Was once on a crowded subway in Tokyo and a man had what I think was a pretty big seizure next to me. I was the only one to make sure he was stable and not moving around for the seizure to pass. Every single other person was pretending like it wasn’t happening. Was a kinda surreal experience.
Kinda depends, I saw a guy that completely fainted in Japan, everyone helped. I wouldnt base it on one experience, besides, everywhere else in the world is the same anyways.
This happens pretty often in nyc, but usually the guy in question is obviously homeless so it's more an "oh, another one" response than total ignorance
@@emchou3 That was probably because you were in a city smaller than Tokyo. People tend to be indifferent in big cities all over the world. Urban life tends to be a rat race.
@@darrellkramer8097 It's scientifically proven that in the crowded city people tend to be more stressed, also it's very easy to get emotional fatigue which means you won't be able to be as considerate to others in a small group when you see so many different people every day. So yeah, I don't think it's just Japan, but it's big cities in general, it's just the geometry cultural factors of Japan that make it more extreme.
Their sexual fetishes speaks to this issue as well. The stuff being portrayed in media is due to how much of their thought and expression, even down to sexuality, is suppressed to such a level that it rebounds. The phrase "I will never give up" also showing up frequently in media, should now hit people differently, seeing how it pushes people to be strong-willed but alone.
And Don't forget about the plectra with being an Isekai genre..... If taken in a literal sense,it's means living in a fantasy world is much better (and an escape from reality). It's almost as if these authors are rebelling against such mindsets.
unpopular opinion but these 'positive' messages are nothing but fantasies in a world of social hell for the JP citizens. I tend to talk very negatively like a jerk about this but I seriously think they have a culture of being 'fake happy' and 'fake polite'.
True story. I was at my local barbershop waiting my turn when I noticed an elderly man get up and tell the barber that he was leaving because he didn't feel well. Something told me that something looked wrong. So I got up and followed him 5 steps out the door. I found him leaning against the exterior wall with a fist held to his chest--his eyes were closed and he wasn't moving. I asked him if he was okay and he didn't do anything. I then asked if he had pain in his chest and he nodded very slightly. I said, "Let's go inside and you better sit down." We went back in and the man didn't say or do anything except he didn't look well. I went to the payphone in the barbershop and called 911--I told them that someone may be having a heart attack. Seven minutes later the paramedics arrived and took the guy to UCLA Medical Center. Months later I heard from the barber that the old man did have a heart attack and that he was okay. The guy was a widower and lived by himself. If he had gone home and collapsed, he probably would have died alone in his apartment. The old man told the barber to thank me next time he saw me (I was a regular customer). Point of the story: I didn't do hardly anything, but because I took the time to help someone in distress, a major disaster was avoided. In America something like this happens all the time. You don't even notice Good Samaritans for it's just something that is drilled into you from an early age.
First of all I think your wonderful to help the old man. Yes we in America know this to help others but children in Japan grow up strict & this is why we see a disconnect. They did nothing wrong but never got the opportunity we did😞
@@AlwaysHope_ ,haha, Japanese children grow up strict and … disconnected ? You need to know cultural difference before judging parenting in other culture. You just really want to say America, my country is great ? My daughter got fist punch on her cheek when she was 6 yo. Other little one got fist punch at back head from different child. We live not US but big city in English speaking country. I never heard little children fist punch to other in Japan.
@@PeckPP Are you serious? Never heard Japanese children punching each other? You have no clue how bad their bullying issue is then. It's group based and constant with seldom help from parents... cuz they're too busy or just don't want to trouble.. and "the kid needs to deal with herself/himself ".. sheesh
My Japanese mother wasn’t like this. My father’s favorite story of my mother was… “We we’re driving around Yokohama and on the side of the road there was a man abusing a woman. Your mother told me to stop the car. I knew she was going to confront the man. I asked her if she wants me to take care of it… she told me no. She has this… she got out (my mother was only 5 foot tall) of the car, went up to the abusive man, and started to beat the shit out of him. When she had him on the floor. She told the lady to leave and to get away. My mother took the man’s wallet. Got his identification and told him if he did it again she will come back and beat the shit out of him again. She was pretty awesome…”. My Japanese mother was… she was kind, but she would not take any shit. I miss her everyday, but her attitude in life is probably why she immigrated to the US. She was an odd one out in Japan… but for noble reasons.
The problem with the Japanese people is in the "heart", it's not a physical issues; it's a spiritual and it's a lack thereof. I'm not talking about "finding oneself" or "spiritualism" or any other nonsense. It's the same for every country around the world what the people are facing and it's lack of it's recognition; a lack of connection to God (Jesus Christ)! Until the Japanese people get pass those issues, they will remain indifference as a people and culture even toward their own kind, and they will continue to stagnate; both individually and as a country! God (Jesus Christ) Bless! :)
I saw a guy passed out on a cold evening on a Japanese sidewalk with people just walking around him doing nothing. I went to the nearest police box (koban) two minutes away and got the police to help the guy. I can definitely see what Nobita described happening.
if some would do that in finland country and not helping human being. If their life is danger and you ee it and do nothing! You are going to jail then for not helping human!
Love how you keep it real no matter the setting or the subject Nobita. There’s so many misconceptions out there from many different perspectives of those from other countries and I’m glad you’re speaking about this.
The west have individual culture &the east more group culture and there are positives & negative to both. I witness a lot of selfish behaviour,many don't follow rules&crime is higher &yet in Australia we are known for going out of our way to help those in crisis. Japan is a more conformist country&I find it easier to travel as safer, however I am aware of high mental illness in Japan that is not addressed as there is a lot of stigma attached to issues.I think it is important wherever you live or visit to see a place for its good and bad.It is like a trade off in Japan, many things are ignored but there is s higher safety,in the west much higher crime, however we speak out more. In the countryside wherever you go people are warmer.There is no right or wrong but it's good to have awareness that every country has its unique qualities, thanks
@@bettyboop7426 There isn't much higher crime in the West. The West doesn't mean anything. America isn't the West. Moreover there is a lot of data doctoring in Japan to keep stats on crimes etc low. Japan isn't safer than in most Western countries. Too many non Japanese go to Japan and because nothing never happens to them they believe that it's Japan. As a foreigner you are very unlikely to be the victim of crime and violence in Japan unless you're very reckless, or hang out with the wrong people in a bad environment. That's a whole different story for the Japanese people.
Also my wife just lived in the US the past 6 months, up until now she lived her whole life in Japan. She said she always thought Japanese were nice until she lived in US. Now she thinks Japan is so cold. In Japan, nobody ever gave up their seat for pregnant woman. Nobody ever offered to help. In Japan, people would give a death stare if your kids are too loud. Men might get angry if you ask them to put out their cigarette in front of kids. In America, people allow her to jump to the front of the line if shes holding a baby. Or they let her go into the bathroom first. They are understanding and give a smile if the kids are having a angry moment. Alot of little things like that.
The lack of chivalry culture seems to be a common reason why Japanese women are put off from Japanese men; can't even count how many videos I see where they talk about seeing Westerners hold doors open for women or pull seats out for them on dates and wish Japanese men were like that
In America it's called "Common courtesy". It's part of the DNA of our culture. However, there are lots of people today in America who are attacking this DNA and trying to take down everything that is traditional and good in our society. I was at the supermarket the other day and an elderly man shopping in an electric cart was trying to get two small six packs of soda (or ginger ale) off the shelf and into the cart basket. He was struggling and it looked like he was about to drop them--I went over and helped him put the cans in the basket. I acted before I even had the chance to say anything--I then asked, "Do you need a hand?" The old man thanked me and that was it. Just a small act of helping someone out--one day that old man might be me. Or helping a short person get something off the top shelf--it's a trivial thing to offer to get it for them, yet the world is a better place when people act with compassion and consideration towards each other. Apparently small acts like this don't occur in Japan very often.
@@cottoncandykawaii2673 I seem to remember when General MacArthur opened doors for ordinary Japanese women and let them enter first in front of him, that caused a major stir in Japan. I thought by now the Japanese had caught up with the rest of the developed world, but apparently they have not. I mean, people in America open doors not just for women--they open it for men or kids or old people. It's just being kind and polite. It's no big deal. You get no recognition or reward from doing things like this. I don't understand the Japanese. To an American like myself, it makes Japanese people look selfish and inconsiderate.
Yeah I was using crutches and got on a crowded train. Not one person stood up to give me a seat, not even the people I was standing right in front of me.
Honestly, I noticed this as well during my visits to Japan. My gf at the time lives in Japan and when we were out at Disneyland, I noticed that there was a child, no more than 7 years old, crying because it look like they lost their parents because it was so busy. I kept my eye on the child while browsing the store and noticed that no one was helping them. I asked my gf to try and talk to the kid since I didn't speak much Japanese. We eventually brought the kid to the staff and asked them to help find their parents since no one was doing anything. Another time, we were at a club and there was a couple creepy tourists hitting on this girl and, if you were blind, you would still be able to tell how uncomfortable she was feeling. Again, I had my gf at the time step in and pretend to keep her company and pretend to be her friend so that I could create a passive barrier.
@@iknowimgaywhenisaythisbut1369 but even with her, who studies abroad often and would probably be more accustom to western/european norms, it didnt even dawn on her to help until i asked her to. Of course she was not adamant about helping out, just never occurred to her to take action.
@@sophemy9391 It's difficult because as women violence against us is very real. It's always at the back of every woman's mind to not piss off a shady looking man in public for a very good reason. Especially when we are alone. Yes, she accepted only because you were there to help her in case things got nasty. Which could very much be so if you weren't there with her.
@@bmona7550 And honestly, this breaks my heart. This was one of the reasons why I could not be the initiator and asked my ex to help me instead. I experienced something like this once at a bar in Shibuya. The vibe of the night was chill and everyone was having fun and a guy was coming on to this girl pretty hard and she rejected him. I think he felt a bit jealous because me and her, along with other random people, were just talking and chilling. At once point in the night I am talking with some other people and I just hear her say that he hit her (in the bar, in a public place). After that he got in my face and tries to fight me. We all had a bit to drink by this point, but I was sober enough to know that fighting in a bar in Japan would probably be to my disadvantage since I am a foreigner, so after a lot of back and forth, I just managed to get someone who worked at the bar to kick him out. I knew these things happened behind closed doors, but seeing it happened in public made me sick. I mean how far will it have to go before a bystander breaks from the bystander effect? Would it not eat you alive knowing you could have done something but chose to stay in your own lane? I know it is a culture thing, but still, everyone has to have their own moral compass right? Would they not want someone to help them in their time of need?
When I came to Japan as a population researcher in 1977 we worked on a study at Koseisho that predicted the fall in the population of Japan in 2010 as a result of the declining birthrate. Needless to say, the report was put in a very deep drawer and my scholarship ended... there is very little room for different opinions in Japan. But there have been social movements; in the twenties there were many strikes until the surpression of unions under the military dictatorship. In 1946 the Sanbetsu union got 1,5 million members and in 1947 there was going to be a general strike of 4 million. Unfortunately the president of the Union was wounded in an assasination attempt and McArthur blocked the strike. I also remember the student protests in Japan!
I am glad you talked about this. I visited Japan a few years ago and despite encountering some nice ppl at the airport and other tourist areas, I was surprised to learn that most Japanese ppl are so kept to themselves that I also thought they were generally cold hearted. I even worry that no one would help me if I had trouble. I was kind of disappointed that some didn’t seem too welcoming of tourists and label anyone who does not speak Japanese and Asian looking as Chinese. I am Chinese American and I hear a few people whispering the word “Chinese” behind me a few instances when I was trying to figure out how to use the ticket machine at train stations. I got stared down at a cosmetic counter at a dept store. I am not saying every Japanese person behaved like this, but I didn’t have the best luck in some places. I was polite and quiet. I gave up my seat to an elderly on a train and wondered why no one did on the train…they just stared at me when I made that gesture. I hope Japan can show more societal issues in the media so they can be more aware of systemic problems.
@@Lovely-Love19 racism is always quiet and subtle. Frankly I don't give a damn. The older you get the less you care about what other feel about you. The problem is when you see other people being victimized and no one is doing anything.
I believe, like most Asian cultures, that the Japanese are ruled more by fear than by good feelings like appreciation or feeling satisfaction for doing something nice for someone else.
man the love and hate relationship between japan and china is another story beyond the general racism. sad to see you got involved in this and tbh i think once they realize you are actually american, they might start to treat you nicer.
Nobita, I think your channel helps Japan and the world by talking about the problems. In that way, you are also pointing out the good things such as the people that are helping and trying to make beneficial changes. At least, that is what I notice from watching your videos. Thank you.
The time your grandma collapsed and people watching and doing nothing, it’s called the bystander effect. It’s pretty common even in western countries, but you will still have those who will help.
@@cleoraasaran9957 I think he wanted to demonstrate that the bystander effect is bigger in Japan than western countries. I think that may be a more valid argument to make.
There's been research done on the bystander effect and generally if there was obvious cause for alarm people would come to each other's aid consistently, though interestingly the larger the population density, the fewer people would stop to investigate if the situation was ambiguous or it seemed like someone else was already handling it. Nobita's situation would be very unusual given what we know of the bystander effect, though maybe Japan really is that incredibly conformist that even a clear emergency would not penetrate their collective awareness.
It's quite sad. About 10 years ago, I watched the Life drama which opened my eyes to Japan's bullying and suicide problem. Everyone just focuses on fitting in and going through the motions. No one seems to really share their opinions, so no one seems to have anything deep to say when asked in interviews. People don't feel they can share their problems or feelings cause they don't want to bother anyone. I'm sure some people who may be living there long term may feel like everyone is an NPC by how robotic people may seem. Japan is still a lovely country, but I hope one day, they can open up and rebel against the status quo, even if it's just to find more hope and reasons to live
One of the creepiest trends I've noticed is integration. The west does it, we can too! Mostly, however, it is due to lack of support and nowhere for the most vulnerable to go. So classrooms now have deaf children or children with autism of one kind or another. In the US there is at least a brief, talk of support, accommodations, etc. A basic understanding. Here, nothing. Japan has just put more targets for bullying into their classrooms. I cannot Express sufficiently my bottled rage. At best, these children are ignored. The students avoid them, completely ignore them. And, worse, the teachers do the same. I've actually had teachers give me the stink eye because I've stopped by the autistic kid in tears struggling with his dyslexia. Relax, work it out, little buddy, it's ok, I'll be back. He calms, he gets it. He can bloody participate. Damn this country to hell sometimes. That deaf girl is not at fault. She isn't trying to get attention. But she damn well needs it. Oh, the teacher refuses to wear the device that allows the girl to follow along in the lesson? Damn this country to hell sometimes. And then I see stuff in the news where Japan wants to host the Special Olympics. Wow. Just. Wow. On my way to work, I stopped, got off my bicycle to help an old lady in a wheelchair up the hill to the hospital. What is the bus stop to a hospital doing at the bottom of a hill?! This being Japan, no one stole my bicycle or bothered my briefcase. But, Japan, come on. There is something seriously wrong with your country, your society, and your people. Which reminds me, fix the curbs in your city too. They aren't wheelchair friendly at all. Host the Special Olympics. Wow.
I saw that same drama a couple of years ago and I actually thought it was funny at first because it felt so exaggerated. It just seems so over the top, until I realized that in Japan it really wasn't that over the top.
@@brandonhaygood5286 right??? Putting needles in shoes, throwing out someone's books, pouring dirty mop water on their head in the washroom, writing on their desk and throwing it out the window....and getting away with it??? I didn't think it could be real too, but to find out it happens....I don't blame kids for feeling su!cid@l if they have to deal with that kind of torment on a daily basis alone. Not sure if you watched 13 Reasons Why, but there's an episode where a kid gets beat up, head in the toilet, and then a broomstick up his....months before or after that seasons came out, a catholic boys school in my city made headlines for bullying and such cause a video was being spread around and the same thing happened to the victim. That kind of thing has happened to other guys elsewhere as well :/ Just goes to show that directors aren't always trying to be over the top. Sometimes they do their research and incorporate reality into a show to help spread awareness.
I totally get that NPCs feeling! The Japanese also have a thing where they won't finish their sentences, but everyone gets them anyway, because they've 'guessed' the appropriate comment/reaction template. And I didn't, because being a foreigner I had no idea what that template comment should be. It drives me nuts in meetings since I'm the one supposed to write the minute, and I have no idea what conclusion they've settled on. Even in daily life, I see a whole group of girls, and dozens of girls following them reacting to the same, say, keyring with "So cute!" with the exact same voice and mannerism, with no follow up or unique take or discussion whatsoever as to why they like said keyring. It's pretty unnerving, really.
Yeah, I lived in Korea for three and a half years, and I remember there being social etiquette about giving seats to elders and other small bits of common courtesy.
I remember reading in "The Saber and the Crysantemum" a anthropological essay about Japanese people,that once you think Japanese people are a certain way,they prove you wrong by being the opposite. Well,I Tokyo,I witnessed an incident tgat was in total opposition to the ideas expressed in that video. On one of the numerous pedestrian streets surrounding Kichi Yoji,an old lady had collapsed and surrounded by concerned people kneeling around her.A young woman had sat on the ground and had her arms around the old lady holding her back againsrnt her chest. A dozen or so people were around showing lots of empathy and concern.Even here in Canada where people would step immediately should someone collapse,you would never see someone holding that person the way that young woman did.Never forgot that scene.I think Japanese are mostly shy,and that is why they do not step in.
I was 8 months pregnant and carrying a luggage while holding my 6 years-old child, we took a city bus and it was crowded. No one offered a seat. I was like. Wow.
I had a cast on my leg, crutch under 1 armpit with luggage, I assumed all major Tokyo stations would have elevators/escalators (my mistake). Anyway as I limped up the huge staircase hauling the suitcase. Not one person offered to help and it was not during work rush hours either :(
With the risk of sounding like a presumptuous foreigner, I hope Japan can change in this regard. If you can be friendly and helpful to a foreigner without much personal sacrifice, surely such charity can be extended to your fellow Japanese as well.
Use your powers for good, dude. But the victims won't thank you - they are likely to hate you for reminding them that they are a victim. They're actively trying to forget.
@@thegamethemovie9605 uh what? If im collapsed on the street the last thing i care about is being a “victim”, i just need help. If someone comes through for me, there’s gratitude there
@@soursewer3279 You and me both. It's amazing how lawsuits can get in the way. Amazing how, once some people find that they are alive discover they are in a position to sue. Companies settling out of court for millions didn't come out of nowhere, but because going to court could lead to worse. Frankly, I read warning labels and wonder what idiot, somewhere, actually fell afoul of the product. I'm old enough to remember the lawsuit that now leads every company in the world to now say, "Hey, this hot coffee is hot, and you might just burn yourself because it's hot, so be careful when tou drink it because it's hot. That means you could burn yourself. Because it's hot. Hot coffee. Hot." If religion fails and governments fail and corporations fail, what are we supposed to do now? Oh, right, we're actually the ones failing, but blame is easier.
@@thegamethemovie9605 In America there are "Good Samaritan" laws that legally protect those who offer aid and assistance to people in need (such as a person falling unconscious on the street or is trapped in a burning car). In fact, not rendering aid to someone in a life or death situation and walking away can result in much worse things compared to just being sued. You run the risk of being labeled a complete and utter selfish jerk. That could end you career and get you fired as no decent person will want to be around you.
If that happens here in the Philippines, an emergency like accidents or someone collapse, expect a crowd gathering and one will call an Ambulance or Hospital
@@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259 Usually when it is personal home problems Filipinos don't want to meddle unless they want to make rumors or they actually care. If they cared enough they usually just tell you to pray it out which does not always help. For obvious distress or accidents in public people are more willing to help due to thankfully kapabayan values in our culture. The psychosocial problems I think the Philippines needs to fix is addressing mental health and abuse.
Lol! In my country you get in accident we rob you first then we call the ambulance and then the ambulance gets robbed... lol...i shouldnt laugh but thats all i can do as this is so ridiculous yet true...
Im grateful how safe Japan is. Coming from someone from the states. I've probably never felt more comfortable and more relaxed in another country such as Japan.
@@user-qm7jw Actually, El Salvador has the highest murder rate in the world, and even if we're talking about raw numbers, without considering the total population (per 100k people rate), just the total number of homicides, Brazil ranks second, with Nigeria being first.
@Space Ray Engine That's true, Brazil is a very shitty country, crime is rampant, and the economy is only above South Africa (and I guess Russia right now) out of the BRICS countries, still, saying it has the highest murder rate in the world is just an outright lie.
I love your channel and am thankful that you've allowed me to take off the "rose colored glasses" I had on when it came to looking at Japanese society. When I started planning my trip to Japan (at the onset of covid), I began studying culture and etiquette so that I could navigate my trip more smoothly. I became enamored with all of the things I was learning about the Japanese. It seemed as if it was a yutopia compared to other countries as well as my own. But you have shown a realistic version of Japanese society that has issues just like any other country faces. My respect for Japan has not diminished but has made it seem just as human as the rest of us. I am grateful to you and your honest perspective.
Japan like u mentioned has done the most important and difficult things like infrastructure and health care extremely well. It's just so frustrating when something thats much easier to change (and free) is so hard to change. (Let's be happy together)
While I do follow a couple of other people that make videos a bit like yours, You are the only person from Japan that I follow that really does compare and contrast the outside world's view, with your own experience growing up in Japan. That is why I really enjoy your videos dude. Keep it up please, and thanks :)
I lived in Japan for two years and have FOUR stories that immediately come to mind! 1. I went to a supermarket with another English teacher who had really good Japanese skills. We sat down in a cafe area and he saw one of his junior high female students and her friend. We said hello. A little later this creepy old guy in a weird outfit started talking to the girls. He then pulled out a folder with photos of 13 year old girls in schoolgirl outfits and started saying weird stuff to her. She was getting visibly scared. My friend basically bitched out the dude for a solid 10 minutes while he was trying to argue back. I turned around and saw the ENTIRE supermarket staring at us and not saying a word. The older female security guard was crying. The guy left and I think he was some neighborhood predator. 2. I biked home from a bar late at night. There was a guy across the street from me and we were waiting for a red light to turn green (there were no cars, it was like a game of polite chicken). The dude just fell off of his bike because he was so drunk I think. He immediately got up and apologized to me from across the street. 3. This middle aged guy had a random seizure in front of our apartment complex. I helped him. The cops detained him for a bit and the guy left a gift basket some time later. It was a little weird because the cops wanted to question him before giving him help. 4. I was about to take the last train home (I lived in a rural-ish area) and saw this old lady in the waiting area. I asked her if she was going to go on the train and she nodded sure. I go in my compartment and she sits next to me. After a couple stops I asked her where she was leaving off. She asked me what my stop was. I was like oh shit. She took off her gloves and her hands were rough. I leave my stop and she stumbles after. I tell the train guy who works there about her and laughs and says she's just some drunk. She stumbles to the side and falls in the background. I have a lot more, but I have to stop now haha.
ha ha Yes, night-time experiences can be very different to day-time experiences. . For sample: - pass over the crossroads by red light with car (intentionally) - tossing the garbage-bag out of the car on street / emptying the ashtray and so on . . .
My first week in Osaka ~ was pedaling my bike towards a junction and an old lady was doing the same from the opposite direction. She didn't slow down and almost hit me. Instead of saying gomenasai, I said arigatou. And then she laughed so hard she forgot she almost killed me. It took me a while to understand what happened. LOL
@@anhtho7042 Mmn, right, but we are focusing on some of the less-than-positive aspects in this comment section. Bringing attention to these might help with resolving them.
I do appreciate the "bad" side of things when it comes to Japan. The thing is, it goes both ways no matter how you look at it. I can say the same thing for America, They have the own social issues and ALWAYS constantly talking bout the negative stuff to the point you are numb to it. The politicians suppose to help with the issues, but all they do is want more power and money. NEVER resolve anything. What it comes down to it is what you rather prefer and what suits your life style. No country is perfect.
And you've basically identified one of the main reasons I left the US recently/again/(at my age) for the last time. As much grief that I have had here, what do I want to live with. Stateside, I stopped watching the news, but other people haven't and kept bothering me with it. Republican? Democrat? I'm a teacher, dude, whose the government idiot that's mandated the current round of witch hunts? Japan has some serious problems that everyone ignores, everyone lives with. Sure, that entitled moron is allowed to lean on you, but as a foreigner I have an out. It's not lost on me that I can enjoy certain benefits in Japan that no Japanese person ever could. Plus the ones they can. Simple, national health care. Mandated maximum hours. Little chance of theft. Bonus: in the era of coronavirus, foreigners are given an extra wide berth. Peace and quiet. Only a few caveats: The banks are still in the stone age (You don't give out MC/Visa debt cards to account holders?), they paperwork everything to death (I'm moving to the next town for work, and I have to check out of the city hall here, and check into the city hall there?), and the locals are really at a loss for what to do with themselves, let alone a foreigner (It's ok, I can keep myself busy. Really.) What do we want to live with? That is the question.
@@thegamethemovie9605 Yeah, Japan looks like a great place to live. Everybody there is as cold as ice, the police have a 99% conviction rate and if you drop unconscious from a heart attack in Tokyo Station you'll be dead by the time they get you to a hospital. You'll be dead because nobody will lift a finger to help. And after 10 or 15 minutes when somebody does come, it will take another 10 minutes for the paramedics to arrive. But paramedics in Japan aren't allowed to even start an IV line much less do any of the other advanced life saving procedures that every paramedic can do here in America. So by the time you reach an emergency room in Tokyo after 30 or 40 minutes, you will be deader than a door nail. Compare that to what happened to the old man that had a heart attack in the barbershop I wrote about. Within minutes the paramedics from the LA Fire Department arrived and started treatment immediately. Within 15 minutes the guy was at UCLA Medical Center getting the same treatment that Bill Gates or the President of the USA would receive. Sorry, but Japan in many ways is a pathetic country without an ounce of compassion for those who don't conform or who don't toe the line.
It's called "virtue signalling" and being an activist. They wanna prove they're a leader and hero by inspiring others through collective hivemind. In JP everyone expects you to tough it out and survive on your own.
Hello Nobita-san! Great video as always! I like seeing you on the videos, gives a more interesting vibe compared to voice over videos featuring other people in public places. 🥳 I learned from my Japanese students that in Japan, when foreigners commit mistakes, it’s just okay no big deal because they are outsiders but when another Japanese commit mistakes, it is unforgivable.
This is from my experience. Some time ago, I had a low blood pressure, blurry vision, hard to breath, and almost fainted in train station. No one asked me if I was alright although there were many people there. It made me realy surprised and thought a lot after that.
My personal experience in dealing with the Japanese: most Japanese people that I have come across are very courteous, very polite. But that's just what they are outwardly, it's not necessarily what they really think inside them. They could be cursing you in their heart, but they would still be very polite towards you. Consequently, it's extremely difficult to become close friend with Japanese if you are a foreigner. I don't know whether other foreigners feel the same way but that's my experience.
@@ChadDidNothingWrong really?!?? I’m Japanese and currently studying here in the u.s., and I made lots of friends who are from China. I think they are really really nice…
@@鋸筋イ Of course they are. There is a very old tendency to treat Asians and especially Chinese not as individuals (which they are as anyone else, of course) because they "all look the same". No. They don't. And arguably since some degree of pretending/ sticking to preset, unbending societal rules unlike in individualistic Western societies leads to this misconception. I'm European myself. I don't think it's necessarily racism (the term has been used much too often in my view, I'm definitely NOT a friend of all the CRT crap and what goes with all the collectivistic stuff as I am an individual as well!). It's what many people tend to think when meeting others with a completely different upbringing than their own. You get lumped in with pre-existing conceptions until you get to know the person in front of you. It's the same everywhere...
Yeah it is a strange phenomenon in Japan. I was once on a train and a college student fainted in front of me. Luckily I had noticed and managed to catch him before he hit the ground. Despite my limited Japanese, I was literally the only one who helped him, whilst everyone else on the train completely ignored the situation. Was a terribly cringy moment for me. When I left Japan all the friends I had made never bothered to contact me. Relationships are very fleeting over there. Here today, gone tomorrow basically
I think that the friends contacting just depends on the friends you make. In America, it is common to have a "friend', never contact you. No matter what though, if you make a really good friend, Im sure they will contact you.
Also, my husband and I were lost in the Tokyo train station for about an hour. We asked a women where the line was we were looking for. She told us she was actually going the exact same way we were going back to our airbnb and we could just follow here to get to the right place. I was super relieved bc I was over the frustration of looking.
Hands down agreeing every single point you mentioned. I, as foreigner living in Japan, have the same feeling and experience. There are many social issues live within Japan, however there are still great things such as you mentioned the cleanliness or punctuality and professionalism/ craftsmanship. It depends on the individual of what they valued the most. If a person believed or is passionate about human interaction and hospitality, then Japan might not be the country they like.
As always excellent content. Your honest open willingness to cover difficult subjects is very needed in this world. You do it in a very respectful non-judge mental kind of way every single time. My son lived in Japan and I was there many times. I did not witness this in person only kindness from people, but my son was hit by a car on his bicycle and the person that hit him didn’t even stop to help. Some bystanders did get her license plate and stayed nearby until the police came. He was not seriously injured, and I think he felt like there were people there that would have helped him if he had been.
In the subway a young woman fell down and looked like she was having an epileptic fit. People ignored her completely, I couldn’t help then because I had no language at that time. I was shocked.
Thank you for making this important video. Especially the message at the end is very important. Yes, no one else but we ourselves as a society can work on these problems. Thanks for creating awareness 🌹🌹🌹
I have seen the same thing in multiple cities in China and Hong Kong. People just walk by and ignore anyone lying on the ground. However, there are thousands of scammers on the streets in these countries pretending to be sick or to have fallen, especially in front of your car. So they learn to ignore anyone doing anything similar because of the potential for economic problems arising from trying to help and then being held responsible for something.
This is a good explanation, Nobita. Thank you - the editing alone must have taken a lot of time. I've lived a long time in Japan, in about 6 different locations. What I see is nothing that contradicts what you've said here, simply adds a view from another angle. ① the government does help those with low incomes - the tax rates drop lower than in the US after certain income levels, the cost of health insurance drops as well, they do help those who are struggling (and tax rates for "fat cats" are much higher than in the US), but the gov't does not assume responsibility, responsibility stays with the person themselves. ② the comparative generousity overseas in many cases comes from having more money coming in to start with. Companies may mark up the margins for their prices by 30%, instead of the more common 10% in Japan. Wages overseas have risen, salaries have risen dramatically, yet in Japan, looking at the % of the population at each income level, people apparently are earning $10,000 less per year than their parents did at the same age (not compared to the immediate post-war generation, but compared to the bubble years.) Dispatch work and gig work is dragging income levels down, and because they are moving down the scale there is none of the feeling of gratitude for having worked up from something worse off that often happens elsewhere. ③ If charity is a way of giving thanks for being more fortunate than others, then it may be that no one wants to admit that they are more fortunate than others, and if they are, it is totally, totally not their own doing. So they have no responsibility to help others. Companies don't make shoddy overpriced products that then prompt them to donate to charity - Japanese companies make the best products they can and sell them at best-for-consumers prices and that fulfills their Corporate Social Responsibility. People donate hours of their lives to the companies' efforts, they don't feel a need to donate to the odd individual on the street. In the US, people will refuse to donate to a cause saying "I gave at the office", and in Japan that is literally true.
All excellent points, and definitely on the plus side for Japan. I know little about the Japanese government, but definitely in one aspect it is superior to the US: In the US, the president can declare a fire drill and hire and fire, and basically cause a mess. The Japanese government seems to function more on necessity, no matter who is in charge. Overall seems far more stable and sane. I trust those Japanese politicians waving on the street corners more than any US president. Because while they might possibly be just as corrupt, hidebound and useless, at least they don't seem to have the same ridiculous amount of power to do harm at home or abroad.
(3:24) I know Japan is behind when it comes to volunteer work; however, the reason is probably the workaholic culture. Long work hours do not leave much time to volunteer. If they have a family or parents they need to take care of, they will have only a small amount of time to themselves.
Yeah, my wife is one of those lucky few who works for a foreign affiliated company that has volunteer leave. I ask why she never uses it and her reply was because no one else uses it and it would be difficult to convince her boss when she wants to use it. I've been trying to tell my company to implement volunteer work to promote wellbeing amongst employees and attract young talent, but I understand why they keep rejecting this. It's because no one will use it and it is only a PR stunt. Sad because a lot of volunteer offices are open only during weekdays.
Great video Nobita. It's always great to have an insider's perspective. I wonder how "Don't cause trouble for others" changed its meaning and intention into "Don't help or concern yourself with others when they're in trouble"
Shopkeeper... He is responsible for the shop and anything that happens in there.. If you were to die in the shop, imagine how his employer will react.. In a society that place so much on self-image, that would be the last thing the employer wants. Not saying he is not extending help out of his own will, but it is difficult to assume.
@@moggless The probability of helping out due to job responsibility is far greater than out of personal compassion. If you cant comprehend a simple logic like that, then be on your way.
One of our japanese exchange students mentioned how she thought it's really nice that we hold open doors for other people before leaving a store. Which I found surreal. But when I went for my own exchange year in Japan I realized that they indeed don't do that. Why would simply let the door slam right into someone's face when you can clearly see he is right behind you?
Yes. I've held doors open for others but it almost never has been done to me. Even for elevators they don't reopen the doors if they see someone trying to make it in.
My wife and kids had been living in Japan the past 7 years, and we recently are living in U.S the past 6 months. They feel so much more free and happy and cheerful than before.
A lot of Japanese I know would love to live abroad, if they could. Sometimes I think English education in Japan is purposefully being sabotaged because if they can't speak English, they can't easily leave.
Yeah you are "free" just so long as you go along with the mainstream narrative (as determined by the media), otherwise you'll find yourself on a bunch of lists with your constitutional rights suppressed or worse.
@@burentori9620 I think every country has its crazy zealots. There's nothing wrong with being proud of being from this or that country, ethnicity, race, profession, orientation, whatever. What people have to understand is that leaders need to be more mentally balanced. Otherwise they're just an embarrassment.
Thank you, this video was very good, it made me think. Yes, helping others and going out of the way to notice others is important, and better than just keeping every thing harmonious.
I was at some station in Tokyo when I saw this old man just fall over backwards. I ran over to help him up, and there was another girl as well, and a station staff later came over, but throughout the entire experience I was shocked that it was just us 3 that came over when there was quite a decent crowd milling about. Echoing what everyone else said here about the bystander effect, it does seem more pronounced in Japan than one would expect
I was stationed in Okinawa three times when I was in the Marines. On the weekends we would go to Kadena, AFB, and go out gate two to the shops and restaurants. All three times (6 months, two years apart each " there was the same disabled local man by the gate begging. I always wondered why there? After the charitable giving difference between the US and Japan you just showed, now it makes sense, he was probably getting much more from US servicemen, than other Japanese.
True. But the US military in Japan is a whole other topic. I grew up on a military base in Japan and definitely learned about it. Recently was the stink about the US military bringing in coronavirus because there's no testing, but I know firsthand of far worse things that military personnel and dependents got away with. Do something wrong off base? Quick, get back on base. US soil, baby. Consequences, sure, but not nearly as bad. I learned very quickly to be ashamed of being a dependent and associated with the US military. Very difficult for a child raised to love his country and the men and women who defend it. But I saw the drunken behavior. I saw locals being made fun of, robbed, beaten. I saw the rape. Hell, a couple of my classmates went off base, strung a line across a road and ended up killing a local. Teenagers did this. But, all that happened to them was deportation. Dude, it's the same shame in my heart when I go to Hiroshima. There are great service members, but the bad ones bring the rest down. The US has abused the relationship and taken advantage of how Japanese society works. As I say, bringing up the US military is another topic. Gird yourself for the firestorm.
It's not just japan, its every busy capital city where they don't acknowledge your existence had my experience like that in London. Here's my suggestion -If you want to be ignored go to Tokyo where everyone is busy, rushing to work, have no time for anything. -If you want to be welcomed and constantly have random strangers talking to you go to Osaka, Nagano or Okinawa. I'd recommend mostly Osaka they are known as the "Americans of japan". To finish off, not having Japanese language can be a very big disadvantage and your experience could be different than those who do speak Japanese.
Honestly, the bystander effect is just dangerous, I get it that not everyone wants to make another person's problem their own but sometimes, you just gotta be the bigger person and lend your kind presence for it goes a long ways; good karma comes to those who contribute good deeds.
In TRUTH: This bystander effect is where true evil lies. One person does nothing on their own. When thousands of people follow suit blindly, not willing to USE THEIR BRAINS to think independently, and instead they follow the great leader for fear of being killed socially, is when evil acts happen. They may not have a clear idea of what to do, so they follow the crowd so as to not be ostracized. And don't use their thinking mind. This social contagion is where evil lives and thrives. I swear most people think being good is doing the "right" thing and following others. They forget that most great deeds are done by people who, at first, broke free from the pack and did their own thing, to the annoyance of their society, and their own safety. MLK, Ghandi, etc. Now, their acts are what we all live by. At the time, those people were hated, feared for speaking out, jailed, killed.
My psychology professor talked about this recently, I think its called the bystander effect, there is probably some correlation with how Japanese people have been raised but I think these kinds of situations are common largely populated cities all over the world
Something is gravely wrong with your society when "helping a stranger in need" is seed as "giving trouble to others" or "causing a scene". It really is the culture of a people who have been subjugated and rendered submissive by a tyrannical/authoritarian government for centuries (tokugawa). "harmony" is more important than "truth", "order" is more important than "kindness". foreigners mistake this as "respect" or "politeness". it's just fear. that's all it is. japan is the original cancel culture.
"Fear is Freedom, Subjugation is Liberation, Contradiction is Truth! Those are the facts of this world, and you will all surrender to them! YOU PIGS IN HUMAN CLOTHING!"
What nonsense, this attitude isn't the result of Tokugawa government, but of unopposed post-WW2 liberalism. And Japan is certainly not the original "cancel culture", what a ridiculous assertion.
I don't think this problem is unique to Japan though. Large metropolitan cities tend to be very dehumanizing, people are so caught up in the rat-race, earning money, and making ends meet that few, if any, have time to create strong social bonds with others. Also, that bit about the deer in the snow almost made me spill my drink. 😂
NIce video Nobita. I have been living in Japan since 2008 and working mainly in Osaka. I feel like the people are so warm and kind here. I am sad to hear the story about your grandmother. I am sure as a child that must have been scary. Homelessness is a different issue in western countries. I also know that the religious social idea of helping those in need is a a big social expectation in the west. I have worked around the homeless center of Osaka for many years. Out side of this area it is so rare to see. I am often approached because maybe they think Western people are more likely to help with money. I really hate the "Let's suffer together" idea or "I suffered before so you must suffer too" ideas. I have had so many conversations with work where I asked "Why do we do it that way and can we change it?" and they answer 'Because that is how we did it before and no it can't be changed'
@@Greenforrest7342 To me Western Countries are North America, and Western Europe and the UK. Many countries have a culture of helping people out side of that. I think homeless know I am From America so they ask.
This thing with people tending to not helping others could have another added aspect. This kind of behavior most likely happens where the weight of the State is bigger: people think "I don't have to help because the Government or someone will". Solidarity use to be stronger in places where public services are weaker (like poor or undeveloped countries), because the thought is "if it's not me it will be noone helping". Of course it's not the only reason, just one among others.
@@puccaland I wasn't talking about economics but about how efficient the public services are (or how the citizens percieve it). If you live in Zambia or Mongolia maybe you won't expect any public help, so it's you or noone; if you live in a super developed country you can expect someone (paid to do it) will take care of it. Sorry, I thought the meaning of my comment was obvious by the context, didn't think about people like you. My bad.
Sorry, I'm not agree. I'm from Spain, a country with strong public services like one of the best health cares in the world. However, we are a very soludarity people, and I can say it bc, with my dishability, I can fall to the floor easily. I was in Madrid, in Zaragoza and in other less populated cities here, and I always received help from the common people.
@@Mandelrot I perfectly understood what you meant. Now I wonder if you know what you're talking about? What do you mean by "people like you" ? So I repeat, in most wealthy countries, most of them being in Europe, the State = public service is way bigger than in Japan and yet people help each other. The people who pay for public services aren't "someone else" but all the citizens through their taxes and the wealth they create thanks to their hard work. That's called wealth redistribution for you. Zambia and the countries you talked about aren't wealthy countries and yet since you bring up the subject, although the State doesn't help much in some developing countries it may help more than in Japan (universal Healthcare, free education, state pensions etc...) and would the state help or not, in those countries helping strangers is way more prevalent than in Japan anyway. Or how there is no correlation between a strong public service and helping or not strangers whatsoever. It's a matter of mindset and education like perfectly explained in Nobita's video. The Japanese society is a harsh society for the Japanese in which the people are constantly asked to do gaman (to put up with things, the notion of sacrifice). Us foreigners will get some slack because we aren't considered to be part of the system but the society is ruthless towards the Japanese.
@@puccaland yes but also foreingers are refused service or privilege including apartment leases just for being 'not japanese'. You can speak in JP but it won't matter. but yeah the society is the most ruthless toward the JP. They have what I deem a culture of being fake happy and fake polite. Its the perfect utopia dystopia of willful sacrifice, except they overdo it and wastefully.
I was once in the tube in Tokyo going to the airport, I was clearly struggling with my luggages as lots of tube accesses were closed (there was a festival that day) so the open one was completely crowded. It was hard to go downstairs with a lot of people going upstairs and not caring about pushing me (because of crowd movements probably) against the wall of preventing me going downstairs. No one at all helped me (even people also going downstairs) helped me. In Paris, for sure, several people would have helped and like stopped others to go up the time I'm going down. And Parisian people are rude! (I know because I'm one XD) so it really depends on the mind and mentality - you can be rude and helping but polite and not help!
This is why Japanese women get embarrassed when (western) men hold the door for them or demonstrate other courteaus respect to them. Because in Japan that means they forced him to notice them, and that is considered to be rude manners
@@kenshiro7960 I've heard from men that sometimes they open the door and the chick responds rudely saying I can open it myself, who do you think I am? It's sad.
@@ashharkausar413 It's not sad, lol. That's just a straight up very strange thing to do to random women you don't know, i can see why people would find it disrespectful, it's just awkward and annoying
Well, in a small Japanese city about 15 years ago, I was walking home and saw a middle-aged man lying on the sidewalk of a not-so-busy street. It was fall, not warm, and it was raining a bit. At the time, I didn't have a phone, and I bent down to wake the man up--maybe he was just drunk. I couldn't get any response. Meanwhile, a few people were passing by. I finally stopped one of them to ask them to call an ambulance. The man I asked seemed a bit put out, but maybe because I was a foreigner, he didn't want to leave a bit impression. He called for help, and I waited until the ambulance came and picked him up. Don't know what ever happened to him, but I was a bit surprised that a gaijin seemed to care more about a stricken Japanese man than anyone else
I was driving down a freeway in Los Angeles years ago (I think it was the Santa Monica 10), when the traffic came to a grinding halt. There was a stray dog walking around the lanes of freeway--a few people even got out of their cars to try and corral the dog! I'm sure that 20 or 30 people were dialing 911 to alert the authorities. And this was for a DOG! I once saw a women walking in the traffic lanes of the same freeway (west bound lanes at the Overland exit). She was obviously not mentally well. I didn't have a cell phone back then so I got off the freeway and called 911 from a nearby gas station. The 911 operator said they had already received many calls and asked me for specifics so she could update the data on her computer.
I feel I should add that there were many occasions when Japanese strangers helped me out of the blue--asking if I was lost, and once, even driving me to the place I was looking for. My overall impression of living in Japan is extremely positive, but still, little events like the collapsed man, or the time I saw a mother and her small child stuck, caught in a closing train door in Tokyo station, and I was the only one to come to her aid, remain in my memory.
@@jfziemba I think the point of the video is that the Japanese have no problem helping foreigners, as the guy in the vid said, but it's a different story if you're Japanese.
@@jfziemba but, i think the reason is because you’re a foreigner.. if you were an adult japanese.. lets say unattractive.. no one would help.. lets be really honest. but if you were hot cute.. 100% will be helped
Thank you for another great video where you even made reference to the actual happenings in Ukraine. This video emphasizes how important it is to report on social issues in Japan to raise awareness. I hope you will soon make progress in creating a new media to bring this information to Japanese people also. I sense the start of something great (in addition to this channel). All the best from Germany
It's not that Japanese are cold hearted. When I lived in Fukushima, a country-side, people treated me so, so warmly. I've lived in five different countries in three continents, and I think the Japanese people in rural areas are the warmest people on earth. Maybe not the ones in the big cities (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, etc.) though.
Osaka people are cool though. I saw a video with an old man who worked in an udon shop and not only did he give the guy udon before he even opened, but also talked with him and gave him extra green onions. The old man even laughed and smiled at the cameraman recording the shop cooking and stuff.
Did you listened to his video ? He said that Japanese between themselves don't help each other as much as they should and that as a gaijin you will get more help. You clearly look like a gaijin hence why they treated you warmly.
@@AdachiCabbage I mean that’s nice and all but that doesn’t really mean that they are cool. That’s literally the equivalent to a McDonald’s employee giving a guy a free hamburger with extra pickles, which is nice but I can’t just say everyone in that town is cool just because of one persons act of kindness.
@@karmanivek1 Totally. As a foreigner in Japan, even a foreigner that has lived in Japan a long time, I still get preferential treatment. It actually seems to make Japanese people angry, especially when they find out how long I've been here. Especially when they find out how fluent I am in Japanese. It's kind of a cruel game for me now. I recently was assigned to a new post. The local "carrier" was entirely full of himself and happily bossing everybody around, and would sit right next to me and say all kinds of nasty things ("Don't you dare schedule time with him." and "It's fine to make up what you want about him." being the most tame.) Then, one day lunch go delivered by a restauranteur that I knew. Had to have a conversation then in full view of the office. The colleagues that had gamely played along with the guy were shocked, amazed. The guy was horrified. The supervisor had a talk with the guy practically as soon as lunch ended. And, you know, the office environment has become a whole hell of a lot better. There is banter. Genuine laughter. And people who have started to enjoy the work. The dude himself is walking small. Expatriates living here are twisted by the local cruelty too, myself included. But the only real heroes in Japan dark ones.
thank you always for your honesty. As someone who has lived here now for some time I can say my opinion on Japan and Japanese culture has changed quite a bit from the times I came as a tourist and a lot of what you talk about in this video are things I see a lot of in Japan sadly. I still love it here and no place is perfect but Japan is far from the ideal a lot of outsiders/tourists paint it out to be.
I'm japanese. I don't see or experience nice japanese people. I have zero japanese friends here. All my friends are foreigners from other countries. It happened this way. Japanese people are very inpatient people and tempered. So many single mothers and the elderly are just scraping by to die.
Even though I am an outer gaijin person, I am an inner one of you due to a slightly different take on the Code of Bushido because the type of social harmony that is best achieved is the one that is forged in the fires of our will.
I used to work in Waikiki, Honolulu and saw a young lady on the sidewalk get punched, knocked to the pavement, then lay kicked. I immediately called 911 and as I was speaking to the operator noticed that no one tried to help her or calling for 911. Everyone else just walked by. Amazing level of coldness in Hawaii too. Sad.
I would rather put it more simplistically and without hypocrisy like this: because, by and large, people don't wanna get involved in problems whose solution wouldn't fulfill their needs. Their daily life is hard enough, full of errands and tasks. And taking care of others is possible if you're in a very high energetic and positive state (high dopamine) and you're empathic. If you are drained of every single drop of vital energy, you have no interest no power to rescue other people. It's a brutal portrait, but i believe it to be a reliable approximation to the actual social behavior.
Yes, I feel people are not well informed and disengaged about world events and society. Loved the piece about the deer. Happens here in the U.S. too on local news, if that is all you watch you won't have any idea what's happening.
@JH. You’re so right on! Read extensively including news from foreign sources. Your own country may keep you in the dark or even mislead you with misinformation.
My good friend's husband died of a heart attack in Japan. (I live in Japan) The neighbors all knew her and him. He was Japanese and she was Mexican (She passed recently..). She cried out for help from them while the ambulance was stuck on their way to their home. None of the neighbors helped her get him to the hospital, She lived home alone with her husband.. and her husband died as the neighbors just stood by their windows to watch.
It's not only an issue in Japan. In Paris, France, a few month ago, René Robert, a famous photographer collapsed on the street due to a seizure. He froze to death after having passed 9 hours on the ground without anyone noticing it. This made the news because the guy was famous. But how many similar stories involving strangers are we not aware of? At least in Japan, it seems people are not getting stabbed, beaten to death for a cigarette, or violently robbed in the street like it's happening on a daily basis here...
In that young man's situation about his grandma, That's just the bystander effect and it's a big thing for big cities across the world but it's way more common in reserved countries like Japan. It takes effort for them to open up to things, express or simply be put on the spotlight as opposed to western people, they're super nice but at the same time a bit too indifferent to how bad a situation can get because they just follow the common flow of urban society. They're really good honest working people but I can't help but think that a good amount of people are afraid to give a bad image to society, they don't want to be criticized. "Someone will likely help them, there's a lot of people", "help will come", "if no one is helping then it's easy to think that it's not needed or acceptable" "I could help but it's not really my business", "Someone else might provide a better response", "I don't want to be on the spotlight and make things worse", "more people, less responsibility, not a desperate call, today is not my duty" There are just common thought examples, people have when faced to these situations. Not everyone thinks or feels the same though. It's the same with local shootings, crimes, screams for help. There's many cases where citizens never call authorities or medical help because there's a chain of thought with the same notion of "that person needs help, but i'm pretty sure someone within the region already called and I don't want to stack the same emergency calls so it's not my duty" where in reality no one actually calls or gets help because they naturally assumed that someone already had. Responsibility is somewhat shared among society and when there's witnesses, that responsibility crashes down for each individual. Some examples are road accident cases in big cities in China or India where people are literally left for dead and ignored in the middle of busy streets until a half an hour passes and paramedics finally come.
Thanks for pointing all these out, there was a spin-off game from a franchise in japan call Ryu Ga Gotoku (more commonly know as the Yakuza games in the west) and it has a spin-off that goes at length with that subject matter in it's story and side content, the spin-offs are the Judge games duology and the second one, Lost Judge, really needs to be recognized a lot more for tackling such a heavy matter for both japan's people and for the rest of the world without being condescending or boring.... And just for the sake of doubling down... 'cause I can't help it >~>' Anyone who knows good they are would say the same but for me, just the gameplay alone and passion that oozes from these makes them worthwhile. Anyway thanks for reading.
China is a special case because if my memory serves me correctly you are legally responsible for a person if you help them out and that has backfired many times. Pretty brutal I’ve seen videos with toddlers getting run over multiple times and people just passing by like nothing happens. I like to think THAT doesn’t happen in Japan..
there is a culture of 'not embarassing' the people on the ground by helping them when they're taught since young age not to trouble other people, to receive help is embarrassing and to give help is humiliating to the victim, while bystander effect is happening, for it to happen to this extreme isn't simply just bystander effect, its cultural and a social norm.
@@drakke125Channel I mean in that case how about when it happens daily in countries like in France or in the U.S, don't get me wrong it's not as similarly "frowned upon" as you've pointed out to when it comes to giving help to homeless people and such, yet helping out another civilian in need isn't a norm either... especially when in more popular places like Paris or Los Angeles. Though if I had to be honest, while I dislike myself the peer pressure present in Japan, out of the places that have been mentioned I don't really know which one would be the worst for someone to live in the streets but it seems it's the least potentially degrading.... excluding Kabukicho... maybe. Feel free to disagree but from what I've seen. Be it Japan or any other rich and popular country, the whole aspect of the bystander effect might be just one element but it's still something that heavily weighs down everyone, despite how self aware we are about it.
Great video as always Nobita, I always learn a lot from these. Health and safety are two things Japan is good at, but those are just basic human needs. In the end we want happiness and that's not something Japanese society is good at sustaining at all. Knowing that other countries are suffering doesn't do that either. Psychological needs or Self-fulfillment are not easily fulfilled and sometimes even undermined by facets of Japanese culture as explained in the video. I truly hope positive change will come soon.
![Being a Virgin Woman in Japan [ENG CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/K72EuPfsbt0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Why Japanese Are Lonely [ENG CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SBRm18jIsVE/mqdefault.jpg)
Was once on a crowded subway in Tokyo and a man had what I think was a pretty big seizure next to me. I was the only one to make sure he was stable and not moving around for the seizure to pass. Every single other person was pretending like it wasn’t happening. Was a kinda surreal experience.
When me and my wife were in Japan quite a few Japanese stopped to help us with our journeys.
Kinda depends, I saw a guy that completely fainted in Japan, everyone helped. I wouldnt base it on one experience, besides, everywhere else in the world is the same anyways.
This happens pretty often in nyc, but usually the guy in question is obviously homeless so it's more an "oh, another one" response than total ignorance
@@emchou3 That was probably because you were in a city smaller than Tokyo. People tend to be indifferent in big cities all over the world. Urban life tends to be a rat race.
@@darrellkramer8097 It's scientifically proven that in the crowded city people tend to be more stressed, also it's very easy to get emotional fatigue which means you won't be able to be as considerate to others in a small group when you see so many different people every day. So yeah, I don't think it's just Japan, but it's big cities in general, it's just the geometry cultural factors of Japan that make it more extreme.
I see why animes and mangas, about friendship, love, kindness, and speaking out against any problem or taking a stand, is big in Japan.
Their sexual fetishes speaks to this issue as well. The stuff being portrayed in media is due to how much of their thought and expression, even down to sexuality, is suppressed to such a level that it rebounds.
The phrase "I will never give up" also showing up frequently in media, should now hit people differently, seeing how it pushes people to be strong-willed but alone.
@@drakke125Channel that too
Well I prefer Japan's anime and manga better than everyone's else. Their moral values are way better and encouraging.
And Don't forget about the plectra with being an Isekai genre.....
If taken in a literal sense,it's means living in a fantasy world is much better (and an escape from reality).
It's almost as if these authors are rebelling against such mindsets.
unpopular opinion but these 'positive' messages are nothing but fantasies in a world of social hell for the JP citizens.
I tend to talk very negatively like a jerk about this but I seriously think they have a culture of being 'fake happy' and 'fake polite'.
True story. I was at my local barbershop waiting my turn when I noticed an elderly man get up and tell the barber that he was leaving because he didn't feel well. Something told me that something looked wrong. So I got up and followed him 5 steps out the door. I found him leaning against the exterior wall with a fist held to his chest--his eyes were closed and he wasn't moving. I asked him if he was okay and he didn't do anything. I then asked if he had pain in his chest and he nodded very slightly.
I said, "Let's go inside and you better sit down." We went back in and the man didn't say or do anything except he didn't look well. I went to the payphone in the barbershop and called 911--I told them that someone may be having a heart attack. Seven minutes later the paramedics arrived and took the guy to UCLA Medical Center.
Months later I heard from the barber that the old man did have a heart attack and that he was okay. The guy was a widower and lived by himself. If he had gone home and collapsed, he probably would have died alone in his apartment. The old man told the barber to thank me next time he saw me (I was a regular customer).
Point of the story: I didn't do hardly anything, but because I took the time to help someone in distress, a major disaster was avoided. In America something like this happens all the time. You don't even notice Good Samaritans for it's just something that is drilled into you from an early age.
First of all I think your wonderful to help the old man. Yes we in America know this to help others but children in Japan grow up strict & this is why we see a disconnect. They did nothing wrong but never got the opportunity we did😞
@@AlwaysHope_ ,haha, Japanese children grow up strict and … disconnected ? You need to know cultural difference before judging parenting in other culture. You just really want to say America, my country is great ? My daughter got fist punch on her cheek when she was 6 yo. Other little one got fist punch at back head from different child. We live not US but big city in English speaking country. I never heard little children fist punch to other in Japan.
@@PeckPP No punch doesn't mean no violence. Japanese children can be very mean and push the victim to suicide by psychological bullying, know this.
@@PeckPP Are you serious? Never heard Japanese children punching each other? You have no clue how bad their bullying issue is then. It's group based and constant with seldom help from parents... cuz they're too busy or just don't want to trouble.. and "the kid needs to deal with herself/himself ".. sheesh
Wow, heartwarming story!
My Japanese mother wasn’t like this. My father’s favorite story of my mother was… “We we’re driving around Yokohama and on the side of the road there was a man abusing a woman. Your mother told me to stop the car. I knew she was going to confront the man. I asked her if she wants me to take care of it… she told me no. She has this… she got out (my mother was only 5 foot tall) of the car, went up to the abusive man, and started to beat the shit out of him. When she had him on the floor. She told the lady to leave and to get away. My mother took the man’s wallet. Got his identification and told him if he did it again she will come back and beat the shit out of him again. She was pretty awesome…”. My Japanese mother was… she was kind, but she would not take any shit. I miss her everyday, but her attitude in life is probably why she immigrated to the US. She was an odd one out in Japan… but for noble reasons.
thats amazing. she teach u japanese?
such a respectful mom she is！
great woman
The first step in solving a problem is realizing there is one. Admitting there is an issue means discussion can begin.
But most Japanese don't like any problems.
Not their own and for sure no additional ones from others.
So, the fastest "solution" is: Ignorance.
MAYBE THE EMPEROR HEAD OF STATE.
Good luck, they won't even admit they were villains in World War 2.
The problem with the Japanese people is in the "heart", it's not a physical issues; it's a spiritual and it's a lack thereof. I'm not talking about "finding oneself" or "spiritualism" or any other nonsense.
It's the same for every country around the world what the people are facing and it's lack of it's recognition; a lack of connection to God (Jesus Christ)! Until the Japanese people get pass those issues, they will remain indifference as a people and culture even toward their own kind, and they will continue to stagnate; both individually and as a country!
God (Jesus Christ) Bless! :)
@@ReStellar Yep, religion has its flaws, but (especially Christianity) makes people a lot more understanding, tolerant and empathetic toward others.
I saw a guy passed out on a cold evening on a Japanese sidewalk with people just walking around him doing nothing. I went to the nearest police box (koban) two minutes away and got the police to help the guy. I can definitely see what Nobita described happening.
if some would do that in finland country and not helping human being. If their life is danger and you ee it and do nothing! You are going to jail then for not helping human!
maybe just another drunk man?
Were you the one that came back for the guy on the street, and proved Oh Il-nam from Squid Game wrong?
Love how you keep it real no matter the setting or the subject Nobita. There’s so many misconceptions out there from many different perspectives of those from other countries and I’m glad you’re speaking about this.
The west have individual culture &the east more group culture and there are positives & negative to both. I witness a lot of selfish behaviour,many don't follow rules&crime is higher &yet in Australia we are known for going out of our way to help those in crisis. Japan is a more conformist country&I find it easier to travel as safer, however I am aware of high mental illness in Japan that is not addressed as there is a lot of stigma attached to issues.I think it is important wherever you live or visit to see a place for its good and bad.It is like a trade off in Japan, many things are ignored but there is s higher safety,in the west much higher crime, however we speak out more. In the countryside wherever you go people are warmer.There is no right or wrong but it's good to have awareness that every country has its unique qualities, thanks
@@bettyboop7426 There isn't much higher crime in the West. The West doesn't mean anything. America isn't the West. Moreover there is a lot of data doctoring in Japan to keep stats on crimes etc low. Japan isn't safer than in most Western countries.
Too many non Japanese go to Japan and because nothing never happens to them they believe that it's Japan. As a foreigner you are very unlikely to be the victim of crime and violence in Japan unless you're very reckless, or hang out with the wrong people in a bad environment. That's a whole different story for the Japanese people.
Also my wife just lived in the US the past 6 months, up until now she lived her whole life in Japan. She said she always thought Japanese were nice until she lived in US. Now she thinks Japan is so cold. In Japan, nobody ever gave up their seat for pregnant woman. Nobody ever offered to help. In Japan, people would give a death stare if your kids are too loud. Men might get angry if you ask them to put out their cigarette in front of kids.
In America, people allow her to jump to the front of the line if shes holding a baby. Or they let her go into the bathroom first. They are understanding and give a smile if the kids are having a angry moment.
Alot of little things like that.
The lack of chivalry culture seems to be a common reason why Japanese women are put off from Japanese men; can't even count how many videos I see where they talk about seeing Westerners hold doors open for women or pull seats out for them on dates and wish Japanese men were like that
In America it's called "Common courtesy". It's part of the DNA of our culture. However, there are lots of people today in America who are attacking this DNA and trying to take down everything that is traditional and good in our society.
I was at the supermarket the other day and an elderly man shopping in an electric cart was trying to get two small six packs of soda (or ginger ale) off the shelf and into the cart basket. He was struggling and it looked like he was about to drop them--I went over and helped him put the cans in the basket. I acted before I even had the chance to say anything--I then asked, "Do you need a hand?" The old man thanked me and that was it. Just a small act of helping someone out--one day that old man might be me.
Or helping a short person get something off the top shelf--it's a trivial thing to offer to get it for them, yet the world is a better place when people act with compassion and consideration towards each other.
Apparently small acts like this don't occur in Japan very often.
@@cottoncandykawaii2673 I seem to remember when General MacArthur opened doors for ordinary Japanese women and let them enter first in front of him, that caused a major stir in Japan. I thought by now the Japanese had caught up with the rest of the developed world, but apparently they have not.
I mean, people in America open doors not just for women--they open it for men or kids or old people. It's just being kind and polite. It's no big deal. You get no recognition or reward from doing things like this. I don't understand the Japanese. To an American like myself, it makes Japanese people look selfish and inconsiderate.
Yeah I was using crutches and got on a crowded train. Not one person stood up to give me a seat, not even the people I was standing right in front of me.
You must have been in some nice neighborhoods. Don’t go to the dangerous cities of America with that same thinking.
Honestly, I noticed this as well during my visits to Japan. My gf at the time lives in Japan and when we were out at Disneyland, I noticed that there was a child, no more than 7 years old, crying because it look like they lost their parents because it was so busy. I kept my eye on the child while browsing the store and noticed that no one was helping them. I asked my gf to try and talk to the kid since I didn't speak much Japanese. We eventually brought the kid to the staff and asked them to help find their parents since no one was doing anything. Another time, we were at a club and there was a couple creepy tourists hitting on this girl and, if you were blind, you would still be able to tell how uncomfortable she was feeling. Again, I had my gf at the time step in and pretend to keep her company and pretend to be her friend so that I could create a passive barrier.
Good job to your gf
@@iknowimgaywhenisaythisbut1369 but even with her, who studies abroad often and would probably be more accustom to western/european norms, it didnt even dawn on her to help until i asked her to. Of course she was not adamant about helping out, just never occurred to her to take action.
that's what a decent good human would do and you are one.
@@sophemy9391 It's difficult because as women violence against us is very real. It's always at the back of every woman's mind to not piss off a shady looking man in public for a very good reason. Especially when we are alone. Yes, she accepted only because you were there to help her in case things got nasty. Which could very much be so if you weren't there with her.
@@bmona7550 And honestly, this breaks my heart. This was one of the reasons why I could not be the initiator and asked my ex to help me instead. I experienced something like this once at a bar in Shibuya. The vibe of the night was chill and everyone was having fun and a guy was coming on to this girl pretty hard and she rejected him. I think he felt a bit jealous because me and her, along with other random people, were just talking and chilling. At once point in the night I am talking with some other people and I just hear her say that he hit her (in the bar, in a public place). After that he got in my face and tries to fight me. We all had a bit to drink by this point, but I was sober enough to know that fighting in a bar in Japan would probably be to my disadvantage since I am a foreigner, so after a lot of back and forth, I just managed to get someone who worked at the bar to kick him out. I knew these things happened behind closed doors, but seeing it happened in public made me sick. I mean how far will it have to go before a bystander breaks from the bystander effect? Would it not eat you alive knowing you could have done something but chose to stay in your own lane? I know it is a culture thing, but still, everyone has to have their own moral compass right? Would they not want someone to help them in their time of need?
When I came to Japan as a population researcher in 1977 we worked on a study at Koseisho that predicted the fall in the population of Japan in 2010 as a result of the declining birthrate. Needless to say, the report was put in a very deep drawer and my scholarship ended... there is very little room for different opinions in Japan. But there have been social movements; in the twenties there were many strikes until the surpression of unions under the military dictatorship. In 1946 the Sanbetsu union got 1,5 million members and in 1947 there was going to be a general strike of 4 million. Unfortunately the president of the Union was wounded in an assasination attempt and McArthur blocked the strike. I also remember the student protests in Japan!
Did your scholarship ending have anything to do with the content of the report, or did you say that to attract attention?
I am glad that you are being honest with yourself.
I am glad you talked about this. I visited Japan a few years ago and despite encountering some nice ppl at the airport and other tourist areas, I was surprised to learn that most Japanese ppl are so kept to themselves that I also thought they were generally cold hearted. I even worry that no one would help me if I had trouble. I was kind of disappointed that some didn’t seem too welcoming of tourists and label anyone who does not speak Japanese and Asian looking as Chinese. I am Chinese American and I hear a few people whispering the word “Chinese” behind me a few instances when I was trying to figure out how to use the ticket machine at train stations. I got stared down at a cosmetic counter at a dept store. I am not saying every Japanese person behaved like this, but I didn’t have the best luck in some places. I was polite and quiet. I gave up my seat to an elderly on a train and wondered why no one did on the train…they just stared at me when I made that gesture. I hope Japan can show more societal issues in the media so they can be more aware of systemic problems.
@@Lovely-Love19 Damn I didn't knew that
Both in China and japan less and less people are respecting the elderly now, which is also present in the West as well.
@@Lovely-Love19 racism is always quiet and subtle. Frankly I don't give a damn. The older you get the less you care about what other feel about you. The problem is when you see other people being victimized and no one is doing anything.
I believe, like most Asian cultures, that the Japanese are ruled more by fear than by good feelings like appreciation or feeling satisfaction for doing something nice for someone else.
man the love and hate relationship between japan and china is another story beyond the general racism. sad to see you got involved in this and tbh i think once they realize you are actually american, they might start to treat you nicer.
Nobita, I think your channel helps Japan and the world by talking about the problems. In that way, you are also pointing out the good things such as the people that are helping and trying to make beneficial changes. At least, that is what I notice from watching your videos. Thank you.
The time your grandma collapsed and people watching and doing nothing, it’s called the bystander effect. It’s pretty common even in western countries, but you will still have those who will help.
@@cleoraasaran9957 I think he wanted to demonstrate that the bystander effect is bigger in Japan than western countries. I think that may be a more valid argument to make.
In America, many would stop immediately.
There's been research done on the bystander effect and generally if there was obvious cause for alarm people would come to each other's aid consistently, though interestingly the larger the population density, the fewer people would stop to investigate if the situation was ambiguous or it seemed like someone else was already handling it. Nobita's situation would be very unusual given what we know of the bystander effect, though maybe Japan really is that incredibly conformist that even a clear emergency would not penetrate their collective awareness.
@@AlohaBlockchain not in a major city like New York or Chicago, here in nyc they would probably steal your wallet and shoes while you’re down
I don't really think so. I saw a man faint in Japan, and a lot of people helped.
Maybe the older generation, but the younger ones are a lot different.
It's quite sad. About 10 years ago, I watched the Life drama which opened my eyes to Japan's bullying and suicide problem. Everyone just focuses on fitting in and going through the motions. No one seems to really share their opinions, so no one seems to have anything deep to say when asked in interviews. People don't feel they can share their problems or feelings cause they don't want to bother anyone. I'm sure some people who may be living there long term may feel like everyone is an NPC by how robotic people may seem. Japan is still a lovely country, but I hope one day, they can open up and rebel against the status quo, even if it's just to find more hope and reasons to live
One of the creepiest trends I've noticed is integration. The west does it, we can too! Mostly, however, it is due to lack of support and nowhere for the most vulnerable to go.
So classrooms now have deaf children or children with autism of one kind or another. In the US there is at least a brief, talk of support, accommodations, etc. A basic understanding. Here, nothing.
Japan has just put more targets for bullying into their classrooms. I cannot Express sufficiently my bottled rage.
At best, these children are ignored. The students avoid them, completely ignore them. And, worse, the teachers do the same. I've actually had teachers give me the stink eye because I've stopped by the autistic kid in tears struggling with his dyslexia. Relax, work it out, little buddy, it's ok, I'll be back. He calms, he gets it. He can bloody participate.
Damn this country to hell sometimes.
That deaf girl is not at fault. She isn't trying to get attention. But she damn well needs it. Oh, the teacher refuses to wear the device that allows the girl to follow along in the lesson?
Damn this country to hell sometimes.
And then I see stuff in the news where Japan wants to host the Special Olympics.
Wow. Just. Wow.
On my way to work, I stopped, got off my bicycle to help an old lady in a wheelchair up the hill to the hospital. What is the bus stop to a hospital doing at the bottom of a hill?! This being Japan, no one stole my bicycle or bothered my briefcase.
But, Japan, come on. There is something seriously wrong with your country, your society, and your people.
Which reminds me, fix the curbs in your city too. They aren't wheelchair friendly at all.
Host the Special Olympics.
Wow.
I saw that same drama a couple of years ago and I actually thought it was funny at first because it felt so exaggerated. It just seems so over the top, until I realized that in Japan it really wasn't that over the top.
@@brandonhaygood5286 right??? Putting needles in shoes, throwing out someone's books, pouring dirty mop water on their head in the washroom, writing on their desk and throwing it out the window....and getting away with it??? I didn't think it could be real too, but to find out it happens....I don't blame kids for feeling su!cid@l if they have to deal with that kind of torment on a daily basis alone. Not sure if you watched 13 Reasons Why, but there's an episode where a kid gets beat up, head in the toilet, and then a broomstick up his....months before or after that seasons came out, a catholic boys school in my city made headlines for bullying and such cause a video was being spread around and the same thing happened to the victim. That kind of thing has happened to other guys elsewhere as well :/ Just goes to show that directors aren't always trying to be over the top. Sometimes they do their research and incorporate reality into a show to help spread awareness.
It will need to happen relatively soon.
I totally get that NPCs feeling! The Japanese also have a thing where they won't finish their sentences, but everyone gets them anyway, because they've 'guessed' the appropriate comment/reaction template. And I didn't, because being a foreigner I had no idea what that template comment should be. It drives me nuts in meetings since I'm the one supposed to write the minute, and I have no idea what conclusion they've settled on.
Even in daily life, I see a whole group of girls, and dozens of girls following them reacting to the same, say, keyring with "So cute!" with the exact same voice and mannerism, with no follow up or unique take or discussion whatsoever as to why they like said keyring. It's pretty unnerving, really.
In Japan, I seldom see young people giving up seats to old people inside trains but in other Asia countries, it’s quite common like in Singapore
If they don't ask, don't give your seat. Japanese elders see it as you telling them they are useless. Only in Japan.
Yeah, I lived in Korea for three and a half years, and I remember there being social etiquette about giving seats to elders and other small bits of common courtesy.
SEA countries consider this an etiquette and young people are expected to do this
Japanese people are weirdest. That's ALL
@@atorybrifh949 The elderly are "progressive" in their thinking. No wonder I hate "progressive" thinking.
I respect the courage which make you able to observe every situation in third person. I sincerely admire your professionalism, Nobita.
just great Nobita, thank you!! another well balanced and real video
sad to hear that nobita, here in my country, if that happens, lots of people will surely help even if it is pandemic
I remember reading in "The Saber and the Crysantemum" a anthropological essay about Japanese people,that once you think Japanese people are a certain way,they prove you wrong by being the opposite.
Well,I Tokyo,I witnessed an incident tgat was in total opposition to the ideas expressed in that video.
On one of the numerous pedestrian streets surrounding Kichi Yoji,an old lady had collapsed and surrounded by concerned people kneeling around her.A young woman had sat on the ground and had her arms around the old lady holding her back againsrnt her chest.
A dozen or so people were around showing lots of empathy and concern.Even here in Canada where people would step immediately should someone collapse,you would never see someone holding that person the way that young woman did.Never forgot that scene.I think Japanese are mostly shy,and that is why they do not step in.
I was 8 months pregnant and carrying a luggage while holding my 6 years-old child, we took a city bus and it was crowded. No one offered a seat. I was like. Wow.
I dont feel entitled for a seat, but whats the point of priority seat with pregnant/elder/disabled signs 🤔
@@John_Smith_86 ah I see! Thats not what I meant to say. Hehe 😄 English is not my first language, but I tried 😋
@@John_Smith_86 You are nice to lend time to correct what I was trying to say in a nice way 😊 Thanks for that (*^^*)
I had a cast on my leg, crutch under 1 armpit with luggage, I assumed all major Tokyo stations would have elevators/escalators (my mistake). Anyway as I limped up the huge staircase hauling the suitcase. Not one person offered to help and it was not during work rush hours either :(
Sadly Nobu is spot on. Japan has many good points, but the “let’s suffer together” mentality does exist and has to change. Rise up!👍
Thanks for another good VDO! You have been addressing the social issues very well.
I love you and your content, Nobita :)
Keep the good work up
With the risk of sounding like a presumptuous foreigner, I hope Japan can change in this regard.
If you can be friendly and helpful to a foreigner without much personal sacrifice, surely such charity can be extended to your fellow Japanese as well.
Use your powers for good, dude. But the victims won't thank you - they are likely to hate you for reminding them that they are a victim. They're actively trying to forget.
@@thegamethemovie9605 uh what? If im collapsed on the street the last thing i care about is being a “victim”, i just need help. If someone comes through for me, there’s gratitude there
@@soursewer3279 You and me both.
It's amazing how lawsuits can get in the way. Amazing how, once some people find that they are alive discover they are in a position to sue. Companies settling out of court for millions didn't come out of nowhere, but because going to court could lead to worse.
Frankly, I read warning labels and wonder what idiot, somewhere, actually fell afoul of the product. I'm old enough to remember the lawsuit that now leads every company in the world to now say, "Hey, this hot coffee is hot, and you might just burn yourself because it's hot, so be careful when tou drink it because it's hot. That means you could burn yourself. Because it's hot. Hot coffee. Hot."
If religion fails and governments fail and corporations fail, what are we supposed to do now? Oh, right, we're actually the ones failing, but blame is easier.
@@thegamethemovie9605 In America there are "Good Samaritan" laws that legally protect those who offer aid and assistance to people in need (such as a person falling unconscious on the street or is trapped in a burning car).
In fact, not rendering aid to someone in a life or death situation and walking away can result in much worse things compared to just being sued. You run the risk of being labeled a complete and utter selfish jerk. That could end you career and get you fired as no decent person will want to be around you.
@@thegamethemovie9605 Clearly you're an edgy, antisocial neckbeard
Thank you for keeping it REAL Nobita!! I know not everything in Japan are peaches and cream, smelling like roses everyday🌈🌸
@Space Ray Engine Interesting! Although he is talking about Osaka. Good to know.
Nah! I am sure there are more good natured and kind people all over Japan than the few who are not🌈
Nobita-san, you’re seriously one of my favorite youtubers! Japan always had a special place in my heart and my prayers.
Hello Nobita how are you doing today and how is the weather over there
If that happens here in the Philippines, an emergency like accidents or someone collapse, expect a crowd gathering and one will call an Ambulance or Hospital
I'm from Thailand and we do that so much we actually have a word for it XD. 99% will be crowding around and 1% will call an ambulance/take action.
In Bella Poarch's experience, the people in the Phillipines turned away as she was abused all her life. Good to know that is not true everywhere
@@leafyishereisdumbnameakath4259 Usually when it is personal home problems Filipinos don't want to meddle unless they want to make rumors or they actually care. If they cared enough they usually just tell you to pray it out which does not always help. For obvious distress or accidents in public people are more willing to help due to thankfully kapabayan values in our culture. The psychosocial problems I think the Philippines needs to fix is addressing mental health and abuse.
Lol! In my country you get in accident we rob you first then we call the ambulance and then the ambulance gets robbed... lol...i shouldnt laugh but thats all i can do as this is so ridiculous yet true...
You mean gathering just to take photos/video just to make them famous
Im grateful how safe Japan is. Coming from someone from the states. I've probably never felt more comfortable and more relaxed in another country such as Japan.
I’m Brazilian and we help each other a lot, even though of all the problems to country has we are very hearted and friendly people!
@@user-qm7jw Actually, El Salvador has the highest murder rate in the world, and even if we're talking about raw numbers, without considering the total population (per 100k people rate), just the total number of homicides, Brazil ranks second, with Nigeria being first.
@Space Ray Engine That's true, Brazil is a very shitty country, crime is rampant, and the economy is only above South Africa (and I guess Russia right now) out of the BRICS countries, still, saying it has the highest murder rate in the world is just an outright lie.
I love your channel and am thankful that you've allowed me to take off the "rose colored glasses" I had on when it came to looking at Japanese society. When I started planning my trip to Japan (at the onset of covid), I began studying culture and etiquette so that I could navigate my trip more smoothly. I became enamored with all of the things I was learning about the Japanese. It seemed as if it was a yutopia compared to other countries as well as my own. But you have shown a realistic version of Japanese society that has issues just like any other country faces. My respect for Japan has not diminished but has made it seem just as human as the rest of us. I am grateful to you and your honest perspective.
@@Greenforrest7342 I'm sure you're right.
@@Greenforrest7342 Japan isn't a utopia just like your own my country
I think the mainstream media deceives us a lot. So it's best to come with a mindset that they are just people like us
Japan like u mentioned has done the most important and difficult things like infrastructure and health care extremely well. It's just so frustrating when something thats much easier to change (and free) is so hard to change. (Let's be happy together)
better to be a human then be machine, no matter how disciplined, clean and polite you are.
Yup
I cant really take a westerners opinion on what being "human" is. All westerners are something lesser than
@@chumlord61 huh? 🤨
@@chumlord61 with how you're acting, I'd assume you are a westerner by your definition
TH-cam had me rate your comment. Kinda weird. Gave you a good rating though lol
While I do follow a couple of other people that make videos a bit like yours, You are the only person from Japan that I follow that really does compare and contrast the outside world's view, with your own experience growing up in Japan. That is why I really enjoy your videos dude. Keep it up please, and thanks :)
I lived in Japan for two years and have FOUR stories that immediately come to mind!
1. I went to a supermarket with another English teacher who had really good Japanese skills. We sat down in a cafe area and he saw one of his junior high female students and her friend. We said hello. A little later this creepy old guy in a weird outfit started talking to the girls. He then pulled out a folder with photos of 13 year old girls in schoolgirl outfits and started saying weird stuff to her. She was getting visibly scared. My friend basically bitched out the dude for a solid 10 minutes while he was trying to argue back. I turned around and saw the ENTIRE supermarket staring at us and not saying a word. The older female security guard was crying. The guy left and I think he was some neighborhood predator.
2. I biked home from a bar late at night. There was a guy across the street from me and we were waiting for a red light to turn green (there were no cars, it was like a game of polite chicken). The dude just fell off of his bike because he was so drunk I think. He immediately got up and apologized to me from across the street.
3. This middle aged guy had a random seizure in front of our apartment complex. I helped him. The cops detained him for a bit and the guy left a gift basket some time later. It was a little weird because the cops wanted to question him before giving him help.
4. I was about to take the last train home (I lived in a rural-ish area) and saw this old lady in the waiting area. I asked her if she was going to go on the train and she nodded sure. I go in my compartment and she sits next to me. After a couple stops I asked her where she was leaving off. She asked me what my stop was. I was like oh shit. She took off her gloves and her hands were rough. I leave my stop and she stumbles after. I tell the train guy who works there about her and laughs and says she's just some drunk. She stumbles to the side and falls in the background.
I have a lot more, but I have to stop now haha.
ha ha
Yes, night-time experiences can be
very different to day-time experiences.
.
For sample:
- pass over the crossroads by red light with car (intentionally)
- tossing the garbage-bag out of the car on street / emptying the ashtray
and so on . . .
My first week in Osaka ~ was pedaling my bike towards a junction and an old lady was doing the same from the opposite direction. She didn't slow down and almost hit me. Instead of saying gomenasai, I said arigatou. And then she laughed so hard she forgot she almost killed me. It took me a while to understand what happened. LOL
do you consider leaving Japan ? This sounds fucked up
@@anhtho7042 Mmn, right, but we are focusing on some of the less-than-positive aspects in this comment section. Bringing attention to these might help with resolving them.
Could you please share some more, like you said you experienced?
I do appreciate the "bad" side of things when it comes to Japan. The thing is, it goes both ways no matter how you look at it. I can say the same thing for America, They have the own social issues and ALWAYS constantly talking bout the negative stuff to the point you are numb to it. The politicians suppose to help with the issues, but all they do is want more power and money. NEVER resolve anything. What it comes down to it is what you rather prefer and what suits your life style. No country is perfect.
And you've basically identified one of the main reasons I left the US recently/again/(at my age) for the last time. As much grief that I have had here, what do I want to live with.
Stateside, I stopped watching the news, but other people haven't and kept bothering me with it. Republican? Democrat? I'm a teacher, dude, whose the government idiot that's mandated the current round of witch hunts?
Japan has some serious problems that everyone ignores, everyone lives with. Sure, that entitled moron is allowed to lean on you, but as a foreigner I have an out. It's not lost on me that I can enjoy certain benefits in Japan that no Japanese person ever could. Plus the ones they can.
Simple, national health care. Mandated maximum hours. Little chance of theft. Bonus: in the era of coronavirus, foreigners are given an extra wide berth. Peace and quiet.
Only a few caveats:
The banks are still in the stone age (You don't give out MC/Visa debt cards to account holders?), they paperwork everything to death (I'm moving to the next town for work, and I have to check out of the city hall here, and check into the city hall there?), and the locals are really at a loss for what to do with themselves, let alone a foreigner (It's ok, I can keep myself busy. Really.)
What do we want to live with? That is the question.
@@thegamethemovie9605 Yeah, Japan looks like a great place to live. Everybody there is as cold as ice, the police have a 99% conviction rate and if you drop unconscious from a heart attack in Tokyo Station you'll be dead by the time they get you to a hospital. You'll be dead because nobody will lift a finger to help. And after 10 or 15 minutes when somebody does come, it will take another 10 minutes for the paramedics to arrive.
But paramedics in Japan aren't allowed to even start an IV line much less do any of the other advanced life saving procedures that every paramedic can do here in America. So by the time you reach an emergency room in Tokyo after 30 or 40 minutes, you will be deader than a door nail.
Compare that to what happened to the old man that had a heart attack in the barbershop I wrote about. Within minutes the paramedics from the LA Fire Department arrived and started treatment immediately. Within 15 minutes the guy was at UCLA Medical Center getting the same treatment that Bill Gates or the President of the USA would receive.
Sorry, but Japan in many ways is a pathetic country without an ounce of compassion for those who don't conform or who don't toe the line.
@@lonebeagle that is the sad painful truth that these people don't want to hear
It's called "virtue signalling" and being an activist. They wanna prove they're a leader and hero by inspiring others through collective hivemind.
In JP everyone expects you to tough it out and survive on your own.
Totally. However, I do believe there are healthy ways to live and there are unhealthy ways to live.
Thank you so much for your valuable videos on important topics! 💐I learned a lot from you and your channel… 😊👍 Greetings from Germany 🇩🇪!
Hello Nobita-san! Great video as always! I like seeing you on the videos, gives a more interesting vibe compared to voice over videos featuring other people in public places. 🥳 I learned from my Japanese students that in Japan, when foreigners commit mistakes, it’s just okay no big deal because they are outsiders but when another Japanese commit mistakes, it is unforgivable.
This is from my experience. Some time ago, I had a low blood pressure, blurry vision, hard to breath, and almost fainted in train station. No one asked me if I was alright although there were many people there. It made me realy surprised and thought a lot after that.
My personal experience in dealing with the Japanese: most Japanese people that I have come across are very courteous, very polite. But that's just what they are outwardly, it's not necessarily what they really think inside them. They could be cursing you in their heart, but they would still be very polite towards you. Consequently, it's extremely difficult to become close friend with Japanese if you are a foreigner. I don't know whether other foreigners feel the same way but that's my experience.
@@missplainjane3905 he lives in his shell because he's a hermit crab
You're absolutely right. I grew up there, and that was one of the hardest parts.
@@ChadDidNothingWrong really?!??
I’m Japanese and currently studying here in the u.s., and I made lots of friends who are from China. I think they are really really nice…
@@鋸筋イ Of course they are. There is a very old tendency to treat Asians and especially Chinese not as individuals (which they are as anyone else, of course) because they "all look the same". No. They don't. And arguably since some degree of pretending/ sticking to preset, unbending societal rules unlike in individualistic Western societies leads to this misconception. I'm European myself. I don't think it's necessarily racism (the term has been used much too often in my view, I'm definitely NOT a friend of all the CRT crap and what goes with all the collectivistic stuff as I am an individual as well!). It's what many people tend to think when meeting others with a completely different upbringing than their own. You get lumped in with pre-existing conceptions until you get to know the person in front of you. It's the same everywhere...
i think Japanese are insincere and that's a fact so....
Yeah it is a strange phenomenon in Japan. I was once on a train and a college student fainted in front of me. Luckily I had noticed and managed to catch him before he hit the ground. Despite my limited Japanese, I was literally the only one who helped him, whilst everyone else on the train completely ignored the situation. Was a terribly cringy moment for me. When I left Japan all the friends I had made never bothered to contact me. Relationships are very fleeting over there. Here today, gone tomorrow basically
I think that the friends contacting just depends on the friends you make. In America, it is common to have a "friend', never contact you. No matter what though, if you make a really good friend, Im sure they will contact you.
Also, my husband and I were lost in the Tokyo train station for about an hour. We asked a women where the line was we were looking for. She told us she was actually going the exact same way we were going back to our airbnb and we could just follow here to get to the right place. I was super relieved bc I was over the frustration of looking.
I am glad to hear your grandmother recovered
I love your channel! You’re extremely intelligent and balanced !
Hello my DEAR FRIEND how are you doing today and how is the weather over there
Hands down agreeing every single point you mentioned. I, as foreigner living in Japan, have the same feeling and experience. There are many social issues live within Japan, however there are still great things such as you mentioned the cleanliness or punctuality and professionalism/ craftsmanship. It depends on the individual of what they valued the most. If a person believed or is passionate about human interaction and hospitality, then Japan might not be the country they like.
As always excellent content. Your honest open willingness to cover difficult subjects is very needed in this world. You do it in a very respectful non-judge mental kind of way every single time. My son lived in Japan and I was there many times. I did not witness this in person only kindness from people, but my son was hit by a car on his bicycle and the person that hit him didn’t even stop to help. Some bystanders did get her license plate and stayed nearby until the police came. He was not seriously injured, and I think he felt like there were people there that would have helped him if he had been.
In the subway a young woman fell down and looked like she was having an epileptic fit. People ignored her completely, I couldn’t help then because I had no language at that time. I was shocked.
in a way it was traumatic I know
Thank you for making this important video. Especially the message at the end is very important. Yes, no one else but we ourselves as a society can work on these problems.
Thanks for creating awareness 🌹🌹🌹
I have seen the same thing in multiple cities in China and Hong Kong. People just walk by and ignore anyone lying on the ground. However, there are thousands of scammers on the streets in these countries pretending to be sick or to have fallen, especially in front of your car. So they learn to ignore anyone doing anything similar because of the potential for economic problems arising from trying to help and then being held responsible for something.
yup, scammers who 'need help' are rampant in various parts of Asia
Thanks Nobita for your valuable insight.
Cheers from Brazil
Bystander effect also exists in Western countries, but I imagine its extent in Japan is much worse comparatively.
Best TH-camr I have subscribed to this year
This is a good explanation, Nobita. Thank you - the editing alone must have taken a lot of time. I've lived a long time in Japan, in about 6 different locations. What I see is nothing that contradicts what you've said here, simply adds a view from another angle.
① the government does help those with low incomes - the tax rates drop lower than in the US after certain income levels, the cost of health insurance drops as well, they do help those who are struggling (and tax rates for "fat cats" are much higher than in the US), but the gov't does not assume responsibility, responsibility stays with the person themselves.
② the comparative generousity overseas in many cases comes from having more money coming in to start with. Companies may mark up the margins for their prices by 30%, instead of the more common 10% in Japan. Wages overseas have risen, salaries have risen dramatically, yet in Japan, looking at the % of the population at each income level, people apparently are earning $10,000 less per year than their parents did at the same age (not compared to the immediate post-war generation, but compared to the bubble years.) Dispatch work and gig work is dragging income levels down, and because they are moving down the scale there is none of the feeling of gratitude for having worked up from something worse off that often happens elsewhere.
③ If charity is a way of giving thanks for being more fortunate than others, then it may be that no one wants to admit that they are more fortunate than others, and if they are, it is totally, totally not their own doing. So they have no responsibility to help others. Companies don't make shoddy overpriced products that then prompt them to donate to charity - Japanese companies make the best products they can and sell them at best-for-consumers prices and that fulfills their Corporate Social Responsibility. People donate hours of their lives to the companies' efforts, they don't feel a need to donate to the odd individual on the street. In the US, people will refuse to donate to a cause saying "I gave at the office", and in Japan that is literally true.
All excellent points, and definitely on the plus side for Japan.
I know little about the Japanese government, but definitely in one aspect it is superior to the US: In the US, the president can declare a fire drill and hire and fire, and basically cause a mess.
The Japanese government seems to function more on necessity, no matter who is in charge. Overall seems far more stable and sane.
I trust those Japanese politicians waving on the street corners more than any US president. Because while they might possibly be just as corrupt, hidebound and useless, at least they don't seem to have the same ridiculous amount of power to do harm at home or abroad.
I really admire you for your honesty and how you present the real facts and figures.
(3:24) I know Japan is behind when it comes to volunteer work; however, the reason is probably the workaholic culture. Long work hours do not leave much time to volunteer. If they have a family or parents they need to take care of, they will have only a small amount of time to themselves.
Yeah, my wife is one of those lucky few who works for a foreign affiliated company that has volunteer leave. I ask why she never uses it and her reply was because no one else uses it and it would be difficult to convince her boss when she wants to use it. I've been trying to tell my company to implement volunteer work to promote wellbeing amongst employees and attract young talent, but I understand why they keep rejecting this. It's because no one will use it and it is only a PR stunt. Sad because a lot of volunteer offices are open only during weekdays.
It's not just the workaholic culture, even though by law the companies have paid leave and maternatiy leave, no one uses it.
Great video Nobita. It's always great to have an insider's perspective. I wonder how "Don't cause trouble for others" changed its meaning and intention into "Don't help or concern yourself with others when they're in trouble"
i actually passed out in an electronics shop in Akihabara because of period cramps and a shop keeper actually helped me
Shopkeeper... He is responsible for the shop and anything that happens in there.. If you were to die in the shop, imagine how his employer will react.. In a society that place so much on self-image, that would be the last thing the employer wants. Not saying he is not extending help out of his own will, but it is difficult to assume.
@@RetardskillMe you just did
@@moggless The probability of helping out due to job responsibility is far greater than out of personal compassion. If you cant comprehend a simple logic like that, then be on your way.
Thank you I always find your videos very interesting 🙏🏻👍.
One of our japanese exchange students mentioned how she thought it's really nice that we hold open doors for other people before leaving a store. Which I found surreal. But when I went for my own exchange year in Japan I realized that they indeed don't do that. Why would simply let the door slam right into someone's face when you can clearly see he is right behind you?
Japanese people aren't polite, I will feel bad doing this to anyone.
I have this happen to me a lot I live here in Japan and I hate it
Yes. I've held doors open for others but it almost never has been done to me. Even for elevators they don't reopen the doors if they see someone trying to make it in.
When i was in Japan i always did it, and people were surprised.
Not enough people paying it forward. Reminds me of driving in Thailand. Common courtesy is NOT COMMON.
I love your channel and your
frankness.
My wife and kids had been living in Japan the past 7 years, and we recently are living in U.S the past 6 months. They feel so much more free and happy and cheerful than before.
But it depends a lot from their age and personality right?
A lot of Japanese I know would love to live abroad, if they could.
Sometimes I think English education in Japan is purposefully being sabotaged because if they can't speak English, they can't easily leave.
Yeah you are "free" just so long as you go along with the mainstream narrative (as determined by the media), otherwise you'll find yourself on a bunch of lists with your constitutional rights suppressed or worse.
@@thegamethemovie9605 they should start by removing the ultranationalism from their politics and burn down the Yasukuni Shrine
@@burentori9620 I think every country has its crazy zealots. There's nothing wrong with being proud of being from this or that country, ethnicity, race, profession, orientation, whatever.
What people have to understand is that leaders need to be more mentally balanced. Otherwise they're just an embarrassment.
Thank you, this video was very good, it made me think. Yes, helping others and going out of the way to notice others is important, and better than just keeping every thing harmonious.
I was at some station in Tokyo when I saw this old man just fall over backwards. I ran over to help him up, and there was another girl as well, and a station staff later came over, but throughout the entire experience I was shocked that it was just us 3 that came over when there was quite a decent crowd milling about. Echoing what everyone else said here about the bystander effect, it does seem more pronounced in Japan than one would expect
I watched you long ago and still ocassionally watch your channel. Keep up the good work.
I was stationed in Okinawa three times when I was in the Marines. On the weekends we would go to Kadena, AFB, and go out gate two to the shops and restaurants. All three times (6 months, two years apart each " there was the same disabled local man by the gate begging. I always wondered why there? After the charitable giving difference between the US and Japan you just showed, now it makes sense, he was probably getting much more from US servicemen, than other Japanese.
He would probably get more if you troops weren't the waste of taxpayer's money.
@@alan.92 Isn't there a bridge somewhere missing it's troll ?
True.
But the US military in Japan is a whole other topic. I grew up on a military base in Japan and definitely learned about it. Recently was the stink about the US military bringing in coronavirus because there's no testing, but I know firsthand of far worse things that military personnel and dependents got away with.
Do something wrong off base? Quick, get back on base. US soil, baby. Consequences, sure, but not nearly as bad.
I learned very quickly to be ashamed of being a dependent and associated with the US military. Very difficult for a child raised to love his country and the men and women who defend it.
But I saw the drunken behavior. I saw locals being made fun of, robbed, beaten. I saw the rape. Hell, a couple of my classmates went off base, strung a line across a road and ended up killing a local. Teenagers did this. But, all that happened to them was deportation. Dude, it's the same shame in my heart when I go to Hiroshima.
There are great service members, but the bad ones bring the rest down. The US has abused the relationship and taken advantage of how Japanese society works. As I say, bringing up the US military is another topic. Gird yourself for the firestorm.
@@trashman4444 Anybody calling out the waste is a troll? Don’t you have a helpless citizen in Okinawa to raepe?
@@thegamethemovie9605 Holy sh*t
Great video, as usual. You are doing an awesome job.
It's a cultural thing. Come to Malaysia =) you'll sweat from our warmth
True
And from your climate.
It's not just japan, its every busy capital city where they don't acknowledge your existence had my experience like that in London. Here's my suggestion
-If you want to be ignored go to Tokyo where everyone is busy, rushing to work, have no time for anything.
-If you want to be welcomed and constantly have random strangers talking to you go to Osaka, Nagano or Okinawa. I'd recommend mostly Osaka they are known as the "Americans of japan".
To finish off, not having Japanese language can be a very big disadvantage and your experience could be different than those who do speak Japanese.
@@heavenseeker2320 😂
@@ahabrawgaming1289 it's true, it's kinda like this in KL anyway
This frankness and honesty is very much appreciated.
Honestly, the bystander effect is just dangerous, I get it that not everyone wants to make another person's problem their own but sometimes, you just gotta be the bigger person and lend your kind presence for it goes a long ways; good karma comes to those who contribute good deeds.
Yes
Yeah but Japanese are the coldest people on earth
you first
In TRUTH: This bystander effect is where true evil lies. One person does nothing on their own. When thousands of people follow suit blindly, not willing to USE THEIR BRAINS to think independently, and instead they follow the great leader for fear of being killed socially, is when evil acts happen.
They may not have a clear idea of what to do, so they follow the crowd so as to not be ostracized. And don't use their thinking mind.
This social contagion is where evil lives and thrives.
I swear most people think being good is doing the "right" thing and following others. They forget that most great deeds are done by people who, at first, broke free from the pack and did their own thing, to the annoyance of their society, and their own safety. MLK, Ghandi, etc. Now, their acts are what we all live by. At the time, those people were hated, feared for speaking out, jailed, killed.
I agree
Your videos are so interesting Nobita!
My psychology professor talked about this recently, I think its called the bystander effect, there is probably some correlation with how Japanese people have been raised but I think these kinds of situations are common largely populated cities all over the world
I think the bystander effect is too easy and unrealistic an explanation for what actually is going on
Thank you for being open and honest!
Hello Dear how are you doing today and how is the weather over there
Something is gravely wrong with your society when "helping a stranger in need" is seed as "giving trouble to others" or "causing a scene". It really is the culture of a people who have been subjugated and rendered submissive by a tyrannical/authoritarian government for centuries (tokugawa). "harmony" is more important than "truth", "order" is more important than "kindness". foreigners mistake this as "respect" or "politeness". it's just fear. that's all it is. japan is the original cancel culture.
"Fear is Freedom, Subjugation is Liberation, Contradiction is Truth! Those are the facts of this world, and you will all surrender to them! YOU PIGS IN HUMAN CLOTHING!"
@@MisterCynic18 pff pigs are better than humans
What nonsense, this attitude isn't the result of Tokugawa government, but of unopposed post-WW2 liberalism. And Japan is certainly not the original "cancel culture", what a ridiculous assertion.
Nobita you have a great channel and a lot of insight about Japan. I enjoy your podcasts very much.
I don't think this problem is unique to Japan though. Large metropolitan cities tend to be very dehumanizing, people are so caught up in the rat-race, earning money, and making ends meet that few, if any, have time to create strong social bonds with others.
Also, that bit about the deer in the snow almost made me spill my drink. 😂
NIce video Nobita. I have been living in Japan since 2008 and working mainly in Osaka. I feel like the people are so warm and kind here. I am sad to hear the story about your grandmother. I am sure as a child that must have been scary.
Homelessness is a different issue in western countries. I also know that the religious social idea of helping those in need is a a big social expectation in the west. I have worked around the homeless center of Osaka for many years. Out side of this area it is so rare to see. I am often approached because maybe they think Western people are more likely to help with money.
I really hate the "Let's suffer together" idea or "I suffered before so you must suffer too" ideas. I have had so many conversations with work where I asked "Why do we do it that way and can we change it?" and they answer 'Because that is how we did it before and no it can't be changed'
@@Greenforrest7342 To me Western Countries are North America, and Western Europe and the UK. Many countries have a culture of helping people out side of that. I think homeless know I am From America so they ask.
This thing with people tending to not helping others could have another added aspect. This kind of behavior most likely happens where the weight of the State is bigger: people think "I don't have to help because the Government or someone will". Solidarity use to be stronger in places where public services are weaker (like poor or undeveloped countries), because the thought is "if it's not me it will be noone helping". Of course it's not the only reason, just one among others.
Are you from America or something? The weight of the State in Japan isn't bigger than in most wealthy countries where people help strangers a lot.
@@puccaland I wasn't talking about economics but about how efficient the public services are (or how the citizens percieve it). If you live in Zambia or Mongolia maybe you won't expect any public help, so it's you or noone; if you live in a super developed country you can expect someone (paid to do it) will take care of it. Sorry, I thought the meaning of my comment was obvious by the context, didn't think about people like you. My bad.
Sorry, I'm not agree. I'm from Spain, a country with strong public services like one of the best health cares in the world. However, we are a very soludarity people, and I can say it bc, with my dishability, I can fall to the floor easily. I was in Madrid, in Zaragoza and in other less populated cities here, and I always received help from the common people.
@@Mandelrot I perfectly understood what you meant. Now I wonder if you know what you're talking about? What do you mean by "people like you" ?
So I repeat, in most wealthy countries, most of them being in Europe, the State = public service is way bigger than in Japan and yet people help each other. The people who pay for public services aren't "someone else" but all the citizens through their taxes and the wealth they create thanks to their hard work. That's called wealth redistribution for you.
Zambia and the countries you talked about aren't wealthy countries and yet since you bring up the subject, although the State doesn't help much in some developing countries it may help more than in Japan (universal Healthcare, free education, state pensions etc...) and would the state help or not, in those countries helping strangers is way more prevalent than in Japan anyway. Or how there is no correlation between a strong public service and helping or not strangers whatsoever. It's a matter of mindset and education like perfectly explained in Nobita's video. The Japanese society is a harsh society for the Japanese in which the people are constantly asked to do gaman (to put up with things, the notion of sacrifice). Us foreigners will get some slack because we aren't considered to be part of the system but the society is ruthless towards the Japanese.
@@puccaland yes but also foreingers are refused service or privilege including apartment leases just for being 'not japanese'. You can speak in JP but it won't matter.
but yeah the society is the most ruthless toward the JP.
They have what I deem a culture of being fake happy and fake polite. Its the perfect utopia dystopia of willful sacrifice, except they overdo it and wastefully.
I love your videos! Keep up the good job! From Brazil.
I was once in the tube in Tokyo going to the airport, I was clearly struggling with my luggages as lots of tube accesses were closed (there was a festival that day) so the open one was completely crowded. It was hard to go downstairs with a lot of people going upstairs and not caring about pushing me (because of crowd movements probably) against the wall of preventing me going downstairs. No one at all helped me (even people also going downstairs) helped me. In Paris, for sure, several people would have helped and like stopped others to go up the time I'm going down. And Parisian people are rude! (I know because I'm one XD) so it really depends on the mind and mentality - you can be rude and helping but polite and not help!
Politeness and kindness are not the same thing, for sure.
I really like your defferentiated view on Japan and the way you are sharing it with the world. 👍🏻
This is why Japanese women get embarrassed when (western) men hold the door for them or demonstrate other courteaus respect to them. Because in Japan that means they forced him to notice them, and that is considered to be rude manners
@@kenshiro7960 I've heard from men that sometimes they open the door and the chick responds rudely saying I can open it myself, who do you think I am? It's sad.
@@ashharkausar413 It's not sad, lol. That's just a straight up very strange thing to do to random women you don't know, i can see why people would find it disrespectful, it's just awkward and annoying
日本在住29年目の外国人です。最近ボランティア活動をしようと3つのボランティア団体を参加してみました。
みんな冷たい感じで、活動に加わる前にまず自分のメンタルを強くしないと一緒に活動するのは難しいです。
29年間日本に住んでもこの冷たさになれません。
定年後は自国に戻るつもりです。
Well, in a small Japanese city about 15 years ago, I was walking home and saw a middle-aged man lying on the sidewalk of a not-so-busy street. It was fall, not warm, and it was raining a bit. At the time, I didn't have a phone, and I bent down to wake the man up--maybe he was just drunk. I couldn't get any response. Meanwhile, a few people were passing by. I finally stopped one of them to ask them to call an ambulance. The man I asked seemed a bit put out, but maybe because I was a foreigner, he didn't want to leave a bit impression. He called for help, and I waited until the ambulance came and picked him up. Don't know what ever happened to him, but I was a bit surprised that a gaijin seemed to care more about a stricken Japanese man than anyone else
I was driving down a freeway in Los Angeles years ago (I think it was the Santa Monica 10), when the traffic came to a grinding halt. There was a stray dog walking around the lanes of freeway--a few people even got out of their cars to try and corral the dog! I'm sure that 20 or 30 people were dialing 911 to alert the authorities.
And this was for a DOG! I once saw a women walking in the traffic lanes of the same freeway (west bound lanes at the Overland exit). She was obviously not mentally well. I didn't have a cell phone back then so I got off the freeway and called 911 from a nearby gas station. The 911 operator said they had already received many calls and asked me for specifics so she could update the data on her computer.
I feel I should add that there were many occasions when Japanese strangers helped me out of the blue--asking if I was lost, and once, even driving me to the place I was looking for. My overall impression of living in Japan is extremely positive, but still, little events like the collapsed man, or the time I saw a mother and her small child stuck, caught in a closing train door in Tokyo station, and I was the only one to come to her aid, remain in my memory.
@@jfziemba I think the point of the video is that the Japanese have no problem helping foreigners, as the guy in the vid said, but it's a different story if you're Japanese.
@@lonebeagle people love dogs lol . and ducks
@@jfziemba but, i think the reason is because you’re a foreigner.. if you were an adult japanese.. lets say unattractive.. no one would help.. lets be really honest. but if you were hot cute.. 100% will be helped
Thank you for another great video where you even made reference to the actual happenings in Ukraine. This video emphasizes how important it is to report on social issues in Japan to raise awareness. I hope you will soon make progress in creating a new media to bring this information to Japanese people also. I sense the start of something great (in addition to this channel).
All the best from Germany
Hello Lady how are you doing today and how is the weather over there
It's not that Japanese are cold hearted. When I lived in Fukushima, a country-side, people treated me so, so warmly. I've lived in five different countries in three continents, and I think the Japanese people in rural areas are the warmest people on earth. Maybe not the ones in the big cities (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, etc.) though.
Osaka people are cool though. I saw a video with an old man who worked in an udon shop and not only did he give the guy udon before he even opened, but also talked with him and gave him extra green onions. The old man even laughed and smiled at the cameraman recording the shop cooking and stuff.
Did you listened to his video ? He said that Japanese between themselves don't help each other as much as they should and that as a gaijin you will get more help. You clearly look like a gaijin hence why they treated you warmly.
@@AdachiCabbage I mean that’s nice and all but that doesn’t really mean that they are cool. That’s literally the equivalent to a McDonald’s employee giving a guy a free hamburger with extra pickles, which is nice but I can’t just say everyone in that town is cool just because of one persons act of kindness.
@@karmanivek1 well. Mexico is doing just as bad in that regard. So I don't think it is just Japan.
I think pessimism is the cause for indifference.
@@karmanivek1 Totally. As a foreigner in Japan, even a foreigner that has lived in Japan a long time, I still get preferential treatment. It actually seems to make Japanese people angry, especially when they find out how long I've been here. Especially when they find out how fluent I am in Japanese.
It's kind of a cruel game for me now. I recently was assigned to a new post. The local "carrier" was entirely full of himself and happily bossing everybody around, and would sit right next to me and say all kinds of nasty things ("Don't you dare schedule time with him." and "It's fine to make up what you want about him." being the most tame.) Then, one day lunch go delivered by a restauranteur that I knew. Had to have a conversation then in full view of the office. The colleagues that had gamely played along with the guy were shocked, amazed. The guy was horrified. The supervisor had a talk with the guy practically as soon as lunch ended.
And, you know, the office environment has become a whole hell of a lot better. There is banter. Genuine laughter. And people who have started to enjoy the work.
The dude himself is walking small.
Expatriates living here are twisted by the local cruelty too, myself included. But the only real heroes in Japan dark ones.
thank you always for your honesty. As someone who has lived here now for some time I can say my opinion on Japan and Japanese culture has changed quite a bit from the times I came as a tourist and a lot of what you talk about in this video are things I see a lot of in Japan sadly. I still love it here and no place is perfect but Japan is far from the ideal a lot of outsiders/tourists paint it out to be.
Oh Nobita, you have broken my heart. I would have rescue you and your grandma sooo fast!
Nobita is honest, that's why I subscribed 😼👍 thank you Nobi
I'm japanese. I don't see or experience nice japanese people. I have zero japanese friends here. All my friends are foreigners from other countries. It happened this way. Japanese people are very inpatient people and tempered. So many single mothers and the elderly are just scraping by to die.
Even though I am an outer gaijin person, I am an inner one of you due to a slightly different take on the Code of Bushido because the type of social harmony that is best achieved is the one that is forged in the fires of our will.
Your realest honest opinion is appreciated by me
I'll always value a Japanese's personal opinion of their country over those of a foreigner, I appreciate your input.
I used to work in Waikiki, Honolulu and saw a young lady on the sidewalk get punched, knocked to the pavement, then lay kicked. I immediately called 911 and as I was speaking to the operator noticed that no one tried to help her or calling for 911. Everyone else just walked by. Amazing level of coldness in Hawaii too. Sad.
Oh my god, really? I plan to learn Japanese, but when I hear you say this, I feel very nervous
I would rather put it more simplistically and without hypocrisy like this: because, by and large, people don't wanna get involved in problems whose solution wouldn't fulfill their needs. Their daily life is hard enough, full of errands and tasks. And taking care of others is possible if you're in a very high energetic and positive state (high dopamine) and you're empathic. If you are drained of every single drop of vital energy, you have no interest no power to rescue other people.
It's a brutal portrait, but i believe it to be a reliable approximation to the actual social behavior.
Helping out somebody in need is fulfilling a future need of help when it's your time to "play" the victim.
Yes, I feel people are not well informed and disengaged about world events and society. Loved the piece about the deer. Happens here in the U.S. too on local news, if that is all you watch you won't have any idea what's happening.
@JH. You’re so right on! Read extensively including news from foreign sources. Your own country may keep you in the dark or even mislead you with misinformation.
My good friend's husband died of a heart attack in Japan. (I live in Japan) The neighbors all knew her and him. He was Japanese and she was Mexican (She passed recently..). She cried out for help from them while the ambulance was stuck on their way to their home. None of the neighbors helped her get him to the hospital, She lived home alone with her husband.. and her husband died as the neighbors just stood by their windows to watch.
Talk about apathy and fear...
Holy shit that's so cruel
Good job, Nobita. You were very balanced and fair.
It's not only an issue in Japan. In Paris, France, a few month ago, René Robert, a famous photographer collapsed on the street due to a seizure. He froze to death after having passed 9 hours on the ground without anyone noticing it. This made the news because the guy was famous. But how many similar stories involving strangers are we not aware of? At least in Japan, it seems people are not getting stabbed, beaten to death for a cigarette, or violently robbed in the street like it's happening on a daily basis here...
That’s very true. Thanks for the explanation.
In that young man's situation about his grandma, That's just the bystander effect and it's a big thing for big cities across the world but it's way more common in reserved countries like Japan. It takes effort for them to open up to things, express or simply be put on the spotlight as opposed to western people, they're super nice but at the same time a bit too indifferent to how bad a situation can get because they just follow the common flow of urban society. They're really good honest working people but I can't help but think that a good amount of people are afraid to give a bad image to society, they don't want to be criticized.
"Someone will likely help them, there's a lot of people", "help will come", "if no one is helping then it's easy to think that it's not needed or acceptable" "I could help but it's not really my business", "Someone else might provide a better response", "I don't want to be on the spotlight and make things worse", "more people, less responsibility, not a desperate call, today is not my duty" There are just common thought examples, people have when faced to these situations. Not everyone thinks or feels the same though.
It's the same with local shootings, crimes, screams for help. There's many cases where citizens never call authorities or medical help because there's a chain of thought with the same notion of "that person needs help, but i'm pretty sure someone within the region already called and I don't want to stack the same emergency calls so it's not my duty" where in reality no one actually calls or gets help because they naturally assumed that someone already had. Responsibility is somewhat shared among society and when there's witnesses, that responsibility crashes down for each individual.
Some examples are road accident cases in big cities in China or India where people are literally left for dead and ignored in the middle of busy streets until a half an hour passes and paramedics finally come.
Thanks for pointing all these out, there was a spin-off game from a franchise in japan call Ryu Ga Gotoku (more commonly know as the Yakuza games in the west) and it has a spin-off that goes at length with that subject matter in it's story and side content, the spin-offs are the Judge games duology and the second one, Lost Judge, really needs to be recognized a lot more for tackling such a heavy matter for both japan's people and for the rest of the world without being condescending or boring....
And just for the sake of doubling down... 'cause I can't help it >~>'
Anyone who knows good they are would say the same but for me, just the gameplay alone and passion that oozes from these makes them worthwhile.
Anyway thanks for reading.
China is a special case because if my memory serves me correctly you are legally responsible for a person if you help them out and that has backfired many times. Pretty brutal I’ve seen videos with toddlers getting run over multiple times and people just passing by like nothing happens. I like to think THAT doesn’t happen in Japan..
The bystander effect is really strong in Japan.
there is a culture of 'not embarassing' the people on the ground by helping them when they're taught since young age not to trouble other people, to receive help is embarrassing and to give help is humiliating to the victim, while bystander effect is happening, for it to happen to this extreme isn't simply just bystander effect, its cultural and a social norm.
@@drakke125Channel I mean in that case how about when it happens daily in countries like in France or in the U.S, don't get me wrong it's not as similarly "frowned upon" as you've pointed out to when it comes to giving help to homeless people and such, yet helping out another civilian in need isn't a norm either... especially when in more popular places like Paris or Los Angeles.
Though if I had to be honest, while I dislike myself the peer pressure present in Japan, out of the places that have been mentioned I don't really know which one would be the worst for someone to live in the streets but it seems it's the least potentially degrading.... excluding Kabukicho... maybe.
Feel free to disagree but from what I've seen.
Be it Japan or any other rich and popular country, the whole aspect of the bystander effect might be just one element but it's still something that heavily weighs down everyone, despite how self aware we are about it.
Great video as always Nobita, I always learn a lot from these.
Health and safety are two things Japan is good at, but those are just basic human needs. In the end we want happiness and that's not something Japanese society is good at sustaining at all. Knowing that other countries are suffering doesn't do that either. Psychological needs or Self-fulfillment are not easily fulfilled and sometimes even undermined by facets of Japanese culture as explained in the video. I truly hope positive change will come soon.
Well... cold hearted but sometimes very helpful .
Great commentary 👍