They're not happy, and nobody knows why. #theanimeman #joey #japan SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: / theanimeman MY CLOTHING BRAND: nonsense.jp/ Twitter: / thean1meman Instagram: joey.the.an...
Yo, I don’t know who they interviewed in the US, but 70% of the US allegedly being happy while over half are behind on rent according to US Census is wild.
In my experience people from the US are hesitant to admit things are wrong with their country in a country vs country context. That’s based on a very small sample size though.
@@leastselfawarepotassium As someone who lives in the US, it's also kinda forced in our culture to be confident in yourself, which isn't bad, but people are more than ever celebrating confidence in themselves which drives people to 'fake it' and just pretend like they are. which is a little ironic.
While I know there are problems, I feel like most of the people around me are generally happy and doing well. A part of me wonders how much of the negativity is media/doomscrolling/foreign propaganda.
@@ashermack2543that’s interesting. Definitely something I envy about the US. In my country we are pressured to be humble so I was wondering where we were on the list (NZ). We call it Tall Poppy Syndrome.
@@DeusaRem mirrored in places like UK, Australia and USA, where mental health issues taken so seriously they stopped being issues and are now virtues for some reason.
@@rRekkoIt’s still an issue in the US. Even though we have ways to get help for it (unless you’re low income with no state insurance which is hard to obtain these days depending on what state you live in) you can’t just not go into work or maintain decent relationships if your mental health is in the gutter, you’ll still face consequences for it. People will still believe it’s an excuse or that you’re lying because everyone’s claiming they have mental health issues so you don’t know who’s telling the truth and who isn’t, therefore people will just write you off as incompetent and you still have to go out in the world and operate day to day like normal even if you’re losing your mind in the process. There’s nothing good that comes out of it regardless. The US is no exception
I had the opportunity last year to visit a student my age in Japan and his family, and I was almost a little shocked to see how happy him and his family were. And not just the fake performative happiness-- it was pretty clear by living with him for a while that he had a really strong connection with his family and made time for his hobbies and socializing with his friends. Hell, he even had a penchant for sarcasm (which I know is a rarity for Japanese people). Seeing guys like him gives me hope for the Japanese youth even though I know there are not many others like him.
That's why anecdotes =/= data. For instance, a Japanese home open to (and being able to support) student exchange is probably more likely to be educated and well-off than the typical Japanese home. Financial comfort alone is strongly correlated with happiness and life satisfaction. I wouldn't go as far as to say that Japanese people as a whole are "miserable" like the video suggests, but you can see the discontent (particularly with work/life balance) among the general population. I worked with a few higher-performing groups in Japan for a period of time. I wouldn't describe them as not happy with their lives, but the working culture was truly brutal and many of them looked tired all the time. As others have pointed out, cultural aspects may influence the comparability of the data with Western countries. But the general downward trend since the 2010s would remain true. I suspect that will continue to be the case in the coming decades as the Japanese yen continues to weaken, the economy contracts due to population collapse, and purchasing power begins to evaporate for the median household.
I grew up in Japan and spent half my life there and loved it but there’s definitely a shame culture that put me down so much. Im still working through regaining my confidence from that because there was just so many social rules that in hindsight took away a lot of my ability to be myself and be confident in who I am and I feel like that’s the same for many people out there.
I get the sense you are a good person. Always be yourself and the right people will love you for who you really are. Confidence is about not being afraid to show the world the real you, which I’m sure is amazing! ✨
If you look at it from a certain angle, Companies making their employees stay after hours to do unpaid overwork, is kinda opposing the citizen's right to a good, healthy life. Some might say it's antipatriotic. There's an easy and expensive way to circumvent this. Just hire more people and have a good work-life balance.
I'd imagine the reason they won't do that is because hiring more workers to work on the clock will cost more money. Quite a bit, depending on how many people are literally not being paid to do overtime. I honestly can't believe a culture can be this... Idk... Desperate to prove themselves? If I heard "you're gonna do unpaid overtime" I'd either leave immediately or be extremely lazy whenever I'm forced to work for free.
Just ban unpaid overtime and dish out 100 million dollar equivalent penalties. Easy. Shit's gotta be changed soon, no point in talking about solutions when the solutions need to be implemented now.
@@urphakeandgey6308 did say expensive there, and I'd not say desperate, more like carrying on the traditions of hazing the new guy and letting that cycle move forward cuz it lets someone off the hook to have fun while drowning someone other in work and stress.
It is sad that so many viewers are more concerned about the well-being of the Japanese than the Uyghurs' life in the camps. These people care more about next year's animation than about Uyghurs being erased by the Communist.
@@Im-fq1mnI’ve been to China and everything they tell us in the news is either a wild distortion or an outright lie. US instigated terrorism in Xinjiang same way we do in every country we don’t like and instead of kicking down doors and mass horrors like the US did in West Asia, China developed Xinjiang’s infrastructures and economy. It wasn’t perfect and its true mistakes were made but nothing like what we’ve been propagandized to believe The same media that lied to us about WMDs to instigate war is suddenly telling the truth about China when US politicians have been very open about wanting war with China? China lifted over 800 million people out of poverty and our billionaire owners don’t want us to know that poverty alleviation programs work or that it even exists
They probably ask the governments in some countries for lack of official unhappiness statistics. No way in hell will the likes of Putin or Xi greenlight such a study.
yes, the Expectations and Judgement is Overwhelming, but if you're willing to be a loser, then you got nothing to lose but, on the other hand, if you live in a Very bad Neighborhood with constant gangfight, gunshot, and fights at any time in the US i think it'll be much more stressful because you don't know when you'll get attacked, you can get killed from accidentally having an Eye Contact with a random stranger
It was alarming when i asked my elementary school students what they thought of the western countries and their response was 自由(Jiyu) which means freedom. That was sad to hear. The rigidity of the Japanese society is depressing Japanese ppl.
And people in first world countries are depressed because of the lack of hardship, leading them to being extremely vulnerable to problem and adversities. Why does it matter? because since they didn't have any adversities, the moment they crash into the crude nature of reality, they crumble into pieces. Some of them don't crumble, but they invent bigger problems out of thin air, the so called 1st world problems like gender identity, as a method to cope with reality after growing up being fed lies since they were a kid. "You can be whoever you want to be, you can do whatever you want to do, so go for your dream, oh but don't ever compete or try to win over others, that would be toxic". Grass is always greener on the other side, no matter how many fences you jump over.
Even more sad how misguided they are. The west is full of censorship, punishment for not having the correct opinions, and we even have stuff like credit cards declining purchases that they deem offensive especially from japan.
I've lived and worked in 8 different countries (including Japan) - most of what we think we know about what makes us "happy" (and about what gets published in a "happiness index") is wrong. Of course, safety and financial stability are important, but free time and social relations are WAY more relevant with regard to happiness. An immaculate country full of overworked, awkward shut-ins is NOT going to be a happy place.
7:41 as an American born and raised in America, typically when you were looking to make new friends with someone you’ll walk up to them and maybe start small talk maybe buy them a coffee or something, like they’re strangers so you start up a conversation. Something I’ve noticed about Japanese culture is that they find it weird and creepy to start a conversation with someone you don’t know. And also compliments, compliments are very bizarre in a lot of Asian countries I’ve noticed. Giving compliments is almost like a “I’m looking down on you” type gesture. And a lot of the times instead of appreciating the compliment that somebody gave to you by saying “thank you”, you are forced to reject the compliment, or else you’ll be looked at as a narcissist and overly confident. I always found rejecting a compliment from someone to almost be like a “pick me”, I also find it very impolite to not appreciate something that somebody went out of their way to tell you to make you feel good about yourself or make you feel happy. There’s just a lot of social stigma that you don’t see really anywhere else in the world and it makes making friends and building relationships very hard and very complicated. Especially mental health because mental health is very taboo in Japan. They don’t really talk about it much but everyone goes through some type of mental health crisis at least once in their life. It’s normal, feeling emotions is normal. We’re not robots. We are people. We are humans. We are animals. But showing emotion like that in Asian countries is also very very taboo.
That's why I often feel Japan needs to change. But if the people don't want that, then Elon is right to be concerned about Japan going extinct because of suicide. Change starts with them but if they won't do it because they've been conditioned to think this way, then it looks like brainwashing to me, or to use a formal term, indoctrination.
I am Japanese, and these surveys are not very helpful, because Japanese people tend to give low scores when they rate something. These surveys are like saying that Japanese food is miserable because the average restaurant score is low in Japan.
Psychology student here. What you just said has significance to the cross-cultural reliability of the tests conducted, I am curious as to why Japanese people score low on surveys and how this could be factored into research to remove this issue within the research. For such a well known body of research I am curious as to how to navigated this issue. Do you have some insight as to why people score low?
@@JM-wt4bf A social media influencer explained that scoring a 3 star review is goals to JP restaurants because of the acceptance that JP culture favors reviews that give critiques. An american scored a JP restaurant with 5 stars and she got in big trouble from the culinary establishment. She explained it like it was giving them a 1 star review...idk how surveys are done in jp culture
@@JM-wt4bf As a Japanese person, my personal opinion is that Japan still retains a form of social collectivism (at least in the sense that individuals strive not to negatively impact society). Consequently, people tend to express their individuality within the "comfort zone" of being "ordinary." This is why, when presented with five options, there's a tendency to choose the middle option without much thought. Freedom is ensured as long as individuals do not cause trouble or negatively affect others or the community.
Hi Joey! This was such and interesting video! Oddly, my husband and I have discussed this many times. Neither of us has been to Japan (and we are both in our mid to late 50s, so we may never make it to Japan), but I am (not a weeb) very much in love with the culture. I know that they work a lot of hours, and that there is a lot of pressure to excel, whether it's at school or at work, or just in life in general. I can imagine the stress is overwhelming. It's odd that many of us envy their low crime rate, clean streets, public transportation system, respect/honor, and many other things (food!!!!!), but never fully realize that there are things we don't see that we all take for granted. Thank you for sharing this video. Although I may still wish that the US was more like Japan in many ways, it's a good reminder that we need to be grateful for what we do have.
I really like how at approximately minute 13:00 Joey goes deeper than usual, talking about the basic human nature of comparing with each others especially if other people are more successful than you. I like how he's even real honest admitting that even for a quite famous RU-vidr like Joey himself still sometimes feels like other people are more successful above than him, and therefore the social comparison can makes us feel shitty. I've even experienced this myself too constantly, and to be honest, it can even be frustrating & depressing. Thank you Joey for going a lot much deeper than usual. Respect from Indonesia.
I'm living in Japan for five years now, and I've noticed some very interesting things. Everyone dresses more or less the same, and they all laugh in a similar way-the pitch and frequency of their laughs, the tone of their voices, and their manner of expression are all very, very similar. There are days when I can even predict what will happen based on people's daily movements and gestures. It's like when you put a finger in the path of ants; they stop and search for a new path, but you already know what will happen and where they will go. This predictability is quite remarkable in Japan. It feels like the Japanese are in a kind of mental prison, deeply rooted in traditional values that limit free expression. They're completely obsessed with fitting in and not being noticed, but at the same time, this leads to an overwhelming loneliness that they often cover up with large amounts of alcohol. Sometimes, in rare moments, you see people with a certain "light" who stand out from the rest, or you get to see them as they truly are in more private settings. In general, they are a very loving people, although it might be hard to believe. I respect them a lot, but it saddens me to be aware of these details I've mentioned.
As someone who is considering moving to Japan in the next 2 years, I greatly admire and value this honest review. I know this country is not perfect, similarly to most countries in the world. But it is nice to see the issues before going in from a local's perspective. So thank you sir for your insight.
As an immigrant to an Anglo country - been here 30 years - I can tell you that that's not only true for Japan. People learn mannerisms from each other. They have similar pitches too.
@@spaceowl5957 They do, from people I've talked to at least.. Especially after going out for drinks or other if they trust you. That's when their true personality comes out. But I suppose I can also see how they can be a bit more reserved considering how their culture is. That's what I've been told at least..
Blaming social media for Japanese people's unhappiness is a cop out. Look no further than an extremely weak yen, low wages, inflation, a relatively high cost of living, an incredible amount of social rules and norms, loneliness, toxic work culture, just to name a few.
Add to it as Joey sees it is the fact that the Japanese are seeing other places and may be sad that Americans and Aussies and Canadians don't just up and conform to rules. Thing is we do but they are not super restrictive.
LOL the rate of suicide was higher without social media. People are pretty blind to stats. They don't want to make Japan look bad because now it looks like they are worst than China.
I felt this when I lived in Japan for a few months. It didn't feel that they were actually happy since they can't seem to express their true selves. Discipline and respect always comes first, or else you'll be judged and looked down on by others. It feels that being different and anything unexpected may threaten the peace or something. Everyone is too conscious of their neighbor's/family's/peer's expectations and opinions of them. Note: my pure japanese step dad and step sis found me very interesting just being my happy self. They were shocked (in a positive way) when I hugged them to greet them instead of just doing the usual polite introduction that Japanese do.
An interesting recent trend is that over 50% of Japanese people who have lived abroad for more than 20 years are considering returning to Japan after retirement.
Let me guess, is it the cultural shock? You are suffering the point of view of an inmigrante issues, same as a foreigner in your home country, yes it’s a miserable process, it happens to everyone moving to a new, you adapt and move on… seek happiness in your way now that you’re in a different country, live the experience of “no body cares, what you do” it’s your life.
It surprises me to hear that the Netherlands is in the top. I live in the Netherlands and we have a culture here of complaining about everything. We complain about the weather, about immigration, about public transport, traffic, work etc.
Weirdly, although I do not think venting really improves happiness, openness about how stuff is, means people are more comfortable socially and trust each other more, Japan has developed a very conformist, keep problems under the cover type society, like mental health is still not taken very serious among a lot of older Japanese. Its more complex but the Netherlands has a lot of things that Japan lacks.
Sounds like NZ. We live in one of the most beautiful places on earth but you’d think it was hell by talking to some people. We do have problems like any other country but the grass isn’t always greener.
Not just that, literally no one can get a house here. Like, the amount of late 20s people still living at their parents' home here is very high, at least in my circle.
I've been living in Japan for 2 years now (leaving soon) and it's been one of the most depressing times of my life. The work life balance is awful, the base pay for most companies is awful, it's very hard to make friends despite having no issues with the language, and being around so many people who look like they're dying from burnout is mentally exhausting. Not to mention that being two faced is practically built into the culture itself... It gets to the point where some interactions don't even feel human because I can tell they're only acting a certain way due to societal pressures. It breaks my heart because living in Japan has been my dream for as long as I can remember but I sadly don't have any hope left for this country.
It sounds like you had a rough experience. While Japan is seeing an increase in immigrants from abroad, I wish you the best of luck upon your return home.
@@missplainjane3905 The first one was English teaching at a chain company in Tokyo. By far the worst job I've ever had, I've been teaching for years prior in and some of the stuff going on at that job would've been breaking so many laws if it was back in America. I gave up after 5 months. I then moved to Osaka because I heard that the people there were generally more friendly and welcoming (never really felt different to me) and got a job at a privately owned school that was much smaller in size. At first it was decent but it ended up being hell because if any of my coworkers ever had an issue or problem they'd go right to the boss instead of having a 3 minute conversation with me. This fucked me up and my anxiety spiked because I knew people were just talking behind my back. That on top of a few of the students having some very difficult learning deficiencies and our school being nowhere near equipped to handle those types of students and it turned into a downward spiral fast. I had high hopes for the second job too since it seemed more "international" in a sense but it was still operated by a Japanese boss so that culture never really went away ig.
So Japanese are unhappy in Japan but do not immigrate abroad. On the other hand, non Japanses are happy in their own countries but immigrate abroad...🤷♂
Japanese people ostensibly talk about their unhappiness in Japan, but in fact, they often do not think they are that unhappy compared to their counterparts in other countries.
@@ericx6969Certainly not. A RU-vidr in South Australia who exposed the corruption in the governing body of the area was threatened, a home near his was set aflame and he had to take the video down and stop going after them. I can't remember his name right now but that just goes to show that things aren't as peachy as they appear to be
@@ericx6969 Australia is mad corrupted. They also just got exposed for pocketing $6 trillion dollars in military funs (3x more then the entire GDP of the country) politicians are disgusting there. But honestly they hold so much power and have publicly killed people that opposed them that people can't do anything. It's insane the country still runs
There has been a japanese RU-vidr getting some traction here in the states. I was just scrolling through recommended and a video popped up that said "lonely 50 year old man eats" or something along those lines. Pretty interesting dude. Literally just sharing his life and interacting with his community
I’m currently on my flight back to the states from Japan and I definitely think Japan seems sadder on the inside. Visiting Tokyo was rough a lot more people were pushy and super animated. As for areas like Osaka and Kyoto it felt as though they were much more quiet but they enjoyed little things. Some of my favorite interactions were due to effort to try to connect with them. I think it helps them to speak to foreigners. For example I was at a small pastry shop in Osaka and I called her cake “kawaii” and she called me cute right back and I left with her smiling so brightly and just slightly shocked. I also just had another interaction with a super sad kid. I ended up giving him a little sticker and both him and his mom thanked me for it. He left very very happy.
Hi Joey! super interesting video! I feel like these kinds of surveys are always to be taken with a grain of salt. Depending on how the data pool is taken it can change the result a lot so I don't know how accurate this survey can be. My hypothesis on why Japanese people rate their confidence so low, is probably because they have been taught to 謙遜する when they receive praise. I think having to be (from a western perspective) overly humble in day to day life might lead you to believe that you're actually not good at something or not beautiful enough etc. I just hope everyone can find happiness in life and that we can keep improving our countries.
I just came back from Japan, I was there with a large group of people from Mexico. We were all amazed and even kind of jealous. Really seems like a perfect country in so many senses. This is really a surprise, especially children, they looked so happy. On the other hand, Mexico is chaos, we have crime, insecurity, pollution, bad economy and the government is a mess and yet we are quite happy all the time.
I'm Japanese. I think the biggest problem is lack of respect for individuals. Although Japanese people care others on the surface, we don't sincerely respect each other and just be afraid of being left out. Potentially we are forced to go on the same way, and if someone goes on own way, we would dislike the person. This also includes jealous, because we have something we want to do, but we are afraid of doing it due to the above reason. So we feel constricted and unhappy and we live like NPC.
Speaking as another Japanese individual, I'd say it's perhaps largely subjective, isn't it? While it's true that there's social pressure to conform in Japanese society, similar dynamics manifest differently in Western countries as well, as English-speaking RU-vidrs living in Japan have also pointed out. (So, there's a different kind of societal pressure than what Japan experiences.) If you desire, you do have the option to live abroad, don't you? Just as there are people from overseas who want to live in Japan, that's one of the choices available to you.
@@gotakazawa408 To live in a foreign country is easier said than done. For many people, it is unrealistic. Besides the visa issues, you would have to know the language and have internationally marketable skills to find a job in a foreign country.
@@luna498-h5z Of course, I'm aware of that. However, there are also options like studying abroad, and fortunately, there are countries relatively easy to obtain Working Holiday visas from Japan. I'm just pointing out that there are other options available if he feels disheartened about Japan. It's ultimately up to him to decide how to judge and act.
I mean, even though there are some options to change their environment, people are not willing to choose them, regardless of domestic or abroad options. Personally, I don't like the mind, so I have chosen my own way I want. As a result, sometimes I feel people look down me, though. However, I love Japanese cultures and people. I hope people can take their own way!
@@nittarou I hope people see that finding your own way in life is not necessarily a bad thing and will be understanding of your life choices. They may even secretly envy you for doing something different from the crowd! Good luck :)
Nice commentary, this reminds me of a possible Freud concept at that time about how a person's normal state is ".... not happy, but at the same time not truly bitter...".
8:03 I love when someone says chili instead of Chile, great video Joey hoping one day japanese people finds more hapiness embracing the love and hard work they put on the day by day interaction
Well, we kind of are tho. Japan has society/family expectations oppressing them. In the west, it's not society but people oppressing themselves, creating new problems out of thin air and teachers brainwashing them into this ideologies of feeling oppressed or hating yourself depending on your skin color and gender (which is one of the reasons for all the gender chaos and confusion)
I ended up doing voluntary guidance counselling at a private chartered Japanese high school in 2009 and became quite popular in this role despite somewhat limited Japanese ability. Kids were requesting my help ahead of the school’s trained psychologist so I was curious as to why I was so popular and the general answer was that to them, my world view was a window to the freedom available of the outside world and that by being non Japanese, my judgment of their problems would be more objective than a native Japanese, and that while they were still just high school kids, they felt like prisoners of being Japanese citizens without the leeway to ever become anything else and that over time that realisation was soul crushing for them. I was impressed with the depth and scope of consideration among so many Japanese young people, their baseline level of respect and courtesy for people is also higher I found, which arguably makes them more sensitive to negative happenings in the world.
As someone who lives in japan, I think 2 of the biggest reasons are the work life balance and the difficulty making friends. It is SOOO difficult to make deep connections here. Back home in america I have so many people I could call up, and take a walk with to talk about life and struggles and all that. Everything feels so surface level here, which is part of the culture as its all about "keeping the peace". But it really just ends up with people wasting their time because you cant tell how someone truly feels about you.
Having a child itself is somewhat covered by various subsidies. The issue lies in the fact that the costs of childcare, preschool, and university education are generally higher compared to average income.
Not really, look at Africa, not that much money but lots of children, it is decadence that japan and the rest of the developed world are afflicted with, same problem rome had before they collapsed.
@@oxvendivil442 and what quality of life are those children experiencing? those children are going to be used as child labors for fancy western products. also, let the rome thing go, you don't really grasp history properly man
The thing is that having should not be subsidized. It should be possible (easy, even) to win enough money to live comfortably and have kids whose expenses you can cover without asking "for permission" to the government (without really knowing if that subsidy is going to continue years down the line, when you actually need it).
@@anthonynelson6671 The USA is just lagging behind East Asian countries. We'll get there soon enough if we don't change soon. Too much nonsense in politics. Too much focus on money, not enough value placed on family by the government, educational institutions, or culture in general.
In reality, the working environment isn't as bad as the stereotypical portrayal of "karoshi" (death by overwork) that shook things up decades ago. However, it seems that many people still don't understand (or don't want to understand) the reality. That being said, it's a fact that there are very few political parties actually proposing effective policies, with many initiatives being led by exemplary private companies.
@@anthonynelson6671yea, but for different reasons. Over here, most if not all people who work multiple jobs do so out of NECESSITY to keep living. While over there, social pressure to be "productive" leads to extensive UNPAID extra work. Both are bad, but one of them is far more arbitrary.
I’m Mexican and Nigerian American. Growing up I would spend summers in Mexico with my family. One of the things that surprised me the most was how happy everyone was. It shocked me because we were poor in the US but they were so poor compared to us, as we would shower with a bucket. Despite all this people seemed to have a really positive outlook and really relished taking time with their family. My uncle would get a few hours break during the day called a siesta to eat with his family and would go back to work. People also party hard lol. I lived in Japan on and off doing research there and man were the people miserable. Similarly, people didn’t have such warm relationships with their family and the expectations of work were so harsh I would wanna stay away with a 10 foot pole. I think the comparison thing is right and I saw that there and it doesn’t have to be from social media. Japanese culture seemed similar to Nigerian culture in this aspect where you are compared to say this other kid in school who is doing better than you are and you are looked down upon if not in that high ranking career or school etc.
I'm Indonesian and it's similar here. We're still behind a lot of countries. Although it gets better, and we definitely have tons of problems from the homeless, natural disasters, corruption, etc etc. But one thing that Indonesian is known for is that being able to somehow turn a sad/depressing situation into a funny one. People here just love to make jokes. All of that because of this common mindset where Indonesians believe that _life is already hard so don't make it harder._ There's a famous song here called Laskar Pelangi. The song is from a movie of the same name about poor kids who want to go to school. Anyway, it's a happy song and it's really good, but the chorus is what hit people. "Dance and keep laughing Although the world is not as beautiful as heaven Be grateful to the powerful Our love in the world Forever" That pretty much describes Indonesian. Yes, we're not going to be forever here, but that's why we should live our life as best as possible and be grateful for every good thing that happened to us. Speaking of not going to be here forever, there are two ethnicities from Indonesia that are known for their after-death party. Instead of being sad all the time, the Batak and Torajan people would celebrate their loved ones who just passed away with a really big party where there'd be tons of food, songs, and talk about the good old times. Well, it's more than that but yes they do that. They're not even closely related. The Batak is from Sumatra island while the Torajan is from Sulawesi island. It's more than 3000 km. But yeah, Japan is such a different world. They definitely need to learn how to be less tense. And they don't even need to leave their old cultures. My teacher probably said it the best, "I do love the high level of discipline of the Japanese and wish that more people could learn from them, but they're just way too robotic."
about the survey part. I think a lot of people are not really honest or really conscious about how they feel when filling in a survey like that. it might be my filter but I see people all over Europe on events and it's rare to see some one really being conferrable in there own skin. and are just numbing them self out or over compensation to be able to numb out those feelings. but on the points you make on japan I think you got a point there, but keep in mind a lot of countries or cultures got there own thing that you could see as dysfunctional and is also kinda copied in collective way and is normalized to behave that way from child hood. it's by reflecting back on those things and ask why and by doing shadow work that you can let go more and more of programs that don't serve you. but yeah I do really Appreciate that you talk about this topic Joey. since it's a important one not just for japan.
After watching Paolo from Tokyo videos about how people actually work and live (both private small restaurants and big corporate jobs) it's no wonder people are unhappy. It's pretty much work 12 or more hours a day, get home, eat and go to bed. They have very little life outside of work. On top of that it's the mindset Joey mentioned, where they don't want to complain or standout and just quietly suffer.
I would say that overall, Japanese people don't look at or value "happiness" the same way as other countries. We are a humble country that looks at life as studying, working, and supporting family, while finding things to enjoy here and there. Overall, we rarely go on vacations or have expensive hobbies and value financial responsibility and savings over personal excess and socialization.
I think it's a double-edged sword. The collectivism is part of what gives them such a nice and peaceful society. But at the same time, I think people can feel trapped and repressed. I also wonder how much is just "the grass is always greener" and if they'd really like a society like America. I have a feeling that once the novelty wore off, they'd rather have what they have now. As with most things, it needs balance. There's got to be a way to maintain some of Japan's societal structure and norms while allowing a bit more individual freedom. Numerous times in my trip there I thought "while I appreciate this or that, I think they take it a bit too far." Like not making noise on trains or eating while walking. I understand and greatly appreciate being considerate, but there needs to be some wiggle room otherwise it'll drive you crazy with worry.
It's grass is always greener. Perpetual motion does not exist. Japan is G7, it's a rich country. Japanese can be proud of their country. They are No 3 or 4 (depending on stats) economy and have beaten the British who pride themselves as the creators of the modern world. Japanese people work hard but then they have a clean, safe, well run society to live in.
You can have a safe and orderly society without being restrictive. It comes down to individual self-discipline and ethics. aka doing the right thing because of logic and reasoning. Get the majority of people to learn reason and be right about their reasoning and doing the right thing (the thing leads to a better existence for self and others) - crime stays low, but people are individually free to express themselves and be happy.
@@EndoftheBeginning17 The lack of open self-expression in Japan is not a choice by the individuals, it’s due to the rules on the individuals that are imposed by Japanese society. It’s easy to say, “Get the majority of people to understand reason.” The majority of people already have reasoning skills. But the societal rules won’t allow for open self-expression. These rules are, by nature, restrictive (and the cause of a lot of personal unhappiness for the individuals), but it helps society to function better as a whole (with being clean, organized, and safe). No society is perfect.
It’s interesting because I have lived in both Japan and America. Americans think that life in Japan is like an anime, and Japanese people think that life in America is like a Hollywood movie or TV show. It is based purely on the entertainment industry from both countries. Entertainment = fantasy =\= reality
As a Japanese person, I find that "not making noise on the train" or "not eating while walking" are habits that are easier than washing my face in the morning. These practices don't feel restrictive at all; rather, they make life more comfortable. I guess this is exactly what we mean by cultural differences.
I talk about this CONSTANTLY with friends interested in japan and japanese culture. I am so glad you talked about it and would love to talk at length with you about it, but for now ill leave comment. I believe imo, it stems from the overall culture and mindset of the overall japanese people. As stated collectivism was the way the country became strong, a small island nation needs to stick together, but in the modern again the specific paths it took bit yall in the butt. For example, the culture of japan is very much about NOT bringing trouble to others, esp people you care about, so you dont "trouble" them with talking about your troubles and feelings. Then, pair that with having a THIRD of the licensed and practicing mental health professionals as most countries in the west, that can spell disaster for holding in those feelings. I believe that you touched on one big thing. Before their collectivism had become "just the way things are" and not really understanding things could be diff, not better or worse, just diff in general. So this did start the wheels turning and getting people thinking, "could my life be better?". Another point, the work culture. Everyone's heard the japanese work culture horror stories. Once again though this stems from respecting elders and collective mentality (good of the company over myself), which in MODERATION can be great keys to success. The problem lies when it is not married with the understanding that we all work to live. Most of us work to support ourselves, so we can eat, have a place to live, and have resources. Those resources we use to create memories and experiences for ourselves and our friends. Like taking vacations, or meeting your friends for drinks after work (a typical japanese passtime). BUT if you find you are slaving away at a job, with no time to spend the money and make those pleasurable memories, you will ultimately find your life lacking. Think the movie "Click" a bit silly but it gets the point across. All in all I think that the west can learn from some parts of the collective mindset, the planet and towns and city is for everyone so we should keep it clean, wearing a mask and being cleanly can save other people around me's life, being considerate and thoughtful of other people esp in public spaces. That being said I think japan could learn some healthy things from individualistic tendencies as well; speaking up for yourself when you feel put down in public or at work or by a friend, sharing your feelings and feeling they are valid, demanding a work schedule that allows you to live a happy balanced life. I believe we can learn from eachother and be better as awhole.
I remember visiting Japan and telling my hosts we get four weeks of holidays every year in Australia. Their eyes almost popped out of their heads at this information. They just found it unbelievable to have so many holidays and time to relax. I really like Japan and like visiting, but honestly I would not like to live there and have a normal job. Being a RU-vidr would be awesome fun, but not an office worker grinding away 12 hours a day.
As a Dutch person, who has lived in Japan and moved back home, I really did discover a new-found appreciation for my home country. While it is by no means perfect, an importance is placed on individuality and a “you work to live” rather than a “live to work” mentality. I will always love Japan, but seeing people having to put their work first and themselves second, felt very toxic. In many cases if you try to break away from this tradition, there is a chance you get ostracized. Of course this is not the case everywhere and I think things are slowly changing, but it’s definitely not a great environment to work in.
Anyone who can just move to a country as far away as Japan and live there for a while is rich. So you are already privileged. Not to hate on you but you're way above the global average. I can understand someone going to Japan for say two weeks on a tour but to live for an extended period of time and to pay for that, is quite remarkable. Many Western kids are still able to do that. 96% of the world's population could not afford to do that. You are better off than 96% of the people, so be happy.
As a Japanese person, I often wonder about something, so I'd like to share my personal opinion. From a Western perspective, is working considered synonymous with making sacrifices? I've already commented on labor culture in this video, so I'll skip that here. However, it's worth noting that many Japanese people view work as a way to contribute to society. Of course, it's true that working to the point of personal exhaustion is excessive. However, the exceptional service in Japanese restaurants and the intricate beauty seen in traditional Japanese architecture can't be achieved with the mindset that work is merely a means to earn income.
@@gotakazawa408 Good comment. It is varied in the West. For example these days people are told to follow their dreams. Part of that leads people to enjoying their work, i.e. their work can be more rewarding. They may stay long in the office if they like what they do. Then there are some professions were some of us have a certain calling. For example health care providers, some of us enjoy rendering a service, helping people, not necessarily the society but helping THAT particular patient, making someone's life better. Some people of course value working for society too. But many people don't like what they do. They would rather do something else. They see their job as merely earning money to pay for expenses, retirement etc. When it comes to art, in the past, art in Europe was religious mostly. People did art out of love of God, they would put in the hours. Simple people and educated people would work this way, hence intricate and beautiful European religious art - eg the Notre Dame. They would do it out of inspiration. Now most people may do it out of creativity or to make money or to make ends meet. The thing is that the West is very varied. Some people will work and want to contribute to society, some will want to help the individual, maybe work for some other goal - eg help the animals or help the environment, while others will want to work to earn money to survive. This also varies as to whether you are from a former communist country or not. I think if you're from a former communist country you tend to be more practical, and parents would tell their kids - study hard to get a good job to be able to earn good money - eg try to become a doctor, engineer or lawyer. In the more capitalist societies, parents would tell the kids to self actualise, to discover what they want to do, eg be an artist and not a nurse or become an archeologist and not a pharmacist. I think this may be failing now to some extent as the West has been living a long time off the fat of colonialism and a differential in terms of the industrial world vs the poor world out there. As the rest of the world industrialises and also achieves high tech the former rich countries will become more poor as they will no longer be able to offer anything. In the past the British would get cheap cotton from the Indians, spin in into cloth it steam powered looms in Manchester and resell at huge profit to the same Indians. Now the Indians send rockets into space and soon will be doing everything the West can offer. Life will become worse in the West and in Japan as Japan will face the same problems. But to summarise, the West is more varied. Some people are like your typical Japanese, others are different.
To give some context, economic power is often measured by the GDP and has to be seen critical, but it shows for sure some economic capacities a country has or developed. I am currently living in Japan in a Student Exchange Programm, I am german and the work culture and some other rules as well as the konservative goverment, style of life (for the most part consumerism) lined up with my perspective on life. To give some context, I study Japanology and Sociology, I see a variety of problems both countries face and also I can see some parallels to my homecountry as well. A big difference is here the work culture, overall culturally there are other major differences but from the perspective of feeling happy. While I can go shopping in Japan on Sundays, when I am in germany my homecountry I am forced to stop and slow down my pace of living. We only work our select time most of the week days, and have in most jobs saturdays and fridays free. Shops close on Sundays, which can be annoying but you learn to plan around it and deal with not beeing able to be so spontaneous. Not sure, couldnt see from the rankings, but I am pretty sure german ranked higher in happiness and if you go by GDP we also lead as third strongest economy in the world. I think there is an connection between "work culture - economy - happiness" but there is also the fact that the contribution of that created wealth plays a big role. In very capitalistic countries, the people who have the most money, stay beeing wealthy because systems like Japan have such high cost for higher education compared to germany for example. The ability to not step outside of there social/ social-economic group can create the feeling that the goverment in fact only care about the people who want to keep them in power. Making decisions in favor of the common people a rarity. At last, an interesting book had been released from a japanese sociologist about the Bushido and how it still influences the work culture of japan, and that this should be changed. I was very amazed when I heard this book existed, because I had the same thought before hearing about this book. It stays the question if Japan is change anytime soon with it konservative goverment, which seems to see their biggest task at hand to stay in power, considering the long history of Japan probably understandable. It feels like Edo Jidai 2.0 with the inclusion of more western influences and foreign policies. So, finally to the point about the children, comparrison hyposis. It is infact also something I expierenced in my social environment here in Japan, I am talking about young adults here, they seem unconciously compare each other a lot, whitout vocalising it. I feel something about the way of communication and expiereces of comparision (school rankings also exists more dominantly presented in Japan), people rather play thereselves down. As soon they start seeing something that puts them in an inferior position in comparision, they start picking up more on things that they are better that or change the topic. It seems they want to protect themselves or rather their ego from competition, because thats how it feels like to them. That also would explain why critisism is hardly seen displayed openly and in confrontation, communication is not as direct, a big differences to germany as well. I have to add, I am on average between 3-7 years older, so that might create a bias. This is just my personal feeling and expierecing and I hope people wont feel hurt, but it seems to me that what ever is out there causing that, peoples people feel on average more narcisstic too me than other people from other nations that I so far met in Germany or Japan. To fully understand this problem I dont want to play my full theory, firstly it needs to be looked into Narcissism as a whole and when tendencies become unhealthy.
4:43 chotto matte...I'm from Indonesia (82%!?). we are more like grateful than happy.... but I'm halfway to happiness since my business goes well and I'm so grateful about that. I hope can visit Kyoto someday.
I find it strange how mexico's pretty high in the happiness ranking when they also have an awful work culture, being one of the countries with most work hours a week and bad pay, also the crime rate, lack of clean water in some areas, etc...
I think that's a mistake a lot of people make: mistaking material prosperity for "happiness". Because what makes one "happy" can be somewhat subjective, as it depends on what you value.
@@somethingcraft3148 Disagree, there is definitely 2 Mexico state of being and I know this my parents being from Mexico. There is the wealthier parts in the cities which Mexican native people have a decent quality of life then you have the very simple "classic rancho" lifestyle. My hypothesis as to why people are so happy there from everyone I've talked to and when I visited is because in the rancho lifestyle you think a lot less of how shitty life is but more how wonderful life is. Mexico in or out of the city is also way more family orientated and friendly as hell it is VERY VERY VERYYYY hard to be lonely in Mexico you would have to try.
Im mexican, we lie alot in resumes and stuff, so i donr believe that mexico is happy, we ide it but the people here doesnt want us ti know we are stru struggking
I always knew Japan is not heaven on Earth. There are people that suffer one way or the other over there. Behind all those sceneries, and food and anime, people withholding their depression like they are holding a fart
@T4Bfan444 if that's what Japan does to you, then I'm concerned that some other countries will not be good for your stomach. It's not about the country being good or bad, it's just that they are obviously less shitty than other ones, and how unsurprisingly that does not always mean people are happier there as shown in this video, So just stop shitting on a country that's obviously better than most.🌚
Ashton with her channel TypeAshton recently also did an analysis on happiness. The key to happy kids appears to be chocolate sprinkles on bread every morning. 🙃 (it’s not, but it’s a nice hook into the real reason)
Lol, my country rarely gets mentioned in stuff, and if it does, it usually isn't anything that good, so as a Romanian, I'm glad that at least our kids seem to be happy according to that poll, 'cause us, the adults, surely aren't xD hope they get to keep most of that happiness while growing up
As someone that also lives in Japan and grew up here a long time ago before moving back, to me it really boils down to one aspect and it's the double edged sword of Japanese culture. It's beautifully respectful, but also disgustingly so as they've abused the idea of respect by shifting what it means to be respectful for selfish benefits. The easiest example is work hours. After COVID, it's become increasingly more noticeable that people really are wasting their time working as long as they do at the places they work. Many MANY jobs are just sitting at work, doing 4 hours worth of work, and the rest of the time just stretching that work over the course of your work hours. People do not need to work not nearly as long as they need to to get their work done or be efficient. In Japan, the expectation is unpaid overtime, to stay several hours after work hours to keep working even if you're not working. The simple existence of you at your workplace to display how hardworking you are rather than actually being. It becomes "respectful" to stay 1-2+ hours after your shift, and furthermore to interact with your colleagues or boss after the fact, continuing this angle of respectfully sucking up to them. It's a poison that seeps into every aspect of Japanese life, leaving little room for breathing or really feeling liberated in your own life. The country, if you're coming here on your own, can be ruthlessly depressing because you can very easily tell that everyone is stuck in this monotonous cycle and they can't find any way to break out. Imagine knowing no matter how hard you work, you don't have any time for your own life. Compounded by the fact that the economy is in the shitter and the city is expensive and the dreams of having a nice home is just a dream since you'll more than likely be relegated to a very small and tight studio or apartment. It's hard living in this country, even harder if you're a foreigner thanks to the severe xenophobia. You're playing on veteran difficulty if you think it's in any way reasonable to accomplish something as simple as getting a bank account or renting an apartment since your status as a foreigner automatically disqualifies you. Japan does not suck, but it's a tough country to imagine having a life in without any severe trials versus SO so many countries around the world. Great to visit, hard to live.
"Visiting is wonderful, but living is challenging." That's a truth I agree with. As a fellow Japanese individual, I personally wonder: Are you working in what's often referred to as an "old-style Japanese company"? I'm not aware of your specific situation, but if you desire, I believe there are now options beyond companies with such a culture...
@@gotakazawa408 I mention these working conditions because whether we like it or not, that's the painful reality for many Japanese people. Of course there are companies today that have adopted a more "modern" work culture, but there are still too many companies stuck in the past. There's little incentive to give their workers a better work-life balance because they managed to abuse culture for profit. Until the government comes through to apply a nationwide shift in work culture to benefit all workers, those companies will continue to reap the benefits of their abuse. That being said, many of them don't really notice they are abusing since they were raised in a time where this is the standard. But after what's been accomplished around the world with better work hours and less "respect", it begs the question the viability and applicability of their extensive working conditions. Once again, it's a part of Japan that is great at looking forward thinking, but once you get a look at its internals, you realise just how stuck in the past they are.
@@guitarsaremyfriendzzz7077 Yeah I may have oversimplified and identified the issue of expensiveness in Tokyo specifically. It is most definitely not expensive to get a place, it is expensive by the metric of value to square metres. As someone who grew up in several countries around Asia with most of them in Japan, I was shocked to learn that in Tokyo, it's very standard to believe that how much they're paying for rent only gets you such a small place. It reminds me of New York City. Not to mention how over the past few years, we're feeling the squeeze with our yen having less and less value while the prices of everything goes up. I'm just voicing a frustration and my sadness whenever I look at people during my commutes. I lived in Singapore and with the lack of culture-bound respectfulness, there can be much louder people and a lot more talking in public. They are ruder by comparison, but at least they're happy and you can tell. Hell even the housing there is incredibly expensive, but again, at least they're allowed to live their life and be happy.
@@RaeneYT It seems like we're not seeing eye to eye on this. At least for now, we have enough immigrants from overseas, so if you have time to criticize, please use that valuable time for yourself.
I cant help but notice similarities to the Japanese unwritten rule of being courteous to those around you, to some very extreme situations. To those suffering with depression, I survived my demons and have seen the same smiles hiding true feelings. You compound those feeling being masked with a crazy work/life balance with not much in a way to vent or seek help. That is when things can go south real fast and in some situations, permanently. Anyone who's reading this, Japanese or not. Who is needing help, talk to someone. Talk to me.
Today my daughter was scared that I won't come back Trying my hardest to live day by day enduring but it's not easy hope becomes toxic some days are just this dark and even trying hard doesn't help trying to put a smile as joker 24/7 as a single mom ain't working too being a hamster with a low income salary in this broken record of life Lately started asking myself why I'm alive tho and it's ain't Japan only I live in Morocco And to be honest sharing it with others doesn't bring a change everything seems pointless
@@LbLoujokerSobranie Thank you for sharing friend. keep on stepping. try to feel comfort knowing you are not alone. we are all being smashed by the same waves.
@@LbLoujokerSobranie You should try to find what makes you happy. All of the responsibilities' shows you are an amazing person but it's not enough to really make a difference for your own mental health. We get caught up trying to do what's right for everyone around because that's what you are taught to do. It is the right thing but they are just forcing you to be unhappy for the rest of your life too. Think about what you need to do to be a little happier. One of your responsibilities is to yourself too. Never forget that. You deserve to be happy. You don't need money to find what makes you happy but you do need it to survive. Try out some hobbies.
When I was in middle school here (中学), I got punished for standing out and being way too different from the other people. This caused me to develop social anxiety. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't say Japan's social culture is 100% at fault here because I also had a difficult childhood and family issues. The pandemic really made my mental health worse too. But I'm doing okay now. It's a great country, but living here with the pressures to conform can feel like a nightmare at times. to be honest…. i hate living here i wish i could go to another country it feels way too lonely in here lol
@@Kutsushita_yukino Thank you for sharing. There are pressures all over the world to be "normal". The problem is what that word means in each city, country etc. There are far worse countries to live in, I have spent a good chunk of my life living in different places in the world. I have seen the good, and horrific where i called home. Finding a place to make you less lonely is difficult, some might say you have to be comfortable in loneliness, before you can find a place. Keep on stepping, friend :)
Germany is also quite low on the "make new friends" index, it's below great Britian and the US, which is not surprising for me. I'm born in Germany and I'm now 35 and still here. It is quite a struggle to find new friends or even a partner. Everyone is quite busy or already have their own group of friends. Some people are also very superficial, they will tell you they would like to meet you, but they don't really want it. So everyone stays in his own personal bubble. The elbow mentality is also a part of this. They will check you if you already have a good job, a relationship or interesting hobbies, if not and you're more the unlucky one in life, they will spare you after a while, because they don't want to spend energy to someone, who is new in their circle. The existing circle of friends and relatives is very important among Germans. So it's very hard to make any new friends here, even for a native German like me.
I guess dead can't take a part in gallup but don't be stupid. We aren't even that high in the list.. middle-middle high in EU. Me as finn I definitely understand why we are "happy"
@@takomakone3234 Aren't we nominated how many years as "happiest country" and none understand why? (and say then: well i don't want even know how bad it need be in other countries) I am not factually check where we are at self exit list nowadays, but i understood compared to population it is always been high.
@@junrenshi per capita we are pretty much in the middle. Even if we were higher the biggest factor would be SAD depression which we can't affect without installing artificial sun for winters. What makes me happy is the fact that no matter how badly I f up in my life, I can still be sure that I have a chance to live normally
You're so right Joey, as the Founding Fathers said it's the Pursuit of Happiness and we each find it in our own way. On a visit to Mt Fuji I saw a lot of older Japanese sat at easels paining the view of Mt Fuji with every degree or lack of artistic skill, however compare their lives to those thousands and thousands crowding onto the Tokyo Metro for work each morning. If you have sometime you want to do, go for it, even if it doesn't work out better to say I Tried than to say IF ONLY...
My country (The Netherlands) at the top is the biggest shocker. Maybe like the national polls they only ask in the 4 big cities, but everyone i know, me included isn't that happy. Many of my friends and me included suffer from chronic depression and have attempted suicide and my friend group isn't an exception. Suicide is the main reason for death for us for people below 40. Our workhours are short, compared to countries like Asia. But the pressure in work is usually very high, we show little empathy to others and expect to be helped right away, which creates massive pressure. We are also expected to do alot next to work, if you don't make alot of money, are athletic and have a big social circle you'll be an outcast and seen as a bit sad. We also have massive crisises in the country. Our goverment stopped the economy in some ways to save the climate, creating discomfort, money issues and most off all a massive housing crises. We have the same housing crises we had right after ww2, and we aren't allowed to build houses because it would pollute the envirement. We also close farms so our food gets more and more expensive. Meanwhile mass immigration is ongoing, but when people arrive here we don't help them so they turn to crime. I'd agree with the 90% in 1995, now my country is falling apart, has veen since 2015
I wholeheartedly agree, and I am kind of relieved to see other Dutch people in the comments being as surprised as I am that we are in the top. I am wondering which demographic they are asking. I grew up in the 90s, and while my teenage years were a struggle because of different things, I remember how I could go out and feel safe, people were more friendly and our economy was organised much better as it is today. Now I feel really unsafe, everything is depressingly expensive and there is no end in sight with higher prices for food, taxes, healthcare and housing. Our country is bursting at the seams with people and I hear my own language less and less while out and about. Our culture is slowly dying. There barely is nature, I can't go anywhere and not run into people and if you want to go anywhere, there is pretty much always a traffic jam. We work shorter hours but like you said, what is expected is a lot. I effectively do three jobs in one, but I am barely paid enough for the one I was hired for. No raise even though inflation the last 2 years was 15+%. Toxic managers making the workplace miserable by allowing zero flexibility, pushing many people around me (including myself almost at times) into severe burnout and anxiety. There is a lot that went wrong in the last 10 years, and I am honestly not sure if we can ever fix it at this point. My partner and I are actually looking to leave this country within the next 8-10 years.
The Netherlands will fall apart more. Much of the capital built up in Europe was on the back of the colonies and associated trade. It was also on the back of the industrial advantage industrialisation gave rise to. I remember all my kit was either Dutch or Japanese (some Italian). Now everything is Chinese and Korean. Japan boomed in the 70s/80s taking jobs from Europeans, now Chinese and Koreans are taking jobs from them. This will worsen as time goes on because the tech/science genie is out of the bag. Countries like Indonesia will in the future manufacture their own integrated circuits and CPUs. What will the Netherlands produce then? Europe and the UK are on their last breath I think. They won't collapse but if the world is buying your products because of your added value to their raw resources, what's stopping them from doing this themselves. And what will Netherlands then offer? Same for Europe. Same for Japan.
All of those things can be true AND you can still be the happiest country. Your friend circle is almost certainly on the more depressed spectrum. Seen as "a little bit sad" because you don't work out or hace hobbies isn't really all that bad when you consider other places like Japan where laughing too loud makes you a social pariah. Immigration and housing and living costs are worldwide crises. It's just much worse elsewhere. That's the secret.
i have heard that due to the insane competition in a lot of asian countries when it comes to work and studies, friend groups are often toxic as well. because you also see those friends as competition or are being compared to them constantly.. which sounds awful to me
As someone from the Netherlands living in Japan for over a year the biggest difference that might influence the overall happiness is the directness of what you can say/do. Every case is different but in the Netherlands most people are just used to saying things as they think they are which for us doesn't feel like it's rude most of the time, it's nice that someone is honest. In Japan most time people are very indirect don't say what they think, they say "its all fine etc". If I were to make a 'direct' comment like, 'oh the way we are working on the project isn't good because of this reason and this reason etc.' then it could be precieved negatively like I think we are doing bad or something but I am just noticing something and say it outloud. That is very short my take on a part of what might be a big factor.
I went to japan 3 times, tokyo being 2 times. The first time I went, I get the standard culture shock and how everyone was so kind, place is clean, service is godlike... everything was amazing. The second time I went, I started to realize how much shadow looms over the people, a contrast from the brightness I experience during my first visit. People here are always looking at their phones, looking down, walking fast and rushing to work. The smiles from service workers felt robotic, the greetings felt very npc scripted, just alot of sad feelings. But of course not everyone or every place is like that
Wasn't much of a culture shock for me except for how people avoid eye-contact at all costs, pretty much. I've been to many continents and countries, and it's exclusively a Japanese I noticed. People actively avoid interacting unless it's absolutely needed.
@@missplainjane3905 Either Japan or Singapore. The rest are lagging behind (including SK). But even Japan is behind the west, I'd say. There's no non-white country so far that has the same living standards as in the west. Even Japan would rank amongst the lowest of European living standards.
@@missplainjane3905 first of, this isn't just "my perspective" - I work in finance, analyzing economies is part of my job. There are no economies in the world - including Asian - that have the same amount of wealth as western ones. Even Japan - they're not just as affluent as us. This year, JPY/USD fell to 160 from normal levels of about 100. The Japanese literally became 40% poorer in a short time. Japanese people immigrate to western countries to improve their financial situation. Westerners don't immigrate to Japan for that - it's to experience the culture. Only other Asians immigrate to Japan and SK for their economies. Same things apply to SK.
I think a lot of it comes down to work/life and school/life balance. I've worked a few jobs that demanded a lot of unpaid overtime or just excessive amounts of overtime and not only does it leave less free time for you after work, it drains you to the point you can't really utilize the free time for leisure, you need most of it just to rest and recharge. When you can see your life ticking away day by day like this you begin to fear you may never actually get to LIVE it. At that point you have no dream or goal to work toward, you're exhausted and the only thing holding it all together is survival instinct because you know you need food and shelter. If kids are spending all their time after school doing more school so they can get into the best post-secondary schools so they can prove themselves by studying the hardest to keep up with the fierce competition in those schools, when do they have time to make friends or enjoy the world? It's just like the work culture of proving yourself by sacrificing the most extra time, the only currency you can never earn back.
I think SNS is "a" reason. People are sooo glued to their phones here it's crazy so they are way more constantly bombarded by this comparison. In combination with the overall emphasis of showing your status here (showing the brands you wear etc) since you otherwise should not stick out too much on a personal/character level might be boosting it. I think in europe or at least in germany we usually do not care about that status showing and care more about what you can achieve yourself and together and how you are as a person.
As someone who lives in the Netherlands and even considering to move to Japan. This is really disheartening. Still considering if we should or should not move since it's been my and fiancées dream
Surveys like that can be finicky and get different results, a survey I saw recently showed Japan to have a similar rating to France and showed the Scandinavian countries to be the happiest. I think the issue lies in language and also what the population itself perceives as happiness. Different words can have different meanings in different languages and there can also be multiple different words for the same idea that could get different results even if they are similar. Just using English as an example, in a survey you could ask 'are you happy with your life?' or ''Are you happy'' and you would get different results but also you could ask ''are you happy'' or ''are you content'' and you would again get different results even though in all cases the question is very similar. Now imagine doing that across numerous different languages. To some it up, the issue with surveys like this is that they are subjective and not objective.
It’s also been revealed a lot of the happiness surveys are kind of skewed b/c Northern European societies have this “be happy with what you have” culture, so that’s automatically going to inflate their numbers.
I don't believe any of these, true in The Netherlands we had the mentality of be happy with what you have but don't kide yourself, hyperconsumerism is rampent.
They don't have it too bad in Northern Europe, they have free education, free healthcare, a safe environment and well-paying jobs. It's not difficult to be happy with what you have, if you have that.
In the Nordics social inequality is really low (between genders, too), they have social security (including free quality healthcare and education), and they have a culture that appreciates each person as they are. In these circumstances, happiness is not that hard to find 🤷
I think your hypothesis is interesting. It’s a fresh way to look at the issue I feel. Most of the time all I hear is the same “oh the Japanese work culture” or “they compare themselves to much.” I think you might be on to something with how they are now able to see western country’s having more individuality and ability to find their own happiness.
I really enjoy when you make these types of videos Joey, although this is a complex topic, you bring a very unique perspective. You said it yourself you've seen both sides of the coin! Thanks for sharing your opinion.
While his opinion offers an interesting perspective, it's hard to say it represents "both sides of the coin." This is because his interactions with the "silent majority of Japanese people" are very limited.
A video about a guy who lives in Japan talks about the child homelessness, where the comments section has different kind of people, The conservative Japanese that copes by saying anywhere is an unhappy place and kept the so called "asians need to cope and keep silent about the wrongdoings of their government" attitude, the progressive Japanese that hates the living standards in Japan and seeks individuality but doesn't realise what's the bad part of individuality is if not taken care of, and the multitude amount of foreigners trying to understand what REALLY Japan is.
the grass is greener on the other side. mentality is always a factor on social media, even on news. would you be happy always reading positive news? while some do, others would quickly compare themselves to such people and start to feel bad, thus news are always a mixture of the good, the bad, and also some weird situations that happened around the world. whether one can stand above that, or not, is up to the individual and their direct environment.
I think Shogo (Let's Ask Shogo | Your Japanese friend in Kyoto) does a great job of explaining this in his video "Why Bushido is the Root of All Social Problems in Japan"
I think the culture of how extremes are viewed strongly influence surveys like this. Some cultures tend to aswer more of the midle, some above. Maybe these results reflect the happiness of japanese citizen accurately but that's something I had to think about
I live very far from Japan, and I'm very miserable, because I'm very lonely and insecure. The problem is that no one seems to have a practical solution for people like me
There is a practical solution. You need to get out your comfort zone. You need to practice being uncomfortable, doing things out of your norm. Only then can you even have the chance of changing your life. You can't expect change, if you're not doing anything different from yesterday
@@ivanthaboi I also had this bad habit of asking myself "why even bother?" everytime I wanted to do something that's mildly exhausting or unpleasent at first, but probably beneficial, fun and exciting in the long run. What got me going was this mindest: - If nothing out of the ordinary happens I'll be here on this earth for another 50-60 years. Doing the same boring shit all day everyday makes life feel like a blur, it's meaningless. Might as well yell "LETS F*KIN GO" and give it everything I got, what's the worst that could happen? Not being bored? Get slapped by life once in a while, which happens anyways? So might as well try to have fun while at it.
As Someone who has multiple Japanese friends and one of my ex's being Japanese, the thing they usually say whenever we talk about it is that Japan, even being one of the world's best countries, still has pretty bad societal and cultural issues rooted in it. Let's say we even forget the xenophobia for a second, the problems are still kinda bad, like the old people have too much say or power in any issues or just culture.
Japan is a very well run and extremely rich country. It's in G7. The height of human achievement. Japanese should be happy with that. The problem is that many people, you and your ex and others, haven't seen much of the world. Visit a developing nation and see how people live. See what sort of life expectancy they can expect to have. See how much disease there is. HIV, TB, malaria, lifestyle diseases, etc. I'm an MD with EU and South African citizenships. I mostly work in SA. Patients here struggle with depression and resources are limited, even in private. Crime is a terrible burden on society. Women and kids can expect to be assaulted indecently. People in G7 countries should be happy with what they have. If they need medical care, Japan has a good public health system and psychiatry is available. So people should use that. Japan still has one of the highest life expectancy figures in the world.
Worst part about social media isn't how much more successful or better looking the other people are. Its the verry fact that they post the stuff they do to get validation that they are some where while inside feeling like they are no where.
In Switzerland, it is common for us to start working at the age of 15 or 16. I had an amazing opportunity to visit a Japanese company and something interesting happened there. The employees were hesitant to express their concerns about the boss's inefficiency. However, I gathered the courage to speak up, and it caused quite a commotion. Surprisingly, on my very first day, they decided to "fire" me and even paid for my flight back home. It was astonishing to see how the entire crew was afraid of just one person. A year later, I had another chance to work in the United States. On my first day, I was given the task of bringing coffee to the boss. I politely declined, stating that I was there to work. Unfortunately, this led to me being fired once again. It seems that people find it difficult to take a 15-year-old seriously in the workplace. However, it's interesting how everyone seems to excel at pretending to be busy all day long. No one is truly happy if they get ordered around.
There is a breaking in period where the new guy gets the crap work. Plus, both in Japan and some places in the US, it is not uncommon for everyone to start at the bottom. So even if you graduate college with a degree in engineering, you may spend your first few months packing boxes and shipping product or sweeping floors. And the idea is that you learn every element of the business until you hit the position you are intended for. So you know the capabilities down the line and you also get some ego ground off.
LoL this is BS. You cannot get jobs that easily in either country especially with no degree. I would know as I have a foreign sister in law with an education and it was a pain to get her working. Also, having immigrated to Japan they do not hand out work visas to children with 0 education. F off.
I remember my employer in my first school in HK going on about me respecting work life balance. I pissed him off by saying well actually I work to live not live to work. Needless to say I was not renewed the following year but that was a known horrible school anyways. Thing is it was all over me complaining about having 3 after hours meetings per week, you know..... out of the 5 days we are there, and how nothing ever got discussed or added in them. They would repeat stuff we had already discussed and such just to fill out the 3 hour meetings.
The biggest key to creating happiness in a society/culture is the answer to one single question. "To what degree does this society/culture enable a person to do/pursue a job/interest they love/care about, while receiving respect and appreciation for what they do, and while having sufficient resources/salary/compensation/etc. that they don't need to worry about basic necessities like rent/food/clothing/etc." Whenever any of these things break down, it doesn't matter how nice/orderly the society/culture seems, the happiness of the people within it will go down. If someone is unable to pursue a career or interest that they love, and is forced to work a job that they hate, happiness will go down. If people aren't respected/appreciated for what they do, and are surrounded by people who look down on them, happiness will go down. If people are constantly stressed and worrying about bills, and how they're even going to make it/survive, happiness will go down. If you can fulfill all three of those basic criteria, however, most people will be satisfactorily happy, even if other aspects of their life are unfulfilled at the moment. Maybe they're single, and they feel lonely, but if those three basic things are fulfilled for them, they'll usually take the perspective of "My life is otherwise pretty good, and I can work on finding someone". Maybe they're not rich and have always wanted to be, but so long as those three basic things are fulfilled, they'll usually take the perspective of "I might not have all the luxuries I've dreamed of, but I'm living a pretty good life, a life I can be satisfied with, and I can work on my ideas to strike it big on the side". But the moment a society/culture begins to take away those three basic things, the more all those other unfulfilled desires are brought into stark relief for them as well, and they all seem to stack up and build on top of each other until it cascades into unhappiness. And then that unhappiness becomes even more likely to go unaddressed if it exists in a culture where not inconveniencing others (say by sharing your problems with them) is the standard of social politeness.
Things about Japanese work culture that doesn't get talked about enough: ageism and the difficulty in finding a new job after quitting one. Truthfully, if you're over the age of 30-35 and you quit your job, you're unlikely to find another job with equal or greater pay unless you are a highly skilled and sought after individual. What this means is that if you are in your 30s and you hate your job, you are forced to stay (despite workplace bullying, power harassment, or just discovering your true passion). If you are a woman, it's even more difficult as many employers assume you will quit around your 30s to start a family, or you have family obligations (sick kids, picking up from school, etc) and employers will be reluctant to hire you.
It's a fact that there are some progressive companies addressing these issues. However, government initiatives often lack a comprehensive understanding of these problems from the perspective of workers. In Japan, full-time work is often required for important positions, leading to interruptions in women's careers due to childbirth, particularly affecting their ability to pursue continuous career advancement. As a result, women face a dilemma when aiming for ongoing career development, as childbirth becomes challenging. Nonetheless, there is now the potential for good career transitions even in middle age, provided one has the skills, and the job market for such transitions is gradually becoming more active.
I'm from Chile and I can assure you that no matter how much the economy thrives or how much neighbor countries might look up to us, people in Chile are deeply unhappy. Theres so much corruption that the battle towards freeing ourselves from the conservative agenda seems to travel generations. Also the contrast between social class is so strong, people never leave poverty and the discourse from the government is always that you are not working enough, trying enough. We end up taking the streets asking for education, for retirement plans who don't leave us on the streets, for women rights, for a change in our constitution. The resentment has deep roots while the cost of living keeps getting higher. In the end all I can do is thank my mother for giving me an education and try and give her a life as an elder with dignity, while I struggle with mental health too. anyways, thanks for talking about important matters joey, keep it up :)
From what I heard is that most people in Japan work most of the time and barely have days off and the education system there is really strict on students. Plus they look down on people who got no good education background. Can someone tell me if this is true or not?
@@neko_neko9 Yea my brother was actually a exchange student for like 6 months. He use to tell me how hard the education system was there and that a lot of students and teachers there treated him like he was wasting a spot for other exchange students because he did not go to in they words “big American school” like wtf. I had to ask because I really don’t believe him to be honest 😂
Japan has been ruled by basically the same political party since 1955, the LDP (Jiminto) except for five years (1993-4, 2009-12) and I think this is the biggest underlying issue. Things are so slow to change, nepotism goes unpunished and the population's confidence in government is low or apathetic. That's the survey that I'd like to see.
As a Japanese person, I personally agree with your insight. In fact, the largest group in Japanese public opinion polls is the non-partisan segment. This might be interpreted as a lack of interest in politics, but it's more likely due to the absence of opposition parties with substantial policies, leading people to choose the Liberal Democratic Party as a passive choice. It's commonly believed that the real driving force behind Japan is the bureaucrats in the Ministry of Finance.
I feel that many people are looking at Japan through very specific lenses and rose tinted glasses. Many of them focus only on the cool stuff - the sushi conveyor belt restaurants, tourist destinations, pokemon center and other shops, etc - instead of the country at large.
the "happiness" rankings need to be read with proper context. I believe many of those happiness rankings arent really as much trying to truly estimate how happy people feel - but instead how basically how much the society pays and invests in the education, social benefits etc that kind of social thing. So its more like "your country is doing well and giving you benefits, theres low crime, thus you are happy" as opposite to being a heavy survey of peoples opinions. i cant remember the names of those different happiness indexes, but if you cross-referenced those that measured numbers and those that actually asked more question + read a bit between lines, you could see some really interesting differences. Plenty countries where people are most optimistic and hopeful for the future arent where people might first think they are.
I think it's work culture and endless pressure to succeed, coupled with having to keep face and not show you're struggling. These are not unique to Japan of course, and are a problem in South Korea and China as well. A relative of mine was married to a Chinese woman whose parents still live in China. This relative developed quite severe mental health problems, and his wife never really told her parents what was going on. When I asked why, the response was 'they just wouldn't understand'. We talk about mental health issues in Australia but it seems anyone over there with problems is just swept under the carpet. Don't say anything, don't get help, pretend everything is okay. Until they snap and all hell breaks loose.
Which is pretty crazy when you have cartels literally creating chaos constantly. I wonder if they got rid of cartels and got a better government, would that lead to unhappiness like in first world countries? America is full of cultures where family is important but Americans are not very happy.
@@1stHalf I think the fact that their lives are hard and they tend to see so much violence that they appreciate the little things more often. Where as in America, people may value community, but many don't have community to connect to because of our hyper individualism
As a Mexican, I can confirm that people rarely feel alone. No matter your background, odds are you have tons of cousins, uncles and other relatives who care for you and you meet frequently (normally at your grandparents’s house, and in cases like mine you’ll be there at least once a week, always meeting new relatives which at age 20 you still didn’t even know about). Not to mention how stupidly easy it is to make friends. I’ve met some of my closest friends by mere accident. Therefore it is extremely hard for me to grasp how would it feel like to have to make friends in Japan.
@@1stHalfIm mexican and ill say the thing with carteles Is just like whatever because its usually beef between them and corrupt gov officials they kinda have their own honor code and leave civilians out of it (not saying they dont get caught in the middle from time to time)
Man ngl I very much struggle to take that children in Chile are having a harder time to make friends than children in Japan Besides that, shit do be rough for the young ones 😔 One can only hope shit will improve for future generations but man its looking bleak
Making friends in chile in general is hard. Most "friends" only talk to you to "borrow" money (which they'll absolutely not return) or ask for a favor, and making friends as a child depends on the children's parents or some other connection between them, like their siblings being friends or something of the sort.
@@Tchy While I do ge that this can vary from person to person, what makes me think that children in Chile wouldn't struggle to make friends as much is the culture itself compared to Japan. While bullying and segregation exists everywhere, I'd say it could more often be found in a culture that definitely despises people who stick up, like in Japan.
Having lived in the Netherlands for 6 years I'm pretty sure that this survey was probably done between july and august. the rest of the year you will only hear dutch people complain about the weather, the lack of available apartments for rent and high living costs.
Joey, first of all, I want to say, thank you so much for making content like this. I have lived in Japan since 2020 and this was, for obvious reasons, unfortunately the worst time for me to move to the country I'd been completely enamored with for 20 years. I have worked in Japanese business and I've also taught all grades formally from 1 to college in the short time I've lived here. You only need eyes to see how unhappy people are. I would end up writing an essay if I spoke about my experiences and what I've seen that made me come to this conclusion. I won't do that, but I just wanted to confer with you. I also notice it in myself. I am unhappy. If I evaluate myself and try to understand why, I find it easy. It's because my work and therefore financial situation is the worst that it's been since I was 24, and socially, I find it difficult to make real connections here. I don't know what can be done about this as a society because when I speak to people about it, they have this sort of doom mentally like, "This is Japan, I should move to the US and everything will be different." It's a really frustrating point of view because it feels that people here refuse to take responsibility for their own country and speak up or try to change anything, the answer is to run away. This means that the people who could actually make Japan a better country (while still maintaining its culture!), just tend to leave instead. I hate that. This is a wonderful country that needs some improvements but could be improved if the modern citizens of it would decide to just try to evoke change. Anyhow, just like you, I'm a teacher, not a doctor--a conversation teacher at that, so what do I know? However this is certainly my opinion on the topic.
