Automation is no cure for Japan. Their influence is waning rapidly, in many sectors. I would say that, with an aging population, Japan is turning into a stale country, culture wise and economy wise alike.
I think the average Japanese person doesn't care about how stale outsiders think they are, and they certainly don't feel like they need a "cure." If anything, society here is reverting more to a norm after being in a massive economic bubble.
Really, it's honestly kind of freaky how often I see western media articles about how Japan needs to act now, or they're doomed to fail and their population will vanish. Yet I see nothing about Bulgaria losing 25% of its population in 25 years or Belgium needing to reevaluate its global image for fear of irrelevancy.
> If anything, society here is reverting more to a norm after being in a massive economic bubble.
So, you're agreeing that Japan is on a long downward slope to economic and technological irrelevance, but you believe the average Japanese would rather accept this than immigration?
Japan is reverting to a state of being as technologically and economically irrelevant as Western European countries.
The most common thing I see on the news and hear people worry about is the violence going on in America and in the increasingly common European terror attacks. The attitude to immigration is only being solidified here, and none of the "but what about your GDP???" stuff matters to anyone but degree mill economists. The country is safe and stable, and population is coming down to a number that's more sustainable for a small, mountainous, mostly non-arable country. That's all that people really care about.
Here are a few things correlated with GDP. Note that we don't know the direction of causation, so either Japan's GDP is going sideways because corruption is on the rise–or they can expect corruption to rise because the economy is stagnating.
low levels of GDP and high levels of corruptions are correlated
poverty reduction and per capita income growth performances are correlated
economic freedom is correlated with income
Rule of law is correlated to GDP per person
There is only a partial correlation between democracy and economic growth but stronger correlation between democracy and level of GDP
As per capita income increases to around US$5,000 per annum, environmental quality falls, but then from around $8,000 per capita onwards, the environmental quality rises again
GDP and happiness is correlated
GDP per capita is correlated to percentage of population who donate to charity
GDP is correlated to individualism in a country
Wealthier countries tend to have less income inequality
Sure they are. It is always part of their national pride that being the most advanced Asian country and they treat their Asian neighbors as inferior to them, now and advantage is disappearing, their indifference turns into vile. One proof is their opinion towards China and Korea have dived into new lows in recent years.
Thank goodness Japan doesn't share the West's bizarre fixation on economics. The market is a means to an end rather than an end in itself. If the economy is not furthering the interests of the Japanese people, its the economy which needs to be replaced, rather than the Japanese people.
That is not true. Economy is essential to the well being of the people. And it is not hard to see that once the Japanese people get old enough, the tax on the young people to sustain the old generation will become unbearable, the society is not going to hold itself, and I don't think we will be even talking about Japan at that point because no one would want to live there anymore
The change is particularly visible in the larger cities: for example, it's increasingly rare to find ethnic Japanese behind the counter at a convenience store.
Really, it's honestly kind of freaky how often I see western media articles about how Japan needs to act now, or they're doomed to fail and their population will vanish. Yet I see nothing about Bulgaria losing 25% of its population in 25 years or Belgium needing to reevaluate its global image for fear of irrelevancy.