Americans, and lack of vacations

[gimmethesimplelife]

We used to feel sorry for the Japanese and their karoshi (death from overwork); now we're living it. I bailed just in time.

I've been reading that society in Japan is changing markedly from how it used to be during it's heyday when if you flipped over almost anything it said MADE IN JAPAN on it. Honestly, how many things are made in Japan nowadays? At least basic consumer items, anyway? I've read that there is a generation of young men and women facing fairly bleak prospects and that some of these young men, supposedly around 40% - belong to this trend called "herbivore". They tend to work as little as possible to meet their basic needs and have given up on women also - not that they are gay, they just don't see the traditional Japanese road map working for them in light of today's realities and would rather hang with their friends and play video games - "gamers" I think they call them. And the young women supposedly are fine with this arrangement as they look at their mothers and their grandmothers and don't want that life for themselves either.

I do believe we in the US have taken on karoshi to some degree - hopefully we will unlearn it as the some of the young Japanese seem to be. Anyone interested in this societal shift in Japan, google "herbivore men in Japan" - it's pretty interesting in the sense that some of the young in Japan are giving up the traditional road map - even more interesting is the fact that Japan has a rapidly aging population and a very low birthrate. So low is the birthrate in Japan that more adult diapers are sold to the elderly than babies diapers are sold for the newborn. Scary when you think of the implications I think. Anyway, my point is that Japan, like anything else, is not immune to change. Rob

[rodeosweetheart]

I've been reading that society in Japan is changing markedly from how it used to be during it's heyday when if you flipped over almost anything it said MADE IN JAPAN on it. Honestly, how many things are made in Japan nowadays? At least basic consumer items, anyway? I've read that there is a generation of young men and women facing fairly bleak prospects and that some of these young men, supposedly around 40% - belong to this trend called "herbivore". They tend to work as little as possible to meet their basic needs and have given up on women also - not that they are gay, they just don't see the traditional Japanese road map working for them in light of today's realities and would rather hang with their friends and play video games - "gamers" I think they call them. And the young women supposedly are fine with this arrangement as they look at their mothers and their grandmothers and don't want that life for themselves either.

I do believe we in the US have taken on karoshi to some degree - hopefully we will unlearn it as the some of the young Japanese seem to be. Anyone interested in this societal shift in Japan, google "herbivore men in Japan" - it's pretty interesting in the sense that some of the young in Japan are giving up the traditional road map - even more interesting is the fact that Japan has a rapidly aging population and a very low birthrate. So low is the birthrate in Japan that more adult diapers are sold to the elderly than babies diapers are sold for the newborn. Scary when you think of the implications I think. Anyway, my point is that Japan, like anything else, is not immune to change. Rob

Rob, this sounds a lot like the social scene with young people that I saw in Portland a few weeks ago. IT was a very surprising shift.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Rob, this sounds a lot like the social scene with young people that I saw in Portland a few weeks ago. IT was a very surprising shift.

Isn't it though? This seems to be spreading to the US and I have heard from Canadians I know that Toronto is very much like this too. Being middle aged I worry as how many workers will there be to support Social Security when I'm old given the lower birthrates these days? Good thing I'm saving what I can.....Rob

[jp1]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/ma...the-young.html

Apparently the NY Times saw this about Portland as well.

[ToomuchStuff]

What is a vacation?
Of course not everyone has paid vacations, just part of life and one difference between a job and "career". (traditionally) Yet if you own your own business, you have a "career" and work for a slave master and don't really have time for vacations for a while. Makes me think of a discussion between a couple of people I know. One a union butcher and the other a self employed person. The butcher was doing his usual B&Ming about the owners of his store making more then him and said another day at the coal mine. His buddy responded another day at the gold mine.
I haven't been on a trip style vacation since I was a kid (think I was 13). I took a "vacation" when I bought my home to get it straightened up. Tried to take one a few years back, I worked so others could go to the company Christmas excursion (takes place after the busy Christmas season) and four employees came back on crutches or injured (drinking and skiing don't mix). In the last few years, my hours have been up due to people being off due to surgeries (amputation, torn ligaments, etc). I've never had the travel bug, and we discussed that a while back (Spartana's thread on traveling), so for me a "vacation" when taken, has been a staycation, to get things done. Nothing relaxing about them, just time to do something else one has to, in life. The relaxing stuff is small events that happen at various times throughout the year and normally one just has a day off for them.

[rodeosweetheart]

For the last 5 years or so, we have deliberately lived in what most people consider vacation areas. We work at home, which means that we can rearrange our schedules and go out ad enjoy the areas where we lived. Many times we have remarked to each other that we have set it up so that what people save all year to do, we get to do any time we want to. It is something to consider in retirement. Sometimes, it feels as though one is on a permanent vacation, as we have been living in such beautiful areas.

(Although this one is too damn cold, lol.)