Outside a train station near Tokyo, hundreds of people cheer as Sohei Kamiya, head of the surging nationalist party Sanseito, criticizes Japan’s rapidly growing foreign population.
As opponents, separated by uniformed police and bodyguards, accuse him of racism, Kamiya shouts back, saying he is only talking common sense.
Sanseito, while still a minor party, made big gains in July’s parliamentary election, and Kamiya’s “Japanese First” platform of anti-globalism, anti-immigration and anti-liberalism is gaining broader traction ahead of a ruling party vote Saturday that will choose the likely next prime minister.
My wife and I loves Japan and we visit quite often prior to having kids. Once we had kids, the people’s attitude changes towards you. Suddenly my crying kid is annoying everyone and throwing shade. Elevators and seats clearly designated for strollers is often filled to the brim and nobody getting off/out.
It’s a culture of hating kids.
Fun fact. Women who have kids must give up their careers. Grandparents is culturally not allowed to help with the grand kids. Like, you pop them out, you take care of them yourself, often without even help from the father.
I’m not sure where you got this. Grandparents absolutely help out when they can. Babysitting isn’t a thing. That’s what the grand folks are for.
Everything in your “fun fact” is not fact. I actually said “what the fuck” when I read it. I’ve been in Japan for a decade, both Tokyo and rural.
Where also are these magical stroller-only elevators? Certain people are supposed to have priority (and, yes, some assholes ignore this which is not a problem unique to Japan), and there are also people who don 'look disabled" but need help (I can be one of them sometimes as my left leg and ankle are as much metal as anything else, though you wouldn’t know by looking at me).
Japan has problems and had places.to.improve but your post is just wild wild to me as a long-term resident.
My experience has been in Tokyo and Osaka. I have a son that cries a lot. I’m not sure how many kids you have. That might be our difference.
My terrible experience started on the plane to Osaka. From Taipei to Osaka on Peach Airlines.
My son was using his tablet that was sitting on the tray which made the Japanese woman in front of us mean mug us and eventually complained to us about the kid tapping his screen.
Then getting off the plane, we rode the train and bus to a station. Every seat designated for kids and elderly was taken up by young adults. My son was tired and started to cry and was melting on the train, directly in front of a girl who was sitting in those seats. Instead of giving up the seat, she put on her headphones and glared at us for annoying her. Sure SHE might be disabled, but it seems like every spot is taken up by disabled people. I never once saw someone get up from their seat to let a young family have their seat.
Then we were at some big train station and there was 4 or 5 elevators. The far left one was designated for elderly and strollers. But each time the elevator opened, it was fun of people. Nobody got out. Just pushed the close button faster. We ended up carrying the stroller up the escalator, which the guard yelled at us for doing.
At restaurants, we were regularly denied entry because we had a kid with us.
As a long term resident, perhaps the problem isn’t that there isn’t these problems. It’s that you don’t see it.
Next time look at who’s carrying the baby while walking on the street. Look at the father and see how empty handed they are.
Where, though? I live in Okinawa and visiting Tokyo with my family sucks because people there are so uptight like you said. Also, old people there are so fucking entitled.
Edit: I forgot to write how Okinawa is like the opposite. Kids are more free to be kids here.
In Taiwan we call Okinawa, 琉球. This was the original name and I think the people there agrees with me. 琉球 has their own history and language prior to the takeover. The culture is vastly different than the mainland.
That’s so awesome that you call us by that name. I wish we still used that as our official name as kind of a fuck you to the Japanese government, but it’s all 沖縄 now for government stuff. We do still see 琉球 used in the private sector though (as well as one of our universities). Are you Taiwanese? I’ve visited Taipei a few times and I really love it there.
Cool, so people there actually like the name Ryukyu? I used the word Ryukyu in a Japanese class one day but I got corrected by the teacher saying that Okinawa is the new name.
(I’m Taiwanese btw)
I think your teacher was just trying to be correct and didn’t mean she didn’t like it. Some locals might feel shy/awkward about it, but it’s not a taboo or anything — especially if you’re talking to a Ryukyuan :)
Glad to hear it’s not a taboo! I had been always under the impression that Ryukyu was some sort of taboo word that was never to be mentioned of. I had somehow connected it with the once-Chinese influence over the Ryukyu Islands and thought it would anger locals or something haha.
I was watching about singledom and loneliness in Japan, it seems like Okinawa is a world apart from the mainland because family ties and community is still strong in Okinawa. Well, fair enough that Okinawa is still culturally distinct in many ways than the mainland because of history, although it’s nice to hear some parts of Japan still have strong community and family values in a good way.
The family ties can be burdensome at times, but I really love that I’m still hanging out with my cousins in my 40s and our kids do too. We get together on obon, which is a day to honour our ancestors, and clean up our family tomb and get wasted lol.