The gold-tinted glow of Ginza, or the neon-lit nightscapes of Shinjuku and Shibuya, can easily lead one to conclude that while the Japanese may well spend a lot of time at the office, their work ethic at least means they are wealthy.
A situation that is undoubtedly true for many, although for a growing number of working poor, it is way off the mark, with hardship rather than happiness much more to the fore, whether it be in the hours they do, or their home life — if indeed they have one.
But despite this, it’s a topic that’s not covered too often, although whereas this photo can only hint at any such hardship,
the excellent documentary, Japan: A Story of Love and Hate, does the job properly. Both in-depth and directly.
Which is now, thankfully, on YouTube, albeit in slightly irritating ten minute chunks. And here is part one.
cain says
Cool. I’d heard about this film. Now I can see it. Thanks! 🙂
altman_12 says
thank you, thank you, thank you!
Cosplay says
I watched this not long ago on tv in the UK, its sad to see how hard some are working yet barely scraping by.
MrSatyre says
There’s a very strong impression I’m getting from the filmmaker that he either didn’t know much about Japan even after 2 years, or has some sort of underlying distrust or even dislike for Japanese culture. He frequently stresses how much of an outsider he believes himself to be, or how not at home he feels.
I have never lived in Japan, so I can’t speak to the day-to-day frustrations a gaijin living there may experience, but having visited frequently, I have never felt as he apparently does. I never believed Japan to be Heaven on Earth, chock full of rich people with carefree lives. I knew it was like any other country: with lots of good and plenty of bad. You take what you’re offered and deal with the rest. Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading about Japan since I was a kid, but even still, I’ve always been aware that there are poor and homeless people and even “untouchables” in modern Japan.
This documentary (from the segments I’ve seen so far) just strikes me as overly pessimistic/antagonistic. I wonder if the narrator is really being genuine at his professed surprises at all the dirty little secrets or “unexpected” glimpses into every day Japanese life for the average Joe-san.
Jessica says
As a foreigner who has lived in Japan for more and a year now, I take some issue with your comment. Though I agree that some parts of the narration tend toward what I would assume to be exaggerated surprise (made probably for the sake of the viewers less educated about modern Japan), the entirety of the feature rings more true to my observations and experiences in this country than the majority of other media I have found from westerners in Japan.
Merely studying the culture from afar can only teach you so much, as I learned from completing a Japanese language minor in college, only to find that what I know of Japanese can`t even stand up to a short conversation with a five year old. Visits to major cities, I am sure, would help to fill in some of the gaps between academic knowledge and practical knowledge, but there are some things that still will not come across.
I might not speak for all gaijin when I say this but it can be very difficult to get along in Japan for longer lengths of stay. Culture shock, in the first few weeks, is a funny game of finding the most interesting “so Japanese” items and places. When you stay for longer, say between six months and two years, its far more common for culture shock to become this screaming entity in the back of your consciousness, constantly reminding you that 1) this is not your home, 2) most of the people who do live here would really rather you left, and 3) there is no place here for you. The more people who glare at you in the street, mock you loudly on train cars, or pretend not to understand your Japanese even though your phrases have been checked and doublechecked by other natives without fail, the more you feel “outside” and alone.
That said, I do love Japan and there are some marvelous things one finds in living here that cannot be duplicated anywhere else on Earth. As you said, most who live here learn to deal with the situations they don`t like, but with a longer stay those negative things become more and more grating.
I will agree the narrorator is perhaps a bit more negative than more journalists in his position might be, but it seems to me like a more honest, somewhat more educated approach than bland polite superpositives.
Philip Zeplin says
Jessica, I agree very wholeheartedly with what you say.
Without sounding grumpy or elitist, I’ve pretty much started to completely disregard the oppinions of people who havent lived in Japan, when commenting on it. No amount of research can really quite make it clear for you.
Over the lengths of my stays here (Tokyo), I’ve come to be greatly annoyed by all the sugarcoated “reviews” of Japan that I read and see so very very often on the internet and media.
Is Japan the craphole of the world? By far not, there are certainly much worse countries in the world to spend your existence. But in pretty much any category, Japan would always be very far down on the list for me.
I think this is evident in the fact that even people that have lived here for many years, usually dont want to stay here forever. I have met extremely few people who would want to live the rest of their lives in Japan, and the few who do are usually doing so because they are married here. Even long-time residents will usually talk about going home in a few years when done with work, or retiring or such.
brandon says
This was a very touching personal story about any couple. It might be Japan but in the instance of these people it only acts as a foil with which to reflect their feelings and emotions.
It’s easy to treat Japan as “Japan,” but when you cast aside the train station ditties and the goofy flavored soda and the vending machines and all the other stuff every bright-colored blog’s about, it’s just a real place that real people live, and this is a real story about a few of them.
Matt says
This was an incredibly interesting documentary. Thanks for putting us on to it.
Jack says
This video is excellent and really revealed what Japan is really like. I also remember when I came to Japan, how stuck in the 1980s the whole country felt. I think people in the West have a very different image of Japan than it actually is. They think of it as very Westernized, like in the brochure photos and the anime. In reality, there are whole swaths of Japan that are indistinguishable from China, which at least has an excuse of being Communist.
J.Dario says
Thanks for posting this very revealing documentary. It’s very hard to watch people trying their best and just barely scrape by. I can only hope things will get better for Naoki and Yoshie.
Nikki says
Hi!
I can see that this is an old post, but I felt that I had to thank you for posting it. I’ve been looking around the Internet for information on Japanese slums, everyday life for someone who isn’t part of the middle-class and up, but everything I’ve found is a romanticised view on Japan and it’s grating, because I know that Japan has a lot of social issues that are rarely talked about in mainstream media.
I study Japanese society, history, culture and language and one of my teachers, who is Japanese, has always encouraged me and my classmates to see beyond the stereotype image of Japan and to get to know the country for what it is and not just fall for the pop idols and the anime.
So, thanks 🙂
fernando gallesca says
hey there, i really loved the homeless photo, the one where he is sleeping, and i was wondering about using it with commercial purposes, if its ok with you off course…