Welcome to Japan, Where Bad News Is Relative
TOKYO — The economy is now in recession after barely growing for decades. The population continues to shrink, with births last year plunging to a nadir. The country’s politics appear frozen as one party holds a virtual lock on power no matter how scandal-tainted and unpopular it becomes.
But not to worry. This is Japan, where all bad news is relative.
There are few signs of the societal discord you might expect in a place with trend lines like Japan’s, such as accumulating garbage, potholes or picket lines. The country remains remarkably stable, with little sense of impending doom.
That equanimity reflects a no-need-to-rock-the-boat mind-set: “Shouganai” — “it can’t be helped” — is something of a national refrain.
It is easy to see why people might be nonchalant. Unemployment is low, the trains run on time, and the cherry blossoms bloom every spring. Tourists are flooding the shrines and shopping districts, and the stock market has hit a record high. Even after some inflation, a bowl of ramen can be had for less than $7, or a multi-plate set lunch for about $12. Housing is generally affordable even in Tokyo, and everybody is covered by national health insurance. Crime is low: In 2022, there were just three gun killings in all of Japan. If you forget your cellphone in a restaurant, chances are it will be there when you return.
“I am pretty happy with my living conditions,” said Chihiro Tsujimoto, 26, a classical music percussionist.
“I guess Japan is at peace,” he added. “So the young generation doesn’t feel they need to change this country.”
That lulling sense of calm is heightened by an outside world plagued by wars and social challenges.
“I often have business trips to the U.S. and Europe, and feel that the Japanese society and system are very stable compared to other countries with various problems like immigrants, high crime rates and riots,” said Hisashi Miwa, 65, who works for a chemical manufacturer.
Still, beneath Japan’s placid surface, plenty of entrenched problems remain. With its intense work culture and social pressures, Japan is among the unhappiest of developed countries, according to an annual U.N.-backed report, and suicide is a major concern. Gender inequality is deep-rooted and slow to change, and the poverty rate among single-parent households is one of the highest among wealthy nations. Rural areas are rapidly emptying, and an aging population will increasingly add to pension and caregiving burdens.
Next year, nearly one in five people in Japan will be 75 or older, a phenomenon that will increasingly expose labor shortages in a country that struggles to accept and integrate immigrants. Already, service gaps are emerging in some of the country’s most cherished institutions.
“It takes four or five days to get a letter,” said Sayuri Shirai, a professor of policy management at Keio University, referring to Japan’s postal service, which used to reliably deliver letters one day after they were mailed. “The quality of service is no longer so good.”
Such inconveniences are more an irritation than a sign of imminent societal collapse. Japan’s decline is gradual, and in some ways barely perceptible, after the country rocketed to wealth in the decades following World War II.
The economy — now the world’s fourth largest, after dropping below Germany’s in March — has largely weathered a rate of national debt that is the highest in the world. The population falls by about one-half of 1 percent a year, but Tokyo remains the world’s most populous city, people wait in line for an hour for a trendy doughnut, and reservations at the top restaurants must be made weeks in advance. Prime ministers may come and go, but they are replaceable emissaries of the status quo.
“I think everybody kind of knows what is approaching us, but it is so slow that it is very difficult to somehow advocate a huge change,” said Mieko Nakabayashi, a professor of politics at Waseda University in Tokyo.
The government’s disapproval ratings, the highest since 1947, reflect the public’s exasperation with a financial scandal that has gripped the Japanese media but has been too arcane for most of the general public to follow in detail. Even those who think Japan could use a shake-up are more resigned than radicalized.
“I thought Japanese people were a little more clever, but our economy, which was once said to be first-class, is now second- or third-rate, and our government is perhaps not even fourth- or fifth-rate,” said Fuchi Beppu, 76, a retired hotel worker.
Still, he said, “At the end of the day, it is a democracy.”