Japan's Problem with Immigration / 日本の移民問題

[@Dogen]

Appreciate all the people covering my blind spots in the comments. Keep it coming and keep it critical!

[@gmanjapan]

For me, (only 15yrs in Japan), I "selfishly" just want the foreigners kept to a minimum. I like Japan because it's Japan. The more foreign immigrants there are the less "Japan" it will be. I love the "don't bother others" ethic and I don't want loud foreigners changing that. I love I can drink anywhere. I hate foreigners taking advantage of that fact and being loud rowdy aholes. I love there is/was no curfew. I hate that foreigners mess that up and it push the Japanese to crackdown. I'm not saying Japan is perfect but I'd prefer the Japanese to work on their own problems in their own way rather than loud foreigners try to change Japan into the place they left. I have no solution for the aging population problem. But, increasing immagration will not "save Japan". It will rather destroy it as it will no longer be Japan.

[@brunosouza3326]

So, in short, people should stop using twitter.

[@FirstLastOne]

And most definitely stop using tiktok ASAP.

[@Dita_Utomo]

No, people should stop using Twitter and Tiktok to spout ignorant, hateful, toxic comments. If people stopped using Twitter and Tiktok altogether, they would just find other venues to spout their non-sense, like Instagram's Thread for example. Human ugliness will find a way.

[@babblingbrook4720]

Including Dogen, possibly. Japanese Twitter has been very toxic in the past year or two, to the point it's really hard to use. Angry viral tweets with the intention of making other people angry have been very amplified there lately, including anti-foreigner rhetoric. The Japanese comments so far on this video don't have the same tone. It kind of feels like Dogen's treating Japanese Twitter as a stand-in for Japan instead of realizing it's just some silly website that runs entirely on outrage nowadays.

[@cond-jy9od]

@@babblingbrook4720日本人だけど本当にそれ… 日本の政治絡みのTwitterは本当に終わってる。 日本は公では政治の話を控える傾向が他の国に比べて強いから、政治のツイートをする人は結構偏ってることが多い。 ただそれを見て影響されちゃう人もいたりして結構極端な意見がマジョリティになってる。 まさにエコーチャンバーの最たる例

[@hermanwillem7057]

​@@cond-jy9odunderstandable. having living in a nation where open political discussion are frown upon lead to repressed emotions, thus when there's a platform that allows anonymity it goes out of control

[@Aaron-qe9ms]

If you ask me, the work ethic you praise Japan for, is what's killing their birthrate. After working 60 hours a week (That's 5, 12-hour days btw or 6, 10's) with extended hours from kissing your bosses butt by going to bars with him AFTER work, who wants to then go home and also deal with the challenges of a relationship AND raising a child..? Very few.. and those who do would not be able to have a proper relationship with their partner or child under such conditions either. Hard work IS to be commended, but it's literally to the point of hurting them. It's a societal mindset that's aging Japan, not just the yen or economy. Also: "We got a lot of cool stuff out of it, so it's ok if someone _misses the birth of their child._ " is exactly what I'm talking about. Literally Work > Family.

[@ArchangelAurora]

tbh as a software developer I never understood why games have to be released with a very strict deadline to the point that people miss their child's birth. It's a game, not a critical piece of software. Nowadays many games release with a lot of bugs and missing features just because they have to be released on an imaginary schedule which was selected almost arbitrarily.

[@CryptidFlame]

My stance is kinda in the middle the hardwork is good but the Japanese are just going too far. The frequent after working drinking and work inefficiency are the main issues imo. Sacrificing for work isn't necessarily bad but I'd wish the sacrifices produce high return which isn't always the case

[@MCNeko6554]

There's also the practice of sending people, without their families if they have one, across the country "for the company." How can you form a relationship or have children when you're at the mercy of some corporation's decision to relocate you on a whim with the threat of never again getting a promotion?

[@benchaak_vam_demer]

I disagree. The work ethic of the Japanese has been like this for centuries. However, the birth rate is a relatively recent, modern problem, one that most western countries share. The difference is the stance on immigration. Germany is the perfect example in contrast to Japan. A very similar trend in terms of birth rate is present, but the country is constantly flooded with immigrants. This is the only reason the population isn't in the same kind of decline as Japans. However this brings heaps of problems, due to the uncontrolled nature of the immigration. Where as Japan is stagnating, Germany is in state of steady decline. It is their work ethic that keeps Japan from the same decline. The Japanese needed a solution like 25 years ago to their demographic problem. Controlled immigration, only allowing people in, those who are willing and able to integrate into the culture (and the work ethic as part of it). And at the same time, introducing programs that would make raising children less of a burden. Former socialist countries in Europe, don't have the same kind of population decline, or at least they didn't had them, till the 1990s. And yet one can argue, that in those countries similar work ethics were promoted as the one in Japan. If you know what Stakhanovism is, you should know what I am talking about. And at the same time having only one child or none at all, was quite rare. The average was 2-3, keeping the population steady. So again, the work ethics are not necessarily the issue here. I am no expert on Japanese culture by any means, but knowing how different dating and marriage are than in the west, that would be my first guess to start evaluating the root cause of the problem. In Japan it is still customary for the wife to become a full time housewife after marriage. Knowing this, one needs to examine Salaries, living expenses etc. The likely reason is, that on an average Salary of a Husband it is simply impossible to support a large family. If this is the case, then again providing proper child support, or raising wages would be a valid solution. But as with any social issue, there are likely a bunch of different reasons, that need to be tackled. And yes, the work ethics are likely part of it, not making the issue any better, but also not the main or the sole cause.

[@mom-o8n9s]

いやそれ言ったら戦後の日本はどうなるんですか？ 昭和の時代は、バブルがはじける前でも日本人は働き続けました。 労働時間が問題じゃないんです。　 高卒で手取り１８万で、税金で５万持ってかれても結婚して、子供３人作れは不可能ですよｗ 少子高齢化を加速させてるのは、増税です 自分が産まれた1999年は消費税３％です。　今１０％です。 財務省の出世レースで、増税をして源収を増やした奴が出世する仕組みだからです。 島の外側に居る貴方達は、マクロな大雑把な部分でしか日本を見れていません パートの母親　学生のアルバイトは、親の扶養に入ってる場合103万円以上の年間の収入があると税金を取られるのでそれ以上働けません。 この３０年　物価が上がったのに消費税も他の税金も上がり続けるのに、給付は殆ど変化なしです。 巻き上げた税金は、大手企業の税負担に殆ど使われてるので、若い層は子供を作らない事は当たり前な事なのです。 要するに、国民は役人の出世レースの犠牲になってるだけ アメリカも国連も平気で内政干渉してきます。 若い層に支持を受けてる、国民民主党の代表がアメリカ側に面会を求められてます。 アメリカ政府も国連も財務省も日本国民にはyes manで居て欲しいのです。 労働時間が気に食わないならやめればいいし、ゲームやアニメ作ってるようなクリエイターは貴方達の基準でモノづくりしてないです。

[@kanae8414]

Honestly treating Japanese people as if they are all the same is fundamentally wrong. Ofc, in Japan I met some Japanese people who would bump into me with so much strength and not apologise or react or ones that would just step on my foot and just go about their day but I also managed to meet some nice old store owners who happily explained to me some things about Japanese culture, we had good talks about calligraphy and I managed to meet all the employees in bic camera trying to find a product I was searching for. There is bad and good people everywhere.

[@Purwapada]

strawman based on illocutionary semantics

[@Kriss_941]

Obviously all Japanese aren't the same, and if I go by my own personal experiences I had nothing but good experiences going there. But that doesn't mean there aren't issues, many of which might not be easy to see unless you actually move there. Things like the discrimination within the housing market where most landlords just don't rent to foreigners at all... While I was in Japan I also saw stuff like izakayas with a "no foreigners" sign on the door and news broadcasts basically telling the typical story of how foreigners are so bad and litter and all this. Yet when I was taking the cramped busses of Kyoto I saw both local Japanese as well as foreign tourists who failed to move deeper into the bus to make space for more passengers and instead just crowded the entrance. Despite the bus driver telling us to make space. Even in cities where I hardly saw any tourists I'd also see littering as well. So it does kinda feel like foreigners are often used as the scapegoats to explain away anything bad. Something which I can only imagine just further fuels any sort of xenophobia that may exist. Alot of what is pinned as xenophobia, I believe to also be largely just about a language barrier. I think many Japanese might not want to serve foreigners because they don't feel comfortable communicating with them. So what might come across as discrimination or what is discrimination might not always be based in any sort of hatred or disdain for a certain group. So while I didn't have any especially bad experiences in Japan, I don't want to pretend there aren't problems.

[@Aiko2-26-9]

Whether or not an accidental bump or foot squashing should be apologized for is very cultural. People who say nothing are not rude, they are behaving appropriately IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY. If they apologize you have to respond, then they have to respond to that and on and on. It's easier on both parties to just act like it didn't happen.

[@gooel]

Japanese people are very racist towards Chinese, I've heard some awful stuff said in public.

[@Whitepawprint]

​@@Aiko2-26-9you're absolutely right that "rudeness" is very cultural - and also very personal! I know a lot of people who have a smaller "rudeness tolerance" to me. However, I also kind of think that makes it fair game for people to complain about finding a different culture (which is what people are actually doing when they say "Japanese people") rude. All anyone can ever really mean when they say "___ is rude" is "I find ____ rude". And from their cultural perspective, they might be right 🤷‍♂️ Japanese people coming to the UK might say they find British people rude because we don't have very attentive customer service, or people push to get on a train before people are finished getting off. And they'd have a point! I'm certainly not going to take offence to people saying British people are rude, or get angry at foreigners if they've had a bad experience in the UK 🤷‍♂️

[@愛しのシモネッタ]

Hi, I’m a Japanese who lives in France. So I’m in the opposite situation i guess. Unfortunately, here is the person who said to me “japan is a fucking racist country, go home”, ” nationalist”, “your country is extreme right ”or “ i would like to go to japan but there is a GAIZIN problems. Japanese is mean”. I wondered why they say this (and why to me?). Then they told me that they watched interviews from youtube and TikTok . They said that Japanese doesn’t sit next to foreigner, but here in France, the same thing happens!!! In Tokyo, for example Yamanote-line, there is a lot of Japanese who sit next to foreigners! In addition, i totally don’t care if French doesn’t sit next to me. That is their decision!!! I know that foreigner’s life is hard in japan, yes there is a problem, but me too, In France too!!! Japan is a country, not an amusement park. There is a traditional, historical, and cultural context. This is not only japan, but all around the world. Im so sad that not all but a lot of person doesn’t think like me.

[@Casshio]

I know it's an easy thing for me to say, but don't take it too personally. They are blinded by social media, as you yourself noticed. Like many other people are. They probably haven't even been to Japan. They don't know anything. And France also has serious problems with racism and overly nationalistic sentiments and politics. Every country has its own problems. Just know that there are foreigners who have been to Japan and know how it actually is over there.

[@SonnyDarvish]

I do. Just to confirm your experiences, I have been observing the same thing in Germany, too. For context, originally from Iran, I lived in Malaysia for 6 years and 7 years in Germany. The amount of hypocricy here in Europe is astounding and unfortunately, most of the time when I say something positive about Japan, some people here are quick to respond with something strange about Japan. Like the last one was: "Have you seen their electrical cables through streets? All seem so dangerous..", then I have to educate them about earthquakes, typhoons, etc. Every country has a unique culture (and subculture in each region) and every foreigner will have different experience in each country. I know someone that followed the same path as me, even same university in Kuala Lumpuer, he loves Germany and I don't. Yeah social media has definitely polarizied peoples' view of Japan. But once they visit, they usually say I wish I could stay there a bit longer, or I will visit next year! (also, I like what you said "Japan is a country, not an amusement park.", that's definitely one of the common views of Japan 😬)

[@ednaval4277]

Hi i'm french and one time i sat in the Yamanote-line and an old japanese lady sitting next to the place i sat on stood up and sat somewhere else in the car, maybe she saw i was with a friend and gave him a seat or just ran away for some reason, i will never know lol But in france i would not care who sit next to me in the train or metro as long as they dont bother me I know some people that might say japan is racist and all, but i thought it was only a small amount of people saying that In my experience some are distant from "gaijin" but not fundamentally racist, some don't care, some enjoy having strangers passing by, and more, it's a whole mix, no one can say a whole country is racist, that's weird lol I saw a few movies, dramas, and tv shows, and i'm happily surprised that there's a lot more strangers and metis (ハーフ）than in the past, same inside shops and konbinis I always thought that japanese people would not particularly have a "stranger" problem in france, i'm surprised !

[@HYBRID_BEING]

I've been to Japan once, and my experience with Japanese was that they are very kind people and eager to help. Like, a man in Nagasaki helped me get on the right bus, which sounds awfully simple, but the catch was that he walked me to the nearest bus station, talked to station workers on my behalf, and then patiently explained everything to me, all while carrying grocery bags. Obviously, things differ from person to person, but I've been lucky to not encounter any animosity.

[@sirojajam55]

Please try not to take these things that happen to all foreigners in all countries too close to your heart. People who are unreasonable and judgemental towards you are petty and ignorant. There is no doubt you are a wonderful person and you are not what others may be telling you they think you are. Hope that you have close friends already (if not, please 頑張ってね！In the end, you need to stay in touch with those people who value you, care about you and love you truly.

[@dhemereon2915]

The Japanese work ethic is praiseworthy, but after the FF7 example I cannot but ask myself, what is more worth: finishing your work on a videogame or being there for your wife and witness the birth of your child?

[@YEBISU38]

Finishing your work on a videogame and being there for your wife and witness the birth of your child, of course. That's what he was saying.

[@sarbe6625]

Yeah fr, if a company can't even handle a single person going for even just one or two days, then something needs to change.

[@4f9i1g5A]

今の日本はFF7を作っていた90'sとは働き方が全然違います。 今は日本でも残業するな、早く会社から帰れという時代です。 何十年もずっと同じ会社で働くのが当たり前だった時代とは 異なり、働く時間よりも家族や自分自身の時間を大切にする 日本人も多いです。 今は中国のゲーム産業の方がワーカホリックで、その分作品 にも勢いがあるのではないでしょうか。

[@Kehlen578]

​@@4f9i1g5Aありがとう。日本にいないし、状況はどうなったのか分かりづらいと思います。

[@ShinYaguchiSama]

It’s easy to justify the exploitation of workers for ff7 But I don’t think the same justification would work for an excel spreadsheet Which is what 99.9% of the workforce is doing

[@foleyas9669]

As a student here in Japan I agree with most of this however the viral video of the man dancing in the street is for sure not because he doesn't understand Japanese culture, but because he understands it on a very basic level. If you start breakdancing blocking someone's way back in an American city you will at least be yelled at by someone he blocks, if not getting in an actual fight. But here in Japan he knows that unless a police officer is nearby people will just try to ignore him, and he can get the clout he's here for from angry foreigners and Japanese people who now are on twitter that he strives for, its very different than say talking on the train or walking down the wrong way of the street, the difference between exploitation and ignorance of culture. Of course with my limited exposure here in the last few months and the few years of research I did before coming I think another reason why the birth rate is going down aside from money, which is the more pressing and immediate issue, is that a lot of people also don't have the time to raise children, not just because of the work culture but more that they also need to work more to afford living in these times as well, it doesn't leave much time for healthy social and romantic lives with free time let alone having a child. Though for sure foreigners have a lot of work to do, I just hope this recent trend of mostly Kick streamers coming here to cause big issues dies down more.

[@TheGreatMilksteak]

There's a reason Johnny Somali pulled at that trolling off in Japan and not in the US. He wouldve been tazed and the spent the weekend in jail if he did.

[@mokisan]

Second this comment

[@Jebbis]

@@TheGreatMilksteak he got wrekt in Korea.

[@jon9103]

There is a difference between exploitation and ignorance but that doesn't mean they are mutually exclusive.

[@Dita_Utomo]

Ah. So the dancing gaijin is a manipulative bastard with no-good intentions, yes? I sure hope there won't be more gaijins like him in Japan, bent on disrupting the peace for their own clout.

[@agapitoliria]

As someone working in games, I found your view of the games industry example extremely ignorant, I don't mean this "meanly". The industry is known worldwide to be dominated by a crunch culture of long hours, by virtue of being a "passion job". What makes japanese games and media so good then? Many things, but I can just quote Nintendo when the bosses lowered their salaries so they didn't have to fire anyone because "the fear of losing your job kills creativity". Meanwhile those bickering twitter game devs you talk about are fighting for better conditions and unions in an industry known to be highly unstable and dominated by crappy executive decisions driven by poor but popular investment choices (which are the origin of most crappy AAA games). There's also the factor of Japan basically being the origin of game dev and having an animation industry since forever. Still I do believe there's something unique about them and of all things... it's not work culture. I would much more likely attribute this to a culture of community values and an excellent artistic and visual culture (check how good most highschoolers draw over there). I blame current issues on rampant individualism from unfettered capitalism more than anything else, but I don't know enough about japan to be able to tell.

[@blazikentwo]

He says all of that while over in the anime industry theres animators who can't even complain about their horrible working codition on twitter (If they do complain they have to delete it)

[@notan3144]

Japan is far more collectivist in culture than individualist, this is demonstrated by their emphasis on hierarchy, countless idioms about not sticking out from the crowd (very contrary to the west) and psychometric data we have on the country.

[@Dogen]

Should have explored this bit with more nuance, appreciate the feedback.

[@elementart_]

As a game dev in Japan, came here to say exactly this

[@mimitan3952]

​​@@Dogen How nuanced do you have to be to realize that work culture in Japan is utterly fucked? Or literally that potentially missing the birth of your child to meet a work deadline just...isn't something to admire?

[@yu-lg6nu]

我々日本人にとって、外国人、異文化人が来てほしいんじゃなくて、「日本人のように完璧に振る舞える外国人」に来てほしい、というのが本音かなと思います。そんなの無理に決まってますから、あくまで理想や仮定の話として。 観光客はいざ知らず、移民となれば、無闇に調和や平和を乱さず、現地の社会に適応でき、現地民に危害を加えない、そんな移民が理想かなと。

[@toyoashihara6242]

あなたのコメントが日本国民の総意に最も近いと思います！

[@CrsdrsWrStnsts]

実際の所日本人でも日本社会に不満をいだいている人は大勢いますが日本人は「日本人か否か」という尺度でものを見るように"教育"されていますので日本人にも色々な思想の人がいるということを日本人自身が知らないのでそのような発想になるのだと思います このような単一民族意識は侵略と戦争の歴史の中で非侵略者層に反乱を起こさせないための侵略者側の一種の発明でした 実のところ外国人が増えることで日本の息苦しい労働環境や社会通念が変わってくれないか期待している人は大勢います 例えば外国人店員の方が気が楽で良いと言うと人もいます 逆に外国人店員は嫌だという人もいます 例えばこうやって我々は敬語で会話してますがそういうのも馬鹿馬鹿しいと思ってる日本人も大勢いますし外国人は敬語なんて下らないと思ってる人が大半なんで今後日本社会は思想から根本的に変化していくでしょうし、その中で一人一人が自分と他人の距離を明確に把握していくでしょう

[@ykles24]

As a frenchman who gradually became estranged in his own country, i would advise you to never forget this ideal. In the last thirty to fourty years, my country accepted more and more people, while constantly lowering the requirements bellow anything reasonnable. This led to a very sharp decrease in public trust and security. It pains me to say that our culture is quickly fading because of this.

[@ArthurGencer]

I agree with the Japanese sentiment, if you are going to immigrate somewhere you must try your best to acclimate to the culture there. The idea that millions of people can come and not assimilate without limits is actually an insane idea.

[@CrsdrsWrStnsts]

コメント消されたのでもう一度投稿する 日本人にも色々な人がいて日本社会に不満を持ってて外国人がそれを変えてくれるのではないかということに期待している人たちも大勢いる 例えば日本人店員より外国人店員の方が気が楽だという人もいる 結局のところ問題点は日本人の多くが自分の思想が全日本人に当てはまると思い込んでいる人が多すぎることにある 人は群れると気が大きくなる動物なので、それによって自分の個人的感想が世の真理だと思い込んでいる人が多く彼らを傲慢にしている 例えば敬語が嫌いな日本人は大勢いて外国人が増えれば恐らく敬語は廃れるだろう 私は日本にずっと住んできたがそもそも日本人に合わせても日本人は最初から外国人を見下しているので対等にはなれない また日本人の多くはそれほど言語能力が高くないのでロジックで説明しても彼らは理解できない 半分日本人の血を引いている俺でさえ何十年も考えて最終的にこのような方にたどり着くのだから他の普通の白人や黒人などの韓国人以外の人類が日本で日本人と生きていけるとは思えない

[@andrewwallace2816]

日本在住外国人の、めっちゃくちゃ日本を愛す私のような人に、この動画を見て感動すべきだろうと思ってました。確かに誤解されたり、疑われたりする可能性が高いかもしれないがこうした動画を投稿してくれてるのは嬉しいに極みないんですね。

[@yamadajunpei]

国に帰れ

[@Casshio]

Regarding the point at 2:33, I've been reading a lot of manga lately. And they often feature afterwords by the various mangaka. And It's astounding how many of them mention that their child was born and that they were either lucky to have been present at the birth or express light regret of missing it due to work. In general, it's interesting to read about their personal lives and thoughts in these short snippets. And it really is worrying how often they write about these all-nighters, long work hours and especially health issues. It really is representable for the "Japanese Spirit". On the one hand, it's admirable. On the other, it's just... sad.

[@JF_76]

Unless it is a catastrophic situation that requires such sacrifices, perhaps it really is mostly just sad? Nothing to admire about extreme peer pressure, intolerance and malevolence (by co-workers).

[@Casshio]

@@JF_76 I can't help but admire artists who are that dedicated. But yes, I do get what you mean. It shouldn't be this way.

[@JF_76]

@@Casshio Yes, of course. What I mean is this kind of „culture“ is not to be admired, the willingness of individuals to sacrifice so much, it might look admirable, but looking closely you will realize that the individuals are not doing it by their own wish but are more or less forced to do so by the extreme peer pressure and passive aggressive attitude of their environment. Ever read accounts of how people were treated who dared to take paternity leave? It’s like kamikaze pilots who are still being glorified in certain circles, of course they didn't kill themselves voluntarily but were coerced into doing so! (as many accounts/records have shown)

[@samsik8978]

本当に同感…自分も外国人だけど、同じ外国人たちを見るとただ文化の違いとか、外国人の立場からしょうがないことで文句言って何の意味があるん？と思うことめっちゃ多い。ただ日本語を喋るだけで自分の国でのやり方でやり続けようとしてるやつめっちゃ多い…

[@bbb-fs8ff]

私も同感です。最初は日本語を話してくれることに日本に対するリスペクトがあると感じ大変感謝していましたが、それでも中には日本人を理解していなかったり見下している外国人がいます。

[@julchen818]

Danke! ❤

[@RyoS-r2i]

ありがとうございます😭 今日「日本人は外国人の隣に座らないおかしな国」という動画を外国人が投稿している動画見ました。その動画に日本人はレイシスト、差別主義者！とコメントが殺到していてほんとに悲しくなりました。たった1本の動画で日本に来たこともない人々がみんなレイシストとコメントしていた。 目の前にある幸せに感謝するのではなく、人を批判し、不満ばかり発信する動画は再生数は稼げるかもしれまさんが誰も幸せにはなれません。

[@GustyforEminem]

So many insightful comments down here, it's great to see different, thought out perspectives like this.

[@Jebbis]

The thing is those multiple all nighters cause more issues that need to be fixed then if they stuck to a regular schedule. Most knowledge workers have 6 hours of actual work in them each day, and then you VERY quickly go into negative productivity and the amount of time it takes to recover and get back to normal is 2-3x more than it took to get into the situation.

[@dairenn]

True. To that end, labor laws here have evolved and now there are some pretty strict rules about overtime.

[@ValkyrieTiara]

We often talk about how Japanese people have the しょうがない and 我慢 aspects to their culture, and whether these are good or bad and should be adopted or not by foreigners living there. Rather than any of that, I think we should first adopt まだまだ. While I was there I met a man in a curry shop. We had a nice little conversation about my time there; my reasons for visiting, the things I had done and still wanted to do, what I liked about Japan, etc. At the end he gave me the standard 日本語上手 (my Japanese was MAYBE N5 level at the time), and I responded 「あ、いいや、まだまだ」. He looked almost surprised, maybe impressed? His eyes opened, his eyebrows went up, his head moved back a little bit, and he said something to the effect of "Oh, you really do get it." In all the polite interactions, people helping me figure things out, the compliments on my Japanese, and people recognizing and appreciating my willingness to learn and respect their culture and meet them halfway, I never felt so RESPECTED by anybody there as I did by that man in that moment. Japanese people, in general, really understand that being humble isn't just about not appearing arrogant. It's about recognizing that you can always do a little more and be a little better, which itself is the first step in being WILLING to do a little more and be a little better. If you can't admit there's more that can be done, how can people expect you to do more? When we start to wonder if we've gone far enough, in terms of getting along and helping each other out (foreigners and Japanese alike), we should say 「いいや、まだまだ」

[@MatthewSlocum-j5z]

what a amazing comment. I totally agree with you.

[@connorzen-vm8of]

This is the best comment!

[@iota-09]

hmmm... i wanna say something but at the same time, it feels like anything i could say would be shallow and fall flat. i think you hit the nail on the head and DID really get it, the question is... should that be expected of foreigners? to "get it" i mean? is not getting it supposed to be met with dissatisfaction or with a lesson? hm...

[@ValkyrieTiara]

@@iota-09 That depends on what exactly you mean and who exactly you're talking about. A tourist in Japan for a couple weeks, there's always going to be friction there. That's true of any country. You can't expect them to understand everything about the culture (that's WHY you visit other countries, after all, to experience and learn about their culture). But if you're living in Japan for more than maybe few months? I don't expect you to know and understand everything right away, I've been studying Japan and Japanese culture for years and I'm still learning. Recognizing that is what まだまだ is about! But I DO expect you to try to learn. To go out of your way, and put yourself out. I expect you to not just live and work there on your own terms, but make an authentic effort to learn, understand, and integrate. Again, I think this is true of any country. It's their country! Their home, life, and culture. If you want to live there, you should join it on their terms, not treat it like living in an amusement park. For example, the number of foreigners who have lived in Japan for 5, 10, 20+ years and don't even speak basic Japanese is shameful to me. You're not participating in Japanese culture at that point, you're treating it like a zoo where animals put on shows for you.

[@kevinchong9898]

I just wanna say thank you This is completely unrelated to the video topic, but I have been in a depressive bout, feeling like I’m at an absolute low and there’s no way to improve. But reading your thoughts about the まだまだ mentality gave me a good wakeup call. Like you said, when I can’t admit to myself that there’s more that can be done, then all expectations of getting things done and improving myself are gone. Thank you again for reminding me that there can always be room for improvement.

[@kurisuuu48]

I would argue that this "Japanese spirit" that created FF7 also played a role in the decreasing birth rate. Ain't much time for marriage, family or dating if you are working 100+ hours a week

[@isaza5716]

The birth boom was in the same time. The work culture is just one factor....

[@kurisuuu48]

@isaza5716 I didn't say it was the only factor, just one. It might be a more recent issue though. I didn't know there was a birth boom at that time

[@VinceNet]

I think that's essentially the point he's making. The tireless spirit that created some of things we love from Japan isn't going to fix this issue.

[@jonasw3945]

This Japanese spirit existed for centuries and did not in fact play any role in decreasing the birth rate. In fact Japanese people used to work more in the older days when the population was rising than now. The reasons explained in the video are actually quite accurate.

[@ProsecutorZekrom]

⁠@@jonasw3945 "The Japanese spirit!” the Japanese shouted, while coughing like someone infected with tuberculosis... “The Japanese spirit!” say the journalists. “The Japanese spirit!” say the pickpockets. The Japanese spirit has crossed the ocean in a single bound. In England, lectures are given on the Japanese spirit. In Germany, they stage dramatic spectacles on the Japanese spirit... Admiral Togo possesses the Japanese spirit and the local fishmonger has it as well. Swindlers, mountebanks and murderers also have the Japanese spirit... Now if you ask, “Well, what exactly is this Japanese spirit?”, they say in reply “Why it's the Japanese spirit of course!”, and walk on. Then, after they've gone five or six paces, one can hear them clearing their throats with an hrrumph... Is the Japanese spirit triangular, or is it quadrangular? As the name indicates, the Japanese spirit is a spirit. And since it is a spirit it is always blurry and fuzzy. There's no one in Japan who hasn't had it on the tip of his tongue, but there's no one who has actually seen it. Everyone has heard about it but no one has yet encountered it. Is it, perhaps, a kind of that long-nosed braggadocio, the goblin? - Natsume Soseki

[@BDAMA2015]

まぁ観光客なら百歩譲って許すとしても、日本に住む外国人はDogenさんのように日本を好きな外国人でいてほしい 確かに日本には改善すべきポイントや世界からは異質なポイントは多々あるけれど、例え外国人がそれらのポイントを気に入らなかったとしても、「じゃあ君は国に帰れば良いじゃん」と言われるような意見ではなく、全員にとってより良い国になるような建設的な意見であってほしい。それと、日本という国の個性を認めてほしい

[@唐辛子-m8s]

ただの「日本が好き」ではなく、日本社会を理解すること本当に一番大事だと思います。

[@ferretyluv]

We love Japan. I want Japan to be better. I love how Japan has supported and held onto traditional arts and crafts. But how is anyone supposed to have time for kids if they’re working 100 hour weeks? The other problem is the lack of political will among the youth. They have every reason to be disillusioned, but change only comes when you vote, even if it’s for the anti-NHK party!

[@ClaroKirari]

@@ferretyluv100時間も働くわけが無いww

[@Flower-bb1on]

@@ClaroKirariこれだよねww 日本人が外国人の行動を誇張して受け取りやすいのと同様、外国人の中にも日本に住んでいながらも特に差別的で1人の日本人に対する行動を誇張したり、偏見を鵜呑みにしやすいことがあるww

[@CrsdrsWrStnsts]

建設的な意見であってほしいのは同感だがネトウヨみたいな奴らが大勢ネット上にもリアルにも掃いて捨てるほどいてこいつらは自分達が人類のガンだと理解していないし浮いてる自覚もないからまずは日本人が「お前ら滑ってるよ」と教えてあげることが重要では

[@cinnamon-3047]

Dogen-san, I thought you would say at a certain point that this "resolve" was part of the problem. You even referenced game development, an industry where "crunching" is expected and a widely known issue. Overworking yourself to death, having no work-life balance, having no place in society without a job... Is this the Japanese spirit? I would for sure not want to have children in this situation. I would prefer my father to support my mother, who was in labor, at the moment I was born. A product, a delivery, can be changed and matters only financially, but a son (and his mother!) would forever remember father wasn't there.

[@JF_76]

Thank you, fully agree. I also think that the argument made in this video is not at all well thought-out.

[@ShaiyanHossain]

@@cinnamon-3047 he is not praising anything about that resolve

[@cinnamon-3047]

@@ShaiyanHossain I am sorry, but have you not watched the video? I will transcript it, starting on 1:13: "I believe that Japan's greatest asset is the work ethic and team spirit of its people. When something needs to be done, essentially everyone will step up to the plate and do their absolute best. In order to achieve a goal or benefit others, many Japanese people will work tirelessly - to the point of sacrificing their own well-being." (Interview with director) Starting on 2:25 "This is Japanese resolve. People will readily pull back-to-back all nighters - they'll sit out the delivery of their own child to get the job done. I believe this resolve is why Final Fantasy VII became the masterpiece that it is." You can disagree with me, but please speak truthfully. Dogen clearly praised this resolve and made the argument FFVII was a masterpiece because of this resolve.

[@ShaiyanHossain]

@@cinnamon-3047 the poiny of the ff reference is that the game is only good because people were willing to throw away their personal lives at it. He wouldn't have brought it up if it weren't to critique it

[@michaelvossen7253]

I agree that Dogen's argument was praising the wrong aspect of Japanese work ethic. But the point he was trying to make was that Japan's "collective resolve" isn't going to be enough. There are Japanese people who give their entire selves to raising children or helping their community. But their efforts alone are not going to reverse a declining population. Dogen is saying that foreign residents are coming in, with or without new immigration policies, and that it's on the foreigners already here to help set good examples.

[@heikachan8052]

TLDR everybody is bad, so let's be nice to each other I once came to the conclusion that what is polite is very different in every country, and what is polite in yours can be rude in someone else. I watched something on KZbin that Japanese people are so polite, and they do this and that, and I was "but this is rude in my country"; and it was said that American service is the best, and I was "but this is rude in my country"; and when I worked in London I was shocked how my colleague talked with his kids on the phone, and I was "I'm rude in this country". Every culture have different definition of what is acceptable and what is polite and rude, as a person visiting you should "read the room" and do as locals do, and Japanese people also should "read the room" and understand that not everybody knows all of Japanese etiquette and just react if something is not right (if you say something in your native language often times you can be understood in some way just from the tone and gestures)

[@dairenn]

Indeed, 空気を読めない人 can be from any country.

[@bakuchirider]

実際（今のところ）日本人は外国人を嫌いではないです、純血主義の人なんて見たことない。キャラによってはガイジンタレントが成り立つくらい人気者にもなれる、そんな国はあまりないと思う。これは昔からそうで、フィリピンなどから日本にお嫁に来た女性達も「キャラによっては」とてもかわいがられ、人気も出て快適に過ごした（今は結構高齢）。 問題はむしろ「どんな人なら歓迎か」という条件面の話を私達日本人がしていないことでしょう。どこの国でもある程度の同化は求められる。そのレベルが日本は高いかも知れない。そうだとしても、私達は「どんな人に来てほしいか」を忌憚なく話し、伝えるべきでしょう。

[@CrsdrsWrStnsts]

地方による 場所によっては非常に差別的 東京一つとっても名古屋よりは確実に差別的（というか排他的で押し付けがましい） でこれは同じ日本人に対しても同じ 性格悪い人は基本誰にでも悪い しかし外人という分かりやすいターゲットがいればそれが皆の共通の敵になるから敵の敵は味方理論でクズは群れだしてひたすらその一人の外人だけが損する状況になる 俺はずっと日本に住んでるからよーく知ってる それをあたかも日本にファシストは居ないとか差別はないとか選民思想がないとか言ってもこいつは何を言ってるんだとしか思わないね

[@bakuchirider]

@CrsdrsWrStnsts はい、日本って普通の国ですから。普通の国には嫌なやつも差別もありますから。普通の国は、我が国に相応しい人という条件と、移民の数を政策的に決めますから。ちなみに、そういうのは日本人どうしてもあるので、つまり普通の人々が住む普通の国ですよ？

[@haika-mv7mk]

@@CrsdrsWrStnsts突然のコメントすみません。質問させてください。外国の方が「差別」や「クズ」、「性格悪い」などの表現を使われるのを目にしたことがありますが、興味があるのでその内実を具体的に教えて下さいませんか。人の性格面や振る舞いの意味の解釈に、価値観やVibesや文化ニュアンスの違いによる状況判断の差があまり表現されず、断定的に人の性格や思想を一方的に描写するのはあまりにも結論ありきで絶対的で日本人には把握しにくいと思います。 ①排他的で押し付けがましい、とは具体的にどういう行為ですか？ ②共通の敵になっている、群れている、というのはどの様に分かるのですか？お訊きになられたのでしょうか？ ③ファシストや選民思想という言葉はどういう基準で現実に当て嵌めますか？

[@dairenn]

My experience has been the society here is generally on the same page with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ideal of judging one by the content of their character, not by their skin. I make the effort to try as hard as I can conduct myself and communicate to the best of my ability and in exchange, I've had some of the best experiences of my entire life. I can almost hardly believe it. Like the video points out, they kinda get it--that if my grammar is a bit off or I make a mistake with seating order or whatever, they get it; I'm a 44 year old man who's been living in another country his whole life. What seems to make the right impression is 2 things: they can tell I'm making an effort to adapt to life here as a local and, b) integrity (I do what I say and say what I do honestly; I don't pull that L.A. thing where I just don't show up or I'm late for no good reason). Having integrity and trying one's best is of course the right way to go anywhere in the world you go, but it seems to be particularly helpful in a place like Japan.

[@ネロ帝-g3u]

@@dairenn長いw

[@あのねクリオネ透けてるハート]

え、最後まで真面目な話じゃん！？ なんかありがとうね

[@krissydiggs]

THanks for making this video. I live in Japan and as I see more and more stupidity coming from the internet with regard to "the way Japan is" and the way I see tourists acting, I start to get afraid that people like me who love living here and try my best to do right by the community will start to be looked at negatively even if we have been trying our best all along. I love Japan. I want to make it my home. I want to raise a family here and I want them to grow up and learn all the wonderful things Japan has to offer socially and culturally. I hope that won't become difficult in the future.

[@dairenn]

My philosophy is: generalize when dealing with the general public, but pay attention the individual in front of you. I think that as we all build up our individual relationships and develop personal reputations with those people that we know personally, you yourself move from being "that overseas person that I know" to "Krissy." Or at least, that's how it should work. My interaction with the people that I know in Japan is mostly along these lines. They get that I'm not Japanese 'cause that's obvious; so, past that, the people I know focus on who I am--what I do, what I seem to value or believe in. Even in encounters that I had that were not so good, they were thankfully based on Personal disagreements between myself and that person for reasons specific to us. I think a lot of the people here in Japan have that kind of mind set--they're focused on your behavior when it comes to you, and you alone, when they meet you. This ends up being not so closely related, then, to the behavior on the part of others--even if they're from the same country as yourself.

[@calleflygare746]

Working long hours isn't the same as working effective hours. You need rest to perform well, especially if it is complex or creative work. And who wants to have a family of you live only for working.

[@renogi9701]

Japan’s decline is due to its persistent austerity policy although Japan is in deflation since 1998. Immigration (importing cheap workers) is not a solution but a problem which comes in addition to the existing ones.

[@Thelixful]

Agreed. It's like If we compare USA and China. The US has roughly 300 000 population and is number one in terms of economy, military section. But in order to get same progress for chinese need to get 1.5 billion people. It's not bad, everyone make it as they can, but it's also a defferent approach.

[@user-idiot]

As a person who born in Japan, grew up in Japan and live in Japan, this video is a touching speech that it almost made me cry. But... after I saw comment section, I realized something. In this video, Dogen refers only how foreigners should act, in order to solve Japan's declining population by immigration. I think that's kinda off the mark. The problems around immigration is responsiblity of Japan, not the immigrants. Of course there are many things immigrants should do and not to, as Dogen said, but what comes first is the things we Japanese people should do to them, especially when Japan is the one that needs help.

[@AhnafAbdullah]

外国人から ありがとう。

[@jannepeltonen2036]

Well, I guess, but I think Dogen is better positioned to address the immigrant side of the equation. I think it's kind of everyone's responsibility to get along

[@david-2]

A nice sentiment, but extremely naive. If Japan adapts to foreigners, rather than them adapting to Japan, then you will soon see a country you don't recognise as your own.

[@simonm8221]

As other remarked, Dogen does not fall for the “they should do this” (easy preach) but responsibly thinks “what can I do on my part” to address an issue. Lead by example, not by telling others what they should/should not do. I appreciated this video so much on so many levels.

[@Whitepawprint]

​@@simonm8221I kind of think it was the opposite? The message read to me pretty clearly as "this is what foreigners shouldn't do"

[@若いゴジラ]

I do not live in Japan but spend a significant amount of time there through work. Anecdotally, in Shibuya/Central Kyoto there seems to be a significant rise in social media influencer presence conducting public-nuisance 'skits' among American (tourists?) nationals which won't help the image of foreign presence within Japan. On top of that, I feel like some cultures, mainly (again) American *can* be loud and boisterous which contrasts the reserved domestic nature.

[@alexkozliayev9902]

I's funny that there are americans worrying about immigrants in japan, implying that those are arab immigrants or what not. While in actuality most mishaps are from americans. Maybe japan need to introduce visa for americans, because they are too relaxed. Majority of countries have visa-free pass for americans, maybe they need to learn what paperwork is and taste some immigration policies from the receiving side

[@IamSuperEffective]

@@alexkozliayev9902 Where did he say Arab immigrants? But yeah I agree, Americans are the worst tourists, even worse than the Chinese which is saying something

[@bitfreakazoid]

@@alexkozliayev9902 Except most mishaps aren't from Americans.

[@alexkozliayev9902]

@@bitfreakazoid at least those that was sound in media. Jake Paul, Johny Somali, that guy that danced on the subway recently. To be fair, i know that any tourist or immigrant can create troubles. It's just funny to me, that americans think that african or middle-eastern people are problem there, while in actuality it's often from US, Europe or China

[@bitfreakazoid]

​@@alexkozliayev9902 Cool, you named two overt American's that go out of their way to be a problem and film what they do. Meanwhile the ones that aren't and are a problem simply because of their culture that they are importing in... Yeah, Johnny Somali, aka Ramsey Khalid Ismael.

[@KernsTheAntiGoth]

This should be a worldwide sentiment that all people try to remember. Thank you, Dogen.

[@とら8888]

日本が好きで日本語を勉強してコミュニケーションをとってくれる移住者がいい。80万人以上いる在日中国人コミュニティの中には、中国人が経営するアパートに住み、中国人向けスーパーに行き、中国人と働き、全て中国語で生活できる経済圏が出来てるとか。短期ならいい。でも長く住むなら日本の言語と文化を尊重してほしい。

[@noripee8278]

長文失礼します。 経済圏が出来てる〝とか〟って言ってるのは、人から聞いた話だからですか？ だとしたら、ここでDogenさんが批判してるTwitterの発言と変わらないと思うのですが…？ 外国人に日本語を教えるボランティアをしてますが、中国人の努力はすごいです。大半は日本人と働いてます。アパートの経営者まではわかりませんが、日本人経営のアパートに住めないか、住めたとしても誰かが指定日以外にゴミを出したら真っ先に疑われるくらいなら、同じ国の人が経営するアパートに住みたい気持ちはわかります。日常的に中国のスーパーに行ってる人なんて聞いたことないですが、それはどうでもいい話だと思います。 Dogenさんが言ってるように、日本人は、〝やらなければならないと決まっていることを黙ってやり続ける〟ことにかけては、トップレベルだと思います。 ただ〝何が自分にとって必要か見極めて自発的に努力する〟ことにかけては、かなり低レベルだと思うし、それにかけての中国人はめちゃくちゃ高レベルだと思います。 自分が海外に住んでいた経験から言って、外国の言語と文化を習得することにかけては、日本人より中国人の方が優れていると思います。日本人は、〝静かに清潔にお行儀よくすごす〟ことばかり気にして、それ以外のことを軽視しすぎてると思います。

[@こんにゃく-c2h]

@@noripee8278日本人ですが、本当に同感です。在日中国人の知人が何人かいますが、皆日本のことをよく理解し尊重しています。そして、多くの日本人が中国や中国人に対して良くないイメージを持っていることを理解しています。だからと言って日本に対して文句ばかりというわけでは決してないです。私の知人は、こんなことも知ってるの？というレベルで日本の芸能から言葉まで知っていていつも驚かされます。ごく一部のうるさい人が悪目立ちしているだけです。声なき中国人にも耳を傾けてほしいと思います。 そして私もDogenや私の知り合いの中国人のように、違う文化を理解できる日本人でいたいなと思うし、そのために、日本のあまり良くないところも認める必要があるときもあると思います。。。 ちなみにですが、海外に留学した友人はアジアスーパー買った日本食ばかり食べています笑　やっぱりごはんは慣れ親しんだ食べ物が一番美味しいですよね。

[@xtr.7662]

Wait until you learn that the chinese are the ones that most assimilate to japanese culture while other foreigners like americans or brazillians create their own ghettos

[@NN-dt7bt]

@@こんにゃく-c2h 知人の話しではなく。奈良の鹿を蹴りビニールを食べさせる中国人が多い事をどう思いますか。国有地で勝手に畑を作ってしまう中国人は？飲酒運転で人をひき〇しておきながら救急車を呼ばずに煙草を吸っていた中国人は？中国で10歳の日本人を刺し〇した中国人は？　だから日本人はお花畑と言われるんです。

[@NN-dt7bt]

@@noripee8278 あなたの発言は日本人下げしているだけです。高度経済成長を支えたのは日本人です。日本人は努力してきましたし、あなたが知らないだけで努力している日本人は沢山います。日本に住むなら日本のルールを守るのが当たり前です。その国に馴染もうともしないで同じ人種で固まっていたら海外に出た意味は何ですか？お金を稼ぐのが目的でしょうか。私は海外に住んでいますが同じ国出身者をバカにする人はほぼいません。今まで何を見てきたの。

[@TheStellarJay]

Never heard so much facts in my life. I made a video about japan upon getting back from studying abroad and I too feel like throwing my phone across the room when reading the comments about how Japanese people are xenophobic or they suck. Even like the top comment on the video is like that. I hate the entire notion of people saying "Japanese people are ____" as if they're a hive mind that thinks exactly one way, people who say that are the actual racists IMO.

[@MatthewSlocum-j5z]

Totally agree with you

[@CerridwenAwel]

But it's pretty ironic, considering that's what they do to the entire rest of the world.

[@MCNeko6554]

Gee, that work ethic is so amazing that for some reason people aren't having children... It's kind of hard to make the next generation when companies are sending their businessmen across the country and away from their wives, if they even have the chance to find one! There needs to be a work-life balance for people or there won't BE people. You don't need all-nighters or to miss the birth of your child to make a good product. As a game developer, I believe that the reason so many AAA studios release mediocre (or worse) games is because of corporate greed and a narrow outlook on quarterly returns. Indie developers can make fantastic games in a fraction of the time and with an infinitely smaller budget than AAA studios. Why? Passion. Because they have to -- there's no massive financial backdrop to save them from failure while at the same time they don't have a big name to get people to buy their game if it sucks.

[@ArchangelAurora]

may I ask, as a game dev, do you understand why games have to be released at such a fixed schedule? I mean they are not critical piece of software, nobody dies if a game gets released 6 months later and nowadays many games release with a lot of bugs and cut/missing content. As a gamer I'd much prefer a game to be good and bug free than having it a few months earlier. To me those deadlines feel very arbitrary.

[@jonasw3945]

That work ethic existed since forever and people did in fact have kids, working long hours doesn't prevent you from having kids and the 60s, 70s and 80s generation of Japanese people are a proof of that

[@alexkozliayev9902]

@@ArchangelAurora every month of development is money. Also, game release dates are planned to correspond with holiday and not overlap with big releases. Wrong release time can really bring sales down

[@shin-ishikiri-no]

@@jonasw3945 Yeah this is a Western idea that needs to be reexamined. It sounds like an excuse for laziness.

[@bbb-fs8ff]

I am Japanese, and to begin with, Japanese people are ethnically not inclined to have many children, and are tolerant of single people. However, in the past, there was a political movement to encourage people to have many children, which led to the phenomenon of the baby boomer generation, which was actually unnatural. However, now, coupled with the recession, fewer people are forcing themselves to have children. As a Japanese person, it is a natural phenomenon. The population will shrink, but it will settle at the original, natural population level and will not reach zero. As Japanese people, we don't like the low birth rate and aging population, but we are not worried about the population decline. Foreigners who feel it is their mission to get married and have children will come in without being invited, so we don't think immigrants are the saviors who will stop the population decline.

[@t.k.8892]

日本の移民問題に対する在日外国人ならではの視点、大変興味深いと思いました。 生まれてから今までほとんどの期間ずっと日本に住んでいた日本国籍保持者の私としては、「日本に対する文句を外国人がSNSで呟かない」と言うのは日本人の反外国人感情を抑える上で一定の効果があるだろうし、それが在日外国人に取れるほぼ唯一の対抗策なのだけれど、同時にそれは極めて対症療法的だし、それを広い範囲で徹底するのは難しいだろうとも思いました。結局のところ、この問題の根本は外国から日本にやってくる人たちを勝手に「外国人」として雑にグルーピングして、そのグループを構成する人々のうちのひとりがやらかした失態を、何故かその他の構成員にも連対的に負わせるという日本人の非論理的なマインドにあります。そしてこれは別に日本に限ったことではなく世界中で起きていることなので、人間が人間である限り完全に無くすことは難しいだろう、と言う仮説も成り立ちます。 道元さんの言うとおり移民を受け入れないことには日本の経済は衰退する一方です。しかしながら、日本国内に外国人が増えることによって日本人の中で反外国人感情が増幅し、それによって不利益を被る在日外国人が増えたり、日本人の国際的な評判が下がってしまうのも避けられないのではないか、と私は考えています。 私に考えられる最もマシな対策としては、「外国人を一括りにしてものごとを語るのは間違いで、一人ひとりをその人個人として扱うべきだ」という考え方を日本人の間に広めること、そして「誹謗中傷を含まない、自分と異なる意見に対して日本人が寛容になること」ですが、こういったものすら効果は限定的であると感じざるを得ません。 いつか世界中の人間の国家間の行き来がより活発になり、文化や価値観の平均化がより進んでカルチュラルギャップが無くならない限り、この問題は解決しないかもしれません。

[@ILLUMINATED-1]

The fact of the matter though is immigration will absolutely lead to these events, it does not matter how stringent the standards are. It must be accepted that immigration means, by definition, violation of societal norms and potential for disruption. I am frankly getting tired of people pretending the issue is not real. If it means Japan must do it to avoid oblivion, rather than relax their burdensome economic attitude, then Japan will simply not be Japan anymore, but another globalist economic hub. If thats what Japan wants that is fine. That is not what I want for my country.

[@GhostOfLorelei]

Apologies for responding in English, I don't speak Japanese well and am relying on Google's translation of your comments. I very much agree with something I saw in the translation: "The best countermeasure I can think of is to spread the idea among Japanese people that it is a mistake to lump all foreigners togrether." Again, apologies if the translation missed the spirit of what you are saying, but, I find myself agreeing with this sentiment very strongly and just wanted you to know. I encourage people I know (in America) to try to view Japanese in the same way. Not as a homogenous group, but as a country of people with varying opinions and interests. I think it's the best way to view all people, Japanese, American or otherwise. Again, apologies if the translation was incorrect and if my response lacks nuance as a result. I just wanted to say that I agree with what I read and do my best to do the same from my side as well.

[@loafer144]

このご意見ありがとうございます。日本に引っ越すつもりのアメリカ人としてこのビデオを見てほぼ同じことを思って、日本人の方にもこういう考え方を見られて嬉しいです。道元さんの心配ももちろん共感できますがもっと根深い問題なのではないかとですね。この移民の問題で政治的な力のバランスは圧倒的に日本側にあるゆえに、在日外国人に大半の責任を負わせるのは平等公正ではないかもしれません。しかし日本文化の外国への態度の影響で（鎖国、尊王攘夷などの文化歴史もありますし）、そして変化への一般的な抵抗、寛容で優しい行動だけで解けては少し信じがたいものだと思います。 ちょっとだるいかもしれないんですが納得のできる解決は今の私にはまだありません。

[@Purwapada]

its a linguistic problem because east asian countries use the word 'gaijin' or it's cognates or 'falang'/barang in thailand/cambodia. This produces and insular culture.

[@nasei8370]

失態をグループの人に連帯的に負わせているわけでは無いと思います。単純な認知をして予測不可能性を避けたい人間の性で、イメージを付与してしまうのだと思います。心理的にバランスを保つという意味では自然なのかもしれません。 ①「大きく主語を一括りにするのは間違い」との考えは理解できますが、実際不可能だと思います。外国の方でも日本人の特定の属性（性別・年代・地域）を認識しつつ語る事（直接的であれ間接的であれ）はあります。ご本人の経験を踏まえた問題意識と会話の意図によると思いますし無くすのは難しいと感じています。 ②「日本人は異なる意見に寛容に」というのはよく聞くのですが、寛容というのはどういう態度でしょうか。日本人は割と同意しなくても強く非難しませんし、命令したり、他人の性格や状況判断を断定的に描写して言い放つことはあまり無いと思います。対話相手へのフォローや言葉がけなどは文化により違うかもしれませんが。 ③論理的というのはどういうものでしょうか。自然の法則に従うという意味でしょうか？何か道徳的な規範に従うということでしょうか？

[@deji39]

出資者や経営者が、誰でもいいから「最低時給」「最低時給以下」で働いてくれる人を求めすぎています。

[@noripee8278]

その前に、高い時給でも働いてくれる日本人がいないのでは❓

[@NattouNingen]

うちが外国人を多く雇ってる理由は二つ。 一つは、もちろん国や人によるけど、外国人の方が優秀だから。 もう一つをよく覚えておいて。働いてくれる日本人がいないんだよ。人口が減ったせいもあるけど、無職でも現場で働きたがらない日本人が増えたんだよ。 ちなみにうちは日本人も外国人も給料は同じだよ。外国人が多い職種は、平均的な日本人の給料よりかなり高い。でも日本人はやりたがらないしやってもすぐ辞める。事務職の給料はそれよりずっと低いけど、日本人はそっちをやりたがる。 俺には普通のサラリーマンの友達も多いけど、サラリーマンより現場勤務、同じ仕事なら日本人より外国人の方が子供がいる人がずっと多い。 現場で働きたくない、子供も欲しくない人に無理強いはしない。でも、移民が増えてる原因が自分達にあることから目をそらして政治家や経営者のせいにするのやめてもらえないかな？

[@lyua6976]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@NattouNingen「労働移民は賃金低下を招く」ということが既に研究で示されています 現在の人手不足とは、単に低賃金で働く労働者が不足しているだけです あと、資本家、政治家でもなく決定権もない庶民に責任転嫁するのは完全にお門違い

[@NN-dt7bt]

@@NattouNingen 外国人だからあなたのような経営者がいる場所でも文句を言わずにお金のために働いてくれるんでしょう。もう一つは左派メディアが80年代頃？から３Kと言い出したからじゃないですか。工場勤務をまるで悪い事のように印象操作しました。

[@大好きスピリチュアル]

@@NattouNingen 外国人の方が優秀だからって、あまりにも抽象的。

[@582keynes3]

話の趣旨はきちんと理解出来ました。単なる注意や「馬鹿だなもう」が移民排斥に発展する可能性がないとは言えないからね。ドイツやフランスはヘイトも溜まっていたりする。そう言う世界の情勢を知った上で、話しているだろう事は理解出来ます。日本人全員がお人好しで、外国人に寛容な訳では無い。

[@Kibouo]

I tend to agree with your main message, but certain points don’t sit quite right with me. It’s of course true that blanket généralisations such as “Japan is xenophobic” doesn’t contribute to any kind of constructive dialogue, and isn’t the way to forge a meaningful coexistence with Japanese people. However, a lot of these statements are borne out of built up anger and fatigue over cumulative years, based on real experiences, which I don’t think should just be callously dismissed with a 「まじやめて」. That’s equally non constructive and doesn’t progress the necessary dialogue and mutual understanding required if Japan has an increasing number of immigrants. I certainly agree that the burden of compromise is more on the immigrant coming into a foreign country, but it’s also on Japanese people (as it would be in any other country) to have at least some level of understanding and sympathy for foreigners. We should expect foreigners to follow very basic common sense rules in public spaces, but it’s unrealistic for foreigners to fit the exact mold of a model citizen and simply endure all of the “foreigner” treatment. I’m sure you get this, you’ve almost certainly had the “foreigner” treatment as somebody who doesn’t look Japanese, and I guess you’ve processed it in a way where you’re at peace with it now, but others may not be able to do so in the exact same way. Discussions can also be enhanced by a change of nuance - “Japan is xenophobic” is a harmful generalization, but acknowledging that xenophobia exists in Japan (as it does in other countries) and the type of xenophobia that it can sometimes manifest as (which is often different to other countries) is a worthwhile conversation to have. Yes, foreigners should be expected to adapt to Japan’s culture, but Japan needs to make this easier for foreigners to do so, as well as at least taking some steps to more understanding of cultures different to their own (which is a challenge, but a necessary one for the future). It should also be a two way street when it comes to consideration of others. The type of dialogue I tend to see is hugely biased towards how foreigners “inconvenience” and “offend” Japanese people - but when foreigners are offended, they’re seen as whiners who need to go back to their own country. As mentioned before, while there is a need to adapt to the prevalent culture of the country, the feelings of minorities should not be dismissed. One method of more positive dialogue is to explain the rationale of societal rules to foreigners who may not be aware. As I’m sure you know, it’s often enough to justify something to the average Japanese person by saying 「これはルールだから」 - the average Japanese person will probably acknowledge that as it is a rule, this will preserve harmony and cause the least issues. However, the average westerner will probably not be convinced - and will want to know *why* this is a rule. I’ve often seen Japanese people exasperatedly try to convince foreigners that something isn’t allowed because “this is the rule, you must do it, this is how it is in Japan”, which can often fall on deaf ears as there appears to be a lack of rationale. However, if it can be explained why, as well as acknowledging how this may be difficult for the foreigner (thereby making them feel heard) then I believe many more foreigners will be more willing to adapt accordingly. Right now, I don’t like this current climate of Japanese media cherry picking rowdy foreigner behavior and reveling in the foolhardiness of foreigners not following the rules, eager to pounce and correct their ways in some kind of exercise of moral superiority. Japanese media also portrays Japan as insecure in its identity, constantly needing to praise itself and assert how great it is rather than providing a more balanced view. Empathy and understanding is always needed on both sides - telling only one side to shut up and listen and change their ways will never work.

[@Dogen]

Great points!

[@fochti]

This is my favourite critique/comment so far and you expressed what went through my head while watching the video way better than I ever could

[@zaralux7959]

Nice comment

[@大好きスピリチュアル]

Realistically, it’s hard to ignore, given that incidents and crimes involving immigrants are reported on news sites almost daily. Of course, the majority of crimes in Japan are committed by Japanese people, but that doesn’t give foreigners the right to tell Japanese people to leave Japan or move abroad.

[@CerridwenAwel]

Spot on, pretty much on everything. I'm particularly guilty of the rules thing, being an attorney. But it seems to me they genuinely don't know the why for rules. They're very comfortable with blindly following, so not to stand out and be a nuisance themselves. The problem they don't see is, they're rendered defenseless to abuse, and therefore, they get prevalent. And they give the issue the "shikata ga nai" treatment. That's how stuff like the Johnny Kitagawa case gets to happen. And for them it's alright.

[@matthias6085]

thank you so much for sharing your thoughts; they help me to start understanding Japanese culture a tiny bit better. Would you like to share short videos (shorts) with typical foreigner's pitfalls due to lack of knowledge of the country and its fabulous culture? Greetings from Germany

[@TheInsanePhil]

I'm very happy you made this video. In the recent few years I have noticed a huge rise in open racism against Japan online. People saying things like "all Japanese are racist, Japanese aren't kind they are polite, Japanese people are all fake". And it's not the loud minority. I see comments like those with tens of thousands of likes, over countless videos insulting Japan and it's people. All because people might have had one negative experience and now throw everyone in the same pot. It's frustrating as an outsider looking in so I can't imagine how insulting and painful it must be for Japanese people to read and hear comments like that.

[@inendlesspain4724]

YT keeps deleting my replies here, so let's see if I can make it brief. Social media platforms are doing it on purpose.

[@bitfreakazoid]

There has been a leftist push to trash Japan because the left REALLY hates Japan as they see them as white Asians basically. Japan has done fairly well at holding off leftist influence and the left really hates this.

[@YOSSHI_MK2]

分かる。最近日本下げの発信が増えた

[@bbb-fs8ff]

I am a Japanese person who agrees with your opinion. On the internet, I have been bombarded with comments from many foreigners such as "Japanese people cheat," "Japanese people are male chauvinists," "Japanese people should stop hunting whales," "foreigner seats," "Japanese people are kind on the surface, but deep down they don't like foreigners and discriminate against them." Everyone is very interested in Japan, but for some reason they think such things about Japanese people. On the contrary, it is Japanese people who are discriminated against by foreigners.

[@Fukiyashige]

I too noticed there are so many fake/misleading stories about Japan on reddit and people upvoting that. Everything became exactly the copy and paste of Weibo now. Thank you for not joining them.

[@usucktoo]

Thanks for this Dogen. Promoting kindness and compassion is something more youtubers should do. And for those in Japan who are having a bad day and wanna lash out at the Japanese, how would u feel if expats in your own country generalize you as a person to only the worst facets of your culture?

[@Gr95dc]

8:28 this has already happened in Mexico with "ex pats" (term than in on itself is insulting to say the least and racist to be honest). We are normally a very welcoming culture and for a long time you only had to say that you liked Mexico to be welcomed with open arms. But the amount of disrespect an gentrification we as natives are experiencing has reached a point very close to breaking, and by this I mean, I have already seen posts and heard comments in person, inciting violence against "ex pats". I'm not against immigration, but if you're going to be living in a different country than yours, please try to adapt, be respectful of the culture, food, language and specially, of the native people living there.

[@bbb-fs8ff]

そうです。日本人もメキシコ人もとても優しくフレンドリーな民族です。 性善説で日本人を見ようとする外国人が一定数存在します。

[@tearsforthedying]

このビデオを本当にありがとうございます。おかげで移民問題についてより明確に理解することができました。 Thank you for this video, it helped me better understand the nuances of immigration in Japan.

[@Deidde]

I'm not Japanese. What makes Japan Japanese? Is it the ethnic Japanese who broadly share a common history and culture? Japan has a declining birthrate. Will more immigration remedy the birthrate? It doesn't seem to be the case in other countries that have tried the same thing. Okay, so the economy is suffering and immigration will help boost the population of younger working-age people due to the declining birthrate. Since some amount of immigration won't fix the low birthrate, it means more growth = more immigration, persistently. If the ethnic Japanese and its culture maintain a low (below replacement even) birthrate while a hodgepodge of immigrants with their own cultures (and often their own families) continue to take permanent residence in Japan each year, the Japanese population shrinks while the foreign national population increases. Today, Tokyo is around 95% Japanese, with just under 5% being foreign nationals. Yeah, Tokyo seems like a Japanese city to me. If, in 40 years, Tokyo is 35% Japanese, would you still call it a Japanese city? Surely it would be better if immigration was carefully managed, so that it's small and high quality. Where the people - as you mentioned in a previous video - feel at home in the Japanese culture and want to naturalise. I think it's a fool's quest to haphazardly increase immigration without any discussion of the important caveats and limitations. I suppose it's ultimately up to the general population of Japanese to decide for themselves, assuming their opinion gets taken into account by the policy makers (which is not always a given). Finally, I don't think any of my argumentation above detracts from your message of mutual respect. I support that, with the addition of just a little more respect for the host in polite society.

[@makesu_]

excellent comment I wholeheartedly agree with! Keep Japan for Japanese. Immigration should result in naturalization. And I do not want Tokyo to be 35% Japanese in the future. I came here because of my love to Japan and Japanese culture, its language and Japanese people. If Tokyo becomes 35% Japanese, the crime rates will SKYROCKET. Forget about having a good life then. Europe and the US are excellent examples of what happens when you let anyone in your country wihout a proper filtering

[@sari4293]

何が日本を日本人たらしめているのか？それは人に迷惑をかけない精神があるかないかです。思いやりとか気配りの基本です。これがある外国人は共存できるし分かり合えると思う。これがあれば韓国人も中国人もベトナム人もクルド人もどんな国の人も尊敬されます。さらに感謝の心があれば言うことなしです。違う歴史や文化でも日本ではこれがあればいいだけです。

[@Lock2002ful]

@@makesu_ Gotta love those rightwing US foreigners who want to tell japanese people to keep Japan japanese. 😂 Who tf do you think you are? You are a child, a friggin student? How about you learn your place and some respect before talking about others.

[@david-2]

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Immigration is not working well in the West, and I don't think it will work in Japan. The big problem is that you won't know the true impact of mass immigration until it's practically too late to reverse.

[@david-2]

@@sari4293 Please trust me when I say that this spirit is extremely rare in most cultures. I'm not saying these people are bad, but they are sufficiently different that they will not blend into Japan well. From what I've seen in the UK, society will splinter into multiple ethnic interest groups, and the harmony that Japan is known for will be gone.

[@yueplushart]

日本の人口減少について、文字通りインフラさえ維持できなくなる前に、立ち行かなくなる前に…いずれ私たちもどこかの段階で考えなきゃならないんですが Dogen先生が率先して考えを動画で共有してくださって助かりました。確かにおっしゃる通りなんですけど、やっぱり一番の難しさは言語の壁なんだろうなと思います… Most random grandpas or granmas living in Japan only speak their native language, Japanese, so speaking to them in a language other than Japanese might scare them off... but thank you for your video! Dogen-Sensei!

[@merymemes3598]

I'll be up front: were you invited to dinner at an embassy ?

[@bomoronro]

A humble and wonderful video. For foreigners, knowing a few Japanese manners can certainly make things go more smoothly (and I think a bit of Japanese language skills will also help with this). But I hope this video also encourages some reflection on the way work is done in Japan. Wages in Japan are low. People work themselves to the point of exhaustion, literally working to death. Many young people are giving up on having children because the demands are simply too severe. Poverty is clearly on the rise. To break through this situation, I hope that not only Japanese people but everyone living in Japan will come together to consider these issues and work towards overcoming them.

[@eodis1644]

For once i'll have to disagree almost entirely with one of your video and you are missing the point. - Yes Japan accomplished great things (and still does), does it mean it's due mostly to their work culture and spirit ? Hell no, you mention Toyota, FF7, Elden Ring but Japan is not the only country is the world to produce great cars and games. Quality and success happens in most modern countries so the key to unlock such a thing is much wider and can be leveraged by a lot of other things without having to tick that box. - Immigration can help but it can't be the solution. Multiple reasons for that. One of them being Japan has a high barrier for entry not because of visa acquisition which is actually quite flexible now already, but due to the nature of its language hard to acquire and the working culture you consider as a positive thing. Which healthy mind is seriously considering moving somewhere and build a family where you'd have to put a very high amount of hours, no holidays and a pay check which doesn't make up for it all while learning one of the most complicated language in the world ? And for the few who are doing it, they will adopt the same behavior as japanese people after the first generation which means you would be in constant need of fresh immigration. The fix is simple. People want to get paid more and work less. Do that then they will start making babies again.

[@isaza5716]

I dont think his take on the work culture was overall positive but just a describtion. And no, the work culture is NOT the problem but both parents have to work. Just the same as in the west. More pay, less work... kind of as you said.

[@bushy9780]

the key problem is sacrificing everything for GDP. Overwork, dual income, immigration, all symptoms. I thought they would have learned their lesson from the Plaza Accord, the financial crisis of '08, and the recent rona. The global game of monopoly isn't worth it.

[@kana2491]

最後の部分見て 道元さんほんとに優しい😢 日本に来てくれてありがとう🙏

[@piano_beginner]

30年前の平均と比べて所得は上がっているはずなのに 重税のせいで可処分所得がほぼ変わらない。 日本人は政治が苦手なんだろうね… そして過剰に大手メディアの発信を鵜呑みにする。 そこにあやかって大した志もなく職業政治家になろうとする輩が大量発生しているのも問題だね。 そして、若者の投票率が低い原因の一つとして 停滞の元となった低品質政治を見てきたから希望を見い出せない、が正しいと思う。 それを変えるには結局投票…と堂々巡り シンプルに投票は行った方がいい。

[@LeeLloyd]

I love it here in Japan, it is why I moved here. And just for the record, my overwhelming experience has been people being helpful, welcoming, and patient with me. But are you seriously saying the foreigners who are getting treated with hostility are to blame for the hostility, because they dared to complain about it online? Dude, I am 100% certain that the round the clock news stories about tourists behaving badly have a lot more to do with anti-foreigner sentiment, than some random person complaining on Twitter. I mean come on man, you don't have to look very hard to find Japanese people pulling pranks and dancing in busy intersections for social media attention. I've seen it several times with my own eyes, especially in Shibuya. That doesn't make the national news as a story about Japanese people causing inconvenience and acting badly. But make it a foreigner, and especially a westerner or African, and it will be the top story on NHK tonight. I get that you are trying to be "one of the good ones" who doesn't cause problems, but as someone who grew up in one of the most multicultural cities on Earth, I've had a lifetime to see what does and doesn't work, and I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, this "love it or leave it, my way or the highway, if you don't like like it go back to where you came from" attitude does not work in the long run. It creates exactly the resentment and lack of assimilation you are trying to avoid. Even according to Japan's own politicians, Japan is not in a position where they can afford to just close themselves off from the rest of the world. So just like every other country on Earth, they are going to have to figure out some way to make immigration work for their society. It is a global economy, and the days where any nation can just choose to not participate outside their own borders are long gone. The only pathway forward that actually works in this globalized world, is mutual respect of the advantages of different cultures, a willingness by both parties to learn and accommodate some differences, and a cross cultural understanding that is very different from the "in Japan the Japanese are always right, and if you think otherwise, then you are the problem" attitude you are promoting. That kind of attitude is always going to lead to people who feel second-class, and end up creating insular ethnic communities that fail to assimilate.

[@ジャスティン-o4z]

I agree wholeheartedly. I wasn't even aware of the breakdancing foreigner issue, but hearing about it here in this video made me go "huh? One of my Japanese dancer friends just posted a video of herself doing the exact same thing, though??" I also just think that the overall argument/video was not structured properly...

[@Dogen]

Yo, thanks for the comment-a lot of truth in what you said. Wasn't trying to say that foreigners who get treated with hostility are to blame for it, or that Japanese people are always right; the line towards the end about 'thinking before you act' (永遠に我慢しろとは言っていない。日本人だって我慢しているのを思い出した上で冷静に行動してください）was meant to communicate, 'Yes it's OK to criticize the negative parts about Japan, but please do so in a logical manner, rather lashing out at Japanese people as a whole', but the wording definitely could have been better, particularly the translation.

[@rowbearly6128]

Failure to assimilate is happening in the so called multicultured west, certain demographics are overwhelmingly criminal in behabviour and hostile to the host culture. Japan will be fine. NZ is about the same size but has under 6 million people, They are not poor nor dying. Multiculturalism has failed and is a flawed concept. Japan hould be strict with foreigners, not allow citizenship and have the option to deport anyone they want to.

[@YogeshwarVenkatesh]

I dunno, I find it disingenuous to use "oh but the Japanese do it" as a counter-argument. The onus is always on the guest to do better than the host, and to continue doing better. You wouldn't be comfortable with someone coming to your house for the first time doing as they please, even if it's something you yourself would do. It's basic territorial instinct, and complain as we may it has not changed in the history of humanity and is not going to ever change. On a societal scale that means accepting that we will always be the outsider in public, where there is always someone seeing us for the first time. If we respond with our own complaints and telling them they're doomed if they don't accept us or that they're just as bad as us, that's fighting fire with fire which never resolves anything and only ends when there's nothing left but scorched earth. This doesn't apply to just Japan either. If we can agree that the overwhelming experience *in person* has been positive, I think we're better off sucking up the hostility and occasional discrimination, and by cherishing the kindness we have been shown more. In my experience, they appreciate you a lot more when you suck it up rather than complain. Tl;dr as mentioned by another commentor is just delete Twitter. There's nothing there but the worst of both Japanese and foreign people. Complaining online will just stoke further hostility that will spread like a disease even to the otherwise indifferent average person who probably doesn't even use SNS but has that terminally online friend or relative infecting their thoughts.

[@pavlozwy768]

Yes, you're absolutely right. I’ve been to Japan and walked through bar alleys at night, and I saw plenty of locals behaving in ways that would definitely raise eyebrows if done by foreigners-shouting, littering, even riding bikes while drunk. One guy nearly crashed into me! But somehow, when Japanese people do these things, it’s overlooked as no big deal. Meanwhile, foreigners are often stereotyped as “the bad ones” who supposedly cause all the problems-eating all the rice, pizza, drinking all the water, you name it! It’s as if some people believe foreigners should only do exactly what’s “approved” by Japanese society, like we’re back in the 19th century. It’s a double standard, plain and simple. Japan, like every country today, has to figure out how to engage with the global community and welcome diversity in a way that respects everyone. This “follow everything we say or go home” mindset just isn’t realistic in our interconnected world, and it only leads to more resentment and misunderstanding.

[@matthewwilson5249]

Pretty huge miss on the game industry/work ethic comments for two reasons, the first kind of off topic from the point of video but it's in the script so still subject to critique, the second much more relevant. While, yes, there is some admirability in self sacrifice for the pursuit of something you're passionate about that could bring immense joy to many lives, implying it's uniquely Japanese and that overseas people just bicker with each other on Twitter is insulting a lot of people with nationalized generalizations, the very thing you condemn in the heart of the video. It's also not some kind of idealized state that we should be striving for; it loses all respectability once it becomes the norm. No one should be expected to make that decision (or be forced into it) over and over again. You also have to consider the other side of this: by praising coders pulling back to back all nighters and saying "This is why we got Elden Ring", you're promoting these conditions being placed on people just so you could have another video game. Is that really worth it? Are you sure we couldn't get Elden Ring without doing that to people? Did these situations even happen at From? I appreciate that it was just set up material for the true message of the video, but that fails to pay off when it itself is the performance you want to see less of in the world. I think the moral high horse clouded your judgement on the script here a little bit.

[@Dogen]

Super fair feedback, appreciate it.

[@matthewwilson5249]

@Dogen I'm glad you appreciate the feedback, I was a little worried typing it. I hope it didn't come off too harsh. I love the message you're sending with the core of the video, keep up the fantastic work ❤️

[@iota-09]

for a bit of context: yes these situations did happen at from, even miyazaki himself did pull a few all nighters, and the first major payrise in fromsoftware was after elden ring released, yes, not after sekiro which won goty, after elden ring, before that the pay in the company was... soemtimes acceptable, to put it in hopefully nice terms. the funny thing is that elden ring released with a one month delay and even then the day 1 patch changed a massive amount of things, yet quests were missing from the game til patch 1.03... the game neded at least a 3 months delay, not 1 month.

[@Ryokuo]

日本語上手ですね

[@Dogen]

まだまだです

[@socrateos]

@@Dogen ごめんなさい

[@tokyosan7906]

I just spent all of October in Japan, annual trip to visit family. I noticed a lot more foreigners in the work force this time than I ever have. I also saw more Japanese folks walking and eating this trip than my previous ten trips put together. Things are changing.

[@EggBenis]

And I'm worried that the beauty of the nation of Japan might simply disappear into the ether.

[@bitfreakazoid]

Yup. A lot more of a certain type of foreigner work force is being pushed on Japan and it will only end in disaster.

[@Crawldragon]

As an American, I'm worried that a lot of foreigners enter Japan believing that their way of doing things is best, and being unwilling to adapt to Japanese culture. Us Westerners can be just as stubborn as the Japanese, albeit not always in the same ways. This may be why there have been so many high-profile cases of foreigners in Japan acting with brazen disrespect toward the native people and important traditions and landmarks. It's important for aspiring migrants to keep in mind that the solution won't be to change Japan to be like other countries, but to find which specific aspects of other cultures would most benefit Japan, in the same way so many cultures have benefited from integrating parts of Japanese culture. Unfortunately, this has to be a two-way street, with the local Japanese also willing to embrace and enact change, lest they move too slowly to avoid upcoming catastrophe, and that is made all the harder when foreigners are lecturing people who have, frankly, weathered natural and manmade disasters that most cultures would think inconceivable.

[@MatthewSlocum-j5z]

I am worried about how these foreigners will face the next disaster, and how Japan people will be able to cooperate with them and get back on their feet.

[@TokyoNerd]

When you go to a "foreign country" I'm surprised at how many people don't expect it to be "foreign". The country you were raised in is not (always) how the rest of the world works. It's okay not to agree with every aspect of another country, but a difference of opinion doesn't make that country "wrong" and doesn't make it right to badmouth it.

[@marym.1261]

When I visited Japan I did not realize how much inferencing I had to do, and it involved learning to be very aware of people around me - not because others might be risky like in New York, but in a way I could extend kindness. I learned a lot and I was very lucky to have a tour guide who was patient with me! 😅

[@175-xe4qf]

ここまでの内容を母語以外で発信できるのはすごいこと。またいつもながら視点もユニークで鋭く、頭がいい上に人格も優れている方なのだと再認識しました。

[@wolfevil9463]

People should learn that a country is the same as your house, you can hire a cleaner, or someone to fix something for you, however, throwing more people inside your house will not fix it if YOU don't take care of it. This is for every country out there, you can hire/import some people to help you, but, if you don't try and fix it yourself, it will not get better. Also, in the same note, if you just open your doors and let anyone in, it is not your house anymore, it's just an open space for anyone to do whatever they want...

[@dainobu10]

Excellent analogy.

[@Silk_WD]

As an outsider looking in, and from a western European perspective, it's baffling that unionization levels are so low in Japan. Japanese wages has been basically static for 30 years, and while working conditions are improving slowly, there still many examples of very worker hostile conditions. The Japanese have basically left all power of the working conditions up to the politicians and legislature, and then continuously voted for a conservative party. Sacrificing yourself for the benefit of society is all well and good, but a healthy society starts with a healthy populace.

[@bitfreakazoid]

Probably because they don't want to tank it even more with unions.

[@TANDORA__]

What is interesting is that there are many people who have never worked in Japan, but talk about how bad the working environment is in Japan or about overwork deaths. This is not to say that there are not people suffering from the terrible working environment, but not all of them do.Many people work with a reasonable amount of leisure time.There are also companies that force people to work long hours, but that is usually a trade-off for huge wages.At least we Japanese have various options for work-life balance. I don't know about the working environment outside of Japan, but is the working environment in your country ideal enough to say anything about other countries? I understand that Japan is a country that tends to be the scapegoat for everything.

[@TANDORA__]

I mean, in the first place, isn't what Mr. Dogen is criticizing in this video that attitude of preaching to us Japanese in a pompous and superior manner?What were you guys watching in this video?

[@Trainfan1055Janathan]

Me and my sister were watching "Luca" in Japanese and in one scene, a character said "Holy carp" and it was translated as an ordinary interjection in Japanese. I told my sister, "Can you imagine using this movie to learn English and thinking, 'Holy carp...' so _that's_ how you say なんてこった, not realizing that it's a _fake_ swear word?" "Um, dude, that's one of our _fish_ swears, not a _real_ one. Yeah, we also have _alien_ swears and _family-friendly_ swears. And get this, some people get offended by the fake swear words and won't let their children say them, even though they're not real." English is a weird language.😂

[@la.zanmal.]

Every language actually spoken by humans is "weird", but English does have some special weirdness to it at times. That said, of course cursing isn't going to translate well from any language to any other language. Nor will puns. (Although maybe they could have used e.g. 串 to allude to くそ? But Japanese bowdlerization just doesn't work the same way, I think.)

[@hitotsudaketsukinoko]

おー真面目な道元！良い動画 「日本語上手」だと言われると、「ぼちぼちでんな」と必ず返す。それで反応が丁寧な建前から、すぐに壁を壊してもっと本音っぽくなってくれる✌️ 大阪に住んどったから関西弁で話すのがずっとええや、「あっ　この外人本物だ」って思ってもらうようになるからな

[@TheAntinowherelane]

Missing the birth of your child to work is some Linkd-in level thinking. L take. You can have good resolve and still understand work life balance. Ironically, long work hours are likely impacting the decline in birth rates because no one has the time or energy for dating.

[@BenLeBlanc-lm5uw]

I don't think he was endorsing that behavior, rather using it to emphasize the extent to which Japanese workers prioritize institutions over their individual pursuits, specifically in a former era when the current economic and demographic concerns weren't as relevant. He uses it to punctuate, actually, why that type of work ethic is now ineffective, but the contemporary solutions (adopting multiculturalism for its economic benefits) are a joint responsibility between nationals and foreigners. Just because he thinks FFVII (the original not the remake) is a masterpiece doesn't mean he's celebrating slave-levels of labor. That's how I read it at least.

[@jonasw3945]

Long work hours culture always existed in Japan and never impacted the birth rate negatively, people worked long hours and found time to have kids and to date, work life balance is different depending on the culture, french people will look at Germans or Americans and think they do not have any work life balance, Spanish may look at all 3 and think neither do, it is all cultural, if I as a Japanese person want to stay an all nighter to finish a project in my company that I'm passionate about then how will that prevent me from going to a date the next weekend or having a child ?

[@spiderphoenix8270]

I have a plan on immigrating to Japan in a few years but when I was there, I tried my best to respect the culture as much as I could. Never had any issues of people mistreating me because I am a foreign or anything of this sort.

[@alkumhcounseling8634]

As an outside observer - I think Japan is one example of something that happens many places, in which older generations have failed to create conditions for the younger ones to succeed and have kids. Instead, they have squeezed them - not directly, but through keeping wages low, working hours longer, various other economic factors. As power remains concentrated, so does wealth. Forget Japan.- look at the city of Chicago's pension crisis. They have a situation where a police officer can end up collecting a retirement salary for MORE YEARS THAN THEY WORKED. In America, I've been guilt of blaming the boomer generation myself for such trends, but boomers are actually becoming homeless more frequently than any other generation. Overall, the boomers have hurt the millenials, but the concentration of wealth has also led to them hurting themselves tremendously as well. All this to say - I think immigration is a non-issue compared to wealth equality.

[@jukiaaa]

Although I understand this perspective to a certain point, I also think that there's issues that need to be addressed sometimes, and that avoiding saying anything to avoid offending anyone can sometimes just lets problems persist. Obviously I'm not advocating for angry ranting online, that doesn't accomplish anything, but I think there's a lot of ground between that and going "it can't be helped" and ignoring things. For example, as a foreigner from an English speaking country I'm sometimes treated differently than foreigners from other places, such as South Asia (they normally get the short end of the stick) and so sometimes in a position to be able to correct harmful stereotypes about other countries. I'm sure in cities it's different, but I live far in the countryside and for a lot of the people I see on a daily basis, I am the only foreigner they interact with. If I don't address problems when they come up, it's very possible no one ever will. When so many people speak only Japanese, it can be hard for them to perspectives on literally anything that don't come from other Japanese people. Especially as Japanese-speaking foreigners living here I think it's important to bring up and explain other perspectives to work on building understanding. Difficult topics should be handled carefully, but they should be handled rather than ignored.

[@JasonB808]

What is different about Japan than US is that Foreigners in Japan have to conform to Japanese Culture and Social Norms while in USA, it’s the Society that has to accept the Culture and Social Norms of the foreigners. The latter causes people to group themselves in their own social bubbles that create friction between other social bubbles because they don’t see eye to eye on the perceived differences. In Japan, only foreigners that successfully integrate themselves into Japanese culture and social norms can live in Japan for a long period of time. My brother works as a lead ALT in Fukuyama Japan, and he has see many ALTs that come to Japan on the JET program not being able to adapt to real Japanese life which is far different than the Anime those people watch.

[@MatthewSlocum-j5z]

So True

[@iota-09]

can i say it? i'll say it. neither(american and japanese stereotypical ways of addressing foreigners) is a good way to go about it and people should have both the balls to stand their own ground while also be understanding that people aren't born learned. nuance people, you forgota about it?

[@OsefFTW]

I got jozu'd twice in my last trip to Japan and I was super happy about these little interactions. It feels like I should have spoken a bit more but I was a bit shy, like 5 women in a bakery focusing on my and my kids, it's just weird to start a conversation. I feel like my generation (I'm 39) is getting increasingly bad at communicating with other people (the language and culture barrier just make things even worse) but it's clearly evolving into that direction. I just had this talk with my coworker about how our life is now too easy and with food delivery you can just stay home an entire week and talk to nobody.

[@ktkace]

so FF7 is basically Sweatshop : Japan edition 1994-1997 ....

[@SylvanFeanturi]

Every brilliant game was.

[@PierceArner]

That's how passion in small studios becomes ingrained as crunch culture when they become bigger corporations even in individualist cultures like America. With a more collectivist culture like Japan it means that mindset is just even more pronounced, - but in Japan the foundation isn't just from personal passion. It also comes from a cultural background where everyone CAN expect that from everyone else because it's an island nation with a disproportionate amount of natural disasters, so that type of collective community bond has always been critical to everyone's well-being for its whole history. That's what makes it especially difficult to see where that perseverance can't solve the issue with things like the aging population and relationship to helping immigrants understand those things are critical to successful integration for the long-term good of all of Japan.

[@rivalw6146]

well you clearly missed the point of the video

[@ripplecutter233]

Also elden ring. Unfortunately most successful games are made under constant crunch..

[@ToniBabelony]

You've been pumping out real bangers lately man!

[@woofwoof8282]

I really needed a video like this. I felt I changed a little bit my "pessimistic vision" about Japanese society. I think it's important for us, the foreigners living here, to be more comprehensive and forgiving as Japanese people are. Thank you so much for the video.

[@oscaraiken5484]

This should be front page news on NHK your japanese level is an inspiration 🙌 If I can get to even 3/4 the level of Dogen I'll be contented !

[@YuichiSakata]

移民問題の構造は単純な日本人vs外国人の構造ではないと思う。より正確には日本人vs文化移民vs経済移民だと思う。ここで、文化移民っていうのはDogenさんみたいにアメリカや他の裕福な国から日本文化が好きでわざわざ日本にやってくる人。経済移民は単に日本に来て稼ぎたい人。実際日本の外国人の大半は中国や東南アジアからの出稼ぎだし。

[@Lock2002ful]

稼ぐ為に他の国に移住するのは悪く無いと思うけど。 日本人だって同じ理由で別の国に移住したり別の国で生産したりするやん。 理由は何だって良い。 良い人ならどこから来たか関係ないやろう。

[@もちもち-x1l]

稼げて生活できるならいいが、実際は稼げず、犯罪に走り、社会保障費にたかり、家族を日本に呼び寄せてさらなる社会保障費(税金)を増大させてる事が問題かと。働いて自立してるならいいが、上記のような外国人がとても多いのです。老人プラス外国人のために、現役世代に負担がのしかかっています。 働き納税する日本人と税金で遊びほうける外国人の構図がもうすでに出来上がっています…

[@katosei-ss2rr]

@@Lock2002ful 日本人の話はしてないと思いますよ。受入国の文化や制度が「経済移民として受け入れて自国が影響を受けること」をどう捉えるか、や「良い人」が何を意味するか、が重要ですね。言語を共有しても実態が違うかもしれません。

[@YuichiSakata]

@@Lock2002ful一括りで悪いとは言えないけど、統計的にはやっぱり経済的な理由が強い国の人は文化が好きで来る人よりもリスペクトに欠けると思う。なにも日本人も例外じゃなくて、最近でも欧米にワーホリしに行く日本人の労働問題なんかあるし。ぶっちゃけ文化目的で渡米するやつとかおる？？

[@spring735]

⁠@@YuichiSakataもっと言うと、経済移民でも高度人材と単純労働者の二つに分かれると思います。中国や東南アジアでも前者タイプでは教育レベルも高いし優秀な人が多い。ってか中国は今や日本より豊かな国だけど。ただこの類の人は日本にはあまり来ない(ゼロではないが)。問題は日本に来るのは後者タイプが多いということ。例に挙げている日本人含め、全員ではないとはいえやはり治安を脅かすような人が一定数出てきてしまうのも実態としてある。あと、文化移民は欧米の豊かな国から、といっているが、日本に住む欧米人もピンキリで、全員がモラルが高いわけではない。この動画の人のように日本文化が好きならまだしも、自国では冴えないのに、日本にいると欧米人というだけでチヤホヤされるという理由で住み着いている類もかなりいます。個人的には、このタイプの欧米系は素行が悪く、歓迎されるべきではないかなと。 まあ、これらはあくまで傾向であって、100%そうであるわけではないし、来日目的がどうであれ、国、良い人であればいいっていうのが自分の意見ですが。

[@jaxyn_b]

extremely well thought and delivered

[@daicon3]

I worry Japan will over-react to its current problems, much like China did with its worry of over-population. We're on the eve of what could be a huge rise in automation, so I think it would be a big mistake to lean so heavily on believing "Japan needs foreigners", which it might just need time to solve its problems on its own.

[@david-2]

It's a shame comments like this aren't more representative of consensus. I think that, in a decade or two, many well meaning foreigners in Japan will we considering leaving because the place just isn't so nice anymore. They bring their liberal mindset, and when the policies they support don't work as expected, it's not their problem anymore. Immigration is not a long-term solution.

[@jmkoh79]

Thanks for making this video. Will you be doing one on what foreigners *should* do? :)

[@anonanon7822]

As a person who is emgrant in JP - I mean, the problem is not "letting in more people" because emigration laws are already pretty relaxed compared to most of first world countries(speaking as ukrainian, and i have some experience and understanding of how different emigration systems work in europe, us and canada), esp in terms of getting PR(HSP point system) and citizenship(besides revoking your old one, it's much easier, than getting euro citizenships, for example). The problem is being attractive to emigrants because salaries are lower than those in other first world countries(can speak for my field as software dev - 6-8 mln jpy is not that much), I'm not gonna talk cliche bs stamps like "but u have to learn japanese!!!!", you have to learn english to migrate to US, for example, and for most of fellow second and third worlders it's just as hard as learning japanese(can speak as a person who's native language is slavic. Nihongo was probably easier to learn for me than english, because of phonetic interlap and simple grammar), "people are not welcoming!!!!"(no, they are, especially in western Japan), "but muh work culture!!!!"(relax, work culture here is worse than europe, but much much better than anything existing in us where your purpose is to work 24/7 to pay half of your salary into rent and then being laid off with zero social safety nets), because they're stamps, but there are issues with attracting people due to very sad state of economy

[@MCNeko6554]

From my understanding, if you live in a city you can essentially get anywhere you want without a car at all. Between lower rent (compared to US cities) and no car, getting paid less isn't as big of an issue as it seems. It's definitely a huge difference for tech jobs though, especially compared to developer jobs in the US.

[@makesu_]

hell yeah! Japanese people are THE BEST! I frequently hear especially from foreigners that "Oh, japanese are so XYZ" and everytime I feel cringe because, like yeah-yeah, Japanese people are hard-working, oh what a bad thing it is! Or, oh Japanese people are too serious? Yes exactly. Because they care about their and everyone else's wellbeing. Of course there is cultural differences, but like, we are foreigners. We are "guests" here, unlike the locals. It's their country. Sadly, people from Europe and especially from the US sometimes behave as if everyone must accept them and their type of behaviour, which can't be further from the truth. Japanese people do not have to accept any bs from foreigners. It's JAPAN, not Europe or US or anything else. Sure Japan has its own issues, but I feel as the Dogen and you had mentioned, foreigners should remember that they are in a different country, and things are different here. So personally I try to integrate myself as much as possible and behave in a respectful way. Japanese people helped A LOT especially Ukrainians. They are very, very kind and advanced as a nation in many ways. That's why everyone wants to visit Japan, not Europe or the US or other countries. Japan is the dream for lots and lots of people. Because unlike others, Japanese respect THEMSELVES first and do their best for THEIR country. No wonder Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world with 98% population being natives. More foreigners does not equal a better society, unless those foreigners LEARN THE LANGUAGE, INTEGRATE AND FOLLOW THE JAPANESE CUSTOMS 😊

[@ShaiyanHossain]

Japanese salaries are lower, but it also costs less to live in Japan than it does in the US, and yeah its great not being able to rely on cars to get anywhere or do just about anything. Oh and Japan's healthcare is pretty solid.

[@anonanon7822]

@@MCNeko6554 Just so to say - the world is not only limited to US, and Europe is just as not car-dependent as Japan, with low cost of living, social programs, but the salaries in tech(and the market size itself is much much better)

[@navi93243]

I think that is a too narrow view about how you have an entire economic cluster based on a creativity industry (games, animation, music, voice actors, and so on), that can expand your view of why japanese games in general have a high standard in that regard, that just only "they work hard". But pretty much agree that idea that people should stop using social media in a stupid way

[@makesu_]

私が留学生です。この動画本当にありがとうございました。日本は一番好きな国です。日本語とか、日本の文化とか、いろいろことを習っています。日本人は良くて、優しい人達と思っています。外国人が日本人を尊敬しなければならないと思っています。

[@Lock2002ful]

@@makesu_ loooool that explains everything 🤣😂 Foreign exchange student and think you know anything. Grow up, get a real job and live here for two decades. Then we can talk again.

[@makesu_]

@@Lock2002ful on my way there, champ. Hope you enjoy living in this beautiful country and will be staying here, from your comment you seem to be very serious and respectful towards the Japanese, I respect you for that and we don't have to agree on everything. I am thrilled to see and to know that there are hard working and respectful foreigners living here, even though we may disagree on some things. It must have been extremely tough for you to integrate, but good job!

[@dairenn]

Amazing video. I came here (to Japan) because when I was 19, I fell in love with the country. Not just a place. The people. Their culture, their customs, their norms. I don't reject my own or whatever. It's just that, deep in my heart, I was always deeply moved whenever I interacted with anyone from here. To me, it would--indeed--be an ありえないこと to come here and disrespect the culture here due to things that I got used to in the United States. Every culture and country has its issues. And I'm not blind the ones that exist here but I feel more about them the same way that locals do. My friends here asked me how things are going when I first moved here--without complaining--I just stated the facts of what I didn't know and what I needed to do. The typical response I got was あぁ、難しいなぁ〜 -- My response was: いや、こういう手続きのはまだ慣れていないので、個人的に混乱してしまったんです。大丈夫ですよ。Not a B.S. response on my part; I am/was truly not used to it, and that's why I got confused here and there. But the emphasis here is the message: "on the contrary, whether or not it's difficult or not is more about me, not your system/you." Let's say I have a good friend who makes my favorite dish and I come over. Because they're humble, they might say, "yeah, I dunno; today, I don't think I made my best steak." I'm still going to say, "I couldn't have made it this delicious, honestly." And in a way, I think I'm right... If I could have made it any better myself, I'd have stayed home and cooked it for myself. In the end, being appreciative and rejecting any sort of sense of entitlement not only preserves human relationships in a country like Japan, it would go a long way to fix all the weird problems that tends to mess things up everywhere else also. I've read some incredibly stupid commentary in various places. "Japan is a sexist place" was perhaps one of the most disgusting thing I've ever read. The expectations that the way people relate to each other conform to what someone else thinks is normal based on own culture or subculture is just about one of the most disrespectful things I could possibly think of. The only thing worse is when I read comments from people who've choose to work here, yet will relentlessly complain about various matters. First of all, nowhere is perfect. For instance, it's a fact could have earned more back in the US, but then I get to enjoy the threat of layoffs every 2-3 years, higher crime, worse food, higher taxes without the better public services or infrastructure to show for it, and so on and so forth. On other hand, I chose to come to Japan knowing the tradeoffs, because for every single item that someone could say is a "down side," the "up sides" are so great, I sometimes wonder how on Earth I got to be so lucky to live here. My basic expectation for anyone who wants to live in any country, especially one where you're immigrating to: think first about what you're planning to contribute to their society. Like your video said--it's not about never making a mistake and being able to nail every social or cultural interaction with perfection. As was pointed out, true to my own findings--the Japanese tend to be a pretty forgiving people. The main thing is being grateful, demonstrating that gratitude through respect and doing what you can to add value where ever you go in whatever it is that you do.

[@namless3654]

Immigration is not the answer. Its just kicking the can down the road. Almost every major world economy is experiencing birthrate decline. There needs to be deep fundamental issues resolved before seeing birthrates increase. From work culture to cost of living.

[@hoagie911]

If your population is expanding too fast (e.g. India) then birth rate decline is a good thing. World population is increasing and will until we destroy ourselves with climate change or nuclear hellfire. Until then, if we distributed that increase across the world, nowhere would have to deal with over or under population.

[@Zift_Ylrhavic_Resfear]

The sad thing is, such hard work is counterproductive in the long term because when you are tired, you work more slowly. Working a lot a week or two might be able to result in higher productivity, but there is a point beyond which more work hours results in less work done. And something to keep in mind is that not everybody is the same, some people get tired more easily than others so one person might do the most work working 35 hours a week while another might peak at 25; and something that can be relaxing and a form of rest to a person can be work to another (i.e house chores).

[@zodiark93]

The demographic issue is a real thing, but the problem is that Japan is still not doing obvious things to solve it. For example, including obstetrics inside the national health insurance. Giving birth, in Japan, can cost more than half a milion yen, up to one milion in some areas. Yeah, there are some economic helps from government, but between birth and all the pre-birth visits, they have to spend a lot of money. Any young couple will think twice, before having a child.

[@guns102]

I think it should be pointed out that Japanese work culture is slowly (very slowly) changing to shift away from problematic work practices such as overtime (this is in no way stating that its disappeared though). I've been in the workforce in Japan for some time now, and I've been amazed at how quick work culture has changed since I started. In just 20 years, I went from fearing I might be given overtime to now worrying about not getting overtime. My point is that change takes time, and we should be stepping up to ensure that what change does happen is positive both for work culture but also in general for relations between Japan and foreigners. That being said, if I was to weigh in on the birth rate issue, I'd say the government not managing the economy well is probably the biggest factor. I've spoken to some of my Japanese friends who are married without kids asking why they don't have any and maybe 70% of the time the response is "We don't think the time is right with the economy being as bad as it is". Dogen, touched on it briefly, but the tax rises, amount of money going to social security, and going towards the aging population is making it harder and harder to justify having kids. This is not to say that the aging population should not have benefits, but it simply needs to be managed better.

[@Ralesk]

But American AAA game companies also force their employees to pull endless all-nighters and it was especially common in the 90s all over the software industry

[@sayakaito8520]

Wait, the video game CEO said "Otherwise I won't be able to be present at the delivery of my son" (じゃなきゃ息子の出産に立ち会えない) He said so to MY ears. This means I have to finish all the work BEFORE my son comes into the world. Your take was he is so hardworking that he sacrifices the opportunity of meeting his son at the delivery room. I think the other way around. Did anybody get the same understanding as Dogen from the Japanese dialogue?

[@megans.1504]

I think it means both things. He was working so hard to finish his work so he could be there for the birth of his son, which implies that if he still had work to do when his son was born, he would miss his son's birth and keep working.

[@juliaomelchenko1132]

I have been working since I was 17. Working hard has never been a problem for me. I've been to Japan four times, and I love the country and respect the people and their customs. I am learning Japanese because I love it! But I can't just show up in Japan and continue working there because I have no financial guarantor. Even if I am a refugee from my own country which turned into a war zone. It is such a shame, I am still able to give back so much but I can't go do it in Japan.

[@TheDudeAbodes]

When I went to Japan last year, while checking into my hotel I reciprocated the respect I was given by reflex. As I got into the elevator and turned around, the front desk worker customarily bowed. Reactively, I bowed as well without thinking. It doesn't take much effort to be respectful.

[@Whitepawprint]

My gut feeling is, I think the vast majority of tourists and especially foreigners living in Japan, are doing so because they have a deep love for the country. Does that mean they are perfect? No, of course not. But I really struggle to believe that foreigners being actively rude towards japanese people is in any way common. My guess is that as with all things, social media makes a very small number of people posting inflammatory content into a huge issue. The hundreds of thousands of unremarkable foreigners are invisible, and people behaving badly get actively promoted. Because of this, I think focusing the videos criticism on telling foreigners not to insult Japanese people is misguided. I think it only further reinforces the idea that this is something many foreigners do. And that's not even getting into the nuance and context of the examples given, especially on racial issues. If you want to improve harmony between japanese people and foreigners, then it's probably better to highlight good behaviour, than to chastise a very small group of people who aren't going to listen to you anyway. I think as it stands, this video only increases tensions, unfortunately

[@Whitepawprint]

Just to add to this, especially when it comes to western (European/American) people who are LIVING in Japan - people do not do that lightly. Moving across the world, away from your friends, family, and home country is difficult at the best of times. There are plenty of countries that are more welcoming and easier to navigate for English speaking people, if they just want a change of scenery. Most foreigners take jobs teaching English in Japan, which is not exceptionally well paid, and they often could earn the same or more in their home country doing basic work. They are moving to a country where they no nobody, likely don't speak the language fluently, if at all, and will struggle to make friends with the work colleagues they have. I truly think most of these people come to Japan because they are passionate. Most work incredibly hard to fit in, understand the culture, and meet expectations. It takes a huge amount of dedication for a foreigner to learn Japanese fluently, and the intricacies of the culture - and many try their absolute best. If a large number foreigners ARE coming in and becoming frustrated in a way which is causing tensions - that is a systemic issue which needs to be addressed. Perhaps foreigners need training and education on japanese culture, because they are doing something unintentionally that is making people frustrated with them. Maybe they are isolated and struggling to make connections, and some kind of buddy system or network can be set up. Maybe agencies approving people to come teach English in Japan need to stop telling them that they don't need to speak any Japanese, before sending them out to a rural town. If it's a significant number of people, then it needs a systemic solution. If it's a small number of people being ignorant or rude, we should treat it as such. And if it's social media promoting the most inflammatory and upsetting posts to japanese people, because that drives engagement... we should recognise that for what it is.

[@MarcoPolo123GO]

Good video as usual :) I got a question, did you get a hair transplant? You got your hair back, congrats :)

[@宝井-d7m]

最近言われる外国人労働者っていうのは「日本人より安い賃金で働く外国人」を意味する。健全な経済対策なら人手不足の時は賃金を上げるのに、企業が賃金上げたくないから安い労働者を輸入してる、いわば現代の奴隷制度。いずれ日本人の低所得者と職を奪い合うことになり、日本人に失業者が増える。それで移民政策反対と言えばレイシストだと言われ対立やヘイトが生まれる。これは今ほかの外国でも生まれてる現象だから何も特別なことではなく、なるべくして起こってる。でも企業側から見ると安い労働者の需要がなくなるはずがない、その分企業が儲かるから。 「日本で年収300万以上稼いで納税できる外国人」と設定すればこうはならない。でも日本人は真面目に働くし労働環境はきついし社会保険料含む税金が高く、さらに言語の壁もあり、その「平均的な日本人」に外国人が合わせなければならないから、「労働」だけを見ると日本に住みたいなんて普通思わない。もっと働きやすい国はいくらでもある。 それでも日本に来たいと思う標準～高額納税外国人はドウゲンさんのように日本が好きだから来る外国人だけだった。だから今までは摩擦が生まれなかった。 今大学生の間ですでに気づいてる人がいる。日本人の大学生は高い授業料を払ってるのに同じキャンパスにいる外国人は授業料が免除されてる、それも日本の税金で。これは日本政府による日本人差別だ。外国人を優遇するからヘイトが生まれるのに、政府自らヘイトを生み出すシステムを作ってるのが悪質だと思う

[@bbb-fs8ff]

トップが日本人でないとここまで外国人贔屓できないですね。やはりGHQまたは明治維新あたりから本格的に国の支配者層を在日にすり替えてるね

[@noripee8278]

外国人を雇うから日本人が働けなくなるんじゃなくて、働く日本人が少ない(労働人口減少 ＆ やりたくない仕事をやりたがらない)から外国人を雇うことになるのでは？ あなたが〝卒業後は工場や農場で働きたいけど給料が低いからオフィスワークをやるしかない、同じ給料だったら絶対に工場や農場で働くのに！〟と思ってるなら別ですが。 留学生の学費免除なんですが、私の知る限り、100%の学費が免除されて日本の税金から支払われるのは３%程度の優秀な人です。しかもその制度は70年くらい前からあるのに、なぜか最近急に注目されて批判の対象になっています。もしあなたの大学の100%の留学生が100%の学費免除なら、それは政府がやっていることではないと思います。 いずれにしろ、外国人が優遇されてるから外国人をヘイトするというのは、正しくないと思います。彼らを嫌うのではなく、彼らを優遇している政府や大学に抗議の声を挙げるべきです。

[@AhmetCnarOzuneUyans]

👍👍👍

[@NattouNingen]

​@@AhmetCnarOzuneUyans Which parson is your 👍 to ？

[@AhmetCnarOzuneUyans]

@@NattouNingen I agree with the comment of 宝井-d7m 👍

[@wildsnubby8302]

dogen i pray for the day that you revert back to your old thumbnail style

[@SNixD]

Complaining as an immigrant only brings negatives and Japanese people don't really complain because of culture, which in turn allows bad systems to persist. Shouganaikara gaman to the end. I don't think immigration will solve anything for Japan because it doesn't fix the fundamental problems the country is facing. If the Japanese people aren't having kids, why would the immigrants be any different? At best it would be a stop gap measure and if leaned on for too long it could bring social division and instability due to growing cultural differences between the locals and the newcomers. I come from Sweden and have seen this type of development first hand.

[@matte.309]

Trying to listen to this in the background and realizing that I don't understand japanese. I will say you have a nice voice.

[@EdJonesVideos]

For what it's worth, I'm a PhD student (a social scientist) and my focus is on Japan. My first thought on this video is that Japan can't have its cake and eat it. That's been the approach for a long time: using extremely sketchy Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) visas to bring in low-paid foreign workers on Japan's own terms; developing a comprehensive basic plan on science, tech and innovation to mitigate the impacts of a demographic crisis; half-hearted attempts to increase the birth rate. None of it has worked, because none of these are tenable solutions. Here's the kicker. I'm skilled, I speak pretty good Japanese, I understand and respect the culture when I visit, I have a lot of friends in Japan. On paper, I should be exactly the sort of person who wants to move to Japan. But I absolutely do not - precisely because of the bureaucracy, the workplace culture, the lack of holidays, the profound misogyny that I see even in academic settings. This is to say, even if Japan wanted to attract the skilled labour it needs - or even if it wanted to become serious on tackling the birthrate issue or gender inequality in the workforce - it has a huge amount of work to do first. I do love Japan, but it is clear to everyone that it is going to have to make some difficult choices. It has been resting on its laurels for decades now.

[@大好きスピリチュアル]

Well said, Ed Jones. I hope to see an increase in talented immigrants like you, but people like that are unlikely to choose Japan as their destination, given how many exploitative companies here demand low wages and long working hours.

[@kimeiga]

this

[@nakiusagi8194]

Is Japan really a country where misogyny and discrimination against women are severe? Most Japanese people who claim that Japan is a country where women are discriminated against are feminists or liberals. Most of the women I know seem to be clearly happier than men, and no one would claim that Japan is a country where discrimination against women is severer than other countries. In fact, it is now significantly more common for men to be oppressed by their wives. Like other countries, there was a period during and after the war when there was a strong tendency toward patriarchy and male superiority, and it is true that some women were forced to live a life of oppression by men, but overall, even women of that age group have a high level of happiness. According to the United Nations' "World Happiness Ranking 2024," the happiness level of Japanese women aged 50 to 86 is 7.84 points, almost the same level as the 7.74 points of Finland, which ranked first. This is significantly higher than the average of 6.06 points for all generations of Japanese people, including men. Is Japan a country where misogyny and discrimination against women are severer? I believe it is reasonable to update such stereotypes about Japan being a misogynistic country, judging from the reality, not from many books and articles by biased feminist and liberalist.

[@Tsuba_Nick]

@@nakiusagi8194​​⁠​⁠ Women here express their opinion less because it is often disregarded. One of my coworkers was made to “retire” when she got pregnant. People say things like “this research was continued by Nakamura, even though she is a woman”. Also take a look at any board either academic or in companies and you will see it’s 99% old Japanese men.

[@icr0823]

I think there's a bit of a disconnect between what most immigrants are really like and who you're talking about when you say 移民. The rude people and the people dancing on the street aren't the ones with jobs who are trying to get by like everyone else. They're typically tourists. Even among residents, the people who have the time and money to fool around and make scenes that annoy the japanese are westerners from wealthy countries. Most immigrants are from china/korea/SEA/nepal etc and are serious, hardworking people with a legitimate respect for japan and its culture. They're here primarily to make more money and find a better life.

[@ShiftySqvirrel]

All cultures have room for improvement, of course, but in the case of the Japanese the work culture needs to change. The Japanese work culture has worked well for a very long time, but it should be noted that this was before the modern population boom. There was more room for everyone, more resources per person. Now that there are far more people than ever before, things are becoming too expensive for more and more people. Though the biggest issue isn't so much with the work culture in itself, but with the work culture in combination with the wages compared with the cost of living most likely. This is an issue in my home country of Norway as well, which while having a far better work/life balance than Japan, is facing the same declining birthrates. And the answer is probably that people are spending their best years on education and establishing careers, and building up the funds to acquire more permanent homes before having children. Additionally, finding a partner has become increasingly difficult it seems. So by the time everything is in place, many people will simply be too old to want to start having children. Additionally, people keep flocking to cities, causing more of the same problem because there is a limited amount of space for instance. But life outside of cities is being considered as more and more inconvenient, so people move. I myself do wish to move to a city to some degree because of the convenience. A solution there, while costly, could be to improve the convenience of smaller places, better public transportation is a big one. As with any problem, there is never a single solution, but rather many things that need to be worked on. I do not know the answers, I can merely make suggestions and offer opinions I do wish the best for Japan and its people, and I hope to visit again in the future, it truly is a wonderful place with great people. I do like Japan a lot, and I see many similarities with Norway, from being roughly the same size, to having some interesting cultural similarities, both in the simple, silly stuff like not wearing shoes in the house, to the cooperative spirit of working together towards a common goal. Perhaps there are things we could both learn from each other to improve both countries.

[@jonasw3945]

The work culture is not an issue, the work culture in Japan is, and always has been for centuries, the same and it never impacted people having kids or having a good social life, the issue is entirely economical, the birth rate is also low, actually even lower in some european countries with their "good work life balance", how would you explain that ?

[@ShiftySqvirrel]

@@jonasw3945 I cannot, I am merely speculating. The issues involved at complex and nuanced, but do note that Japan is further along the decline than Western Europe is, despite having to rebuild at the same time. So I just think that the work culture is compounding the other issues rather than being a cause itself. So perhaps a change there could slow things down, give Japan more time to address the main causes. Who knows, I don't, I just stupidly offered my thoughts when I clearly should have just done nothing. But do not mistake something working for a long time as the same as it will always work.

[@Lock2002ful]

@@jonasw3945 Omg, how can you be so uninformed. No, it hasn’t been like this for centuries. You obviously haven’t read the first accounts but japanese were famous for being laid back and lazy.

[@jonasw3945]

@Lock2002ful Nope read anything about postwar Japan and you'll, Japan would have never been the economic powerhouse it is today with this work ethic, people collectively worked hard and still had kids and families and brought in the first economic miracle that paved the path for other Asian countries to have their economy blossom after a century of European and American economical domination

[@Lock2002ful]

@@jonasw3945 Who’s talking about post WW2? It was the same everywhere. Germany, the US, Japan. You were claiming they have always been like this for centuries which simply isn’t true. It was the arrival of Perry and the opening of Japan and the treaties forced upon Japan that lead to that mentality.

[@rverasart]

dogen, have you read "precarious japan" by Anne Allison? its a book that can give you many insights about things you talk about in this video

[@t1nt0p]

Great video, wish everyone sees it. Maybe you can answer this in another video - to combat the falling birthrate, why does working hard to do something meaningful always mean working 6 days a week for 12+ hours a day? Why couldn't it mean be more productive 4 days a week and have the extra time to work on having kids to solve the birthrate issue?

[@ferretyluv]

Because Japan has a problem with adapting and evolving. “If I did it, you can too.” That’s how the old bosses feel. New ideas and merit isn’t rewarded, seniority is. They’re stuck trying to repeat what they were doing in the 80s and hoping it’ll work. Any change is muzukashii.

[@ImGonnaFudgeThatFish]

@@ferretyluv It's more like "I went through this, you should too." A bonus "It's only fair", perhaps.

[@emancebo13]

This is very educational, not only should we be patient and empathic but try to express our feelings in a way that doesn't offend an entire country, especially if you live there. Kindness doesn't mean weakness

[@Hrafnskald]

So true. This is why I think channels like yours are important: you help bridge the cultural gap, and help Japanese and non-Japanese people understand each other better. That understanding, and willingness to give the benefit of the doubt to each other, is vital.

[@alias123-w2l]

Damn. Having worked in the service industry for almost all of my adult life, respect has become one of my most important values. It goes both ways and that is easily forgotten.

[@TheSourceOfEvil]

Are you sure about that? My country is also called xenophobic pretty often, but when we see this, we are anything but offended. We may even be a bit proud of preserving the existing culture. Do we dislike foreigners in general? Of course not. But we expect them to behave in a local manner, and that produces some tension. I guess it may work in a similar way in Japan.

[@ShaiyanHossain]

he pointed out the "xenophobic" as an extreme generalization foreigners make about Japan. Japanesse people are proud of their culture, that doesn't mean they hate you for being different, they're just confused or just cautious about people they don't know about

[@Katcom111]

Japanese like other cultures but at the same time they still don't understand another person culture. It's very distant.

[@whateverman187]

I wonder if you've ever addressed the issue of hyper conformity in Japan's society, Dogen. In my honest opinion, it is also a major source of friction and two-way resentment. Foreigners are supposed to reign in/ dampen their individualistic tendencies to fit in more. Forced sacrificing of authenticity, however, breeds resentment. But if someone still has the audacity to show themselves as they are, that is too troublesome/ confrontational/ wagamama/ what have you. And it is most definitely confrontational. It confronts the Japanese people with their conformist society and their version/ understanding of individualism.