"So sorry, our ambassador thought he was speaking to Russians."
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/2424/
The Japanese Supreme Court ruled that the actions of Le Thi Thuy Linh, a Vietnamese woman who came to Japan for "technical training" did not abandon her babies. This is due to then rules of the TT program that states anyone working there due to trying to pay off her debts.
The program is much hated by critics in and out of Japan for just being a recruitment program to fill up jobs due to the falling birth rate.
This is despite warnings issued by the Organization for Technical Intern Training that companies that recruits these "interns" should not send pregnant women home.
PS - That NHK article can be 404 anytime after this post.
Edited by Ominae on Apr 30th 2023 at 1:13:48 AM
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
That's a very sad tale. Thanks to the Supreme Court for being reasonable and understanding about it, though it's still unfortunate she had to go through all this first.
To be frank, that's a part of a larger symptom Japan is facing in terms of the birthrate falling.
Honestly, I think their attitude towards migrant workers carries a lot more blame.
It's the blatantly obvious solution for countries with a falling birthrate. It's so stupidly simple. But xenophobes and racists will always freak about their culture being eraser or their race being replaced or some other bs
Even beyond that they never bother to actualy ask women why we dont want kids, it's always the old guys in charge of the goverment assuming that they know.
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
Of course, Japan is still faring much better than South Korea when it comes to birth rates...
I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.
Probably because South Korea is the only developed country somehow worse for women than Japan.
well, it probably would help somewhat if the problem was young people believe that kids are gross. That's how advertising works, after all; you show something in a positive light, and people tend to think more positively about it.
But I'm pretty sure that the problem isn't cultural in that sense, but more economical. Kids are expensive and require a great deal of time and attention, and prospective parents want to be able to support them at a reasonable level of lifestyle. So, they have kids later in life when they've increased their income and saved up money, if ever. The later women start having kids, the fewer they'll generally have.
Of course, this is probably a very shallow reading. I'm neither Japanese or a woman, after all.
Edited by Kayeka on May 1st 2023 at 11:01:18 AM
It's a mix of factors. One factor that's universal in the developed world, though, is that children are economically a detriment rather than an asset and that social security other than one's children exists (and parents can't require their children to support them). Reproduction is now something you do because you want to, not because you need to.
Nippon.com suggests that Japan's moral conservatism might factor in. Married Japanese have children, but Japanese adults aren't getting married, and 2/3 of Japanese women say that you marry before having children. It's not like the rest of the West where a single mother might be sympathized with if it's difficult, but isn't really stigmatized (unless she's Black, which is a separate problem).
Its also a factor of well... there is almost no maternal care, nor child care assistance once there born....
You expect me to go through pregnancy with minimal assistance, then give birth without so much as even painkillers (Good luck getting them), all because "its a natrural process that will help you bond with the baby"... There is no way I am subjecting myself to that hell.
Then even after that? Your entire life gets put on hold to raise the children, no form of childcare assistance is readily available.... so your career prospects are done, any kind of self betterment you may have had in mind is done.
So why?
Like I like kids, and actualy want them, but I can not figure out why I would willingly subject myself to that, and cut off a whole income branch in the process....
Statistically speaking, the countries and demographics who have more children tend to have less (government) assistance in rising them, not more. As far as I know, the most reliable correlation is: more women education = less children. You can try to correct this with various incentives, but afaik none have been significantly successful, at least compared to the number of children in no-women-education societies.
Edited by Smeagol17 on May 1st 2023 at 1:45:10 PM
What, no painkillers? Is that actually a thing? That's just so ridiculously cruel, I can hardly believe it. Why would you even have painkillers if you're not going to use it to kill pain?
That does not mean more assistance would not help.
Also, income = smaller birthrate, for the reasons above. Those are the two hard correlations that have been found.
Edited by Ramidel on May 1st 2023 at 2:42:09 AM
Not significantly. Not saying it shouldn’t be offered…
From what I understand, once Japanese women have children they are usually 100 percent dependant on their husband because they are expected to stop work completely (as alluded to by Imca). Therefore, if the relationship somehow goes south, they will not be able to leave.
Then there is the reality that they cannot resume their skilled employment after being a full-time mother because they are considered uncompetitive in the workplace, or something like that.
The issue is not one of choosing to be a full-time mother like some do in the West, but rather being forced out of work for about 18 years, and not really able to re-enter.
Basically motherhood follows an incredibly narrow cultural script which is almost completely inflexible.
I'm no expert, but that's my understanding.
Mind you, as populations age and pension costs become an increasing burden on government budgets, people will have to reconsider the "don't need children" aspect. Or governments will force them to reconsider.
Or technological development obviates some of these issues. With better anti-aging medicine, for example, you could do away with retirement. Artificial uteri would fix a lot of social problems, too.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Unfortunately, the big solution to this is automation, and despite the love of the Robot Maid in anime, automating care professions is hard.
Anyway, governments outside of China aren't in a position to force people to have children (and China can only do it to minority women via their rape camps, which is not a model we should emulate) - even Singapore's attempts have landed with a wet thud. Social engineering to get people to make and raise children is way, way beyond our ability.
Edited by Ramidel on May 1st 2023 at 2:59:14 AM
In my admittedly somewhat uniformed opinion, the only way you are going to increase your birthrate is by making it meaningful easier to have children.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14890576
There have been plans to get rid of the "technical intern" program. But my bigggest takeaway is that you'll have to do something about the unscrupulous employers and immigration brokers from outside Japan.
These brokers also help in application process to get the visas. I've seen those in the Philippines.
Unfortunately, the most effective known way to increase fertility is to subjugate women and coerce or force them into being Baby Factories. See: The Handmaid's Tale. There's really no way around the fact that a child is an investment of the parent's money and time, and that people who don't want to have children won't unless somehow coerced.
Immigration is the solution in the short term, assuming you can get rid of the blood-and-soil clowns. It'll work until Africa reaches the level of women's education and prosperity that make childbearing a choice.
Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye opens mouth and inserts foot by saying former Soviet countries don’t have “effective status in international law". This went over as well as you'd expect as it would in Eastern Europe. China's Foreign Ministry was very quick to walk this back
I guess he was feeling his oats after Marcon cozied up to China
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All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be on The First 48