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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Is "Hello Kitty" the cause of Japan's declining birth rate? |
| 2007-03-26 |
| by Jennifer Van House Hutcheson, mercator.net In Japan, there is nothing unusual about the most popular boy in school waxing his eyebrows to have defined, pencil thin arches. No looks sideways at a grown woman in pigtails or a businessman with a snoopy charm dangling from his cell phone. Indeed, the ultimate compliment is to be kawaii, or cute. Thanks to the iconic status of cuteness, a multitude of companies and government agencies capitalise on it by using cuddly cartoon characters to gain mass appeal. Recently, the Japanese military introduced Prince Pickles, an adorable wide-eyed mascot who shakes hands with grateful -- and, of course, cute -- Iraqis, to win public support for the transition to a more active military role. In an ironic twist, it is this same culture of cute that seems to have bred a phobia of that epitome of cuteness: babies. Since the 1970s, the birth rate has dropped significantly in industrialised countries throughout the world. Japan, however, stands alone with the lowest percentage of youth and the highest percentage of elderly. . . . JapanÂ’s dwindling population is not due to a cultural fear of babies as I initially -- and absurdly -- suggested. Of course, the Japanese coo and caw over babies as much as any other society. Indeed, it is a universal trait for adults to find babies adorable, as this is an infantÂ’s natural defence mechanism against being abandoned in times of distress. Instead, JapanÂ’s predicament is due to a complex combination of socio-economic and psychological factors. These include the sexual revolution, the introduction of the birth control pill, increased independence for women, long working hours, small living quarters, the lingering effects of economic recession, and the exorbitant costs of having and raising a child. One of the most controversial reasons advanced is the trend of "parasite singles", or young adults who continue to live with their parents into their 20s and 30s. As their name implies, parasite singles leech on their parents, typically paying no rent and contributing little to household duties. These young people typically work at part-time jobs and then fill in their time with shopping, eating out and, if they are so inclined, partying with friends into the wee hours of the morning. Academics are engaged in an ongoing debate concerning whether parasite singles are the cause or the consequence of JapanÂ’s economic and societal problems. I imagine the truth lies somewhere between the two extremes, but the result is the same in any case: many young Japanese find lifestyles involving large disposable incomes and little responsibility too enticing to give up. Therefore, they put off marriage and children until much later in life or forgo them completely. Yet, none of these factors are unique to Japan. Even parasite singles exist in other nations . . . . Why, then, is JapanÂ’s youth population so uniquely low? The cause is not so much a baby-phobia as it is a fear of the sacrifices that accompany babies and children. As a parent, it becomes increasingly difficult to present yourself as cute when you spend your money on diapers instead of on designer clothing. Not only does a parent have less disposable income, but also significantly less time to go to the gym and lose those pregnancy pounds or sympathy weight. There is nothing cute about cellulite. Cuteness is a charming and apt attribute of puppies, babies and children, but it is something that we are intended to mature beyond. Beauty, on the other hand, is something that that we spend our entire lifetimes striving to achieve. While I would not describe most parents who sacrifice their money, time, and appearance for their children as cute, I would certainly describe them as beautiful. Jennifer Van House Hutcheson is a freelance journalist living and working in Okayama, Japan. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #8 RUSSIAN WOMEN = IRANIAN WOMEN, etc. > stop having babies becuz they no longer trust Society = the State = State Welfarism to make life easier andor wealthier in order to have large families. Socialist convenience was at best TEMPORARY - now LIFE/QUALITY-OF-LIFE IS GETTING HARDER WID NO CHANGE IN SIGHT, AND NOT EVEN OWG = SUPER-SOCIALISM/WELFARISM/GOVTiSM IS GONNA HELP. Commies = Jihadis, etc > despite being aware of the Nation-Society getting poorer andor demographically suffering, THE COMMON ANSWER IS MORE AND BIGGER GUBMINT + GUBMINT-CENTRIC CONTROL - MORE BUREACRACY, MORE WELFARISM, MORE REGULATIONS AND ANTI-LIBERTARIAN CONTROLS. There's always the AK behind the [womens]head(s). |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-03-26 22:44 |
| #7 A5089: You mean, this one? Sex toys... is there ANYTHING Hello Kitty can't do, I ask you? Get one on Ebay today. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2007-03-26 20:16 |
| #6 I say train more Japanese women to touch Woody and Pecker! There I said it. but say hey ima a genius so these ideas of mine are I'm full of it. |
| Posted by: RD 2007-03-26 19:40 |
| #5 While living in Japan years ago, I heard about an advertising campaign for a web browser, for which they had licensed the use of Woody Woodpecker. A software company was about to launch a media blitz, when a native English speaker brought the whole thing to a screeching halt. The advertising slogan they had chosen was "Touch Woody, The Internet Pecker." No relevance, just funny! |
| Posted by: exJAG 2007-03-26 19:33 |
| #4 The Japanese abortion industry is the cause of Japan's decliing birth rate. The other reasons are irrelavant as long as you don't look at this. Japan has a massive number of abortions a year. Japanese men just will not wear a condom so it's "birth control". The moon people are a strange xenophobic bunch. They think and act in strange ways. Their materialism and concern with "face" doom them to screwed up and unhappy lives. This is just one facet of it. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2007-03-26 18:00 |
| #3 "The cause is not so much a baby-phobia as it is a fear of the sacrifices that accompany babies and children." Learned this from the best at it - the Euros. If the West can't come up with a solution for this in the next 100 years it is finished. If you craft a society (the modern socialist welfare state) which essentially takes over the role of families, why would you be surprised if people stop having them? It's true that most people will have families whether or not they will need kids to for care them when they get old and infirm. It's also sadly true that a vast chunk of humanity will NOT have kids without this motivation. What is needed, then, is for the West to craft its society so that those that fall into the second category are given a VERY powerful incentive to be procreate. Eliminating the socialist welfare state should be job #1. Reestablishing the family as the basic social unit, instead of the state, is a close second. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2007-03-26 15:09 |
| #2 You mean, this one? Sex toys, psychological test, birthrate dampening... is there ANYTHING Hello Kitty can't do, I ask you? |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-03-26 14:10 |
| #1 But the original Hello Kitty vibrator is no longer being manufactured. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-03-26 13:29 |