Japanese population "problem"

[JaySee]

I agree. Sometimes I really wish anime and playstations were Korean.

[lbum]

Well from the way I understand it the population decrees has to do with citizens trying to have the life that they want which requires more work and that the amount of money it cost to raise a family is expensive. I saw a couple of days ago that one group said the average amount to raise a child in the US is about 290,000 dollars. Does anyone know if the amount to raise a child in Japan is more and if that might actually be one of the major factors?

[spin13]

Delekii wrote:
Aside from necessary societal restructuring, a declining population growth is not a bad thing in the long term. Declining population occuring without any genocide/other such intrusion in a small country with limited space like Japan can only be a good thing.

Extra space in this city would be fantastic but those old people are just too stubborn to die and those "birth-giving machines" more commonly known as Japanese women are proving too defective to reproduce, so instead of just extra space we can look forward to a forecast of increasing taxes and their accompanying blubbering politicians.

From a purely economical point of view it would be much cheaper to perform selective genocide. Otherwise, there are too few in the work force and too many others requiring their support. Unfortunately, most elderly people are opposed to being dumped, en masse, into the ocean. What a shame. Somebody needs to tell these people to "Harden the **** up." (NSFW)

-Eric

[Yudan Taiteki]

I'm interested in Japan's population growth because I'll probably be moving there in a few years, and will live out the remainder of my life there. I like Japan to the point that it's my main source of happiness. I don't want to see my future home brcome barren and poor.

Have you been to Japan before?

[Duelley49]

I'm going to Japan next summer to see what it's like. I know I'll like it because I've tried to learn as much history and culture as I can. Even if I don't I have to learn to like it. Staying in the United States would mean eternal sadness and misery. It's often gotten to the point that I've become suicidal. For some reason I just learned about the culture, studies it extensively, and learned to love it. Next summer I'll get to see what it's really like.

[coco]

If you try to find some negative factors during next 45years, terrible earthquakes and the eruption of Mt.Fuji might be more serious than the declining population.

lbum wrote:
I saw a couple of days ago that one group said the average amount to raise a child in the US is about 290,000 dollars. Does anyone know if the amount to raise a child in Japan is more and if that might actually be one of the major factors?

According to the analysis of white paper of child-raising, published in 2005, an average cost of child-raising (0-21years old) is around 13,000,000 yen. It would probably be 113,044 dollars ( $1=115yen)．
If you let your child go to a private school/university, they say it costs around 20,000,000 yen, about $173,913.
Although I don't know if the way of estimate is same or not, the cost of raising a child in US looks much expensive than Japan's.

---
edit.
Here are OP's threads.
Shinto and Buddhism
The disabled in Japan
What do you like about Japan?
Should I give up my dream
Why do Japanese people pretend to like me?

[Shirasagi]

Mike Cash wrote:

Duelley49 wrote:
I'll probably be moving there in a few years, and will live out the remainder of my life there.

If I had a nickel for every foreigner I've heard say that, I'd have......well.....a lot of money.

If I had a nickel for every foreigner I've heard say that and who eventually came for even a short visit, I'd have.....absolutely nothing.

How much money would you have if you had a nickel for every foreigner you've heard say that they were only intending to stay for a short visit, and ended staying for a much, much longer time?

[Yudan Taiteki]

Duelley49 wrote:
I'm going to Japan next summer to see what it's like. I know I'll like it because I've tried to learn as much history and culture as I can. Even if I don't I have to learn to like it. Staying in the United States would mean eternal sadness and misery. It's often gotten to the point that I've become suicidal. For some reason I just learned about the culture, studies it extensively, and learned to love it. Next summer I'll get to see what it's really like.

How are you going next summer (i.e. homestay, vacation, study)?

[HeyItsMatt]

Duelley49 wrote:
I'm going to Japan next summer to see what it's like. I know I'll like it because I've tried to learn as much history and culture as I can. Even if I don't I have to learn to like it. Staying in the United States would mean eternal sadness and misery. It's often gotten to the point that I've become suicidal. For some reason I just learned about the culture, studies it extensively, and learned to love it. Next summer I'll get to see what it's really like.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't move to Japan, but if you're depressed and unhappy, I don't think moving to another country will solve that. Personal problems tend to follow you to new places. Also, this is just a wild guess, but if you're in West Virginia (especially if you're in high school) maybe you don't have a lot in common with many people there. So just moving to another state or getting out of high school will help a lot. I know that if I moved more than 10 miles off campus from where I am, I wouldn't have a lot in common with anybody.

As for Japan's population, I've heard that they might have some problems with social security in the future (we might too... I mean assuming politicians don't just remove it entirely and tell poor people to fend for themselves), but I think Europe is in even more trouble. Their social security system is more extensive, and their population is going down even faster. I would think that some of that would be mitigated by working-age people having less kids to care for, though.

[SirFirestorm]

Duelley49 wrote:
I'm going to Japan next summer to see what it's like. I know I'll like it because I've tried to learn as much history and culture as I can. Even if I don't I have to learn to like it. Staying in the United States would mean eternal sadness and misery. It's often gotten to the point that I've become suicidal. For some reason I just learned about the culture, studies it extensively, and learned to love it. Next summer I'll get to see what it's really like.

Oh okay guys don't worry, he knows he'll like it.

So do you have links to your anime list and livejournal?

[Xurma]

Maybe, maybe not.

I've noticed some movement in Japan's influences. Few years ago Japan was a big word, but now China has taken steps and Japan is now slightly getting into the shadow of the big China. But all countries have problems.

[Bulgar]

Personally, I think the decline in population would be good in the short term, but it will eventually have to balance in the long term if they want to keep up a good standard of living.

Perhaps saying that they're "dying out" is a little extreme, even in light of this.

[lemonaid]

Duelley49 wrote:
I'm going to Japan next summer to see what it's like. I know I'll like it because I've tried to learn as much history and culture as I can. Even if I don't I have to learn to like it. Staying in the United States would mean eternal sadness and misery. It's often gotten to the point that I've become suicidal. For some reason I just learned about the culture, studies it extensively, and learned to love it. Next summer I'll get to see what it's really like.

A country is just a flag and an anthem and some lines on a map. It's not a prozac. If you're suffering from depression and loneliness to the extent that you're actually suicidal you should stay put and see someone about it, not move to a place far away from your friends and family where you'll most likely feel alienated and alone for a very very long time, and where you'll have no one to talk to when you do. Hell, it might even make your condition worse.

Go see someone about this. Seriously.

[Mike Cash]

Duelley49 wrote:
I'm going to Japan next summer to see what it's like. I know I'll like it because I've tried to learn as much history and culture as I can.

What one learns to expect from books seldom matches what one encounters on the ground.

Even if I don't I have to learn to like it. Staying in the United States would mean eternal sadness and misery.

Hell, it ain't all West Virginia, you know.

It's often gotten to the point that I've become suicidal.

Got news for you, bub. Problems like that jump in your suitcase and travel with you.

Are you sure you even qualify for a working visa here? They don't let you move here just because you want to.

Otherwise the place would be overrun with teenybopper cosplay anime kids from Europe and America and the Japanese population would all have to leave in order to make room for them.

Shirasagi's inquiring mind wanted to know:
How much money would you have if you had a nickel for every foreigner you've heard say that they were only intending to stay for a short visit, and ended staying for a much, much longer time?

Probably close to a dollar.

Of all the people I've ever seen who sounded like Duelley, none of them have ever shown up at all. Of all the people I've ever known who have actually lived here for a long time, not a single one of them had that as their intention when they started out.

[Duelley49]

Well, the reason I'm depressed is because I'm not in Japan. IMy interest in Japan has steadily made me more and more disassociated with American people and culture. Now I feel the most comfortable around Japanese people and Americans often seem alien to me.

My Bipolar Disorder has made it extremely difficult to make fiends, Japanese or otherwise. However, the Japanese I have met were excessively nice and polite and made me feel welcomed, which I rarely feel. I'm only happy hen watching to, listening to, or studying something Japanese. I dream of moving there, marrying a Japanese girl, and starting a family. That goal is what keeps me going.