What I found most interesting in this video is that (different from where I live and what I have seen everywhere), these women have a real concern about the difficulties their man face in life. Often when we speak about gender equality, people assume "equality" is something only meant for women. We are - many times - oblivious about the unfairness which our men are treated too, not only in Japan, where men are expected to work themselves to death, but in the whole world we have this blindness about male difficulties... This is a topic worth discussing openly! This was a great video, a job well done!
I think Japanese men have it especially hard, though. It goes hand in hand with the stricter gender roles. In western countries on the other hand, more and more women work as much as their spouses, so if there's still a wage gap it's fair to only look at it from a female perspective.
@Kyle Rook 80 percent of suicide is male bc male suicides usually succeed whereas women survive them more often, if you take out this factor, women actually commit suicide more often than men. combat deaths? men are the ones who start war, women are generally very anti- war. fmg illegal?? maybe in the west, in many places it is done still. male circumcision is a religious thing, imposed by male dominated religion. men do have problems but many of them are caused by other men. also, check out violence against women stats if you think womens lives are easier, lmao.
The last women were very friendly (and drunk). They even asked me to come with them to the next bar. Pretty interesting experience. By the way, my Facebook page is here: facebook.com/YutaAokiOfficial
Japanese women seem very sane & reasonable. Here in the USA they are well ... not so much. Of course I'm generalizing and frankly my generation (gen x) are also sane and reasonable.
+ThatJapaneseManYuta Seems like that japanese women are fine about that, but gap in Japan seems like extremely huge - mic.com/articles/84601/the-countries-with-the-highest-number-of-female-executives-are-not-the-ones-you-d-expect I think japanese women deserves more. Not for sake of gender equality, feminism and etc. But just because they're contributing to Japan's life more than they receiving. And at least there should not be such things - edition.cnn.com/2014/06/20/world/asia/japan-assembly-sexist-outburst/ - if japanese want to represent themselves as modern society.
I agree with the short-haired woman. There is nothing wrong with traditional male role or female roles. However, the problem is people do not get to choose what role they want because of their gender. An extremely talented and motivated woman should not be hindered when trying to climb the corporate ladder just because she is a woman. At the same time, a nurturing and patient man should not be looked down upon if he chooses to be a stay at home dad in order to spend more time with his children.
+boredstephanie does woman still find those "nurturing and patient man who want to spend more time at home with children" attracting? if yes, maybe I will become one too :D
+Johan Öberg (Protoman85) if both parties are working then i agree BUT if she stays at home and does not work then WHY should he do extra work on top of his normal work?
+sleepup7931 Because being a housewife (if you have kids) never ends. So if the housewife never gets a break the husband shouldn't either. He should come home and help with the kids/housework. That's an equal marriage, both work separately and then together to keep the house running.
Ty Monae ♡ I have a "female "child and now she is in university and doing master degree and I have looked after lots of nephews and nieces , so please, house work is not hard at all even with children hanging around, too many parents do not teach their children to clean after themselves and they give up too easily
Well I definitely helped my (now ex) wife with the house work when but then I changed jobs and started working 70hrs a week. She still demanded that I helped with the house. I just couldn't deal with coming home to a sink full of dishes after working a10-15hr day. I'm not saying that women should do the dishes. I'm saying that if one person is part time and the other person is double time the part timer should do the dishes.
I really enjoyed when the pair of mature women expressed themselves. How they changed their tones, how they were more passionate. The younger ladies Yuta usually interviews giggle allot and speak in a more monotone way. They also gave very balanced and thoughtful answers. How they spoke reminded me of some Japanese films I've seen. It's good to hear mature women speak.
This was really interesting and very honest! I laughed hard as I heard the one lady saying "I´d like to have a wife too..." She was really funny and had very good points.
***** Maybe or maybe not. I live in Germany and women can do here whatever they want and to me they seem very happy and strong. Gender is not that important. The only thing that matters is, what sort of human being is inside of that body.
***** I grew up in a family, where everyone helped eachother. There are some things men do better than women, so are things, that women are better fitted for. I don´t live in a world, where all the women are my enemies, only the assholes are. And there are assholes in every country, every gender and race. Strong and independent women have always been feared by weak men. I´m not one of them. And you really should come visit Germany. The women here are a lot stronger and more equalized to men, than it is in the US. Europe in general is great in that case and Germany is not really "my" country, I just live here, because I like freedom, democracy and gender equality.
***** Yeah, by putting Saudi Arabia and Germany in one sentence, you are not proving a lot of intelligence either. Those are like Heaven and Hell compared to each other. I´m not a "men´s rights" activist but a humanist, in which the "men" are also included. But there´s no point explaining myself, if you haven´t met a strong, intelligent and beautiful woman, worthy of being your first lady. I´m glad to be me and having such a strong woman in my life. Thank god for doing good work in that department.
I certainly can't blame Japanese women who don't want to become career women (the female correspondent to a salaryman) in Japan. I couldn't cut it as a salaryman. Japan is a workaholic society and salarymen are expected to work 60 to 80 hours a week usually. The issue is highly complicated now because of the lingering after effects of what's called The Lost Decade -- the period immediately after the Japanese asset price bubble burst in 1991.
+Alan Falleur It's what happens when you have a culture that depends too much on shaming and politeness. There are many routes out, such as opportunism, liberalism, or frankness, but far too few people are actually driving the change that needs to happen in Japan. Everyone's essentially waiting for someone to loosen the release valves.
+TwoTube2 Yeah, their "progressive" policies have made Sweden which was one knows as one of the safest countries for women into one of the most dangerous countries for women. Rape by foreign men is now a ridiculously common occurrence. The "progressives" will not talk about it because it hurts their "progressive" cred, Sweden is an absolutely disgusting country, and so is the UK which is where I live.
Kriplovski No, just buttmad from virtually any other channel that has to deal with /pol/ and /v/ bleeding out. Greentext is fine by me, but it's a telltale sign of where you're from.
I am so impressed by the answer the ladies give and how they explain both sides and always respectful, this is one of the things I love about Japanese people they have Respect and honor.
Watching your videos, Japanese women all seem so level-headed and selfless. It's like every answer is the result of actual contemplation rather than just repeating what someone else has told them to think or believe. So refreshing.
5:00 Yes, if Japan achieved more gender equality without changing the work environment and the high amounts of stress and excess work (people regularly die from overwork in Japan) then there just would be more overworked and unhappy people. But many people are also not happy with the gender roles they have to fill (both men and women). So it would be better for everyone if things relaxed and people didn't have to work such long hours, and then people who want to stay at home and raise children can do that, and people who want to work can do that, and there will be more equality and less stress for everyone.
The freedom of choice, is indeed the only clue. Freedom of choice always will bounce with traditions. Traditions, in most cases, are sophisms to prevent change. So, mentally, the first step in any sociëty, is to attach less (or even near to zero) importance to traditions.
Those were some wonderfully diverse and well-thought out comments by the ladies. I'm not used to seeing people have a look at things from several different angles. How sad :D
There are no problems with the traditional roles of men and women in Japan and all over the world. The problem is there is no freedom of gender roles and society dictates the traditional roles with an invisible but overcoming pressure in some cases like Japan and some other countries around the world. This pressure overwhelms the individual as time passes and people are forced to accept their role in the society. Thats why in Japan people have different image in public and behind closed doors. Society just needs to move on, modernize and respect individual choices and rights much more.
You are right and I hate feminists who criticize women who prefer to stay at home with their children, the same feminists that would criticize a man who prefers to stay at home with his children.
What we call social pressure is the interactions and expectations of individuals to other individuals. And unfortunately we cannot dictate that. If people want to act in a certain way they will. They dont they dont. While it's true it influences our decisions. We must take responsibility for them. Nothing is stopping u to doing what u want to do but urself. We just like to convince ourselves that we have no choice in our social situations.
@Kathy Sharp It's not that easy, though. It's only illegal to pay less for the same job if those are tariff jobs, meaning there is a fixed contract for all employees. However in higher paying jobs usually you have to negotiate your own contract plus salary, so any difference of payment comes from your negotiation. One could argue that women get disadvantaged in those negotiations, because apparently the starting offer for job applicants starts lower on average. This is true to some limited degree in some fields, but the biggest difference comes simply from the fact that women on average also aim not as high as men in negotiations. And the latter is unfortunate, but hardly anyones fault. Technically we could only sue those companies who fall into the former category and actively start with lower offers just because the applicant is female, but 1.) it is assumed that this doesn't contribute that much to the gap (as the negotiation timidity) and 2.) this is very hard to prove, so there might be not a real change anyway even if there was a legal approach to this and we might probably just end up with unsolidified accusations, which are not very helpful. We can just hope that we become aware of our biases, towards both men and women; and by becoming aware of them ultimately overcoming them.
thorin dyer but i guess i cant change your gross hypersexual racist minds, im not going to stretch that far for a lost cause. im just saying please take my word for it and treat women like humans. not sex toys/machines. sex is great, but shaming and fetishizing a race over it is too far. know when to quit.
+Mordecai Kinsey Sorry did I just trigger you? Look be beta all you want but don't expect men to follow suit. We know better than to bend to every whim a woman has. As much respect as you have for women. I promises you they will not return that respect in kind. If you wanna get respect from women. Try being indifferent. Btw I lived in japan for many years and they don't care that I think their women are beautiful. In face they think it's a compliment. How you got racism from that is beyond me
"sorry did i just trigger you?" what are you some kind of Disney villain lmao? im not SAYING bend to every whim a woman has, that wouldnt be equality and that would be built on an abusive relationship. im just saying treat them kindly. respectfully. just like you should men. yes, Japanese women are gorgeous, thats not my point. my point is that asshole that first commented creeped me out with his fetishism, especially on the comment section of a Japanese mans video. it was inappropriate and rude and disrespectful. he must be dense if all he wanted to say on the matter was call me a fag, so im giving up for both of our benefits. i hope what i said made even the slightest sense to you.
This video is pretty interesting! While one of the drunk (lol) women mention how overworked men are and if that's something women should aspire to, the other woman later mentioned how people should work how they want to, regardless of gender. I think some companies should not work their employees so hard and also give women the chance to get promoted if they want to. Not all women want to do this, and they don't have to, but there are women who do, and they should have that choice.
同意のポイントがたくさんあります。 I agree with many things. I don't think Japan is a sexist country, and I think things are good the way they are. It depends where you were born, and what you want. Coming from a country where men are expected to work, pay for women, women are treated as more of a special princesss. However, where I was born the housewife culture is, not common. Women who stay at home, stay at home, but they are not expected to clean and cook lots like Japan. Even some parents expect the man to help with stuff even if the many is the only worker. In Japan, cooking and cleaning is way more important, and SHUFUs are hardworking, but from other countries this is viewed as sexist. And having to look pretty all the time is viewed as sexist. However, I think its a good thing and I want to look pretty and be expected to do such things. I think most women do. If most women didnt want such, there would be a mass movement of women trying to change things, rather than focusing on how to make cute bentos or shopping for make up. I have yet to meet a girl who actually doesnt enjoy looking nice. But I have met girls who wonder why those born in some countries dont want to always do these things. Now of course its culture difference. There are some girls who dont want these things in Japan though, I have seen girls on the train who dont wear make up and heard of people who never want to get married or have kids. Those people have the freedom to chose it. Yes, I think they will be looked down uppon by some people, but thats kinda what happens no matter where you are when you go against societys norms. In Japan there are many reasons why housewife culture is important though. And nessisary. 1. Food and health is concidered important in Japan. The culture for cooking real fresh prepared meals (not easy lunchables, toss some candy snacks in a bag an some pudding for the typical Canadian school lunch, or cerial in a bowl for bfast). Fresh = healthy, not sugar concentrated prepackaged meals. This takes time to make. With work hours in Japan, its typical for the man to be out of house 9-13 hours a day. This leaves no time to prepare 3 meals, but if a housewife is there, its possible. 2. Cleaning. Keeping a clean house is important in Japan for many reasons, not just logically it looks nice. But to prevent mould and bugs which Japan is VERY susceptible to. Working such long hours, its impossible to keep a whole house clean like this. There are many other reasons. but these are two strong important ones. And I don't think Japan needs to change. We have the longest life expectancy, high health, most ppl are upper middle class, education is looked up uppon, not a lot of drug users or crimes, most children grow up going into university and theres not a lot of welfare bums or poor compaired to other countries. So I would say, Japan is doing just fine.
+Elana Vital yeah she has her own channel, but she's just commenting on a video, I've seen her comment on a buzzfeed video, it's just another comment rolling through the comments section.
Well her comments are ignorant. Don't you think Japanese women have dreams, too? What would you say to a little girl with the idea that she can be both a cardiologist and a loving wife and mother someday? "Sorry, sweetheart. You can only be a housewife because it's the status quo." Never mind the fact that the suicide rate of Japanese men is super high (it's not easy being the sole breadwinner of the house, the only person who has the responsibility of earning money to support the family. What if you have an abusive boss? You can't take the time to find a better job without the need for another source of income of say, your wife working part time), or that there might be a Japanese man out there who would prefer to be home with the kids than working in a cubicle. Social pressures are not fair for BOTH genders.
+Elana Vital Why your comment is so ignorant. Why do you think that because a women choses to stay at home and be a housewife it = her not having dreams???? Any women can be anything she wants, but being a mother and being a cadiologst means, you have to toss your kids off to a baby sitter. This is not that kind of society. Its the way it is not because women are tied down, but they CHOSE to do so. Those who want to keep working, just don't have kids. Its their own choice. Japanese work hours do not let people, man or female , take such long vacations. Work hours are long and hard and keeping the same job is recomended as part of society. Moving around companies or changing jobs is not a huge thing here. So the western ideals that a woman can just go on and off work freely as she raises her kids is not fiting here. Its not like other countries. You work and you keep working. If you take time off to have kids , it usually means you wont go back to work. If you do go back to work when the kids are older, its fine, but most people don't do such thing. babysitter are costly, and it causes issues at home , as cooking a good meal and cleaning is important in Japan. I find it disurbing how you mention high suicide rate, as if that plays any role in anything. Is that all you can think of, Japan, the country of suicide , over worked and whale eaters. Our suicide rate is not as high as the western media loves to talk about. And the reason for suicide is NOT the reasons why most western people argue. The suicide rate, or anything related also has nothing to do with such issues such as being a housewife or not. So bringing that up is strange. Its obscene to see western views being pushed into a country. You think the way we do things is fked up, you try to push your views onto us. It is up to US to chose our own lives. I chose to be a housewife when I am older and that is MY CHOISE. I don't do it because I am forced, I do it because I enjoy, as do many people. If thats not what YOU want to do, then go ahead, YOU DO YOU. But don't sit there and dictate how other people work, and use words that make it look like its wrong and bad and that people are desperate for the opposite and to get western ideals shoved down their throats.
Your videos are always so interesting to me, because I also think about social and cultural issues related to inequality, gender, and discrimination in my country, and I also think about issues related to race and inequality. I truly appreciate learning from your videos because I get to hear what ordinary Japanese people think about these issues--I know the people you interview don't represent all Japanese women''s perspectives, but it still gives me an interesting picture. Thank you.
Those male individuals would not have to work excessive hours if there was equal opportunity for women. There would be a stronger workforce overall and efforts could be evened out.
+Victor Tesla I'm Japanese - I know about how patriarchal Japanese society can be. I'm just saying in theory if these societal notions about the man as the breadwinner etc could be changed then the potential of half the population could be fully realised.
+sushiflower12 yeah, so you realise it has to do with culture since it's your culture that creates the structure of your workforce, among other things. so I guess both of you are right
You noticed the major difference in this video versus the USA culture? There's no blame game. Women here are not mistreating men. They aren't ridicule them, being rude, mean, lashing out, etc. This is the approach you give to invite an open minded discussion over controversial subjects. There's no "men are pigs" or "women need to keep making me sandwiches". They looked at both sides of the spectrums and that is something I would honestly support. I just don't support groups who have to use negativity and toxicity behavior as a means to get their way.
Man these women are awesome and actually talked cons of men too in their soceity and they are actually giving solutions like minimum work time and balance which is also great for men, i mean we don't hear these kind of things from feminist where they don't give a crap about men.
Feminism should be about not discriminating based on gender and giving the same possibilities and responsibilities. These people actually realize this. I clearly don't dislike feminism, but the feminists we encounter in Western society are usually just crazy and give feminism a bad name. It's more like they have a personal vendetta against men, if you know what I mean.
***** The feminists in western society rarely seem to care about the men. That's what he/she pointed out as the really good thing. Of course there are feminists who do talk about men and want to make things better for them as well, but they don't shout as loud as the rest.
Very interesting. I have many different channels in youtube for culture videos and they are a lot of fun, but some of them focus on simple and small things with cute girls as click bait, which is fine, but it was interesting to see a very real subject. The women were very intelligent and had great points. Cool to see different opinions from real Japanese people.
This is probably the most well-balanced video on gender-eqaulity on youtube (or ever). A lot of the times, all you get is a bunch of male-bashing - which doesn't really help the conversation. I may not agree with some of their views, but they all seem to be level-headed and articulate. Thanks for sharing!
+su o Not the point. It's good to get both sides to speak on an issue. Women aren't "oppressed" in Japan, that's a very strong word. Inequality doesn't always mean oppressed. Oppression is more like cutting the tongue off of a woman for "speaking out of turn", or forcing women to stay home otherwise they'll get a beating from their husband, or not allowing women to have a voice or vote. Women in Japan have a voice, they can vote, and they're allowed to go where they want and say what they want. They have the rights of any man, and the only thing wrong is social setbacks. They are talking about those social setbacks. It would be nice to hear men's point of view and see if they agree with the women, or if they think both men and women suffer social issues.
+Adonis Batheus nice way to put it dude! People use "Oppressed" in such a wrong way these days. The feminazis and everything don't consider social inequality as inequality, they view it as "OPPRESSION". People need to understand it's not oppression, but rather a societal inequality.
It's true but it's annoying sometimes when some women don't use the women-only cars when there are obviously more space there and ends up crowding the public cars while men can't move to the women's
There are highschool girls that deliberately set up guys for groping so they can ask for money. When a woman cries rape then you can be assured that the guy will be destroyed in his career and will be treated like a monster. There are places in Japan that have female bathrooms having different scented shampoos, soaps, etc. If you don`t understand the culture then don`t judge quickly.
eualadindeal But the majority of women are already “punished” (sexually harassed on the train) for doing nothing. Which one is better? Being molested vs not to be able to take certain cars. I personally prefer the latter.
How refreshing those japanese women are! They think for themselves and are almost free of political correct and mind numbing feminism. They feel with their men and see that they have a hard time too. I love them!
+LyCaN you had me until the gay people argument. So what if the US has a higher amount of gay people? And yes, there hasn't been any studies of same-sex parenting affecting children, but your theory doesn't really stand either, as sexual orientation is determined at birth
***** Sexual orientation is not determined at birth. That is not how evolution works. Being "gay" is a lifestyle choice and is usually made after certain past experiences. You don't ever see 5 year olds coming out of the closet.
Hey Yuta! You produce some really insightful videos on Japan and I watch them frequently. I generally notice some spelling errors in the captions, and was wondering if you would like a caption editor to help fix the small mistakes. Let me know!
You should interview some men as well and even make a video about what's the point of their "hatarakisugi" asking if they wouldn't prefer working less to spend more time with their family and possibly even avoid the "nomikai" they are forced too join pretty often.
Wow, japanese women are so mature, smart and well-spoken. If you do that kind of interview in the west, most women would probably just rant about how man have it better and is unfair for girls (which is not entirely false). But, the ladies in this video just not stated those differences and unfairness but also looked at it from different perspectives and made various points even for mans.
It would've been interesting if you had asked some men what they think of the gender gap as well. Also a very interesting point was brought up by those 2 women is that some of these male executives who work really hard in big companies would probably not have been able to do so without the support of their wives at home (from housework like cleaning and cooking to emotional support) especially since house husbands isn't really a common thing if any.
This was a great video and brought up some really good points to consider. It's not enough to force a change in the gender gap, there has to be a change in the work culture. If I were a woman in Japan, I wouldn't want to work overtime without pay and feel obligated to go drinking if I have a family. If there were more balance in work & home, then it would be easier to balance the gender gap.
Greetings from Spain. Thanks for the video, this is the first time I see real Japanese women talking about serious issues, and let me tell you, they are way more intelligent than most of the women I encounter in my daily life. Subscribed.
It is equal in my opinion. Women work hard at work they come home they do work inside the house. Men work hard at work and work on the outside of the house. The reason why men get paid more on average is due to the extra hours and the dangers of the jobs we do that women will never consider doing but if a man and woman does the same job, same hours then the pay is same, it would be illegal if it wasn't. And the work force is male dominated because "MOST" don't want to work, their become housewives that's why they want to get married.
It's really interesting to see the different perspectives in these videos. To be honest the range of opinions the people have don't seem that different from here in the United States. If you weren't asking them specifically about Japan I could see a lot of their responses applying pretty directly to the US as well. Especially the drunk lady. LOL
+Amatsu Folinheim Ultimately the inequality comes more from the fact that a woman can't do that same job as a man because they aren't taken seriously, get paid the same, and have a house husband that isn't ridiculed by society for choosing to stay home and do the supporting role. Which is what her friend pointed out later in the video. It has nothing to do with the role itself, it has to do with what genitalia the person trying to fill the role has. That's the inequality.
+Ceryk No they CAN do the same jobas a man but they do not WANT to do the same amount of hours or sacrifices(like not seeing your wife,children,having fun) .The business is there to make money not LIFESTYLE CHOICES
sleepup7931 If you knew as much as you think you did, you wouldn't be saying that. While I am no expert, I know enough about Japanese society to know how their social conduct affects their business practices. Which is mostly negative because Japan is rated as one of the least productive workforces in the entire world. Something that a Japanese company has proven by removing the things that cause that. Their employees get almost half the year off, paid. They get the same amount of work done in less time because they stopped running it like a Japanese company.
Ceryk " Hiroko Yano, who’s worked 20 years at the same company, was recently told she could become a manager. The mother of three, who puts in an average of two hours of overtime a day, rejected the idea, saying she doesn’t want to be stuck in the office until midnight like the other managers. “I’d like to have a job where I don’t have to do overtime,” said Yano, 45, a team leader at an information technology solutions company, who asked that it not be named. “Sometimes I think it would be better to give up working altogether and become a housewife, so that I can see my children when they come back from school.” www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/07/30/national/social-issues/japans-mmidnight-hours-thwart-abes-plans-working-moms/#.Vi8Xd7dGaUk
+Amatsu Folinheim why? Because she said what everyone was expecting to say from a submissive women? clap clap Hurray girl, you were well tamed, you are wise ! ;D .......
I really enjoyed seeing this. It was refreshing to see people (in this case women) that genuinely considered both sides of the spectrum (albeit it appeared to just come to mind at that moment in their lives). This is part of the reason I am very interested in the openness and general culture of Japan and have a strong desire to live it.
I loved the last two women, especially when she said that not everyone is a man or woman. It was great to see someone address that. I found your video because I am considering studying feminism, gender, and sexuality in Japan for graduate school. I want to learn as much as I can from real people.
This video had some really interesting perspectives on the gender gap and gender roles! I wouldn't mind having a long conversation with these women on other issues myself!
Great video. I really think it's made stronger for the focus on the perspective of working women. If you wanted you could do a short series addressing the views of other groups in different videos like housewives in one and working men in another, for example, but this one is good by itself. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing the interviews. One suggestion: Please consider stabilizing the footage, next time - it's easily accomplished in post or even with TH-cam's own editor.
I think this is the most interesting video you've done, it would be nice if you upload to the spanish channel too because here in Spain Japan is seen like a sexist/ male-chauvinistit country and they don't understand that it is just about different cultures and social organization like the last woman said. Keep doing this great videos ;)
Well done! The next time someone asks me why I expatriated from the West to the East, I'll send them a link to this video. Intellectual honesty, how refreshing.
I've been waiting for this day.. The day the immaculate Japanese man Yuta finally messes up!! BEHOLD!!! 2:18!!! "Mostely" you kept the game going for a while now Yuta, but I have proven once and for all that you are, in fact, human!!!
6:51 albe. Please note that my comment was a joke. I know his stuff isn't always perfect, I just wanted to point out the mistakes without sounding too rough about it y'kno. I guess I feel special by pointing out mistakes. ||D
Great segment That Japanese Man Yuta, especially your demographics gives a snippet of a real opinions and views on the issue about Gender gap and Gender inequality; especially towards women in japan.
When the short haired woman at then end said "Some people are neither men nor women" was she referring to non-binary/genderqueer people or was she saying some people don't want the typical male or female social role? Awareness of non-binary people is increasing in the UK. Is this happening in Japan as well?
I think it was what u said about some people wanting their opposite roles, idk I think it's kind of a stretch to think they'd be so casual mentioning non binary people
This video was awesome! I like that girl on the right at the end of the video... she's so smart and well-spoken! By the way, I live in Japan and work at a Japanese company, but I don't do much overtime. I often think to myself "there is no way I could work more than this unless I had someone at home to help me!!" So I understand the pressure that many Japanese couples feel to support each other, especially when the man has to work such long hours. It's not fair for women to feel that pressure to support her husband !
In my opinion it is interesting and important to see the japanese view of this ississues since if you try to look for decent information about it and you don't speak japanese you will only find western comments bashing japan for not being as the US in this problem. I think that a problem about japanese society must be seen from a japanese perspective rather than a western perspective in order to understand it better and after it draw conclusions abd opinions.
Thanks for the great video! I was wondering, for the parts of your videos where you write the question asked, if you could write it in Japanese as well as English. Sometimes I want to show these videos to my Japanese friends (who don't speak much English) to see what they think, and they can obviously understand the answers given by the interviewees, but they don't know the question unless I translate it. Sometimes I'm also curious as to which words you use or how you go about asking a certain thing, so it would help me learn Japanese, too. Just a thought :) Thanks again!
I like that these women are trying to see the things from both perspectives, not only pointing out where they have it worse, as you often see it in the west. Btw, was that in Jyugaoka?
i think it would be interesting to ask about how the japanese feels about the schools in japan, not just for lets say "other adults" but to teachers and students of JHS(中学校) and HS(高等学校), if they think its ok, or if they think the schools could be less rigorous especially for JHS. from what i've heard and saw the students's lifes are very stressful. for me its even hard to call them kids. from the amount of time they expend having fun and studying, i can pretty much call them mini adults or something like that. i know its nearly impossible to find a student in the street but yuta can be lucky :v
***** 3 exams per day? damn i would fail miserably. and with "they start learning 3 weeks before" you mean the students start studying for the exams 3 weeks before them?
+whothe hellcares I'm a teacher in Japan, so I can offer a different perspective. Yes, Japanese teachers seem to be more tolerant of a little bit of talking in class. This is mostly because Japanese students are pretty well-behaved in general, so the talking rarely gets out-of-hand. In the West, if you don't control talking in class strictly, the class will become impossible to control. Japan's exactly the opposite. If my class is becoming a bit too talkative, all I have to do is say "shut up" (urusai) in an angry voice, and they WILL shut up. So, yes, classes are a bit less stressful in that way. However, I do feel sorry for quiet students who sit next to chatty students, it must be really hard to concentrate on the lesson.
Good video, but I have a question what happened to the video with subtitles in Spanish? I know English and I understand perfectly well but the truth is always nice to see them in your language Original.
Hi Yuta! I really enjoy watching your videos. Especially when you ask Japanese locals about their honest opinions on interesting topics. I was wondering if you can do an interview about what are their first thoughts when they think of Muslim people or the religion Islam...other questions that would be interesting to know such as, 1. If they have ever encountered a Muslim person? 2. Do they stereotype Muslim people only from the Middle East? 3. Are they aware that most Muslim population comes from South East Asia, mainly Indonesia? I'm interested to know because of all the ISIS hype that's been going on around the world and Donald Trump's controversies about banning Muslim people coming to USA that affected a British Muslim family that was planning to go to Disney World when their flights was cancelled by Homeland Security ( or something like that). And what are their thoughts about their goverment making more available 'halal' restaurants and food to encourage Muslim people to visit Japan in order to boost Japan's tourism industry. Sorry it's very long! I hope you're able to consider my request. Keep up the good work and I look forward to more future vids from you! (^^)v.
+asyikok Most of us English speakers even forget real women exist... Then many of us see a video like this one. True women are beautiful, because they have beautiful, extremely wise and reasonable brains.
Gender Equality Ranking could mean a lot of things and not just one thing. My country Malaysia for example, in the category of women participation in workforce, it's ranked #120 but when it comes to wage equality (women/men doing same work) it's ranked #6 in the world. We are also ranked #1 in women's enrollment in tertiary education (furthering studies after high school). This leads me to think that if Malaysian women were to participate more in the workforce and also don't quit work after they get kids and become housewives, our overall Gender Equality ranking would be much better than 100+. Just saying.... :)
I see it in Germany, women do better at universities and most of them work. And then they have a career like a man but no family. Most women now start a family when they are over 30, this might be ok for a man but has biological issues for a women. So it can be tricky. The family support could be better in Germany too. About the gender gab, I did a video about this topic for Germany. It is hard to really compare it, because often the same qualification, age and period in a position is not compared.
What I found most interesting in this video is that (different from where I live and what I have seen everywhere), these women have a real concern about the difficulties their man face in life. Often when we speak about gender equality, people assume "equality" is something only meant for women. We are - many times - oblivious about the unfairness which our men are treated too, not only in Japan, where men are expected to work themselves to death, but in the whole world we have this blindness about male difficulties...
This is a topic worth discussing openly!
This was a great video, a job well done!
I think Japanese men have it especially hard, though. It goes hand in hand with the stricter gender roles. In western countries on the other hand, more and more women work as much as their spouses, so if there's still a wage gap it's fair to only look at it from a female perspective.
👍🏻
@Kyle Rook 80 percent of suicide is male bc male suicides usually succeed whereas women survive them more often, if you take out this factor, women actually commit suicide more often than men. combat deaths? men are the ones who start war, women are generally very anti- war. fmg illegal?? maybe in the west, in many places it is done still. male circumcision is a religious thing, imposed by male dominated religion. men do have problems but many of them are caused by other men. also, check out violence against women stats if you think womens lives are easier, lmao.
The last women were very friendly (and drunk). They even asked me to come with them to the next bar. Pretty interesting experience.
By the way, my Facebook page is here: facebook.com/YutaAokiOfficial
Drunk people always talk the truth haha.
I was thinking that they were talking a lot!😂
Japanese women seem very sane & reasonable. Here in the USA they are well ... not so much. Of course I'm generalizing and frankly my generation (gen x) are also sane and reasonable.
+ThatJapaneseManYuta they may have been drunk, but they had a lot of interesting points that i didnt expect. very interesting.
+ThatJapaneseManYuta Seems like that japanese women are fine about that, but gap in Japan seems like extremely huge - mic.com/articles/84601/the-countries-with-the-highest-number-of-female-executives-are-not-the-ones-you-d-expect I think japanese women deserves more. Not for sake of gender equality, feminism and etc. But just because they're contributing to Japan's life more than they receiving. And at least there should not be such things - edition.cnn.com/2014/06/20/world/asia/japan-assembly-sexist-outburst/ - if japanese want to represent themselves as modern society.
I agree with the short-haired woman. There is nothing wrong with traditional male role or female roles. However, the problem is people do not get to choose what role they want because of their gender. An extremely talented and motivated woman should not be hindered when trying to climb the corporate ladder just because she is a woman. At the same time, a nurturing and patient man should not be looked down upon if he chooses to be a stay at home dad in order to spend more time with his children.
There are some men who would rather stay home.
+boredstephanie Absolutely!
+boredstephanie that's right :)
Yes!! Finally words that I wanted to hear :)
+boredstephanie does woman still find those "nurturing and patient man who want to spend more time at home with children" attracting? if yes, maybe I will become one too :D
Around 3 minutes, she said if she didnt ask her husband to do housework he won't notice she's doing all the work. That's true everywhere I think!
+Johan Öberg (Protoman85) if both parties are working then i agree BUT if she stays at home and does not work then WHY should he do extra work on top of his normal work?
+sleepup7931 Because being a housewife (if you have kids) never ends. So if the housewife never gets a break the husband shouldn't either. He should come home and help with the kids/housework. That's an equal marriage, both work separately and then together to keep the house running.
Ty Monae ♡ I have a "female "child and now she is in university and doing master degree and I have looked after lots of nephews and nieces , so please, house work is not hard at all even with children hanging around, too many parents do not teach their children to clean after themselves and they give up too easily
Well I definitely helped my (now ex) wife with the house work when but then I changed jobs and started working 70hrs a week. She still demanded that I helped with the house. I just couldn't deal with coming home to a sink full of dishes after working a10-15hr day. I'm not saying that women should do the dishes. I'm saying that if one person is part time and the other person is double time the part timer should do the dishes.
I would have to agree with that. I was working 40 hours a week and my ex-girlfriend was unemployed.
I really enjoyed when the pair of mature women expressed themselves. How they changed their tones, how they were more passionate. The younger ladies Yuta usually interviews giggle allot and speak in a more monotone way. They also gave very balanced and thoughtful answers. How they spoke reminded me of some Japanese films I've seen. It's good to hear mature women speak.
This was really interesting and very honest! I laughed hard as I heard the one lady saying "I´d like to have a wife too..." She was really funny and had very good points.
+Arvid Shirasb maybe she should try being a salaryman, she'd then love to go back being the "oppressed" woman
***** Indeed! Let them be whatever they want to be. :)
***** Maybe or maybe not. I live in Germany and women can do here whatever they want and to me they seem very happy and strong.
Gender is not that important. The only thing that matters is, what sort of human being is inside of that body.
***** I grew up in a family, where everyone helped eachother. There are some things men do better than women, so are things, that women are better fitted for.
I don´t live in a world, where all the women are my enemies, only the assholes are. And there are assholes in every country, every gender and race.
Strong and independent women have always been feared by weak men. I´m not one of them. And you really should come visit Germany. The women here are a lot stronger and more equalized to men, than it is in the US. Europe in general is great in that case and Germany is not really "my" country, I just live here, because I like freedom, democracy and gender equality.
***** Yeah, by putting Saudi Arabia and Germany in one sentence, you are not proving a lot of intelligence either. Those are like Heaven and Hell compared to each other.
I´m not a "men´s rights" activist but a humanist, in which the "men" are also included. But there´s no point explaining myself, if you haven´t met a strong, intelligent and beautiful woman, worthy of being your first lady. I´m glad to be me and having such a strong woman in my life. Thank god for doing good work in that department.
I like how rational their approach is and how they show concern for everyone, not only their own gender.
It seems to be a Japanese trait
I certainly can't blame Japanese women who don't want to become career women (the female correspondent to a salaryman) in Japan. I couldn't cut it as a salaryman. Japan is a workaholic society and salarymen are expected to work 60 to 80 hours a week usually. The issue is highly complicated now because of the lingering after effects of what's called The Lost Decade -- the period immediately after the Japanese asset price bubble burst in 1991.
+Alan Falleur *career women
+Alan Falleur It's what happens when you have a culture that depends too much on shaming and politeness. There are many routes out, such as opportunism, liberalism, or frankness, but far too few people are actually driving the change that needs to happen in Japan. Everyone's essentially waiting for someone to loosen the release valves.
*****
If only Japan wasn't so big on the *seeming* part of life.
+TwoTube2 Yeah, their "progressive" policies have made Sweden which was one knows as one of the safest countries for women into one of the most dangerous countries for women. Rape by foreign men is now a ridiculously common occurrence. The "progressives" will not talk about it because it hurts their "progressive" cred, Sweden is an absolutely disgusting country, and so is the UK which is where I live.
Kriplovski
No, just buttmad from virtually any other channel that has to deal with /pol/ and /v/ bleeding out. Greentext is fine by me, but it's a telltale sign of where you're from.
I am so impressed by the answer the ladies give and how they explain both sides and always respectful, this is one of the things I love about Japanese people they have Respect and honor.
Do a male version ! It would be interesting to see the divergence of opinion....
I agree.. please do a male version, Yuta.
+sypim theres already plenty of male ideas look it up or make your own content
@Kaustav Chakraborty Misogynistic scumbag spotted
the 2 older women clearly had a lot more life experience and maturity
that last woman, talking about the report -- her response was /really/ fair and very insightful.
Watching your videos, Japanese women all seem so level-headed and selfless. It's like every answer is the result of actual contemplation rather than just repeating what someone else has told them to think or believe. So refreshing.
5:00 Yes, if Japan achieved more gender equality without changing the work environment and the high amounts of stress and excess work (people regularly die from overwork in Japan) then there just would be more overworked and unhappy people. But many people are also not happy with the gender roles they have to fill (both men and women). So it would be better for everyone if things relaxed and people didn't have to work such long hours, and then people who want to stay at home and raise children can do that, and people who want to work can do that, and there will be more equality and less stress for everyone.
The freedom of choice, is indeed the only clue. Freedom of choice always will bounce with traditions. Traditions, in most cases, are sophisms to prevent change. So, mentally, the first step in any sociëty, is to attach less (or even near to zero) importance to traditions.
Those were some wonderfully diverse and well-thought out comments by the ladies. I'm not used to seeing people have a look at things from several different angles. How sad :D
There are no problems with the traditional roles of men and women in Japan and all over the world. The problem is there is no freedom of gender roles and society dictates the traditional roles with an invisible but overcoming pressure in some cases like Japan and some other countries around the world. This pressure overwhelms the individual as time passes and people are forced to accept their role in the society. Thats why in Japan people have different image in public and behind closed doors. Society just needs to move on, modernize and respect individual choices and rights much more.
So true, man 😔
but how would one test any of these things? how does one measure?
You are right and I hate feminists who criticize women who prefer to stay at home with their children, the same feminists that would criticize a man who prefers to stay at home with his children.
Alysia Williams en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman
but that's whoare the most vocal and the most powerful in the movment.
What we call social pressure is the interactions and expectations of individuals to other individuals.
And unfortunately we cannot dictate that. If people want to act in a certain way they will. They dont they dont.
While it's true it influences our decisions. We must take responsibility for them. Nothing is stopping u to doing what u want to do but urself.
We just like to convince ourselves that we have no choice in our social situations.
what i really liked about these women is they were always trying to see the other side.
"Is it unfair or is it just having different roles?" These are some very true words. I couldn't agree more.
@Kathy Sharp It's not that easy, though. It's only illegal to pay less for the same job if those are tariff jobs, meaning there is a fixed contract for all employees. However in higher paying jobs usually you have to negotiate your own contract plus salary, so any difference of payment comes from your negotiation.
One could argue that women get disadvantaged in those negotiations, because apparently the starting offer for job applicants starts lower on average. This is true to some limited degree in some fields, but the biggest difference comes simply from the fact that women on average also aim not as high as men in negotiations. And the latter is unfortunate, but hardly anyones fault. Technically we could only sue those companies who fall into the former category and actively start with lower offers just because the applicant is female, but 1.) it is assumed that this doesn't contribute that much to the gap (as the negotiation timidity) and 2.) this is very hard to prove, so there might be not a real change anyway even if there was a legal approach to this and we might probably just end up with unsolidified accusations, which are not very helpful.
We can just hope that we become aware of our biases, towards both men and women; and by becoming aware of them ultimately overcoming them.
This is probably the most insightful video you've ever done.
I love these types of videos.
Can you ask Japanese women what they think about facial hair? I think that would be interesting.
I like these videos as well. He should ask some Japanese women do they like to get pounded hard or do they like it soft. Oh, and by foreigners. 😂😄
***** i dont care what you call me, im not here for that. i just want you to understand that was NOT appropriate. dont be disgusting.
thorin dyer but i guess i cant change your gross hypersexual racist minds, im not going to stretch that far for a lost cause. im just saying please take my word for it and treat women like humans. not sex toys/machines. sex is great, but shaming and fetishizing a race over it is too far. know when to quit.
+Mordecai Kinsey Sorry did I just trigger you? Look be beta all you want but don't expect men to follow suit. We know better than to bend to every whim a woman has. As much respect as you have for women. I promises you they will not return that respect in kind. If you wanna get respect from women. Try being indifferent. Btw I lived in japan for many years and they don't care that I think their women are beautiful. In face they think it's a compliment. How you got racism from that is beyond me
"sorry did i just trigger you?" what are you some kind of Disney villain lmao? im not SAYING bend to every whim a woman has, that wouldnt be equality and that would be built on an abusive relationship. im just saying treat them kindly. respectfully. just like you should men. yes, Japanese women are gorgeous, thats not my point. my point is that asshole that first commented creeped me out with his fetishism, especially on the comment section of a Japanese mans video. it was inappropriate and rude and disrespectful. he must be dense if all he wanted to say on the matter was call me a fag, so im giving up for both of our benefits. i hope what i said made even the slightest sense to you.
This video is pretty interesting! While one of the drunk (lol) women mention how overworked men are and if that's something women should aspire to, the other woman later mentioned how people should work how they want to, regardless of gender. I think some companies should not work their employees so hard and also give women the chance to get promoted if they want to. Not all women want to do this, and they don't have to, but there are women who do, and they should have that choice.
The woman in pink next to the short haired one is very wise. Good video.
I think the woman at 5:00 is speaking wisdom. I agree with her.
+hasen195 i agree
agree
+hasen195 What she said would really work out well for guys.
+Krystal Lawrence Would work out well for everybody. Evidenced by how great a country Japan is.
***** I'm a woman and I disagree wholeheartedly. But you're probably a guy, or a submissive woman.
Very interesting range of answers. Seemed to cover the disussion around the topic nicely.
Your videos are very impressive. The subjects, the interviews and the subtitling, all excellent.
同意のポイントがたくさんあります。 I agree with many things.
I don't think Japan is a sexist country, and I think things are good the way they are.
It depends where you were born, and what you want.
Coming from a country where men are expected to work, pay for women, women are treated as more of a special princesss.
However, where I was born the housewife culture is, not common.
Women who stay at home, stay at home, but they are not expected to clean and cook lots like Japan. Even some parents expect the man to help with stuff even if the many is the only worker.
In Japan, cooking and cleaning is way more important, and SHUFUs are hardworking, but from other countries this is viewed as sexist. And having to look pretty all the time is viewed as sexist.
However, I think its a good thing and I want to look pretty and be expected to do such things. I think most women do. If most women didnt want such, there would be a mass movement of women trying to change things, rather than focusing on how to make cute bentos or shopping for make up. I have yet to meet a girl who actually doesnt enjoy looking nice. But I have met girls who wonder why those born in some countries dont want to always do these things. Now of course its culture difference.
There are some girls who dont want these things in Japan though, I have seen girls on the train who dont wear make up and heard of people who never want to get married or have kids. Those people have the freedom to chose it.
Yes, I think they will be looked down uppon by some people, but thats kinda what happens no matter where you are when you go against societys norms.
In Japan there are many reasons why housewife culture is important though. And nessisary.
1. Food and health is concidered important in Japan. The culture for cooking real fresh prepared meals (not easy lunchables, toss some candy snacks in a bag an some pudding for the typical Canadian school lunch, or cerial in a bowl for bfast). Fresh = healthy, not sugar concentrated prepackaged meals. This takes time to make. With work hours in Japan, its typical for the man to be out of house 9-13 hours a day. This leaves no time to prepare 3 meals, but if a housewife is there, its possible.
2. Cleaning. Keeping a clean house is important in Japan for many reasons, not just logically it looks nice. But to prevent mould and bugs which Japan is VERY susceptible to. Working such long hours, its impossible to keep a whole house clean like this.
There are many other reasons. but these are two strong important ones.
And I don't think Japan needs to change.
We have the longest life expectancy, high health, most ppl are upper middle class, education is looked up uppon, not a lot of drug users or crimes, most children grow up going into university and theres not a lot of welfare bums or poor compaired to other countries. So I would say, Japan is doing just fine.
Don't you have your own channel?
+kanadajin3 As always, you seem incapable of deep thinking.
+Elana Vital yeah she has her own channel, but she's just commenting on a video, I've seen her comment on a buzzfeed video, it's just another comment rolling through the comments section.
Well her comments are ignorant. Don't you think Japanese women have dreams, too? What would you say to a little girl with the idea that she can be both a cardiologist and a loving wife and mother someday? "Sorry, sweetheart. You can only be a housewife because it's the status quo." Never mind the fact that the suicide rate of Japanese men is super high (it's not easy being the sole breadwinner of the house, the only person who has the responsibility of earning money to support the family. What if you have an abusive boss? You can't take the time to find a better job without the need for another source of income of say, your wife working part time), or that there might be a Japanese man out there who would prefer to be home with the kids than working in a cubicle. Social pressures are not fair for BOTH genders.
+Elana Vital Why your comment is so ignorant. Why do you think that because a women choses to stay at home and be a housewife it = her not having dreams???? Any women can be anything she wants, but being a mother and being a cadiologst means, you have to toss your kids off to a baby sitter. This is not that kind of society. Its the way it is not because women are tied down, but they CHOSE to do so. Those who want to keep working, just don't have kids. Its their own choice.
Japanese work hours do not let people, man or female , take such long vacations. Work hours are long and hard and keeping the same job is recomended as part of society. Moving around companies or changing jobs is not a huge thing here. So the western ideals that a woman can just go on and off work freely as she raises her kids is not fiting here.
Its not like other countries. You work and you keep working.
If you take time off to have kids , it usually means you wont go back to work.
If you do go back to work when the kids are older, its fine, but most people don't do such thing.
babysitter are costly, and it causes issues at home , as cooking a good meal and cleaning is important in Japan.
I find it disurbing how you mention high suicide rate, as if that plays any role in anything. Is that all you can think of, Japan, the country of suicide , over worked and whale eaters. Our suicide rate is not as high as the western media loves to talk about. And the reason for suicide is NOT the reasons why most western people argue. The suicide rate, or anything related also has nothing to do with such issues such as being a housewife or not. So bringing that up is strange.
Its obscene to see western views being pushed into a country. You think the way we do things is fked up, you try to push your views onto us. It is up to US to chose our own lives. I chose to be a housewife when I am older and that is MY CHOISE. I don't do it because I am forced, I do it because I enjoy, as do many people. If thats not what YOU want to do, then go ahead, YOU DO YOU.
But don't sit there and dictate how other people work, and use words that make it look like its wrong and bad and that people are desperate for the opposite and to get western ideals shoved down their throats.
Man, Yuta, I think you're very good, in all your videos, at finding people who truly express their opinions. Great job. Keep it up!
One of my favorite topics to date. Thanks for uploading!
Your videos are always so interesting to me, because I also think about social and cultural issues related to inequality, gender, and discrimination in my country, and I also think about issues related to race and inequality. I truly appreciate learning from your videos because I get to hear what ordinary Japanese people think about these issues--I know the people you interview don't represent all Japanese women''s perspectives, but it still gives me an interesting picture. Thank you.
Those male individuals would not have to work excessive hours if there was equal opportunity for women. There would be a stronger workforce overall and efforts could be evened out.
And unicorns too
+sushiflower12 nope, you are not thinking about it very hard.
+Victor Tesla I'm Japanese - I know about how patriarchal Japanese society can be. I'm just saying in theory if these societal notions about the man as the breadwinner etc could be changed then the potential of half the population could be fully realised.
+뿡뿡! ^__^ Is that a criticism of my idea or just an unsubstantiated statement that adds nothing to the debate?
+sushiflower12 yeah, so you realise it has to do with culture since it's your culture that creates the structure of your workforce, among other things.
so I guess both of you are right
You noticed the major difference in this video versus the USA culture? There's no blame game. Women here are not mistreating men. They aren't ridicule them, being rude, mean, lashing out, etc. This is the approach you give to invite an open minded discussion over controversial subjects. There's no "men are pigs" or "women need to keep making me sandwiches". They looked at both sides of the spectrums and that is something I would honestly support. I just don't support groups who have to use negativity and toxicity behavior as a means to get their way.
Man these women are awesome and actually talked cons of men too in their soceity and they are actually giving solutions like minimum work time and balance which is also great for men, i mean we don't hear these kind of things from feminist where they don't give a crap about men.
tell me about it, they say they speak for men and women but really are fantastic at screwing over the people they say they help.
Feminism should be about not discriminating based on gender and giving the same possibilities and responsibilities. These people actually realize this. I clearly don't dislike feminism, but the feminists we encounter in Western society are usually just crazy and give feminism a bad name. It's more like they have a personal vendetta against men, if you know what I mean.
Werewolf211 they just play identity politics and they are authoritarians which came from Marxism that is y i'm not a fan of them.
I agrre the modern feminist got a wrong way of Vendeta and became distorted
***** The feminists in western society rarely seem to care about the men. That's what he/she pointed out as the really good thing.
Of course there are feminists who do talk about men and want to make things better for them as well, but they don't shout as loud as the rest.
In many foreign countries, women are more demanding of gender equality, whereas in Japan, men are more demanding of gender equality.
Very interesting. I have many different channels in youtube for culture videos and they are a lot of fun, but some of them focus on simple and small things with cute girls as click bait, which is fine, but it was interesting to see a very real subject.
The women were very intelligent and had great points. Cool to see different opinions from real Japanese people.
Your camera is really shaky Yuta, but the video overall was splendid, and I'm glad you initiated this survey. :)
This is probably the most well-balanced video on gender-eqaulity on youtube (or ever). A lot of the times, all you get is a bunch of male-bashing - which doesn't really help the conversation. I may not agree with some of their views, but they all seem to be level-headed and articulate. Thanks for sharing!
The people you interview are always so intelligent generally it makes for a very pleasant viewing/learning experience
Your interviews are always so interesting!! :D good job!
It'd be nice if you asked some of the men as well
***** Not the reason why you'd want to hear what the men think
***** ....
+su o Not the point. It's good to get both sides to speak on an issue. Women aren't "oppressed" in Japan, that's a very strong word. Inequality doesn't always mean oppressed. Oppression is more like cutting the tongue off of a woman for "speaking out of turn", or forcing women to stay home otherwise they'll get a beating from their husband, or not allowing women to have a voice or vote.
Women in Japan have a voice, they can vote, and they're allowed to go where they want and say what they want. They have the rights of any man, and the only thing wrong is social setbacks. They are talking about those social setbacks. It would be nice to hear men's point of view and see if they agree with the women, or if they think both men and women suffer social issues.
+Marcus “Kongaii” Uppala maybe you can ask for it on your own? if you're sooo unsatisfied make your own content:)
+Adonis Batheus nice way to put it dude! People use "Oppressed" in such a wrong way these days. The feminazis and everything don't consider social inequality as inequality, they view it as "OPPRESSION". People need to understand it's not oppression, but rather a societal inequality.
It is sad they think things like women-only cars are "unfair" to men, when it is aggressions from men that made them necessary in the first place.
It's true but it's annoying sometimes when some women don't use the women-only cars when there are obviously more space there and ends up crowding the public cars while men can't move to the women's
VivianStorm, I wish Yuta had brought this up... but I guess he wasn't there for a debate. Oh well.
i dont think there should be women only cars.
There are highschool girls that deliberately set up guys for groping so they can ask for money. When a woman cries rape then you can be assured that the guy will be destroyed in his career and will be treated like a monster.
There are places in Japan that have female bathrooms having different scented shampoos, soaps, etc.
If you don`t understand the culture then don`t judge quickly.
eualadindeal But the majority of women are already “punished” (sexually harassed on the train) for doing nothing. Which one is better? Being molested vs not to be able to take certain cars. I personally prefer the latter.
How refreshing those japanese women are! They think for themselves and are almost free of political correct and mind numbing feminism.
They feel with their men and see that they have a hard time too. I love them!
it's very refreshing, Japan has a very traditional view of things
+LyCaN you had me until the gay people argument. So what if the US has a higher amount of gay people? And yes, there hasn't been any studies of same-sex parenting affecting children, but your theory doesn't really stand either, as sexual orientation is determined at birth
***** Sexual orientation is not determined at birth. That is not how evolution works. Being "gay" is a lifestyle choice and is usually made after certain past experiences. You don't ever see 5 year olds coming out of the closet.
Wow, that lady at 4:45 just started saying some amazing points of view I hadn't thought about. Very good video!
Such great opinions. Was a pleasure hearing them all!
Lady at 5:00 really hit the nail on the head. I really enjoyed listening to her internal monologue! Great video.
Hey Yuta! You produce some really insightful videos on Japan and I watch them frequently. I generally notice some spelling errors in the captions, and was wondering if you would like a caption editor to help fix the small mistakes. Let me know!
You should interview some men as well and even make a video about what's the point of their "hatarakisugi" asking if they wouldn't prefer working less to spend more time with their family and possibly even avoid the "nomikai" they are forced too join pretty often.
Wow, japanese women are so mature, smart and well-spoken. If you do that kind of interview in the west, most women would probably just rant about how man have it better and is unfair for girls (which is not entirely false). But, the ladies in this video just not stated those differences and unfairness but also looked at it from different perspectives and made various points even for mans.
It would've been interesting if you had asked some men what they think of the gender gap as well. Also a very interesting point was brought up by those 2 women is that some of these male executives who work really hard in big companies would probably not have been able to do so without the support of their wives at home (from housework like cleaning and cooking to emotional support) especially since house husbands isn't really a common thing if any.
very interesting thoughts! thank you for uploading
Excellent interviews.
This was a great video and brought up some really good points to consider. It's not enough to force a change in the gender gap, there has to be a change in the work culture. If I were a woman in Japan, I wouldn't want to work overtime without pay and feel obligated to go drinking if I have a family. If there were more balance in work & home, then it would be easier to balance the gender gap.
super interesting, this was a great vid man
Greetings from Spain. Thanks for the video, this is the first time I see real Japanese women talking about serious issues, and let me tell you, they are way more intelligent than most of the women I encounter in my daily life. Subscribed.
Really, really interesting. Thank you so much for making this video.
A lot of great responses in this interview video. It's awesome hearing these different points of view. Thanks a lot.
It is equal in my opinion. Women work hard at work they come home they do work inside the house. Men work hard at work and work on the outside of the house. The reason why men get paid more on average is due to the extra hours and the dangers of the jobs we do that women will never consider doing but if a man and woman does the same job, same hours then the pay is same, it would be illegal if it wasn't. And the work force is male dominated because "MOST" don't want to work, their become housewives that's why they want to get married.
It's really interesting to see the different perspectives in these videos. To be honest the range of opinions the people have don't seem that different from here in the United States. If you weren't asking them specifically about Japan I could see a lot of their responses applying pretty directly to the US as well. Especially the drunk lady. LOL
A wise woman at 5:00, unlike contemporary feminists.
+Amatsu Folinheim Ultimately the inequality comes more from the fact that a woman can't do that same job as a man because they aren't taken seriously, get paid the same, and have a house husband that isn't ridiculed by society for choosing to stay home and do the supporting role. Which is what her friend pointed out later in the video. It has nothing to do with the role itself, it has to do with what genitalia the person trying to fill the role has. That's the inequality.
+Ceryk No they CAN do the same jobas a man but they do not WANT to do the same amount of hours or sacrifices(like not seeing your wife,children,having fun) .The business is there to make money not LIFESTYLE CHOICES
sleepup7931 If you knew as much as you think you did, you wouldn't be saying that. While I am no expert, I know enough about Japanese society to know how their social conduct affects their business practices. Which is mostly negative because Japan is rated as one of the least productive workforces in the entire world. Something that a Japanese company has proven by removing the things that cause that. Their employees get almost half the year off, paid. They get the same amount of work done in less time because they stopped running it like a Japanese company.
Ceryk "
Hiroko Yano, who’s worked 20 years at the same company, was recently told she could become a manager. The mother of three, who puts in an average of two hours of overtime a day, rejected the idea, saying she doesn’t want to be stuck in the office until midnight like the other managers.
“I’d like to have a job where I don’t have to do overtime,” said Yano, 45, a team leader at an information technology solutions company, who asked that it not be named. “Sometimes I think it would be better to give up working altogether and become a housewife, so that I can see my children when they come back from school.” www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/07/30/national/social-issues/japans-mmidnight-hours-thwart-abes-plans-working-moms/#.Vi8Xd7dGaUk
+Amatsu Folinheim why? Because she said what everyone was expecting to say from a submissive women? clap clap Hurray girl, you were well tamed, you are wise ! ;D .......
I really enjoyed seeing this. It was refreshing to see people (in this case women) that genuinely considered both sides of the spectrum (albeit it appeared to just come to mind at that moment in their lives). This is part of the reason I am very interested in the openness and general culture of Japan and have a strong desire to live it.
"Just narrowing the gender gap won't necessarily make people happy." truth has been spoken
I loved the last two women, especially when she said that not everyone is a man or woman. It was great to see someone address that. I found your video because I am considering studying feminism, gender, and sexuality in Japan for graduate school. I want to learn as much as I can from real people.
This video had some really interesting perspectives on the gender gap and gender roles! I wouldn't mind having a long conversation with these women on other issues myself!
Great video. I really think it's made stronger for the focus on the perspective of working women. If you wanted you could do a short series addressing the views of other groups in different videos like housewives in one and working men in another, for example, but this one is good by itself. Thanks.
Really great video. It's nice to see this from another point of view.
This was well made. If it were a paper, (essay like) it would be graded highly. I respect how this was put together.
Thank you for sharing the interviews.
One suggestion: Please consider stabilizing the footage, next time - it's easily accomplished in post or even with TH-cam's own editor.
Very good video, well shot, well translated well done :)
I think this is the most interesting video you've done, it would be nice if you upload to the spanish channel too because here in Spain Japan is seen like a sexist/ male-chauvinistit country and they don't understand that it is just about different cultures and social organization like the last woman said. Keep doing this great videos ;)
Well done! The next time someone asks me why I expatriated from the West to the East, I'll send them a link to this video. Intellectual honesty, how refreshing.
Very well thought out questions Yuta. It is interesting to see what Japanese think about all these universal problems :) Thank you.
Very interesting video this one. Thank you for the really interesting lesson in Japanese life for the real human beings living in Japan.
This was really insightflu. Thank you for the great video!
Thank you! I've been wondering how this discussion goes in Japan for some time.
thank you for this. and interesting look into Japanese society
Nice video Yuta!
I've been waiting for this day.. The day the immaculate Japanese man Yuta finally messes up!! BEHOLD!!! 2:18!!! "Mostely" you kept the game going for a while now Yuta, but I have proven once and for all that you are, in fact, human!!!
6:51 albe. Please note that my comment was a joke. I know his stuff isn't always perfect, I just wanted to point out the mistakes without sounding too rough about it y'kno. I guess I feel special by pointing out mistakes. ||D
Great video, Yuta 👍
Great segment That Japanese Man Yuta, especially your demographics gives a snippet of a real opinions and views on the issue about Gender gap and Gender inequality; especially towards women in japan.
When the short haired woman at then end said "Some people are neither men nor women" was she referring to non-binary/genderqueer people or was she saying some people don't want the typical male or female social role? Awareness of non-binary people is increasing in the UK. Is this happening in Japan as well?
I think it was what u said about some people wanting their opposite roles, idk I think it's kind of a stretch to think they'd be so casual mentioning non binary people
This video was awesome! I like that girl on the right at the end of the video... she's so smart and well-spoken! By the way, I live in Japan and work at a Japanese company, but I don't do much overtime. I often think to myself "there is no way I could work more than this unless I had someone at home to help me!!" So I understand the pressure that many Japanese couples feel to support each other, especially when the man has to work such long hours. It's not fair for women to feel that pressure to support her husband !
In my opinion it is interesting and important to see the japanese view of this ississues since if you try to look for decent information about it and you don't speak japanese you will only find western comments bashing japan for not being as the US in this problem. I think that a problem about japanese society must be seen from a japanese perspective rather than a western perspective in order to understand it better and after it draw conclusions abd opinions.
やっぱ賢いね女性は。この辺の問題についてはTVメディアなどが、一部の意見や意向を過剰に取り上げて必要以上に騒いでるだけで、そこには何らかの意図的なものを感じてたけど、このインタビューに応えてる女性の感覚や意見は現実的ですんなり受け入れられた。あくまで自分の回りの感覚でだけど、これが普通の人ってカンジだな。
改善すべき現実もあると思うけど、政府やフェミニスト団体、大手メディアなどが発信するもののズレこそ最優先で改善すべき問題だな
I like the short haired lady :) She's right, you should be able to choose what works for you regardless of gender
I really liked your channel!! Keep up the good work. I just wish there were less videos on dating, though!!! hahahaha
This video is extremely interesting!
Thanks, i just watch this rn but it was helpful to my homework
Thanks for the great video!
I was wondering, for the parts of your videos where you write the question asked, if you could write it in Japanese as well as English. Sometimes I want to show these videos to my Japanese friends (who don't speak much English) to see what they think, and they can obviously understand the answers given by the interviewees, but they don't know the question unless I translate it.
Sometimes I'm also curious as to which words you use or how you go about asking a certain thing, so it would help me learn Japanese, too.
Just a thought :) Thanks again!
wow so many hard questions... I loved the video! :D
I like that these women are trying to see the things from both perspectives, not only pointing out where they have it worse, as you often see it in the west.
Btw, was that in Jyugaoka?
Great video!
HOLY SHIT THAT WOOOMAN IS SMAAAAART. PLEASE DO MORE INTERVIEWS WITH HER!
あの方がめっちゃ脳が回ってる気がするんだけど。 本当に天才な人間を目撃できてると！！！しぃぃげきした！！
i think it would be interesting to ask about how the japanese feels about the schools in japan, not just for lets say "other adults" but to teachers and students of JHS(中学校) and HS(高等学校), if they think its ok, or if they think the schools could be less rigorous especially for JHS. from what i've heard and saw the students's lifes are very stressful. for me its even hard to call them kids. from the amount of time they expend having fun and studying, i can pretty much call them mini adults or something like that. i know its nearly impossible to find a student in the street but yuta can be lucky :v
***** 3 exams per day? damn i would fail miserably. and with "they start learning 3 weeks before" you mean the students start studying for the exams 3 weeks before them?
***** cool
+whothe hellcares I'm a teacher in Japan, so I can offer a different perspective. Yes, Japanese teachers seem to be more tolerant of a little bit of talking in class. This is mostly because Japanese students are pretty well-behaved in general, so the talking rarely gets out-of-hand. In the West, if you don't control talking in class strictly, the class will become impossible to control. Japan's exactly the opposite. If my class is becoming a bit too talkative, all I have to do is say "shut up" (urusai) in an angry voice, and they WILL shut up. So, yes, classes are a bit less stressful in that way. However, I do feel sorry for quiet students who sit next to chatty students, it must be really hard to concentrate on the lesson.
Good video, but I have a question what happened to the video with subtitles in Spanish? I know English and I understand perfectly well but the truth is always nice to see them in your language Original.
Hi Yuta! I really enjoy watching your videos. Especially when you ask Japanese locals about their honest opinions on interesting topics.
I was wondering if you can do an interview about what are their first thoughts when they think of Muslim people or the religion Islam...other questions that would be interesting to know such as,
1. If they have ever encountered a Muslim person?
2. Do they stereotype Muslim people only from the Middle East?
3. Are they aware that most Muslim population comes from South East Asia, mainly Indonesia?
I'm interested to know because of all the ISIS hype that's been going on around the world and Donald Trump's controversies about banning Muslim people coming to USA that affected a British Muslim family that was planning to go to Disney World when their flights was cancelled by Homeland Security ( or something like that).
And what are their thoughts about their goverment making more available 'halal' restaurants and food to encourage Muslim people to visit Japan in order to boost Japan's tourism industry.
Sorry it's very long! I hope you're able to consider my request.
Keep up the good work and I look forward to more future vids from you! (^^)v.
Wow they seem much more understanding than some extreme feminists I know of
ikr
because they are not feminist
+asyikok the word extreme is there for a reason
+Paul Grant Yes they are. I'm a feminist and I agree with them.
+asyikok Most of us English speakers even forget real women exist... Then many of us see a video like this one. True women are beautiful, because they have beautiful, extremely wise and reasonable brains.
Gender Equality Ranking could mean a lot of things and not just one thing. My country Malaysia for example, in the category of women participation in workforce, it's ranked #120 but when it comes to wage equality (women/men doing same work) it's ranked #6 in the world. We are also ranked #1 in women's enrollment in tertiary education (furthering studies after high school). This leads me to think that if Malaysian women were to participate more in the workforce and also don't quit work after they get kids and become housewives, our overall Gender Equality ranking would be much better than 100+. Just saying.... :)
Well done video. Thank you.
i love this video. Gold
Thats a pretty good video
I see it in Germany, women do better at universities and most of them work. And then they have a career like a man but no family. Most women now start a family when they are over 30, this might be ok for a man but has biological issues for a women. So it can be tricky.
The family support could be better in Germany too.
About the gender gab, I did a video about this topic for Germany. It is hard to really compare it, because often the same qualification, age and period in a position is not compared.