I work for a Japanese company in small city Japan (about 5 hours from Tokyo by car). I translate and interpret for the 250 so foreign workers there. Every year we have harassment training as per our RBA/CSR requirements. We use outsourced training videos that look like they were produced in the 90s (though they mention chat apps, the cloud, etc.). And though they drone about how "bad bad bad" harassment is, there's a very STRONG victim-blaming vibe. "As a new mother, you shouldn't demand your right to take maternity leave. After all, without the support of your coworkers, you couldn't take it." Almost fell out of my seat first time I had to translate it.
Thanks for the feedback and interesting insight into your job. As you know, there is always a big gap between the official slogans and reality. After all, the data I reported on the gender gap are the result of the much-vaunted Womenomics policies of the Shinzo Abe cabinet.
As always, I find your articles fascinating. Many countries are going through the same issues Japan is going through, but for some reason, it seems more pronounced in Japan. Perhaps because of the economy? Or the work culture? Or the beliefs behind having children? Based on those 3 factors, I'm not surprised that folks are having less children or not at all, let alone not getting married. I'm divorced and would get married again, but have chosen to be childfree for my entire life, so I can certainly appreciate why folks choose not to go down that route, and for some, having children is a dream come true - to each their own :) In the future, we're going to have to continue to develop technologies to improve our lives that don't need as many humans to run it.
I love your thoughtful comments, Vicky-san. Of course, Japan is not the only country going through this. Indeed, it seems that many or even most industrialized countries share the same trend. In Italy, for instance, the population shrank until an influx of baby-making immigrants injected new blood into the country.
In Japan, overwork, discrimination toward women, lack of policies to help couples raise children, and economic uncertainties are the main problems, and considering the stance of most conservative politicians, I don't see how they can be solved.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with not having children, when it's a personal choice. The problem is that many people actually want them but don't have the economic means to raise them or have to choose between having kids and having a career.
You also mentioned technology. This is, in a sense, the craziest part. Apparently, now we are working longer hours than before. Rural life in pre-industrial times was actually much more relaxed as far as work time was concerned. It seems that technology is being used not to save time but to find new ways to make people busier.
I totally agree with you. Speaking as someone from outside the country, as long as conservative politicians continue to be in power, things aren't going to get better. I'm not advocating for a hyper-liberal Japan, but the overwork, discrimination toward women, and lack of policies to help couples raise children won't improve because there is no motivation to do so (and many may not see any of those things as actual issues to be solved).
Of course, the economy is quite unpredictable right now, so who knows, maybe that will start turning their focus to more things like these topics (one can dream). And I agree, for those that DO want to have children, logistically doing so is a huge barrier.
You're right about technology too. I'm grateful to work for a company that understands that employees have lives too, but not all companies are like that, expecting employees to constantly work overtime or never take vacations. With all the technology we have now, it allows us to get more done, but the question is do we even NEED to be doing the things we're spending our time on?
I work for a Japanese company in small city Japan (about 5 hours from Tokyo by car). I translate and interpret for the 250 so foreign workers there. Every year we have harassment training as per our RBA/CSR requirements. We use outsourced training videos that look like they were produced in the 90s (though they mention chat apps, the cloud, etc.). And though they drone about how "bad bad bad" harassment is, there's a very STRONG victim-blaming vibe. "As a new mother, you shouldn't demand your right to take maternity leave. After all, without the support of your coworkers, you couldn't take it." Almost fell out of my seat first time I had to translate it.
Thanks for the feedback and interesting insight into your job. As you know, there is always a big gap between the official slogans and reality. After all, the data I reported on the gender gap are the result of the much-vaunted Womenomics policies of the Shinzo Abe cabinet.
But of course, and that we are still in the original Abe years in terms of policy says a lot. T_T
As always, I find your articles fascinating. Many countries are going through the same issues Japan is going through, but for some reason, it seems more pronounced in Japan. Perhaps because of the economy? Or the work culture? Or the beliefs behind having children? Based on those 3 factors, I'm not surprised that folks are having less children or not at all, let alone not getting married. I'm divorced and would get married again, but have chosen to be childfree for my entire life, so I can certainly appreciate why folks choose not to go down that route, and for some, having children is a dream come true - to each their own :) In the future, we're going to have to continue to develop technologies to improve our lives that don't need as many humans to run it.
I love your thoughtful comments, Vicky-san. Of course, Japan is not the only country going through this. Indeed, it seems that many or even most industrialized countries share the same trend. In Italy, for instance, the population shrank until an influx of baby-making immigrants injected new blood into the country.
In Japan, overwork, discrimination toward women, lack of policies to help couples raise children, and economic uncertainties are the main problems, and considering the stance of most conservative politicians, I don't see how they can be solved.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with not having children, when it's a personal choice. The problem is that many people actually want them but don't have the economic means to raise them or have to choose between having kids and having a career.
You also mentioned technology. This is, in a sense, the craziest part. Apparently, now we are working longer hours than before. Rural life in pre-industrial times was actually much more relaxed as far as work time was concerned. It seems that technology is being used not to save time but to find new ways to make people busier.
I totally agree with you. Speaking as someone from outside the country, as long as conservative politicians continue to be in power, things aren't going to get better. I'm not advocating for a hyper-liberal Japan, but the overwork, discrimination toward women, and lack of policies to help couples raise children won't improve because there is no motivation to do so (and many may not see any of those things as actual issues to be solved).
Of course, the economy is quite unpredictable right now, so who knows, maybe that will start turning their focus to more things like these topics (one can dream). And I agree, for those that DO want to have children, logistically doing so is a huge barrier.
You're right about technology too. I'm grateful to work for a company that understands that employees have lives too, but not all companies are like that, expecting employees to constantly work overtime or never take vacations. With all the technology we have now, it allows us to get more done, but the question is do we even NEED to be doing the things we're spending our time on?