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For the number of people Japan's arable land is insufficient.
The lack of protein this caused in their diet is easy to see in the older generation over there.
Older people are about 4'5" or so.
My Japanese friend is about 5'6" but she is afraid to wear heels "I will be very tall".
The younger people are larger since they had more calories and protein when growing up in the 60's than in the 30's.
They however are productive with fish and shellfish farming and the indented coast is perfect for this activity.
If you think Whole Foods is expensive you have never been in a Tokyo grocery store ;)
American in Japan
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2012 Jun 11, 12:05am
>If you think Whole Foods is expensive you have never been in a Tokyo grocery store...
True! At least they have Costco here now.
American in Japan
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2012 Jun 12, 12:59am
One reason, but there are bigger reasons... Japan puts its effort and financesin keeping a good standard of living for those over 60, but things are hard for those in their 30s and 40s because of the high not discretionary expenses.
I of course would NOT try to live there because you are not Japanese pal. You will never be Japanese and you will be constantly reminded of it.
25-year resident of Tokyo here, I arrived from Sydney in 1988, and apart from 6 months living in Kansas have been here ever since. I have experienced very little racism here, almost none. I am CEO of my own company and have participated in Japanese life to the highest levels, and there are many others like me. Day to day, people are almost unfailingly polite, courteous, diligent and respectful. For those of you reading this list who are curious, I hope you have a chance to visit.
BayArea
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2012 Jul 4, 1:10am
I just returned from a week long business trip in Tokyo last week.
The rail system is incredible and the people are hard-working, respectful, curteous.
It was interesting to see how late the railways are packed with people. It's very common to see the traffic not ease up well into the night, 9PM, 10PM, 11PM...
There is certainly no shortage of professional, family, and social pressures and I guess it's not a major surprise that the suicide rate is high here.
If you look at the suicide list by country on wiki, it's equally interesting to see countries like Haiti, Jamaica mon (I do to lol), he Bahamas with nearly 0.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate
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There is some interest here so I will post this side.
(1) Japan doesn't honor the UN convention on childhood abductions (but this *might* change).
(2) Forced confessions by police. They can keep you for 21 days without even allowing you a single call.
(3) People (especially in Tokyo) are either way too busy (usually with work or studying) or they have too much time on their hands (few are at a happy medium).
(4) Dangerous cyclists on sidewalks...it has really gotten worse since 2005.
(5) The suicide rate is one of the highest in the world. In terms of numbers over 30,000 per year.
(6) Too much complaining by people without any accompanying action, just getting drunk.
(7) Still too many smokers (most of which have bad manners). Finally fewer than 50% or men now smoke here (but the rate was 60% in 1995)...
(8) Soft punishment for those under 20 who commit major crimes. They can literally get away with murder.
#crime