The latest mainstream media article to stoke the fires of nerd rage is a piece by the BBC's Robin Lustig, entitled "Is Japan a Dying Nation?"
In it, Lustig laments Japan's demographic crisis. The nation is the world's fastest-aging, with the highest ratio of over-65s and the lowest ratio of under-15s. By the turn of the century, Japan's population will be halved from its current figure of about 127 million. Wondering about why exactly Japanese couples aren't having enough babies, he posits a theory, suggesting that Japan's men may be at the root of the problem:
"But one theory is that Japanese women are increasingly reluctant to marry, because they think Japanese men have shown themselves unable to adapt to the needs of a new, more flexible society - and have retreated into a fantasy world of comics, video games and animated pornography where they feel less threatened."
This suggestion is the most inflammatory in the piece, the rest of which is rather tame, and at some points self-sabotaging, assuming that Lustig's point is to blame otaku and herbivore men.
Read on for why I think this is so.
Lustig cites Goo survey figures that say 70% of Japanese men will be entering their thirties unmarried, but then immediately turns around, noting that those figures are even higher in Italy, France, Norway and Ireland. Does that mean those countries are also suffering demographic disasters due to useless men?
He then compares the situation to the premise of the film Children of Men, wherein the human race is dying out due to women becoming infertile. Wait, I thought his point was to blame men for not making themselves worthy of marriage?
All in all, the piece comes across as an idle musing one might write down while on a long plane flight. Incidentally, that's where the article was written. I don't intend to attack Lustig at all, but perhaps he has been influenced by one too many "Japan is weird" stories.
The reasons for Japan's declining population are myriad, and they surely cannot all be laid on the slumped shoulders of the otaku fringe. I'm of the mind that the situation has more to do with a rather famous saying by Mahatma Gandhi:
"Development is the greatest form of contraception."
Japan is one of the most developed nations on earth, and has the world's second largest economy, even during the '90s depression period. Many Japanese of both genders are putting career ahead of family, and some that want families are putting their plans on hold due to the current global downturn. Combined with unfriendly immigration laws, the population of people qualified as "Japanese" (i.e. citizens) is bound to decrease.
Besides, I'd bet good money that even if women suddenly decided to go an marry every single herbivore male, the population would still be halved by 2100. To put it coldly, all those old people will die anyway, no matter how many otaku get laid.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go stare at some cats.
19 comments
So the Japanese men who cannot live up to those expectations then use anime, manga and videogames to escape reality.
The good news is, those young and interested in Japan might get a free pass to immigrate in a few years, otherwise their financial system will collapse (retirements and such). Makes me wonder if the current push to allow foreign residents to vote and to make citizenship easier is related.