I’ve been in Japan for less than a year but already it’s becoming clear how influential a hold the media has on the minds of the people. As a fortunate side-effect of being isolated in a country where the only readily-available news comes from the Internet, and having no time to read it, I’ve been nearly news-free for the entirety of time here so far.
I’ve honestly never felt better.
What I’ve observed is this: I work in downtown Tokyo, a stone’s throw from some of the biggest players in the local financial game. Every day I meet a dozen new people, sitting down for 40 to 80 minutes at a time to discuss their lives, dreams, and perceptions of the world.
What I’m greeted with most often when discussing their fears is the belief that their economy is on the verge of collapse. The country is at the end of what economists call a “bubble”, or artificially-inflated growth period. Everything’s supposedly crashing down with the adjustment to “normal” levels. The streets are no longer paved with gold, and companies now have to tighten their belts by shedding tons of excess weight gained over the years of fake prosperity.
The brokers, traders, bankers, and other money-movers I meet tell me the newspaper headlines are nothing but doom and gloom. As part of their jobs they’re more or less forced to consume this content on a daily basis so as to keep their nervously-twitching fingers on the dying pulse of their nation.
I get an earful of this every morning, five days a week. Here’s the ironic part: every noonhour I take a stroll not five blocks down the street to the Ginza shopping district and can barely make any headway on a sidewalk thronging with consumers. Ginza is a high-street locale, all the major brands are there, and there are countless people buying the stuff up. I sit down to a curry or a sushi roll and typically pay no less than ¥2000 (more than $20) for a meal in a restaurant I’ve had to wait 20 to 30 minutes to get into, it’s so packed.
The economy is collapsing, eh?
2000.05.01 – 2000.05.31