Tadao Ando Wonders Where the Dreamers Have Gone

[Mulboyne]

[maraboutslim]

[Coligny]

[plaid_knight]

[BigInJapan]

[Coligny]

[dimwit]

[Fullback]

You know you've been in Japan too long when you understand those web translations . . .

[Typhoon]

[Tsuru]

We're useless and should shut the fuck up, but we should of course keep buying into the greatest pyramid scheme of them all to keep their pensions afloat. These people can't die off quick enough as far as I'm concerned.

[plaid_knight]

I am inclined to agree with Tsuru. We deserve a living wage and steady work. It's fine to work hard and contribute so long as the system hasn't been gamed to work against us.

[sublight]

The kids of today have no imagination! They have no concept of how to properly falsify safety data, forge certifications, or bury complaints.

The kids of today have no sensitivity! They no nothing about cultivating the human relationships necessary to collude on contract bids, get inspectors to ignore the corners you've cut, and artificially inflate fees.

The kids of today have no focus! Instead of pumping out one featureless concrete box after another, all they think about is nonsense like artistry, engineering and creativity.

This country has no future if they cannot be like the architects of the past 40 years.

[legion]

The kids of today have no imagination! They have no concept of how to properly falsify safety data, forge certifications, or bury complaints.

bravo

To which I would add the kids today have no idea how enjoy the loose monetary policy of the BOJ, and benefit personally from the bubble economy.

Nor should they object to the gutting of their bit of Tokyo, and the replacement of the premises which had allowed small businesses to come through with a generic half empty mall.

Or the refusal of the older generation to allow young talent to come through, preferring to patronize subservient copies of themselves.

Mr Ando has made the classic mistake of assuming that the entire world is contained within the limits of his perception.

[Mulboyne]

[Typhoon]

It's not the youngsters, it's the old people:

Japan Echo: A Contrarian View of Young People Today

Brilliant.

[Tsuru]

Excellent piece. Nail, head, etc...
Unfortunately we can only hope that the premise of the last paragraph will become reality... I find it difficult to share his optimistic vision. But what other choice do we have?

[matsuki]

Great article!

[ChargerCarl]

Good stuff indeed, but very depressing.

[matsuki]

Good stuff indeed, but very depressing.

Indeed, we're on the titanic of countries and we're already taking on water...well, ok, more like a lil tugboat.

[ChargerCarl]

the baby boomers fucked as all so bad

(idk what you call them in japan I'm in the U.S.)

[Catoneinutica]

the baby boomers fucked as all so bad

(idk what you call them in japan I'm in the U.S.)

You're quite right. The gerontocracy in Japan would rather pour rice and milk down the sewer than allow imports; a few thousand old-bastard farmers have the Japanese consumer by the throat. And the West is only incrementally better. The boomers and '68-ers - as the French call the generation of buffoons who rioted in 1968 - seem to have certainly feathered their nests well, particularly those in the public sector.

-catone
-don't trust anyone over sixty!

[McTojo]

[wuchan]

[quote="Catoneinutica"]You're quite right. The gerontocracy in Japan would rather pour rice and milk down the sewer than allow imports]
I'm a farmer........

Much of the problem is the JA. It's a giant bureaucracy that has one goal: keep their thousands of redundant employees working and pay pensions. The JA does not produce any crops. Out of all the customers I have for my crops, the JA pays the lowest price. Their rice is also some of the most expensive in the supermarkets. The mark up is well over 200%. We only sell to them to get the lower priced insurance plans that they offer. Not very many companies offer crop disaster insurance. CO-OP pays higher prices but the insurance is also more expensive. The small farmers in Japan are at the mercy of the JA and everyone knows it. Many old cunts keep doing business with them only out of lazyness. JA drop points are everywhere most being within a ten minute drive from the farm (our local drop is literally across the street).
/rant

[legion]

I'm a farmer........

Much of the problem is the JA. It's a giant bureaucracy that has one goal: keep their thousands of redundant employees working and pay pensions. The JA does not produce any crops. Out of all the customers I have for my crops, the JA pays the lowest price.

naruhodo

like everywhere else in Japan, the inverted pyramid, 6 lazy cvnts watching one person work

[ChargerCarl]

Such BS. It IS the Japanese consumer that buys Japanese goods. Japanese farmers know that if they open the market they'll eventually loose big with Japanese consumers! You're crazy. Don't blame the gerontocracy.

Wait what? I don't claim to be the most economically literate person out there, but this doesn't make sense to me. I mean, of course the japanese consumer buys japanese goods as thats pretty much their only option. Are japanese consumers so nationalistic that they would rather pay much more for domestically produced goods over cheaper imports? I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say here.

Also I'm not necessarily against farm subsidies. While yes, it has gone overboard to some extent do to economic rent seeking on the farmers side, I also recognize its an important aspect to national security.

The herbivore problem is systemic on a psychological level and has very little to do with the lack of job prospects. How the author tied that in with this recent herbivore phenomenon does not hold water. Life time employment with a fair work life balance wouldn't change anything.

I don't know about you, but that seems systemic to me.

[Yokohammer]

Much of the problem is the JA. It's a giant bureaucracy that has one goal: keep their thousands of redundant employees working and pay pensions ...

So true. Much of what the JA does amounts to extortion. Either you deal with them or give up the farm. It annoys me that people blame the farmers for Japan's agricultural woes (although admittedly some of 'em deserve a kick in the arse), when the real problem is that they're being reamed by the JA. But then, the general populace is being reamed by the j-bureaucracy in much the same way, so I guess it's just more of the same.

Disclaimer: I am not a farmer, but relatives and friends are, and I live in a farming area, so I get a first-hand look at what's going on. It ain't pretty.

[Fullback]

I'm dreaming that the younger generation would learn how to spell "lose."

[McTojo]

Wait what? I don't claim to be the most economically literate person out there, but this doesn't make sense to me. I mean, of course the japanese consumer buys japanese goods as thats pretty much their only option. Are japanese consumers so nationalistic that they would rather pay much more for domestically produced goods over cheaper imports? I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say here.

Also I'm not necessarily against farm subsidies. While yes, it has gone overboard to some extent do to economic rent seeking on the farmers side, I also recognize its an important aspect to national security.



I don't know about you, but that seems systemic to me.

No. That's not their only option. Japanese consumers are not locked into buying Japanese produce like your statement suggest, and they are not at the mercy of the JA like they used to be. When I go to a supermarket I can choose from a variety of different imported goods if the price is right.

[Catoneinutica]

So true. Much of what the JA does amounts to extortion. Either you deal with them or give up the farm. It annoys me that people blame the farmers for Japan's agricultural woes (although admittedly some of 'em deserve a kick in the arse), when the real problem is that they're being reamed by the JA. But then, the general populace is being reamed by the j-bureaucracy in much the same way, so I guess it's just more of the same.

Disclaimer: I am not a farmer, but relatives and friends are, and I live in a farming area, so I get a first-hand look at what's going on. It ain't pretty.

Should've chosen my words more carefully in my earlier post and written "a few thousand old-bastard JA members," which is what I intended to express (I imagine the total number of farmers in Japan is more than a few thousand). JA reminds me of another sclerotic institution, JAF, where something like 90% of the member fees go toward salaries and administrative overhead. But JAF you can at least tell to bugger off, but JA is apparently so menacing that the J-media is reluctant to even mention it, always citing the "political difficulty" of negotiating away trade barriers to agricultural imports.

[wuchan]

Should've chosen my words more carefully in my earlier post and written "a few thousand old-bastard JA members,"

The JA has over 10 million members, it is the largest agriculture cooperative on the planet. They have a strangle hold on food prices. McTojo's argument is invalid. The price difference is not that big. If a large competitor sells a product for a price that the JA doesn't like they are subject to harassment from the JA's many allies. Many supermarkets have started to deal directly with the farmers to offer local grown produce at low prices but only fresh produce not rice which is the JA's main product. They supply most of the rice competitors getting a cut of everyone's profit. Small farmers selling to stores won't hurt the JA. NHK is known to help them by bashing crops from other countries to instill fear in the average J-housewife, "ZOMG OLD RICE FROM CHINA!!!" and "Japanese rise is the best".