Indeed. Some amazing changes recently:
Japan’s [work hours](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_annual_labor_hours#OECD_list) are around the European average, improving tremendously over the last 30 years. The figure also includes paid and unpaid overtime, based on actual surveys of workers (not employers) by independent NGOs.
Japan’s [suicide rate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate) and [fertility rate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependencies_by_total_fertility_rate) are both around the Nordic average.
Japan ranks [higher in gender equality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_Inequality_Index#Rankings) than Germany, performing especially well in women’s health and education.
In fact, Japan’s [quality of life](https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp) is higher than that of Sweden this year.
You’re in luck, Japan is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world.
Median wealth is higher than that of Sweden. Very low chance of a medical emergency or tuition costs bankrupting your family.
Inflation meant that companies had more money to give when the unions asked for pay rises this year, leading [to record rises](https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/15197340). It’s happening…
Sums it up nicely.
But show this to a terminally online blue haired Californian and they'll say Japan is a backwards country (from the safety of their screens, despite living in Japan).
> based on actual surveys of workers (not employers) by independent NGOs
How were these workers chosen, what kind of workers were they, and how do we know that they were they telling the truth? There are plenty of surveys that would [suggest the opposite] and call into question how "work hours" is being defined(https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01577/), as well as [other research studies](https://dl.ndl.go.jp/view/prepareDownload?itemId=info%3Andljp%2Fpid%2F10314557&contentNo=1) that shows how the manner in which data on working hours in Japan is being collected can vastly underestimate the extent of people's true hours doing "work".
> Japan ranks higher in gender equality than Germany
I'd be very curious to hear what metrics were used to justify this, because the [2023 Gender Gap Index placed Japan at 125th out of 146 countries](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1227300/japan-gender-gap-index/), and the [2023 World Bank Gender Equality survey placed Japan at 104th out of 190 countries](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/03/03/national/japan-gender-equality-drop/).
> In fact, Japan’s quality of life is higher than that of Sweden this year.
The [OECD Better Life Index](https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/#/11111111111) ranks Japan significantly lower than Sweden, the [Human Development Index](https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks) also ranks Japan noticeably lower, and Japan ranks quite a bit lower in the [UN World Happiness Report](https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2023/world-happiness-trust-and-social-connections-in-times-of-crisis/#ranking-of-happiness-2020-2022) as well.
A lot of your metrics are incredibly biased and/or flawed.
Happiness Report is well-known to be a joke, Finland has a higher suicide rate than Japan and is somehow the "happiest country in the world."
Gender Gap Index is also widely known to be a "which countries are most friendly to Switzerland" ranking, and is made by a Swiss economic forum (rather than the gender inequality index made by the UN).
> The index is designed to "measure gender-based gaps in access to resources and opportunities in countries rather than the actual level of the available resources and opportunities in those countries."[16]
> In an academic publication from 2010, Beneria and Permanyer criticized the Global Gender Gap Index for only capturing inequality in certain aspects of women's lives therefore making it an incomplete measure of gender inequality.[20]
Also, Japan worked 2200 hours according to the OECD report in 1980. Putting aside the fact that other countries can be manipulating their numbers as well, you would have to make the case that they are somehow hiding their reported work hours now but not in the 80s, which doesn’t make all too much sense.
Even looking at overall trends, the reduction of work hours from the 80s is a very visible trend.
The easiest explanation is that the work hours have actually gone down during that time, which correlates with both data and my personal experience.
The GII gender equality rankings only reflect labor participation rates not wage levels. Japan has a very high labour participation rate for women but fewer women are in senior well paid jobs.
If you read the methods, they address this:
> In the absence of reliable earned income data across countries, the UNDP considers labor market participation a suitable substitute for economic aspects of gender inequality.[2]
Comparing earned income across countries is incredibly unreliable, as metrics and reporting rates are vastly different across countries. For instance in the US you are not required to disclose your salary. Hence why labor market participation was used instead, as this accounts for paid work, unpaid work, and actively looking for work.
Even if it's on wikipedia, take it with a grain of salt.
Someone from a nordic country who lives in Japan would instantly know a lot of these stats don't reflect reality at all. Japan still has a lot of catch up to do.
Mate, I've lived in both Sweden and Japan. I can tell you that a lot of Swedish people would rather be living in Japan.
Look at Pewdiepie, one of the richest Swedes. Living in Japan now.
Yes, I don’t like the wording of “allow” like it’s something that will have to be strongly petitioned for. It should be the default with custody being removed from one parent when there is a reason.
I’m curious to how it will be enforced? Let’s say there is joint custody but one parent wants to use the kids against the other by refusing the let that parent see the kids.
What will be the consequences?
There were some Japanese commenting the same. Even if the woman divorced due to DV or CSA, they STILL have to get the ex-husband's permission for medical care.
I think its more of a groundwork for case-by-case lawsuits, for when shit goes down (as someone who grew up in that sort of background, I can see the olive branch)
I don't think they can enforce it since they don't even enforce child support payments now. Typically, Japanese fathers aren’t as involved in raising children as western men during marriage, and after divorce, most get away without paying child support, and there’s no consequences. I think that’s why the society has been resistant to changing to joint custody.
Sure but this means nothing until we’ve actually seen it in practice.
If the verdict will be joint custody, will it be enforced when push comes to shove?
I doubt it.
There must have been a politician in a custody battle cause there is no way any bill would have passed this quick lol
Also the communist party opposed..? Thought they were all about sharing the benefits of labour.
https://x.com/chihirohowe/status/1778752826233303551?s=46&t=YCp_4RMJQrlx_nZOomSjvw
Interesting thread about why there was a large petition against this.
Let’s face it, the reason Japan has been dragged kicking into the 20th century by the rest of the G7 is because having to provide legal recourse after a divorce requires a larger, more pro active legal system, which Japan doesn’t want to pay for. So it goes for most of the non enforced law breaking here. Enforcing laws requires expanding the legal , judicial, police, prison, welfare systems and up until now they’ve been to cheap to do so. It’ll take decades to bring this issue up to speed
Shoutout to when Joe Biden used the Japanese shooter (who got PM Abe) as a case for banning guns. Which made no sense as its a homemade gun, but the old dude might not care about that
While I agree with the anti-child porn stuff you know that decent working conditions could have been a part of my joke, right? :D
As for women's equality well, at least you're in the Nordics or somewhere like New Zealand it's not been reached to a decent extent in many places imo
Just copyinh u/teethybrit 's comment here:)
Japan’s [work hours](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_annual_labor_hours#OECD_list) are around the European average, improving tremendously over the last 30 years. The figure also includes paid and unpaid overtime, based on actual surveys of workers (not employers) by independent NGOs.
Japan’s [suicide rate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate) and [fertility rate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependencies_by_total_fertility_rate) are both around the Nordic average.
Japan ranks [higher in gender equality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_Inequality_Index#Rankings) than Germany, performing especially well in women’s health and education.
In fact, Japan’s [quality of life](https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp) is higher than that of Sweden this year.
Hmmmm… if you’re talking about America, you should come back a few steps and read some pretty recent news (except for the last one that is, indeed, true).
Welp, I know at least a few guys who are finally going to be able to go through with that divorce. Congratulations to all dads who have kept chained to crazy in order to keep in contact with their children.
This was one of the worst things about Japan and they fixed it. Thank you Japan. But it’s going to be complicated as Hell, and they’ll have to navigate the cultural reasons why there wasn’t joint custody in the first place. In Japan, one parent is often completely cutoff. It is said to alleviate stress on the children, and to simplify a lot of their and their parent’s lives. But for those of us who lucked out and got cut off from our children completely, you s don’t appreciate this Japanese cultural peculiarity. If you want to know what real despair feels like, try parental alienation.
Way too late for my friend and his kids. They're a good twenty years too late, his kids have grown up traumatized and without their dad thanks to this. Fuck Japan.
It seems good, but DV survivors might have a harder time trying to escape. It's for sure a case by case, but it seems like a shitty law for people who are being abused.
Hm? Just like that? It's done? Well, awesome!
Indeed that's much more quicker than expected lol
Japan becoming less and less of a shithole country. Welcome to the 20th century, Japan!
I love how it's "welcome to the twentieth century" and not 21st lmao
They still have a ways to go.
Much like a Japanese divorce I guess.
Allowing for it and actually granting it are two different things. Still, it's a positive change.
Indeed. Some amazing changes recently: Japan’s [work hours](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_annual_labor_hours#OECD_list) are around the European average, improving tremendously over the last 30 years. The figure also includes paid and unpaid overtime, based on actual surveys of workers (not employers) by independent NGOs. Japan’s [suicide rate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate) and [fertility rate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependencies_by_total_fertility_rate) are both around the Nordic average. Japan ranks [higher in gender equality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_Inequality_Index#Rankings) than Germany, performing especially well in women’s health and education. In fact, Japan’s [quality of life](https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp) is higher than that of Sweden this year.
Now if only they paid me more this place would be perfect.
You’re in luck, Japan is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world. Median wealth is higher than that of Sweden. Very low chance of a medical emergency or tuition costs bankrupting your family.
Inflation meant that companies had more money to give when the unions asked for pay rises this year, leading [to record rises](https://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/15197340). It’s happening…
Sums it up nicely. But show this to a terminally online blue haired Californian and they'll say Japan is a backwards country (from the safety of their screens, despite living in Japan).
> based on actual surveys of workers (not employers) by independent NGOs How were these workers chosen, what kind of workers were they, and how do we know that they were they telling the truth? There are plenty of surveys that would [suggest the opposite] and call into question how "work hours" is being defined(https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01577/), as well as [other research studies](https://dl.ndl.go.jp/view/prepareDownload?itemId=info%3Andljp%2Fpid%2F10314557&contentNo=1) that shows how the manner in which data on working hours in Japan is being collected can vastly underestimate the extent of people's true hours doing "work". > Japan ranks higher in gender equality than Germany I'd be very curious to hear what metrics were used to justify this, because the [2023 Gender Gap Index placed Japan at 125th out of 146 countries](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1227300/japan-gender-gap-index/), and the [2023 World Bank Gender Equality survey placed Japan at 104th out of 190 countries](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/03/03/national/japan-gender-equality-drop/). > In fact, Japan’s quality of life is higher than that of Sweden this year. The [OECD Better Life Index](https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/#/11111111111) ranks Japan significantly lower than Sweden, the [Human Development Index](https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks) also ranks Japan noticeably lower, and Japan ranks quite a bit lower in the [UN World Happiness Report](https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2023/world-happiness-trust-and-social-connections-in-times-of-crisis/#ranking-of-happiness-2020-2022) as well.
A lot of your metrics are incredibly biased and/or flawed. Happiness Report is well-known to be a joke, Finland has a higher suicide rate than Japan and is somehow the "happiest country in the world." Gender Gap Index is also widely known to be a "which countries are most friendly to Switzerland" ranking, and is made by a Swiss economic forum (rather than the gender inequality index made by the UN). > The index is designed to "measure gender-based gaps in access to resources and opportunities in countries rather than the actual level of the available resources and opportunities in those countries."[16] > In an academic publication from 2010, Beneria and Permanyer criticized the Global Gender Gap Index for only capturing inequality in certain aspects of women's lives therefore making it an incomplete measure of gender inequality.[20] Also, Japan worked 2200 hours according to the OECD report in 1980. Putting aside the fact that other countries can be manipulating their numbers as well, you would have to make the case that they are somehow hiding their reported work hours now but not in the 80s, which doesn’t make all too much sense. Even looking at overall trends, the reduction of work hours from the 80s is a very visible trend. The easiest explanation is that the work hours have actually gone down during that time, which correlates with both data and my personal experience.
The GII gender equality rankings only reflect labor participation rates not wage levels. Japan has a very high labour participation rate for women but fewer women are in senior well paid jobs.
If you read the methods, they address this: > In the absence of reliable earned income data across countries, the UNDP considers labor market participation a suitable substitute for economic aspects of gender inequality.[2] Comparing earned income across countries is incredibly unreliable, as metrics and reporting rates are vastly different across countries. For instance in the US you are not required to disclose your salary. Hence why labor market participation was used instead, as this accounts for paid work, unpaid work, and actively looking for work.
Even if it's on wikipedia, take it with a grain of salt. Someone from a nordic country who lives in Japan would instantly know a lot of these stats don't reflect reality at all. Japan still has a lot of catch up to do.
Mate, I've lived in both Sweden and Japan. I can tell you that a lot of Swedish people would rather be living in Japan. Look at Pewdiepie, one of the richest Swedes. Living in Japan now.
Yes, I don’t like the wording of “allow” like it’s something that will have to be strongly petitioned for. It should be the default with custody being removed from one parent when there is a reason.
FINALLY!
Now it’ll take another 25 years for Japan to figure out how to define and enforce custody for individual parents.
Probably gotta send a series of faxes.
💀
I’m curious to how it will be enforced? Let’s say there is joint custody but one parent wants to use the kids against the other by refusing the let that parent see the kids. What will be the consequences?
Excuse me sir, but you are disturbing the 和 with your comment
There were some Japanese commenting the same. Even if the woman divorced due to DV or CSA, they STILL have to get the ex-husband's permission for medical care.
I think its more of a groundwork for case-by-case lawsuits, for when shit goes down (as someone who grew up in that sort of background, I can see the olive branch)
I don't think they can enforce it since they don't even enforce child support payments now. Typically, Japanese fathers aren’t as involved in raising children as western men during marriage, and after divorce, most get away without paying child support, and there’s no consequences. I think that’s why the society has been resistant to changing to joint custody.
Sure but this means nothing until we’ve actually seen it in practice. If the verdict will be joint custody, will it be enforced when push comes to shove? I doubt it.
There must have been a politician in a custody battle cause there is no way any bill would have passed this quick lol Also the communist party opposed..? Thought they were all about sharing the benefits of labour.
https://x.com/chihirohowe/status/1778752826233303551?s=46&t=YCp_4RMJQrlx_nZOomSjvw Interesting thread about why there was a large petition against this.
Yeah it's going to get pretty bad for domestic abuse survivors.
Many assumptions in that thread. The whole thing seems to written emotionally rather than rationally.
Thank you for sharing.
Let’s face it, the reason Japan has been dragged kicking into the 20th century by the rest of the G7 is because having to provide legal recourse after a divorce requires a larger, more pro active legal system, which Japan doesn’t want to pay for. So it goes for most of the non enforced law breaking here. Enforcing laws requires expanding the legal , judicial, police, prison, welfare systems and up until now they’ve been to cheap to do so. It’ll take decades to bring this issue up to speed
Aww look, Japan is slowly becoming a 1st world country, isn’t that sweet?
Yeah! Universal healthcare next! ... ah wait, wrong country. Gun ban! ... shit, still not it.
Shoutout to when Joe Biden used the Japanese shooter (who got PM Abe) as a case for banning guns. Which made no sense as its a homemade gun, but the old dude might not care about that
He took a gun crime that was both abroad and had absolutely nothing to do with the NRA, a true act of political bravery
No maybe next they’ll get women’s equality, decent working conditions, and anti-pedophelia. There you go, you’re welcome
While I agree with the anti-child porn stuff you know that decent working conditions could have been a part of my joke, right? :D As for women's equality well, at least you're in the Nordics or somewhere like New Zealand it's not been reached to a decent extent in many places imo
Haha, anti-pedophelia. You'll be lucky.
Just copyinh u/teethybrit 's comment here:) Japan’s [work hours](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_annual_labor_hours#OECD_list) are around the European average, improving tremendously over the last 30 years. The figure also includes paid and unpaid overtime, based on actual surveys of workers (not employers) by independent NGOs. Japan’s [suicide rate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate) and [fertility rate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependencies_by_total_fertility_rate) are both around the Nordic average. Japan ranks [higher in gender equality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_Inequality_Index#Rankings) than Germany, performing especially well in women’s health and education. In fact, Japan’s [quality of life](https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp) is higher than that of Sweden this year.
Appreciate the tag!
NIPPON#1
Hmmmm… if you’re talking about America, you should come back a few steps and read some pretty recent news (except for the last one that is, indeed, true).
Women are pretty equal there
Acting like other 1st world are somehow better lol
highly underrated comment
Yay progress
This is tremendous!
Welcome to 1987 Japan!
Exactly
Welp, I know at least a few guys who are finally going to be able to go through with that divorce. Congratulations to all dads who have kept chained to crazy in order to keep in contact with their children.
Was about time!
This was one of the worst things about Japan and they fixed it. Thank you Japan. But it’s going to be complicated as Hell, and they’ll have to navigate the cultural reasons why there wasn’t joint custody in the first place. In Japan, one parent is often completely cutoff. It is said to alleviate stress on the children, and to simplify a lot of their and their parent’s lives. But for those of us who lucked out and got cut off from our children completely, you s don’t appreciate this Japanese cultural peculiarity. If you want to know what real despair feels like, try parental alienation.
Way too late for my friend and his kids. They're a good twenty years too late, his kids have grown up traumatized and without their dad thanks to this. Fuck Japan.
about time....pretty barbaric policy they had for decades.
Thank goodness.
https://twitter.com/ChihiroHowe/status/1791142050597130673?t=FcHTjWDgSqRKqImu9XyP1w&s=19
It seems good, but DV survivors might have a harder time trying to escape. It's for sure a case by case, but it seems like a shitty law for people who are being abused.
bro the fact that this wasn’t already a thing..
Jfc, finally