I lived in Japan for most of 2018 and I can echo all the positive things you list, and more. The hardest thing for me leaving Japan was the shock of re-integrating into the United States where the environment is so unbelievably rude and inconsiderate. Most all of us, myself included, don't notice it on a daily basis because it's just normalized deviancy. But go to a country like Japan and come back, and I promise the same kind of shock you get when you jump into a pool and think it's freezing until your body normalizes to it.Kriegsspiel wrote: ↑Fri Oct 23, 2020 6:50 amHigh cultural & technological development, quality of life, free housing in their "ghost towns", nice big cities, nearly nonexistent crime, cohesive society, low obesity, pretty countryside... There are just so many positives Japan has going for it I think it's strange to use THEM as a cautionary tale. I get that Japan was pretty much the first country to start dropping pop, but still.
Setting this aside, I will tell you there are storm clouds on the horizon for Japan of gigantic proportions that are not obvious to a tourist, but you come to learn about them as you get to know people there including both Japanese and gaijin. It is a country that is living way beyond it's economic means because the post 80's correction/crash has never really resolved. The hope was that it was a cyclical downturn, but it has proven to be a massive reset. However people's standard of living has not changed and this is because the government has basically deficit financed a false prosperity by taking ZIRP and QE to extreme levels, more than any other industrialized country. Add to this a declining AND aging population. The trend they are seeing has never been seen in history. Add to this a deep resistance to looking to immigration as an economic engine. Add to this that Japan is in no position to compete with China on nearly any level for dominance of the Trans Pacific.
It is a fantastic place and culture, but how the storm clouds will play out is the big question. I have gamed it out in my mind dozens of times, and it's tough to find a good ending to the conundrum.