Job Discussion Forums

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

What do you think? Are they radicals fighting back at the tyranny of the Japanese totalitarian society?

Or are they just examples of socially inept people who went through an education system with no consequences, never really tried at anything (because they didn't have to) and never learnt that sponging off their parents is actually not a good thing to do (because... they didn't have to).

Japan's "herbivore" men shun corporate life, sex

[gaijinalways]

I don't think they are radicals for the reasons you gave; lengthy dependency period, and an inability to focus on providing for themselves through regular employment.

As to whether they want to pursue women, well there are other options . That being said, there are 'regular' Japanese men who don't know how to operate a washing machine (their moms still do their laundry) and still live at home until they marry.

There are people in Japan; both men and women, who are disinclined to accept the traditional 'married to work' conditions that still thrive in Japan at some companies. That in and of itself is not a bad thing, but the prolonged dependency issues that often develop along it are.

This dependency issue is not unique to Japan as Italy (and some other countries) also has 'young' males living at home until their 40s.

Not growing up can cause some problems in a society, but if it is tolerated by the parents, then it is a social issue. I hardly think the same people in any country would be considered 'radicals'.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

It's the refusal to get a job / quitting their job very soon after discovering that Japanese people are now expected to actually work at work these days that most interests me.

I know some of these people are actually just not interested in girls, but many of them are, they just don't have the social skills or confidence to approach them.

The newspaper article makes it seem like a social uprising. But I think it's more of a result of children who were spoilt continue that existence far beyond when they were expected to (and now that there is an idea of lowering the official age of adulthood to 18... ) and parents in this country won't step up and say "Enough's enough! Get a job and start contributing or get out of my house!" the way they would in many other countries. These kids are just assuming that everything will be provided for them forever. What happens when their parents retire? How are these kids ever supposed to support them or save for their own retirement?

A possible scenario is that the corporate world in this country in twenty to forty years will be 1. old people about to retire. 2. women 3. foreigners. 4. a smattering of Japanese males who will be quickly promoted through the ranks regardless of ability based entirely on the fact that they are Japanese males.

I read somewhere that in order to keep its economy at the current level, Japan would need to start importing 300,000 foreigners every year for thirty years, starting LAST year. That's based on the current population levels. What happens when all these 'herbivores' are taken into account?

[RollingStone]

Totalitarian? Radicals?

quasi-hikikomori?

[desu]

sounds like grown up hikikimori to me. i would bet that one evolves into the other, it's a mental stigma that might have to do with disillusionment with the way the world is and is becoming (full speed ahead regardless if we should be making some major changes or not).

IMHO to them we no longer live in a time of hope and growth as we once did in previous decades. Especially considering how far Japan had come since the post-war situation, all that progress must have been pretty inspiring.

but now things have sort of stagnated, and at a global level too. society doesn't have the same sense of direction it once did, and this will inevitably lead to this sort of demographic. i bet it exists in other countries as well, but Japan is quicker to report it since it's a sharper contrast from the status quo than in other countries.

[Rooster_2006]

What's so bad about this?

Men who refuse to enter 60-hour-a-week corporate positions and spend every free hour trying to find a wife and start a family without even thinking in the first place why they want a family? Men who think that a "regular" employment position may not be iron-clad and may not last forever and bring eternal happiness? Oh my GOD!

That's just as bad as women who refuse to be Stepford wife-like baby incubators!

Oh, the humanity!

You guys, if the men mentioned in this article want to have no aspirations, let 'em. As long as they're either not a drain on society, or the people supporting them don't care. I mean, think about it -- thanks to guys like this, there will be fewer people in the labor market, and they'll need to ease immigration restrictions because there will no longer be enough Japanese people to fill all the jobs. And there'll be lower competition for jobs. And it's better for us guys, too, because we won't have as many other guys who are earning six figures to compete with in the dating game.

Maybe these guys have the bizarre mental illness of enjoying going through a whole day without compromising or apologizing on their knees for something that wasn't their fault.

Maybe these guys are afflicted with the utter insanity that says "72 hours of free time per week is better than 36."

After spending the last three years in Korea, where this kind of movement is absolutely non-existent, I'm really glad that Japan, where I'm planning to move either next year or the year after, has this kind of movement. If you read the newspaper article closely, the guys they interviewed actually do have jobs -- just not bring-a-cot-to-work jobs.

So many guys spend more than half their lives striving for things that society tells them they need -- a wife, kids, a job with long hours and prestige -- and then guess what, they have midlife crises! It looks like these men are aware of this phenomenon and have decided to live differently. Why stop them?

[seklarwia]

Rooster. Clearly you haven't really thought your idea through throughly. There are so many flaws that I don't even know where to begin.

Firstly, the resulting drop in the birthrate is a huge problem.

Next the jobs that will be openned up by the lacking Japanese labour force, are the jobs that most of us don't want anyway. Let's face it... the hours many of these salarymen work are obscene! There are many other aspects to their jobs that most of u