 3,500 homeless in Japan with more than 3 times the population
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  33.  @Jay_Kry5hom  Perhaps the saturated animation industry is. The fact is most Japanese work standard 40 hour work weeks and Japan ranks 31st in the world for hours worked per annum.
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  34.  @d3thkn1ghtmcgee74  Pretty much everyone over the age of 20 knows about unit 731, Comfort women and the atrocities committed by the Imperial Army, including starving its own people.
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  35.  @d3thkn1ghtmcgee74  Yes, Abe’s family history re slave labor as well. You may imagine most Japanese don’t know of all these things you simply learned online. You’d be wrong. Can you read Japanese? I don’t mean at the Sazae San comic book level, but at the daily newspaper level? If you could you’d know all these things have been covered extensively since the end of ww2.
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  36.  @d3thkn1ghtmcgee74  Strawman? This comment thread began as “life in Japan” to which I conceded it has negative aspects, then I went on to list those things which are positive especially in terms of having an effect on the quality of life. Your response reads like Godwin’s Law, the Asian version ie any one of the following Nanking, 731, Comfort Women.
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  37.  @d3thkn1ghtmcgee74  Those issues you’ve pointed out are indeed issues but they’re not representative of the majority and as such can’t be elevated to being exemplary of the typical life of the average Japanese person. For example, most Japanese work 40 hours a week, yet it’s Karoshi and “the toxic” work culture that gets interrupted as representative of “the Japanese” when excessive overtime is rampant in the very sectors in the West which have the same work related stress deaths as Japan. To get an idea of the average lifestyle in Japan you have to look at the average working hours etc. That’s what life is like for the majority
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  38.  @d3thkn1ghtmcgee74  That the Japanese label "death due to work-related stress" as Karoshi, doesn't mean that death due to work-related stress is not an issue in North America nor Europe. Those sectors for which overtime is excessive are the same sectors in which overtime is excessive in the West. It's estimated that between 120,000 to 200,000 Americans die due to work-related stress per annum...call it what you will. The Japanese call it "karoshi". The American Institute of Stress calls it a growing epidemic. The reason you brought up unit 731 is the same reason you brought up "karoshi" and "suicide"...It's the only reason anyone brings up these topics...to crap on Japan. The conversation was about daily life in Japan for the average Japanese citizen. You wanted to go off board and have a crap. Then you want to talk "straw manning". I'm talking about "life in Japan"...current day Japan.
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  39. @@Nuhbzdotvee2 How many of those songs are there? How many of those songs are there in the West? “I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel. I focus on the pain. The only thing that’s real”.
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  40.  @NickN56  I have no idea what your comment means.
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  41.  @ashleeMarie498  I would focus my concern on countries like Canada where there are an estimated 250,000 homeless among a population of 40 million, rather than Japan with an estimated 3,300 homeless among a population of 125 million.
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  42.  @Vivizimo  Japan ranks 31st in the world for hours worked per annum. The majority of Japanese work 40 hours a week.
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  43.  @pneumonoultramicroscopicsi6651  Japan ranks 27th in the world for suicide rate @ 17.3 persons per 100,000
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  44.  @AJ-zy9jf  😂
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  45. The estimate number of homeless in Japan is 3,500 among a population of 125 million. The estimated number of homeless in Canada is 300,000 among a population of 40 million.
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  46.  @captainvanisher988  It seems clear that boys still like girls and girls still like boys (and gays and lesbians like boys and girls by definition )and the good looking popular kids are the ones who date, pretty much like it’s always been. And as always boys seem more interested in sex while girls seem more interested in romance. It looks as though Tinder is on fire among the young and good looking and is not so hot for the swiped left. I honestly can’t see how dating has changed since when I was a teenager other than the Internet has made it more efficient and people in their 20s have become more practical about putting off long term commitments until they are in their 30s with women and men looking to establish their own lives as individuals before giving themselves over to become a role within a family unit which is the predominant mindset of Japanese. That is once you become a parent THAT is what you are first and foremost. People seem to be putting that off just a little longer, but not entirely. That’s been my impression anyway
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