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Japanese Contemporary Culture and Society

by Steve McCarty

Yeungnam University Short-Term ProgramDay 2 at Kansai University, 15 January 2016

Regions of Japan today (photos) Population issues Foreigners in Japan

Economic issues Energy issues International Marriage & Bilingualism Jenkins-Soga family example Fun quiz

Conclusion / Q&A

Outline

Fuji japan by Travelbusy.com, 2012, CC BY 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/da5BdG

OSAKA

Big Issue Stall – Osaka Station by GanMed64, 2011, CC BY 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/aGkhiz

HIROSHIMA: Peace Memorial by Stripy T-Shirt, 2004, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/2fuzj

NORTHEAST JAPAN earthquake/tsunami:

Volunteer at Kesencho, Rikuzentakata by Hajime Nakano, 2011, CC BY 2.0

https://flic.kr/p/aGC8ia

SHIKOKU island

DSCF0752.JPG by Kazu Letokyoite, 2007, CC BY 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/LcWcC

People Issues

Demographic shift, its reasons, & difficulty of solutions“6 out of 10 respondents said the biggest reason for having fewer children than they really want is that

‘it costs too much money to raise & educate children’.” From https://japanforum.nbr.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1307&L=list&F=&S=&P=70494

Does not include 30,000 US soldiers & illegal immigrantshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_Japan

Registered Foreigners in Japan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreans_in_Japan

Koreans in Japan

Economic Issues

￥€＄Japan and the global economy

Stable cost of living, saving vs. consuming Working conditions, part-timers increasing International trade, exports vs. imports Distribution of wealth, social safety net Inflation policy and consumption tax increase Deflation vs. inflation: Who benefits from which? Overseas Development Assistance

http://nbakki.hatenablog.com/entry/2014/06/20/125616

Popular Consumer Goods in Japan

Weakened yen & purchasing power

“The yen has fallen nearly 25% against the US dollar since November 2012, as policymakers unveiled a series of aggressive measures to revive growth.” “A weak yen has its advantages as well, the biggest one being that it makes Japanese goods cheaper for foreign buyers. That helps to boost exports - one of the key drivers of Japan's economic growth.” “… shipments from Japan rose 12.2% in July, from a year ago, the fastest pace of growth since December 2010.” “Exports to China, Japan's biggest trading partner, rose by 9.5% from a year earlier, compared with 4.7% growth in June.” “Meanwhile shipments to the US jumped by 18.5% from a year ago, up from a 14.6% rise in the previous month.”

BBC News, 19 August 2013, from:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23751029

Abenomics: 3 arrows of monetary, fiscal, and structural policy. It has started mostly by having the central Bank of Japan printmore money, weakening the yen. Are leaders giving up on thereal economy in favor of financialization, or will fiscal stimuluswork, and will structural reforms overcome special interests?

￥￥￥

https://hbr.org/2015/12/getting-to-si-ja-oui-hai-and-da

Negotiating Across Cultures

Prefectures with the Highest Salaries

http://nbakki.hatenablog.com/entry/Annual_Salary_by_Prefecture

Energy Issues

Dependence on imported fossil fuels that emit CO2

Disasters and threatsEnergy efficiency

Renewable energy

Japan still depends on imported non-renewable energy. Increased fossil fuel consumption since 2011 nuclear shutdowns.

Jenkins-Soga family

Charles Robert Jenkins was an American soldier who defected to North Korea in the Korean War. He was allowed to marry an abducted Japanese, Hitomi Soga.Jenkins is from “a poor community in North Carolina, where he dropped out of school, aged 15, to join the US Army.” After he, Belinda and Mika went to Japan,“Soga's dream had finally come true, but the transition to life in Japan has been a struggle. Jenkins speaks no Japanese, and relies on Korean to communicate with his family, a situation he describes as ‘difficult’. ‘I've spoken more Korean than I have English; I've spoken it for 40 years. Sometimes I even think in Korean. I’ve got to learn Japanese," he says. His daughters have quickly become fluent [in Japanese] and are settling down in Sado“ - The Independent, 7 March 2006 In North Korea, Hitomi Soga never told her daughters that she was Japanese.

BBC News photoUse the details below to answer the next fun quiz questions

Questions about the Jenkins-Soga family

1. Are all of the Jenkins-Soga family members bilingual (or multilingual)? Yes No

2. In North Korea, did Hitomi Soga speak to her daughters in Japanese? Yes No

3. According to the 2006 article, could all of the Jenkins-Soga family members speak Japanese? Yes No

4. Compared to their father, the daughters could quickly learn to speak Japanese mainly because they were a) already educated in Japanese b) in top schools in Japan c) much more intelligent than their fatherd) much younger than their father

International Marriages in Japan

Warm-up questions

5. Which have more international marriages? a) Japanese men b) Japanese women

6. The partners of Japanese people in international marriages are mostly a) Asians b) Westerners

7. The number of ‘haafu’ children of international marriages born in Japan every year is now about a) 200 b) 2,000 c) 20,000 d) 200,000

Study the next article to see some of the reasons for this trend

“Country kids need language support: Growing educational diversity not limited to urban areas” - The Japan Times, 14 March 2006

“Ji Young was 13 when she moved from Seoul to a small village in Yamagata in 1999. Her mother had arrived from Korea a few months earlier to marry a Japanese man. Entering the local high school, she struggled at first with the language, cultural differences, and relations with friends, though she quickly picked up spoken Japanese. … Today, one in 17 (6.1 percent) of all marriages in [Yamagata] prefecture are international marriages, compared with around one in 20 nationally.“8. According to this 2006 article, what percent of marriages in Japan are international? a) 1% b) 5% c) 6.1% d) 20%

9. According to the title of the article, do Ji Young and foreign kids all over Japan get enough support in Japanese as a Second Language to keep up in Japanese schools? Yes No

10. What is the main reason for many international marriages in Yamagata? a) Globalism b) Internationalization c) Farmers are popular with foreigners d) Farmers are not popular with young Japanese women

Japanese International Marriage Partners

http://www.nippon.com/en/features/h00096/

Korean Marriage Partners in Japan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreans_in_Japan

Japanese Society Maintaining traditional customs while wanting

the latest attractions Society and people’s values change very

gradually Japanese people are reserved The Lonely Crowd

Difficult to meet strangers

Thank you!Questions or Comments?

Publications Website:http://www.waoe.org/steve/epublist.html