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society (Page 55)

Wait, you mean some women can’t cook?

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Japanese schoolgirl says education is pointless, gets schooled in debate on Twitter

Internet users offer counterpoints that suggest disgruntled high school student may, in fact, not know everything.

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Nearly one in four Japanese adults admits to crying in the office bathroom in new survey

Heading to the office in Japan? Don’t forget your bento boxed lunch…and your tissues.

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YouTuber conducts social experiment to test Japanese people’s legendary honesty 【Video】

How many Japanese passerby return the lost wallet to its owner?

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Here’s why you should never take “almost no overtime” at face value when job hunting in Japan

Unless your definition of “almost none” is “enough to get a side job.” Then go right ahead.

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Japanese men rank the top 10 complaints they hope to never hear from their wives

Is it worse to be called lazy or smelly?

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Elderly woman’s suicide highlights mounting problems for Japan’s seniors

Just before her 100th birthday, one woman in Hyogo Prefecture sadly decides to blow out the candles for good.
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Survey suggests that almost 40 percent of Japanese men are reluctant to eat alone in public

Apparently, some Japanese men really don’t like to eat alone in public. But are they simply too shy, or is there something else going on?

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Singaporeans are getting creative when it comes to combating the low fertility rate

With one of the lowest birth rates in the world, activists in Singapore are using clever advertising campaigns and humor to try to trigger a baby boom.

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Five Japanese misconceptions about foreign male/Japanese female couples

Japanese blogger and internationalist Madame Riri explores five prejudices and misconceptions foreign male-Japanese female couples experience in Japan.

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Top 10 English vocabulary words for 2015 according to users of Japanese online dictionary Weblio

To coincide with Japan’s annual “Kanji of the Year” event, which reveals the mood of 2015 with a Chinese character, popular online dictionary site Weblio asked its Japanese users to nominate an “English vocabulary word of the Year”. The top ten results provide a unique insight into the hot topics of interest in Japan in 2015.

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‘Tis the season for grumbling about cultural differences, but does it have to be?

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Japanese ministry finds correlation between level of income and diet, number of teeth

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare found that lower-income families consumed fewer vegetables and had fewer teeth.

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50 things that surprised our writer when visiting China 【RocketExperience】

After a week in China, one of our Japanese writers brought home a list of thoughts to share with us.

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The four new classes of modern otaku

Which otaku quadrant do you fall into?

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Meet the people and organizations who are tackling the problem of childhood hunger in Japan

Tough economic times can and do happen everywhere in the world. Even in wealthy, developed countries like Japan, some folks struggle every day to make ends meet. Sometimes, those people are families with young children.

Childhood hunger is a worldwide problem, and while no one deserves to go hungry, it is an especially sad situation for children. For one thing, they can’t really do anything to help better their situation, and secondly, they need the food and nutrition to help their bodies continue to grow properly. In Japan, approximately 16 percent of two-parent families are financially unable to provide enough food for their children, and that number jumps to 32 percent for single-parent households, according to a 2012 survey. But there are some who refuse to stand by doing nothing and are dedicating themselves to feeding the hungry children in Japan.

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What Japanese women really think about the gender gap in Japan【Video】

During our Women in Japan series, we discussed some of the powerful reasons to be a woman in Japan. From a Westernised viewpoint, it’s sometimes hard to accept the fact that, while Japan is still very much a patriarchal society, many women (not all, but many) here don’t actually want to be out there smashing glass ceilings and “leaning in” at the office when instead they could be doing things that women were traditionally appreciated for in Japan, namely cooking, housekeeping and raising the kids.

If you’re still in doubt as to exactly what Japanese women think of the gender gap in their country, this informative street interview video from YouTuber Yuta Aoki should provide some answers.

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Six types of Japanese people you’ll meet while living in Japan — An illustrated guide

A while back, we had some fun talking about five of the more noteworthy types of foreigners you’ll meet in Japan, based upon observations drawn from our time spent working and living here in the Land of the Rising Sun. Whether you’re a Plastic Sensei, Hateimus Japanicus, Secret Ninja, Bubble Dweller or Kid in a Candy Store (or indeed, all of these at different times), we reckon there’s probably quite a lot foreign residents can find to nod their heads at when considering each of those five extreme types.

But what about the flip side of the coin? Spend enough time as a foreigner in a country like Japan—a place that’s 98.5% ethnically Japanese—and you’ll be sure to notice that Japanese people will approach you, the foreigner, in a number of different ways. Today we’d like to share our thoughts on six kinds of Japanese people foreigners might meet during their time in Japan. See how many of them you’ve come across during your time traveling or living in the country!

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Japanese cell phone provider gives same-sex couples with Partnership Certificates family discount

Cell phone service in Japan isn’t exactly cheap, and if you spend a lot of time on your smartphone talking with clients, chatting with friends, or otherwise keeping in touch with the rest of the world, it’s not hard to run up a monthly bill in the neighborhood of 10,000 yen (US$84). Thankfully, Japanese providers offer a variety of discounts to help soften the blow, with reduced rates for family members being a huge help.

Now, as part of the changing societal concept of what constitutes a family, Japan’s largest telecommunications provider has begun offering family discounts to same-sex couples who present documentation of their union.

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Meetings and more meetings: Foreigners list the pros and cons of working at a Japanese company

It’s no secret that Japan may be headed for a bit of a labor crunch, as the population ages and many older workers reach retirement age with fewer young up-and-comers to replace them. And, while the Japanese government seems reluctant to take measures to replenish the shrinking workforce with foreign laborers, non-Japanese workers are nevertheless entering Japanese corporations and workplaces in record numbers.

But Japanese offices are also notorious for their long hours, slow pace of advancement, and frequent, long meetings. Traditional Japanese companies seem stuck in an old-school work culture even as companies in the rest of the world offer increasingly progressive work-life balance programs, workplace perks, and office hours.

With this stark contrast in mind, our Japanese sister site tracked down seven non-Japanese workers to get their for-realsies impressions of what it’s actually like to work at a Japanese company.

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