Japanese politics takes a huge turn

[Sinestra]

Originally Posted by komitsuki

Chinilpa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I told the similar thing two months ago and frankly you forgot all of them.

Honestly Komitsuki you post so much stuff like this how do you expect me to remember all of it? However, i do remember what you are referencing now and we are still miscommunicating so i am just gonna stop.

[Abasio]

Originally Posted by GTJ

That's okay, immigration isn't even what I was thinking about when I said it. Sure, it would be nice to not have to go through this hell to get a visa, but it's the same--and sometimes worse--for every other country. It's to be expected. What I was thinking of was more the process of living in Japan, like how the government treats/doesn't treat us. One example is the new gaijin cards with a scannable computer chip so a policeman can pick out all the gaijin in a crowd. Another example is police being taught that gaijin commit up to 90% of all the crimes in any given area, and are trained to go out and stop random foreigners for questioning/harassment.

Actually... the only problems I think I have is with the police. Hm. I've experienced this first hand, so when I see the cops roll by I can't help but feel my lip curl a bit. There's a lot of power tripping going on, in all levels of government in Japan.

Other than that there doesn't seem to be much going on in regards to foreigners in Japan in a positive light. It's all just about punishing the illegal immigrants and all that. And how about that new law about national health care and renewing visas?

We're now required to pay into national healthcare AND pension. Plus, if you've been in Japan however many years or so, I'm not sure, but don't you have to pay BACK pension? On top of that, foreigners are only entitled to withdrawl 3 years' worth, if you apply for it two years ahead of time. So it only really helps you if you plan to stay in Japan the rest of your life, and completely screws you out of a large portion of your salary if you don't.

So in a way I guess foreigners coming to Japan to live and work DOES help out the national coffers..

You must be in the kansai region right? I have only ever been harrassed by the police down in Kyoto. It put me right off the place. Been everywhere else in Japan and had no problems with any police or government officials except in Kyoto.

[TalnSG]

Nyororin,
While I may not always agree with you, I do appreciate the detailed, intelligent and rational responses to some of the reactionary stuff posted.

My own rather reactionary dismissal of some of it is much worse. If you don't like a foreign country's ways, get out. No one is demanding you stay. Quit being an arrogant visitor and go home. Your attitude is about as appealing as an invading army.


As for the low birthrate, the Japanese would be better off to address the causes than to encourage immigration, especially when those who respond seem to be either unhappy or disrespectful of their culture.

The problem is population density and high stress life styles. More people will not solve this and if scientific studies are correct, it will actually make the problem worse.

[komitsuki]

Majority of the Mindan members are second and third generations living in Japan anyways.

Thanks to the indirect influence from DJP for few years, it is great to see that now there is a firm way to bring Mindan Korean residents decent voting rights. It's more of a power play within a lower tier political environment but it's still worth it.

[GTJ]

Originally Posted by TalnSG

As for the low birthrate, the Japanese would be better off to address the causes than to encourage immigration, especially when those who respond seem to be either unhappy or disrespectful of their culture.

The problem is population density and high stress life styles. More people will not solve this and if scientific studies are correct, it will actually make the problem worse.

You think that's the problem? I can pinpoint a bigger problem for you.

[img=http://www.etherealvortex.com/wp-content/gallery/fashion/man_bra.jpg][/img]

Now that we've had our chuckle, yes, the rapid feminization of male society in Japan is one of the hugest factors to the negative birthrate. Yes, negative. You say "low" but it was actually UNDER zero last time I checked, which means old people are dying faster than babies are being born. I think it would be a good idea to open a new thread about this topic, because it's just downright fascinating and I love discussing it and trying to dig up underlying reasons.

Oh, and I feel that immigration is most beneficial to the Japanese economy, which has been in steady decline for most of the past decade. There was a recent UN report that stated if Japan wants its economy to start moving in the other direction, they'll need 50 million immigrants by the year 2050. Unfortunately I can't find the report at this moment so I can't cite it, but I can see why such a thing would be necessary; lord knows nobody here has done anything significant to pick things up financially.

...What were we talking about again?

[trunker]

this immigration thing is tricky,...

on the one hand it will make the already densely populated areas worse, and frankly, your average mr chin immigrant from china is not exactly going to head straight for the inaka. the fact is that he's gonna head straight for the big towns. which of course he has every right to do.

on the other hand, i am tired of stupidly priced staple foods like rice that are subsidised and protected industries that frankly should have failed years and years ago.

what i mean is, i dont need my apples to be lovingly handpicked by granny yamada in deepest darkest inaka, washed in the finest mountain springs and transported to my super in the utmost comfort, so they can charge me an amount that would feed an entire village in china for a month.

cheap labour immigration would get rid of so much waste here, and would stimulate the economy if people actually had a bit more to spend, and if people actually felt comfortable. sure you'll get a whole bunch of negatives that come along with unskilled labour, but i would imagine the pluses outweigh them.

one thing i found surprising here,...

for a nation that is responsible for some of the most efficient products in the history of the world,..... they are surprisingly inefficient.

[Ryzorian]

We could just all pack up and move to Mars ..then we would all be immigrants.

[trunker]

agreed.

shotgun!

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by GTJ

You think that's the problem? I can pinpoint a bigger problem for you.

[img=http://www.etherealvortex.com/wp-content/gallery/fashion/man_bra.jpg][/img]

Now that we've had our chuckle, yes, the rapid feminization of male society in Japan is one of the hugest factors to the negative birthrate. Yes, negative. You say "low" but it was actually UNDER zero last time I checked, which means old people are dying faster than babies are being born. I think it would be a good idea to open a new thread about this topic, because it's just downright fascinating and I love discussing it and trying to dig up underlying reasons.

Or, instead of spouting such childishness.... you could actually go out and talk to - or even read articles written by - married women of childbearing age who in the past would have been popping out kids but aren`t.

It all comes down to money. It has absolutely nothing to do with "feminization" as you put it - unless we are to listen to the big burly western men in Japan thinking they can "fix" the problem by knocking girls up.

Raising a child in Japan costs money. Raising a child in a city in Japan costs even more money. Most young couples live in cities for the employment opportunities.
Couples like to have savings before they have a child... So it ends up that both work saving up the cash until they feel they have enough to have a child. And then they have ONE child - and the biggest problem arises. Securing money for another. There is nowhere close to enough support provided for the mother to return to work (and culturally, most of the time this isn`t desirable) - but at the same time companies in the cities have grown accustomed to the pay system where both work... So pay ends up being halved with no additions for family from the husband`s company.

And child number 2 never comes along because the money just isn`t there, and there is no reasonable way to get it. In the past, young couples would live close to their parents - often both sets - and have the free support of family. Not in the modern era.

There was an interesting article I read recently about the difference between couples living near their families and those living more than an hour away... Those living near or with one set of grandparents averaged 2.8 children. Those living more than an hour away averaged 0.6. In the countryside, near family, the 3 child family is still the norm. In the city, far from family support, just over half end up having no children at all. Either by choice, or because they waited too long and have fertility issues.

[Ryzorian]

Yea, cost of liveing is a major contributing factor. I would think Nyororin's points are probably more in line with reality concerning the lower birth rate than some of the other arguements posted.

Although, I have to disagree about the burly part, not all of us are burly. I'm barely 5' 10" 185lbs.