|
Sheep posted:Also bonus points for construction companies having deep ties to yakuza, so you get the usual politicians and literal criminals in bed together. quote:The best part of the strong yen being at like 75 yen to the dollar was that consumer prices didn't budge an inch, despite the fact that so much stuff is imported, and importers were able to buy so much more product with their yen. People were making money (notably expats sending shittons of money home) but the average Japanese person sure as hell wasn't seeing much of a benefit.
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2013 10:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 03:56 |
|
|
New immigration-related article. The statistics actually look nice until you examine the inverse and then it all goes to hell. 12.9% of respondents reject even part-Japanese, and 40.3% of respondents not up for helping immigrants assimilate. Sheep fucked around with this message at 11:04 on Mar 2, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2013 11:00
|
|
|
I get the chance to have pretty candid conversations with a lot of (younger, 30s~40s) high-powered corporate executives and such. They unanimously blame a lot of Japan's current economic woes on the educational system and business culture. According to one guy, the educational system was built, ground up, after WW2 to create good workers for the growing manufacturing sector; which has had the unfortunate effect of leaving people with relatively weak communication ability, creativity, and critical thinking skills, putting a huge damper on (as another poster mentioned) drive to start your own company, be innovative, etc. Others have commented on how hiring and promotion practices within big corporations tend to reward yes-men and the like over actual talent, causing a lot of stagnation. I don't know how true any of this is, but it's interesting to see how the next generation of business leaders (in Tokyo, anyway) views the situation. Pretty much everyone I've spoken to has expressed a desire to reform the system in some way. As an example of what one of the companies run by these guys is trying to do internally to drive innovation: twice yearly they accept submissions from every employee for new business ideas (for a start-up, etc.), run them by a committee, take the top 7~10 and give the submitter a bunch of funds and personnel and told to roll with it. Apparently it's been working spectacularly for them so far, and they've been growing like mad for the past few years. (Also of note is that 100% of these guys are just that, men, and unsurprisingly have never once mentioned anything about gender issues.)
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2013 17:42
|
|
|
I do similar work, although not in Tokyo, and one of my students is the owner and CEO of a company with around 500 employees. It happens to be a Juku company, too. I have to say first that I really respect the guy and look up to him - he's one of the highest functioning human beings I've ever met. He's done so much in his life, and his days are filled to the brim with productive activities, but he never, ever talks about being or even seems the least bit stressed out. He and his staff, as well as the students in his company, are doing 12-14 hour days every day. The interesting thing is that when we talk about the low birthrate, he strongly agrees that it has almost everything to do with working hours being to long. Same goes for the low sex rate among married couples and the growing disinterest in romantic relationships among young people. But what should he do? By skillfully taking advantage of Japan's hyper-competitive learning environment, he's literally tripled his company's profits in less than 10 years of being at its helm. If he doesn't open more classrooms and keep pressing his staff, someone other company will. It seems like anytime someone takes a principled stand against something in Japan, even if they're not met with hostility, they hardly ever resonate with people. Everyone agrees that the current education system sucks, and the current work environment sucks, but people are desperate not to confront that that means they should change certain highly regarded values in their society. It's better to hope that one day they'll be able to capitalize on it. One thing that he and other students tell me often to keep me optimistic, though, is that Japan can and does change. Each generation since the Meiji restoration has been very different from the last. They went through a lot in the 20th century, too, and when the people born at the end of it are in power, there will be big changes. It just takes time.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2013 20:17
|
|
|
New article on women in Japan up today. Also check out the grill on the one on the right! Yikes. I'll never get the whole yaiba thing. And bonus Ishihara hospitalized with a cold.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 01:25
|
|
|
That article mentions the extremely low rate of men taking childcare leave, but neglects to mention that it's often extremely difficult to use childcare leave, even for women. It's rarely denied, but there is a huge amount of pressure from coworkers and superiors not to take it, and those who do take it are often criticized for their lack of dedication to their work. Many companies will allow employees to switch to part time or flex time after their child is born, but will do absolutely nothing to accommodate them in terms of reduced workload etc.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 01:49
|
|
|
z0glin Warchief posted:As an example of what one of the companies run by these guys is trying to do internally to drive innovation: twice yearly they accept submissions from every employee for new business ideas (for a start-up, etc.), run them by a committee, take the top 7~10 and give the submitter a bunch of funds and personnel and told to roll with it. Apparently it's been working spectacularly for them so far, and they've been growing like mad for the past few years. Samuelthebold posted:One thing that he and other students tell me often to keep me optimistic, though, is that Japan can and does change. Each generation since the Meiji restoration has been very different from the last. They went through a lot in the 20th century, too, and when the people born at the end of it are in power, there will be big changes. It just takes time.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 05:57
|
|
|
Kenishi posted:No one is likely to see their salary/wages go up because of all this money printing and I think we'll see prices rise and spending fall as a result. Aso asks businesses for wage hike quote:In response, Aso said he wants to see pay hikes and higher bonuses for workers at businesses that are benefiting from these market trends.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 06:27
|
|
|
Kenishi posted:The success of this doesn't surprise me. I had read that one of the likely faults that has caused Sony to fall out of the scene has been because they reworked the company structure many years ago. The company had let engineers hold major positions in the company and let them run and create new projects. The TV sector, Playstation, and many other parts of the company that Sony became famous for; were the result of such people. At some point though either investors or someone at the top thought it would be a great idea if they replaced the engineers who were running projects with people taught 'how to manage.' The innovation in the company stagnated, and many of the engineers left, and Sony has been floundering ever since. Granted, Sony has been the market leader in self-sabotage in the past. Everything from Betamax, Minidics to their consumer electronics have either been proprietary to a pretty horrific extent or just loaded down with some much DRM it is unusable. I think it many ways they are just reaping what they sowed, and made a lot of other bad bets in content production. Also, they're now being undercut all over the place. I don't know if having engineers in charge was that great, but "professional" managers probably is worse. quote:This is true, but the problem is that if they wait till the next generation comes to power, it'll probably be really bad in Japan. They need a change of course in the next 10 years not in the next 20-30. I guess the safest bet is more of the same, ie a slow but certain downward trajectory. However, it might accelerate with higher fuel prices and even more competition. Also, having to re-militarize might put more of a burden on Japanese society that isn't really structured for those human and financial costs. Between its conservative culture (even compared to the US), lack of natural resources and greater lack of innovation with its manufacturing industries there isn't anywhere to go but down. Costs for everything are going to go up, while there are going to be lesser resources for younger people which means lower birthrates and probably an even more skewed society. That said, Japan is still a wealthy country and almost all of their debt is domestically held, so it will be mostly a slow crush. Also, if anything it might be 30-40 years compared to small the post-80s generation is for them to get the momentum over the last of the dying super-elderly old guard who will leverage every resource to try to retain the old system and live forever. I don't think China will even be a real threat except in the sense of hurt feelings, there is a lot of bluster but China has many of the same problems (and some additional ones). China also has a aging population, has minimal resources for their population (all things considered by their population) and is heavily reliant on external trade.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 06:40
|
|
|
Protocol 5 posted:That article mentions the extremely low rate of men taking childcare leave, but neglects to mention that it's often extremely difficult to use childcare leave, even for women. It's rarely denied, but there is a huge amount of pressure from coworkers and superiors not to take it, and those who do take it are often criticized for their lack of dedication to their work. Many companies will allow employees to switch to part time or flex time after their child is born, but will do absolutely nothing to accommodate them in terms of reduced workload etc. I can't find the article at the moment, but there was a pretty good one about this issue (thought it spent a lot of time relating it to 過労死, deaths by overwork). Japan actually has pretty moderate (better than the US, at any rate) labor laws, for things like paid vacation, overtime, etc., but they aren't respected at all; the article gave a pretty good look at some of the cultural factors of why people don't or can't take vacation days. Peer pressure was one, the (not-)Protestant work ethic was another. If I can find it I might translate it if anyone is interested. In other news, just talked with a guy in real estate, and he told me he and some colleagues had plans to open a new elementary school based on some system they use in the Netherlands, in an attempt to change the current miserable state of things.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 09:01
|
|
|
Kenishi posted:I spoke too soon. Although this isn't actual proof of anything until it actually happens. The keidanren straight up said a 1% wage hike was out of the question. "We don't raise wages until we make more money" but people won't spend more money unless they have more and thus it's a vicious, retarded cycle. Ardennes posted:Granted, Sony has been the market leader in self-sabotage in the past. Everything from Betamax, Minidics to their consumer electronics have either been proprietary to a pretty horrific extent or just loaded down with some much DRM it is unusable. Honestly the sooner Sony just crumbles, the better, in my opinion. The PS3 (and by extension, Vita) are complete loving jokes when you look at anything other than pretty game graphics, and they should have fixed the major glaring faults in the PS3 with the first big firmware and hardware revisions - the fact that a bunch of these same faults are present in the Vita's OS just shows how far into the sand they've stuck their heads. Edit: you've also got to admit that Minidisc did really well in Japan, which is the most important market in the world for Japanese people. z0glin Warchief posted:I can't find the article at the moment, but there was a pretty good one about this issue (thought it spent a lot of time relating it to 過労死, deaths by overwork). Japan actually has pretty moderate (better than the US, at any rate) labor laws, for things like paid vacation, overtime, etc., but they aren't respected at all; the article gave a pretty good look at some of the cultural factors of why people don't or can't take vacation days. Peer pressure was one, the (not-)Protestant work ethic was another. If I can find it I might translate it if anyone is interested. On paper, Japan looks pretty good. Great labor laws, vacation, whistle blower protection, a really well-structured health care system, etc. The problem is, as I've said before, the rule of law just isn't that strong here and the laws aren't respected. The crazy thing is the government is part of the problem, and society is just complicit. Take, for example, the work week - for your average standard employee it's set at 40 hours (inclusive of break time, ~5 hours) unless you pay overtime and has a bunch of other provisions there to protect workers, and it's all spelled out extremely clearly, but the Japanese go on and on about how they all work so hard (ie long), but they generally don't get paid for it. The only reason their numbers aren't through the roof like South Korea, who in a BBC article comparing working hours reported an average of 45 a week (versus Japan's 33ish), is because so many people in Japan are on temporary contracts and/or can only get part time work. Here's a couple of articles that contain basically the same information; sadly I can't find the exact article I'm thinking of. article 1 and article 2. Anyways, you'd figure for all those hours worked, you'd get a lot of productivity, but Japanese workers are actually incredibly underproductive per hour worked compared to the other OECD nations. American, French and German workers in particular put them to shame. Sheep fucked around with this message at 13:50 on Mar 3, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 13:39
|
|
|
Sheep posted:Anyways, you'd figure for all those hours worked, you'd get a lot of productivity, but Japanese workers are actually incredibly underproductive per hour worked compared to the other OECD nations. American, French and German workers in particular put them to shame. So are they just like slacking off and browsing Facebook all day, or is this symptomatic of a business world dominated by fax machines?
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 14:08
|
|
|
Bloodnose posted:So are they just like slacking off and browsing Facebook all day, or is this symptomatic of a business world dominated by fax machines?
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 14:11
|
|
|
Sheep posted:The keidanren straight up said a 1% wage hike was out of the question. quote:I was reading an article today where Sony pretty much said Blu-ray and Linux will never work. So that's pretty much their philosophy on format adoption. If Sony goes under, I think it'll be a shock to the public since Sony is really symbolic to the country as a whole. Its an example of what came out of the post-war rebuilding. Maybe Sony crashing would be a good thing though, a sort of kick-in-the-rear end to get moving. But most of me thinks that like most countries today, people are apathetic and cynical about the whole system and don't think there's anything that can be done. They're stuck in quicksand and are sinking; there's a rope just over there if they just struggle a bit and reach and pull they might be able to save themselves. But instead everyone's just 「仕方がない、どうしよう？」. Again, not just a Japan thing; but something I see, hear, and even experience myself, from people in other countries. quote:Anyways, you'd figure for all those hours worked, you'd get a lot of productivity, but Japanese workers are actually incredibly underproductive per hour worked compared to the other OECD nations. American, French and German workers in particular put them to shame. This kind of thing (redundant positions) is rampant throughout Japan, whether its a good thing or not I don't know. I do think it creates too much complacency in the system; which is another thing strangling Japan I think.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 14:30
|
|
|
Kenishi posted:O There's a guy down the road that makes 1000 yen/hour to direct traffic at a traffic light. There's a traffic light there. Why would you pay a man to impede traffic? Because Japan. I guess it's better than having poor/homeless people everywhere but yeah from a western perspective it just looks hugely wasteful a lot of the time. A lady at the post office whose job it is to read the labels on the number printing machine and ask me which I'd like, then press the button for me? Guy directing traffic at a traffic light? 3 dudes organizing parking in a parking lot of moderate size? The list just goes on and on.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 14:42
|
|
|
Kenishi posted:The PS3 has been pretty much the same way [as the minidisc]. The PS3 has sold better in Japan than in most other parts of the world. The XBox claimed the most installs in the field before Sony got some momentum, and even now I suspect Sony still trails Microsoft in the US on install base. I think the PS4 might fair better assuming they bring the price down to like $299. If they don't pull off a landslide with the PS4 though, I think they're done. I just read online a bit ago that they successfully struck a deal to sell their HQ building in Tokyo for $1.2 billion. Apparently they'll be there for another 5 years but then have to move I guess? It's their New York HQ actually. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/11c73296-6155-11e2-957e-00144feab49a.html Besides, what if all those people currently employed in such hilariously redundant positions were to be laid off? I can't really see them going on unemployment (if it's available at all). As for moving into proper jobs? If they'd been there in the first place they wouldn't be doing what they're doing right now. Furthermore, it's highly doubtful that meaningful jobs are going to appear if they don't start doing things differently than they've been doing in the past couple of decades.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 15:10
|
|
|
Just Winging It posted:It's their New York HQ actually. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/11c73296-6155-11e2-957e-00144feab49a.html http://thenextweb.com/asia/2013/02/28/sony-sells-its-tokyo-office-for-1-2-billion-but-will-remain-there-for-the-next-5-years/ Plus, if you can understand Japanese, here's the TBS news clip talking about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUzsBr0BkVw They sold the Tokyo office building in Shinagawa. quote:As for moving into proper jobs? If they'd been there in the first place they wouldn't be doing what they're doing right now. Kenishi fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Mar 3, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 16:01
|
|
|
Bloodnose posted:So are they just like slacking off and browsing Facebook all day, or is this symptomatic of a business world dominated by fax machines? And oh god, the health problems that go along with spending that many hours in the office. My boss back in Japan would boast about how he didn't go home until after midnight every day last week, and both him and his assistant were just physical wrecks every time we saw them. That's one part of the Japanese work world that I 100% refused to get involved in. When my work was done, I went home. Samurai Sanders fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Mar 3, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 18:21
|
|
|
Anecdotal of course, but I hear that, due to the interminably long work day, there is little pressure to get things done RIGHT NOW. On top of that, there is only so much work to be done, so they finish up what they can and then spend the next three hours waiting on an email/phone call/fax(god why) so they can do something productive again. Also, there was a survey a while back (last year, I think) that asked middle schoolers what they wanted to be when they grow up. For boys, "salaryman" was number three. That was a massively depressing piece of info, let me tell you.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 19:37
|
|
|
The BBC seems to think consumer prices (excluding food, obviously) have fallen for the third straight month in a row. Could have fooled me.quote:Japan's new government has said that stoking consumer price growth is key to reviving Japan's sluggish economy. I like how nobody addresses the problem of what happens after the tax hikes or prices rise, and people have already made all their big purchases. It all seems so incredibly shortsighted that it must be a huge joke I wasn't let in on. Sheep fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Mar 3, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2013 23:22
|
|
|
The funny thing about this is the fact that economists seem to think people are sitting there watching the consumer price index and going "Honey the index has gone up 10 points in the last week, maybe we should buy that TV now." This is ridiculous logic. I'm no economist so maybe I missed some secret here. To me it looks like they noticed "Hey, the economy grows and inflation happens when hiring and wage growth happens. When inflation happens, prices go up. So if we make prices go up then inflation happens and wages and hiring go up." They are working backwards and im not sure it will work.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 00:52
|
|
|
I have never heard the argument that higher prices are going to boost consumption, is this just based on some (rather weird) assumption that the Japanese consumers are ultra-consumers that they have to buy a new tv at any cost? Is it just a vain hope that consumer spending will go up even though it probably won't? It is quite likely just that higher energy costs (at least Brent) are fueling higher costs and if anything that might just mean demand will be suppressed if wages don't raise at the same rate.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 02:14
|
|
|
Japanese society really is obsessed with the latest, shiniest, newest things and fads, but I think in this case they may be overshooting a bit. vv I see bargain stuff sell out all the time, though not on stuff like electronics where there are often very marked differences in products. Sheep fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Mar 4, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 02:24
|
|
|
I've often wondered if its true that Japanese just don't respond to bargains, that if someone is discounted that people will assume its no good and be overall less likely to buy it. Are there any statistics to that effect, or are people who set prices on consumer goods in Japan just going off their gut feelings when they decide to set them so high?
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 02:27
|
|
|
Kenishi posted:
That is actually very surprising to hear, because I read an article just a few weeks ago that credited Germany's currently decent economic position on a radical restructuring of the workflow in German factories, the concepts of which being imported from Japan. But that apparently started in the 80ies, so what the hell happened in between?
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 03:01
|
|
|
Samurai Sanders posted:I've often wondered if its true that Japanese just don't respond to bargains, that if someone is discounted that people will assume its no good and be overall less likely to buy it. Not at all, people will line up for hours to get even a tiny discount. Think about how people who grew up in the Great Depression felt about frugality and saving money--that happened a generation or two later in Japan, with the postwar generations. It's still a consumer culture and people still buy all kinds of crap they don't need, for a variety of reasons, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't happily buy that crap cheaper if they could. They don't have many other options though.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 03:01
|
|
|
LyonsLions posted:Not at all, people will line up for hours to get even a tiny discount. Think about how people who grew up in the Great Depression felt about frugality and saving money--that happened a generation or two later in Japan, with the postwar generations. It's still a consumer culture and people still buy all kinds of crap they don't need, for a variety of reasons, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't happily buy that crap cheaper if they could. They don't have many other options though. I wonder how consumer spending is going to fare as the population continues to rapidly age, usually a more fixed income, and a more insular life style usually depresses spending. In many ways, it seems like America was the most extreme of consumer cultures on earth but I guess in some ways Japan has the US beat. I wonder if thats a part of the response of conservative/hierarchical cultures to the threat of modernity (US included). In Japan, it seems like consumer culture is used as a way not only to shape buying habits but to establish certain safe sub-cultures that aren't allowed to become too political deviant. I guess the comparable example is the entire Apple fandom, and how in many ways it is a constructed subculture in which consumerism is a key component of participation.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 03:10
|
|
|
Sheep posted:vv I see bargain stuff sell out all the time, though not on stuff like electronics where there are often very marked differences in products.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 03:13
|
|
|
ArchangeI posted:That is actually very surprising to hear, because I read an article just a few weeks ago that credited Germany's currently decent economic position on a radical restructuring of the workflow in German factories, the concepts of which being imported from Japan. But that apparently started in the 80ies, so what the hell happened in between? If they started in the 80s then they probably adopted Japanese business styles but not corporate structure like Japan. The 80s were the height of Japanese economic power, everyone thought Japan was going to rule the world. In particular people were focused on their automobile industry the most which was highly ordered, efficient, and staffed with very devout workers. Electronics were equally regarded but with Germany i suspect focus on cars and steel were their prime focus. Theres no way Western businesses would look at Japan's redundancy and go, "I like the way they think. let's add 4 people to each position in the bottom 3 rungs of the organization. "But sir, we only need but maybe 1 extra person for maybe 4-5 positions..." "The Japanese do it so it must be good. 4 people in each of these 10 spots!" I'd have to read the article though to get some kind of idea what they mean though.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 03:26
|
|
|
ArchangeI posted:That is actually very surprising to hear, because I read an article just a few weeks ago that credited Germany's currently decent economic position on a radical restructuring of the workflow in German factories, the concepts of which being imported from Japan. But that apparently started in the 80ies, so what the hell happened in between? That sounds like "just in time" manufacturing, which is an inventory and supply chain management system which was indeed pioneered by the Japanese, but has little to do with office workflow and the daily habits of salarymen. It keeps inventory costs down. You don't have to do the same for office workers because they don't get paid overtime. You're just paying to keep the lights on.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 03:26
|
|
|
Kenishi posted:If they started in the 80s then they probably adopted Japanese business styles but not corporate structure like Japan. The 80s were the height of Japanese economic power, everyone thought Japan was going to rule the world. In particular people were focused on their automobile industry the most which was highly ordered, efficient, and staffed with very devout workers. Electronics were equally regarded but with Germany i suspect focus on cars and steel were their prime focus. Also maybe the more redundant positions now would have actually been relevant then; pre-digitalization and everything. Weren't fax machines actually useful in the eighties?
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 03:29
|
|
|
Samurai Sanders posted:Maybe I am just thinking about electronics, since those were the the only things I wanted when I was over there that were expensive enough that I got thinking about the price gap with the US. I mean, they'd start at a similar price, but in the US the price would drop much faster. My favorite example of Japanese consumer prices is my Canon camera. It's built down the road from where I live in Japan now, but it was ~540 USD at K's Denki versus $300 at Best Buy in America on the east coast when I went two weeks later. Things in Japan are just retarded expensive because the consumers will pay that much, as far as I can tell. Just look at CD prices. Edit: Japanese consumers are basically paying European prices on stuff, except they're not in Europe and the consumption tax is only 5%, not 15-20%. The retailers are just making a complete killing as far as I can tell, which is why it's so confusing for the keidanren to be bitching about raising wages a meager 1%. Sheep fucked around with this message at 05:09 on Mar 4, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 03:31
|
|
|
Ardennes posted:I wonder how consumer spending is going to fare as the population continues to rapidly age, usually a more fixed income, and a more insular life style usually depresses spending. As the pop. ages spending will fall. Retirees don't have incomes to buy a lot of new stuff. The only thing to save them will be if they replace the retiring people with young workers at the same level of pay. Companies are liking the temp hiring system quite well though as they don't have to offer benefits like they do to full time and is easier to fire them/get rid of them. I've always felt that American consumer culture was different from Japan's. In years past it use to be about things that lasted and we're very utilitarian. Now it's about the cheapest, powered by China cheap labor and stagnate wages. Apple is the closest thing to matching the Japanese style consumer in years past. There's a focus on high quality product, usability, and presentation (all the way down to even the packaging). You get all of this by paying a premium. The only thing that it lacks is being built in the US. Sheep posted:My favorite example of Japanese consumer prices is my Canon camera. It's built down the road from where I live in Japan now, but it was ~540 USD at K's Denki versus $300 at Best Buy in America on the east coast when I went two weeks later. Things in Japan are just retarded expensive because the consumers will pay that much, as far as I can tell. Just look at CD prices. I just don't see it. I get that prices are ridiculous and consumers are paying them but if companies were making the killing you are suggesting then Japan wouldn't be in a rut. I think it's mix of the redundancy I was talking about, paying people reasonable wages, and padding the price to cover the fact that large sales aren't common and small purchases don't bring in much money. So prices on big items go up so they can make profit and cover operating costs. I think in some industries though, is exactly as you say. CD sales have NEVER made sense to me.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 04:02
|
|
|
Sheep posted:Japanese consumers are basically paying VAT prices on stuff, except there's no VAT... Japan has a 5% consumption tax that is required by law to be factored into all displayed prices. I do understand your point, though.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 04:09
|
|
|
Kenishi posted:As the pop. ages spending will fall. Retirees don't have incomes to buy a lot of new stuff. The only thing to save them will be if they replace the retiring people with young workers at the same level of pay. Companies are liking the temp hiring system quite well though as they don't have to offer benefits like they do to full time and is easier to fire them/get rid of them. The way I see it that their tightly regimented consumer culture provided easy profits for many years and most Japanese corporations already "figured" that market and that profit into their plans. Their problem isn't necessarily is that market is facing intense competition, but that their facing distinct pressure overseas and that their domestic market is aging and consumer spending isn't being replaced. They actually had built a system that was almost scientifically beneficial to them, but was predicated on the assumption that that amount of spending in Japan would continue and they would remain competitive internationally. Now the hope is that consumer spending in Japan will increase because prices are getting higher.... basically "something has got to work, right guys?" I don't see any really changing unless somehow out of desperation, they start selling extremely successful products overseas again which would replace the lost profits from the "good old days." (That said, didn't the last government wanted to double the consumption tax? That would have taken another nice bite out of consumer spending.) So as far as Japanese domestic spending goes, in a social sense is there social prestige in paying more for a Japanese especially if it is a "premium" item like Sony? It seems like social currency would be the only way to justify paying much more for an item that faces so much international competition. Ardennes fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Mar 4, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 04:23
|
|
|
Yes and no, sort of depends on the product and where it's coming from, but it's not quite as regimented as it used to be. I think it's a kind of holdover from Japan's dumping strategies pre-bubble because it's an export-oriented economy (they kept prices high domestically and could do that because tariffs on imports were absurd, while overseas were selling their stuff cheap or flat-out dumping it like they did with computer chips). Now, food, on the other hand, is kind of ridiculous. As a rule anything from China is abhorrent and you kinda wonder why they even put it in the store anyway if they know people won't buy it (I remember going into a store for garlic once -- the garlic from China was maybe 6 bulbs for ¥500 yen and was stuffed to the top, while Special Garlic From That One Prefecture In Japan Famous For Garlic which sold at one bulb per ¥500 was totally sold out). People tend to trust a food if it's coming from 1. not China and 2. if the source it's coming from is already a noted source of said product. For instance, and because this is what Japanese farmers are making GBS threads themselves over when it comes to TPP: rice. There are two main brands of rice in Japan that come from very specific spots: Niigata's koshi-hikari (always the best, most expensive) and Akita's akita-komachi (less expensive but hey still Japanese right). The branding on this is so deep and pervasive that I'll admit, even I get a little weirded out when I know the rice I'm eating isn't one of those, even though I know that's super silly. Off the top of my head, a 5kg bag of koshi-hikari will run you about oh $25. A twenty-pound bag of calrose rice in the US will run you $20. Tariffs are so high that in Japan, if for some reason you were going to buy that bag of US rice you'd probably pay $50-60 for it (assuming you could find it, you'd have to really dig around to find it in a store). So if TPP goes through and rice tariffs are abolished, Japanese rice would stay high and the price of US rice would plummet, so a 5kg bag of our stuff would then run about $10 there. (Cue here a panel of dumb-yet-pretty girls on a Japanese talk show who exclaim eeeeeehhhh in surprise.) I think many in younger generations trying to bootstrap it would buy the cheap stuff, but I can guarantee you the mentality runs so deep in Japan that provided all evidence and facts, most would still buy the Japanese product believing it to be superior quality. I don't even know if that's a prestige thing, so much as it is "Japan specializes in rice, why would you buy it from somewhere else".
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 04:56
|
|
|
ErIog posted:Japan has a 5% consumption tax that is required by law to be factored into all displayed prices. I do understand your point, though. I was referring to UK VAT-level prices - ie a 20% consumption tax. Should have been clearer, sorry. I edited my post. Ardennes posted:So as far as Japanese domestic spending goes, in a social sense is there social prestige in paying more for a Japanese especially if it is a "premium" item like Sony? It seems like social currency would be the only way to justify paying much more for an item that faces so much international competition. I think they would equate cheaper prices with being less successful - only poor countries are cheap, right? - and thus expensive equals better. Sheep fucked around with this message at 05:11 on Mar 4, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 05:07
|
|
|
Reverend Cheddar posted:Now, food, on the other hand, is kind of ridiculous. As a rule anything from China is abhorrent and you kinda wonder why they even put it in the store anyway if they know people won't buy it (I remember going into a store for garlic once -- the garlic from China was maybe 6 bulbs for ¥500 yen and was stuffed to the top, while Special Garlic From That One Prefecture In Japan Famous For Garlic which sold at one bulb per ¥500 was totally sold out). People tend to trust a food if it's coming from 1. not China and 2. if the source it's coming from is already a noted source of said product. For instance, and because this is what Japanese farmers are making GBS threads themselves over when it comes to TPP: rice. There are two main brands of rice in Japan that come from very specific spots: Niigata's koshi-hikari (always the best, most expensive) and Akita's akita-komachi (less expensive but hey still Japanese right). The branding on this is so deep and pervasive that I'll admit, even I get a little weirded out when I know the rice I'm eating isn't one of those, even though I know that's super silly. Is knowledge of the specialty products of every prefecture actually incredibly common knowledge in Japan? I've lived in the US for years now and I couldn't say poo poo about what 9/10ths the country produces.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 05:11
|
|
|
Koramei posted:Is knowledge of the specialty products of every prefecture actually incredibly common knowledge in Japan? I've lived in the US for years now and I couldn't say poo poo about what 9/10ths the country produces. Depends, if you're talking about "Osaka is famous for takoyaki", "Ehime is famous for mikan" or "Hiroshima is famous for oysters" then yes. If you're talking "inaka-machi with a population of 700 in Tottori is famous for eggplant" or something then no. It's a lot worse in Kyushu since the governor of Oita started a trend with the 一村一品 movement in the 70s and now its like a dick measuring contest. Edit: can't forget Ehime mikan. Sheep fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Mar 4, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 05:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 03:56 |
|
|
Kenishi posted:Theres no way Western businesses would look at Japan's redundancy and go, "I like the way they think. let's add 4 people to each position in the bottom 3 rungs of the organization. "But sir, we only need but maybe 1 extra person for maybe 4-5 positions..." "The Japanese do it so it must be good. 4 people in each of these 10 spots!" I can honestly say that given the option between a US cut-to-the-bone business operation and a Japanese one with layers of redundancy, I'd pick the latter any day as a societal model. Given the context of everything that's going on in the Western world right now, I find it hard to really criticize the Japanese model. Also, about the 2% inflation target. That'd would do a lot of good to the structure of Japanese finances (both at the individual level as well as the institutional level) because it'd disincentivize Japanese from parking their financial assets in 0% return deposits or JGBs. If you look at the average Japanese family, they park the vast majority of their financial capital in fixed deposits. Forcing them to either consume or invest would pump-prime the market.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2013 05:22
|
|
