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GambateBingBangBOOM · Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 2021 Location: Japan

Is that supposed to be sarcasm or not?
It actually IS a problem, because of the number of people are shut-ins in this country.
Oh, and the shut-ins is what this thread was originally about.

Cubic09 · Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 9:35 am Post subject:

desu · Joined: 14 Apr 2009 Posts: 38

Don't worry, all threads tend to veer off-topic.

Getting back on topic, once you get a bit of a window into the reality of a seishain, maybe the current situation isn't so incredible after all:

http://www.jobsinjapan.com/book/japanese.html

The situation is due to a combination of the above, and having a considerable lack of room for activism in the japanese social fabric - with no chance at extroversion to address issues of social progress (which would be in direct conflict with the sense of traditional pride of the "japanese way", and thus difficult if not impossible), the only option left is introversion.

And so many have become this way.

However, my best guess is that if we look at the bigger picture, especial at a global level, then this is simply another sign of the constant "ripple" effect - eventually something will have to give (my guess is the pressure of declining population), and social progress will inevitably be made. Then perhaps the next potential generation of hikkomori will not become introverted as did the current generation, because they instead will have a newly emerging social fabric which they are comfortable migrating into. We shall see, I suppose - I'll give it about 20 years time before we see the differences beginning to appear, maybe less.

RollingStone · Joined: 19 Jan 2009 Posts: 138

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

desu · Joined: 14 Apr 2009 Posts: 38

I think it's tough to predict what the force of necessity will bring - I wasn't actually specifically referring to the influx of non low-class income immigrants, I was actually referring to any solution to the situation at all, even if it comes internally (as it very well may be more likely to). Perhaps they will have campaigns for increasing the birth rate and give considerable incentives for doing so (and by this time they might not be the only country to do it, so there is also the factor of seeing it being done elsewhere and working for that country).

Furthermore, I was even more specifically referring to the work conditions of a seishain and how much that kind of life simply doesn't appeal to a lot of the new generation at all. I think Japan will inevitably have to find some way to keep up their commendable work ethic, while even still giving their workers some amount of their own lives back to them. If that means abandoning the concept of a "seishain" in the first place (being taken care of for life more or less), then so be it, that is what we face in the West more often than not anyways.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

GambateBingBangBOOM · Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 2021 Location: Japan

It's true that the government has been trying to do things, but with new PMs every year or so not much is happening. However, it's also true that the biggest problem is something that PMs and governments can't do much about, because the reality is that there is a lot of social pressure to stay after work, to keep the appearance of a strong work ethic, even when you're just talking to the other employees. Companies just ignore virtually anything that asks them to change without forcing them to change. And how will the government force a company to do anything? Companies are run like little fiefdoms. What the Japanese refer to as 'jealousy' (people in North America refer to that kind of act as being a weasel, or a gossip or a back stabber) is very common.