NEWS: Turning Japanese

CULTURE: Turning Japanese

"What Japan needs now, is babies, Japanese babies." There you go: two different song references that appear to have nothing to do with one another (one of which is unapologetically and almost unrecognizably revised). So what do they share in common? Well, nothing, really, but the sentiment is this: Japan needs more babies! They need more babies now! So much so that they're considering relaxing a law that currently prohibits matchmaking agencies from advertising on television!



Certain Japanese policy-makers seem to believe that this is the way to reverse the nation's declining population rate. "Promote marriage," they say, and that will lead to more Japanese babies, who will thusly be able to work and care for the growing number of pensioners! Yeah! The Japanese have got it all figured out! Forget the fact that the majority of Japanese citizens think it's too damn tough to raise kids in their country. Don't worry about the high cost of child-rearing, or the lack of viable childcare options, or the negative attitudes towards Japanese women returning to work after procreating. Don't waste your time with the social and cultural issues at hand! Just trick your people into having babies!



Make more babies! Pump them out! Babies solve problems! They fix broken marriages! They win elections for politicians! They taste of chicken!

O lord. Doesn't the earth have too many people already? Does anyone need to encourage more births?

I didn't think there was any country in the world where people- on average- needed encouraging to have unprotected sex.

The world may have too many people, but given the fact that Japan seems to be the world's primary source of the natural resource "Awesome", we just need to reallocate the population numbers instead of grow them.

Godspeed, nihonjin.

Hm, I personally wouldn't mind doing the necessary stuff to make some hot japanese chick bear a child. At least, if I'm given the opportunity to run away before they're born, but this applies to Caucasian females as well.

Anyway, if I want something that tastes like chicken, I'll have some chicken, thankyouverymuch. When we'll come to the unavoidable conclusion, I'm hoping we'll be able to cook them so that they have their very own taste. Yummy.

Apparently the UK! Birth rate has halved since the sixties. The hope is that the immigrant population will make up for it, otherwise we'll soon be subject to the same 'encouragement'.

Well, right now me and my posse are up for keeping the local celebrity population down, innat right lads?

interesting fact....all countries that raise to first world status the birth rate falls off china japan uk russia....except the usa

My cousin in Tokyo just had a baby. I wonder if his child will be considered Japanese. His wife is but he's a 7ft tall Frenchman. I know there's a lot of discrimination against foreigners there.

Rather than question what the definition of first world is ina self-righteous way that i'm sure someone will take i'll merely state...

We ARE the first world, motherfuckazz\z\z.

you ever tried being middle eastern and walking through JFK. Thats descrimination !

I had that wand every where but my asshole.

But seriously is the rate of marraiges in japan low ? And has a higher rate of marraige= higher rate of baby making ?!?!?

I'm pretty sure the birth rate in the US has fallen off.

I'll volunteer to make japanese babies.

In Japan, woman lay eggs, and men fertilize breasts.

the birth rate here comes and goes but it has over time increased where as elsewhere it drops off

Well the Japanese are pretty notably anti-foreigner, so they don't want to rely on immigrants like the UK is betting on. Also, they give out $5000 to every chick who has a kid, hoping to trick them in to having more before they realize how much education and healthcare costs for them here. Not that it doesn't cost a ton for everyone here, but still.

Pretty much, yea, the marriage rate has declined so sharply in Japan because everyone works ALL THE TIME. You think the rat race is bad in the states..dude, seriously, go to Japan. These people don't even have time to seriously date, and many Japanese men claim they don't have the time for a girlfriend. Around their late 30s many men let their moms marry them off to some unsuspecting 20something. Unmarried baby-making is still a big no no here. But as long as you have no proof (aka baby) you're fine.

Also, here's interesting fact. 10% of all new marriages here involve at least one foreigner. Even more amusing, most marriages involving a Japanese woman, the couple moves to the man's original country. Tells you something about women's place in society here. I think thats totally amusing considering how panicked the government here is about needing Japanese babies. In case anyone missed that, a half Japanese baby doesn't count as a Japanese baby around here. It actually takes longer to get your child registered for school and healthcare sometimes (esp in rural areas) is they are only 1/2 Japanese.

Ha, so I just reread that and it sounds so negative about Japan, but it's not all bad. Their society just needs some serious rethinkage about women's rights. And that isn't exactly something thats uncommon. I just get it bad b/c I'm a blonde (foreigner + chick = oh noes!).

[Edited on May 04, 2006 5:22AM]

^^^^^Korea is damn near exactly the same way.

It's not just the overworking. People don't want to get married because they see it as a dip in their standard of living. Women want a man who can provide for them like their fathers, but men can't make that much money in today's economy. And men want a woman who will cook and clean and take care of them like mom does, but the women aren't interested in doing that. So it leads to the whole "Parasite Singles" phenomena where kids in their late 20s still live at home with mom and dad and sponge off of them. That's also why love hotels are so popular; if you live with the 'rents, you've gotta screw somewhere.

Japan needs to open itself up more to immigrants. And it needs to start accepting them as Japanese, or it's basically screwed as a country.

What if you are Japanese American, would your kid still be considered Japanese or half Japanese?

Oh if anyone wants to DISPOSE of some babies, my services are at hand. I go all the way from second trimester to toddler.

Why let them go to waste, when I can be going hungry?

As for the good ol US of A the birth rates have been declining amongst all populations except immigrants. If it was not for immigration we would be having the same "encouragements" here... it is a first world phenom. We just let more immigrants in than anyone else to make up for it.