Some interesting stats about Japan...

[Azrael]

Was browsing the web and found this by chance...I found it pretty interesting...

http://www.jref.com/society/japan_world_ranking.shtml

The World Audit (http://www.worldaudit.org/democracy.htm) on corruption, democracy and freedom of press in 2005, ranks Japan 21st in terms of corruption, behind all Western countries (+ Singapore & Mongolia), except Portugal, Italy and Greece. Japan is ranked 30th for democracy, after all developed countries but Greece and Singapore, and even after three developing countries: Uruguay, Costa Rica and Mauritius.

Regarding freedom of press, Japan ranks 25th, just ahead of some Eastern European countries, but well behind all other Western countries.


Freedom in decision making (http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/lif_fre_in_dec_mak&int=-1) is the lowest among developed countries. As for political rights and civil liberties, Freedom House (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0930918.html) has classified Japan as rank 1.5. It isn't bad on a worldwide basis, but Japan is in fact behind all Western countries and some others regarding political freedom.

According to the U.N. Human Development Reports for 2005 (http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDR05_complete.pdf) (PDF, see table 26, page 303), Japan ranks 43rd worldwide for Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), well behind not only developed countries, but many developing countries too (e.g. Tanzania !). This means that the Japanese still have a long way to go in regard to equality between men and women.


Nationmaster ranks Japan 34th in term of life satisfaction (http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/lif_lif_sat&int=-1), behind all Western countries.

As for Happiness (http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/lif_hap_net&int=-1), Japan gets the 19th position, only before Spain, Italy and Portugal in the West.


Japan's life expectancy is among the highest in the world. According to the CIA World Factbook (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html), Japan ranks 6th worldwide, but first among major countries.

Obesity (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/35/12/35027730.xls) (Excel) is the lowest among OECD countries along with South Korea.

However Tobacco consumption (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/35/17/35027679.xls) (Excel) is the 4th highest of OECD countries after the Netherlands, Turkey and South Korea.

According to the World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/entity/mental_health/prevention/suicide/en/Figures_web0604_table.pdf), Japan has the 3rd highest female suicide rate in the world after Sri Lanka and China. Japan's male suicide rate is still the highest in the developed world, although many Eastern European countries have higher rates.


This is a slightly controversial point. Although Japan ranks quite high when looking at the number of TV per household or other electronic equipments, housing is typically poorly built, smaller than in the West, and lack what is considered as basic in some Western countries, such as insulation, central heating or double glazing. 1/3 of houses are built in non-fire-proof wood (data from the Japan Statistics Bureau (http://www.stat.go.jp/english/index.htm).

What is more, recent scandals (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19050) have revealed that at least 20% of houses in Japan use potentially life-threatening asbestos.

Notwithstanding the lack of comparative statistics, the above data on housing (and the author's own field study) are sufficient to determine that the quality of accommodation in Japan is inferior to that of OECD countries.


Conclusion


Apart for its high life expectancy, relatively good health, low crime rate, and reasonable GDP per capita (far from exceptional though), Japan ranks well behind Western countries in all other fields, from freedom, democracy and gender issues, to quality of accommodation, life satisfaction and happiness.

So, based on these numbers, can Japan be considered a good place to live from the point of view of quality of life ? Worldwide, yes, but comparing to almost any Western countries certainly not.


There were a few stats on GDP/economy I didn't quote you can find on the site if you are so inclined.


I found this interesting because Japan is so far ahead of everyone else when it comes to technology...but so far behind so many other countries in so many other areas. I think of particular note was the stat about life satisfaction/happiness...I don't doubt that at all.


The closing statement is a little strong, but I can't say I don't agree with it...this is a rough place to live. I think what's even more interesting is the almost overpowering "I want to live in Japan!" sentiment I often see and hear.


Anyway, thoughts?

[Dark_Solution]

It is quite an interesting notion, that. I've always known that Japanese excel at technology, but not that that much difference is seen between Japan and America. :P

Suicide is quite high in Japan, it seems, which is also interesting. - to me -

I can understand about it's lack of good-housing because of how many people live in such a cramped space. New York, New York is the same, as far as I can tell.

I have never been to Japan, so the last statement is only an opinion, for me. I think it would be great to live in Japan, only because of my loser-quality liking of anime, manga, and Japanese Schoo-Girl outfits. :P

[Praetorian]

Japan is doing quite well (11th of the world) on the Human Development Index (which measures quality of life), it's right between the Netherlands and the United States.

And as far as I can tell, any country in the top 20 is a great country to live in.

[jindojim]

South Korea is 3rd for tobacco consumption?? Yes! Take that Japan!

But yeah, if testimonials about how Japan is a rough place to live don't do the trick, hopefully statistics will. Well, let's see what Japan is good for :p (according to one of the links)

1st for
Disasters - Tsunami - Foreign tourists missing
Economy - Economic aid - Donor
Education - Enrolment ratio - Secondary level
Education - Mathematical literacy
Energy - Electric generation ability
Energy - Oil consumption
Geography - Largest city population
Industry - Car production
Lifestyle - Not proud of their nationality
Lifestyle - Undesirable neighbours - Homosexuals

2nd for
Democracy - Democratic institutions rating
Economy - Budget - Expenditures
Economy - Economic importance
Economy - Gross National Income
Education - Scientific literacy
Energy - Electricity - Consumption
Food - McDonalds restaurants
Internet - Users
Media - Personal computers
Media - Telephones - Mobile cellular

3rd for
Agriculture - Banana imports
Crime - Car thefts
Disasters - Tsunami - Funds pledged
Economy - GDP - PPP
Economy - Gross National Income (per capita)
Economy - Income distribution - Poorest 10%
Economy - Technological achievement
Education - Grade 1 intake rate
Media - Televisions
Mortality - Dorsalgia

4th for
Crime - Police
Economy - GDP
Education - Educational attainment - Tertiary
Environment - CO2 Emissions
Health - Abortions
Health - Drug access
Health - Life expectancy at birth - Total population
Health - Plastic surgery procedures
Health - Tobacco - Cigarette consumption
Military - Expenditures - Dollar figure

5th for
Disasters - Tsunami - Total aid package
Economy - Exports
Economy - World Trade - Imports - Special transactions nes
Energy - Gasoline prices
Food - McDonalds restaurants (per capita)
Health - Life expectancy at birth - Male
Media - Televisions (per capita)
Mortality - Antiepileptics and antiparkinsonism drugs
Mortality - Flatulence and related conditions
People - One person households

[BlackLiger]

heh. Still, Az, as a JET, how is your lifestyle?

[freeradicals]

If Japan took the dildo out of its ass and started being more free in terms of political anatomy and loosened the rules 'n such, then Japan would make it in my top three of ub3r countries. Unlikely that will happen anytime soon, but I often romantacise;
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2016217454396848578&q=japan+punk

[Azrael]

...I'm an idiot for making a thread in the wrong place on my own forum. =P

I have never been to Japan, so the last statement is only an opinion, for me. I think it would be great to live in Japan, only because of my loser-quality liking of anime, manga, and Japanese Schoo-Girl outfits. :P
I think as PLF pointed out before, that's only a small, small, very small aspect of the Japanese culture. If that's what you're after, you're better off living in your own culture and enjoying that aspect on your own.

Plus, the schoolgirl outfits get really old, really fast. Trust me on this one.

...Japan is 4th for abortions? Nah...I wouldn't be surprised if Japan was 1st, but just officially ranks 4th due to under-reporting.

And my lifestyle? ...I often hear JET's complaining about having too much free time. I wish I could say that kind of thing.

[Hira-Kata to Sawa]

And my lifestyle? ...I often hear JET's complaining about having too much free time. I wish I could say that kind of thing.

Maybe its just us honky JETs out in the sticks who have all the free time. I must've read 3/4 of Wikipedia during my free time at JHS by now. Trust me, I'd rather be busy doing stuff than feeling useless. Plus, you've got a better location....

[Kass]

Just a cursory glance indicates to me that while they live a long time and make incredible technological advances, the Japanese people aren't necessarily happy. That however, is from a western view of happiness. They might be content with how their lives play out.

I'd love to visit, but I will pass on living there. Too many people in too little space.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Plus, the schoolgirl outfits get really old, really fast. Trust me on this one.

I strongly disagree. It's the legal and social taboos that prevent it from getting really old, really fast, but if they weren't there, the draw would be gone.

To quote Homer (the yellow guy, not the Greek), Mmmmm... forbidden donut...

The Japanese are miserable. But perhaps that's just a Western conception of misery. Personally I can hardly conceive of it being satisfying to live a life where you watch rich people on TV become richer, or show off their riches, while living in a tiny cramped apartment.

But that's just me.

[Uska]

The Japanese are miserable. But perhaps that's just a Western conception of misery. Personally I can hardly conceive of it being satisfying to live a life where you watch rich people on TV become richer, or show off their riches, while living in a tiny cramped apartment.

But that's just me.

That's true, I agree. Though in america there's programs like that too, MTV Cribs and The Fabulous Life of....(insert name). While we're not in cramped apartments, we're not as loaded either lol. I for one live in a pretty tiny wood house. Got two rooms, and if I take 5 steps out of my room im in the bathroom, 3 more steps living room, 20 more kitchen. lol (I dont watch those shows btw)

[Lea]

I would never want to live in Japan myself personally. I guess those statistics just make me all the more detirmined to keep living in the USA or move to Europe. If only Europe wasn't so expensive. Haha.

[Idlethought]

As bad as the US is I'd honestly not wanna live anywhere else besides a few places in Europe. Theres much worse places to be than New York state ya know

[Kass]

Europe is no bed of roses either, especially if you are not a native citizen. You don't think the riots in France were for fun, do you?

[Idlethought]

Silly me I thought they were part of a country-wide festival....

[SoulPlay]

Japan is doing quite well (11th of the world) on the Human Development Index (which measures quality of life), it's right between the Netherlands and the United States.

And as far as I can tell, any country in the top 20 is a great country to live in.

Yep, thats right, but if you think about it the HDI takes alot into account things like GDI and Educational level, condition of life, divorce rate. Think about it, i wouldnt feel so good if i were smart, had a good salary, were married, lived in a small apartment in the city and were not sastified/happy about it.

[novacane]

If Japan took the dildo out of its ass and started being more free in terms of political anatomy and loosened the rules 'n such, then Japan would make it in my top three of ub3r countries. Unlikely that will happen anytime soon, but I often romantacise;
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2016217454396848578&q=japan+punk

Still, Dead Kennedys does the best cover version of that song.

My only reason to live in Japan would be that it is a safe place.

The tobacco statistic is not surprising at all if you've ever been to Japan.

[hapacheese]

So... what exactly do these stats prove, again? That Japan isn't really a Western culture, doesn't share Western views on government, doesn't have the same values as Western cultures, etc?

Not saying that Japan is a giant Disneyland or anything, but then again, I'm not entirely sure what pointing all of that out is.

PLF: They honestly don't care about celebrities getting richer. It's simply entertainment. I mean hell, why do Americans care who Brad Pitt is or whether or not Nick and Jessica are getting a divorce?

[atomiton]

statistics lie.

[PopCulturePooka]

statistics lie.
After living in Japan for two years, I have to say taht I don't think these ones do.

The Japanese are inherently unhappy with their lives and have inferiority complexes about everything.


Although if I was a Japanese salaryman with a wife who is nothing more than a maid, kids I feel no connection with and a go nowhere job, I'd feel like jumping in front of the 11:28 Shinuku Express as well.

[Azrael]

So... what exactly do these stats prove, again? That Japan isn't really a Western culture, doesn't share Western views on government, doesn't have the same values as Western cultures, etc?

Not saying that Japan is a giant Disneyland or anything, but then again, I'm not entirely sure what pointing all of that out is?
I just randomly found it, and thought it was interesting so I decided to share.

The funny thing though is that a lot of people do seem to think Japan is some kind of giant Disneyland. You should see some of what I get in my mailbox everyday...if I had a nickel for everytime someone wrote "I love Japan!" to me...well...I'd have a whole lot of nickels.

And while I knew Japan was kind of behind when it came to certain social aspects, I didn't know it was that far behind. It wasn't exactly surprising, but I still wasn't quite expecting it. The only thing Japan really leads in is technology...and even then, not really, if you take into account some of the general things they lack. I realized this this morning as the teachers shut off the heater in order to use the big gas stove. ...I won't complain about that too much though, that thing works pretty well.

Most Japanese are unhappy with their lives. Get them at a rare enough moment, and they'll actually admit it. But they're unable to change things because this is all they know. Maybe they're scared of the great unknown that is change, despite the possible benefits it might bring.

[Pierrot le Fou]

So... what exactly do these stats prove, again? That Japan isn't really a Western culture, doesn't share Western views on government, doesn't have the same values as Western cultures, etc?

Not saying that Japan is a giant Disneyland or anything, but then again, I'm not entirely sure what pointing all of that out is.

PLF: They honestly don't care about celebrities getting richer. It's simply entertainment. I mean hell, why do Americans care who Brad Pitt is or whether or not Nick and Jessica are getting a divorce?
That's not my point hapa.

Okay, let me explain it this way. Most American game shows (and British, I would assume, probably western in general) have regular Joe Shmoes on, and we like to watch 'normal' people have a chance at winning several grand. In Japan, the game shows star celebrities. Only. Ever. The only exception is "Who wants to be a millionaire?" which isn't a Japanese show (and the fact that the reward for the game is less than 1/100th of what the American show was, and even less than the British).

The fun of game shows for me is to watch and say, "That could be me." In Japan, you watch celebrities sucking at a game show you could do better on, and the most interactive it can get is playing along on your cellphone.

Regular shows, variety shows, discuss the personal lives of the celebrities, and the Japanese eat them up because those people are household names. Could you imagine if Saturday Night Live started discussing in one of its skits the real-world life of Will Farrel? Do you think anyone would care? People watch the show to laugh, not to hear about how he got married. If you want to hear about the latter, you watch Entertainment Tonight or the like. In Japan, the entertainment is the lives of the talento as much as it is the act of the talento, and that's disturbing to me.

It strikes me as living vicariously through the rich and famous.

Ya dig?

[Azrael]

^Not to mention that every other Millionaire broadcast in Japan is some kind of celebrity special.

For me, I like watching regular joes on game shows because the outcome actually makes a difference. People who win that money have their lives changed. And they're seriously going for it. Something's at stake. And then you get to see all sorts of different people. For celebrities, it's just dull...it really doesn't matter if they win or lose. And winning is ultimately anti-climatic. Oh hey, Kaoru Sugita can buy yet another car. Whoopee.

Not to mention that the stock the Japanese call "talent" are boring and terribly one-dimensional. And horribly overused. How many shows do Sanma Akashiya and Shinsuke Shimada have? I can't count. Even if the celeb is remotely interesting, they get overused to the point where you just don't want to see them anymore. I saw Hard Gay on FOUR DIFFERENT TV shows yesterday. ...I remember when people thought Regis Philbin was getting overexposure because he had his morning show and he hosted American Millionaire.

Bah, anyway, in short, Japanese TV sucks.

[yakamashii]

Le Fou's got it. That "that could be me" feeling is what keeps shows like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! on the air. Although most people probably couldn't make it to Jeopardy! because the entrance exam is harder than the one to get into 東大.

I figured Japanese TV out one day while watching DOTCH, the cooking show, where they have a panel of four celebrities and seven Taro Tokyos. The four famous people sit down on the floor level, get to sample all of the ingredients, smell the cooking, and make comments throughout the show.

Each Taro Tokyo gets one, maybe two, chances to comment and several screen shots of them eyeing the food wistfully. All eleven contestants get to vote, and only the winning side gets to eat the winning dish while the losers watch them eat it.

This particular day, the regular people's vote went 5-2 in favor of Dish A, but the celebrities dicked them over by going 4-0 for Dish B. It wouldn't have struck me as odd if it were 11 regular, non-famous people going up against each other, but this just seemed unjust. And then those 5 unfortunate people had to watch the "winners" eat Dish B!

Japanese TV is like American porn or trashy romance novels. Unreal, dangling in front of your face in a "ha ha, it'll never REALLY be this good but dream about it anyway" kind of way. What they need is that show where that little old lady talks about sex.

[Pierrot le Fou]

There are some shows that work really well with talent. Game shows are not one of them. I get tired of watching a show with promise only to have half the show be for the sake of showcasing the one 'catch phrase' or gag that a certain talent does, or have a point where they talk about what's in the gossip column of the weekly magazines.

Then there are decent shows with talent like (and I may be crucified for this) London Hearts, which has incredibly amusing segments where the talents have to create a proposal that will be equivalent to a different celebrities proposal. Then 100 guys (or women) vote for either proposal, and if they get an exact 50-50 split, they win.

So one may be, for instance, hold hands with a gravure idol (a swimsuit model, essentially), and the participant on London Hearts (say Aoki Sayaka, a not-so-cute comedian) has to offer an alternative proposal, like "seeing my tits" or "going out drinking" or whatever, and then the men vote.

It's absolutely hilarious because it just takes the piss of the talent who participate, and comes out with some great indications of their insecurities or whatnot. Watching them overdo it is hilarious.

For instance, running into a really famous woman in the supermarket is compared with "spending a night sleeping next to me, naked" or somesuch, and it makes the talent panel worth their weight in natto or something.

I may be alone in this though.

The most compelling shows on TV (for me) are ainori, london hearts, kokugo quiz (elementary school Japanese quizzes, and whatnot), trivia, hexagon (which despite having some crappy aspects of abusing talent for their one gag also shocks idiots and rates people on their intelligence with no mercy), fushigi no sekai (a travel show about various cultures and places and whatnot), and IQ suppli.

Okay, so I watch a lot of TV. Sue me.

Some of the other decent ones (were I able to speak more Japanese) would be the political shows on saturday and sunday afternoons, where they have politicians and lawyers and whatnot arguing over national issues, and it's really interesting, and rather progressive at times.

Unfortunately, with the thousand+ broadcast hours a week, to only have that much decent regular television is disturbing.

[EIJI]

Pierrot, You are not alone. I love Japanese silly TV too. London hearts things.
About the polotical show, I recommend 朝まで生テレビ/asamade nama TV.
I love this noisy discussion program.

[Pierrot le Fou]

I know I'm not alone as Japanese folk love these shows (as I was introduced to most through my girlfriend). I meant I may be alone among the Japanese-living foreigners on this forum.

Seriously, prior to my girlfriend watching these with me in the room, I couldn't tolerate watching Japanese TV for that long. When I didn't understand something, or the subtitles, I got frustrated, so I'd change the channel or turn it off. Now I can just ask the girlfriend during a commercial.

It's like studying through watching TV. I can handle that.

Please tell me you don't like Yamaguchi Moe... I can handle you liking bad TV like I do, but I can't handle you liking Yamaguchi Moe. She's just such a ditz...

[EIJI]

I agree. Yamaguchi Moe seems to be a kind of ditz, but it all depends on her way of talking, I think. she may just play her role. Anyway, I don't know her personally.