[allthesethings]

I definitely got a sense of something like that while visiting earlier this year. It's a place where things are working as they should, at least on the surface, so there isn't much to complain about, but it's also built on momentum and institutions left over from when Japan was the industrial power of Asia, stuff that just hasn't broken yet, so nobody has reassessed it. And there's a conflict likely to emerge in that setup, but it's not going to be a full-blown crisis until later, so "contentment" rules the day.

Contrast with the USA; the crisis - social, economic, political - is here, and it has been for a while. Everyone has something to scream at each other about.

[mistermann]

> it's also built on momentum and institutions left over from when Japan was the industrial power of Asia, stuff that just hasn't broken yet

Do you have the feeling that it is likely to break, or just noting it as a risk?

My gut feel is that despite the significant demographic problems, Japan has one of the better societies for weathering the increasingly rapid changes modern societies are subject to. But keeping it that way I have no clue how they do it (or got it the way it is now for that matter).

[antoniuschan99]

I watched this movie called Tokyo Sonata which was made a decade ago. It's part of the J-Horror genre - which isn't scary at all. It just has a very dark and sombre undertone through the entire film. Definitely an interesting film that relates to this topic since it was set after the 2008 recession.