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170 Comments
- bobboberton, on 02/17/2009, -1/+81We'll think twice when they invent giant combat mechs.
- NSResponder, on 02/18/2009, -10/+84It's not irreversible. Japan could end this in a year by doing what they should have done all along: let failed businesses fail, stop giving them tax money, stop inflating the Yen, and sharply reduce their marginal tax rates.
They know what they have to do, but their political class, just like ours, isn't willing to reduce their own power.
-jcr - masamunecyrus, on 02/18/2009, -2/+50You mean you haven't heard of
Canon, Casio, Epson, Fujifilm, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Honda, Acura, Isuzu, JVC, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Maxell, Mazda, Mitsubishi, NEC, Nikon, Nintendo, Nissan, Olympus, Onkyo, Panasonic, Pioneer, Ricoh, Roland, Sanyo, Seiko, Sharp, Sony, Subaru, Suzuki, Taiyo Yuden, TDK, Toshiba, Toyota, Lexus, Scion, and Yamaha, among others? - dafragsta, on 02/18/2009, -2/+38Say hello to Chinime.
Or better yet, Afghanistanimation! - punkcat, on 02/18/2009, -0/+34its that slow.
- inactive, on 02/18/2009, -1/+34Feb 3, 2008?
- dankreek, on 02/18/2009, -4/+34Back in 1984 Japan was going to take over the WHOLE WORLD... until something cheaper came along.
- inactive, on 02/18/2009, -7/+30Shouldn't your username be Nissan and shouldn't you be laying of 20,000 employees?
By what measure is Japan in better shape? They have almost zero natural resources, overcrowding and a creepy obsession with Anime. - inactive, on 02/18/2009, -0/+20 I've seen Afghanistanimation, each frame is burned into flat bread.
- rugabug, on 02/18/2009, -1/+16They are very xenophobic... so yes.
- tonmil, on 02/18/2009, -0/+15Yup. The downside of competing on price. That's the problem with China and India. Although they will be cheap for a long time because of the size of their poor population.
- juk3box, on 02/18/2009, -1/+15Ben Bernanke has been heavily involved in Japan's economy over the past few years. You can even read his long essay he gave to them on May 31, 2003: http://www.federalreserve.gov/BoardDocs/Speeches/2 ...
And now this same Bernanke, whos advice for Japan obviously didn't work, is in the most influential position for the U.S. economy. God help us all. - ren1999, on 02/18/2009, -5/+19Japan is fine. I live here. I am able to compare the U.S. corporate system with the Japanese corporate system all the time. There are several things that the U.S. needs that Japan has. 1.) executive and employee loyalty and trust. 2.) capped executive salaries 3.) executives that actually do operations work and have worked their way up the ladder -- not hired from the outside as a favor 4.) not cheapening the quality of products to cut costs 5.) nationalized lenders 6.) strict regulation of executives and lenders by the government --- the list goes on and on. Most Japanese are still, on average, middle class and happy.
- 3tcp, on 02/18/2009, -0/+14It's too bad that Japanese girls don't have fetishes for sweaty, overweight middle aged white men.
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/asian_teen_ha ... - bwmdiym, on 02/18/2009, -1/+15China?
- inactive, on 02/18/2009, -0/+13shoot the legs for maximum damage!
- pika2000, on 02/18/2009, -3/+16Dugg. Why nobody dugg you yet baffles me.
- aftern9ne, on 02/18/2009, -0/+12Who's your broker? Timmy the 8 year old down the street?
- Zilk, on 02/18/2009, -4/+16Where am I going to get all my anime??
- Rain12913, on 02/18/2009, -0/+12what the hell?
- inactive, on 02/18/2009, -2/+13 Probably because so many diggers are hoping the same failed policies are going to work here when Obama tries them.
- jbella, on 02/18/2009, -1/+11If only the Japanese leadership would take its financial advice from digg users. In fact all governments should consult digg first since there seems to be no shortage of certainty here.
- SemiSarcastic, on 02/18/2009, -1/+11Think they'd mind if a white labor force started living there?
- jbella, on 02/18/2009, -1/+10It's very interesting to hear your perspective since your list would probably be on most conservative's list of things NOT to do. But I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling that we have somehow lost our way here in America. It seems we're in this rat race where the only thing that matters is growth, and employees are not only extendible. I know a lot of people who do nothing but work, and have nothing to show for it than a house full of junk and a lot of unhappiness.
Not saying that the Japanese have figured it out... but I'm pretty sure we have not either. - Hobbes24, on 02/18/2009, -4/+12japan's problem is it's intense cultural xenophobia, if they don't find a way to shift attitudes away from it, they will simply continue to decline...
- lostinseganet, on 02/18/2009, -1/+9Who are we to dictate what the world should say or how they should say it. Maybe those english speakers should learn more than one language. Some still need to learn that one language.
- dafragsta, on 02/18/2009, -0/+8The cereal bowls of hell?
- imakecoasters, on 02/18/2009, -4/+11I purchased 80 shares of Nintendo stock at 79 points last year. It's at 37 points as of now.... *sigh*
- jbmcb, on 02/18/2009, -0/+7This is what is going to happen to China in a decade or so. Basically, the government promulgates certain economic conditions for local industries to be competitive with the United States, instead of allowing industries to build up organically. This artificial manipulation of the economy can only be maintained for so long, before it collapses in on itself.
The US just had a good taste of this in the mortgage market. Make it artificially cheap to get loans by keeping interest rates ridiculously low, and encourage risky lending to prop up a, relatively, mildly faltering economy, and you get a great big unsustainable bubble. - badenoughdude, on 02/18/2009, -2/+9I didn't digg him because I don't know enough about the Japanese economy to tell whether he's smart or talking out of his ass.
- KibibyteBrain, on 02/18/2009, -0/+7Well, a big part of it is Japan's aging and shrinking population. At some point regardless of technology or performance, a smaller workforce means less GDP. And Japan's cultural reasons against allowing more open immigration and naturalization prevent it from responding to this issue like other first world nations. They will have fundamental economic problems if they allow the workforce slide to continue.
The economic boom of the 80s fundamentally changed Japanese culture in ways that account for the tremendous birthrate slide. - mugicha, on 02/18/2009, -0/+6Did you expect a phone call or something?
- inactive, on 02/18/2009, -0/+6If china achieves what japan achieved, it's economy would be 5x the size of America's.
- 3tcp, on 02/18/2009, -0/+6It's time to buy more shares.
- acudoc, on 02/18/2009, -0/+5Forgo debt-based $. Institute $ backed 100% by physical assets. ALL debt contracts, cash, check $ exchanged for the new $. Creditors forgo liens. Debtors assume 100% ownership of encumbered assets. Loans made from FIXED quantity of new $, interest determined in free markets.
- mindfolded, on 02/18/2009, -3/+8China wont lend them money?
- Nyaos, on 02/18/2009, -0/+5They will make anime regardless, there is a demand for it still there.
- decyx, on 02/18/2009, -1/+6Actually, I believe that a major part of the problem stems from population growth. This issue is also indicated in the article. In Japan, people often get married later in life, have less children, and have an enormous amount of dedication to their careers; the latter probably has the most significant affect. The drive to do well means less time spent engaging in romantic activities. It's not something that's unique to Japan, but the fact that it's a cultural norm makes it a problem; this especially pertains to Japanese white collar workers, who are statistically more likely in to develop serious health problems or commit suicide.
Whereas America produces an average of 2.1 children per household, the average household in Japan produces approximately 1.2. This combined with the fact that there is almost no immigration means that Japan's population is slowly shrinking (−0.139% growth in 2008). The current labor force is getting older and young people are less likely to focus on starting families than than other aspects of their lives such as advancing their careers. With each generation, there will be less people in the 15-64 age group to contribute to the economy. This issue is certainly not the only one that is currently affecting Japan (poverty is on the rise and there is inequality in income distribution), but it is undoubtedly one of the most severe. - DjOverEZ, on 02/18/2009, -0/+5off
- inactive, on 02/18/2009, -1/+6 Are you seriously going to tell me that of the 180 some odd countries on earth any single one could produce cars to the level of Japan?
- catxors, on 02/18/2009, -1/+6Eh, I'm not convinced that they are measuring anything other than the effects of an aging population with more retirees. Per capita GDP does tend to go down a bit when you average in more zeroes. I suppose few people want to immigrate to Japan so they show the effects more severely than European countries. Also, the larger population countries will "inevitably" catch up in total GDP, but only nationalist wankers care about that anyway.
The article did not offer any evidence that life is getting any worse in Japan, or that Japan is becoming any less of a high-tech, kickass modern nation. Thus, the article is pure ***** and must be buried. - spartan777, on 02/18/2009, -0/+5this is just a corporate newspaper complaining that there's too much regulation and too many good manufacturing jobs in Japan. what else do you expect? the japanese are living perfectly comfortable lives, and will continue to do so, but according to the washington post, its the end for japan since they have too much bank regulation. we are seeing what wonderful effects deregulation has on the US and Icelandic economies.
- Firespray1138, on 02/18/2009, -0/+5That armor is too strong for blasters, go for the legs!
- gregoryan, on 02/18/2009, -0/+5@KikbibyteBrain -- I couldn't agree more.
The loosening of the immigration laws of Japan to foreign nationals is essentially the one thing they can do to help reverse the effects of an upside-down population pyramid. There's a problem within that solution however; how do you convince hundreds of thousands of educated immigrants to give up their culture to live in a place where the 'Yamato-damshi' (Japanese spirit) reigns supreme and the effective monoculture is nearly impenetrable? I have lived in Tokyo for two years with the goal of being at least a part of society, and I left without ever really wanting to go back because I was sick of being an outsider/pioneer in virtually uncharted cultural territory.
The answer doesn't lie within a government program to entice skilled workers to simply live in Japan, since it's much broader than a monetary problem. Unfortunately, I believe that *the people* will have to feel the need to open up to other cultures and business models, and that will probably only happen through a change in day-to-day life resulting from crises in the form of unsustainable monetary and governmental programs.
I guess I don't really have a solution then. - ptFoe, on 02/18/2009, -0/+4Within 30 years Japan's working population will reduce by half. Japan will be a nation of oldies, their long life expectancy and anti-immigration policies are the main cause of this.
- bmson, on 02/18/2009, -0/+4I live there.
We are far from *****. Don't believe everything you read in the news. - inactive, on 02/18/2009, -3/+7To save themselves they must give us money. So we can buy their things.
- rugabug, on 02/18/2009, -0/+4I went to Japan in the winter of '07/'08 with my roommate (black) and at some bay city we ran into a black family (5 or 6 members) and I swear to god it had to have been the highest density of black people in Japan ever. All the natives were giving weird looks to us all.
- BotchaMcCoola, on 02/18/2009, -0/+4China had better shift to spending instead of lending. No more good credit risks anywhere for them now.
- LeonJP, on 02/18/2009, -0/+4Uhh, what?
I live here too. I'm married. I work for Japanese companies, receive a Japanese pay, I pay a Japanese pension, use Japanese health care and have been on Japanese welfare.
Things are not fine.
1) executive and employee "loyalty and trust"? Do I even need to link recent news of numerous cases of corruption among executives, or of employees stealing or otherwise screwing their employers over? Do I need to link you to the massive layoffs of part time and contract hakken workers who are being shown the door by companies who are facing serious financial trouble?
2) see above
3) ***** floats upwards. The traditional Japanese model does not work, and you made me laugh with the "not hired from the outside as a favor" punchline :) Watari? Amakudari? Yokosuberi? You familiar with these terms? Its not just political!
4) ... ... ... ... you trying to make this easy for me?
5) Yeah, thats working really well.
6) Ahahahahahaha
Most Japanese on average are extremely cowed and ignorant to the horrid situation around them. The current political sitution is outrageous and something that would be unthinkable in the US - and I'm not even American. 3 PM's in as many years? Top level ministers quitting on a monthly basis due to scandles? Constant infighting, blatant corruption, massive debt... yep, great system to emulate. -
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