It all stems from not being able to accept this simple reality.
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Early next year i plan to expand my rural Japan cafe to include rescuing stray cats in my area to turn it into a unique Cat Cafe. Any help is very much appreciated.
Absolutely nothing wrong with not having change, continuing on the same path is the bedrock of stability and peaceful existence.
On the other hand the reason most people I know here under 50 do not and have never voted is out of despair that things will never change, no matter how badly change is needed – as one looks around in rural and. even suburban Japan at businesses boarded up, empty houses dotting the land, and farm land going fallow while others wonder why food prices are ever higher and wages stagnant (or falling). But thankfully there are some in office pushing forimprovements – a friend was recently voted in at the prefectural level, the only foreign born person currently at that level. And his platform was making changes, and enough people came out to put him in office.
Don't worry. Alot of Japanese can't adjust to life in Japan, ESPECIALLY in Rural Japan. You have been warned.
That said, if you are an introvert expat who has no intention to adjust to the society to begin with, then your life in Japan can be more than OK. Things are inexpensive (by the Western standard), People are reserved yet polite, and streets are super safe.
My wife is Japanese and we have been married 33 years. I just couldn't stop chuckling 😂 So darn true.
Where is the wrapping that the beef jerky and chips came in? 😉
This was really refreshing to hear.
Until you understand something and can explain it, you are not allowed to change or remove it.
Anything else is arrogance.
A lot of the good things in japan or any society comes with downsides. Do not assume you can keep the good thing if you remove the underlying structure that enabled both the good and the bad things. Things like rank, respect, politeness, consistency, tradition. Remove these and all the pretty and nice things you like about japan will be no more. People are not good at living in a highly nuanced society.
Japan reminds me of Italy in the sense that–they built things up to a level where they want, and they seem overall content with it. Over in the United States, we have a belief in the entire society, the corporate world especially, that things always have to change. Any change=good. Everyone wants to make a name for themselves by the changes they did, even if it breaks everything. When I was young I thought it was an interesting system, after age 30 I'm very tired of it–its the reason life in USA can be a drag. I like the way Japan is, and given their lack of food and natural resources, I think they have done great for themselves. Quite an achievement.
Clothing not changing in style like men in suits probably helps to keep people within a standard size and not gaining weight to adapt to style as in western countries like America.
Ironically, one of the basic tenets of Buddhism is that everything changes and nothing is permanent.
I believe in adapting to changing circumstances to preserve a desired way of doing things. With modernization benefits are gained and lost as well. Xの方法が現代的だからといって伝統的な方法に勝るとは限りません。(Just because X method is modern does not mean it's better than the traditional.)
i want some beef jerky. sadly it is to expencive here now. like that bak will be $50-60 now 🙁
As a foreigner, it is not good to try and make Japan exactly like the place you came from. Leave Japan Japan and stop trying to change it.
So what you are saying is don't go to Japan expecting you to change Japan but should go expecting Japan to change you?
Haha, stripped shirt. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. My mother in law has that shirt and now that my wife is aging, she has that shirt Lol
The thing I've noticed about Japan is that they don't make changes very fast; but when they do change things they never go back it feels like. I respect that approach.
I listened to this while working out today^^ Also, I got contacted by a journalist like 2 months ago to be put in his news article. I requested he put your Youtube channel in the article as well cause I really like this channel so much. You can google it by "James Martin Japan Today Youtube" and it should pop up. Keep up the videos. Always appreciate them dude!
I loved the rainy background in your video.
Does it rain a lot where you live?
Or did you bring the weather w/you
from England?
That would be so nice. I am so sick and tired of these constant changes in the west. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against changes that are based on really good ideas, well thought through and well implemented/executed, but what we have nowdays is change just for the sake of change. No one stop and ask themselves if they are good changes, or what weaknesses they might have, or what is lost? A really good example is the cashless and digitalized society, which is forced upon everyone here. Same with things like MS Windows. So many of the changes are not for the better and still they remove the old things and replaces old functionality with new less functionlity.
To me changes should come as new alternatives, not always necessarily replace old things that have worked perfectly for a long time. As an example, I do not mind having optional ways to pay for things, be it credit cards, various pay apps and blip, swish etc. However that should not completely force remove cash. It has gone so far in my country that banks now refuse to even handle cash. There have been days where electricity has gone down, or internet has been DDOS attacked and working really badly. Then you could not even pay for a bus tickets, or even order a pizza and pay. Some coffeehouses are totally cash free now, so are many other stores. At the same time emergency agencies tells everyone to always keep an amount of cash at home in case war or some disaster happens. Well that won't help when almost no one handle or accept cash anymore (they don't even carry change for cash). You are even looked upon as if being a criminal, or having something to hide, if you prefer to use cash here now. You can't even save up cash at home and then maybe deposit it into your bank account (to be able to pay everywhere), since then the bank refuses to accept your deposit. Unless you have receipts and can show evidence where every last penny came from you are seen as a criminal and earned your cash through some shady activity. It's ridicolous.
Same with giving all kids only laptops or google chromebooks and such in school. Even in basic school at young ages. Then at days when internet was down, they could not even hold lessons and the kids had to go out and play all day instead (happened for my son). No books for education in school is a joke.
To me, not having constant changes just for the sake of changes, sounds like paradise. 👍
I keep hearing that quote; “When in Rome, do as the Roman’s do”. It’s a good adage for a tourist to keep themselves in perspective.
Sometimes political parties advocate for change because lobby groups who fund their campaigns want to circumvent policies, regulations and laws.
Very slow change and political consensus. Sounds like the dreamlife to me. But is this a thing just in the rural areas or it it the same across all of Japan more or less?
That's hilarious, my wife (Japanese) but living in Australia for over thirty years has one of those striped shirts! 🤣
I have that shirt too! 😂 it’s a staple in my wardrobe haha
Never been to Japan but I know that shirt! 😂
Very good points about the absurdity of that aspect of western culture. I suspect this expectancy of change has come from modern western management schools. What do you think?
What an amazing outlook, I agree, here in the US change is constant
The weather is at least a bit better than the past few days. We`ve had tons of rain here – well all across Japan – and it is still overcast. It is time to get all the kerosine tanks filled up, get the maintenance done on all the kerosine heaters, and get the young fruit trees protected with wooden teepees.
I still use a jacket that I bought at Uniqlo Nishi-Shinjuku in 2008.
Then again, men, especially single men, couldn't care less about fashion trends. If it still works, it's still in use
not changing things sounds great. I'm tired of everything randomly changing just because everyone in the west is addicted to dopamine and needs constant stimulation
Here in California, our fashions change every year or when a famous actor or actress is seen wearing a peculiar way and all the younger than 40 will try to copy him/her. The stores will be flooded with cheap Made in China items. Other stores will be filled with expensive Made in China stuff. We end up with mountains of garbage that we dump in the ocean or ‘export’ to poor countries. I solve this problem myself—just go to Uniglo once every 6 months. Still I had to recycle the old clothes to charity organization. The change I need about this? Uniglo trip once a year only. Sooo difficult!
They make your phone and Smart TV obsolete every 5 years. Apple stop updating my old phone and force me to buy a new one. Just trying to prevent hackers to wipe out my savings. Internet provider boasts about their 5G signal and force me to buy a new printer because, as one technician puts it “Your printer is like an old grandma. Your wifi router is like a teenager. How can they communicate with each other?”
Change is not always for the better to our peace of mind and therefore calmness of body. Change can be speed and productivity and creativity. Change can also cause a whole generation of senior citizens be left behind, become more vulnerable, live more in isolation.
To be in rural Japan may allow me to calm down and hear myself clearer, know myself better, help myself be more focused on my goals that are not about things and stuff. If rural Japan can preserve its community then it can encourage more people to live there, to visit there, to spend quiet weekends there, to even retire there.
Ok, I will have my exploration of Kyoto suburban in three weeks. I will surely have my own experience of Rural Japan. (Hope there is nice Cafes and Ramen shops around.😊🍁🙏)
Love your channel! Have lived off and on in Japan and teach Japanese culture here at a uni here in the States. Your talk reminded me of the idea of "Chesterton's Fence." Don't take down a fence, change things, or destroy what exists until you understand why it was created (ie why the fence was put up in the first place).
I know someone with that shirt – I kind of like them, haha.
I have enjoyed this video – how strange it is that Japan looks so similar to here!
Congrats on 11k
What most countries in the world need, is stability, not permanent changes. I oppose the usual opinion teached in history classes that the west got successfull, because of permanent changes. He got successfull because absolutist governments suceeded, to overcome the permanent anarchy of feudal society and created a legal stability which made big investments senseful.